Chapter 12 Paper Man City 09
It was almost afternoon, but the Zhu family's courtyard was particularly desolate and cold. The wizards stood there, feeling that not even a ray of sunlight could penetrate.
Liu Shitou's body was lying not far away. There was no need to go forward to smell his breath. Just a glance from a distance would tell that there was no way to save him - his head and neck had been cut off by a sharp blade.
It is said that when it was discovered, the head had been separated from the body and fell alone in the distance.
Jiang Yuelu asked Lord Zhu if it was he who discovered Liu Shitou's body.
"Is he alone?"
Lord Zhu whispered, "He went to the outer city, and no one dared to follow him."
Finally, someone couldn't help crying, but she wasn't crying for the dead.
"It's been so long. It's been so long. Everyone has been looking forward to the Ghost Festival. Isn't it because they hope that the ceremony will be over quickly so that they can live in peace?"
"Why are there still ghosts?"
"Can we... still survive in the future?"
The people in Yidou Town firmly believed that "there will be no more ghosts after the ceremony". The death of Liu Shitou undoubtedly broke the habits and cognition that had been deeply rooted in the past ten years.
That’s right, they didn’t dare to go out of town or go out after dark. It would be terrible to continue living like this for half a year, but they knew that they would still have another half a year of peaceful life.
For this reason, the sadness and fear of half a year seemed nothing, because after all, there was a Zhongyuan Night ritual that was like a stabilizing force waiting for them to persevere through the difficult days. But now, someone died.
It was true, he was killed with one blow, and it was a very miserable death.
The ritual failed.
Jiang Yuelu could understand the despair and pain these people were feeling. To his surprise, the wizards all seemed to be moved, even Yu Xiong was no exception.
This was the first time since he joined the game that he discovered that they had other similarities besides the method of death by "fire".
An absurd thought flashed through his mind.
——Is the selection of wizards related to whether a person has empathy?
He suppressed the thought and planned to verify it later.
Some were crying, some were in despair, and some were silent. No one cared. Jiang Yuelu approached Liu Shitou's body and began to carefully examine the wounds on the body.
To show respect for the deceased, the severed head has been joined to the neck, but even so, an obvious cut can still be seen. The wound has no burrs on the edge and the cut surface is very smooth, making it look like a thin red thread tied around the neck by a beauty lover.
The murder weapon must be as sharp as iron, and the person who did it - assuming he was a human being - must be even more ruthless and would not hesitate at all.
"Um?"
Jiang Yuelu seemed to have seen something and possessed herself.
"What's wrong?"
Jiang Yuelu looked up and saw Leng Jing, Chen Chuan and others coming to check. He pointed at Liu Shitou's neck and said, "There's something wrong with the wound."
Zhao Xiaoxuan and Chen Chuan had never seen a dead person in their lives, and they were both resistant and afraid. Leng Jing looked normal, lowered his head to look at the wound on the body, and looked at Jiang Yuelu, "Paper?"
The cut flesh was covered with white crumbs, which were hard to spot without careful observation. If the murderer had a cooking fetish and liked to sprinkle crumbs on the corpse, there was only one explanation for this.
"The knife that cuts through flesh should be made of paper."
Chen Chuan and Zhao Xiaoxuan were both in disbelief after hearing what Jiang Yuelu said.
Jiang Yuelu added: "It doesn't have to be a knife. Any other shape of sharp weapon will do, but it must be made of paper."
Zhao Xiaoxuan was stunned: "How can paper kill people?"
"There are already paper clothes and paper people trapped in chains, so what's so strange about a paper knife?"
After hearing his words, Zhao Xiaoxuan stopped talking. She grabbed her boyfriend's hand in fear, "He...he was killed in the outer city. Jiang Xinhui and the others seemed to have been attacked in the outer city as well."
Indeed, everyone in Lin Shenyin's team was covered in wounds that night when they entered the city.
"Although I don't want to admit it." Lord Zhu whispered, "But everyone should still be prepared. This is the first time someone has been killed in broad daylight..."
Butcher Zhang opened his mouth and said, "You mean... those ghosts have become stronger?"
After hearing this, the townspeople howled and banged their heads against the wall, looking like they had suffered severe trauma.
"Master Zhu, can you tell me in detail what a ghost is?" Jiang Yuelu asked politely, "My friends were also attacked."
Hearing him calling him a friend without any embarrassment, Yu Xiong, who had never said a word to Jiang Yuelu, couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"Also in the outer city?" Lord Zhu looked at Jiang Yuelu in surprise, and the latter motioned Jiang Xinhui and others to show their wounds.
Jiang Xinhui did as she was told in silence. She rolled up her wide wizard robe sleeves, and the dense scratches on her snow-white skin looked particularly tragic. Zhao Xiaoxuan saw it for the first time and couldn't help but exclaimed, running over to hug her arm: "...Do you have any medicine? It's so serious that we need to apply some medicine!"
"I see." Lord Zhu nodded and sighed, "That kind of ghost appeared ten years ago, and it became more ferocious after Wizard Qin left."
Qin Xue quickly left for the next town. In troubled times, evil spirits were everywhere, and it was impossible for a capable person like him to stay in one place. Even though they were afraid of his departure, the people of Iron Town did not try to stop him. They were very grateful to this young and promising wizard for avenging them and cleaning up the mess.
For this reason, they have always had a deep friendship and affection for the wizard, and even if someone died after the ceremony, no one questioned whether Lin Shenyin did not perform the ceremony properly.
Jiang Xinhui shook her head and said, "Although the ghost we encountered last night was fierce, it didn't take our lives."
It was easy for the unknown monster to take their lives because it could attack them silently from the dark and cause scars all over their bodies. She thought she was going to die on the road, but she didn't expect that she could still knock on Lord Zhu's door alive.
Jiang Yuelu asked: "So they have become more ferocious?"
Lord Zhu nodded in agreement.
Zhao Xiaoxuan couldn't help but ask, "What does a ghost look like?"
Jiang Xinhui frowned, "I don't know about this either... that thing can't be seen or touched, it can only be heard..."
"Rustle." Lin Shenyin said, with an unfathomable expression again.
Zhao Xiaoxuan shivered as she applied medicine to Jiang Xinhui's arm. "I can't see, and I can't hide. Isn't it like the enemy is in the dark and I am in the light? You're so badly injured... I won't go to the outer city even if you kill me. I won't go!"
Jiang Yuelu looked at the two girls, and he paid more attention to the scars on Jiang Xinhui's arm. They were very similar to the cuts on Liu Shitou's neck, straight and sharp, like several needles scratching at the same time.
So...it's paper too?
-
It turned out that Zhao Xiaoxuan's worries were completely unnecessary, and they didn't have to go to the outer city at night.
The farewell banquet originally scheduled for Zuixianlou was interrupted by the beheading tragedy. The townspeople had been busy with Liu Shitou's funeral all afternoon and had no time to care about them, let alone hold a banquet.
Liu Shitou is an orphan without a father or a mother. In early years, he learned shadow puppetry from a master, but later his master died. He grew up eating at many people's homes and had deep feelings for everyone in Yidou Town. Many people came to worry about his affairs after his death. His funeral was silent, but not lonely.
The wizards had nothing to do.
Except for Yu Xiong who kept pestering Lin Shenyin, the rest of the people were lying lazily in the yard, watching the heartbroken people coming and going outside.
Even though they were pulled into this world and talked to Liu Shitou, his death did not bring them a huge shock. They were still bystanders in this town, watching people die and listening to them talk about their past sufferings, but it was difficult for them to feel any sense of participation.
Everyone has their own concerns, but most people are concerned about one thing.
"Hello……"
The freckled boy who had never spoken finally spoke. Jiang Yuelu remembered that his name was Chang Le. He had been autistic since he entered the examination room, so he had no sense of existence.
Chang Le weakly called out to Lin Shenyin, "Brother Lin, you can predict the future, right?"
"Then tell me, can we go back?" Chang Le whispered, "My mother must have known about my death. She must be very worried about me. She is not in good health."
After hearing this, Xuanyunduo, the other member of the autistic duo who sat with him, couldn't help but tear up, "I miss my grandpa. I only have my grandpa, and my grandpa only has me, but now..."
The yard was silent, with only ripples in the small pond under the garden rockery, like layers of tear marks.
Jiang Yuelu listened to the silent sad voices around him, but he was lost in thought, thinking of something else - since the environment in the inner city is so bad, why can Lord Zhu still afford to live in a house with a garden. Is it considered a luxurious residence here?
Because of this little episode, everyone was in a bad mood during dinner.
To get to the kitchen, one has to pass through three doors. Jiang Yuelu remembered this route, but after walking one-third of the way, he realized something was wrong.
It's too quiet.
Ten people walked through the silent courtyard. Chen Chuan was still muttering why he couldn't see anyone. When they arrived at the front hall, even the most obtuse person could tell that the situation was not good.
There was only one black coffin in the huge front hall, and in front of the coffin was a copper brazier with half-burned paper in it. Around the black coffin were various paper figures of different sizes, vivid and lifelike. The local paper crafts were finally put to good use here, but seeing this scene only made everyone feel colder.
Zhao Xiaoxuan trembled and said, "Where are the people? Where have they gone..."
There was no one to be found in the front hall, kitchen, or rooms. The wizards who went out to the streets to look for him came back one after another, and each of them had a terrifying purple face.
Yu Xiong's teeth chattered: "It's all empty, the whole city, not a single person!"
"I told you, I told you there's something strange about this town!"
Yu Xiong covered his head and screamed, "I heard people crying last night, old people, children, women... everyone was crying!"
"This is a cursed town!"
As if in response to his call, the window frame was hit heavily with a bang, and miserable cries were heard intermittently from near and far.
Yu Xiong was stunned for a while, then he collapsed and yelled, "Ahhhhhhhhhh!"
Yuan Xiang took a half step back, "Crazy... He's crazy!"
But another piercing scream exploded behind him. Yuan Xiang turned around in shock, only to see that Jiang Xinhui, who was always calm, also covered her ears: "...the sound...the rustling sound...it's coming again!"
Yuan Xiang was stunned for a second, then laughed in anger: "Calm down..."
Before he could finish his words, a rustling sound like the tide suddenly slid quickly along the cracks in the wall. The six doors and windows slammed six times and then closed tightly. The flickering candlelight was extinguished, and even the flame in the brazier slowly died down.
Some were going crazy, some were screaming, some were scared, and when the scene was in chaos, everyone heard a familiar voice in the darkness.
"bite--"
"Immediate decision, start the second round of questions."
"Please be careful in your choices, candidates. Answering this question may involve personal safety."
"Everyone, are you ready?"
Jiang Yuelu looked towards Lin Shenyin.
He was right again. The test session did not start on time.
Without waiting for anyone to answer, the electronic female voice spoke again flatly: "Okay, I received your answer. Now let's start the second round of questions. This time the questions will be divided into two versions: easy and difficult. Each candidate can choose individually."
"Difficult version?" Jiang Yuelu took a step forward, "What rewards will there be?"
"Our examination system is extremely fair. Different versions will have different amounts of rewards. If you pass the difficult version, you will get double the score for the multiple-choice questions and get additional information, which will be especially useful for the third short-answer questions. Oh." The electronic female voice acted terribly cute.
"Double..." Jiang Yuelu murmured.
"For candidates, scores are crucial. Double the score can help you realize more of your wishes - of course, the premise is that your wishes do not exceed the scope permitted by the college."
Including...looking for someone?
Jiang Yuelu took a step forward, "I choose——"
"Jiang Yuelu!"
He turned around and looked at Leng Jing, who had a frown on his face and spoke quickly, "You have to think it over carefully. It's just an entrance test. There's no need to take the difficult version. No one would take such a risky choice!"
"Do you know what the increased difficulty means? You will die, and your death will be half as miserable as his!"
Looking at the black coffin that Leng Jing was pointing at, Jiang Yuelu's eyes flashed with a red thread around Liu Shitou's neck. It must have been very painful to have his neck cut by a knife.
But it was far from being painful to stand there and watch my brothers and sisters burn to death.
I will not feel the pain of not knowing everything that happened a year ago. Death is not the end sometimes. Some people suffer the pain of the mercy of the forgiveness of death while they are alive.
He never wanted that again.
Jiang Yuelu nodded: "Really? Thank you. I understand."
He acted too calm and indifferent. Leng Jing was slightly surprised. He had only known Jiang Yuelu for less than two days, and originally thought of him as "polite", "courteous", and "silent rationalist", but now, all the impressions and labels were shattered.
Looking at Jiang Yuelu, who was so calm, so calm that any loss of control would be a flaw and a desperate gamble, there were only two words left in his mind.
--madman.
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