Hanging the Corpse

Xu Huo looked ahead. An old-fashioned Chinese-style mountain villa stood at the end of the path. There were no streetlights outside; the only source of light came from white lanterns held in the mouths of stone lions by the gate. The dim glow barely illuminated a few square meters in front of the door, just enough to make out the people standing there.

A tall foreign young man with blond hair and blue eyes stood pressed against the door, talking to a young man beside him who was holding a denim jacket. To the young man's left, a muscular man crouched, smoking. A few steps away, next to a stone lion, stood a middle-aged uncle in a sharp suit, dressed meticulously, looking every bit the successful businessman. Flanking him were two female players, one with long hair and one with short. They stood close to him, but their gazes were fixed on a middle-aged, greasy man with a balding head across from them, their expressions full of disgust.

Behind the middle-aged bald man were a man and a woman. The man was covered in luxury brands, his expression arrogant; the woman wore heavy smoky-eye makeup, her demeanor intimate. Another young man who looked like a university student stood alone to the side.

Ten people in total.

These ten had grown impatient. When they saw Yuan Yao and Xu Huo arriving late, their expressions turned hostile. The muscular man shot to his feet. "Why not wait until dawn to show up? If you're that scared, go home and suck on your mother's tit—why bother playing the instance!"

Xu Huo, jostled by Yuan Yao shrinking back, let his cigarette tremble. He smiled and offered one. "Brother, calm down. The car only got here now. I couldn't help it."

The muscular man snorted and knocked his hand away.

The cowboy man nearby said flatly, "We're all in the same boat now. Why sour the mood?"

"Whether we're in the same boat is still up for debate." The middle-aged bald man stared at the two female players, his tone dripping with innuendo. "You'd have to take off your clothes to know."

The long-haired female player had thick, waist-length black hair and looked pure and charming. She was disgusted by the middle-aged man's malice but only frowned and said nothing.

The short-haired female player seemed livelier, more capable, and sharper-tongued. She shot back without restraint, "See a woman and the first thing you want is for her to strip? Why don't you tell your mom to strip for you? Oh, a cheap, ugly, bald bastard like you—if I were your mom, I'd wish I'd never given birth to you!"

The middle-aged bald man's face flushed purple. He charged at her to hit her, but the suit man stepped in, blocking his slap. "A grown man picking on a woman—what's that about?"

The foreign young man also came over to pull him back, saying in broken Mandarin, "Wan, be a gentleman!"

The middle-aged bald man, called "Wan" by the foreigner, had the physical advantage but found himself pinned by the two men. Seeing everyone else watching him make a fool of himself, he couldn't save face and turned to yell at Xu Huo and Yuan Yao, "What are you looking at!"

Xu Huo smiled and said nothing. These people had probably introduced themselves to each other already, but the process hadn't been pleasant.

"What's all this bickering about?" The rich second generation, arm around the smoky-eye woman, said irritably, "The fog outside is getting thicker. How much longer are we supposed to stand here drinking wind?"

The rich second generation had arrived relatively early, thinking he could get a head start, but who knew they couldn't enter the mountain villa until everyone was present.

The suit man checked his watch. "Areas covered by heavy fog probably aren't part of the instance. Everyone knows the game content—there's a Head Chopper Demon roaming the villa. If we stay here, we might run into danger."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go in." The muscular man took the lead and banged on the door. "Anyone alive in there? Open up!"

The wooden door rattled under his pounding, but no one answered.

"Maybe the door won't open until midnight," Xu Huo said from behind.

The muscular man's face darkened. "I don't buy that!"

He raised his foot to kick the door, but before his boot landed, the wooden door creaked open on its own. Off-balance, he tumbled inside with a dull thud.

The people outside laughed in twos and threes. The rich second generation followed him in, gloating, "Should've checked the time. It's exactly midnight now."

The remaining eleven entered the mountain villa.

Inside, it wasn't much better than outside. Before them lay a garden thick with greenery, with only a cobblestone path cutting through it that barely allowed passage. Everywhere else was packed so tight it was hard to move.

But along the path, a few streetlights were visible, and a sign read "Registration Ahead."

"Why are these trees so overgrown?" the smoky-eye woman complained. "No one trims them?"

"Not surprising. This place might have been abandoned long ago," the rich second generation said.

"Someone must live here," the suit man said. "The cobblestone path is spotless—no fallen leaves or dust. Someone definitely cleans it regularly. This area doesn't look inhabited, and going up and down the mountain is inconvenient, so living here makes sense."

"Damn! So that's the NPC! That bastard didn't come out to open the door!" The muscular man rolled up his sleeves and cursed. "Where is he? Where'd the bastard go?"

"Gulp!" The long-haired female player, walking at the back, swallowed hard and pointed at a spot in the bushes, her voice trembling with tears. "Is that... a person?"

Everyone turned. In the dark woods, a single unusually tall tree stood, its branches holding two dark shapes, with a heavy object dangling beneath them, swaying!

Killed?!

"Hurry, let's check it out!" The group searched the woods for a while before finding a narrow path by the wall near the gate, leading toward the tall tree.

But by the time they got there, it was too late. The man hung silently from the tree, his tongue sticking out long, saliva dripping down.

"Ugh!" The long-haired female player's knees gave out, and she fell to the ground.

The other players' faces weren't much better. This man was probably from the villa and might have known something about its secrets, but as luck would have it, he died just as they arrived—like someone was killing on a timer just to make sure they found him.

Though they didn't know if the killer was the Head Chopper Demon mentioned in the instance, having a murderer lurking around them was chilling!

"I think... he might have hanged himself," Xu Huo said after circling the area.

The scene was straightforward. Beneath the tree where the man had hanged himself was a small wooden cabin, just a few square meters, with only a bed and some logging tools.

Behind the cabin were several grave mounds, one of them fresh, with funeral paper money still intact on the ground.

He patted the tall stack of firewood piled beside the corpse. "At this height, a person could climb up and hang themselves."

"Maybe he was hung up alive," the middle-aged bald man said. "He's not the only one here."

"But according to the instance, isn't the Head Chopper Demon supposed to chop off heads?" the foreign young man asked, confused.

The suit man briefly examined the hanged man's corpse and said with a complicated expression, "It really might have been suicide."

"He must have been sick for a long time. His body is covered in pustules."

Xu Huo went over and lifted the corpse's shoulder. Large green pustules covered his entire back, leaving no original skin visible.

Yuan Yao walked over. "Brother Xu, found anything?"