Chapter 18: The Vacation Villa

She glanced at the things Zhou Yan had left behind. An ancient-patterned coin pouch and a letter. She first opened the pouch for a look—inside were all horror coins, roughly a hundred at a glance. After putting the pouch away, she picked up the envelope that lay beside it.

There were no extra words on the letter, only a brief sentence: [If it’s you, you can surely do it.]

Ambiguous, elusive.

Su Man raised her hand to touch the spot on her neck where the skull pendant used to hang. Now, it was empty. In her mind, she could still clearly recall the innocent words of childhood: “Manman, don’t cry. Just take this skull as me, even if I die, I’ll stay by your side in another form.”

“I don’t want a skull. I just want you not to die, alright? You’re the only one who’s good to me.”

“Everyone dies.”

“But what if even the skull is gone in the end?”

“Then… that means… it means I’m undying, that I’ll always stay by your side, though you might need to spend some time to look for me.”

“Su Man, it’s time to switch shifts.” Xiao Liang’s sudden knock broke her reverie.

At the same time, the previously tranquil villa seemed to come alive in an instant with countless voices.

“Do you feel it? Do you? That man has finally left.”

“Yes, his presence is gone.”

“That’s right, now we don’t have to hide anymore.”

“It’s finally our time to show what we can do.”

“At last, I can take my revenge!”

As if a start button had been pressed, the villa’s atmosphere boiled over, growing more sinister and chilling.

“Achoo.” Su Man sneezed hard just as she stepped out of the room.

The temperature had dropped.

Where the faint moonlight once lingered, the sky was now shrouded by heavy clouds.

It looked as if it would rain again in the second half of the night.

She and Xiao Liang shared a suite. At this hour, she was in the living room, the windows wide open, letting in gusts of cold wind. She got up to close the windows and then noticed a woman in white standing by the fountain. The white clothes looked especially vivid against the dark night.

The woman stood with her back to her, making it hard to see her clearly.

But Su Man knew—aside from herself, the only living woman in the villa, the rest were all dead. It was likely an apparition, and since it was by the fountain, it was probably Xin Ling.

As she was thinking this, something flashed toward her at breakneck speed in her peripheral vision.

It was so fast that, before she could dodge, it was already upon her.

“Die, die, just die!” The shrill cry was followed by the ghastly, pale, waterlogged head.

It was indeed Xin Ling!

Even though she had half expected it, the sight of that head still startled her.

Almost by reflex, Su Man drew her dagger and slashed at the neck.

But she forgot—it was only a head!

Yet, the anticipated feeling of slicing through empty air didn’t come. The blade seemed to cut into something as tough as cotton, offering no resistance.

“Useless, you can’t escape!” Xin Ling’s face twisted with excitement, as if she could already see Su Man’s head torn beyond recognition by her teeth.

But her excitement was abruptly cut off—Su Man’s hand had somehow gripped her “neck.”

“So it’s hair!”

Suppressing her revulsion at the stench from Xin Ling’s face, Su Man hacked off the handful of hair she’d grabbed.

“Aaah!” Xin Ling shrieked. Without the support of her hair, her head fell entirely into Su Man’s hands.

Su Man held the head, speechless.

She didn’t want it.

Her dagger flashed swiftly, hacking at Xin Ling’s head several times without smashing it, but covering her hands in putrid slime. Disgusted, she tossed the head away in an arc as if discarding trash, then went to shut all the windows.

As she was washing her hands, the vanity mirror in front of her suddenly twisted into a swirling mosaic, like the savage maw of some abyssal beast roaring out: “Why are you still alive? You’re only a little prettier than me, so why does my whole world revolve around you?”

Reacting on instinct, Su Man grabbed whatever she could reach and hurled it at the mirror.

Water splashed everywhere before she realized she’d snapped the faucet off in her final swing.

The mirror, of course, shattered into pieces.

It was then she realized the apparitions seemed to be growing restless.

She intended to wake Xiao Liang, but before she could, several shrill screams echoed from outside, coming from different directions.

Xiao Liang, naturally already awake from the commotion, stared wide-eyed at Su Man’s wet hair, bewildered and panicked. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

After hearing Su Man’s explanation and speculation, he paused for a second, then nodded matter-of-factly. “That’s more like it. It was so peaceful here before, I almost thought we weren’t in the game world anymore.”

“This is normal?” Su Man repeated the words softly, once again touching the spot where her necklace used to be.

“Of course. The game world isn’t child’s play. I told you, once you get used to it, things only get more dangerous.”

Once Xiao Liang started talking, he couldn’t seem to stop—especially with a newcomer like Su Man, ignorant of everything, making him want to show off. “Well, I’ll tell you a bit more. You’ll probably encounter this soon, so it’s not really breaking the rules. Do you know about horror coins? Listen, if you can hoard them, do it. They’re valuable—really good things!”

He was also secretly watching Su Man’s reaction, but was caught off guard when she exposed him on the spot. “Are you trying to see if I have horror coins? Are you planning to steal them?”

“Hey, listen to you! How could I be that kind of person, heh heh, heh heh.” Xiao Liang scratched his head sheepishly. Su Man, of course, didn’t believe him, but this did confirm one thing: those coins were truly important, perhaps important enough for people to turn on each other in a heartbeat.

She wanted to probe Xiao Liang for more information, but just then, frantic knocking sounded from outside.

The voice was urgent and panicked. “Open up! Help me, I don’t want to die, please, I’m begging you!”

The pounding on the door grew louder and more desperate.

Su Man and Xiao Liang exchanged a glance. Xiao Liang whispered, “It could be a trap, or maybe that person is being punished.”

“Either way, it’s best not to open the door.”

She didn’t need him to say it—Su Man had no intention of opening the door.

She leaned close to the peephole for a look. It was one of Skinny Monkey’s group, and his panic seemed genuine as he pounded on the door, glancing fearfully over his shoulder as if something was closing in on him.

“Ah! No, please!” A blood-curdling scream followed, and then Su Man faintly heard the crunching sound of bones being chewed.