# Chapter 49: Little Brother
"Since I'm here as a guest, I should at least greet the host properly." The Skinner tested the waters. "Mr. Wang, did you also work at the Tax Bureau before?"
Xu Huo didn't answer his question. Instead, he looked at him with disdain. "Are you even qualified to greet my brother-in-law?"
Before the other could respond, he added, "Asking so many questions won't do you any good anyway. How many more days can you stay here? Is it even worth trying to suck up at the last minute?"
"That's true." The Skinner was a big, burly man, but when his expression softened, his smile gave him a bit of a simpleton's air. "People like us who move between stations can never compare to the super players stationed at permanent sites."
Xu Huo paused his fingers briefly, then said calmly, "Well, a man needs to have ambition."
The Skinner laughed heartily. "Once I go back through the E27 wormhole point, my instance level might get another boost. Then my slaughterhouse can turn into a big processing factory. My canned meat skills are top-notch, you know. All that pork with no orders—such a waste."
"Speaking of food," Xu Huo said, changing the subject, "when do we eat?"
The Skinner was enthusiastic. "I just butchered a few pigs today—the meat's still fresh!"
Xu Huo wrinkled his nose in disgust. "How can we eat something so dirty and smelly? I saw some live fish earlier. Kill them fresh and eat them now."
The Skinner was a bit disappointed that he couldn't show off his knife skills and cooking, but he raised his voice and called for a player.
Tang Pei came over. The Skinner glanced at her, then looked at Xu Huo. Seeing that he only briefly glanced at the woman's chest before losing interest and looking away, the Skinner brightened up again and ordered, "You guys prepare the fish."
Without another word to Tang Pei, he invited Xu Huo to taste his collection of liquor.
Tang Pei dawdled, hoping to get some hint from Xu Huo, but he didn't even look at her. Reluctantly, she had to do as the Skinner said.
By the time the fried fish was brought over, Xu Huo and the Skinner had already finished a bottle of strong liquor and were chatting about women.
"...The women in E27 are no good. No feel." The Skinner made a grabbing gesture with his hand.
Xu Huo's collar was loose, and his face was flushed from drinking. Leaning back on the sofa, he sipped his liquor and said, "Why look outside when you can raise your own? Feed them the best potions and food from a young age, and you can make them look however you want."
The Skinner listened with rapt fascination. He tilted his head back and took a big gulp of liquor, wiped his messy beard, grabbed a piece of fried fish, and shoved it into his mouth, chewing bones and all before swallowing. "I've heard of people raising them to eat before, but I never thought of raising them for... other uses. Must taste pretty good, huh?"
Xu Huo just smiled knowingly without saying a word.
The Skinner's rough laughter echoed from the conference room that had been converted into a temporary dining area. Three players entered the bedroom one after another and then came out. Together with Tang Pei, who had been keeping watch, they returned to the workshop, their backs soaked with sweat.
"Still didn't find it." Qin An said regretfully. "We don't have any mechanism props or luck props on hand. Searching manually is just wasting the time we fought for."
"Maybe opening the secret room itself requires a special prop." Tang Pei guessed. "That's why we can't find it."
"Then what do we do?" Xian Dazhi looked at them with a bewildered expression. "I'm dumb and uneducated. I can help as a thug, but I'm no good at thinking."
Zou Weichang glared at him, exasperated. "If it really comes down to it, then let's do what I said. For these fifteen days, try not to anger the Skinner, and when the game time is up, use the ticket to leave."
Qin An was also considering this option, but Tang Pei gritted her teeth and said, "I don't have any tickets left. Can any of you sell me one?"
The group fell silent. Just then, the Skinner's voice came closer. "Brother Wang, I didn't know you liked fishing too. I've collected quite a few fishing props—you'll definitely be interested."
"True interest means going with the flow. Anyone can catch fish with props. Real skill and eyesight—that's the superior way." Xu Huo's voice sounded a bit slurred, clearly drunk.
"Exactly!" The Skinner slapped his shoulder with a hand as big as a palm leaf. "Brother Wang, we're kindred spirits! You have to stay a few more days!"
Xu Huo patted his shoulder in return, acting like they were best buddies. "No problem. Next time you come, I'll take you fishing!"
The two of them walked into the bedroom arm in arm, their backs to the others. Xu Huo, who looked two sizes smaller than the Skinner, somehow didn't seem lacking in presence at all.
He just walked straight into the Skinner's bedroom?
From the sound of it, the Skinner was going to show him his collection. There were no props in the bedroom, so he could openly enter the secret room?
The players held their breath, communicating only with their eyes, afraid that speaking would blow Xu Huo's cover.
Only when the fur room door closed did they finally relax, hope rising in their hearts. Maybe Xu Huo could just steal the collection directly?
On the other side, Xu Huo entered the fur room and was startled by the various animal skins hanging vertically and densely packed inside.
It was already dark outside. Dozens or even hundreds of shadows hung from hooks, looking at first glance like dozens of people hanging there.
"These..." He slowed his speech, and the excited Skinner immediately cut him off. "What's there to see in these? Just fur and human skin. My real collection—that's the good stuff!"
Human skin?
Xu Huo quickly scanned the fur room, his gaze darkening slightly. Then he pretended not to notice and followed the Skinner into the bedroom.
Once inside, the Skinner first shook his arms, pressed both palms against the wall beside the bed, and used brute force to slide the entire wall horizontally back by over a meter, revealing a passage wide enough for two people.
Xu Huo walked in first, and only after the Skinner entered did he take a brief look around the secret room.
The secret room was slightly larger than the bedroom outside. Two single sofas faced each other, with fishhooks and knives on the table between them, along with unfinished liquor and glasses.
Three walls of the room had shelves. Some ordinary-looking, unremarkable items—like matches, fishing rods, bottle openers, and a dozen other things—were placed individually in compartments. He wasn't sure if they were props.
Piles of cigarettes, liquor, white notes, and pornographic magazines were scattered in the corners of the room, along with some moldy fruit pits.
On another wall was a fireplace. Strangely, a log was burning inside, but the flames gave off no heat.
Above the fireplace hung a painting of a woman's body—large chest, large hips. When Xu Huo looked at it, the woman in the painting winked at him.
The Skinner clapped his hands, and the woman stepped naked out of the painting, threw her arms around him, and started kissing him.
She had a human form but no human consciousness.
The Skinner groped her and said to Xu Huo, "Brother Wang, what do you think?"
"She comes whenever you call. Give her a photo, and she can turn into any woman you want. You can play any game you like. You don't have anything this good, do you?"
"Indeed, I don't." Xu Huo stared at the woman and said slowly.