Chapter 196
Chapter 196
The group began exploring the villa.
Out of trust for his teammates, the Second Young Master skipped Yun Youyou and the others’ rooms.
“Let’s head straight downstairs.”
The Second Young Master led the way.
Once they reached the first floor, there was little point in checking the other areas. They were all shared spaces.
They rounded the blind corner by the staircase and went straight to the Butler’s room.
The Second Young Master tried the door.
“Locked.”
He spread his hands and looked back at the others for suggestions.
Yun Youyou said, “If it’s locked, let’s just open it.”
The Second Young Master’s brow furrowed even deeper. “I just said it’s locked. How are we supposed to just open it?”
Yun Youyou waved him over.
“Go stand in the back and cover your ears. I’ll handle it.”
The Second Young Master backed away hesitantly, with no idea what she intended to do.
In the blink of an eye, a deafening bang exploded beside his ears.
The door that had been securely locked moments ago now lay tragically flat on the floor.
The Second Young Master: “…”
He stared at Yun Youyou’s slender arms and legs as if questioning everything he knew about life.
She looked so soft and delicate, with long, slim legs. How could that tiny body contain so much power?
While he was still frozen, Shen Mingzhen shoved him aside.
“Move. Don’t stand in the doorway spacing out.”
Everyone else looked perfectly calm. The Second Young Master was the only one who seemed out of place.
Wait. Did they all think her kicking down a door was completely normal?
On second thought, a female Player probably couldn’t survive long in the Game without some ability to protect herself.
Once he had come up with a reasonable explanation for Yun Youyou, the Second Young Master finally entered the room.
The Butler’s room was immaculately organized.
There was a bed and a bookshelf against the wall. Nothing else.
They searched the room but found no useful information. There wasn’t even a cabinet large enough to hide a safe.
Yun Youyou leaned against the wall, then suddenly sniffed the air.
“What’s wrong?”
The Vampire noticed her unusual behavior.
Yun Youyou wrinkled her nose. “Why does it smell like bad breath in here?”
Shen Mingzhen immediately jumped away.
“It’s not me! I brushed my teeth this morning. It definitely isn’t me!”
The Second Young Master rushed to clear his name too. “I didn’t have time to brush, but I used mouthwash. It can’t be me. Smell my breath if you don’t believe me!”
Yun Youyou: “…”
Who wanted to smell his breath?
The Second Young Master looked at the Vampire. “Don’t tell me you didn’t brush your teeth.”
The Vampire couldn’t even be bothered to acknowledge him.
He had never had much interest in anyone other than Yun Youyou.
Yun Youyou continued sniffing the air, trying to locate the source of the stench.
Watching her, Shen Mingzhen had a thought he didn’t dare voice.
Yun Youyou looked a little like some kind of adorable puppy.
The Vampire helped her search.
At last, his gaze settled on a slightly yellowed section of wall. “The smell should be coming from here.”
Yun Youyou leaned in for a sniff, then immediately covered her nose and recoiled.
It was absolutely vile. This had to be the source.
The other two stepped forward and smelled it as well.
“Ugh! It really does smell like bad breath!”
“Why does this wall stink so much?”
They immediately clamped their hands over their noses.
The Vampire used a key lying nearby to scrape some powder off the wall.
It didn’t seem to be lime.
Shen Mingzhen moved closer for a look.
“It’s yellowish, and it smells like bad breath. Don’t tell me this wall was made from ground-up teeth.”
Just imagining it made the people beside him want to throw up again.
But without any testing equipment, there was no way to confirm that the powder really came from teeth.
“Let’s get out of here. I swear it’s getting stinkier.”
The Second Young Master couldn’t wait to leave.
Yun Youyou covered her nose and spun around, nearly walking straight into the door.
Fortunately, several reusable bags hanging behind it cushioned the impact.
As expected of an environmentalist, the Butler even kept a supply of reusable bags in his room.
The bag in front fell off its hook.
Yun Youyou bent down and picked it up.
The instant she touched it, she knew something was wrong.
Its surface felt almost warm and supple, yet strangely slick.
Expressionless, Yun Youyou handed the bag to Shen Mingzhen.
He laughed at her. “What’s wrong? It’s just a reusable bag. Why do you look like that?”
The moment he took it, his expression changed too.
“Th-this…”
His hands began to tremble. Then his legs followed.
“Why are you stuttering?”
The Second Young Master gave him a puzzled look and snatched the bag away.
“Let me l-look…”
As soon as it touched his hand, he started stuttering too.
“Th-this… This isn’t made of human skin, is it?”
The Vampire, the most experienced of the four, stepped forward for a look. In a perfectly calm voice, he said, “Congratulations. You got it right.”
The Second Young Master instantly flung the bag away and frantically wiped his hands on his clothes.
No! His hands were filthy now!
The group fled the room as if running for their lives.
Yun Youyou paused in the doorway.
“Maybe we should take the bag with us. What if it’s made from the Young Master’s skin?”
Hearing something so horrifying from such a sweet-looking face made both Players shudder.
“I’m not carrying it!”
“Neither am I!”
After making their positions clear, the two hurried away.
“What room is this?”
“I don’t remember seeing it before.”
Shen Mingzhen curiously ran a hand over the door in front of them.
The hallway was dark and windowless, and the room stood at the very end. No one passing by would normally notice it.
The Second Young Master pushed on the door.
It didn’t budge.
This time, he automatically stepped aside for Yun Youyou.
The Vampire was still holding the key he’d casually picked up from the Butler’s room. After a moment’s thought, he handed it to Yun Youyou.
“Try this.”
Yun Youyou inserted the key.
Click.
The door opened.
The room was small, nothing more than a storage closet for miscellaneous junk.
The broom the Butler had made himself stood just inside the door.
The Second Young Master accidentally knocked it over.
As he propped it back up, the Vampire suddenly said, “That looks like human hair.”
The Second Young Master froze in terror.
“Wh-what? That’s hair?”
His voice pitched so high with nerves that it sounded as if someone were strangling him.
They gathered around and carefully studied the broom.
Not only were its bristles made from human hair, but the handle had been fashioned from a polished human bone and covered with a coat of paint.
Shen Mingzhen’s hair nearly stood on end. Thick goose bumps covered his entire body.
The Second Young Master muttered over and over, “I’m never entering another Instance. Never again…”
Yun Youyou deeply admired the Butler’s craftsmanship.
With all the human-themed souvenirs he’d made, he could probably write an entire book titled One Hundred Ingenious Uses for the Human Body.
The Second Young Master’s psyche had taken a brutal beating.
He wailed, “Can we hurry up and find the safe? If I stay here any longer, I might actually ascend to heaven!”