Chapter 59 Part 1

“Ah!!!!!”

A sharp, piercing scream shattered the midnight silence and pierced through Zhong Nian’s dream.

He opened his eyes, still not fully reacting from the abruptly interrupted deep sleep, when a palm landed on his eyes first, blocking the glaring light.

“You sleep, I’ll go check.” The Masked Man’s low voice sounded by his ear, quickly soothing Zhong Nian’s heart, which had raced from waking too suddenly.

Feeling the young man’s body relax, the man then got up and left, not forgetting to tuck in the blanket for him before going.

However, Zhong Nian wasn’t so carefree as to continue sleeping peacefully after hearing such a loud noise.

The scream had come from the only Girl Player among the players.

He sat up and followed.

The other players all stood at the door of the bathroom on the first floor. Because the corridor was narrow, just the Masked Guy and Jie Jialiang blocked the way, so Zhong Nian, who was at the back, couldn’t see what was happening. He could only hear voices and smell an overpoweringly unpleasant stench of blood.

“I really don’t know what happened! During the night watch, he told me he was going to the toilet, and then he didn’t come back for a long time. I came to the toilet to find him, and somehow I fainted. I’m not lying! It’s true, believe me…” The Skinny Man explained agitatedly. “Look! There’s a big bump on my forehead from hitting the ground!”

And that Girl Player was crying, sobbing her heart out.

Zhong Nian moved closer and tugged at the Masked Man’s sleeve, squeezing his head into the gap between the man’s arm and the wall.

A scene of gore slammed straight into his eyes.

He had originally thought something had happened to the Girl Player; it was the second half of the night, and she had been on watch with the Skinny Man.

But the Girl Player, who was crying so hard she was on the verge of fainting and slumped in a pool of blood, had no wounds on her body.

Beside her lay a mutilated corpse.

The hardest-to-chew head still had a bit of tissue left, but the flesh elsewhere had been almost entirely eaten away, leaving bones scattered on the ground. Below the breastbone, it was empty, with not a single organ remaining.

Even though the face had been gnawed to bits, it was easy to guess the identity. The missing one was the Girl Player’s boyfriend.

Zhong Nian only glanced once before his eyes were covered again by the Masked Man.

“You won’t be able to sleep after seeing this,” the man said.

Zhong Nian felt a bit helpless and pulled down the large hand over his eyes. “I won’t be able to sleep even if I don’t see it.”

The scene was very gory and chilling, but during this time, Zhong Nian had been exposed to all sorts of monsters, and his mental resilience had grown stronger. He wasn’t particularly scared after seeing it, just a little nauseous.

He rubbed his nose, which was irritated by the bloody smell, and used the Masked Man’s arm to block some of the view as he quietly listened to Jie Jialiang question the Skinny Man about the situation.

He quickly pieced together what had happened. After the first half of the night when the boyfriend and the Masked Guy finished their watch, out of consideration, he hadn’t woken his deeply sleeping girlfriend and chose to continue the watch alone with the Skinny Man.

Going to the toilet midway was normal too. The Skinny Man had been extremely sleepy at the time and just casually acknowledged it without paying much attention.

When it took too long, he felt something was wrong and went to look, only to inexplicably faint at the bathroom door.

It wasn’t until an hour later that the Girl Player woke from her dream, couldn’t find her boyfriend, and horror-strickenly discovered the gruesome scene in the bathroom.

Jie Jialiang let out a long sigh, unsure if it was lamenting the man’s misfortune or disappointment at losing an opportunity. “I thought having two people on watch would be foolproof, but the Devil still succeeded… My condolences.”

Dawn was approaching.

The surviving players rechecked the house, confirmed all doors and windows were securely shut, and then dealt with the corpse together.

At first, the Girl Player was overcome with grief, crying until she nearly fainted, so the others didn’t force her, thinking to give her time alone to process her emotions.

Unexpectedly, when it came time to handle the corpse, the Girl Player stood up herself, refused others’ help, and alone wrapped her lover in clean cloth, placing him into the wooden box that the Masked Man and Zhong Nian had found in the Utility Room.

She held that bloodied and mangled head, wiped it clean with a towel, caressed the brows and eyes for a good while, and only then reluctantly placed it into the wooden box and sealed it.

After dawn, when the fog dissipated, she chose to bury him under a tree in the backyard of the Cabin.

Several people helped dig the soil but didn’t disturb her, giving her space for a final farewell to her boyfriend.

To avoid any accidents, Zhong Nian and the Masked Man watched from afar at the back door.

The Girl Player’s tears never stopped, her grief bending her waist, yet she was unusually strong.

She handled the burial without accepting help from others.

Zhong Nian asked the man quietly accompanying him by his side, “Who do you think did it?”

The Masked Man replied, “In my eyes, everyone is a suspect.”

He paused, then added, “Except you.”

Zhong Nian laughed upon hearing that. “Aren’t you trusting me too much? What if I’m the Devil too? You’re even sleeping with me—be careful I might ambush you in the middle of the night.”

As he said it, he even bared his little white teeth at the man.

The Masked Man’s expression didn’t change as he said seriously, “I wouldn’t mind, but… my face isn’t good-looking. Better not to eat it; it might ruin your appetite.”