Chapter 10: Human Skin Manor (Part 9)

Chen Dong and Chen Xi’s faces turned pale as they noticed Liu Wei, Cui Xiaoxuan, and Xu Ran all staring directly at them.

Chen Dong tried to argue, “What do you mean by that…”

But Chen Xi, his thin face filled with regret, pulled Chen Dong back and confessed, “It was us who opened the door.”

Leopard’s eyes widened, and he immediately cursed, “Damn it, are you trying to get yourselves killed? You were told not to touch it, and you…”

Although Chen Xi looked remorseful, he defiantly held his ground when Leopard rushed over to hit him, growling back, “Can any of you honestly say you never considered doing the same? I did what I thought was best for everyone. I didn’t want anything to go wrong, but this was our only chance!”

“Stop making excuses! What ‘only chance’? You were just being selfish, trying to get ahead and earn points before everyone else!”

“He’s not wrong,” Xiao Muyu suddenly interjected, catching Leopard off guard.

Before he could respond, Xiao Muyu glanced at Liu Wei and Old Liao. “You two also considered opening that door, didn’t you? After all, the noob amulet only lasts for 24 hours. It’ll go to waste if you don’t use it. Rather than save it for some unknown danger, it makes sense to be proactive. A purposely locked room might just hold the key clues. It’s only natural to take that gamble. Unfortunately, the two of them didn’t understand the old woman’s warning.”

Only four people had amulets: Liu Wei, Old Liao, Chen Dong, and Chen Xi.

The two brothers were surprised. They knew Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu had recognized them, but they hadn’t expected Xiao Muyu to speak up on their behalf.

Although Leopard was hot-tempered and not the sharpest, he understood what Xiao Muyu was implying. He suppressed his anger and said, “Fine, let’s say Miss Xiao has a point. So what did you find after opening the room? Don’t tell me you were planning to keep it to yourselves.”

Chen Dong and Chen Xi looked helpless. “If we say we found nothing, would you believe us?”

It wasn’t just Leopard, but the others also looked incredulous.

“We’re really not lying. Last night, we secretly opened the door and searched the room with a candle. The layout was similar to our bedrooms, except for a box at the center of the table. We opened it, and as soon as we did, a cold wind blew through the room, scaring us half to death. Then… that human skin downstairs started talking, saying something like ‘Open your eyes… look at me’. After that, we heard the couple screaming. We didn’t dare to linger and tried to run back to our room. Just as we got inside, that human skin flew up the stairs. It almost caught us.”

Chen Dong trembled as he recounted last night’s events. It appeared he wasn’t faking it. Chen Xi’s face looked equally distraught as he added hoarsely, “When we woke up this morning, both of us had lost 5 points. If it weren’t for the amulets, we might not have survived.”

Liu Wei and the others felt their blood run cold while listening to the story. Points weren’t always publicly displayed; had someone else narrowly escaped danger last night?

“I… I also lost 5 points,” said Old Liao, who had been petrified with fear earlier. Xiao Muyu wasn’t surprised; those who finished their meals the night before had slept deeply, and as long as they didn’t look at the human skin, they’d be fine. Old Liao hadn’t finished his meal.

Whether he hadn’t finished it on purpose or by accident, Xiao Muyu didn’t want to dwell on it. But she knew that Chen Dong, Chen Xi, and Shen Qingqiu had likely figured out that not finishing the food allowed them to stay awake. Unfortunately, the young couple hadn’t realized this. She glanced at Shen Qingqiu, closed her eyes briefly to suppress her nausea, and then said, “Let’s search again.” With that, she headed upstairs, unable to bear the stench of blood any longer.

“If we go now, won’t we run into that human skin again?” Cui Xiaoxuan hastily asked.

Shen Qingqiu, who had immediately followed after Xiao Muyu when she started moving, turned her head, glanced at them, then flashed them a smile.

Usually, Shen Qingqiu didn’t acknowledge them much, let alone smile at them. She was really attractive—the beautiful and aloof type, so when she smiled, the originally tense group couldn’t help but be drawn to her.

But when her red lips parted lightly, the words that came out snapped them out of their daze.

“I’m more worried that it’s not there. If it is, I’ll just finish it off.”

Even Xiao Muyu couldn’t help but feel like facepalming at that.

“Then what about this?” Xu Ran pointed to the room that had claimed two lives. The group’s mood plummeted instantly. After a long silence, Liu Wei finally spoke, “Now that we can go out, let’s give them a proper burial. Otherwise, it’s really…”

No one objected. Liu Wei, gathering his courage, along with Chen Dong and a few other men, wrapped the unfortunate couple in bed sheets and carried them out for burial. During the process, they discovered that although the girl hadn’t been skinned, all the blood in her body had been drained.

Xiao Muyu watched them carry the two bodies away, and unknowingly wrinkled her nose. She couldn’t help asking Shen Qingqiu, “Did you know they were going to die?”

Shen Qingqiu’s lips curled into a sneer. “And what if I did? They’ve been warned. People have to take responsibility for their own actions.” Liu Wei had indeed warned the couple last night.

At Xiao Muyu’s silence, Shen Qingqiu casually added, “Do you think I’m heartless?”

Xiao Muyu heard this and let out a slightly cold laugh, her expression unreadable. She didn’t respond to Shen Qingqiu’s remark.

Heartless? She didn’t have the right to judge. At least regarding the couple’s deaths, she wasn’t the least bit surprised, nor did she feel any sorrow. In fact, when she saw their bodies, her first thought was: ‘It turns out those who didn’t finish their meal would see that human skin.’

When the group reached the third floor, they found the room unlocked. Chen Dong and Chen Xi, in their panic last night, seemed to have forgotten to lock it again.

The room was indeed quite clean. Upon entering, the first thing they noticed was a long table, with two rows of wooden cupboards lining the walls. Just as the Chen brothers had described, there was a box on the table, already opened and empty.

The room was noticeably cold, the curtains drawn tightly shut, making it dim and gloomy.

As soon as Xiao Muyu entered the room, she caught a faint scent in the air—very familiar, the same one as before.

After drawing the curtains aside, the others gathered around to inspect the box. Inside, they found traces of blood and a few spots of a milky-white substance that had already solidified.

“The human skin was likely in this box. When you opened the box, it escaped.”

Xiao Muyu’s statement caused a shiver to run through the Chen brothers.

“It escaped? Then where is it now? Did it manage to get away last night?” Cui Xiaoxuan also seemed a little scared.

The group huddled around Xiao Muyu was scrutinizing the box. Meanwhile, Liu Wei noticed Shen Qingqiu inspecting every part of the room. This prompted him to refocus, and he carefully examined the room as well, starting from the doorway.

“Does anyone else think this place is too clean?” asked Liu Wei after he surveyed the room.

“It is very clean, but it’s hard to say if it’s due to the game settings or if someone actually cleaned it.” Old Liao finally chimed in, having recovered a bit from the earlier shock.

“That old lady mentioned she cleaned the guest rooms. Don’t forget, the first floor was filthy,” Xiao Muyu pointed out, her gaze following Liu Wei’s movements as he bent down to peer under a cupboard.

Liu Wei used his foot to nudge out a bowl from beneath the cupboard. Shen Qingqiu quirked a brow, momentarily pausing her search.

The bowl had a chip on the rim, the inside stained a dark red, and a thick, blood-red paste clung to the bottom. Liu Wei found the bowl’s broken piece and, using a piece of cloth, he prodded at the contents. The red substance hadn’t yet solidified.

“Is it blood?” Cui Xiaoxuan asked nervously.

Liu Wei nodded.

“I… I just remembered. Last night, when we were opening the box, we bumped into something. We were too nervous to notice, but it must have been this bowl,” Chen Xi said quickly, recalling the event.

“So the bowl was next to the box?” Liu Wei murmured to himself.

Xiao Muyu and Cui Xiaoxuan spoke almost in unison, “Could it be for feeding?” The former remembered that the couple’s blood had been drained.

“That old woman was raising the human skin!” The old woman was the house’s only living resident, after all.

Leopard looked like he had seen a ghost. “And she said she was cursed, tormented by those damn things—she’s an accomplice!”

“So she didn’t directly tell us about the human skin here. She wanted us to walk right into the trap, to offer ourselves up as delivery food for those things!” Xu Ran, being young, immediately blurted out his response.

“That doesn’t make sense. The main task is to help her break free—that part can’t be fake, but there’s definitely something off about her,” Cui Xiaoxuan quickly refuted.

Just then, another sound echoed through the room, and everyone noticed that their control panels had changed again.

[Task 1: Learn about the old woman’s ordeal, Progress: 40%; Predicament Resolution: 5%]

[Task 2: Survive for 48 hours; Progress: 20%]

[Score Calculation in Progress…]

As Xiao Muyu watched her panel, the score column began to flicker.

[Discovered the strange human skin: +10 points]

[Discovered the old woman was raising the human skin: +5 points]

With this, Xiao Muyu’s total score had already reached 30 points.

The others had mixed expressions on their faces. After a brief exchange, they realized that each person had earned different amounts of points.

For instance, those who were awake and survived the encounter with the human skin last night earned 10 points. This included Xiao Muyu, who narrowly escaped, and those who hadn’t finished their dinner—Chen Dong, Chen Xi, and Old Liao. However, since they had used up their amulets, they each lost 5 points, netting a total of 5 points.

Liu Wei, who found the blood-filled bowl, which was crucial evidence of the old woman raising the human skin, received 10 points. Additionally, those who contributed to the reasoning and answered questions—Liu Wei, Cui Xiaoxuan, Xiao Muyu, and Leopard—gained 5 points. Old Liao and Xu Ran, who also spoke up, received a ‘courtesy’ bonus of 2 points.

In other words, the only two people who didn’t earn any points were Shen Qingqiu, and You Qiaolian, who was too dazed to say a word. The latter, still at zero points, had it worse.

Liu Wei glanced at Shen Qingqiu with an apologetic expression. He had followed her lead to investigate but ended up reaping the rewards, gaining 15 points, while the taciturn Shen Qingqiu got nothing.

Shen Qingqiu didn’t seem to care, merely shrugging at Xiao Muyu.

As for You Qiaolian, the others could only shake their heads. Cui Xiaoxuan, feeling sympathetic, quietly said, “Sister Qiaolian, you need to get involved. If you don’t act like a player, the system definitely won’t give you any points.”

You Qiaolian’s dull eyes shifted before she nodded slowly, yet she was staring at that bowl of blood, and nervously licking her lips.

As for Shen Qingqiu, she was too cool that Cui Xiaoxuan felt awkward bringing it up directly, so she just gave Xiao Muyu a meaningful glance.

However, Xiao Muyu pretended not to notice. Even though they had only been together for a day, Xiao Muyu knew very well that Shen Qingqiu was the last person anyone needed to worry about.

It was now 9:30 in the morning, and 15 hours had passed since the game task began.

Xiao Muyu was currently leading with 30 points, followed by Liu Wei with 21 points. Everyone else had less than 10 points, with Xu Ran only having 2 points, making the situation quite dire.

As they stared at their respective scores, a mix of emotions swirled within them.

Xu Ran tried to maintain a calm facade but clearly struggled, and spoke anxiously, “The scoring criteria are unclear, and we don’t know when points will be added. Does that mean if someone doesn’t speak up, they won’t get points? In other words, if someone can’t figure it out on their own but just follows along with someone else, can they still earn points?”

This was indeed a major concern. If one person figured out the answer too quickly and announced it right away, wouldn’t that prevent everyone else from earning points?

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Author had something to say:

The saying “A blessing in disguise” is perfectly exemplified in Xiao Xiao.

As for Xiao Shen, this one fears nothing and seems to have no regard for any supernatural forces.

This book is really just to fulfill my own passion. Judging by the current data, it’s probably the least successful one, not really suited for this site, and it might not even make it to the rankings.