The old woman lifted her drooping eyelids. “Haven’t you noticed there’s no one here?” After saying this, she gazed blankly outside again.
The people inside couldn’t help but follow her gaze towards the window. The night outside was already thick, with only the faint silhouettes of black trees swaying. Occasionally, a piercing scream could be heard, making everyone shiver involuntarily.
“Then why are you the only one left?” Shen Qingqiu suddenly spoke. Her eyes, usually enchanting with a hint of allure, were now deep and calm, staring intently at the old woman.
Not just her, but everyone else was also staring at her, clearly sharing the same curiosity.
The old woman looked at them, her cloudy eyes filled with confusion, and then once again, tears began to flow.
“Our village is cursed. We’ve committed too many sins. They were all killed by human skins… turned into one of them, knowing nothing, leaving only me to bear all this guilt, neither human nor ghost, trapped here forever, unable to escape.”
“Unable to escape? Are you saying you’re trapped here? How do you survive then?”
“What sins did you commit?”
Given the scoring system, no one wanted to miss the chance to discover crucial information, so they immediately asked questions.
“I can only move around during the daytime under the sunlight. If the weather is bad, going out is risky. This place feels like it’s locked down. No matter how far I walk, I always end up back here, again and again, until I gave up and stayed here. This house became my only refuge. As for survival, as long as I don’t starve, anything goes.”
“The murderer cursed our village. It’s our fault. We mistreated her. That family was horrible, not treating her like a human. We are all murderers; we deserve it.”
She became emotional, shaking her head and repeating “deserve it” over and over, with hatred in her eyes when mentioning that family.
The group exchanged glances. The old woman’s story seemed unreasonable, but they couldn’t extract any more details. She avoided talking about the person who cursed the village, as if the pain was too much to bear.
The old woman seemed to be hiding something, avoiding many topics, making it difficult for them. “So, we can only go out during the day? We’re not from here, can we leave?” Bald Leopard muttered to the people beside him.
Though the old woman looked old, her hearing was sharp. She smiled at them, showing her teeth. “Young man, you can try. If you don’t come back, then… hehe.”
She then eagerly looked at Xiao Muyue and Shen Qingqiu. “You two girls are capable of killing those things. You must help me get rid of this hellish life.”
Xiao Muyue remained silent, and Shen Qingqiu didn’t respond either. Both seemed lost in thought, ignoring the others’ glances.
The old woman didn’t mind their silence. She stood up and said, “You must be hungry. I’ll prepare some food. Stay here tonight. There are eight rooms in total on the second and third floors. Arrange yourselves after dinner. But, don’t enter the locked rooms. Otherwise, even hiding inside won’t save you.” Her tone was serious and cold, sending chills down their spines.
After the old woman left, the group began to discuss.
“According to her, our task is to understand her story and help lift the curse to pass, right?”
“Yes, it seems so.” Liu Wei nodded solemnly.
“But we’ve learned her story. Why hasn’t the score changed?” Cui Xiaoxuan asked, puzzled.
As soon as she spoke, everyone paused. The score updated.
It showed: Discovered key NPC and listened to her story, +5 points.
The points were too easy but also too few. With 72 hours, if they rested at night, they would have around 60 hours left. Accumulating 60 points seemed far off.
Thinking of Shen Qingqiu and Xiao Muyue’s ten points, they all felt envious. They should have killed some human skins earlier. Now, they wondered if killing more would earn points.
With the old woman gone, the group decided to split up: one person would keep an eye on the old woman to prevent any tampering with the food, while the others would search the house.
Many were cautious, as this was the only NPC and shelter in the instance, meaning there must be clues here.
Some points were collective, while others seemed to be for first discoveries, like the points gained by Xiao Muyue and Shen Qingqiu, as well as Liu Wei and Cui Xiaoxuan earlier. No one wanted to miss out.
Thus, those with zero or negative points mainly targeted Xiao Muyue and Shen Qingqiu.
Xiao Muyue guessed their intentions. Since they already had points, they didn’t mind missing opportunities.
Just as Xiao Muyue was about to speak, Shen Qingqiu, usually uninvolved, volunteered, “I’ll go.”
Xiao Muyue glanced at her, seeing no extra expression as she walked downstairs after dropping those two words.
The others sighed in relief and hurried to their tasks.
Xiao Muyue pondered. It seemed there were no clues here.
The hall’s side was the dining area with the table, near the stairs, and on the other side was a small room.
Searchers found an old sewing machine there, with many cloth pieces and half-finished clothes, indicating the old woman sewed here.
They found nothing special about the cloth and clothes.
Xiao Muyue approached the old sewing machine, touching the coarse fabric beside it. It was rough linen, nothing special.
Just as she was about to leave, she caught a faint scent. She sniffed again, but it seemed to disappear.
Xiao Muyue tried to discern it again. It felt familiar but elusive, so she didn’t dwell on it.
After searching, they found four rooms on the second floor. One was locked, likely the old woman’s bedroom.
The other three had made beds, ready for use.
Having searched everywhere except the old woman’s room, they found nothing. The third floor had a similar layout, with one locked room and three bedrooms.
“There’s nothing special elsewhere. Those locked rooms are suspicious. Since they’re locked, there must be something important. Should we break in?” Leopard asked anxiously.
“But the old woman warned us not to enter locked rooms, or else…” The girl with a bun, known as Sweet, spoke in a trembling voice, clearly scared.
Her boyfriend, always holding her hand, added cautiously, “Sweet is right. If the old woman is telling the truth, we’d be courting death.”
Cui Xiaoxuan glanced at Liu Wei and then at Xiao Muyue, evaluating everyone. She wanted to hear their opinions.
