The atmosphere on the scene grew a bit awkward, but the involved parties remained calm and composed.
The one who stole seemed justified, and the one who got stolen from was nonchalant, leaving the onlookers to fill in the gaps with their imaginations.
However, they finally understood: if the Chen brothers weren’t newbies, the amulets must have been stolen. And whose amulets could they have stolen?
They looked gravely at You Qiaolian, realizing the amulets likely belonged to those who didn’t make it inside in time.
If they had amulets, maybe they could have entered like Xu Ran and the others.
Chen Dong and Chen Xi noticed the peculiar looks everyone was giving them and became agitated. “Shen Qingqiu, stop making baseless accusations! These amulets are ours. You and Xiao Muyu are just making things up.”
“And if you really stole her amulet, why would you bother saving her? Why would you keep teaming up? Do you think we’re all fools?”
“I don’t know if they’re smart or not, but you’re certainly not very smart,” Shen Qingqiu retorted, then fell silent, looking at the still-struggling human skin on the ground, showing no intention of arguing further.
“You!”
“Enough. Now is not the time for internal conflicts. The most important thing is dealing with this human skin, and we haven’t even completed the main quest,” Liu Wei interjected, trying to mediate. Infighting at this critical juncture was clearly unwise.
“Can this thing even be killed? And what’s the deal with You Qiaolian?” Leopard couldn’t help but ask, his voice tight with tension.
Even Cui Xiaoxuan, who had guessed the answer, wasn’t entirely sure. She had deduced it from the clues they found and hints from Xiao Muyu.
“Yeah, how did you figure it out?” Lao Liao was also puzzled.
Everyone turned their eyes to Xiao Muyu. She initially didn’t want to speak but, seeing their expectant faces, glanced at Shen Qingqiu.
Shen Qingqiu shrugged, indicating she could speak freely.
“The newbie dungeon shouldn’t be too difficult. We all noticed something was off about You Qiaolian,” Xiao Muyu explained.
“But how did you connect that to her being the human skin?” Leopard asked, still confused.
“Last night here, do you remember where You Qiaolian sat?”
“The fifth seat on the left,” Xu Ran recalled. He remembered the empty spot on the left was the fifth seat, which the old woman had then asked You Qiaolian to sit in, while Xiao Muyu and Shen Qingqiu had taken her original seat.
“The paintings here, do you recognize them?” Xiao Muyu pointed to the paintings hanging on the hall walls.
“I recognize some; they should all be Da Vinci’s,” Cui Xiaoxuan replied.
“Correct, all eleven of them are Da Vinci’s works, but there’s one particularly famous painting missing.”
“The Last Supper!” Xu Ran reacted immediately, shouting out.
“Yes, even those who don’t know much about art have likely heard of Da Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper.’ It depicts Jesus and his twelve disciples dining together, where Jesus announces that one of them will betray him.”
“Twelve disciples? There are exactly twelve of us. Does that refer to us?” Liu Wei felt a chill run down his spine. The coincidence was uncanny.
“Exactly. And Judas, the betrayer, is seated at the fifth seat on the left. Do you see now why the scoring criteria explicitly mentioned ‘The Last Supper’?”
“While that makes sense, it’s still just a hypothesis. How does this connect You Qiaolian to the human skin?” Liu Wei asked, still puzzled.
“Because of the blood in the room on the third floor where the human skin was kept,” Cui Xiaoxuan explained. “There are no living creatures here, and the blood hadn’t fully coagulated by morning, meaning someone fed it the previous night. The most likely person would be the old woman, but upon closer inspection, she didn’t appear injured, and a bowlful of blood requires more than a superficial cut.
“So, the blood had to come from one of us. I deduced it was You Qiaolian thanks to Miss Xiao’s reminder. Sharing a room with her, I noticed her injuries, though she brushed them off, and I almost forgot about them.”
Recalling her conclusion, Cui Xiaoxuan shuddered, realizing she had slept next to the human skin all night.
“Is that all?” Liu Wei was still doubtful. “Did Miss Xiao and Miss Shen also know about her injuries?”
“No, but there was more. When we found the blood-filled bowl, I noticed everyone’s reactions. You Qiaolian kept staring at the bowl and even licked her lips. While some might do that out of nervousness, her expression was more one of hunger.”
Upon hearing this, Xu Ran and Cui Xiaoxuan recalled You Qiaolian’s actions but had dismissed them at the time. Could people really be so different?
Xiao Muyu’s habit of closely observing others’ expressions helped her notice such details.
“Also, everyone should remember locking their doors before sleeping last night, right?” Xiao Muyu asked, looking around.
Everyone nodded. In such a place, they had wished they could barricade the doors.
“And none of you would have dared to go out alone at night, correct?”
She glanced at Shen Qingqiu and continued, “But that night, five of the seven rooms had been opened. Shen Qingqiu had placed a small inconspicuous wooden stick in each door crack, checking them in the morning. She found that Lao Liao, myself, Chen Dong, and Chen Xi’s rooms, along with the old woman’s and Cui Xiaoxuan’s rooms, had been opened.
“The human skins opened our three doors. As for the old woman’s, we can set that aside for now. But why were You Qiaolian and Cui Xiaoxuan’s doors opened if the human skins weren’t after them?”
“The only explanation is that someone came out, fed the human skins, and let one attach to them.”
No one had expected this turn of events. Everyone looked at Shen Qingqiu with new respect. Amidst the tense situation, they hadn’t considered such details, let alone this possibility.
“Miss Shen’s meticulousness is truly admirable,” Chen Xi said through gritted teeth.
Shen Qingqiu ignored him.
“As for why it was You Qiaolian,” Shen Qingqiu added, “if you recall, she lost five points. But we never saw her entangled by the human skin. This means she was caught before reaching the house. Given the distance, she couldn’t have made it inside afterward, indicating she was designated as the sacrificial lamb from the start.”
Her explanation made everyone pale.
“The side quest is now concluded, and the truth is revealed. Let’s get back to the main task,” Xiao Muyu summarized, looking down at the human skin.
“Miss Xiao should have a total of 50 points now. Just a few more key actions, and she can clear the level,” Chen Xi said, glancing around.
“The crucial thing is to find the human skin’s hiding place, deal with them, and free the old woman. That’s the first task. There must be more scoring opportunities; otherwise, few would survive to clear this level,” Liu Wei remained calm. Xiao Muyu’s 50 points were extraordinary, largely due to her and Shen Qingqiu sharing critical information before the tasks began, and their discoveries were challenging.
“You remember the old woman said she was cursed. The curse didn’t come from nowhere. To lift it, we need to understand its origin. Our knowledge of the old woman is only at 40%, far from enough.”
Xiao Muyu checked her progress bar and the ever-changing time remaining: 22:28:45.
“We have just over twenty-two hours left,” Shen Qingqiu noted, glancing at the second-floor room where the old woman stayed, seemingly oblivious to their activities.
“We haven’t entered her room,” Xiao Muyu said succinctly.
Cui Xiaoxuan hesitated, looking at Liu Wei and the others. “Entering the third-floor room released this thing. The old woman is a key NPC, and she forbade us from entering. What if something happens when we do?”
As they discussed, the old woman opened her door. She walked over slowly, with a faint smile. “So, you found the human skin?”
No one responded to her. Xiao Muyu had mentioned that the old woman went out last night, making it clear she was not to be trusted, and they decided to ignore her.
The old woman didn’t seem to mind. However, when she saw what was on the ground, her smile froze like a hailstorm had hit. After a moment, she finally spoke, “You… actually managed to catch it?”
Shen Qingqiu slightly raised the corners of her mouth, tilting her head slightly toward the old woman in acknowledgment. She wore a camel-colored trench coat and black casual pants, a very ordinary outfit.
However, she was beautiful, and this action was performed with utmost elegance, full of provocation, yet particularly enchanting.
Xiao Muyu couldn’t help but glance at her a few more times before looking away. The others couldn’t take their eyes off her.
The old woman stared at Shen Qingqiu for a long while before letting out a dry laugh, “Congratulations, you really are… quite capable.” She then glanced at the human skin, her expression somewhat indescribable.
But she didn’t dwell on the human skin and instead said slowly, “I’ve prepared dinner. I’m a bit tired today, so I won’t be joining you. Eat well and rest early. Tonight, you should be able to sleep soundly.”
As she said this, she looked at the group, her dry lips curling into a smile, sending an ominous chill down their spines.
When she turned to head back inside, Xiao Muyu called out to her back, “Granny, you said your village was cursed because of a sin. Can you tell us specifically what was done?”
The old woman paused but didn’t turn around. “I told you, I don’t want to talk about it.”
Xiao Muyu didn’t press further, realizing she wouldn’t speak voluntarily. The human skin, now tied up, was silent, but no one dared to be careless.
“We’d better skip dinner today. We’ll take turns watching this human skin. We can’t let it escape,” Liu Wei said gravely. If possible, they truly wanted to kill it.
Shen Qingqiu stared at the human skin on the ground. She had already tried using a knife. While it could harm the human skin, it wasn’t enough to kill it. But…
Thinking of this, she crouched down, drew her knife, and approached the human skin.
“Miss Shen, what are you doing?” Chen Xi asked warily.
Shen Qingqiu ignored him. She gripped her knife and swiftly and decisively stabbed it down. The part of the human skin that had just slipped free from the ropes was immediately pinned to the floor by her knife!
The human skin let out a sharp scream, struggling even more fiercely. It didn’t seem to be in pain but rather furious. Cui Xiaoxuan and the others watched, their scalps tingling.
A milky white liquid oozed from the wound, bringing with it a foul stench mixed with a faint musk.
The wound didn’t heal immediately, and the milky white liquid, resembling blood, continued to seep out.
“It seems we were right; when it’s injured, this liquid comes out,” Shen Qingqiu said to Xiao Muyu, who nodded.
The others were baffled and wanted to say something, but Shen Qingqiu interrupted, “Think about how to deal with this human skin. We can’t keep it. The ropes won’t hold it. If it breaks free, who knows what will happen.”
“If a knife can hurt it, can’t it be killed?” someone asked.
Shen Qingqiu nodded. “We can try.”
She then decisively drew her knife and stabbed it again.
Everyone: …
“This thing doesn’t feel pain. If it gets wounded, it will just start peeling from the wound. I might not kill it before it escapes,” Shen Qingqiu said, observing the wound.
“What should we do then?” Everyone began discussing how to kill the human skin.
As an important prop in this scenario, the human skin felt as though it was a pig tied up, listening to discussions about how to kill it, its mood indescribable.
“After all this talk, let’s try fire. The human skin fears light but not flesh or the house’s restrictions. So let’s use fire; we’ll know if it works once we try,” Xiao Muyu said nonchalantly, as if the human skin were a piece of meat to be grilled.
“I agree,” Cui Xiaoxuan said, her eyes brightening. She immediately went with Xu Ran to find fire.
