Buddhist player

Flames leaped, casting greyish-brown silhouettes on the wall.

Sitting around the fire, Bai Chen squinted at the five corpses neatly arranged in the hall.

When the fifth corpse appeared automatically, the supernatural power that had enveloped the entire villa seemed to dissipate completely, and everyone felt a sense of relief.

If before, everyone felt as if there was a huge rock hanging from a thin thread above their heads, swaying, then now, that feeling has completely vanished.

Not only that, even the Tiger King, who had been somewhat mentally unstable due to the nightmare, was now cleared of his mind and largely returned to normal.

Unfortunately, the suppression of technological lighting still exists, and has even intensified. The powerful flashlights that used to illuminate several meters away have now completely lost their effectiveness.

Now, the only thing left for everyone to use for lighting is the bonfire that Bai Chen had lit earlier.

"It's quite obvious. One of the wishes in the mission's name refers to reuniting their family and giving them a proper burial."

Holding the note in his hand, the bard's words carried an undisguised excitement.

"Now that the villa is completely safe, the next thing we need to do is to set up a grave for the family there, and then we can wait peacefully until the rain stops and dawn breaks."

"Uh... there are shovels in the storage room on the first floor."

Just then, a maple leaf was blown down and raised its hand.

"Although it's pouring rain outside, the rain has made the grass much softer. If we work together, it should take about half an hour... um, about forty minutes."

Turning back, he glanced at the five corpses lying quietly on the ground.

"Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up, don't waste time!!"

Although the effects of the tranquilizer in his body had not completely worn off, Tiger King's temperament remained fiery. Although he had regained consciousness, the experience of the endless nightmare was still vivid in his mind. Even though he was verbally astute, there was a clear sense of fear deep in his eyes.

"I'll go get the shovel."

Reaching out to adjust his glasses, Dao Ke Dao Can Chang Chang Dao (the Way that can be told is not the eternal Way) volunteered to stand up.

But before he could turn around, two voices suddenly rang out at the same time.

"No need to rush/stop."

"……what?"

Turning his head, looking at Chen Bai and Yuan Qing, who had spoken at the same time, Dao Ke Dao was somewhat bewildered.

Strictly speaking, the other party deserves at least 80% of the credit for their ability to gather the five corpses, so he was quite obedient to their words.

However, he couldn't understand why the other party would suddenly call for a halt when the clues were so clear.

Looking up at Yuan Qing, who was also looking at him, Bai Chen didn't say anything. Instead, he got up from the fire and went back to his father's body.

As if understanding his thoughts, Yuan Qing followed closely beside him.

"Should this fifth corpse also be dressed in clean, new clothes?"

Seeing that the two big shots in the group were just staring at the corpse from head to toe without saying a word, the bard who had come to the corpse tentatively asked a question.

Compared to the first four corpses, the fifth corpse did look rather strange, mainly because of the left hand deeply inserted into its abdomen, making the whole corpse look like a grotesque creature from a science fiction horror movie, parasitized by some kind of parasitic monster.

The fatal wound was on the neck. Putting aside whether the assailant had some kind of perverse pleasure in shoving the victim's left hand into his stomach, the victim's posture made it look more like he had deliberately hidden his left hand inside his stomach...

After a moment's thought, Bai Chen bent down.

It must be said that the corpse was incredibly strong; even he had to put in a lot of effort to pull the other person's left hand out of their stomach.

The moment he pulled the other man's left hand out, the scene froze.

—In the left hand of the corpse, a white candle and a map stained with blood were clutched tightly.

....................................

Beside the fire, by the light of the fire, Bai Chen carefully spread the map out on the ground.

The map was larger than he had imagined, covering a huge area on the ground, and judging from its contents, it seemed to depict the villa district exactly.

It didn't take Bai Chen long to accurately locate their villa on the map. In this cluster of villas located halfway up the mountain, their villa was numbered 5.

...But that's not the point.

The five villas surrounding this main villa—numbered 1, 3, 4, 7, and 9—appear to be soaked in blood, their dark red stains resembling deliberate markings.

"Four buildings..."

Bai Chen narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the dark red area on the map.

—The villas whose doors were all wide open, which the bard and Dao He Changfei Dao saw during the rainstorm, were exactly four of them.

And besides that...

Turning his head, Bai Chen looked at the white candle that had been taken down along with the map.

There are five white candles in total, which correspond exactly to the five villas marked with special symbols on the map. Judging from the material of the white candles, they are the same type as the white candles that were initially lit on the coffee table in the living room.

"It seems this is the clue."

Just then, Yuan Qing's voice rang out from the side.

"almost."

Exhaling, Bai Chen put away the white candle and the map.

"Five white candles, five villas...it seems we need to head into these five villas..."

"Fuck!! What the hell are you talking about!?"

Before Bai Chen could finish his sentence, the Tiger King's unusually irritable voice rang out.

"The matter was already over, all that was needed was a simple cleanup, why did you have to make things so difficult for yourself!? Is it so hard to dig a few holes!? I..."

"If you can't speak properly, then shut up."

Bai Chen glanced at the other person, his face full of impatience.

"If there's a next time, I'll kill you."

Tiger King: "..."

"Um... um, could you please explain it to us in more detail?"

Seemingly in an attempt to ease the tension, the fallen maple leaf weakly raised its hand.

"The matter of this villa is almost over, why are you still..."

"There are too many doubts, and many things cannot be explained logically."

At this moment, Yuan Qing spoke with a cold expression.

"From the very beginning, this copy had too many distractions."

"What distractors? You're just being overly clever!!"

Although Tiger King was somewhat afraid of Bai Chen, he was not afraid of Yuan Qing. Seeing that the other party had spoken, as if to get back at him, he loudly retorted.

"The note Maple Leaf found made it very clear: five tombstones represented that family's wish to be laid to rest. To risk exploring other villas with only a dubious map and five candles is practically suicidal!!"

"more than."

Yuan Qing glanced at him, his expression indifferent.

"Because the number of white candles is limited and time is tight, we must go alone to explore those villas."

You have no choice.