Xiao Tangqiu turned and ran. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that the paper doll which was originally moving really slowly had suddenly accelerated, as if someone had clicked on the fast-forward button.

The paper doll was now right behind them; it was as if it had teleported over. A second later, he felt something whoosh by the back of his head. It was the sound of a shovel being swiped across the air, and that shovel was aimed at his head!

“Ahhhhh!” Tang Mianmian screamed as he ran. “How the hell did it run so fast?! It wasn’t like this earlier! Did it swallow Jinkela?”

“Maybe it’s because……. the paper doll is really light…… It floats up the moment the wind blows…….” Xiao Tangqiu panted while he ran. His stamina was really too poor.

Running at the frontmost, Luo Mansu couldn’t help but shout, “Can you stop fucking around in this kind of situation?! Save your energy for running ah!”

 Xiao Tangqiu felt the shovel being swung at his head quite a few times, forcing him to unleash his full running potential. The shovel swinging towards his head was a constant reminder that he hadn’t reached his limit yet. He kept on increasing his speed, avoiding the enemy’s attack over and over again. He ran around the trees, ran around the pillar, ran around the well, around many different obstacles. Thanks to all the horror games he played, he  had a lot of experience in this kind of running “contest”.

“If only we can take advantage of a BUG right now…….” Live streamer Xiao sighed with regret. “

“Hurry up! Hurry up! Hurry up!” Luo Mansu shouted. “We’re almost there.”

They looked up and saw Yun Manor ahead of them. Someone apprehensively asked, “Are we really going into Yun Manor? What if the paper doll follows after us? There’ll be danger on both ends.”

“We can only take a gamble!” Luo Mansu gritted his teeth, “Get inside!” They wouldn’t be able to hold out for much longer. If they didn’t take the risk, the paper doll would eventually catch up to them.

“Run!”

Right then, Xiao Tangqiu noticed something odd – the paper doll seemed to only chase after him, not sparing anyone else a glance. Even though there were others running behind him, the paper doll didn’t bother about them and seemed to be focused only on himself.

He contemplated for a moment. An answer immediately popped into his head.

As they got closer to Yun Manor, the paper doll started to run even faster, wildly waving that big shovel. As much as he tried ducking left and right, Xiao Tangqiu was still unable to evade the paper doll. The shovel hit the back of his head with a heavy “thump.”

It was so painful that Xiao Tangqiu could almost see stars. His footsteps came to a complete halt as he grunted in pain. Watching as the paper doll got closer and closer, he quickly took out the handkerchief. Using the forearm strength that only belonged to a man who had been single for 25 years, he threw the handkerchief as far as possible in the opposite direction.

It was exactly as the couple had said before; the gates opened on its own, revealing the pitch black interior which struck fear into their hearts. But they were out of options; the paper doll was still hot on their tail. They could only swallow their fears and dive head first into the darkness.

Xiao Tangqiu was the last one to pass the gates of Yun Manor. But even then, he didn’t dare to relax, turning to vigilantly look outside the gates just like everyone else.

 About a meter away from the gates, stood the paper doll. It seemed to be afraid of approaching Yun Manor and had stopped there, eyes filled with hatred.

As soon as they confirmed that the paper doll was no longer chasing after them, they collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.

The paper doll outside glared malevolently at the people inside the gate and angrily threw the village chief’s head onto the ground. Then, as if smashing a watermelon, the paper doll bashed the village chief’s head with the shovel. Its “juices” splattered in all directions.

 The paper doll watched coldly as the gates started to close. But right when the gates were about to close completely, Xiao Tangqiu seemed to catch a hint of ridicule and dread within those lifelike eyes.

His heart that had just started to calm down, started beating wildly in his chest.

‘We’re saved! I was almost scared to death!” Tang Mianmian had almost teared up from fear. “My head was THIS close to turning into a mashed watermelon. I was running while madly searching for a save game checkpoint…….”

Before they could have a moment of relief, Luo Mansu sneered, “Haven’t you guys wondered why the paper doll was afraid to come inside? Chances are there’s something even more horrifying inside.”

Everyone paled at once. Even more horrifying than the paper doll? Doesn’t that mean they just jumped out of the frying pan only to fall into the fire?

“Ah! Ah! Ah! Let me out!” Lu Dadong threw himself against the gate, slamming his fists repeatedly into the gate. “Open up! Open up! Let me out now! Let me out!”

“Have you gone mad? The paper doll is definitely still outside!” Yang Bing tried to pull Lu Dadong away from the gate, but was pushed away by Lu Dadong.

“I’d rather fight that paper doll! Let me out now!” Lu Dadong fiercely kicked at the gate, then turned around to look for something to pry the gate open. Yang Bing rushed to stop him but was violently pushed away again.

The fear of the unknown was probably the most terrifying thing. Although the paper doll was frightening, at least they knew what they were dealing with. What if there was something worse than the paper doll in Yun Manor………

Lu Dadong started to get more and more unstable. But it was right then that a middle-aged man dressed like a housekeeper suddenly appeared in front of them.

“Welcome to Yun Manor. You’re all invited to attend the wedding banquet tomorrow. The old madame has prepared a welcoming feast in the main hall for our guests. Please come with me………” The middle-aged man bowed, his voice as tranquil as a lake.

They hadn’t realized when the housekeeper had appeared and were shocked when they saw him. Enraged by the housekeeper’s appearance, Lu Dadong yelled, “You’re the housekeeper? Open the gate at once! I want to leave!”

Xiao Tangqiu’s chest tightened. He was afraid that the housekeeper would be infuriated by Lu Dadong’s words. However, the housekeeper acted as if he hadn’t heard Lu Dadong at all, repeating in an unemotional tone, “Please come with me.”

“Didn’t you hear what I said? Open the damn gate!” Lu Dadong swung his fist at the housekeeper. As soon as his fist fell, the housekeeper immediately split into pieces, just like the village chief.

Because it had happened before, everyone was already numb to it. Lu Dadong spit on the dismembered corpse, “Since you won’t listen when I ask nicely, then don’t blame me for using force!”

He turned around to look at the others and threatened, “Help me get the gates open! If not, I’ll beat up anyone who doesn’t want to help!”

Ding Tiantian couldn’t tolerate him any longer, “You’re crazy! If we want to leave, we’ll have to go in and look for clues.”

“Pei! I don’t give a fuck about some dumb clue! The housekeeper must be fucking with us!”

Lu Dadong pointed at Luo Mansu and shouted, “This whole time, this asshole has been leading us by the nose! Who knows if what he says is true! Laozi wants to leave right now. If we find a place to wait out another three days or so, we’ll definitely get out of here then.”

Luo Mansu looked amused instead of angry, “You think if you find a place to sit this out, wait for someone else to clear the mission, then you’ll breeze your way out of here?”

“Laozi doesn’t believe what you say!” Lu Dadong seemed to have completely lost it, “I want to get out of this God-forsaken place! Right now! I’ll beat up anyone who tries stop me! I’ll beat you all into a pulp if I have to!”

 Then, Lu Dadong noticed that the expressions on everyone’s faces turned fearful. He laughed out loud, “Scared huh? If you’re scared then let me leave.”

“No….. Th-that’s not it……” Tang Mianmian revealed a look of utter horror, “Behind you……”

“Behind me? Don’t try to trick me!” Lu Dadong sneered. But he soon noticed that they didn’t seem to be faking it. At that point, he turned around only to be faced with the most horrifying scene he had ever seen in his entire life.

The housekeeper’s mangled corpse which laid on the ground had opened his eyes when they weren’t paying attention. He staggered as he stiffly got on his feet. Then, he bent down, slowly picking up the broken limbs that were scattered on the ground.  One by one, he gathered the bloody, dismembered pieces and started to reassemble them onto his body.

When he finally finished putting back together his body, he still had an extra piece of flesh in his hand. Perhaps this had occurred countless times before, or perhaps he had a tiny slip-up one time…….. Because right then, he impassively stuffed that piece of flesh into his mouth and swallowed it without a second thought.

Then, with a voice as tranquil as the summer sea, he repeated, “Welcome to Yun Manor. You’re all invited to attend the wedding banquet tomorrow. The old madame has prepared a welcoming feast in the main hall for our guests. Please come with me………”

~~~

XTQ is too much of a cutie!

P.S. Lemme know if there are any typos I’ve been super busy and tired so I might have missed out on some xoxo