Chapter 23: The Statue

“Why did you deliberately provoke that NPC?” Huang Junjie asked on the way back to their lodgings.

“Pure curiosity,” Xu Huo said. “He didn't seem dim-witted; maybe I could have actually gotten something out of him.”

“In the end, you didn't get anything out of him, and you just offended the guy,” Wan Zhikang said, casting him a disdainful glance. “You play games without using your brain.”

“We’re going to search the villa and look for something to eat at the same time. Why don't we go together?” Du Lanlan approached to invite them, addressing Huang Junjie primarily.

Xu Huo had no intention of joining them and left with Yuan Yao instead.

The villa was not small, but there were only a few places they could search: the rooms, the dining hall, and the warehouse. Aside from these three areas, the surroundings were covered in dense greenery, making it difficult to move through smoothly.

From a distance, Xu Huo estimated the distance from the villa to the wooden cabin, then went to check outside Huang Junjie's courtyard. Aside from the fresh footprints left by players arriving one after another, there were no other traces.

Looping back to the front lobby, he picked up a handwritten guest register from behind the counter and flipped through it from beginning to end.

“Brother Xu, what’s the point of looking at a register? It’s all just names we don't recognize,” Yuan Yao said in disappointment, having failed to turn on the old computer. “I wanted to see if there was any news on the computer. If we could bring phones in, we might be able to look up some information.”

“Even if you brought a phone in, there’s no signal. The game won't let players exploit loopholes.” Xu Huo put down the register and headed toward the warehouse. When Wang Wei returned from there earlier, he mentioned that it was piled with trash left behind by guests.

In reality, it was just some worthless items like the clothes and shoes of deceased guests—due to the specific nature of the cases, some personal belongings were unclaimed and could only be piled in the warehouse.

The warehouse had been ransacked. Any items with writing on them, such as books or notebooks that might contain useful information, had been sifted through by players and were now scattered haphazardly on the floor.

In a corner of the warehouse was a pile of moldy newspapers. Xu Huo went straight for them and began searching through the stack.

After searching for a while, Yuan Yao couldn't stand the smell anymore and turned to pick through the leftovers left by other players.

“There’s actually a diary here.” Yuan Yao held up a green notebook, flipping through a few pages before preparing to toss it. “It’s incoherent; I have no idea what it’s saying.”

“Let me see,” Xu Huo said, looking up.

Yuan Yao hurriedly handed the diary over.

The beginning of the diary was relatively normal. The writer was a relative of the villa's current owner and had arrived at work full of ambition, wanting to achieve something. However, with the appearance of the Headless Butcher, those beautiful aspirations were completely shattered.

The subsequent content mostly consisted of the gruesome details of each death and her fear that she would eventually be cursed and killed as well. Toward the end, the pages were filled with words like "curse," "murder," and "death." The content was chaotic, indicating that the diary's owner's mental state had become unstable.

“Find the newspapers with reports about the Headless Butcher,” Xu Huo commanded.

“There are fifty years' worth of them. How can I possibly look through all those newspapers...” Yuan Yao's voice trailed off as he said in surprise, “There actually aren't many about the Headless Butcher.”

“The villa was renovated a few years ago due to a fire; the newspapers on the ground are from later,” Xu Huo said.

Furthermore, the bundles of newspapers delivered were simply thrown here without anyone reading them.

The content in the newspapers couldn't be too detailed, but some information would align with the diary.

“Brother Xu, what exactly are you looking for?” Yuan Yao asked, unable to restrain his curiosity.

Xu Huo said, “Some people killed by the Headless Butcher only lost their heads, while others were mutilated. Looking strictly at the timing, there is a certain pattern.”

“What does that mean?” Yuan Yao's expression changed abruptly, and he slapped his thigh. “The Headless Butcher doesn't eat people, does he!”

Xu Huo glanced at him, and Yuan Yao sheepishly muttered, “You go ahead, keep busy.”

Xu Huo picked up a pen and imitated the handwriting of the diary owner, adding a few sentences into the margins.

“Anyone who touches the statue will die...” Yuan Yao watched him add words to the diary and asked in astonishment, “Why are you doing that?”

“As an extra precaution,” Xu Huo said, tucking the diary away. “Come on, let's go find the Headless Butcher's statue.”

In the dining hall, the other players were resting.

They had spent half a day scouring every possible hiding spot inside and outside the villa, not stopping until they had confirmed that there were no secret passages or rooms behind the mirrors and wardrobes in the rooms.

“Luckily there's a small supermarket here in the dining area, otherwise we wouldn't even have food,” Liu Yuanyuan said while slurping noodles. “I reckon that Headless Butcher is hiding in the woods outside.”

“I think so too,” Abel said, clutching a crucifix. “Let's head into the woods later.”

“If you want to go, you go. I'm not going,” Wan Zhikang said, patting his stomach after eating his fill. “The Headless Butcher has killed so many people without being caught; he definitely isn't someone an ordinary person can deal with. Anyway, the game only requires us to survive five days, so why take the risk?”

“That's true.” Wang Wei pointed to the mist outside. “It looks like night in broad daylight. What if we run into the Headless Butcher?”

“Don't be a coward!” Zhang Xiong slammed the table. “There are over a dozen of us. Are you saying we can't beat one Headless Butcher?”

“Evolution is one thing, but didn't you see? There are supernatural powers in the Headless Butcher dungeon. If it were really that simple to fight him, the game wouldn't have given us a survival mission,” Wang Wei said, turning to Du Lanlan and Xia Guo. “It's not safe for the two female players to stay alone. Don't take it personally, Wan Zhikang, but it would be better if we all stayed together tonight.”

“Do you know how to speak?” Wan Zhikang sat up abruptly. “I'm not picking a fight with two women, but do you think you can just push your luck? I don't have the leisure to look after two dead weights... Isn't there an 'elite' here? Let him do it.”

Huang Junjie said with a dark face, “We're all in the same boat. Do you have to make things so tense?”

“Pah!” Wan Zhikang flared up in anger. “Who's in the same boat as you? The Headless Butcher will be the first to kill you; you must have touched some taboo and been cursed. You, and those two women, don't even think about sharing a room with me!”

Just as an argument was about to break out, the dining hall doors were suddenly pushed open from the outside, and Xu Huo walked in carrying a large bluestone.

“You're looking for trouble again. Why are you moving a stone?” Wan Zhikang, who was annoyed by everyone, began his verbal assault immediately.

“This isn't an ordinary stone.” Xia Guo, who was close by, stepped forward to brush away the moss as soon as the stone was set on the ground. “It looks like a statue!”

“A statue?” The players crowded around. Indeed, although it lacked a head, the patterns of the clothing were visible from the front, and an axe hung at the base of the statue.

The people present fell silent, and only then did Wan Zhikang shout, “Could this be that cursed headless statue!”

“Where did you find it?”

“Why did you bring this thing here!”

Xu Huo had just lit a cigarette and said slowly, “It was sitting right there at the entrance where we came in yesterday. At first glance, it just looked like a stone pedestal.”

“By the way, I also found this diary.” He opened the notebook. “It says that anyone who touches the statue will die.”