Child Murder

The shock of seeing this scene directly was overwhelming, and Xie Mingchi's ears buzzed with a ringing sound, leaving him momentarily disoriented.

He Qi arrived late, "Bro, did you guys find what—holy soybeans—AH!!!" 

Upon seeing the face in the gap, He Qi leapt three feet into the air, crashing straight into the rotating frame. He immediately squatted on the floor, holding his head and crying.

"Don't react like that, who lets their ghost puppet act like this?" Shen Fianen patted He Qi's shoulder in a somewhat condescending manner, then tilted his head and glanced at the scene, followed by a long, resonating "Ugh—"

He gagged for a while, finally straightening up in a weak state, "Senior, you'll need to pay for my medical bills. After this, I'm going to a bar to find some pretty boys and girls to play with…"

Wan Wuqiu was speechless, nearly choking on his own words, "…Can you wait until we're outside?"

Due to the ringing in his ears, Xie Mingchi's consciousness was hazy for a long time. When his mind finally cleared, he realized that at some point, Wan Wuqiu had already moved in front of him, pushing the frame open a little more to shield him from the gruesome sight inside.

It wasn't hard to understand why He Qi and Shen Fianen had reacted so strongly. In the gap, the face staring back at them was that of the boy who had died the previous night. As the frame was moved, the full condition of his body became visible to them.

His eye sockets were hollow, his mouth was agape, and fear still lingered in his expression. His abdomen had been sliced open, his internal organs had been removed, and the skin clung to his bones. The blood that had leaked out hadn't coagulated yet, mixing with the repulsive odor that made it unbearable to be near.

Xie Mingchi's mind still echoed with the boy's trembling words from last night. This was the first time he had truly felt the loss of a living being, and it filled him with an indescribable sense of sadness and discomfort.

Wan Wuqiu turned back and glanced at him, gently pushing him to the side to make sure he wouldn't see much of the grisly scene, before returning to inspect the body.

Xie Mingchi turned away, pinching the space between his brows, and exhaled heavily.

After a moment, he turned back around, took a few steps closer, and joined Wan Wuqiu in examining the body.

Wan Wuqiu shot him a glance but said nothing to stop him.

Beyond the corpse, Xie Mingchi noticed that the entire dark room was actually an elevator, with two buttons marked "2" and "3."

"The sound when the frame moved also had a scraping stone noise," Xie Mingchi furrowed his brows, "So the sound I heard last night might have been the stairs and the frame moving at the same time, and the boy was dragged into the elevator by something?"

Wan Wuqiu nodded, "That's likely. This elevator should go directly to the rooms below. It leads to…"

"Room 203."

Mr. Du had just come out of Room 203 a while ago!

Xie Mingchi suddenly stood up and walked toward the other side. Sure enough, when he opened another hidden room, inside was the body of a woman, the first person who had disappeared.

And beneath this elevator, it connected to Room 206!

But strangely, the woman didn't seem to have any fatal wounds, nor was her abdomen hollowed out like the boy's.

Xie Mingchi turned to Wan Wuqiu, "The ghost puppet and the puppet master weren't killed by the same thing, were they?"

"No," Wan Wuqiu replied, "The boy was killed with some kind of tool. He doesn't have any other injuries; he died because his internal organs were removed. His ghost puppet... should have been killed by a ghost."

Xie Mingchi didn't quite understand, "The ghost puppet can be killed?"

Wan Wuqiu glanced at the clock on the wall, moved the frame back into place, and explained, "A ghost puppet is a soul trapped in a body, existing between the living and the dead. But ghosts are souls that haven't been made into puppets, and ghosts can still kill ghost puppets. Also..."

He seemed reluctant to continue, pausing briefly.

Shen Fianen tilted his head, watching them, and smoothly added, "And a ghost puppet killed by a ghost will usually be consumed by the resentment, falling into a state of neither life nor death. If it's consumed by a single resentment, it becomes part of the ghost. But if multiple resentments are shared..."

Wan Wuqiu cleared his throat at the perfect moment to stop him from saying more.

Shen Fianen paused for a second, then grinned, "I've never seen a ghost puppet like that."

Xie Mingchi instinctively felt they were lying and deliberately hiding something from him, but he didn't press it, since they weren't very close.

Even so, this was enough for Xie Mingchi to think. The woman had been killed by a ghost for violating the game's rules, and he had reason to suspect she had been consumed by a small ghost. As for the boy...

He had been stuck in a mental trap, thinking the boy didn't break the rules as long as he hadn't gone down the stairs. As long as you didn't break the rules, you'd be fine.

But the rules were clear: the fourth person would disappear. No negotiation.

"I think we should focus on finding the conditions for being chosen as the fourth person and try to avoid them," Xie Mingchi took a deep breath and said, "We need to check the second and third floors."

There were far too few clues in the allowed areas; they had to take the initiative.

Just then, Mr. Du came out of Room 206. He looked up and saw Xie Mingchi and the others near the fourth floor, even smiling at them in a not-so-friendly way.

Then, he went up the stairs and entered the restaurant on the third floor.

After a while, He Qi twitched his nose and tugged at Xie Mingchi's sleeve, uncertain, "Bro, I think I smell something…"

Wan Wuqiu raised an eyebrow, "Hm?"

He glanced at the recently closed dark room, still smelling of blood, "Did little He get faint from hunger?"

He Qi shook his head vigorously, "No, it's the smell of incense from a temple."

Shen Fianen also sniffed, "Is He Qi sure? I don't smell anything. I can distinguish hundreds of different kinds of spices."

He Qi seemed unsure, scratching his head, "Maybe… I often smell things that aren't there."

Xie Mingchi remained silent for a moment, then said, "It's not wrong, He Qi has a really sharp sense of smell."

Just how sharp? Well, once, He Qi could smell food rotting in the fridge after they'd been gone for five days on a business trip. The cake was still in the fridge, and the door was closed, but He Qi had smelled it.

Normal dogs wouldn't be able to smell that, but He Qi did.

At the time, Xie Mingchi thought he was just saying things, but when he opened the fridge and got close to the cake, he was silent.

He Qi definitely had extraordinary senses.

So the scent he smelled now was real.

"Who's burning incense?" Xie Mingchi furrowed his brows, looking toward the restaurant door. "Mr. Du?"

"Given the current situation, it's very likely that he's luring children to this mansion under the guise of a tour, then using the game at night to kill them, probably to harvest their internal organs," Wan Wuqiu crossed his arms, tapping his fingers absentmindedly, "Organ trafficking. It's a pretty lucrative black market trade."

Xie Mingchi continued his thought, "So, a person who kills without mercy and has no sympathy for children, is now burning incense? He's killed so many people, but does he still fear retribution?"

The first kill might still have caused some fear of consequences, but after killing so many, he should have become numb to it.

Xie Mingchi didn't know why he thought this way, but it was a gut feeling.

Wan Wuqiu shrugged, "Who knows? Don't expect everyone to think like you. If Mr. Du has been hurting children for money, then his desire for wealth is clear. But once you're dead, what's the point of money? Maybe he believes that by burning incense to the Buddha, he can atone for his sins and live longer?"

Xie Mingchi muttered something under his breath, and Wan Wuqiu didn't catch it, but based on the lip movement, it seemed like a pretty foul curse.

Wan Wuqiu smiled, then glanced at his watch and quietly said, "It's time."

Just then, a loud stone-scraping noise rang out—the stairs between the third and fourth floors shifted!

It was noon.

He Qi immediately understood and took note of the change in the stairs. Xie Mingchi focused on the possible vanishing sections of the four corridors.

When the sound stopped, no vanishing paths appeared.

Xie Mingchi was deep in thought when suddenly, a voice came

 from nowhere, "Ladies and gentlemen, it's lunchtime. Please proceed to the third-floor restaurant."

Xie Mingchi was startled, instinctively stepping back. Then, a hand steadied his waist, helping him regain his balance.

The temperature of the hand seeped through his clothes, but it felt cold, like smooth jade.

He turned his head and found Wan Wuqiu's face inches away.

Wan Wuqiu smiled, "Be careful. This place is full of ghostly things that appear out of nowhere. If you're scared, just stay close to me."

His voice was light, but Xie Mingchi suddenly felt that the hand on his waist, cold as it was, seemed to burn through his body. He quickly stepped away like a spring coil, "You can't always be behind me."

Xie Mingchi said this casually, but after it left his mouth, he realized it sounded a bit too dramatic, even a little clingy.

A chill ran down his spine. He quickly took several large steps, keeping a greater distance from Wan Wuqiu.

"What's wrong? Did I say something to upset you?" Wan Wuqiu's expression turned hurt and innocent, "It's my fault, I shouldn't have said that."

"No..." Xie Mingchi was about to respond but didn't know what to say next. To avoid prolonging this awkward moment, he shifted his attention to the attendant who had spoken earlier.

They hadn't heard any footsteps, yet the attendant had appeared out of nowhere... or maybe, he was a ghost after all.

Xie Mingchi quickly made a decision, reaching out and slapping the attendant's shoulder.

The attendant's head jerked stiffly, then turned 180 degrees, as though his body was a doll.

Xie Mingchi: "..."

Goddamn—

He couldn't speak his anger, but just then, the attendant screamed, and his body rapidly disintegrated, breaking into several small, bluish-black ghostly figures that scattered and fled.

"Ahhhhh… My God, my grandma, my coat, my scarf!" He Qi had completely freaked out, but since Xie Mingchi was too far to reach him, he had to kneel in front of Shen Fianen, clutching his leg, "What the hell was that thing... Who's inviting us to lunch with things like that?"

"It's a ghost here," Shen Fianen laughed, still looking remarkably cheerful as he casually pushed He Qi away, "Aren't you the new ghost puppet? You need to get used to the feeling of having ghosts around."

He Qi started crying, "No, I'm not... Bro!"

Xie Mingchi quickly covered his mouth to stop him from saying more, "Stop talking, you are."

He looked in the direction where the ghosts scattered, recognizing a few of the faces from the recent photos. They were now squeezing into the frame like thin paper.

Their directions were scattered, but Xie Mingchi instinctively thought they were hiding on the second or third floor, since they hadn't been behind the frame earlier.

He silently noted their movements and dragged He Qi along to the third-floor restaurant.

At the door, he let go of He Qi and asked, "Do you still smell the incense?"

He Qi sniffed and nodded, "Yes, and it's stronger here than before."

Xie Mingchi seemed lost in thought for a moment, then said, "Let's just act like we don't know anything. If anyone asks you anything, don't say a word."

"Oh…" He Qi felt like he was being asked to play the fool. He was familiar with this role and asked, "What if Shen Fianen and the others ask?"

"Right," Xie Mingchi looked back one last time, "No one says anything."

Soon, everyone returned to the restaurant, and Xie Mingchi counted the heads again. Still 12 people, no one had died this morning.

Mr. Du gave them all a satisfied look, saying, "It seems everyone really likes my house. I'm so happy to see everyone so happy," then his gaze landed directly on He Qi, showing a smile that didn't seem friendly. "This guest, how old are you this year?"