Chapter 23: The Statue

"Why did you deliberately provoke that NPC?" Huang Junjie asked on the way back to their lodging.

"Pure curiosity," Xu Huo replied. "He didn't seem senile to me. I thought I might actually get something out of him."

"And you ended up with nothing, just making an enemy of him," Wan Zhikang cast a disdainful glance at him. "You really don't use your head when playing games."

"We're going to search the manor and find some food while we're at it. Why don't we go together?" Du Lanlan came over to invite them, mainly addressing Huang Junjie.

Xu Huo had no intention of joining them, so he left with Yuan Yao first.

The manor was quite large, but the areas they could search were limited to the rooms, the dining hall, and the warehouse. Beyond these three spots, the surroundings were choked with dense, impenetrable greenery that made movement nearly impossible.

Xu Huo measured the distance from the manor to the cabin from afar and then checked the area outside Huang Junjie's courtyard. Aside from fresh footprints left by the players who had come to inspect the scene earlier, there were no other signs.

Circling back to the main 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 this register? They're all names we don't recognize," Yuan Yao said, disappointed that he couldn't get the old computer to turn on. "I wanted to see if there was any news on the computer. If we could have brought our phones in, we might have been able to find some information."

"Even if you brought a phone in, there wouldn't be a signal. The game doesn't let players exploit loopholes," Xu Huo said, putting down the register and heading toward the warehouse. Wang Wei had mentioned earlier that it was piled with trash left behind by guests.

In reality, it was mostly inexpensive items like clothes and shoes belonging to deceased guests. Due to the peculiar nature of the cases, no one had come to claim these personal effects, so they were left in the warehouse.

The warehouse had been ransacked. Books, notebooks, and anything with writing that might contain useful information had been sifted through by the players and were now scattered across the floor.

In the corner of the warehouse was a pile of moldy newspapers. Xu Huo headed straight for it and began to dig through them.

Yuan Yao followed for a while but couldn't stand the smell, so he turned to pick through the remnants left by other players.

"There's actually a diary here." Yuan Yao held up a green notebook, flipped through a few pages, and prepared to toss it aside. "It's incoherent; I can't even tell what it's saying."

"Let me see," Xu Huo said, looking up.

Yuan Yao quickly handed the diary over.

The beginning of the diary was normal. The author was a relative of the manor's current owner and had arrived full of ambition, hoping to make a mark. However, with the appearance of the Headless Butcher, those high hopes were completely shattered.

The subsequent entries were essentially accounts of the gruesome scenes each time someone died, and her fear that she would eventually be cursed and killed herself. Towards the end, the pages were filled with words like "curse," "murder," and "death." The writing was chaotic, clearly indicating that the author had lost her sanity.

"Find the newspapers that report on the Headless Butcher," Xu Huo instructed.

"There are fifty years' worth of papers here. How are we supposed to read through all of them..." Yuan Yao paused, then said with surprise, "There really isn't much about the Headless Butcher here."

"The manor was renovated a few years ago after a fire. The newspapers on the floor are all from after that," Xu Huo noted.

Furthermore, bundles of newspapers had been delivered but left untouched, simply discarded here.

The content in the newspapers wasn't overly detailed, but some information aligned with the entries in the diary.

"Brother Xu, what exactly are you looking for?" Yuan Yao couldn't help but ask.

Xu Huo replied, "Among those killed by the Headless Butcher, some only lost their heads, while others were left dismembered. Looking at the timeline, there's a certain pattern to it."

"What does that mean?" Yuan Yao's expression changed suddenly. He slapped his thigh and said, "The Headless Butcher doesn't eat people, does he?"

Xu Huo glanced at him, and Yuan Yao muttered sheepishly, "You keep working, keep working."

Xu Huo picked up a pen and, mimicking the handwriting of the diary's author, added a few lines to the text.

"Those who touch the statue must die..." Yuan Yao watched him add the lines to the diary and asked in surprise, "Why are you doing that?"

"Adding a double insurance," 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 the better part of the day searching every possible hiding spot inside and outside the manor, even checking the mirrors and wardrobes in the rooms to ensure there were no secret passages or hidden chambers before they finally stopped.

"It's a good thing there's a small convenience store here, or we wouldn't even have food," Liu Yuanyuan said, slurping on some glass noodles. "I think the Headless Butcher is probably hiding in the woods outside."

"I think so too," Abel said, clutching his cross. "Let's head to the woods later."

"You go if you want, 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's definitely not something ordinary people can handle. Besides, the game only requires us to survive for five days, so why take the risk?"

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

"Who cares!" Zhang Xiong slammed the table. "There are over a dozen of us; surely we can take on one Headless Butcher?"

"Evolution is one thing, but you haven't seen it—the Headless Butcher dungeon contains supernatural power. If it were that simple to fight him, the game wouldn't have set a survival task," Wang Wei said, turning to Du Lanlan and Xia Guo. "It's not safe for two female players to stay alone. Don't mind Wan Zhikang; it would be better if we all stayed together tonight."

"Watch your mouth!" Wan Zhikang sat up abruptly. "I'm not bothering with the two women, and now you're pushing your luck? I don't have the energy to babysit two dead weights... Isn't there an 'elite' here? Let him handle it."

Huang Junjie said with a grim face, "We're all in the same boat; do you have to be so hostile?"

"Pah!" Wan Zhikang flared with anger. "Who's in the same boat with you? The Headless Butcher will kill you first. 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 door was pushed open from the outside, and Xu Huo walked in, carrying a large piece of bluestone.

"Why are you looking for trouble, hauling a rock around?" Wan Zhikang, who was finding fault with everyone, immediately started firing away.

"This isn't an ordinary rock." Xia Guo, who was standing nearby, stepped forward and wiped away the moss as soon as it was set on the ground. "It looks like a statue!"

"A statue?" The players crowded around. Sure enough, although it lacked a head, one could see the patterns of clothing from the front, and an axe hung near the statue's feet.

The room fell silent. Then Wan Zhikang cried out, "This wouldn't happen to be that cursed headless statue, would it?"

"Where did you find this?"

"Why bring this thing here!"

Xu Huo lit a cigarette and said slowly, "It was sitting right at the intersection where we arrived yesterday. At a glance, it looked just like a stone base."

"Oh, and I also found a diary," he said, opening the notebook. "It says that anyone who touches the statue will die."