Chapter 7: Human Skin Manor (Part 6)

The old woman lifted her drooping eyelids and indifferently said, “Haven’t you noticed that there’s no one here?” After speaking, her gaze blankly fell outside.

Everyone in the room couldn’t help but follow her gaze toward the window. By now, the night had completely fallen, and they could just vaguely make out the dark silhouettes of the trees swaying. Occasionally, they could hear a piercing scream that sent shivers down their spines.

“Then why are you the only one left?” Shen Qingqiu suddenly asked. Her stunning eyes, usually alluring, were now deep and calm, fixed intently on the old woman.

It wasn’t just Shen Qingqiu—everyone else in the room was also staring at the old woman, clearly sharing the same question.

The old woman looked at them, and her cloudy eyes, a little vacant, began to well up with tears once again.

“Our village is cursed. We committed too many sins. They were all… killed by the human skins, and then became one of them. Once they became human skins, they lost all awareness, leaving only me to bear these sins. Neither a human nor a ghost, I am bound to this place, unable to escape.”

“Unable to escape? Are you saying you’re trapped here? Then how do you survive?”

“And what do you mean ‘committed sins’?”

Since there was a points system, no one wanted to miss out on uncovering key information, so as soon as they had questions, they immediately voiced them.

“I can only move around during the day, under the sunlight, and if the weather is bad, going outside will be risky. This place is like a prison—I can’t leave. No matter how far I walk, I always end up back here, over and over again, until I finally gave up and stayed alone. This house has become my only shelter. As for survival, as long as I don’t starve to death, anything will do.”

“The murderer cursed our village. It was our fault; we bullied her. That family was awful—they didn’t treat her like a human. We were all murderers; we deserve it.” The old woman became emotional, shaking her head repeatedly while saying they deserved it; her eyes filled with hatred when she mentioned that family.

Everyone exchanged uneasy glances, sensing something off about the old woman’s words. She didn’t fully explain the so-called curse or who the person was, as if the memory was too painful to recount.

It seemed like the old woman was intentionally hiding something, and avoiding certain topics, which made things difficult for them.

“Does that mean we can only go outside during the day? We’re not from here—can we leave?” The bald man, Leopard, muttered to the person beside him.

Despite her age, the old woman had sharp hearing. She grinned at them and said, “Young man, you can try. But if you can’t come back, well… hehe.”

Then, she eagerly turned to Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu. “You two ladies were able to kill those things, so you have exceptional skills. You must help me; free me from this hellish existence.”

Xiao Muyu remained silent, and Shen Qingqiu didn’t respond either. Both seemed lost in thought, ignoring the others’ gazes.

The old woman didn’t seem to mind the two’s silence. She stood up and said, “You all must be hungry. I’ll prepare something for you to eat. You’ll stay here for the night. There are a total of eight rooms on the second and third floors; choose your rooms after dinner. But remember, do not enter the locked rooms, or else you won’t be safe even if you hide in your rooms.” Her last words were delivered in a heavy, ominous tone, and with a cold, unsettling gaze.

The group watched the old woman go downstairs, and then began discussing among themselves.

“According to what the old woman said, our task is to learn about her experiences and then help her lift the curse to complete the quest, right?”

“Yeah, that should be right,” replied Liu Wei, his expression serious.

“But we’ve already heard her story, so why hasn’t our score changed?” Cui Xiaoxuan wondered aloud.

Just as she finished speaking, everyone froze for a moment—the scores had updated.

The update displayed: [Discovered a key NPC and listened to her account, +5 points.]

The points came too easily, but they were also too few. With 72 hours available and the nights reserved for rest, they had at most around 60 hours left. How long would it take to accumulate 60 points?

As they recalled the ten points that Shen Qingqiu and Xiao Muyu had earned, everyone was envious. If they had known, they might have gone after some human skins themselves. They weren’t even sure if killing human skins later would still give points.

With the old woman gone, the group decided not to wait idly. They discussed assigning someone to keep an eye on the old woman, to ensure she didn’t tamper with the food, while the rest went to search the rooms.

However, many had concerns. Given that this was an instance with only one NPC and a single safe haven, it seemed unlikely there would be no other clues.

Some points were awarded collectively, while the other points were probably first come, first served, judging from how Xiao Muyu, Shen Qingqiu, Liu Wei, and Cui Xiaoxuan initially scored. They were worried about others beating them to it.

As a result, those with zero or negative points all looked at Shen Qingqiu and Xiao Muyu.

Xiao Muyu had already guessed what they were thinking. Since she and Shen Qingqiu already had points, the others likely felt it wouldn’t matter much if they missed an opportunity.

Just as Xiao Muyu was about to speak, Shen Qingqiu, who hadn’t shown much interest in participating thus far, unexpectedly offered, “I’ll go.”

Xiao Muyu glanced at her. Shen Qingqiu’s expression remained indifferent as she uttered those words and headed straight downstairs.

Seeing this, the others collectively sighed in relief and quickly went about their own business.

Xiao Muyu’s expression grew contemplative; it seemed there were no significant clues here.

The dining room where this long table was placed, was located on one side of the hall, near the staircase. On the opposite side was a small parlor, where those searching found a sewing machine, along with piles of fabric, and several half-finished garments. It looked like the old woman spent her time there cutting fabric and making clothes.

They thoroughly searched the fabrics and clothes, but they were just that—clothes.

Xiao Muyu walked over and stood beside the old-fashioned sewing machine. She reached out to touch the fabric placed nearby, which appeared to be coarse burlap, rough to the touch and seemingly unremarkable.

Just as she was about to leave, a faint scent caught her attention. It was so subtle that she almost doubted its presence. She sniffed again, and found the scent familiar, but it was too elusive to identify, so she didn’t dwell on it.

After searching, they discovered four rooms on the second floor, one of which was locked. Judging by the marks around the door, it was likely the old woman’s bedroom. The other three rooms had neatly made beds, clearly prepared for guests to rest in.

They had searched everywhere except the old woman’s room and found nothing. The layout of the third floor was similar to the second, with one room locked and the other three being bedrooms.

“There’s nothing special in the other places. Those two locked rooms are suspicious. There must be something important hidden inside. Should we try to break in and take a look?” suggested Leopard impatiently.

“But that old woman said not to go into the locked rooms, or else…” spoke the red-eyed girl with her hair up in a bun, in a voice as soft as the buzzing of a mosquito, obviously terrified.

Her boyfriend, who had been holding her hand tightly, chimed in cautiously, “Xiao Tian¹ is right. If what that granny said is true, we’d be walking right into a death trap.”

Cui Xiaoxuan glanced at Liu Wei and then sized up Xiao Muyu. She had already done a mental evaluation of everyone around her, so she wanted to hear their opinions.

Unfortunately, Xiao Muyu remained silent, and Liu Wei, aiming to be cautious, said, “Let’s not take any risks. It’s only the first night; we shouldn’t be too hasty.”

After speaking, he looked around at the others, seriously advising, “If we want to make it out of here alive, we have to work together. I know it’s hard to trust each other right away, but I hope everyone can avoid acting on their own. If you come across any special information, share it with the group. After all, there’s strength in numbers. Earning 60 points is important, but staying alive is the priority.”

“Brother Liu is right,” Cui Xiaoxuan agreed, and the others quickly followed suit. They were all pulled into this world without any warning, and relying on one’s own power might not be enough to escape.

To break the ice, Liu Wei was the first to share how he ended up in this situation. Since it was something everyone had experienced, it opened up the conversation. Even the two silent men began to speak.

The short one was named Chen Dong, and the tall one Chen Xi. As it turned out, they were actually brothers. They explained that they both ended up here after their car had plunged into a river, which made the group realize that their shared experience of a car accident was what brought them into this world.

“Miss Xiao, did you and Miss Shen also get here because of a car accident?” Cui Xiaoxuan asked.

Since Shen Qingqiu had saved Xiao Muyu when they first arrived, she assumed the two women must have known each other before.

Xiao Muyu hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly. That should be the case.

Just then, a noise came from the staircase, and Xiao Muyu stood up to see what was happening.

Shen Qingqiu was coming up, carrying a large pot of soup, which looked quite heavy. Xiao Muyu hurriedly reached out to help.

But Liu Wei suddenly went over in one big stride, followed closely by Xu Ran, saying, “Let us guys handle the heavy lifting.”

Xiao Muyu didn’t insist and instead went to relieve the old woman of the things she was holding. “Take it slow,” she said in passing.

The old woman glanced at Xiao Muyu and, with her somewhat thin lips, managed a grin. “Thank you.”

Xiao Muyu didn’t say much more. The others, who had been busy searching earlier, finally reacted. They had all been waiting for the old woman to prepare dinner for them, so they hurried over to help bring the remaining dishes to the table.

The old woman had prepared a very simple dinner—just soup and a loaf of dark bread that didn’t smell particularly appetizing. The bread was pitch-black and very hard, and the soup was a murky liquid with only a few leaves floating in it.

Faced with this simple and crude meal, everyone had complicated feelings. Xiao Muyu wasn’t usually picky. She was more concerned about whether the food was even safe to eat. So she glanced over at Shen Qingqiu.

It wasn’t just her; the whole table was watching Shen Qingqiu closely. She remained silent, but the old woman seemed to see through their thoughts. Her thin lips twitched, and she said, “The food may look like this, but you have to eat to stay alive, hehe.”

That smile again, along with the cryptic tone of her words, was very frustrating. She remembered the system’s initial warning about paying attention to every word, and every sentence. This made her think that every statement had some odd insinuation.

She could interpret threats from even the most trivial and ordinary statement. Just as she was about to start eating, Shen Qingqiu was already lifting her bowl and taking a sip of the soup without any visible reaction.

With Shen Qingqiu taking the lead, Liu Wei, Cui Xiaoxuan, and the brothers Chen Dong and Chen Xi cautiously began to eat as well.

But the moment the soup touched their tongues, they nearly gagged.

The soup was truly awful!

It had no salt, no sweetness—no flavor at all. Instead, it tasted like swill and was truly hard to swallow.

Yet when they glanced at Shen Qingqiu and Xiao Muyu, both women were drinking it without a change in their expressions.

If all the soup hadn’t come from the same pot, they might have suspected that the two were drinking something entirely different.

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Footnotes:

1. 1. Xiao Tian, 小甜, means ‘little sweet’. ↩︎

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Author had something to say:

With the first night about to arrive, will something happen? Some cuties are so smart and actually figured out a few things. What information is there in this chapter?