Chapter 139: Death Flag
"Hehe"
Yang Ying, who was at the front, paused.
"Did anybody hear anything?" Yang Ying turned around and asked.
Unceasing Entropy didn't quite understand. "What do you mean?"
"Um" Yang Ying hesitated, then glanced at the others.
It seemed like no one else had heard anything, and they were all waiting for her to speak.
"Never mind." Yang Ying scratched her head, thinking it might have been her imagination, and continued leading the way.
The once grand courtyard, impressive from a distance, lost its charm up close. The cobblestone paths were overrun with vegetation, and even the dried-up fountain's base was covered in weeds. Most of the flower beds were barren, with only a few wilted flowers and fallen leaves remaining.
The luxurious classical castle-style building that had been so imposing from afar showed signs of decay upon closer inspection. Some room windows were broken, and the curtains flapped loudly in the wind. The blue-striped stone exterior walls were covered in moss, vines, and spiderwebs of various sizes.
"It's so eerie as if ghosts might jump out at any moment," Runaway Goldfish, the cosplay expert who had been waxing lyrical about Indahl's details just moments ago, clung to her friend's arm, feeling a bit nervous.
"There really are ghosts here," Orange Cat said gravely.
"Ehh?!!" Runaway Goldfish tightened her grip on her friend's shoulder.
"Us, you know. We aren't living beings but undead. Aren't undead ghosts? When we come here, aren't we the real ghosts?" Orange Cat chuckled.
Runaway Goldfish: ""
Just as Runaway Goldfish was about to chastise Orange Cat, Yang Ying at the forefront abruptly turned around. "Say Does nobody really hear that?"
"What are you talking about, Sis Ying?" Everyone didn't understand.Fiind updated novels at novelhall.com
"Giggling. Since we entered, I've been hearing it nonstop," Yang Ying said with a perplexed expression.
"Really?" Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy spoke simultaneously.
"Don't scare us, Sis Ying! I can't handle horror games!" Orange Cat exclaimed.
"What the hell?!" Runaway Goldfish exclaimed. "And you tried to intentionally scare me?"
"Quiet down." Unceasing Entropy raised her hand to signal everyone to stop. "Sis Ying, can you determine the direction of the sound?"
"No. It's erratic, sometimes coming from the left and other times from the right," Yang Ying replied honestly. "I've been looking around, but I can't pinpoint it."
"Is the laughter you hear continuous or intermittent?" Unceasing Entropy pressed.
"Um when we first stepped in, it only happened every half a minute or so. But by the time we reached here, the interval became every ten seconds. It's so annoying!" Yang Ying grumbled.
Blossoming Strokes glanced at the system's time display and said, "The in-game time was at 20:21, and now it's 20:26. In the past five or six minutes, the frequency has increased significantly. The situation has deteriorated compared to the investigation report provided by the night watchmen."
"Wait, so you're saying we've really entered a haunted place?" Orange Cat murmured.
"Is that a big deal? If there aren't any ghosts here, would we even have this quest?" Phantom couldn't help remarking mockingly.
"It's nothing. We've farmed quite a number of ghostly monsters already, and it's been a walk in the park," Study Obsessed chimed in. "All we have to do is cut them down once we find it."
"That's true," Orange Cat said, calming down considerably.
"It's not as simple as whether there's a ghost here," Unceasing Entropy stroked her chin and mused. "We all entered together, but Sis Ying can hear the giggling that we can't. According to the information provided by the night watchmen, this kind of laughter is likely some form of death forecast, an omen, or curse marker. And Sis Ying was the first one to be targeted."
"Uh And so?" Yang Ying scratched her head in confusion.
Yang Ying wasn't afraid of being targeted by some unknown terror. After all, it was just a game; in the worst-case scenario, she would die and respawn in Weisshem which wasn't really a big deal!
"These monsters in Redwall Farm aren't like the ghost monsters we've encountered in the sewer that attack people straightforwardly," Blossoming Strokes took over the conversation. "In my opinion, which is the same as Qingyue's, the monsters here are likely to follow certain rules and procedures when killing. Um Think of it as scripted deaths; just like when a supporting character in a TV series mentions that they'll go back home to get married being a death flag. In this scenario, it's hearing the laughter that leads to death."
"I roughly understand what you two mean. You're saying that the death forecasts in Redwall Farm are unexplainable, right?" Phantom said. "There's no way to avoid or defend against it. Once the flag is triggered, it means death for whoever hears the laughter, right?"
"That's right." Unceasing Entropy nodded.
The two brainiacs ran over.
This player happily displayed her findings, and forcefully lifted the carpet between the fireplace and the coffee table.
On the back of the carpet were large, dark stains that appeared black from a distance but looked like maroon up close.
Blossoming Strokes crouched down to examine them carefully and exclaimed, "This is blood!"
"You all think it's blood too, right?" The player who found the clue rubbed her hands together gleefully.
Phantom, who was searching a cabinet close to the fireplace, came over and commented, "It's just a dark and murky mess. How can you tell that it's blood?"
Blossoming Strokes and Unceasing Entropy pretended not to hear and the female player that had found the clue didn't respond either
"This amount of blood exceeds two liters," Unceasing Entropy said. "Someone died here, and the scene was cleaned up."
"When a large number of people died here, did someone take the opportunity to commit murder?" Blossoming Strokes wondered.
"There's a possibility, but it could also have happened before the calamity," Unceasing Entropy mused. "Baby laughter as a death omen, missing portraits of the mistresses, deaths in the house Hmm, there are too many missing pieces of information, and it doesn't add up."
Annoyed at being ignored, Phantom pulled out a diary he had been holding and threatened, "If you fellas don't pay attention to me again, I won't show you this thing."
As soon as he finished speaking, the carefully bound diary in Phantom's hand was snatched away by Study Obsessed, who had just arrived.
"Childish." Study Obsessed glared at the dumbfounded Phantom and handed the diary to Blossoming Strokes.
"I You Damn it!" Phantom had nowhere to vent his frustrations.
This diary, carefully bound with ribbons, seemed to belong to someone with a low level of education. Each entry in the diary was very short, and the handwriting was crooked
9th, 6th Month.
Sir Butler said that Young Master Wilhem would arrive before the autumn harvest, and I'm really excited.
1st, 7th Month
Young Master Wilhem has arrived, and he's still as handsome as ever.
20th, 7th Month
Young Master Wilhem complimented the potato soup I made. He says it has a traditional Kashmiri taste. I'm delighted.
28th, 7th Month
That damn slut. She must be trying to seduce Young Master Wilhem.
6th, 8th Month
Slut! Slut! Slut!
12th, 8th Month
She got scolded by Young Master Wilhem. I'm so happy.
30th, 8th Month
Why doesn't Sir Butler fire her? She can't do the library work properly at all.
7th, 9th Month
Slut! Slut! Slut! She's infuriating!
20th, 10th Month
Finally exposed her true face. Everyone should know how dirty she is now!
3rd, 11th Month
I didn't lie! She's always been like this. Even if she didn't do so before, she definitely will in the future. She's just a slut! She even dares to deceive the night watchmen! Were it in Kashmiri, this kind of bitch should be burned to death!