absurd deduction game.

The wind outside the town of Yolikev carried a peculiar chill, even on this night between summer and autumn.

It swept across the weeds, slipped through the rusty iron railings, and let out a low, mournful murmur, which made Zeng Lai's goosebumps rise again.

"What's going on?" he muttered in a very low voice, looking at the old man who came out of the gravedigger's hut. "Why is there someone here?"

Yu Xing, who was waiting for his meal, and Yi Qing, who was just watching the excitement, also looked towards the old man.

The old man was wrapped in a large, stained black robe, but the hood was pulled down high enough that people could see his face from this distance.

His body was hunched over, and his movements were stiff and slow. He slowly walked out of the hut, each step seemingly requiring tremendous effort, his bones emitting a faint yet clear, teeth-grinding grinding sound.

Behind him, a dry, grating screech broke the silence, and the wooden door that had been pushed open seemed to be pushed shut again by an invisible hand.

"Click."

Carlos chuckled. "No need to be so quiet. We're outside the cemetery, he won't notice us. Don't ask so many questions, let's see—"

The old man's hand emerged from under his black robe.

He carried an old-fashioned lantern, which silently lit up with his movements. The lampshade did not emit the flickering light of a candle or the steady white light of a gas lamp, but rather a murky, viscous, dim yellow light, like some kind of inferior grease slowly burning. The light was weak but stubbornly penetrated the dirty glass, staining a small area around him with a decaying color.

It was this light that made the old man's face even clearer under the moonlight.

Edgar, the old gravedigger.

His photograph was printed in pamphlets distributed by the church to the investigators, so as long as the deducers looked at it carefully, they would never forget his face.

However, he was clearly dead. According to the relevant case records, he was eaten by a flock of white, eerie-striped carrion crows that flew in from nowhere, leaving only a skeleton. It was said that a priest from the church... the one who distributed the equipment to them, personally collected the old gravedigger's mutilated remains and buried them under the land he had guarded all his life.

So what is appearing now?

It's delicious.

Yu Xing's tentacles were eager to try, but remembering Carlos's words, he held back and patiently watched the gravedigger's actions.

Old Edgar, or rather, the "thing" dressed in Edgar's black robe, was completely unaware of the spying from outside the wall.

After lighting his lantern, he began his familiar yet chilling patrol. He moved slowly along the gravel path with a mechanical, almost ritualistic pace, each step accompanied by a subtle yet distinct creaking sound of bones grinding together.

The cemetery is not large, or rather, there are not many people who are rich and qualified to buy a burial plot in the cemetery. Even at his current speed, he can probably inspect all the corners of the cemetery in about twenty minutes.

He walked unsteadily in his black robe.

Suddenly, he stopped in front of a slightly tilted tombstone, bent down, and shone his lantern downwards.

The black robe tightened with this movement, clearly highlighting the sharp, angular contours of the body beneath, which were definitely not flesh and blood. He stretched out the hand that emerged from the sleeve of the black robe—perhaps because the light was too dazzling, one could not see what the hand looked like so close to him, only that the nails were dirty black and long—he used his fingertips to very slowly brush over the name of the deceased on the tombstone, as if wiping it, or as if confirming it.

A low, indistinct murmur came from the shadow of his hood; it was not human language, but carried a strange, unsettling rhythm.

From that moment on, he began to inspect each tombstone one by one, repeating that strange yet focused routine.

The dim glow of the lantern cast long, distorted shadows behind him, which intertwined with the stone shadows of the tombstone, as if they had come to life and were silently crawling and wriggling on the ground.

"Is it because the gravedigger's obsession lingered after death, and the feng shui of Yorikef was unusual, that his spirit was preserved by chance, continuing the work he did in life?"

Yi Qing waved his fan. Due to differences in customs, he wasn't entirely sure and only made a guess.

"Do you sense that Edgar is a spirit now?" Carlos asked.

In fact, both he and Yiqing had met Edgar in his lifetime.

The cemetery always holds a unique position in the dungeon. Almost all the deducers who entered in the first phase had "visited" the cemetery. When they first arrived, everything in the cemetery was still in order, and Edgar was not dead.

Later, when the incident occurred at the cemetery, Carlos and Yiqing also went to pay their respects to Edgar's remains—it was a small funeral procession. People who considered themselves wealthy local nobles disdained to attend the funeral of a lowly profession, but the church gave the old gravedigger considerable respect.

Therefore, Yi Qing could sense the difference between this black-robed tomb keeper and the one in life.

He pondered for a moment: "It's not a pure spirit. Obviously, it has a body, but this body feels completely different from a corpse. It doesn't even have much of Edgar's aura."

Zeng Lai interjected, "Could it be a resurrection? Something like crawling out of a grave and becoming an undead creature? Western fantasy games like to portray it like that."

Yi Qing did not answer. Her deep blue eyes first stared at the tomb keeper, then shifted their gaze to the entire cemetery.

Resurrection? Perhaps. Anything crazy can happen in [His] world.

Even so, this is not a simple resurrection, but a deeper, more blasphemous and bizarre phenomenon. Death loses its absolute authority in the cemetery, twisted by some ancient and dark force.

Yi Qing's interest was piqued.

He knew Carlos had come before; he had at least come last night. Perhaps this eerie scene would appear every midnight after Edgar's death? However, he hadn't come with him before and had missed this spectacle that started at midnight.

Carlos was enthusiastically explaining: "This is a time-limited anomaly that only appears for one hour from midnight to 1 a.m.; you'll be disappointed if you come at any other time."

"This gravedigger's aura is stronger than most of the monsters in town. If we can take him down, the contribution points will be very high. Besides, there's more to his story that we can uncover... We'll have to wait until he finishes his work."

Yu Xing can prove the penultimate statement.

The gravedigger... no, the whole cemetery smelled wonderful, easily whetting his appetite. Even nightmares couldn't compare to the gravedigger.

The scent of the gravedigger is like a rich, smooth, and expensive chocolate Black Forest cake made from the finest ingredients.

Zeng Lai asked Carlos, "It sounds like you've been watching this place for a long time. Why didn't you resolve this issue in the last phase?"

Carlos smiled shrewdly: "I was already in first place without a doubt in the last round, so why not leave him for this round? That way, I can stabilize my ranking right from the start."

Zeng Lai cupped his hands in greeting: "You've really thought of everything."

Yi Qing: "..."

He probably learned his shrewdness from Zhao Mou.

While the group chatted outside the door, old Edgar, clad in a black robe, finally finished his slow inspection. After walking a short distance back, Zeng Lai was amused by one of Carlos's cheesy jokes and let out a loud "Haha!" Old Edgar suddenly looked up at the doorway.

Zeng Lai, like a goose with its neck grabbed, made no attempt to conceal herself as Yu Xing and the others stared at Old Edgar: "..."

“He can’t see us.”

Carlos had the most information and was well-prepared, so he was the most composed. He said confidently, "This monster was born from the cemetery and its eyes can only 'see' the interior of the cemetery. It must be looking at this dog."

The group then realized that they had been ignoring the cemetery's guard dog for a long time, as it was trying to make its presence known.

The chained dog dared not make a sound. It curled its massive body in a corner, staring at Edgar with extreme fear, its whole body trembling.

The tomb keeper slowly approached.

The dog whimpered, with nowhere to retreat. One of its paws was already stuck in the iron bars, and it seemed to be trying to squeeze out, but unfortunately, it was too big, and its struggle was in vain.

Old Edgar approached with his lantern.

As he walked closer, the lantern swayed, and the decaying color seemed to magnify little by little. At this distance, every detail on his face was clearly visible to the group.

It was a complete face belonging to old Edgar, his skin ashen like old paper, covered with deep wrinkles and brown lividity.

But those eyes—those eyes utterly betrayed the last traces of humanity on that face. There were no whites, no pupils, only an endless, thick blackness, like two bottomless holes leading straight to some kind of madness at its core.

Even though none of them felt any pressure in terms of strength, being stared at by such a face still made them instinctively feel a chill run down their spines and an intense craving for it.

Old Edgar did not see them.

He simply walked up to the watchdog and glanced at the bowl beside it, which contained a little bit of dog food and minced meat left over... It was something the church staff had added during the day.

Even if a new caretaker is chosen later, this dog will still have to continue working; it is the property of the cemetery, not old Edgar's private property.

Indistinct murmurs once again escaped from old Edgar's bloodless lips. He seemed to be communicating with the dog, checking if it was full, and considering it just a normal conversation.

But neither the dog nor Yu Xing and the others could understand what he was saying.

The dog was trembling even more violently, showing obvious signs of stress. It might die of fright in a little while. Carlos said, "That's about enough. We can go in and visit. Once we're inside the cemetery, we'll be able to understand some of his words."

"Have you been inside?" Yu Xing asked proactively, because he felt that with Carlos's abilities, the gravedigger might also be stressed if he went inside.

"I've seen several fortune tellers die here, though I haven't myself, but what could possibly be difficult for a magician?"

Suddenly, several small paper figures appeared in Carlos's palm: "We'll use decoys to go in."

The substitute paper dolls have limited power and won't be "recognized" by old Edgar in the cemetery because of their aura, allowing them to have a complete and wonderful experience.

Yu Xing wasn't very interested in playing with the food before eating, a fact Carlos noticed from his subtle expression. He emphasized, "It's for hidden clues!"

Yu Xing: "Okay."

Guided by Carlos and through his magical skills, the two humans and the ghost connected their consciousness with the paper doll.

In the blink of an eye, the paper figures grew larger and transformed into somewhat rudimentary 3D paper figure models. Of course, they were the kind of models used in magic props, and they didn't resemble paper effigies at all.

Yu Xing took some time to adjust to her new body.

He was completely unpainted; his skin and clothes were white. His beady eyes didn't obstruct his vision. Around him, several paper-folded tendrils appeared out of thin air, instantly doubling the size of his footprint.

Beside him, Carlos and Zeng Lai were similar. The magician himself did not show favoritism; he also had beady eyes, except for a wisp of gray-blue hair on his forehead.

Zeng Lai's paper figure has the biggest mouth and looks very simple and honest.

Their original bodies were carefully stored away—magical props shrunk their bodies, which Carlos carried with him.

"...What does this mean?" Yi Qing's voice came from Yu Xing's shoulder.

Yu Xing tilted her head and noticed a small paper ghost on her shoulder, exactly like a white ghost from Halloween, only the size of a palm.

The little ghost had a cartoonish expression, revealing a hint of annoyance, and Yi Qing's voice came from its mouth: "Why am I like this? Magician—you're smuggling in your own agenda."

"Pfft...cough." Carlos's beady eyes couldn't convey any sophisticated emotions, but everyone heard his laughter.

He added, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

Before Yiqing could continue nitpicking, he suddenly raised his hand and knocked on the iron railing of the cemetery.

The paper hand collided with the railing; it was not fragile, and produced a crisp tapping sound that stood out clearly in the stillness.

The unsettling grumbling of the black-robed gravedigger abruptly ceased, and he raised the dim lantern, turning the lampshade toward them.

In the shadows, an inhuman, chilling gaze was fixed firmly on the three people outside the iron bars.

The deathly silence lasted for a moment, then was broken by a dog's whimper.

The heavy, rusty iron gate to the cemetery had long been locked—everyone in town knew that old Edgar didn't like locking the gate. He said the dead needed to come and go freely, but for security reasons, the cemetery had been locked and no one was allowed to enter for the past few days after his death.

But at that moment, the iron gate emitted a chilling creaking sound, as if pushed by a pair of invisible giant hands, slowly and irresistibly sliding open on its own, revealing a gap large enough for one person to pass through.

Old Edgar stood quietly, silently watching them.

The cemetery inside the gate, divided by dim yellow light and thick shadows, resembled a giant mouth quietly opening, waiting for its prey to fall into its trap.

Yu Xing was the first to squeeze in.

Fragrant, fragrant, fragrant.

As soon as the cemetery was opened, the captivating, decaying smell wafted out, almost intoxicating him. (End of Chapter)