Lost in "Taotie's Nest"

Xu Xi slowed his breathing; thankfully, these skins, like clothes drying in the sun, did not attack him.

He walked through the middle, trying not to touch them.

The door can be pushed open.

He was mentally prepared when he pushed the door open and went in.

After all, this should correspond to the Landlord's room, and it's definitely not that simple inside.

As expected.

The layout of this room is completely different from the previous rooms.

Xu Xi was immediately drawn to the huge stone platform in the center, followed by rows of intact human skins stretched open by wooden frames on the wall.

Enduring the extremely strange and pungent stench, his gaze quickly swept across the room.

Next to the stone platform stood several jars about half a person's height, their mouths sealed, and each jar had crooked writing on it.

Xu Xi walked closer and took a look.

The first jar.

"This is my first time getting a new skin, and to be honest, I'm still a little unaccustomed to it. My skills are a bit rough; the skin is even starting to fray. But it doesn't matter, from now on I'm the Landlord, hehe."

The second jar.

"So, it turns out you really can become Landlord by putting on Landlord's skin. I don't know which landlord you are, but you can rest assured, ex, your skin is mine now."

The sixth jar.

"The Butcher's skinning technique is truly superb. Look at this perfect skin. Should I kill him? It wouldn't be good if I ended up like those predecessors, caught off guard and killed in the gutter."

The seventh jar.

"Haha, you idiot, you've capsized! It's just that this face is a bit ugly. I don't want to be an old woman. Oh well, whatever, it's just a small sacrifice."

Until the last eleventh jar.

"I never imagined that a poor online novelist like me would one day become Landlord. Since I couldn't escape, I joined in!"

Xu Xi: "...?"

Wait, what did he see?

By simply replacing the previous Landlord's name with the old one, he could take their place and become the new Landlord. And the original owner of the diary, whom he had always believed had met with misfortune, is actually the current Landlord?

"Boom--"

A dull thud suddenly came from the corridor outside, and even the floor beneath our feet shook.

Immediately afterwards, the familiar, spine-chilling, sticky sound, accompanied by the heavy thud of flesh rubbing against the wall, rapidly approached.

That Meat Mountain is chasing after us.

Xu Xi had no time to process this crucial clue and turned to leave.

He had a feeling that the Meat Mountain had probably sensed him entering the room and had come over specifically for this purpose.

Just as he turned around, he caught a glimpse of a small red wooden box in the shadows beneath the stone platform.

Xu Xi instinctively felt that there was something crucial inside, so he bent down and crawled under the stone platform, grabbing the mahogany box.

Just then, a faint sound came from above.

He instinctively looked up.

He met the gaze of a specially treated skin.

Although it was somewhat deformed due to dehydration, the outline of a shriveled old woman could still be seen.

Her empty eye sockets were staring directly at Xu Xi, and the corners of her mouth were pulled upwards, revealing a strange smile.

Xu Xi: "..."

He rolled over suddenly, narrowly avoiding the opponent's attack.

The spot where he had just been standing had been cut in several places.

The tall, withered human skin overturned the stone platform, emitting a piercing laugh, and waved its slender yet sharp limbs, lunging at Xu Xi like a giant spider.

At the critical moment, the wooden door to the room was smashed open by a powerful force from the outside.

A massive, rotting Meat Mountain forced its way in, the faceless chunks of flesh emitting a piercing wail.

It didn't Xu Xi, and went straight to crush the shriveled human skin.

The Meat Mountain wants to take back that skin!

Having discerned the intentions of the Meat Mountain, Xu Xi seized the brief opening and ran out of the room without hesitation.

As he ran desperately down the corridor, he glanced back.

Inside the room, the Meat Mountain had tightly wrapped the struggling, shriveled human skin around its body, and then it suddenly turned around.

Xu Xi was being targeted again. "..."

He ignored the commotion behind him and looked down at the box in his hand.

It wasn't locked; there was only a simple brass clasp.

Xu Xi ran, she unfastened the copper clasp and opened the box.

A key lay quietly inside.

For some reason, the moment Xu Xi saw this key, she was convinced that it was the real key to the front door.

Clutching the key tightly in his hand, he walked to the left along the corridor, which was even more dilapidated and twisted than before, with walls that seemed to be writhing.

Fifth floor, fourth floor, third floor...

The house numbers are decreasing rapidly.

As Xu Xi passed by 202, she hesitated for a moment, but still reached out and gave it a push.

The door remained completely still.

He didn't stop and kept running forward.

201, 102, 101...

He tried every door, but he couldn't open door 101 either.

"Boom--"

Unlike before, when he could shake off the Meat Mountain by running for a while or hiding in a room, this time no matter how he dodged, the Meat Mountain relentlessly pursued him.

Not far behind, the Meat Mountain, due to its enormous size, smashed through half of the wall as it squeezed through a narrow corner.

Broken bricks and plaster rained down on it, but they did nothing to hinder its progress.

Xu Xi's only thought was to run, and keep running.

Finally, a door appeared at the end of the corridor.

The door was thick and tall, and at that moment, a very faint white light was seeping out from the cracks in the iron door.

Hope instantly ignited in his heart.

The Meat Mountain seemed to realize something and let out a frantic scream.

Xu Xi arrived at the door and quickly inserted the key into the lock.

"Click--"

As the Meat Mountain crashed down on him, he tumbled heavily to the other side of the door.

Time seemed to have passed for a long time, yet it also seemed to have only passed in an instant.

The roar of the Meat Mountain gradually faded into the distance, until finally, only the rapid beating of a heart and the sound of fine rain remained in one's ears.

Xu Xi slowly opened her eyes.

A light rain was falling intermittently from the gloomy sky, and the air, carrying moisture, was refreshing yet slightly cool.

Beside him, a car was parked quietly.

Behind me was the iron gate with its openwork lattice design.

He... came out?

Xu Xi was somewhat incredulous.

After standing there for a while, he finally realized that he had truly left the building.

But... why haven't I finished the game yet?

Xu Xi thought for a moment, then turned her gaze to the car next to her.

Coincidentally, the car keys were in the car.

Although he hadn't driven much, he still passed his driver's test.

Unfortunately, that didn't stop him from still getting carsick.

Fortunately, in most cases, people who are prone to motion sickness will not experience it when driving themselves, or their symptoms will be significantly reduced.

He was one of them.

The vehicle was started and slowly drove onto the street outside.

Dense raindrops pounded against the windshield, and the wipers swung from side to side.

The scenery outside the window rushed past, and after driving a few hundred meters, Xu Xi's tense nerves gradually relaxed.

Unbeknownst to him, under the streetlights at the edge of the street, a tall, slender figure was silently watching him as he drove further and further away.