Deity Investigation Report

Chapter 23 Pig-Headed Monster
When the girl with the ponytail shouted loudly, the monsters beside the dining table also stopped what they were doing.

Each monster wore a strange smile, looking at the ponytail with apparent amusement.

A ghostly figure vanished silently from beside the dining table, and when she reappeared, she had quietly grown out behind the girl with the ponytail.

She was tall, exceptionally tall, easily two meters, wearing a long black dress and an exquisite hat. Her face was blank, with most of her features shrouded in the shadow cast by the hat, making her look like a mass of darkness.

Only a strange-looking fleshy horn grew out from her forehead.

The fleshy horn was a good twenty centimeters long, extending beyond the brim of the hat. As she looked down, it quietly pointed downwards, as if a gentle gaze was quietly observing this brave girl.

"No, don't come near me..."

The girl with the ponytail pointed at everyone with the candlestick, but only realized that a monster was standing behind her when all the children around her were looking at her with a terrified expression.

She whirled around, pointed the candlestick at her, and yelled, "Run! Run! They are..."

"...It's a monster!"

"..."

This shout was like igniting the fuse of gunpowder; the pent-up repression and terror that had been building up since entering the castle erupted all at once.

All the children jostled and surged forward. Some of them did cry out in fear, their cries piercing the air, but they just huddled together like lambs, and no one could muster the courage to run away.

The butler, watching the noisy children, simply stood by and watched.

He could have solved the problem with just a clap of his hands, but now he seems detached, as if bringing people in was all he needed to accomplish.

Standing behind the girl with the ponytail, the woman in the black dress with a fleshy horn watched the girl's anxious expression, but only moved slightly, as if she were letting out a laugh that no one could understand.

Only Han Su suddenly realized something, and felt extremely worried, looking at a certain figure at the dining table.

"I don't want to, I don't want to, I want to go home, I want to find my mom..."

"Mommy, Mommy, come save me..."

Because of the girl with the ponytail's shouts, all the children seemed to finally remember their fear and burst into tears.

Of all the children, only one boy with a small green backpack cried the loudest. His cries were particularly loud, sharp, and piercing.

His cries seemed to drown out the cries of the other children.

He didn't look at the other children, nor at the monsters.

With his head held high, hands waving, and feet stomping, he just wailed, shouted, and yelled, as if he were going to complain to the teacher.

Han Su already realized what was going to happen, and he looked at a monster on the dining table.

Wearing a black leather apron, with a fat and bloated head like a pig, at first glance it looks like he's wearing a pig-head hood, but upon closer inspection, you'll find that it is his head, deformed and twisted, truly grown into this shape.

He had been sitting quietly at the table, not even discussing anything with the other monsters after the children came in, nor did he look at the frightened children.

Until the boy's shrill cry rang out, he suddenly trembled, slowly lowered his head, and covered his ears.

The pressure was applied so tightly, as if in extreme pain.

A humming sound came from his chest, like an uncontrollable groan, as if trying to tell the children to stop crying.

But no one could understand the voice coming from his chest, and besides, the voice was completely drowned out by the crying of the children, so no one heard it.

As a result, he became increasingly pained, his body trembled with growing fear, and an indescribable expression of agony appeared on his pig-like face. Even his eyes closed tighter and tighter, and when he suddenly opened them, he saw a blood-red light.

Han Su couldn't help but close his eyes, unable to bear watching any longer.

But he didn't try to stop it. On one occasion when he came back, he did try to stop it, but it was no use.

The little boy who started crying was determined to get what he wanted once he started. He had used this trick on his parents, elders, and teachers before, and it always worked.

From then on, he understood that he should not take any pointless risks in the castle, and that he should only try things after ensuring his own safety as much as possible.

"call……"

The crying continued until the burly man in the black leather skirt suddenly stood up. In that instant, he pulled a blood-stained knife from his apron and hurled it at the little boy with all his might.

"laugh!"

The children, who were crying, pushing and shoving, calling for their parents and teachers, suddenly had their faces splattered with blood. All the crying stopped at the same time.

The little boy who had been crying and stamping his feet was now standing there blankly, unable to cry anymore. Only the cruel and heavy knife remained, nailed to the wall, half of its blade pierced through, swaying on its own.

The heavy breathing of the burly man with the pig-like face echoed in the empty hall.

The monk, whose body was covered in worms, had all the worms retreated into his robes and the wounds on his body.

Then, in the silence, he continued to lead the girl with glasses upstairs.

The woman in the black dress, who was standing behind the girl with the ponytail, slowly raised her hand and shielded the girl's eyes, as if to prevent her from seeing the bloody scene.

But the girl with the ponytail seemed to realize something; her body stiffened, and the candlestick she was holding clattered to the ground.

All the children in the room seemed to have lost their souls.

The burly man with the pig-like face was already squatting between the chairs next to the dining table, as if he was still immersed in the pain he had just experienced, unable to extricate himself, and wishing he could hide under the table.

But the other monsters all laughed silently at the same time. They watched as the worm monk and the flesh-horned lady led their chosen people upstairs, and then their eyes turned admiringly and greedily to the remaining children on the dining table.

It was as if they had lost the final, noisy lamb, and could only let them choose at their own pace.

There was a doctor, only half a body wrapped in bandages, who picked out the boy wearing small glasses.

A huge monster with a bloated, enormous body and pale skin picked up the girl who looked like a doll and had two angel wings on her little dress.

Some people simply smiled and stood up, gently beckoning the group of children with their fingers.

Because of the distance, the children didn't actually know who she was beckoning to, but they all felt that the gesture was directed at them.

So, someone walked toward her in a daze, and she simply took the first child who approached her, then held his hand and slowly went upstairs.

Even the burly, pig-faced man who had been trembling silently under the table, writhing in agony, had recovered. He slowly stood up and stared blankly at the children he had just frightened, especially at the headless corpse, tears welling up in his eyes.

He seemed to be selective as well, but even the terrified children still remembered how frightening he was and desperately tried to push back.

But at that moment, a boy with a side parting and wearing a small tailcoat suddenly ran towards him and stood quietly in front of the pig-faced, burly man.

None of the children knew what he was thinking, but they could only watch helplessly as he was the last one to be led upstairs by the burly man with the pig-like face.

"This guy is still so smart..."

Han Su thought to himself.

He knew a great deal about monsters and these children.

Knowing that among these rich and powerful kids, several are very cunning, and that others' fear and cowardice are precisely what these kids use as a disguise.

Some people were well-behaved throughout, not uttering a word, but secretly glancing around as if searching for a place to escape.

Some people even subtly and imperceptibly pulled other children to stand in front of them.

Throughout the entire process, Han Su simply stood quietly in place.

He knew he wouldn't be chosen.

These monsters seem to dislike me. Not only in the first round, but even in the third round, they seemed to look down on me. Putting aside my current situation, this seems pretty unfair...

The monsters at the dining table each chose a child, and the old butler, with a smile, selected six of them and escorted them upstairs by themselves.

Only then did the selection process end. The dozen or so children remaining in the hall huddled together. Some breathed a sigh of relief, thinking they had escaped a disaster, while others seemed even more worried, staring anxiously at the bloodstains splattered on the ground.

"Alright, you unfortunate little guys, it's time for you to rest."

The butler who had escorted the six children upstairs smiled as he descended the stairs, looking at them with a hint of sympathy and comfort in his eyes.

"But don't be disappointed, there's still a chance."

As he spoke, he gently raised his palm and clapped twice, the sound crisp yet gentle.

Then, all the remaining children suddenly became dazed again, standing still and motionless.

Han Su stood the straightest; this time, he didn't want the butler to discover his secret of being able to break free from his hypnosis.

(End of this chapter)