Chapter 3: Human Skin Manor (Part 2)

As Xiao Muyu stared at the patch of trees and bushes, she held her breath. The unknown was always the most terrifying. She still didn’t know what this supernatural world truly entailed! What the game was, what the rules were, or how it would end.

After waiting for a long time, the rustling branches had also quieted down for a while. There was no terrifying creature emerging; it was like a harmless small animal had passed by. However, Xiao Muyu noticed that, despite passing through a large portion of the forest, there was not a single animal sound, let alone bird calls.

Seeing that nothing had happened, Xiao Muyu finally exhaled the breath she had been holding, little by little, and turned to continue on her way.

But just as she turned her head, an unexpected change occurred! With a whoosh, a wooden stick swung harshly towards her. She barely had time to react, quickly raising her hand and dropping into a crouch.

Xiao Muyu grunted as the stick struck her arm with a thump, leaving it almost numb from the pain.

Before she could react, another blow came at her. Fortunately, Xiao Muyu’s agile body allowed her to roll away just in time. She then saw the situation clearly—it was two people!

“F*cking hell, how is she reacting so fast? Get her!” One of them cursed in a low voice. The two immediately flanked Xiao Muyu from both sides, and lunged at her.

Their swift movements caught Xiao Muyu off guard. They quickly pinned her to the ground and restrained her limbs.

Unable to move, she saw the round head of one of her attackers up close, and delivered a fierce headbutt to his nose. He yelped in pain and involuntarily loosened his grip.

Capitalizing on this opening, Xiao Muyu immediately withdrew her left leg and, relying on her remarkable flexibility, twisted her body on the ground. She swept her left leg to land a hard kick on the other attacker’s cheekbone.

He clutched his mouth, face contorted in pain, feeling as if his teeth had been knocked loose.

At that moment, on a hillside not far away, a person lounging lazily on a tree branch uttered a soft, almost inaudible sound of interest. Their slender fingers rhythmically tapped on their bent knee in amusement.

Xiao Muyu’s counterattack left the two men reeling, but they were tough and determined. Despite the pain, they gritted their teeth and continued their assault, raising their sticks and bringing them down without mercy.

No matter how fierce she was, Xiao Muyu was outnumbered. Furthermore, comparing the strength of each side, her opponents were both men wielding weapons.

When the sharp end of a wooden stake pressed against her throat, she had no choice but to cease her resistance, and the two men pinned her to the ground.

One man was as thin as a bamboo stick, while the other was short and round, resembling a ball. Both of them wore comical head coverings that only exposed their eyes and mouths, seemingly too afraid to show their faces.

“What are you people? What do you want?” Despite her compromising position, Xiao Muyu looked at them with a clear gaze, lacking the usual panic and fear expected in such situations.

The two men exchanged stunned glances after seeing her expression. The short, round man shifted his bulky body and asked in a low voice, “Don’t tell me, not a newbie?”

The word ‘newbie’ caught Xiao Muyu’s attention immediately. Were these two men also players?

The thin man immediately glared at his companion, blaming him for his loose tongue, then turned his cold gaze back to Xiao Muyu. “If you don’t want to die right here and now, you’d better cooperate.”

With that, he tore open Xiao Muyu’s backpack, dumping its contents onto the ground.

Among the items were clothes, a power bank and data cable, a water bottle, a deck of cards, paper money, and some paper dice.

Seeing these items, the man recoiled as if burned, his voice trembling slightly. “What the hell is all this stuff? Are you carrying offerings for the dead?”

Xiao Muyu glanced coldly at the items thrown on the ground, a hint of sarcasm flashing in her eyes, but she remained silent.

“This woman is a bit suspicious. How did she manage to bring these things here?”

The skinny man slapped his companion and pressed the sharpened stick harder against her. Sternly, he said, “Hand over your amulet, now! Or I’ll send you on your way right here, and you won’t need it anymore.”

The image of the noob amulet suddenly surfaced in Xiao Muyu’s mind. Did ‘not bound’ mean others could steal it? She basically concluded her conjecture: these men were also players, but they obviously knew that a newbie would have the amulet, and from the fat man’s inadvertent slip, it was clear they weren’t newbies.

This instance had other players, and apparently, players could turn on each other? This was crucial information.

“What amulet?” Xiao Muyu asked somewhat bewilderedly.

The skinny man’s expression clearly showed impatience. “Don’t play dumb. You know what I mean. Almost everyone has one, except for those few with sh*tty luck. I advise you to hand it over obediently. Otherwise, I’ll strip you naked. You can’t hide it in your stomach, can you? Such a pretty girl, if I strip you, I might not be able to control myself, and do something else.”

Xiao Muyu’s expression changed. She loathed this kind of sexist threat and insult from men, finding it extremely disgusting.

The person who had been watching from the tree also let out a disdainful snort upon hearing this, and the teasing smile on their red lips turned into a sneer.

Just as Xiao Muyu was preparing to comply in humiliation and took out the amulet she had hidden, a look of triumph appeared in the man’s eyes.

However, as he reached out to take it, a dagger suddenly slashed across from the left rear, cutting the back of his hand before pinning to the ground. This move was no less intimidating than their ambush on Xiao Muyu.

“Who’s there?” The two men, now extremely tense, quickly turned their heads to search for the attacker.

Xiao Muyu seized this chance to dodge away from the wooden stake aimed threateningly at her chest, and swiftly retreated to her feet.

She had just steadied herself when she saw a figure very quickly leap from a tree, grabbing onto nearby branches and swinging directly to their front. Using the momentum, the figure kicked both men to the ground, causing them to roll over pathetically a few times.

The newcomer nimbly rolled on the ground to break the momentum, then stood up with the grace of a cat. She easily pulled out the dagger from the ground, weighing it in her hand.

Soon after, she turned to look at the two men, who now had fearful expressions on their faces, and gave them a soft, charming smile. “You two really don’t know how to cherish a beauty.”

The two men, after scrambling to their feet, were momentarily stunned by her breathtaking looks. They exchanged glances, clearly a little afraid of this woman who had appeared out of nowhere.

Xiao Muyu, on the other hand, was slightly flabbergasted as she sized up the woman who had just saved her. Standing at least 1.7 meters tall, with long legs and a slender waist, she wore black trousers and Martin boots. The tight leather belt around her waist accentuated her graceful and alluring figure.

At this moment, she was only wearing a sleeveless, tight-fitting black crop top, with her brown curly hair casually tied back. Her skin was dazzlingly fair, and her outfit exuded a neat, dashing vibe. However, her curvaceous figure and those long, slender legs were undeniably captivating and seductive.

The two men, however, were no longer in the mood to appreciate her looks. They really didn’t want to lose their prey, so they gritted their teeth, and one of them spoke: “Mind your own business. We don’t have to become enemies over a newbie. You should know that sometimes they just end up being dead weight.”

“Heh, what do you care if I’ve taken a liking to this newbie or not? Besides, if you’ve fallen to the point where you need to rely on that noob’s amulet, it’s hard to say who the real dead weight is. What a disgrace.”

Xiao Muyu initially wanted to compliment her on the sharp retort, but considering that the ‘noob’ in question was herself, she wasn’t exactly eager to praise her.

From the woman’s tone, it was clear she was determined to intervene. The two men immediately assumed a fighting stance. Taking advantage of a momentary distraction, one of them rolled to retrieve the sharpened wooden stick. Xiao Muyu wanted to stop them but couldn’t make it in time.

She glanced at the woman, noting that she didn’t even spare the men a second glance as they armed themselves. Instead, the grin on her lips grew even brighter.

As the wooden stick came at her, the woman deftly avoided it and casually kicked the taller man’s knee. The move was quick, accurate, and ruthless. With just one strike, the man let out a wail and fell to his knees.

Her smile turned somewhat cruel as she grabbed the man’s hair without hesitation and yanked back forcefully.

“Ah!”

The man screamed in pain, and even Xiao Muyu winced at the sight.

The yank distorted the skinny man’s gaunt face. She then gracefully flipped over his back, delivering a clean spinning back kick to the fat man’s face. The agile ‘ball’ hit the ground with a heavy thud.

Just two moves, and it was a perfect takedown!

“Since I’m in a good mood today, I’ll let you off. So, scram before you get on my nerves.” She winked playfully, still smiling. Although her expression remained a bit charming and cute, to the two men, she was nothing short of the devil.

The men groaned as they got up, their faces filled with terror. They couldn’t be bothered with any amulets now, and instead chose to flee in a stumbling rush.

This instance was utterly twisted. The women they encountered were more abnormal than any ghost, leaving them no room to survive.

After dealing with the two men, the woman turned and tilted her head, studying Xiao Muyu with a more genuine, or perhaps more intrigued, look in her smiling eyes.

Unaccustomed to being under such scrutiny, Xiao Muyu averted her gaze slightly and said softly, “Thank you for saving me. I don’t know what would have happened otherwise.”

Hearing this, the woman smiled even more pleasantly, took a few steps closer to Xiao Muyu, and then raised her hand towards her face.

Xiao Muyu, in a conditioned reflex, turned her head to avoid the touch, and the woman’s hand paused momentarily before continuing upwards as if nothing had happened.

Xiao Muyu endured it, and caught out of the corner of her eye that the woman’s fingertips were pinching a small dry twig.

The woman tossed the twig aside and naturally brushed off the dust from Xiao Muyu’s clothes. She leaned in closer and said, “You don’t need to thank me. I like you a lot. I couldn’t stand seeing them bully you, so I had to step in. They don’t care about women, but I very much do.”

Xiao Muyu disliked strangers suddenly being so close, not to mention one who spoke so flippantly, even if it was a woman. It made her frown slightly, her expression somewhat patient, yet the look in her eyes clearly said, ‘I don’t believe your crap.’

Perhaps finding her expression funny, the woman laughed, the candidness making her charming face appear even more radiant and beautiful.

“Alright, you don’t have much time to waste. The sun is setting. I told you I really like you, so I hope I’ll have the chance to see you again. By the way, my name is Shen Qingqiu. Don’t forget it. Goodbye.”

Her expression was a little weird, and after speaking, she even threw a flirtatious wink at Xiao Muyu. Then, she turned and disappeared into the forest once more, vanishing quickly, almost inhumanly so.

Shen Qingqiu? She truly didn’t match her name at all. What was up with that woman, introducing herself out of nowhere? Xiao Muyu thought she was very dangerous. When she glanced westward, the sun was about to set, and she indeed didn’t have much time left.

As she slipped her hand into her pocket, about to resume making her way, her expression stiffened, and her fingers paused. She quickly fumbled around in her pockets.

After thoroughly searching all her pockets, she pulled her hand out with a cold expression. The amulet that had just been there was gone.

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Author had something to say:

Shen Qingqiu, a very long time later: Who told you to mess with me!

The person involved: I really regret it, both now and in the future.