Chapter 56: Sacrifice

Only a little thick smoke was released inside the pigsty. Yang Can instructed everyone not to speak after coming out, and then led them into the workshop.

The skinner took out a skinning knife and made a light slash across each person's back. Within a few seconds, the pigskins lost their moisture and naturally peeled off.

"We are saved!" A group of people wept with joy. The pregnant women in particular trembled and repeatedly thanked the others.

"Brother!" A child ran toward Xu Huo. Sima Xiao'er was holding things in both hands and found it inconvenient, so he quickly squatted down. The child happened to charge into his arms, and Sima Xiao'er whispered softly, "Be a good boy and stand over by the sister, don't speak, okay?"

This child was the little pig that had jumped out of the pigsty earlier. He nodded, turned around, and squeezed his way toward the pregnant women.

Sima Xiao'er breathed a sigh of relief, then turned back to the skinner and said, "Let all these people go, and I'll return the painting to you."

The skinner grunted heavily, breathing hard. "The others can be let go, but those six little ones cannot."

"Whether you like it or not, you have to!" Sima Xiao'er brought the flame closer. The edges of the painting turned charred and black, and the woman inside the painting reacted even more violently, desperately trying to jump out as a pair of arms squeezed past the tape below.

"Think carefully. You just want the piglets; you can catch more anytime, but where are you going to find a second prop like this?" Sima Xiao'er threatened, while mentally calculating the time. Even if the skinner was reluctant to part with this prop, if his left leg fully recovered, everything would become unpredictable!

"Release them quickly!" Qin An whipped his weapon tight. There was not much time left!

At that moment, the skinner raised his right hand holding the knife. Several players were staring at him nervously when they suddenly heard a cold laugh, as if a bucket of icy water had been poured over them instantly!

"The other skinner has come out!" Qin An shouted at the top of his lungs. Before he could exert force, a few streaks of cold light flashed, and his whip shattered into several pieces, dropping to the ground as the skinner slowly stood up.

"Although I don't like this factory, business is business. Once a deal is struck, one cannot break their promise. That is a rule every industry must abide by."

He looked at the terrified, trembling people behind the players, his mouth stretching into an arc. "Dead pigs or live pigs, it's all the same."

As soon as his voice fell, he darted through the workshop at an incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, several figures were successively slammed into the walls, a few short gasping sounds were cut off before they could even form, and several bloody mists burst out one after another...

Everything happened so fast that none of them had the power to fight back. Xu Huo, standing at the other end of the workshop, watched that gray shadow flash right before his eyes, his pupils widening uncontrollably!

"Boom!" He only had time to lean slightly to the side when his entire body was suppressed by immense force, smashing right through the wall behind him and rolling backward into the fur storage room!

And those hanging furs suddenly seemed to come alive, surging wildly toward his body, every single piece attempting to stick to his skin!

Xu Huo's reaction was not slow either. After landing, he rolled smoothly toward the window on the opposite side, quickly tore the animal skin off his body, and took out a lighter. But before he could ignite it, the skinner, following closely behind, delivered a fierce side kick right into the wall of the bedroom doorway!

"Cough!" Xu Huo coughed up a mouthful of blood, his vision turning dark.

In less than ten seconds.

Peng Fengnian and the others were all severely injured. Seven or eight ordinary people had their throats slit, their corpses still standing in place, while the rest were scared out of their wits, completely unable to snap out of the shock... In less than ten seconds, the skinner had completely turned the tables!

"You're the one who hid in the pigsty." The skinner looked at him.

Xu Huo wiped the blood from his mouth and stood up against the wall.

The skinner and Red-Nose Carl shared the same body, but the two sides could not share vision. Therefore, the skinner did not know that Red-Nose Carl had a visitor, and Red-Nose Carl did not know that the skinner had discovered anomalies in the pigsty and brutally skinned a player alive.

Yet, they each knew of the other's existence. Red-Nose Carl would keep the office tidy, and the skinner left space in the cabinet for magazines and photo albums. Thus, when Red-Nose Carl could no longer handle a situation, the skinner would emerge.

Failing to make a swift decision to force Red-Nose Carl to release the hostages meant their plan had failed. Facing the skinner personality, they stood absolutely no chance of rescuing the people!

His gaze shifted back and forth between the skinner and those two furs with human skin trapped inside: To run or not to run?

Just then, Sima Xiao'er suddenly scrambled up, grabbed the two children, and ran toward the warehouse, shouting, "The place we came from must lead outside!"

Everyone seemed awakened from a dream, and the previously frozen workshop sprang into motion.

When the skinner's left leg was self-healing, Tang Pei's injuries had also recovered. Hesitating for a moment, she followed Sima Xiao'er's example and scooped up a child in each arm. Unfortunately, she lacked Sima Xiao'er's luck; before she even reached the warehouse, a skinning knife flew through the air and pierced straight through her throat!

"The piglets must be kept alive." The skinner walked out from among the furs.

"Tang Pei!" Xian Dazhi roared at the top of his lungs, grabbed a fur-scraping machine with one hand, and hurled it at the skinner!

This bought some time for Peng Fengnian and Qin An, who sprinted toward the warehouse. They had to save the children and pregnant women before leaving. However, by this time, the other people had snapped out of their daze and were rushing toward the warehouse like madmen. The entrance was packed so tightly that they couldn't even get in!

"One by one!" Sima Xiao'er yelled from inside. "Block those people for me, children and pregnant women go first!"

Hearing this, the people outside flashed resolute gazes. Peng Fengnian gritted his teeth, turned around to face the skinner, and a white ball of light emitting intense brilliance suddenly materialized in his hand. He shouted to Xian Dazhi, "Come over here quickly!"

Xian Dazhi turned at the sound, but before he could even move his feet, a stream of blood spurted from the side of his neck.

This honest and simple player collapsed at the skinner's feet. With a flick of the skinner's hand through the air, a threaded long needle emerged from the other side of Xian Dazhi's neck and returned to his grasp.

Peng Fengnian and Qin An, enveloped by the intense light, also witnessed this scene and felt a chill strike their hearts. The former forced himself to remain calm and said, "Players seen by the 'Eye of the Strong' cannot have their props affect us for three minutes. At least for these three minutes, we are safe—"

Before he could finish his sentence, a piece of pelt suddenly dropped from above, instantly covering Qin An who stood beside him. The person who had been standing upright suddenly had his limbs bent and his waist drooping, transforming into a Shar Pei dog within a mere two seconds before being dragged out of the safe zone by a thread attached to its tail!

"How is this possible!" Peng Fengnian's pupils trembled. The Eye of the Strong worked on any player; right now, the skinner shouldn't even be able to see them clearly, let alone use props!

Qin An, now transformed into a Shar Pei dog, was dragged stiffly toward the skinner. Just as the skinner stepped on its head and prepared to sever its windpipe, he turned his head with a sudden premonition:

Xu Huo was holding the firewood stolen from the secret room, pointing its burning end directly at a suspended wolf skin hanging in the air, and was staring right at him!