They Are Very Hospitable (12)
“Mm…” After being startled, Chen Li instinctively opened his mouth, wanting to cry out in alarm, but before he could even make a sound, it was immediately silenced.
Fu Moyang’s hand, which had been pressing on the corner of his eye, slid down and entered his mouth. He teasingly stroked the soft little tongue with his fingers. Despite his face showing enjoyment, he lowered his voice and pretended to be serious: “Shh, if you’re too loud, they’ll hear us.”
The slaughterhouse wasn’t large, and since they were standing in a corner, anyone who moved slightly would easily spot them.
At the front of the crowd of villagers stood the village chief with a small mustache and Sana, holding a huge butcher’s knife.
But now, the villagers in front of Chen Li had completely lost their human appearance.
They had all transformed into monsters with human bodies and animal heads.
Some had pig heads, some had old goat heads, and even some had cow heads. The only common feature was that the mutation occurred at the neck. Below the neck, it was still a human body, but above the neck, it was completely covered in fur, turning into an animal’s head.
The once cute animal heads, now sewn onto human bodies, only seemed eerie.
Their eyes, barely visible as anything but the whites, emotionlessly scanned the human corpses hanging around them. They opened their mouths and discussed how to enjoy these ‘meat livestock’ at the festival.
They referred to human visitors as ‘meat livestock.’
A pig-headed villager wiped the drool from the side of his mouth: “I want to eat that bald male livestock. He looks like he still has muscle, the meat will definitely be firm.”
Another villager with a chicken head glanced at him with small eyes, opening his beak to make a sharp, thin sound: “Pathetic, of course we should eat the female ones. They’re the tender ones.”
They continued to argue heatedly about which human would taste better.
For a moment, Chen Li wasn’t sure if he should feel relieved that the “tour guide” wasn’t among the “meat livestock.”
He remembered the way Sana had looked at him during the previous encounters and couldn’t help but feel nervous. Strangely, she seemed to have been beaten up—her body covered in wounds of all sizes, her face dark and gloomy.
Had there been an internal conflict? How could players possibly have beaten up an NPC ‘butcher’ like that?
He didn’t have time to think about it further. Chen Li shifted his attention back to the man behind him. He was so overwhelmed that despite his fear, he angrily bit down on the man’s finger, holding it firmly.
Fu Moyang let out a light laugh, almost drawing the attention of the other villagers.
Only Sana remained silent, standing still. Her fists tightened, and her expression grew even more restrained, as if she already knew who was hiding there but chose not to say anything.
It seemed that the lesson had been learned.
Chen Li didn’t notice the subtle change in her behavior. He was more concerned about the villagers, worried they might turn toward them, so he quickly released Fu Moyang’s hand.
This time, the man finally obeyed and took his finger out. Chen Li couldn’t help but notice the shallow bite marks on it, almost faded away, and he stared at it with wide eyes, feeling wronged.
He really bit down hard—are this guy’s hands made of steel?!
Though there were no words, Fu Moyang somehow understood his feelings of frustration. He brought his finger back toward Chen Li, signaling him to bite again.
Chen Li’s face slowly flushed red. This time, it was from anger.
There were still some suspicious, shiny marks on the finger… How could this man be so shameless!?
Finally, the villagers turned around completely, their backs now fully facing them. Seizing the moment when no one was paying attention, Chen Li jabbed his elbow into the stomach of the person behind him. He broke free and slipped away.
Fu Moyang, who had deliberately let him go, followed at a leisurely pace. He didn’t speed up or try to catch up, just kept a steady distance behind.
He was a natural at playing mind games, perfectly in control of his emotions. As expected, the naive little lamb, who had no experience with this kind of sinister manipulation, gradually slowed down after realizing he couldn’t shake him off.
What he didn’t realize was that the consequence of a hunter’s repeated patience… is being devoured whole.
Chen Li, fuming: [He’s so awful. I don’t want to see him in the next world.]
System 001 popped online again, just as indignant: [Right! There’s no way we’ll run into him again next time!]
There were so many global players and so many instances. The odds of encountering the same person again were incredibly low. Every day, players died in instances, and new ones joined. It all stayed more or less balanced.
Suddenly, Chen Li came to a halt. Before he realized it, he had run all the way back to the little courtyard.
Only then did he finally let go of the constant tension he’d been holding in. A flood of messy thoughts rushed into his mind.
Then—buzz—everything finally clicked into place.
His throat tightened slightly as he looked at the small courtyard in front of him: [System, doesn’t this place look really familiar to you?]
System 001 scanned the area: [Nope. Based on my data, you shouldn’t have seen this kind of building in the real world either.]
Each small room was tightly packed next to the others. The doors were tiny, and there were no windows. Living here for long would feel suffocating—but thankfully, they only had to stay five days.
Chen Li: [A farm.]
[What?] System 001 couldn’t quite keep up with his human’s train of thought.
After the fear passed, Chen Li found himself growing a bit calmer: [The layout—it’s exactly like a livestock farm. The kind used to raise hens or cows.]
[No wonder they delivered meals to our courtyard on time. No wonder all the other houses in the village looked normal—only ours had a strange layout.]
So from the moment they entered the village, they had already become ‘livestock’ in the eyes of the villagers.
[So there was never any real death condition,] Chen Li exhaled slowly. [All the tourists were on the kill list from the very beginning.]
And yet, they thought that as long as they uncovered the village’s secret, they could avoid the death triggers and survive until after the festival.
No wonder the mission requirement was just to survive past the festival. Regardless of whether the red-haired guy had been bewitched into eating the sheep, the villagers were going to slaughter them before the festival anyway. That incident just accelerated the timeline.
System 001 suddenly sounded enlightened: [So this is actually a battle royale wrapped in a mystery-solving disguise. All those clues were just a distraction.]
By the time the players finally realize the truth, there’s no time left to handle the real battle royale.
Chen Li started walking: [I have to warn them.]
System 001 protested: [But your fear value is only at 55 right now.]
Seeing Chen Li continue forward without hesitation, its voice turned panicked: [If you don’t rack up enough horror points early on, you won’t have enough information for the next game!]
As it spoke the last word, Chen Li had already stepped into the courtyard and saw the other players.
They sat in silence around the dinner table, a heavy, oppressive atmosphere hanging in the air.
Chen Li couldn’t show too much emotion or curiosity, so he quietly moved closer. When he saw what was on the table, he instinctively took half a step back in shock.
The buff from the willow leaf prop was still active on him. What appeared to the players as two boiled pig’s trotters, to him were unmistakably two swollen human hands, soaked until they were pale and bloated. It was impossible to tell who they belonged to—except for one distinct, unforgettable detail: the manicured nails.
Chen Li stood there stunned. He remembered how delicate Yiyi’s nails had looked the first time he met her. He never thought he’d see them again like this.
The gaps in her nails were filled with blood and grime. Some of them were broken—ripped off along with the nail beds.
Just looking at them, you could feel her despair.
She had clawed at the ground, trying to grab hold of anything as she was dragged away by the ankle. Her nails left a few useless scratches on the ground—erased by the wind and footsteps soon after.
Suddenly, Baldy spoke: [Why did she die even though she didn’t trigger the death condition?]
It sounded more like he was asking himself than anyone else.
The other players stayed silent, deep in thought.
Chen Li turned and quietly walked out of the courtyard.
System 001 let out a sigh of relief: [You’re not going to tell them?]
It sounded almost gleeful, already calculating the horror points.
Chen Li shook his head: [No need. They’ll figure it out themselves.]
Though the cost would be heavy.
The festival was the day after tomorrow. Of the original ten players, only five remained.
Half were already gone.
And the real battle royale hadn’t even begun yet.
Fu Moyang leaned against the doorway, watching him walk out, lost in thought. He raised an eyebrow slightly: “She was killed by the other villagers.”
Chen Li froze for a moment. “But Sana is the butcher…”
He suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
Fu Moyang curled his lips into a slight smile. “Because the rules have been broken. The battle royale… has already begun.”