After listening to Xia Linyin and the others' brief self-introductions, Mr. Smith nodded and dragged out a few chairs from the corner. "You must all be very tired. Come and sit down."
Xia Linyin took the chair from Mr. Smith, glanced at Chen Zhi who was sleeping on the bed, and asked Wu Yuan, "Is she alright?"
“Her calf was scraped by the metal sheet while she was running away, and the wound is a little infected, but Mr. Smith has treated the wound and applied medicine. She has a slight fever now, but it shouldn’t be a big problem,” Wu Yuan said.
Mr. Smith went over and checked Chen Zhi's forehead temperature. "Don't worry, your friend is fine."
Charlene asked, seemingly casually, "Is Mr. Smith a doctor?"
Mr. Smith smiled and shook his head. “No, I am a hunter. As you know, even the most experienced hunters can get scratched by their prey. Knowing how to treat wounds is essential for hunters.”
Mr. Smith took his shotgun and carefully wiped it with a soft cloth. "It is precisely because I am a cunning hunter with three burrows, and know how to evade the hunter's pursuit, that I was able to escape the ogre's pursuit and survive until now, becoming the last person in Manchester who was not captured by the ogre."
Mr. Smith couldn't help but kiss his shotgun. "Oh! My old buddy!"
Wu Yuan looked at the shotgun. "Mr. Smith, do you know how we can get out of here?"
"Although I don't want to say it, I still have to tell you that there's no way out. Once you enter the town of Manscher, you'll never be able to get out again."
Mr. Smith shook his head. “This is a town cursed by a demon. From the moment you entered the town, you were already cursed. No one can escape the demon's curse, no one…”
"Coo coo coo—"
Sakura Miho's stomach suddenly growled. She clutched her empty stomach and noticed everyone looking at her. She didn't seem embarrassed; she just kept her big eyes open and expressionless. However, the contrast between her actions and her still-growing stomach created a kind of adorable charm.
"Oh! Look at how I entertain my guests, I really am getting old." Mr. Smith slapped his head in annoyance. "You must have been starving, I should have brought out the food earlier."
Mr. Smith took out three plates, scooped a few spoonfuls of mashed potatoes from the pot next to him and put them into the plates, then placed the plates in front of Sakura Miho, Charlene, and Bai Xiaolin. He turned to Wu Yuan and asked, "Wu, would you like to eat some more?"
"Mr. Smith, thank you for your hospitality, but I'm already full," Wu Yuan said, shaking his head in refusal.
"Hospitality? Oh! This is not hospitality. My place is so simple, and I have nothing good to offer you. I can only give you some mashed potatoes."
Mr. Smith's grey-blue eyes lit up. "Oh! Yes, I still have a few bottles of red wine. They're perfect for entertaining distinguished guests. These long-forgotten bottles have finally found a use."
As he spoke, Mr. Smith moved aside the clutter piled up against the wall, revealing a wooden door that had been hidden behind it. He opened the door, and a spiral stone staircase led down. Mr. Smith, carrying an oil lamp, bent down and slipped through the door. His figure and the light of the oil lamp gradually disappeared from Xia Linyin and the others' sight.
Wu Yuan turned his head and saw that Xia Linyin and the other two were stirring the mashed potatoes without eating them. He said, "Eat up. The taste of this mashed potatoes is just so-so, but it'll fill you up."
"You've already eaten?" Xia Linyin raised an eyebrow.
Wu Yuan nodded, "Yes, when Mr. Smith ran out to look for you, Chen Zhi and I ate something, and there's still water here."
Hearing Wu Yuan say that, Sakura Miho and Bai Xiaolin scooped up some mashed potatoes and put them in their mouths. Xia Linyin looked at Wu Yuan pouring water and asked, "What do you think of Mr. Smith?"
"Opinion? What opinion?" Wu Yuan placed the water glass in front of Xia Linyin.
"Take a look at this." Xia Linyin took out the letter she had found in the study earlier from her pocket and handed it to Wu Yuan. Wu Yuan took it and began to read it, his expression gradually becoming serious.
“This is what Bai Xiaolin and I found. It’s a clue from the wronged spirits. I suspect that Chad is the cannibal, and his death was just a fake one. In the middle of the night, we went to the cemetery, dug up Chad’s coffin, and found that it was indeed empty. He must have had an accomplice who dug him out of the grave.”
Xia Linyin looked at the pitch-black darkness behind the wooden door and narrowed her eyes slightly. "This accomplice and Chad are one in the open and one in the dark, one playing the good cop and the other the bad cop, wiping out all the players in one fell swoop."
"Mr. Smith said he used to be a hunter, but his marksmanship was terrible. He fired several shots, but not a single one hit the chainsaw maniac, and—"
Xia Linyin looked at Wu Yuan, "Brother Wu, do you really believe his claim that because he had three burrows, he was never caught by the cannibals and became the only survivor in the town?"
After reading the letter, Wu Yuan frowned deeply. "Mr. Smith... wasn't wearing his glasses when he went out."
"Even if that explains Mr. Smith's poor marksmanship, do you think the chainsaw maniac we encountered was afraid of guns? He was completely immune to players' weapons, but when he encountered an ordinary hunting rifle, he ran faster than a rabbit. Isn't that strange?" Charlene retorted.
A sharp glint flashed in Wu Yuan's eyes. "You mean Mr. Smith isn't a good person, and he's an accomplice of the cannibals?"
Xia Linyin shook her head. "No, my guess is that he is not Mr. Smith at all, but the cannibal Chad. The chainsaw maniac who was chasing us was Chad's accomplice. The chainsaw maniac is not a real cannibal. It's just that we have a preconceived notion that he is a cannibal, but there is no clear evidence to show that he is the cannibal we are trying to kill."
"Isn't that big guy chasing us an ogre?"
Wu Yuan stroked his chin, his brows furrowed. "If an old man wants to wipe us all out, the safest way would be to poison our food. This is a common tactic used by NPCs against players in games, but Mr. Smith didn't poison the food."
"You always have to feed a pig before you slaughter it." Xia Linyin slightly raised her chin towards the wooden door. "Don't forget what he went downstairs to get. Maybe it was some red wine that he'd spiked?"
“I still think that big guy who was chasing us was the real cannibal,” Wu Yuan shook his head.
"The game's setting for him is that he can only be killed with special items, which is why he is immune to our weapons. The shotgun in the old man's hand is that special item, which is why he is afraid of shotguns. Since he can break through my net, he can climb out of the grave by himself without any problems. He doesn't need any accomplices. If this is the explanation, then everything makes sense."
Wu Yuan looked at Xia Linyin and asked, "What do you think?"
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