Vol. 2 Chapter 25 – Deep Sea Sacrificial Town. (4)

The maid froze for a moment when she spotted the handsome guest from the room next door and instinctively said, “Sir, you must not leave your room at night…”

Yin Liuming, wearing plastic gloves on both hands, stepped outside with a cold expression.

“Sir…” Before she could finish, Yin Liuming quickly grabbed the mop right out of her hands.

He carefully avoided the wet end and scowled in disgust.

After a brief moment of thought, he threw the mop aside, picked up the bucket of foul-smelling dirty water, and poured it right over the maid’s head.

The maid: “…….”

She stood frozen for several seconds before finally letting out a scream of both rage and fear.

The scream was sharp and piercing. Yin Liuming immediately regretted not wearing earplugs before leaving, feeling as though his eardrums were about to burst due to the close proximity.

Thanks to the scream, nearly all the players were jolted awake. Many doors creaked open a little as people peeked out carefully.

The maid’s eyes bulged, mouth wide open, as she lunged at Yin Liuming.

Yin Liuming calmly backed away, leading the crazed maid toward the stairs without changing expression.

Mi Anpei opened his door holding a flower vase. When he saw the cleaning cart outside, he was stunned for a moment before realizing what was happening. “Brother Yin!”

Yin Liuming called out, “Be careful,” and led the maid away.

Mi Anpei looked around, clenched his teeth, and hurried back inside. He returned with a freestanding coatrack and ran after them.

The other players looked at each other, confused and uncertain.

Someone was excited. “Should we go check it out?”

However, another person voiced their worry. “Didn’t Madame Solari say we can’t go out at night?”

Si He’s room was Room 19, located far from where Yin Liuming was. By the time Si He figured out what was happening, Yin Liuming was already out of sight.

Feeling uneasy, he came out and knocked on Room 18. “Xiao Cheng?”

But the door creaked open with just a knock because it hadn’t been fully shut.

The room was entirely empty.

—As expected!

Si He’s heart sank. Without thinking, he turned to chase after him.

However, right when he turned around, he spotted a maid standing behind him, her face hard and without emotion.

She held a lamp, and her complexion appeared eerily frightening in the shadows of the night.

She spoke slowly. “Sir, you must stay in your room at night.”

Si He let out a breath, only to notice that the hallway was now filled with maids. When had they all shown up? Each one stood by a door, insisting that the players return to their rooms.

……

Yin Liuming maintained a steady distance, gradually drawing the furious maid toward the second floor—Madame Solari’s territory, where players were clearly not allowed to go.

Yin Liuming was very curious about what would happen if a maid stepped into that area.

When Madame Solari highlighted the three rules, the first was, “If something goes wrong, even I can’t help you,” and the second was, “I don’t like it.”

Yin Liuming thought that being out at night might not be a problem, but going upstairs or messing up the manor might be.

The maid’s rigid face had completely twisted—her eyes bulged, her jaw was sharp, and her cheeks had sunken in. She looked no longer human, but like a monster.

In the middle of the night, the first floor of Solari Manor was completely dark, while the second floor shone brightly, dividing the manor into two entirely separate worlds.

When he reached the second floor, Yin Liuming dodged one of the maid’s lunges and then turned quickly to kick her right into the brightly lit area upstairs.

She rolled across the floor, squinting at the bright lights and letting out another angry scream.

Suddenly, she froze and looked around in confusion. The monstrous aspects of her face began to show more fear.

As if to confirm her fear, a beautifully decorated door nearby creaked open, and a voice filled with displeasure called out from inside, “Who’s out there?”

Yin Liuming stood on the stairs, watching with great interest.

His feet stayed firmly planted in the shadows, ready to retreat at any time.

Yet, what occurred next was nothing like he expected—the maid scratched at her face in a frenzy, then dashed toward the wall and threw herself into the window!

Crash! The maid leapt straight out of the second-floor window.

Yin Liuming frowned and stepped after her.

The outside was pitch black. He could barely see the maid’s shape as she fled beyond the manor grounds.

Behind him, the door creaked softly, signaling that Madame Solari was ready to come out.

Yin Liuming had no desire to face the consequences of crossing into her territory.

He paused for a moment, then stepped onto the broken window frame and jumped down.

……

For Yin Liuming, jumping down from the second floor wasn’t something new.

Right before hitting the ground, he felt a familiar tug at the back of his neck, gently lessening the impact.

As soon as he landed, Yin Liuming sprinted after the maid, casually saying, “Thanks.”

Shen Lou floated beside him at a steady pace, his eyes subtly amused. “You were that sure I’d catch you?”

Yin Liuming kept his eyes on the blurry figure ahead and replied smoothly, “What else would you be good for?”

Shen Lou: “……”

Great. At night, Yin Liuming really didn’t hold back on what he said.

He was on the verge of speaking when Yin Liuming added, “Can you float higher and light the way?”

Shen Lou’s thoughts were scattered. He couldn’t help but grin. “So, in the last dream, you were using me as a flashlight too?”

No wonder Yin Liuming had suddenly wanted him around so much back in the corridor of the Fresh Flowers Scorched Earth Campus!

Back then, he’d thought Yin Liuming was afraid of the zombies in the corridor!

Shen Lou smiled and silently made a note of that in his heart.

With Shen Lou serving as a self-guided giant nightlight, Yin Liuming quickly caught up to the maid.

The maid was hardly human now. She had started out running on two legs, but she was now down on all fours. Her teeth had grown so much that her jaw couldn’t close, and drool dripped onto her filthy, stinking maid skirt. Her claws resembled insect limbs—sharp, segmented, and dark with a sinister shine.

Yin Liuming narrowed his eyes slightly.

When the maid saw Yin Liuming getting closer, she stopped in her tracks. Her mouth completely turned into insect mandibles as she let out an angry roar and pounced straight at him!

Yin Liuming dodged to the side and flicked his fingers. A fireball appeared in front of him, exploding with a loud boom against the monstrous maid!

The creature let out a wretched scream, thrashing wildly as it tried to escape the searing flames.

Yin Liuming took a few steps back, calmly watching the monster with cold eyes.

He pulled out the illustration book, intending to capture it.

However, the book only gave a slight tremble, and the monster didn’t move at all.

Yin Liuming frowned. “What’s going on?”

According to the book’s reaction, it was clear that this ‘maid’ was definitely a monster from the dream, just like he had suspected. But why wouldn’t it go in?

Yin Liuming tucked the book away and clenched his knuckles. “Guess it’s not dead enough.”

The scorched monster involuntarily shuddered.

Yin Liuming didn’t give it a chance to think. Immune to the Flames of Rage and Regret himself, he moved in close, kicked the monster to the ground, and then stomped hard on its hind leg—

The monster howled even more miserably—it sounded worse than when it was being burned.

It sprang up, sending Yin Liuming flying back. Its crimson, insect-like eyes were now filled with fear.

It turned to look at the man who was slowly approaching and finally realized: this was someone it couldn’t afford to mess with.

Enduring the pain of the flames still burning it, the monster let out a wail and limped away on its broken leg.

Yin Liuming was about to chase after it when—thunk!—a metal coatrack flew over his shoulder and crashed into the monster’s head, knocking it to the ground.

Mi Anpei came running over. “Brother Yin, I’m here to help you!”

Yin Liuming paused for a moment. With people around, he didn’t want to reveal that he had the illustration book.

As Mi Anpei approached, he waved at Shen Lou, who was floating in the air. “Hey! Summon spirit!”

Shen Lou gave him a cold glance, then looked into the distance and turned into light, disappearing into the illustration book.

Mi Anpei flinched a bit and turned to take a look at the monster they had taken down. He gasped. “This thing only has three legs! What kind of bug is this? And it’s fire-type too!”

The dying monster: “……”

—You’re the one with three legs! Your whole family’s fire-type!

Yin Liuming was just wondering how to get rid of Mi Anpei when he noticed another figure running from the manor’s direction.

As the person came closer, he recognized him—it was the younger Si brother, Si Cheng.

Si Cheng ran up holding a dagger, moving much faster than a normal person. He looked surprised. “You’ve already taken it down?”

He glanced at the metal coatrack stuck in the monster’s head, then looked at Mi Anpei with a touch of suspicion.

Mi Anpei humbly said, “Brother Yin did all the damage. I only landed the last hit.”

Si Cheng crouched by the monster, pulling out his phone to take notes while frowning. “I have never seen this species before; its head and claws resemble those of an insect.”

The monster died with its eyes wide open.

More people began to arrive. Yin Liuming had missed his chance to add it to the illustration book. He could only sigh as the creature, still dressed in its maid uniform, slowly went stiff.

Mi Anpei sighed too. “Brother Yin, running out here alone on such a dangerous night—you weren’t scared something would happen?”

Of course, Yin Liuming couldn’t say he’d come to catch a new illustration record. He simply replied, “I wanted to see where it was heading.”

Si Cheng, still studying the creature, looked up and frowned. “This direction… It’s where we came from.”

They were already near the entrance to the town. Not far ahead lay the cold, strange forest.

In other words, the monster had been trying to enter the forest.

He drew his dagger again, the blade catching the light, and his eyes gleamed sharply in the dark. “Want to go take a look?”

Mi Anpei stared at Si Cheng in disbelief. “Brother, are you serious? Didn’t you notice that even the ranked player wouldn’t dare walk into the forest at night?”

“Who knows if he’s just trying to keep the important information to himself?”

“With that tiny dagger of yours…”

Si Cheng ignored him and looked over at Yin Liuming.

Yin Liuming rubbed his chin. “Sure.”

Mi Anpei was dumbfounded. “Ah?!”

Si Cheng smiled in satisfaction. “I knew you weren’t as stubborn as my brother.”

The two of them started walking toward the forest.

Mi Anpei hesitated for a long time, but then he finally gritted his teeth and followed. “I must be out of my mind!”

……

The forest appeared exactly like Lei Yingzhe had described. The soil was dark and soft, and with every step, it felt as if the ground was slowly swallowing their feet, making it a real struggle to move.

In contrast, a faint glow appeared in the forest, coming from the moss on the ground that gave off a dim, weird light in the darkness.

Si Cheng wanted to venture deeper, but Yin Liuming didn’t hurry at all. He tapped on the trees and sometimes crouched down to check the soil.

Si Cheng grew impatient. “What are you looking at?”

“The details.” Yin Liuming stayed crouched, frowning slightly.

The forest was more or less as Lei Yingzhe had described, but the monster maid’s reason for heading this way was puzzling.

Before waking Madame Solari, the maid had already shown her monstrous side and didn’t display any fear. On her way to the forest, she attacked him directly, which meant she wasn’t going to the boss for help.

Yin Liuming scooped up a handful of dirt with his gloved hand and took a careful sniff. There was a faint, fishy smell.

It wasn’t the typical earthy smell; instead, it was more like the salty stench of seawater, reminding him of the foul water the maid had used earlier.

Si Cheng urged again, getting more impatient. “You done yet?”

Before Yin Liuming could respond, Mi Anpei spoke up in a shaky voice. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to go any further.”

Si Cheng and Yin Liuming paused and looked deeper into the forest.

Pairs of crimson lights slowly appeared in the woods—like fireflies near the water, but glowing with a deathly color.

Yin Liuming said sharply, “Run!”

Right after he finished speaking, a wave of sharp howls echoed from deep in the woods, rising and falling like a group of wolves.

If one scream meant one monster…

Mi Anpei’s face went ghostly pale, and he turned to run after Yin Liuming without hesitation.

Si Cheng might have been impulsive, but he wasn’t stupid. He put away his dagger and took off running—faster than both Mi Anpei and Yin Liuming.

While gasping for breath as he ran, Mi Anpei wheezed, “Damn… he’s definitely enhanced his physique…”

After a desperate sprint, the three finally made it back to the town.

The monsters’ piercing shrieks were barely audible now. Mi Anpei collapsed the moment he stopped. “Oh god, I’m dead…”

Si Cheng, not even out of breath, frowned. “You shouldn’t stop right after a long run. It’s bad for your heart.”

“Ugh, I’m dying!”

Mi Anpei grimaced, pushed himself to his feet, and staggered forward a little. “Wait… why aren’t you guys moving?”

Si Cheng said, “I improved my speed. This kind of run is merely a warm-up for me.”

As for Yin Liuming…

Yin Liuming was looking up at the sky.

After witnessing how Yin Liuming had beaten the monster to a pulp, Mi Anpei had full respect for him now. “Brother Yin, are you looking at the moon?”

“There’s no moon.”

“Ah?”

Yin Liuming lowered his gaze from the sky and said calmly, “There aren’t even stars.”

The sun during the day felt distant, and at night there were no stars or moon at all…

Si Cheng muttered thoughtfully, “Could there be something covering the sky above Solari Town?”

“That still doesn’t explain why the sun sets at three in the afternoon,” Yin Liuming replied.

Yin Liuming glanced toward the forest, then turned back and said, “Let’s go back for now.”

Although he hadn’t been able to add anything to the illustration book tonight, Yin Liuming didn’t leave empty-handed.

On one hand, he confirmed that the maids in the manor were actually monsters—and closely tied to the forest. On the other hand…

Yin Liuming gently ran his fingers over the illustration book.

While examining the soil in the woods, he had released the ivy.

Although the ivy only granted him one illustration book skill, its real value lay in what it was—

Ivy represented the real spirit of Ye Qingqing. As a plant, it could easily blend into natural environments and act as his eyes and ears.

After clearing the ‘Fresh Flowers Scorched Earth Campus,’ anything Ye Qingqing saw while in the ivy form could now be remembered once she transformed back into her human form.

The ivy could not die as long as the illustration book remained undamaged…

Whenever needed, he could summon the ivy or Ye Qingqing from the book.

Ye Qingqing was quite happy to be ‘on assignment’—otherwise, she would have been stuck in the illustration book space doing Director Jiang’s practice exams…

Hopefully, Ye Qingqing would return with useful information.

……

The three returned safely to the manor, and soon, a new day started.

Word about Yin Liuming’s fight with the maid the night before had already spread among the players, and everyone looked at him in amazement.

When the Si brothers found Yin Liuming, he was standing at the bottom of the stairs, looking up at the second floor.

Madame Solari’s violin music, still playing ‘The Devil’s Trill Sonata,’ began precisely on time as the sun rose.

“I heard from Xiao Cheng,” Si He said immediately, clearly disapproving. “That was far too dangerous.”

Chi Xi hurried over as well, looking upset. “Brother Yin! I wanted to go with you last night, but I was a second too late, and the maid stopped me.”

Yin Liuming said with a slight smile, “Why would you come with me? Are you planning to offer yourself to the monster?”

Chi Xi glanced at Mi Anpei in protest and muttered, “I can help too.”

Noticing how unconcerned Yin Liuming seemed, Si He sighed in frustration. “Just be careful. Two more players disappeared this morning.”

Yin Liuming frowned. “Two?”

That was more than yesterday.

“I checked their doors—there was definitely a fishy smell,” Si He said. “It seems like the missing flag gets triggered by the foul water the maids put on the doors.”

Yin Liuming asked, “Which room numbers are missing?”

“Room 2 and Room 14.”

The guest rooms at Solari Manor were numbered from 1 to 21, skipping room 13, which made a total of twenty rooms.

Chi Xi looked surprised. “Isn’t Room 14 the place where that missing player’s girlfriend stayed on the first day?”

Si He nodded. “Yeah.”

The girl lost her boyfriend on the first day, and no one thought she would be next the day later.

Yin Liuming frowned. “Last night, when I went out with the maid, she hadn’t put anything on the doors yet.”

His hearing had been unusually sharp when he couldn’t sleep. The cleaning cart wasn’t exactly quiet, and from the moment it arrived until he went out, it had only stopped in front of Mi Anpei’s door.

“That means more maids probably came later to collect the other players.”

Their main mission was to survive for three days. Two days had already passed, so they only needed to make it through one more night.

The issue was that no one knew if the maids would smear dirt on their doors after sleeping.

Unless they stayed up all night and did what Yin Liuming did—open the door and knock the maid out as soon as she showed up.

After what happened last night, all the players were now certain. The maids throughout the manor were monsters in human form. Whenever they made eye contact with those cold stares, it felt as if they were being hunted by a predator.

The once elegant and cozy manor now looked more like a den of demons.

However, Yin Liuming approached one of the maids and fixed his gaze on her in silence.

The maid had been slowly polishing a tall blue enamel vase in the hallway. Perhaps she couldn’t stand being watched for too long, because she finally turned to Yin Liuming and asked in a slow voice, “Is there anything you need, guest?”

Leaning against the wall, Yin Liuming smiled and said, “Not really. I’m just curious about what you do.”

The maid: “?”

“I couldn’t find a job outside of town, so I thought I’d return and make a living here.” Yin Liuming lied without blinking. “I’m considering applying to be a servant here. Do you think I am qualified?”

Mi Anpei and the others, who were following behind, were completely shocked.

Mi Anpei couldn’t help but blurt out, “Brother Yin, are you really applying to be a maid?”

Even the maid looked surprised. After a long pause, she finally answered, “You’d need to ask the butler about that…”

“I only want to observe your work for now. That way, I can answer the butler’s questions during the interview,” Yin Liuming said, still lying.

“What are the requirements for the job? Is the work hard? Do they offer day shifts or night shifts?”

The maid: “……”

She fell silent for a moment, then finally replied dryly, “Our job requires us to wear a standard uniform.”

Yin Liuming’s eyes dropped to her outfit.

At Solari Manor, the maid uniform was very modest. It had dark blue and pale white fabric that covered everything from the forehead to the toes, leaving only half of the face and both hands exposed. The skirt flared out below the ribs and reached all the way to the floor.

Most of the maids at Solari Manor appeared to be middle-aged women in their forties or fifties, with thick waists and big hands. The bulky maid uniforms suited them well.

Mi Anpei whistled. “Brother Yin, are you actually going to wear a maid outfit?”

Yin Liuming smiled and glanced back at Mi Anpei.

Mi Anpei instantly shut up.

Yin Liuming turned back to the maid and narrowed his eyes as he looked into her stiff gaze. “What if the uniform gets damaged?”

“If it gets damaged, we will replace it.”

Yin Liuming nodded and then suddenly asked, “I heard that servants often go missing at Solari Manor?”

The maid paused for a moment, then answered automatically, “Some maids upset Madame, so they can’t stay at the manor.”

Yin Liuming nodded once more and then asked out of the blue, “Butler, how did you get here?”

The maid instinctively turned around but found no one behind her.

She turned back and saw a fireball forming in Yin Liuming’s hand, getting ready to launch.

Panic flickered in the maid’s eyes. She leaped back and screamed sharply—just like the monster-maid from last night

As she jumped, Yin Liuming and the other players clearly saw insect-like hind legs covered in coarse hairs beneath her wide skirt.

Yin Liuming’s expression stayed the same. He gently tapped the fireball, and it quickly changed into an orange-red kitten that curled up comfortably in his hand.

“This is my cat. Is there a problem?”

The maid looked at her skirt to check that it wasn’t messy.

She eyed Yin Liuming suspiciously, and he met her gaze calmly.

After staring for a moment, the maid said stiffly, “Sir, please don’t joke like that.”

Yin Liuming spread his hands and said, “It looks like you don’t plan to share your work experience with me, so I’ll ask someone else.”

After speaking, he bowed politely and turned to leave.

Mi Anpei and the others followed behind, still feeling grossed out by the insect-like limbs beneath the maid’s skirt.

Mi Anpei asked, “Brother Yin, what exactly are those things?”

Si Cheng said, “The monster from last night was like this one. It must be very dangerous but not intelligent.”

Chi Xi looked at Si Cheng in surprise.

Yin Liuming said, “The monster I attacked with fire yesterday is dead, so the maids in the manor shouldn’t recognize it.”

Yet this maid showed obvious fear of the fireball in his hand.

“Perhaps it’s an instinctive fear of fire?”

“This maid just cleared out the ashes from the fireplace.”

Si He’s expression darkened. “So the monster you killed came back to life?”

Yin Liuming shook his head. “No. I think she’s merely a puppet.”

That was why the illustration book didn’t record the monster from last night.