CH 122

(Nobody’s leaving)

Shen Dongqing took his hand back and pondered a question: “Then what exactly is the housekeeper’s secret?” 

The housekeeper’s secret had something to do with the basement.

He took a risk out of desperation and poisoned the other players when a momentary slip of the tongue revealed the basement’s secret. Although no one was poisoned, he died as a result of his actions.

Thus, his secret became an unresolved case.

“His secret is presumably – the second young master is in the basement,” Zhou Wenyan said. 

“It’s like a brain teaser,” Shen Dongqing said, tilting his head.

They wouldn’t have known the housekeeper’s secret if they hadn’t come to the basement. After all, as the second young master, Zhou Wenyan appeared living before everyone.

“What state are you in now?” Shen Dongqing jabbed Zhou Wenyan’s chilly arm again.

Zhou Wenyan: “It’s a peculiar state. I’m not sure how to express it.”

When he arrived, the game only gave him a secret.

Incest.

The half-brothers, eldest and second young masters, had an ambiguous relationship, yet Mrs. Shen unexpectedly kept silent after learning this secret.

Other than that, there were no other clues. 

Therefore, even Zhou Wenyan was unaware that his current state was “the dead”.

Shen Dongqing leaned in and sniffed: “You don’t seem to be dead.”

Zhou Wenyan already possessed the strength of a malicious spirit, and his yin energy was incredibly heavy. But there was also life in the yin, so even Shen Dongqing missed the hint.

“Is that bad?” Zhou Wenyan was helpless. 

Shen Dongqing: “It’s not bad…” He hesitated, “It’s just that something is wrong.”

Zhou Wenyan: “What’s wrong?”

Shaking his head, Shen Dongqing said: “I’m not sure. Let’s have a look inside first.”

He returned after only two steps, pointing to the other “Zhou Wenyan” and asked, “What about this one? Are we just leaving him here?” 

“Do you still want to take it back?” Zhou Wenyan asked, holding his shoulders with both hands.

Shen Dongqing: “I keep feeling that leaving him here isn’t a good idea…”

Zhou Wenyan glanced at his body and made a decision: “Leave it here.”

Shen Dongqing said, “Oh,” and walked inside. 

An evil cult ceremony site was at the cellar’s end.

Shen Dongqing took a photo with the brat’s mobile phone, and saw blood splattered on the wall, some new and some old, accumulated layer upon layer, like a cherry blossom tree flowering on the wall.

There was also a mound of animal corpses under the cherry tree, which were bloodied and chopped to bits.

The corpses had begun to rot and oozed a putrid odor, most likely because they had been lying there for a long time, and there were a few buzzing flies hovering overhead. 

Shen Dongqing covered his nose and averted his gaze.

On the other half of the cellar, there were some props arranged, all covered with sticky blood, that appeared to be utilized in the evil cult rites.

Shen Dongqing didn’t want to touch it because it was filthy, so he turned to gaze at the brat.

“What are you looking at me for?” muttered the brat, shrinking his neck. 

Shen Dongqing motioned with his eyes and ordered the brat to sort through this junk pile.

The brat reluctantly walked forward, hesitated, and rummaged through the junk pile. They heard a flurry of noise coming from above the cellar around halfway through his search. It sounded really surreal after traveling through the deep passage.

“This is the basement?”

“Has someone already gone in?” 

“Should we go down and look?”

The other players emerged from the house, discovered the open wooden board in the garden, noticed a passage, and immediately thought of the undiscovered basement.

They hesitated for a moment before deciding to descend and court disaster.

Shen Dongqing rushed out when he heard footsteps getting closer. 

“What are you going to do?” Zhou Wenyan inquired from behind.

Vtfc Gbcudlcu delmxis rjlv, “P’ii tlvf sbe!”

Yatfgklrf, atf batfg qijsfgr kbeiv yf jijgwfv ab rff atja atfgf kfgf akb Itbe Qfcsjcr.

Itbe Qfcsjc: … 

Vtfc Gbcudlcu eialwjafis wjcjufv ab mbcmfji Itbe Qfcsjc’r ybvs yfobgf atf ugbeq bo qijsfgr jgglnfv, jcv atfc qgfafcvfv ab ugffa atfw cbcmtjijcais.

Ktf ybvsuejgv gfujgvfv tlw klat rerqlmlbc.

“Did you find anything down here?” inquired the young nurse.

Shen Dongqing: “No, we haven’t been here long.” 

He’d scarcely finished speaking when the brat’s voice sounded from over there: “I found—”

The brat dug a book out of the junk pile. It was hefty and had a black cover. He didn’t open it after finding it. He first ran to Shen Dongqing to take credit for it, “I found it!”

Shen Dongqing took it and discovered that it lacked both a book number and a title, meaning that it was an outright illegal publication. He opened the book’s cover and examined it under the phonelight. The purpose of the first page was to introduce this so-and-so religion.

The overall purpose of this teaching was to suffer while living and live forever after death. 

Shen Dongqing was delighted when he saw it: “Eternal life after death? Don’t you have eternal life if you become a ghost after death?”

If a person died with no obsessions, he would naturally be reincarnated; if you were obsessed, you would become a ghost, and if it became powerful, it would become a malicious spirit.

But what good is it to be a ghost? You cannot eat tasty foods or engage in interesting activities. It’s really boring.

He turned through two pages carelessly, read it impatiently, and was going to hand it back to the brat. At this point, the astute lawyer grabbed the book and said, “Let me see.” 

The lawyer remained to read the book, while the other players scattered to inspect the cellar.

They discovered an altar for the ceremony as well as some sacrificial items, but they did not discover the hidden “Zhou Wenyan.”

After rummaging, the players exited the cellar and returned to the first-floor hall.

“It appears that Mrs. Shen is a devout believer,” the lawyer stated, holding the book. 

It’s only that she was a nasty cultist rather than an orthodox believer.

The bodyguard was perplexed: “Then why did Mrs. Shen die? Could it be that the spoils were not distributed evenly among the believers, causing them to quarrel and stab her to death?”

“It shouldn’t be possible,” Mr. Lawyer remarked.

He moved his attention to one of the pages where numerous people’s names were signed, most likely individuals who had contributed to the church. Mrs. Shen was a squanderer and an idiot; she’d donated the most money and her name was at the top. 

“You see, Mrs. Shen’s family is wealthy, and she is a vital member who is foolish but moneyed, so they shouldn’t treat her lightly.” The lawyer said as he tapped on the name at the top.

The young nurse sat in the sofa’s corner, hesitated to speak, and eventually chose to remain silent.

“Huh,” Mr. Lawyer murmured, returning his gaze to the names. “It also has Mr. Shen’s and Mr. Shen’s first wife’s names on it.”

It’s simply that their signatures weren’t at the top of the list, like Mrs. Shen’s, but were buried among the other names. Mr. Lawyer couldn’t have located the names if he hadn’t had access to Mr. Shen’s will. 

This entire family was a follower of an evil cult. Could they have promoted internal digestion?

The players thought this should be a key clue, but they didn’t know where this key lied.

“It says that two devout believers together, following several intricate rituals, can breed a powerful god,” Mr. Lawyer said as he read the contents. “But it must have failed,” he said, looking up at the other players.

It was impossible to mix in an NPC because everyone in the room was a player. 

But…there was still one individual who was suspicious.

The players had a tacit understanding and all looked at the brat at the same time.

What made the brat the most suspect? The fact that he was too young. It was impossible to bring such a small child in, no matter how wicked the game was.

Then there was a good chance he was an NPC or had a different identity. 

“What do you mean?” stomped the brat, nearly standing up. “You think I’m that nonsense god? Let me tell you, I DESPISE being a god of whatever! I’m uhmuhmuhm—”

Shen Dongqing covered his mouth before the brat exposed his identity.

“Don’t worry.” Shen Dongqing said as he held down the bouncing brat, “There’s something wrong with his brain.”

The brat with a mental problem: ? 

“We know each other, I’m his father,” Shen Dongqing added.

The other players looked at the two skeptically.

After all, Shen Dongqing appeared to be too young, whilst the brat appeared to be seven or eight years old. They didn’t look to be father and son, but rather brothers.

“He’s ours,” Shen Dongqing said as he pulled over Zhou Wenyan conveniently. 

The players’ gazes became complicated.

A child of two men? Was he kidding them?

At this point, the young nurse stood up and changed the subject, saying, “Let’s go check the third floor.”

The players did not go to the third floor due to the housekeeper’s warning. Later, the housekeeper died unexpectedly, and they were too preoccupied looking for the basement, so they put it on hold. 

Now that she was free, the young nurse retrieved the key from the housekeeper and brought up the issue once more.

The topic was temporarily changed.

The players decided to investigate the master bedroom on the third floor.

Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan ambled along, falling far behind. 

“You can’t really be that evil god, right?” Shen Dongqing asked the brat once no one else was present.

The brat: “Bullshit! I’m Ghost King! As if I’d become some evil god!”

“But… then who is that evil god?” Shen Dongqing wondered.

The brat put his hands behind his back and pretended to be a mature adult, saying, “Who knows.” 

Shen Dongqing felt the brat deserved to be beaten, so he pinched his cheek hard and ordered, “Come on, tell me your secret.”

“I won’t tell you!” exclaimed the brat, covering his painful cheek and stuttering.

Shen Dongqing: “We’ll swap.”

“That’s fine, you go first,” the brat said with a sly light flashing in his eyes. 

Shen Dongqing leaned in and whispered his secret into the brat’s ear. The brat also stood on tiptoes, and said, “My secret is… there is no secret!”

Shen Dongqing felt duped, so he scooped up the brat and prepared to beat him up.

The brat promptly begged for mercy: “I was wrong, I was wrong, I really don’t have a secret! I’m not a player, so of course no secret would be arranged for me!”

Shen Dongqing still took care of the brat: “You didn’t say anything earlier!” 

The brat: “You, you didn’t ask.”

A loud shriek came from above, just as their eyes met, full of tension.

“Ah—”

It sounded like the young nurse’s voice. 

Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan exchanged glances before breaking into a sprint and dashing up to the master bedroom door on the third floor.

The master bedroom door had already been opened, and the lawyer, bodyguard, and nurse were blocking it. The nurse was still covering her mouth, horrified.

They had been in this room the day before, but when they returned today, it had completely altered inside.

The two people hanging on the wedding photo right opposite the door were covered in blood, missing arms and legs, and a smile had been painted in the blood on their previously indistinct features. 

When the young nurse opened the door, she was caught off guard and yelled out loud in shock.

Shen Dongqing came to a halt and observed it: “Tsk! What a ugly drawing.”

The other players: ?

Shen Dongqing: “It truly doesn’t take any skill to be an employee of this game.” 

It was the same with singing the previous time, and it was still the same with drawing.

Indeed, a rubbish game and a rubbish staff.

The other players were confused.

Why don’t we understand anything you said? 

Shen Dongqing took the lead in entering once he finished sighing.

It’s possible that the players discovered vital clues and aided the plot’s progression. The master bedroom not only got a makeover, but it also got a lot more details.

Bloody handprints on the wall, for example, and footprints on the ground.

Shen Dongqing followed the trail of those footprints and stood by the bed. 

The quilt, which had been neatly folded, was now spread out in a jumble, with one long curly hair on it. Shen Dongqing lifted a corner of the quilt to reveal a sunken spot on the mattress with scattered blood spots, as if someone had been stabbed several times while laying on the bed.

Shen Dongqing set down the quilt and moved in the opposite direction of the footprints.

It’s a shame the footsteps on the ground vanished when they reached the room’s door.

The gamers explored the room for clues but came up empty-handed, so they regrouped. 

Shen Dongqing: “Why don’t we tell our secrets.”

The three players hesitated.

Seriously, given the lack of information, they were likely to be trapped here forever if they didn’t share the secrets.

But, if they did, wouldn’t they perish on the spot, like the priest? 

Shen Dongqing made the same suggestion: “Won’t this be over once we speak it out together? The game cannot possibly kill us all.”

The other players remained doubtful.

“No way.”

“Let’s look again.” 

“Maybe there are other clues that have been missed.”

Shen Dongqing was far too lazy to get embroiled in this game and wished it would end soon, so he gave the brat a meaningful glance.

The brat got the message and raced over to close the room’s door.

“Nobody’s leaving until you reveal the secret today!” Shen Dongqing hugged his shoulders. 

Obviously, the three players present had an advantage over the two of them plus a child, yet all three players were afraid for some reason.

Mr. Lawyer insisted: “Even so, we won’t say it…”

The bodyguard: “You think I’m afraid of you?”

The young nurse: “I, I, no one wants to die.” 

Shen Dongqing stated rather domineeringly: “If you tell the secret, you will die later. If you don’t tell the secret, you will die now. Pick one.”

Zhou Wenyan, who was standing nearby, wondered why these lines sounded so familiar.

After a brief stalemate, the young nurse said, “If you want us to reveal the secret, it’s best for you to say it first.”

The bodyguard and lawyer agreed that the condition was good. After all, everyone is frightened of death, therefore revealing their secret so decisively was unthinkable. How can you force others to speak if you refuse to speak? 

The three players here had barely nodded, when Shen Dongqing over there casually remarked, “Fine.”

Zhou Wenyan: “Incest.”

The other players: ?

Zhou Wenyan: “This is my secret.” 

The gazes of the other players wandered between Zhou Wenyan and Shen Dongqing.

This…isn’t this a tad too exciting?

The brat raised his hand: “My secret is no secret!”

Shen Dongqing followed closely and revealed: “My secret is killing mother and relatives.” 

Mr. Lawyer was stunned for a moment: “Then aren’t you the murderer?!”

Then why on earth were they still guessing?

They could simply go outside and declare the answer to end the instance and return home.

“No, it’s unlikely to be him,” the young nurse murmured faintly, “since I’ve seen Mrs. Shen’s body.” 

She naturally had access to this aspect as a hospital nurse.

So her secret was—

“Mrs. Shen was not stabbed to death. Her body has signs of being eaten by large animals.”

Mr. Lawyer’s initial thought was, “Those things outside?” 

“No, those are all small animals, so they can’t leave such marks,” the young nurse replied.

The bodyguard gulped: “Are you implying there’s a large animal hiding in the villa? No, it’s more likely to be a fierce ghost.”

Mr. Lawyer: “Where can it hide? We’ve completely overturned the villa, and it’s hard to hide a large animal.”

“How large is it?” Shen Dongqing interest was piqued. 

The young nurse: “It should be quite large.”

Shen Dongqing clasped hands issued a crisp sound: “Is it pot-stewable?”

The young nurse: …What is this strange adjective?!