Chapter 181
Chapter 181
The dead man in the well was the bald man in the suit.
The players looked so appalled when they saw his body because–
He had been dismembered, and the only intact part, his head, wore an impossibly radiant smile.
The contrast was as revolting as it was eerie.
Then Shen Yun, who looked quite young, said, “There are bite marks on the pieces.”
That single sentence made everyone look up at him.
The blonde woman frowned in confusion. “What did you say? Bite marks? Was someone trying to eat him?”
“I don’t know. Judging by their size and depth, they were most likely made by a person,” Shen Yun said coolly.
The blonde woman was on the verge of a breakdown. Never mind whether anyone had bitten the mess at the bottom of the well–the flesh was so mangled that finding a tooth mark at all would be difficult.
What gave Shen Yun the confidence to say that?
At this, Chen Chong arched a brow and cheerfully sprawled beside the well. He tossed down a bucket tied to a rope.
A moment later, he hauled up a bucket full of body parts, put on medical gloves, and lifted a chunk of flesh. He could not help exclaiming,
“There really are tooth marks.”
The blonde woman finally broke. She stumbled several steps backward, wanting only to get away as fast as possible.
Just then, two people emerged from the same room. Xiao Huai glanced over the players and counted them.
The bald man in the suit was missing. Simple enough. He was the dead man.
Xiao Huai was not particularly surprised.
Lu Yuanshi followed behind him with a yawn.
Zhong Jiangyuan was initially surprised to see Lu Yuanshi coming out of Xiao Huai’s room. Then he remembered the far more… intimate things he had seen the two do in *Witch’s House*.
His expression instantly turned to stone.
Deep down, he marveled, *Wow. Young people really know how to have fun.*
Lu Yuanshi tilted his head, his ink-black eyes sweeping coldly over Zhong Jiangyuan. Zhong immediately looked away.
Lu Yuanshi’s eyes were far too cold. Though his face was every bit as striking, he seemed even more distant and unapproachable than Xiao Huai.
Besides, no matter how often Zhong Jiangyuan looked at him, for some reason, he could never quite remember Lu Yuanshi’s face.
Lu Yuanshi rubbed his neck, then tugged at the hem of Xiao Huai’s shirt. “I have a crick in my neck.”
He had tried to sleep closer to Xiao Huai last night, only for his head to slip off the mattress.
Xiao Huai glanced at him and kneaded his neck twice with an amused half smile. “Serves you right.”
Those two rubs dispelled more than half the fatigue Lu Yuanshi had woken with. Even his eyes widened a little.
Zhong Jiangyuan hurriedly averted his gaze, hoping no one would notice him.
In truth, Lu Yuanshi had never paid attention to anyone else. He had only glanced at the players because of his stiff neck. After that, all his attention remained on the man beside him.
Xiao Huai walked over to Chen Chong and looked at what remained of the corpse at the bottom of the well.
The head’s smiling expression was exactly the same as the bald man’s had been while dining at the Red Mansion yesterday.
Was this what the local residents meant when they said, “They ate their own bodies”?
His death proved that the taboo rule they had discovered yesterday was real.
Xiao Huai could have withheld this information. After all, fewer players would give him a greater advantage.
But he had no interest in an advantage gained through someone else’s death.
Xiao Huai said, “Last night, he went to the Red Mansion and openly said that he came from the Yang Residence.”
In a few brief sentences, Xiao Huai recounted what had happened to the bald man the previous day.
The amusement vanished from Chen Chong’s eyes, replaced by solemnity.
After listening, Jiang Wenmei said, “You mean that if we reveal we’re from the Yang Residence, we’ll eat our own bodies?”
“We may not necessarily have to eat them, but our bodies will definitely be dismembered, just like his.”
In addition to being dismembered, the bald man’s corpse bore bite marks. What if he had not eaten that meal at the Red Mansion?
Would he have survived?
Or would his corpse merely have been free of bite marks?
Shen Yun spoke up. “I have a question.”
Xiao Huai looked at Shen Yun, lowering his eyes to the tiny fellow with the frosty face.
Shen Yun said, “Whether it was you or him, the woman’s first question was whether you wanted food or lodging. If he’d revealed his identity but chosen lodging, then that table of food wouldn’t have been served, would it?”
Xiao Huai raised a brow.
The young man was very good at catching details.
That was right. If he had not ordered food in the first place, his body would not have been dismembered for a meal.
Thus, revealing one’s identity might not be an invariably fatal rule.
Only when someone both revealed their identity and ordered food would it become certain death.
Shen Yun said, “This is only my guess. Either way, going out is probably quite dangerous.”
He raised his head and looked at Xiao Huai. “I know you’re Brother Jiangyuan’s friend, so I hope you get out safely.”
Xiao Huai smiled faintly and bent down to look at him. His thick lashes trembled with the smile, and his red eyes seemed to hold a magic stone that tugged at every gaze.
“You’re awfully clever, little boy. You’ll go far.”
Shen Yun’s eyes widened. *Little… little boy?*
“I-I’m twenty-three!” Shen Yun’s face suddenly flushed, and he shoved Xiao Huai.
He simply needed more time to grow taller!
Zhong Jiangyuan immediately hurried over. “Xiao Huai, ahem, Shen Yun is a little sensitive about his hei–his age. Are you all right?”
Shen Yun was not strong. His shove had felt no worse than a tickle.
Xiao Huai shook his head, entirely unhurt, but Lu Yuanshi was displeased.
Lu Yuanshi cast Shen Yun an utterly disdainful glance. The chill in his eyes made even Zhong Jiangyuan shiver.
Just as Zhong Jiangyuan began to feel awkward, the tapping of a white cane sounded outside the door.
Everyone turned toward the doorway in unison. Butler Yang looked the same as he had yesterday.
He wore a black traditional jacket and a pair of sunglasses.
Xiao Huai watched him a little more closely.
He had also been the one wearing mourning clothes yesterday.
He had been the one who pumped smoke into the players’ rooms.
Yet today he acted as though nothing had happened.
“Did all of you sleep well last night?” Butler Yang asked with a kindly smile.
Chen Chong scratched his head. “Third Uncle, the beds in your home are so soft. I’ve never slept so soundly in any ga–ahem, anywhere before.”
His words left the other players looking thoughtful.
Chen Chong was not the only one who had slept well. Aside from Xiao Huai and Lu Yuanshi, every player had slept like the dead last night.
In an instance, that was unusual.
Butler Yang chuckled. “As long as you slept well. Young people who sleep well stay healthy.”
He continued, “Master sent me a letter saying that he was delighted to hear of your arrival and instructed me to entertain our honored guests properly. I’ve made reservations for all of you at the Jinlemen Club in town. Why not spend the day there?”
Shen Yun had just said that going into town would be dangerous, yet Butler Yang immediately asked all of them to do exactly that.
While everyone hesitated, Xiao Huai spoke.
“Butler Yang, will you be coming with us?”