CH 113

(A family of three)

The game began to play dead. 

Shen Dongqing waited a long time but had no idea what secret he knew.

However, he reasoned that it shouldn’t be anything major, so he jumped off the iron-frame bed first and wore his slippers to assess the situation.

The ward was simple but elegant. There may be no decorations to keep patients from hurting themselves.

Flip, flip, flip. Shen Dongqing walked to the front of the bed and pulled open the curtain. 

Swish—

Although the curtain was drawn to one side along the sliding rod, there was no window behind it. A portrait was instead painted on the wall.

The painter had to be exceptional because the artwork appeared to be real at first glance.

A half-open glass window was painted on the wall. A corner of the flowerbed was visible behind the glass. The sun was shining brightly, and the daisies were softly swaying. In the flowerbed, there was also a young girl. Her pale golden hair was tied in two braids, and she smiled broadly. She stumbled along as she chased butterflies.

Shen Dongqing was ready to lower the curtain when he noticed an abrupt spot in the corner of the flowerbed.

An axe was visible in the lower right corner of the pane. The axe may have just cut something, as the lovely small daisies nearby were smeared with blood flecks. This painting was only the size of a window, and everything within was a miniature version. He would not have discovered this if it hadn’t been for a coincidence.

Shen Dongqing stared at the axe for a time before withdrawing his hand and walking to the room’s door.

Thud— 

He attempted to open the door, but discovered that the door, too, was merely a drawing on the wall. It was a flawless imitation, but it was actually a wall.

Shen Dongqing groped along the painted door for a bit before switching to knocking. The room was filled with a series of “thud thud thud” sounds.

However, the sound of each wall was identical, indicating that all of the walls were solid and there was no hidden door.

There were no doors or windows. 

So, how exactly did he get in?

Shen Dongqing pondered for a while but couldn’t come up with an answer. He scratched his head and wondered, “Is it an escape room?”

He remembered certain things after experiencing the Ghost City instance and reading the letter he’d left behind, but his memory was fragmentary, and he’d forgotten many things. He was completely stumped when it came to dealing with this type of IQ-based game instance.

But the issue was minor. He returned to search for clues after staring blankly at the painted door for a while. 

“There must be a way out, according to the rules…” Shen Dongqing examined the ward’s sole piece of furniture.

He hoped that those who had stayed here had a habit of keeping a diary.

With this thought in mind, Shen Dongqing yanked the quilt and threw down the pillow, nearly toppling the entire bed.

Unfortunately, this game instance did not play cards in accordance with logic, and there was no trace of any diary, note, or anything else. 

Vtfc Gbcudlcu mtfmxfv atf delia ogbw atf lcrlvf bea yea obecv cbatlcu. Mbg atf alwf yflcu, tf kjr ja j ibrr obg ktja ab vb. Lf rja bc atf yjgf tbrqlaji yfv, j qliibk lc tlr jgwr, agslcu ab atlcx bo j kjs bea.

Cii atja mbcafwqijalbc…

…wjvf Vtfc Gbcudlcu riffqs. Llr tfjv vgbbqfv ugjvejiis alii la gfrafv bc atf qliibk. Pc j vjhf, tf tfjgv j “ktewq” rbecv pera jr tf kjr gfjvs ab ojii jriffq.

As if something had been severed. 

Shen Dongqing jerked awake, opened his eyes, and peered about, but nothing materialized.

Whump—

It sounded once more.

Shen Dongqing walked about the ward with the pillow in his hand, eventually fixing his gaze on the window. 

The window was painted on the wall, and nothing changed. The small girl was still smiling as she reached out to catch the butterfly, almost touching it.

But when people gazed at it for a long time, it gave the impression that the young girl’s smile was fake. She was smiling, yet there was no trace of joy on her face. Her eyes were cold… almost indifferent.

Shen Dongqing leaned closer, only to see that the inconspicuous axe in the corner had vanished.

Thump, thump, thump— 

A “chopping melons and cutting veggies” sort of sound came from the back of the painting.

Shen Dongqing thought for a moment before reaching out and touching the painting.

Thump—

The axe landed again as if something had been hacked off, and that “something” fell to the ground with another soft sound. 

A gust of wind blew through the locked ward all of a sudden and lifted the curtain. Shen Dongqing’s form vanished once the curtain fell, as if he had… entered the painting.

Shen Dongqing found himself standing on a country road after a brief period of weightlessness.

The weather was awful here. The sky was overcast, there were blasts of chilly wind, the trees on both sides were skeletal, the branches twisted and odd, like ghost hands, and crows fluttered and flew up, making “caw caw” sounds.

This background, this soundtrack, no matter how you looked at it, looked like the setup for a horror film. 

Shen Dongqing, however, was not in the least afraid, and even thought it was affable and familiar.

It was finally time for his favorite part! He naturally preferred those simple and cute ghosts over those nerve-racking brain teasers.

Shen Dongqing strolled along the path, hugging the pillow. He soon noticed a two-story log cabin materialize in front of him.

The cabin’s color was eye-catching. A garden with yellow and white daisies was gated at the entryway, and even the light was warmer and brighter than on the road. 

However, the ability to appear in such a setting, no matter how safe and innocuous it appeared on the outside, actually concealed a great danger.

Fortunately, Shen Dongqing liked courting disaster the most, so he trudged along in his slippers and came to the gate, knocking on it out of politeness.

There was no movement.

Shen Dongqing waited for a bit before deciding to break down the door and enter. 

The gate then slowly opened.

Shen Dongqing stopped and peered down.

A little girl with long braids and a checkered skirt had opened the entrance for him. She was short and adorable.

“Excuse me, are you…” The little girl blinked her eyes and asked curiously, “Are you Daddy’s friend?” 

Shen Dongqing was not particularly skilled at deception. After a brief pause, he stated unequivocally, “No.”

The little girl tilted her head and added sweetly, “It doesn’t matter if you’re not. I need your help with something. Can you help me?”

Shen Dongqing: “Okay.”

He walked in after the little girl. 

The little girl had not taken even the smallest precaution. She didn’t have any suspicion that the pillow-clutching stranger might be a child trafficker, a robber, or something else. She was vivacious and eagerly talked about her family.

The little girl’s name was Lizzie, and her family consisted of her father and mother. Her parents were currently preparing to entertain guests.

Lizzie skipped to the front of the log house and opened the door on tiptoes.

Shen Dongqing lingered on the steps, his gaze sweeping across the corner of Lizzie’s skirt, which was stained with radial bloodstains, as if splashed when the prey was hacked to death. 

“Please come in—” Lizzie said, raising her little face.

Shen Dongqing walked into the cabin.

The cabin’s furnishings were modest. As soon as you walked through the entrance, you’d notice a fireplace built into the wall and a shotgun hanging on top of it. There was a long table in the living room. There was no television here, most likely due to the era in which it was set.

Lizzie escorted Shen Dongqing to the large table and drew a chair: “Please wait a moment. Mom and Dad are in the kitchen; I’ll go find them!” 

Shen Dongqing did not refuse because the host was so enthused. He sat in the chair, conveniently placing the pillow he was carrying on one side.

Lizzie took far too long to seek her parents. Shen Dongqing had been waiting for nearly fifteen minutes, yet no one came out. He couldn’t take it any longer and got up from his chair, walking towards the kitchen door.

Then Shen Dongqing and Lizzie simply happened to bump into each other.

Lizzie’s cheeks were flushed. She was straining to drag a man who had a 50% resemblance to her and had to be her father. 

But her father was in a horrible condition. His face was disfigured, his right arm and leg were missing, and there were several slash marks on his body from a sharp blade. His intestines were leaking from his abdomen, and blood was dripping in rivulets on the floor, almost forming a small puddle.

Lizzie did not panic when she saw Shen Dongqing, but instead smiled sweetly: “What a disobedient guest…”

Shen Dongqing considered for a moment before asking, “Need help?”

Looking on as a tiny girl toiled was not good after all. 

Lizzie choked on her words.

She had never met such a calm guest before, and she had no idea how to deal with it.

Shen Dongqing, on the contrary, removed Lizzie’s father from her grasp rather matter of factly and dragged the dead body to the center of the hall.

“There you go.” Shen Dongqing continued, dusting off his hands, “Are there any more?” 

Lizzie was totally flabbergasted and pointed to the kitchen subconsciously.

Shen Dongqing gingerly stepped over the blood smears on the floor and assisted in dragging her mother out of the kitchen.

Super! Lizzie’s parents were finally reunited and were nicely laid on the floor.

Shen Dongqing had been bustling around for a while and was getting hungry. He didn’t have any props on him, so all he could do was look at Lizzie: “Didn’t you say your folks were cooking? Is the food ready?” 

Please don’t have been hacked to death before it was ready.

Lizzie’s little face was blank: “Huh?”

Shen Dongqing tsk-ed and pointed to the two corpses: “You won’t let guests eat this, will you?” He shook his head and said, “I’m not interested in this. Go get me something to eat.”

Lizzie: … 

She floated into the kitchen like a marionette, then quickly floated out, holding a plate of food.

On the dish was a piece of rye bread and some chunks of carrot.

Shen Dongqing bit into the rye bread and spit it out after barely tasting it: “Bah! This tastes terrible! Is there anything else to eat?”

Lizzie, who had been fully led by Shen Dongqing, shuffled back to the kitchen. 

She stared blankly at the messy kitchen and was ready to open the wooden cabinet to hunt for food when she noticed the axe tossed in the corner. Her eyes brightened up after she gazed intently at it for a time.

You want to be picky?

You want to play cards unreasonably?

I’ll hack you to death with an axe— 

Lizzie emerged from the kitchen again, this time clutching an axe around her height instead of food.

Simultaneously, the two corpses on the floor squirmed, struggled to their feet, hobbled to the wooden table, drew out the chairs, and sat down.

Shen Dongqing was nibbling on a carrot when he saw two bloody faces in front of him. Fortunately, he possessed fantastic mental fortitude. He inquired after two or three bites of the carrot, “What’s up? Did you manage to find something to eat?”

Lizzie didn’t answer his query, but she stood there lugging the axe with a bright smile on her face: “You have to answer the question!” 

Shen Dongqing: “Ask away.”

Lizzie: “My father is boorish and violent, and my mother is lazy. Tell me— Who should die?”

She winked playfully, “You can only guess once.”

“If you guess incorrectly, I’ll treat you to an axe—” 

Shen Dongqing considered it seriously and stated, “I don’t think an axe tastes good. What do you think?”