Zhu Yan knew nothing about this.
He concentrated and read through the pages related to [Cannibal House] once more.
After committing every detail to memory, Zhu Yan leaned back in the seat and settled into a comfortable position.
He gently focused his awareness on his breathing, making sure he could enter the instance in a relatively relaxed state of mind.
Ten minutes later.
The taxi drove into the pitch-dark villa district, gradually slowing to a stop in front of a narrow lane.
"The house is on your right," the driver said, turning back to Zhu Yan and pointing at the lane.
"Just follow this all the way to the end. The car can't get in."
Zhu Yan looked in the direction he pointed.
A few scattered streetlights cast patchy pools of light and shadow on the road. The villas along the roadside were dark and hollow, like man-eating beasts.
The driver asked again, sounding uncertain.
"This is where you wanted to come, right?"
It was no wonder he asked. The place was far too deserted, and even the vegetation looked withered.
Most of the trees were newly transplanted, bare saplings, their thin silhouettes twisting like claws in the night.
"This is it," Zhu Yan confirmed.
He got out with his book, props, and fruit tea, then watched the taxi promptly round a bend and disappear from view.
The surroundings grew even quieter.
Zhu Yan softened his breathing and stepped lightly onto the lane, heading for the villa at its very end.
Gradually, Zhu Yan caught sight of a light—
It was shining from the villa on his right.
Zhu Yan turned and cautiously stopped in front of the iron gate to the courtyard of Villa No. 12.
This house was very different from the other villas.
From the outside, it was noticeably smaller, its walls tilted slightly, and its outline was sharper.
The light came through an ornamented glass window in the top-floor attic. Its bright colors stood out starkly against the deep black below.
Through the glass, Zhu Yan could make out a distinct, hunched silhouette.
It seemed this was the landlord.
Zhu Yan considered for a moment, then casually hid the book he was carrying in the flower bed outside the garden. He set his fruit tea, of which only a little remained, beneath the flower bed.
Then Zhu Yan cleared his throat and rang the doorbell at the garden's front gate.
The figure in the attic straightened up, looking tall and strange.
He, or it—the speed at which he came downstairs was unusually quick.
Zhu Yan soon heard a door creak open, followed by someone shuffling through the garden in heavy shoes.
A few seconds later, the large iron gate creaked as it swung backward.
Even though he had prepared himself thoroughly, tension still welled up in his heart.
Zhu Yan instinctively tensed every muscle, then forced himself to relax.
"Who is it?" a somewhat hoarse voice asked.
There was something odd about its tone.
The speaker didn't seem very good at asking questions, raising the final syllable unnaturally.
By the dim light of the streetlamp, Zhu Yan studied the landlord before him, warily gripping the knife in his pocket.
This was a frighteningly old "man," with oxidized, shriveled skin hanging loosely from his face.
His skin was a bluish white, like gray-toned wall paint.
The man's scrawny body was wrapped in a long red bathrobe, and he was smiling at Zhu Yan.
"It's so late. Do you need a place to stay?"
Zhu Yan stared at the rotting gums in its mouth and felt a little sick.
It was a rather strange way to ask.
The landlord seemed unable to tell whether Zhu Yan was a player or an ordinary person.
Was there any difference between the two as far as it was concerned?
Zhu Yan's thoughts raced.
To be safe, he simply answered the questions in a straightforward manner.
"Yes. May I come in? Are you the owner here?"
The man's mouth stretched wider, his cloudy blue eyes fixed on the prey before him.
"Of course," it said. "I'm the landlord here. Well, I normally charge for a stay."
"May I ask," the landlord's voice suddenly rose and tightened, becoming hurried and nervous.
"May I ask if you have any gold coins? Are you a player?"
With his attention highly focused, Zhu Yan immediately noticed something telling about the question.
Gold coins.
A player.
The terrifying creature before him had linked the two, and the abrupt shift in its tone was extremely unnatural.
Zhu Yan looked into its cloudy blue eyes, and his body, which had been slightly tensed with nervousness, suddenly relaxed.
Oh.
This wasn't an opponent worth tensing up over. Its emotional shifts were too drastic and too obvious.
Zhu Yan had observed humans, including his aunt, younger brother, classmates, and people online.
For humans, obvious emotions meant instability.
Instability meant they would reveal weaknesses and be easy to handle.
Gold coins.
A player.
Zhu Yan pondered the two key terms again.
He calmly regarded the landlord before him, and in an instant, an interesting conjecture occurred to him.
Coexisting with Forbidden Things said that the landlord had to pay an extremely low rent each month to hold [Cannibal House].
The landlord was so eager to get its hands on players' gold coins. Could it be unable to afford the rent?
"Gold coins?" Zhu Yan asked in return. "What gold coins?"
With humans, asking a question like that could prompt them to provide more details.
He had to try, because this terrifying creature was very stupid, and getting information out of it should be easy.
"They're about half the size of a palm." The landlord's limp eyelids shot up, and it held out a grayish-white, shriveled hand to show him.
"Bone Coins! The Bone Coins from [Carnival Paradise]! Do you have any on you?"
As the landlord spoke, Zhu Yan thought of the doll's warning in the [Hall of Mourning]—
If you lose your card, please bring your left hand.
If the landlord chopped off his left hand and took it to the [Hall of Mourning], it could probably claim his assets.
With a thought, Zhu Yan concealed the player mark on his left palm.
He remained silent and looked at the landlord with an expression of complete bewilderment, his brows furrowed and his eyes narrowed.
The landlord was still rattling on. "Three Bone Coins. Give me three Bone Coins!"
"I know you're a player. Give me Bone Coins, and I'll tell you how to clear the instance..."
Bone Coins, but only three?
Zhu Yan immediately spotted the overlooked point.
Even with his limited knowledge, three Bone Coins couldn't possibly be a large sum.
It was obviously so poor it had run out of options.
Could it really afford the rent?
Zhu Yan had an idea of the situation now. He shook his head and took two steps back.
"Um, are you all right?"
"I don't know anything about players or gold coins. I just want a place to stay for the night."
"In that case, I'd better find somewhere else..."
First, he would make an excuse to leave, then return disguised as a high-level terrifying creature to verify and exploit the landlord's possible weakness.
If everything went smoothly, this instance wouldn't be that difficult!
The landlord's expression abruptly darkened, and its eyelids drooped again.
Its cloudy blue eyes locked coldly on Zhu Yan as it stiffly tilted its neck.
It had seen plenty of cunning players before.
Some players pretended to be innocent in an attempt to protect their money!
"Let's put the matter of payment aside for now."
"Don't leave yet, and don't move."
"Let me see your left hand, child."
Zhu Yan slowly held out his left hand, palm up, wearing a politely puzzled expression.
He watched the landlord take a handkerchief from its pocket and rub it over its own left palm, and couldn't help finding it a little funny.
Guan En had already tried that trick.