Chapter 24: The Infant Pagoda
Chi Yi pondered for a moment and then realized it too.
According to Li Zhi's deductions during the day, the ghost that dragged Feng Zhenghao out to drown him and the ghost that tried to kill with hair were not the same entity. From the scene they witnessed tonight, it was clear that the one who used hair to slip through the window and try to strangle Chi Yi last night was undoubtedly the former mistress.
She only appeared after Feng Zhenghao was dragged out last night, and tonight she used the same killing method again. Therefore, she wasn't the one who dragged Feng Zhenghao into the pond to drown him.
Her movements tonight also showed that she walked along the eaves after entering the courtyard and could teleport. She couldn't have crossed the inner courtyard (tianjing), let alone kicked over the rainwater collection pot because she couldn't see clearly.
Li Zhi concluded, "The one who killed Feng Zhenghao was someone from this house."
Only a human would frantically kick over a water pot when crossing a courtyard in the dark, unable to see clearly.
"The players sharing a room with Feng Zhenghao said they didn't hear any commotion and slept soundly. But how could people entering an instance be completely unguarded? How could a living person next to them be dragged away without them noticing anything? Unless," she paused, her voice calm, "they were drugged. Maybe sleeping gas, maybe food."
It was also because the killer was human that Feng Zhenghao's exorcism tools were completely ineffective, and he died silently.
How could exorcism tools deal with humans?
Chi Yi gritted her teeth, as if she could imagine that rainy night, someone secretly sneaking into their courtyard, infiltrating the room where the players had been drugged, and carrying out the unconscious Feng Zhenghao.
They certainly couldn't walk along the eaves to get out; that would take them past the players' room windows. So they had to cross the inner courtyard, which was the shortest distance. But because the courtyard was too dark, they didn't see the container placed there and kicked over one of the water pots.
The sound started suddenly and stopped just as suddenly. Water pots are round; after being kicked over, they should theoretically roll a few times on the ground, making a clear rolling sound before hitting an obstacle and clanging to a stop.
But it only rang once and then stopped. Someone quickly pressed it down.
Then they hurriedly left, carrying Feng Zhenghao, and went all the way to the pond, where they threw him in.
It turned out that in instances, not only ghosts kill, but humans do too.
"Is it Butler Chen? Or the Jin family head? Why would they do that?" Chi Yi was already whispering, fearing walls had ears.
Li Zhi shook her head. "I don't know, but this house is strange. Let's look for more clues tomorrow."
Chi Yi clung to her. "Will they come again tonight?"
"We'll know tomorrow morning. But I don't think so."
Both the players' increased vigilance and her action of changing the lanterns tonight would make the other party more restrained.
At this time, almost no other players were doing anything significant, so nearly all the viewers of "The Infant Pagoda" live stream flocked to Li Zhi and Chi Yi's private room:
[I give this deduction full marks! I also think there's something seriously wrong with this house!]
[It's a shame the system doesn't show us what the players don't see, otherwise I'd know the plot in advance]
[Li Zhi's votes are catching up because of her performance tonight! As expected, the real big shots only show their true power later on!]
[LOL, Zhao Luan was so eager to show off after entering the instance, but he didn't find any key clues. It's truly a fierce performance like a tiger, but then you look at his score: 0-5]
[Zhao Luan got MVP in the last instance because the ghosts in that instance could be physically attacked. He just brute-forced his way through. He's a bit out of his depth in an instance that requires reasoning.]
[Who is voting for a selfish and reckless person like Zhao Luan anyway? Wouldn't it be better to vote for Li Zhi?]
[Don't speak too soon. According to Li Zhi's deduction, if the players' opponents in this instance are human, Zhao Luan's usefulness will be huge. His combat power is indeed undeniable.]
[Who are you looking down on?! Our Lizhi is good at both brains and brawn! An all-around ACE!]
The latter half of the night, as Li Zhi predicted, passed without any more strange occurrences. When she woke up in the morning, even the bloody handprint on the window was gone, as if last night's scene was just a hallucination.
But when she walked out of the room and saw the lingering fearful looks from the other players, Li Zhi knew they had probably heard the commotion last night too.
Especially Zhao Luan, when he saw Li Zhi emerge safely from her room, a flicker of shock crossed his eyes, as if he was very surprised she was still alive. Then he lowered his gaze, concealing the disappointment in his eyes.
He thought he could use the ghosts to get rid of her, but he didn't expect her to be so lucky. The ghosts in this instance were too useless!
Tian Mingjie didn't even bother to wash his face and rushed over. "Sister Zhi, what exactly happened last night? Was that commotion coming from your room? It scared me to death!"
Everyone heard the ghostly wails of the female ghost and the crying of the ghost infants last night, and saw the swaying silhouette on the window. But no one dared to come out. They clutched their life-saving items, only hoping that death wouldn't fall upon them.
Now that everyone had come out of their rooms, they found there were still eleven people, with no deaths. Most of them breathed a sigh of relief.
Great, they had safely survived another night! If nothing unexpected happened, the Eldest Mistress would give birth tomorrow. As long as she delivered the child, they could clear the instance!
Li Zhi briefly explained what happened last night, and everyone looked relieved. Tian Mingjie quickly held up his talisman pouch with both hands and bowed. "It seems what the family head said is true; this thing can really prevent female ghosts from getting close! Keep it safe, don't lose it."
Another player was a bit curious. "Why were there three ghost infants following the former mistress? Didn't she only give birth to two stillborns? How did an extra one appear?"
Chi Yi said, "Did you forget? The current mistress also had one!"
Everyone fell silent for a moment, then someone quietly said, "Then this former mistress is quite good-hearted, helping the current mistress take care of her child."
"............"
"Zhizhi has another deduction!" Chi Yi, enduring Zhao Luan's gloomy gaze, told everyone about their deductions from last night.
Unlike Zhao Luan, she and Li Zhi both believed that players in an instance should help each other. They weren't opponents but teammates, and regardless of each other's character, there was no reason to wish for the other's death.
Upon hearing that Feng Zhenghao died at the hands of an NPC, everyone's expressions changed. Chi Yi lowered her voice, "So everyone needs to be wary of the NPCs in this house. Collect as many clues as possible today, then share them together to clear the instance as quickly as possible!"
Hmph, Zhao Luan still wants to form a small team in the instance. Now that she's united everyone, let's see what he'll do!
Sure enough, upon hearing Chi Yi say that, the few people who had followed Zhao Luan yesterday looked a bit sheepish and nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, let's all act together, and share any clues!"
He wants to be the leader? He's not qualified enough! The team leader must be Zhizhi!
Chi Yi was utterly satisfied. "Then let's go eat first. Today, we also need to go to the Eldest Mistress's courtyard to draw an exorcism array!"
Everyone assented, pretending not to notice Zhao Luan's livid face, and began to walk out chatting. Just as they stepped out of the arched courtyard gate, someone in the group suddenly screamed, clutching their stomach and collapsing to the ground.
Because no one died last night, everyone was quite relaxed and never expected such a sudden turn of events early in the morning.
The person who fell to the ground was an actor named Song Chengzhou. His scream was so horrifying that everyone else was temporarily stunned. Song Chengzhou writhed violently on the ground, unable to utter a single word due to the intense pain. His entire face turned crimson, veins bulging, looking incredibly distorted.
Suddenly, he stopped moving.
His wide, staring eyes were covered with a dark, greenish aura, and his mouth was wide open. Immediately after, his belly swelled visibly at an alarming rate, bursting through his shirt. But the swelling didn't stop; it nearly rose to a grotesquely high level unattainable by a human body, stretching his belly skin transparent, allowing even his internal organs and intestines beneath the skin to be seen.
To the players' horrified eyes, a small human face suddenly pushed through the thin layer of skin on his belly.
Something struggled inside his stomach, and then a pair of tiny, slender bloody hands tore open his belly from within. One after another, blood-soaked infants crawled out of his stomach.
Someone in the group let out a wailing scream.
These infants were smaller than normal human babies, crawling out of his body one after another, while Song Chengzhou's body rapidly shriveled as if all his blood and flesh had been sucked dry. In the blink of an eye, a living person turned into a dried corpse.
There were eight such infants that crawled out of his belly. They emitted shrill cries, identical to those of human infants, and began to crawl everywhere, leaving trails of blood on the ground.
Horrified screams erupted one after another, higher pitched than the last. Both the audience and the players present were terrified by this scene. One infant crawled to Zhao Luan's feet. With a grim expression, he raised his foot and stomped down hard.
Blood splattered, and the sound of bones being crushed was heard.
Someone ran far away and started vomiting.
Soon, Butler Chen, hearing the commotion, arrived with the servants. Looking at the blood-stained infants crawling everywhere, his expression subtly changed, and he immediately ordered the servants to catch them.
Li Zhi stared at his completely un慌乱 (unflustered) expression and suddenly asked, "Butler Chen, what are these infants?"
Butler Chen frowned. "I don't know either, but they're certainly not good things." He coldly ordered the servants, "Take them and burn them!"
The NPCs quickly left with the blood infants, and soon more servants came to clean up the bloodstains on the ground. Everything seemed to have been arranged long ago. Chi Yi said, her teeth chattering, "Only a ghost would believe he doesn't know!"
Li Zhi said, "Let's follow them and see."
Song Chengzhou's horrific death before their eyes, when just a moment ago they were celebrating surviving the night safely, pushed the team's atmosphere to its extreme. On the way to follow them, someone was quietly sobbing.
When they followed them, a circular platform, similar to an altar, had already been built with dry firewood in a spacious courtyard. The blood infants were dumped onto the altar, and a roaring fire had already been lit beneath it.
Thick smoke billowed, and flames shot into the sky. The infants in the center of the altar crawled around but were forced back by the surrounding fire, only able to circle the small altar, emitting shrill cries.
The sound was almost indistinguishable from that of human infants, making the players extremely distressed.
The raging fire quickly engulfed the infants, and a peculiar smell filled the air. Li Zhi's fingers trembled, and she slowly clutched the talisman pouch.