Pig Head Monster

The monsters by the dining table stopped their movements when the braided ponytail girl shouted.

Every monster had a strange smile on its face, looking at the braided ponytail girl as if she were amusing.

A ghostly figure silently disappeared from beside the dining table, and when she reappeared, she had grown behind the braided ponytail girl.

She was tall, exceptionally tall, reaching two meters. She wore a black long dress and a delicate hat. Her face was hollow, most of her features shrouded in the shadow cast by the hat, making her look like a mass of darkness.

Only a strangely shaped meat horn grew outwards from her forehead.

The meat horn was twenty centimeters long, extending beyond the brim of the hat. As she looked down, it quietly pointed downwards, as if with a gentle gaze, calmly observing the brave girl.

"Don't, don't come near me..."

The braided ponytail girl pointed at everyone with a candlestick, but it wasn't until the surrounding children looked at her with terrified eyes that she realized a monster stood behind her.

She spun around abruptly, aiming the candlestick at it, and shouted, "Run, run, they are..."

"...monsters!"

"..."

This shout finally acted like a lit fuse. The suppressed and terrifying emotions that had been building since entering the ancient castle erupted all at once.

All the children jostled and surged. Some cried out in fear, their sobs piercing and sharp, but they merely cowered, huddling together like lambs, none able to muster the courage to flee.

The butler nearby watched the noisy children.

Though he could solve the problem with a mere clap of his hands, he stood aside as if detached, as if his task was complete once he had brought them in.

The black-dressed woman with the meat horn behind the braided ponytail girl merely shifted her body, as if letting out a silent, incomprehensible laugh, watching the girl's anxious state.

Only Han Su suddenly thought of something, feeling an unusual worry in his heart. He looked towards a figure on the dining table.

"I don't want to, I don't want to, I want to go home, I want to find my mom..."

"Mom, Mom, come save me..."

At the braided ponytail girl's cry, all the children seemed to finally remember their fear, bursting into tears in waves.

Among all these children, one boy with a small green backpack cried the hardest. His cries were exceptionally loud, sharp, and piercing.

His cries seemed to drown out the cries of the other children.

He didn't look at the other children, nor at the monsters.

He lifted his head, swung his hands, stomped his feet, and wailed loudly, shouting and yelling as if complaining to a teacher.

Han Su had already realized what was about to happen. He looked at a monster at the dining table.

Wearing a black leather apron, it had a head as fat and bloated as a pig's. At first glance, it looked like it was wearing a pig-head-shaped mask, but upon closer inspection, one could see that this was its actual head, deformed and twisted, truly grown into this shape.

It had been sitting quietly by the dining table, not even discussing with the other monsters or looking at the frightened children after they entered.

Until the boy's sharp cries rang out, it suddenly trembled and slowly lowered its head, covering its ears.

It pressed so hard, as if in extreme pain.

A grunting sound came from its chest, like an uncontrollable moan, as if trying to tell the children to stop crying.

But no one understood the sounds coming from its chest. Moreover, they were completely drowned out by the children's wails, so no one heard them.

Thus, it became increasingly pained and trembled with growing fear. An indescribable expression of agony appeared on its pig-like face. Even its eyes closed tighter and tighter, and when they suddenly opened, they revealed a blood-red light.

Han Su couldn't help but want to close his eyes, unable to bear watching any longer.

But he didn't try to stop it. Once before, he had tried to intervene, but it was useless.

Once the crying boy started, he had to get his way. He had used this tactic on his parents, elders, and teachers with unfailing success.

From then on, he understood not to take any meaningless risks in the ancient castle, and to try only after ensuring his own safety.

"Hoo..."

The crying finally stopped when the burly man in the black leather apron abruptly stood up. The moment he stood, he fiercely drew a blood-stained knife from his apron and, with all his might, hurled it towards the little boy.

"Screech!"

Blood splattered onto the faces of the children who had been crying, pushing, and calling for their parents and teachers.

All the crying stopped simultaneously.

The crying, foot-stomping little boy stood frozen in place, no longer able to make a sound. Only the cruel and heavy knife was embedded halfway into the wall, still swaying.

The heavy, gasping breaths of the pig-faced strongman echoed in the empty hall.

The Worm Monk, covered in worms, retracted all the insects into his robes and wounds.

Then, in the silence, he continued leading the girl with glasses upstairs without a word.

The black-dressed madam standing behind the braided ponytail girl slowly raised her hand, covering the girl's eyes as if to shield her from the bloody scene.

But the braided ponytail girl seemed to have realized something. Her body stiffened, and the candlestick she was holding clattered to the floor.

All the children in the room looked as if their souls had been stolen.

The pig-faced strongman squatted between the chairs by the dining table, as if still lost in the previous pain, unable to extricate himself, wishing he could hide under the table.

But the other monsters simultaneously let out silent laughter. They watched the Worm Monk and Meat Horn Madam lead away their chosen individuals upstairs, then looked with appreciative and greedy gazes at the remaining children at the dining table.

As if they had lost their final bleating lambs, they could only be carefully chosen by the monsters.

One, a half-body wrapped in bandages, a half-body doctor, chose the boy wearing small glasses.

A giant monster, obese and pale-skinned, chose the girl who was like a doll, with two angel wings on her small skirt.

Some simply stood up with a smile, beckoning to the group of children.

Because the distance was too far, the children couldn't tell who she was beckoning to, but they all felt as if the gesture was directed at them.

So, some walked towards her in a daze, and she casually took the first child who approached her, holding his hand as they slowly went upstairs.

Even the pig-faced strongman, who was in agony and trembling silently under the dining table, recovered. He slowly stood up, staring blankly at the children he had just terrified, especially at the headless corpse. Tears welled up in his eyes.

He seemed to be choosing too, but even the terrified children remembered his horror and desperately squeezed backward.

But at that moment, a boy with a small side-parted hairstyle, wearing a small tuxedo, suddenly ran towards him and stood quietly in front of the pig-faced strongman.

All the children didn't know what he was thinking, but they could only watch helplessly as he was the last one taken upstairs by the pig-faced strongman.

"This guy is still so smart..."

Han Su thought to himself.

He understood these monsters and these children extremely well.

He knew that among these children from wealthy families, several were very cunning, and others' fear and cowardice served as a disguise for these children.

Some were well-behaved the entire time, not saying a word, but secretly observing their surroundings, as if looking for an escape route.

Some even remained calm and subtly used other children to shield themselves.

Throughout the entire process, Han Su simply stood still.

He knew he wouldn't be chosen.

These monsters seemed to dislike him a little. Not only in the first round, but even in the third round, the monsters seemed to look down on him. Setting aside his current predicament, this felt quite excessive...

The monsters by the dining table each chose a child. The old butler then smilingly selected six of the children and sent them upstairs separately.

Only then did the selection end. The remaining dozen or so children in the hall huddled together. Some breathed a sigh of relief, thinking they had escaped, while others seemed even more worried, looking anxiously at the bloodstain on the floor.

"Alright, you unfortunate little ones, it's time to rest."

The butler, who had sent six children upstairs, walked down the stairs with a smile, looking at them. His gaze seemed to hold a hint of sympathy as he comforted them:

"But don't be disappointed, there's still a chance."

As he spoke, he gently raised his hands and clapped twice, the sound crisp yet soft.

Instantly, all the remaining children's eyes became vacant again. They stood rooted to the spot, unmoving.

Han Su stood the straightest. This time, he didn't want the butler to discover his secret of being able to break free from his hypnosis.