Chapter 19: Hanging Corpse
Xu Huo looked ahead. An old Chinese-style manor stood at the end of the path. There were no streetlights outside; the only source of illumination came from a white lantern held in the mouth of a stone lion by the gate. Its feeble light barely covered a few square meters in front of the door, just enough to make out the figures standing there.
A tall foreign young man with blond hair and blue eyes stood close to the door, talking to a younger man beside him who was holding a denim jacket. Squatting to the left of the younger man was a muscular man smoking a cigarette.
A few steps away, next to the stone lion, stood a middle-aged uncle in a sharp suit, dressed meticulously, exuding the air of a successful man. Flanking him were two female players, one with long hair and one with short. They stood close to him, but their gazes were unanimously fixed on a greasy middle-aged man with a balding head across from them, their expressions filled with disgust.
Behind the balding middle-aged man were a man and a woman. The man was covered in brand-name goods and looked arrogant, while the woman wore heavy smoky-eye makeup and acted intimately with him.
Additionally, a young man who looked like a college student stood alone off to the side.
That made ten people in total.
These ten people had grown impatient. Seeing the late arrivals, Yuan Yao and Xu Huo, their expressions turned hostile. The muscular man shot to his feet. "Why didn't you wait until dawn to show up? If you're that scared, go home and suckle your mother's milk! What are you doing playing an instance?"
Xu Huo was jostled by Yuan Yao, who shrank back, causing his cigarette to tremble. He smiled and offered one to the muscular man. "Brother, calm down. The train only arrives at this time. I couldn't help it."
The muscular man snorted and directly knocked his hand away.
The denim-clad man nearby said flatly, "We're all in the same boat now. Why spoil the harmony?"
"Whether we're in the same boat remains to be seen." The balding middle-aged man stared at the two female players and said sarcastically, "We'd have to take off our clothes to know for sure."
The long-haired female player had thick, waist-length black hair and looked pure and charming. She was clearly disgusted by the middle-aged man's malice but only frowned and said nothing.
The short-haired female player seemed more lively, capable, and sharp-tongued. She retorted without holding back, "You see a woman and immediately want her to strip. Why don't you ask your own mother to strip for you? Oh, a cheap, ugly, balding man like you—if I were your mother, I'd wish I'd never given birth to you!"
The balding middle-aged man's face turned purple with rage. He charged forward to hit her, but the suited man stepped in, blocking his slap. "A grown man, picking a fight with a woman!"
The foreign young man also came over to pull him back, saying in broken Mandarin, "Wan, be a gentleman!"
Although the balding middle-aged man, whom the foreigner called "Wan," had a physical advantage, he found himself held back by the two men. Seeing the others watching him like he was a joke, he couldn't save face and turned to yell at Xu Huo and Yuan Yao, "What are you looking at!"
Xu Huo smiled but said nothing. These people had probably already gotten acquainted, though the process hadn't been pleasant.
"Are you guys done bickering about nonsense?" The rich second-generation player, arm around the smoky-eye woman, said irritably, "The fog outside is getting thicker. How much longer do we have to stand here and catch a cold?"
The rich kid had arrived relatively early, thinking he could get a head start. Who knew they couldn't enter the manor until everyone was here?
The suited man checked the time. "Areas covered by heavy fog probably aren't part of the instance. Everyone knows the game content. There's a Headchopper roaming the manor. If we stay here, we might run into danger."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go in." The muscular man took the lead and banged on the door. "Anyone alive in there? Open up!"
The wooden door rattled under his pounding, but no one answered.
"Maybe the door won't open until midnight," Xu Huo said from behind.
The muscular man's face darkened. "I don't believe that!"
He raised his foot to kick the door, but before his foot could land, the wooden door creaked open on its own. Caught off balance, he stumbled inside, landing with a dull thud.
The people outside chuckled sporadically. The rich kid followed him in, gloating, "Should've checked your watch. It's exactly midnight now."
The remaining eleven people entered the manor.
Inside, the manor wasn't much better than outside. First, they were faced with a lush, overgrown garden. Apart from a cobblestone path running through it that was barely passable, the rest of the space was packed tight with vegetation, making it hard to move.
However, following the path, they could see a few streetlights and a sign that read "Registration Ahead."
"Why is the vegetation so thick?" the smoky-eye woman complained. "No one trims it?"
"Not surprising. This place might have been abandoned long ago," the rich kid said.
"Someone probably lives here," the suited man said. "The cobblestone path is spotless—no fallen leaves or dust. Someone must sweep it regularly. This area doesn't look inhabited, and going up and down the mountain is inconvenient. Living here makes more sense."
"Damn! So that's an NPC! That bastard didn't come out to open the door!" The muscular man rolled up his sleeves and cursed. "Hey! Where the hell is everyone?"
"Gulp!" The long-haired female player, walking at the back, swallowed hard. Pointing at a spot in the bushes, she said tearfully, "Is that... a person?"
Everyone turned to look. In the dark grove stood an unusually tall tree. Two dark shapes hung from its branches, and a heavy object was dangling beneath them, swaying!
Had someone been killed?!
"Quick, let's check it out!" The group searched through the woods for a while before finding a narrow path near the wall by the gate, leading toward the tall tree.
But by the time they got there, it was too late. The person hung silently from the tree, tongue sticking out long, saliva dripping down.
"Ugh!" The long-haired female player's knees gave way, and she fell to the ground.
The other players' faces also darkened. This person was probably from the manor and might have known some inside information. But what a coincidence—they had just arrived, and the person died, as if someone was waiting for the right moment to kill and make sure they found the body.
Though they didn't know if the killer was the Headchopper mentioned in the instance, having a murderer lurking nearby was enough to send chills down their spines!
"I think... he might have committed suicide," Xu Huo said after circling the area and returning.
The scene was straightforward. Beneath the tree where the man had hanged himself was a small wooden cabin, just a few square meters, containing only a bed and some logging tools.
Behind the cabin were several grave mounds, one of them fresh, with paper funeral money still scattered on the ground.
He patted the tall stack of firewood piled beside the corpse's feet. "At this height, a person could climb up and hang themselves."
"Maybe he was hung up alive," the balding middle-aged man said. "There's more than one person here."
"But according to the instance description, doesn't the Headchopper chop off heads?" the foreign young man asked, confused.
The suited man briefly examined the hanged man's body and said with a complicated expression, "It really might have been suicide."
"He must have been sick for a long time. His body is covered in pus-filled sores."
Xu Huo went over and lifted the corpse's shoulder. Large green pustules covered its entire back, leaving no trace of original skin visible.
Yuan Yao walked over. "Brother Xu, found anything?"