This was exactly what Xu Huo couldn't figure out. The "Skinner" instance was not a closed environment; if players could simply hide outside the factory and refuse to enter, it wouldn't truly be a forced participation.
Yet, everything happening before his eyes made him realize that even if one hid outside during the day, they would inevitably be driven into the factory at night!
If Peng Fengnian's information was true, the Skinner at night was far more dangerous than the one during the day. Players attempting to take shortcuts by hiding outside might actually become the first targets, making it even more perilous.
After hesitating between the pigsty and the Skinner's bedroom, Xu Huo chose the former.
Before the darkness could fully encroach upon the factory, he caught the rats he had hidden outside during the day and tied them to the wires on the workshop ceiling using strips of meat. He then slipped into the pigsty, signaled Sima Xiao'er and the others to stay quiet, wrapped the discarded pigskin back around himself, and curled up in a corner.
The others were looking at his movements with confusion when they suddenly heard footsteps approaching the front door of the pigsty. Startled, they all crowded into the corner, naturally shielding him from view.
The heavy, slow footsteps did not belong to any player. Xu Huo was certain it was the Skinner, but this version was different from the one seen during the day.
*Creak...* The front door opened slowly. With a *click*, the electric light flickered on, and a figure gradually walked up to the front of the pigsty.
This person shared the same face as the Skinner—the same red nose and tall stature—but his messy brown hair had been combed neatly and slicked back with hair oil, every strand clinging to his scalp. His thick beard was also smoothly braided into a small ponytail, with the tip showing signs of being trimmed.
His bloodstained, dirty jacket had been replaced by a clean white lab coat, worn over a leather apron. Attached to the edge of the apron were two crescent-shaped, thin black blades, each two fingers wide. The patterns on the blades reflected a faint light, mirroring each other like a pair of butterfly wings.
They were skinning knives!
Through the narrow gap, Xu Huo watched this Skinner, whose mental state was completely different from the butcher version he had seen before. A sudden thought flashed through his mind
*I absolutely cannot let him find me!*
As if sensing something, the Skinner turned his head, his calm and cold eyes looking into the pigsty.
In that instant, Xu Huo's limbs became uncontrollably stiff. The Skinner's figure seemed to expand in his vision. Looking at his own outstretched hand, he felt a sense of despair, as if escape were utterly impossible!
The fear of death seized his body and mind. Thoughts of resistance, escape, or a desperate struggle all weakened, replaced by a rapid cognitive takeover—he was going to die here!
"Oink!!!" Just then, a few meters away in the pigsty, a piglet began to scream wildly. It trampled over the other piglets, scrambled out of the pen, and ran frantically toward the back of the dormitory.
The Skinner shifted his gaze and stepped forward to chase the piglet. From a distance of over ten meters, he reached out his right hand toward the piglet. The piglet, which had been frantic just a second ago, immediately fell silent, trembling and pressing itself against the ground, unable to move.
The Skinner walked over, picked up the piglet, and stroked its head gently. "Running around and bumping into things will damage the skin. If I peel it off, the color won't be even and it won't look good. Such a disobedient thing..."
He paused, grabbing the tag on the piglet's ear. "Oh, it turns out a guest has already ordered this one."
With a hint of regret, the Skinner tossed the piglet back into the pen and looked toward the large pigsty again. "There is still a strange smell here..."
Before he could finish, the lights in the pigsty suddenly went out. The darkness outside the factory stopped at the windowsill.
In the pitch black, the Skinner took a deep breath, then said in a pleasant tone, "A new scent. It turns out an unruly little piglet was hiding outside."
The sound of footsteps moved quickly out of the pigsty, carrying a hint of impatience.
In the darkness, the pigsty door had long since closed, but Xu Huo could not recover his composure for a long time.
His reaction when the Skinner had locked eyes with him was too abnormal. A person's presence and aura are limited; without external intimidation, it shouldn't be possible to make someone so terrified that they are unable to resist. Was this a characteristic of the Skinner?
After calming down and exhaling, Xu Huo wrapped himself in the pigskin, climbed onto the windowsill, and jumped down. However, as he passed through the darkness, he landed right back inside the pigsty. This happened several times in a row; the night outside seemed to act as a barrier surrounding the factory. It appeared the factory would not return to its daytime state until a certain amount of time had passed.
The one who had lured the Skinner away must have been the newly arrived Peng Fengnian. If he couldn't hold out until the darkness receded, the Skinner would most likely turn back.
If possible, Xu Huo wanted to avoid a direct confrontation and hoped Peng Fengnian could hold out a little longer.
While he was placing his hopes on Peng Fengnian, Peng Fengnian, who was hiding on the wall above the workshop's front door, was equally hoping that Xu Huo could do something to draw the Skinner's attention.
The path of hiding outside without entering the factory was a dead end, and the consequence of exploiting loopholes in the game rules was the instance's backlash. He was certain the Skinner would make him the first target. He knew his own level; engaging in combat would only lead to his demise. Thinking of the various rumors about the Skinner, his body began to tremble uncontrollably.
Inside the factory, aside from the pigsty at the back, the Skinner's bedroom and secret room, the slaughterhouse, and the adjacent warehouse which reached the ceiling, the other rooms were essentially hollow above the walking beams. Therefore, as long as one was at a high enough angle, one could more or less observe the situation in other parts of the factory.
He had been thrown onto this wall as soon as he entered. After immediately hiding his tracks, he had no intention of moving. Whether it was the bedroom, the office, or the fur room ahead, entering them would mean being trapped like a turtle in a jar. It was better to stay on the wall and wait for the Skinner to pass before entering the rest area where Tang Pei and the others were.
Coincidentally, the power in the factory cut out again. He used all his characteristics and items capable of concealing his presence, hoping to deceive the Skinner.
Less than half a minute after the lights went out, the back door of the pigsty was opened. The Skinner's figure entered. Although his appearance was unclear, judging by the footsteps, he had gone to the adjacent warehouse.
Peng Fengnian's hanging heart relaxed slightly. At this distance, if the Skinner had discovered him, he would have attacked first. The fact that he went to the warehouse proved he hadn't been found.
Just as he was nervously waiting for the Skinner to reappear, in the player rest area opposite the warehouse, a figure suddenly climbed out of bed. Without anyone noticing, the figure walked out of the room silently.
At such a close distance, and with the players being so vigilant, it would have been impossible not to be noticed unless he used a characteristic or an item. Before the six of them formed an alliance, everyone had briefly introduced their characteristics. Peng Fengnian knew this was Zou Weichang's characteristic, "Darkness Under the Lamp."
What was he doing coming out?
Immersed in the darkness, Zou Weichang didn't realize there was another person on the wall. He crept through the workshop, perfectly avoiding the Skinner who was in the warehouse, and exited through the front door into the fur room.