Due to the sudden turn of events, the people in the hall dared not speak out of turn. They couldn’t believe that it was just a dinner, and someone could utter the phrase “I have an ominous premonition.”
Moreover, the person who said those words was someone well-acquainted with the game, so he wouldn’t willingly say something that would lead to his demise. So, what kind of mysterious force made him say such a thing?
The atmosphere was tense, and it took a while before the trembling voice of Xiao Hu Zi broke the silence in the hall:
“Why is everyone staring at me? I didn’t finish what I wanted to say! Besides, it’s absurd to determine someone’s life or death based on one sentence. This is the funniest joke I’ve ever heard.”
“Don’t the players who got killed in the previous rounds know not to say that? And even if they knew, why would they say it voluntarily? Therefore, I won’t die for sure. Don’t overthink it, everyone. Tonight, let’s gather together and work as a team to counter-attack the killer. That way, we can clear the game and get an S-grade rating!”
Mo Yang looked at Xiao Hu Zi, who seemed quite devastated but managed to hold himself together, and nodded, giving him credit for his psychological resilience.
Other players didn’t say anything more, whether it was due to skepticism or fear. They would have to wait for the situation tonight to confirm their thoughts.
Afterward, the players dispersed and explored the castle on their own. However, most of them didn’t wander around aimlessly. Instead, they found books in the castle’s second-floor study after the waitstaff cleared the dining tables. Some brought their own gaming devices and playing cards—everyone had their way of passing the time.
Mo Yang and Wan Mei first located a restroom on the first floor, and after tending to their needs, they proceeded to the kitchen on the same floor. In the kitchen, they saw three or four chefs preparing late-night snacks. The chefs seemed to deliberately ignore Wan Mei’s smile and said, “Mr. Yang Heigou, it’s not suitable for esteemed guests to come into the kitchen; it’s hot and messy. What would you like to eat?”
Mo Yang smiled at the amiable chef, “I just came in to take a look. You all are skilled chefs, and I’ve had my fill during dinner.”
The chef beamed with happiness, “Oh, thank you for your praise. That’s the best compliment we could receive. Ah, this is a snack box I just prepared. It contains pan-fried chicken wings, golden shrimp balls, and cheesecake with a surprise center. If you don’t mind, please take it and enjoy. After all, we’ll rest by ten, and if anyone wants something to eat, they’ll have to come to the kitchen themselves.”
Mo Yang’s mind stirred, “Thank you, but is your rest time fixed?”
The chef nodded, “Yes, we rest at ten in the evening and wake up at five in the morning. So if you want breakfast, you’ll have to wait until at least seven.”
Mo Yang nodded, “Do all the other people in the castle have the same schedule as the chefs?”
“That’s not necessarily true. The butler always stays up late and wakes up early. Different waitstaff have different duties and schedules; everything is regulated.”
Mo Yang got the answer he wanted and felt that investigating the waitstaff’s working hours might be useful.
Then, Mo Yang left with the snack box, and Wan Mei, despite the deliberate neglect from the kitchen staff, managed to take seven bottles of mineral water with him.
When the two returned, it was already half-past eight. Zhou Apu, Song Kefeng, and the trio were back as well, and they were all surprised to see Mo Yang and Wan Mei carrying something in their hands.
“Hey, Heigou, didn’t we just finish dinner? Why are you carrying a food box?” It was Qi Fu who spoke up. This guy loved playing games and deeply admired those who excelled at it.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Mo Yang glanced at him, “It’s just for the night. Who knows, there might be intense running and evading later, and we might get hungry midway. Do you all have insulated cups? Pour out the water and use the food in this box to fill them, just in case. As for water, each person should have one bottle of mineral water. It might be life-saving in a critical moment.”
Qi Fu wholeheartedly agreed, “Exactly, in games like this, there are often hidden traps that can kill you. Just imagine, if someone gets hungry at night and goes to the kitchen for food, they’ll be serving themselves to the killer.”
So, the seven of them divided the fried chicken wings, cheesecake, and golden shrimp balls into their insulated cups.
It wasn’t that they didn’t use the cups provided by the castle, but most of them were made of glass or porcelain. Even though the castle was warm, the outside was bitterly cold with snow falling, so the water poured into the cups would easily turn cold. Qi Fu wasn’t too keen on bringing his insulated cup at first but got scolded by Qi Hong and Xiao Junshi.
Qi Hong advised him to take care of his health from a young age and not drink cold water. Meanwhile, Xiao Junshi repeated the head butler’s plea not to damage the castle’s antiques and suggested using their own things for safety.
After witnessing Xiao Hu Zi accidentally breaking a wine glass containing red wine and then uttering fatal words, Qi Fu felt that everything in the castle was particularly dangerous.
Then, Zhou Apu took out two decks of playing cards and suggested playing “Landlord” (a popular Chinese card game) to pass the time. At this moment, a few players who were nearby overheard their conversation and exchanged glances before heading towards the kitchen.
Although there was a late-night snack available, they knew that no waitstaff would proactively deliver it to them around one or two in the morning. It would be risky to go to the kitchen when they got hungry later, so they thought it would be better to grab some food now as a precaution.
However, after these players spent about twenty minutes in the kitchen, they returned to the hall with displeased and frustrated expressions, glaring at Mo Yang. Sensing their hostility, Mo Yang looked at them with narrowed eyes, which further infuriated them. One of them murmured in a somewhat loud voice, “He’s just a pretty boy after all.”
Mo Yang glanced at the long breadsticks they were holding, which didn’t seem very appetizing, and quickly understood why they resented him. He then put on a charming, arrogant smile, “Sorry, who can blame me for having such a good-looking face? Naturally, I’m more popular.” And if this were a dating game, believe it or not, my natural charm would lead me to an instant victory.
Song Kefeng was about to start playing cards, but Mo Yang’s words made him feel nauseous, and the other male players were furious. However, at this moment, they couldn’t afford to bicker among themselves; they just remembered Mo Yang’s face and vowed to teach the “pretty boy” a lesson when the opportunity arose.
Later, at exactly 9 o’clock in the evening…
Xiao Hu Zi persuaded several strong and ambitious male players to count the total number of players in the hall. To their relief, all one hundred players were present, sitting neatly in the hall. Having successfully gathered together, many felt a sense of relief, thinking that perhaps with their large numbers, the killer wouldn’t dare to approach them.
This sense of security prevailed as they waited from 9 o’clock to 10 o’clock and then to 11 o’clock. However, as some started to doze off on the couches, suddenly the entire castle plunged into darkness.
Everyone who was dozing off jolted awake, and a dozen voices asked in unison, “What happened? Why did the power go out?”
Only two dimly lit fireplaces remained burning in the entire hall.
“Where’s the butler? Where’s the old butler? Did the circuits malfunction?!”
Panic spread for a moment, and at this time, Qi Fu immediately sat upright, “Stay alert! Stay alert! Typically, this is when the killer strikes!”
Even though Qi Fu warned them, all the people in the hall had their hearts in their throats. Suddenly, a sharp, agonizing scream resounded through the dark hall. People panicked, trying to locate the source of the scream, but the person who cried out remained silent the next moment. However, a woman’s voice followed immediately:
“Help! Help—ugh!”
Soon after, the woman’s voice went silent too.
Everyone felt chills running down their spines. Song Kefeng squinted, staring intently toward the eastern side of the hall. He was certain that the source of the scream was from that direction, and the killer had already claimed two lives. He stood up swiftly, tense, with a weapon in his hand.
Mo Yang had played four games so far, but this was the first time he felt his heart pounding with fear and coldness. Not even during the chaos in Phoenix Village, his escape from the Black Panther Duke’s dungeon, or the battle with the Happy God in the Happy Town had he been this nervous.
Perhaps in terms of raw power, the killer currently lurking in the castle might not be as formidable as the Happy God, but the terror of this killer lay in its elusive and unpredictable nature.
Xiao Hu Zi was trembling, standing next to the fireplace not far away. In the darkness, the dim light here was the only thing that made him feel a little safer. He clutched his knife tightly, looking around cautiously, and shouted at the chaotic crowd, “Don’t panic! Don’t be nervous! Gather together over here! Stand by the fireplace; the killer won’t be able to hide here in the dark! We’ll all be safe together! Let’s work together to kill him!”
However, the panicked players didn’t have the time to listen to him. Some players wanted to run upstairs to their rooms to hide, but they heard a painful cry coming from the staircase, followed by spine-chilling laughter.
“Hehehehe.”
“The fifth one~”
The laughter was sharp and piercing, making it impossible to determine if it was a man’s or a woman’s voice. But this laughter successfully frightened those who wanted to go upstairs, causing them to turn around and rush back into the hall.
Soon, almost everyone squeezed together by the two fireplaces. Besides feeling a bit safer in the crowd, many of them also harbored the thought that someone else might protect them from calamity.
Mo Yang and his group of seven didn’t squeeze toward the fireplaces. Although the crowd was dense there, being packed together like that would leave them unable to move and render them as defenseless as lambs to the slaughter. Instead, they formed a circle, back to back, and remained vigilant, keeping an eye on a specific direction.
Mo Yang looked at the direction he was facing and suddenly had a premonition that the killer was heading their way. Before he could react, a dark shadow swiftly passed by him. He instantly drew his Tang sword, but his strike missed the shadow, which seemed to have no intention of attacking him either.
He felt a chilling breeze near his ear, and the next moment, Song Kefeng’s loud shout and the sound of blades clashing filled the air as the shadow attempted to attack Song Kefeng. However, Song Kefeng managed to block the attack with his three-sided military knife.
Following that, although the black shadow was slowed down by Song Kefeng, Qi Hong and Zhou Api’s attacks failed to land a hit.
Mo Yang heard that sharp voice again, followed by a piercing laughter, and then the shadow disappeared once more.
A few seconds later, cries for help and struggling sounds came from the darkness.
“Hehehehe… Hahahaha…”
“The ninth one!”
Upon hearing the voice announcing the ninth victim, everyone’s anxiety reached its peak, but at the same time, they felt a faint glimmer of hope and relief. They thought, with nine dead, if the last one died, they would survive the night safely.
Then, they all saw a tall, awkwardly shaped black figure leaping high into the air. In mid-air, it effortlessly landed on top of the fireplace, and in a bizarre inverted posture, it bent down and easily severed Xiao Hu Zi’s neck with the curved blade in its hand, much to his disbelief.
After that, in an inexplicably unnatural manner, the figure twisted its body and, before anyone could get a clear view of its appearance, left excitedly. It moved so swiftly that it seemed like a ghost.
“The tenth one, hahaha, the tenth one!”
Only after the voice of the tenth victim completely faded away from the castle did a trembling woman’s voice speak up:
“Head… head… someone help me throw his head out, aaaaah!”
The shocked survivors then saw a female player, looking distressed, holding Xiao Hu Zi’s bloody head in her hands, as if she might faint any second.
At that moment, the midnight bell chimed, and suddenly, the hall was brightly illuminated.
The voice of the old butler rang out from the staircase: “Dear guests, what has happened?”
The ninety surviving players looked at the chaotic scene, with blood and severed limbs scattered all over the floor, and some couldn’t help but vomit.
However, the old butler, who should have been equally shocked, showed no signs of surprise. He looked at them with pity and said, “Ah, the Night Stalker has infiltrated the fortress again.”
“You should all hurry back to your rooms. The entire castle is invaded by the Night Stalker at night, and the only place that can guarantee your safety is your own room. As long as you haven’t chosen a room that the Night Stalker favors, there usually won’t be any problems.”
Author’s Note –
The Night Stalker’s laughter is that kind of sinister and terrifying laughter. Well, unfortunately, I can’t demonstrate it, but you can imagine it yourself.
Love you all~
I imagine the laughter of a stalker as the laughter of Woody the woodpecker
Thank you for your translation 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
Now I have that laugh stuck in my head. 🙂
Thank you for the chapter~!
Thank you for translating ! Why is it suddenly horror, my heart QAQ