The Secret of the Stone Statue

Thump—!

His heart skipped a beat!

Yimo reacted quickly, stepping back and turning to look in the direction the lightning had illuminated the shadow.

Hiss—!

After looking, Yimo froze and gasped, taking in a sharp breath of cold air.

Atop the doorframe, a spider with colorful patterns, about the size of two quail eggs, was dangling from a strand of silk, swaying back and forth and baring its fangs at him.

"That's it?"

"Scared the hell out of me!"

Yimo wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his dead fish eyes staring at the spider still swaying in the wind. He let out a sigh of relief.

"Gotta go, gotta go!"

He glanced outside. Although the sky was still overcast, the thunderstorm had come and gone quickly. Seeing that it was about to stop, he didn't want to linger in this creepy place any longer and left through the wooden door on the side, which didn't have a spider.

However, he hadn't walked a few steps before he returned. He found a broken wooden basin in the ancestral hall and made several trips to the lake to wash away the dust on the floor of the hall.

After ensuring there were no obvious footprints on the ground, he panted, "This body of mine is really no good!"

"Useless, utterly useless!"

With that, he placed the wooden basin by his feet and bowed a few times to the messy spirit tablets: "Esteemed ancestors and deities, please forgive my rudeness!"

"Can't be helped, it's all the system loli's fault!"

"If you're going to blame anyone, blame her!"

Yimo muttered, quite sincerely, shifting the blame entirely onto the system loli.

He wasn't sure if it was actually a loli or if it had independent consciousness.

After finishing, Yimo picked up the broken wooden basin by his feet, intending to find a bush where no one could see it to discard it before returning to the thatched cottage.

After all, it was getting late.

To the north of the ancestral hall was a gradually thickening forest. Yimo found a patch of grass. Just as he was about to discard the wooden basin and head back, he paused, looking at the forest.

He noticed that in one spot among the trees, the grass cover was slightly different from the surrounding area!

If he had to describe it, it wasn't as dense!

"Was this… a path before?"

Yimo made this deduction, glanced at the gloomy sky, hesitated for a moment, and ultimately decided to go in and take a look.

He had already made a significant discovery in the ancestral hall.

If one paid close attention to the spirit tablets, they could figure it out.

They were telling the players that Cupid was not recognized by this village!

This meant that…

In this game, the pair of lovers connected by Cupid…

Were either two wolves, or one good person and one wolf!

Cupid was not on the side of the good people!!!

Yimo expressionlessly pushed aside the dense vegetation.

Fortunately, there weren't too many insects. And indeed, the path he was taking didn't have particularly large plants or trees, just a layer of less dense wild grass.

After walking for 20 minutes.

Yimo discovered the secret hidden deep within the forest.

Among the trees stood five stone statues, each approximately 2.5 to 3 meters tall.

No, there should be four. The Thief's stone statue was lying on the ground, having fallen for some unknown reason.

It was unclear whether the carvings weren't very realistic to begin with, or if it was due to the passage of too much time, but the expressions on the statues were somewhat blurry and difficult to discern.

However, through the carved decorations, poses, and figures, it was still possible to identify them as the Prophet, Idiot, Witch, Hunter, and Thief.

"Still no Cupid…"

Yimo muttered, not daring to approach. He searched the surrounding grass again and, confirming the absence of a Cupid statue, turned back.

This also corroborated the information he had obtained earlier in the ancestral hall.

Yimo looked at the grassy ground. There were no obvious footprints, indicating that no one had been here before.

He first walked to the Thief's statue.

He examined the ground around it, finding no signs of disturbed earth. It must have fallen a long time ago. After a moment of thought, he began looking at the other statues.

When he reached the Prophet's statue, he discovered faint, archaic Chinese characters on the back of its base.

『You are the closest to the gods and possess sufficient talent, but alas, you have achieved nothing and disappointed everyone's expectations.』

Upon seeing these words, Yimo was stunned. He quickly walked back and looked at the Witch's statue again, pushing aside the slightly longer wild grass.

The previously ignored text finally came into view.

"The village witch has been very intelligent and capable in recent years, as if blessed by heaven, though a bit cautious and timid."

Does this represent something?

The rules didn't explicitly state whether the witch could save herself.

With nothing to lose, Yimo quickly looked at the text beneath the statues of the Hunter and the Idiot.

"The hunters of each generation are less heroic than before, becoming cowardly and incompetent, even envying the witch. But ultimately, they achieve nothing. However, it's okay, the God of Hunters will bless everyone!"

"Hee hee, ha ha ha, I don't know anything, really don't know anything. I'm just an idiot, but somehow, everyone seems to gain inspiration from me."

After examining the four statues, Yimo returned to the Thief's statue and studied it carefully for a long time, finally shaking his head.

The side that should have had text was pressed against the ground.

It seemed impossible to see it no matter what.

Yimo thought that even if Pikachu and the True Martial Emperor worked together, they wouldn't be able to move this statue.

And he wouldn't share these secrets, the information he had obtained, with anyone else.

"Heh heh... Don't trust those things too much. In the Death Game, most information is deliberately used by the system to mislead players."

A cold, sinister laugh echoed from behind Yimo, laced with a hint of disdain, causing Yimo to quickly turn around.

As expected, the speaker was the Ordinary Girl Village Chief.

She was still in her black tracksuit, looking at him with a gloomy expression, a trace of contempt in her eyes.

Yimo frowned slightly, though he couldn't quite manage it.

After a moment of thought, he said, "When did you start following me?"

"No wonder I felt like someone was always watching me."

The Ordinary Girl Village Chief looked at Yimo and said, "Heh, why should I tell you?"

"However, I did see something interesting, something interesting enough to get you eliminated."

The Ordinary Girl looked at Yimo playfully.

Yimo's gaze grew colder. "Heh heh, aren't you afraid I'm the wolf and will kill you to silence you?"

The Ordinary Girl seemed to shiver, hugging her narrow shoulders, then raised her head. Despite her petite frame, she exuded an air of arrogant confidence, looking down on him. "You, do you dare to kill me?"

Upon hearing this, the coldness in Yimo's eyes gradually receded. He sat down on the fallen statue, rubbed his bangs, and said, "I'm the Hunter. I can't kill you at night. At most, if I'm killed, I'll take you with me."

"However, I can get you eliminated during the day."

The Ordinary Girl Village Chief looked at Yimo, constantly letting out cold laughs. "Heh heh heh..."

After a pause, she suddenly said happily, "Get me eliminated during the day?"

"Hahahaha, you should first think about how you're going to survive the day yourself."

"Conan has already garnered most of the votes. You're going to die today, you'll really die!"

"This is... so happy!"

Although the Ordinary Girl Village Chief had a poker face, it didn't stop her from laughing uncontrollably, her movements incredibly exaggerated.

Yimo ignored her mockery and headed back in the direction he came from, his voice icy. "No, if he wants me eliminated, then the one who will be eliminated today is definitely him."

The Ordinary Girl Village Chief gazed deeply at Yimo's retreating back, lost in thought.

Just as Yimo was about to disappear, he suddenly stopped and turned back. "Hey, even though you're annoying, I feel like we get along pretty well. After all, a pair of gloomy, poker faces, why don't we temporarily team up and pretend to be a couple?"

"The sky has also turned gloomy, and it's not good for you to go back alone."

Although Yimo said this, his face remained a poker face, and his tone was incredibly flat, lacking any atmosphere.

Of course, he just wanted to see if the Ordinary Girl Village Chief was his girlfriend.

However, he didn't hold out much hope. He himself felt that his acting and tone were quite terrible right now.

The Ordinary Girl Village Chief did not disappoint Yimo's expectations. She made a gagging face and said with disgust, "Peh, disgusting!"

"You were playing around so much with that b*tch during the day and didn't manage to hook up with her, and now you're coming onto me!"

As she spoke, she mimicked Dieyu's tone and actions: "Don't worry, I'll fully support you..."

"Hahaha... I'm dying of laughter!"

"Don't worry, I'll support you too."

"During the judgment phase, my vote is yours too~" the Ordinary Girl Village Chief said, mimicking Dieyu's tone, then added with a playful, sinister gaze, "Of course, the difference is that I'll be casting it on your head, trying to get you eliminated today!"

Yimo frowned upon hearing this. "You're not much better in terms of disgustingness, following us for so long."

"So, when I was asleep, you were the one who went to the shrine?"

The Ordinary Girl Village Chief shook her head. "Heh... I didn't go today."

Hearing this, Yimo turned and left, no longer paying attention to the Ordinary Girl.

Instead, the Ordinary Girl Village Chief thought of something, a sharp glint flashing in her eyes as she said, "Hey, that's right!"

"Let me tell you an interesting piece of information."

"Before that bitch invited you, she had a fight with Naughty Cat!"

"Hahaha..."

Yimo didn't turn around at all, continuing to walk back, replying coldly, "A stratagem of sowing discord won't work on me."

Finally, Yimo's figure completely disappeared into the forest.

The Ordinary Girl Village Chief let out a gloomy and disdainful "Tch," then walked towards the stone statue Yimo had looked at earlier.