When Wei Dong first saw the so-called Master Wu, he almost screamed out loud. His body went limp, but Ke Xun quickly steadied him, saying, "Hold on, it's just a mask."
Master Wu wore a slightly worn, dark-colored long cotton robe and a deathly white mask. He had crescent-shaped eyes and a wide, gaping mouth, all as black as the bottom of a pot. Around his eyes were radiating black lines, as if they were emitting black light. These lines covered the entire mask, making one worry that it might be cut open at any moment by these sharp lines.
"Master Wu's gaze is like a torch." Although people's attitude wasn't exactly humble, their expressions showed extreme adoration for Master Wu.
Wei Dong managed to suppress his racing heartbeat, but he still couldn't look Master Wu in the eye—especially those eyes with countless black rays; they truly were "like a torch."
As if on cue, Master Wu stopped as he passed Ke Xun and Wei Dong. His masked face drew closer, seemingly scrutinizing them, especially his curved black eyes and black mouth, which seemed to hold an endless abyss of darkness that could suck them in.
Finally, Master Wu nodded slightly and continued walking slowly toward the corpses.
Wei Dong was terrified, desperately trying to calm himself, while Lu Heng leaned against him.
Wei Dong wiped away a cold sweat: thank goodness Luo Bo didn't come along, or he would have been scared out of his wits.
Lu Heng was covered in cold sweat, which he couldn't stop wiping away. He really wanted to ask the old members if such terrifying NPCs often appeared in the old paintings, and how the old members had survived so many paintings without going insane from fear.
Ke Xun was also afraid, not of the eerie mask of the shaman, but of… this world seemed to have fixed, unbreakable rules. The members had names in this world; this wasn't unfounded, but rather preparation for their upcoming role-playing.
The shaman's status seemed high and mighty, so what was their place in this world? What tasks would they be assigned? What punishment would they receive for breaking the rules?
At this moment, everyone on the second floor was completely silent, even the entire building was respectfully quiet, people reverently reserving the right to speak for the shaman.
Everyone bowed their heads slightly, and Ke Xun and his companions had no choice but to follow suit, bowing their heads slightly as they listened intently to the slightest movement.
The shaman lifted the white cloth covering the deceased. Perhaps the cloth was too old; even the rustling sound had become mature and faint, as if not wanting to attract the attention of unrelated people.
"Lord Wu," a strange voice rang out, seemingly from one of the stewards standing guard beside the corpse, "the murderer is despicable and ruthless, not only stabbing the victim multiple times but also disfiguring him. The victim was skilled at playing the zither, so the murderer severed all his finger bones—utterly cruel."
Lord Wu remained silent for a long time, and the steward also fell silent.
The rustling sound of old cloth resumed, as if it were being re-covered the victim.
The steward couldn't help but speak again, "Lord Wu, we all suspect Xiao Hu was responsible. Because the marriage alliance failed, he harbored murderous intent…"
"I didn't! Lord Wu, you must stand up for me!" Xiao Hu's protest echoed through the city, like a passionate line from a stage play.
Another unfamiliar voice rang out urgently: "Don't disturb Lord Wu, he's looking into the eyes of the deceased."
Ke Xun couldn't help but raise his head slightly. Because of his height, and since everyone else was looking down, he could clearly see what was happening on Lord Wu's side—the deceased's entire body was covered with a white sheet, and Lord Wu's tall frame was bent over like a shrimp, his masked face seemingly staring directly at the corpse through the white sheet.
Lord Wu stared for a long time.
"The murderer is a woman," Lord Wu finally spoke. Perhaps because of the heavy mask, his voice sounded as if someone had covered his mouth, very strange.
A moment of silence fell over the crowd. Suddenly, someone said, "That's Xiao Hu's mistress! She must be jealous of Xia Yu! She's the one who did it!"
Gradually, voices of agreement rose and fell, like wind rustling through a poplar grove—"That woman is so vicious! She's jealous of Xia Yu's beauty! Jealous that Xia Yu can play the zither!"—"Hmph, now she's got herself into trouble too! The Chu family won't let her get away with it! Our Lantern Brigade won't let her get away with it either!"—"The people of the Fluorite Brigade are all black-hearted! They never see the light of day!"—"Drag her out! Our Lantern Brigade isn't easy to bully!"...
A strange sound came from behind, and everyone fell silent.
The sound was like tapping an eggshell with a finger, extremely clear and distinct in everyone's ears. It wasn't loud, more like a whisper.
Ke Xun's eyes were fixed on the shaman, unable to believe that the sound he had just heard was the shaman gently tapping his chin—the chin of his mask.
"That woman will get her comeuppance," the shaman said.
Perhaps it was the magical deterrent effect of the "chin-tapping" that silenced the gossip. After respectfully watching Master Wu leave, no one said anything more, at most a single sentence—"The lamplight will protect Xia Yu, let her rest in peace."
Soon, 'Xia Yu's death' became commonplace, and people scattered, going about their own business.
Xia Yu's body was still covered with a white sheet, guarded by several people.
Ke Xun and his companions had no reason to stay there any longer, so they went upstairs along the steps they had come from.
Lu Heng walked at the back, barely managing to climb the stairs with the help of the handrail. Wei Dong pulled him up, saying, "It's not night yet, nothing will happen during the day, don't worry."
Hearing this, Lu Heng's legs went even weaker: "After nightfall, will a death really occur? Will it definitely happen?"
Wei Dong remained silent, simply pulling him upstairs.
Fang Fei walked at the front, saying nothing.
Ke Xun said, "You're not a busybody. Going downstairs to see a corpse isn't something you're interested in."
Fang Fei turned to look at Ke Xun.
Ke Xun: "You might have discovered something and are eager to go downstairs to verify it."
Fang Fei's dark eyes swept over Ke Xun, then she looked down at the bracelet on her wrist.
Ke Xun: "Is it related to that Master Wu?"
Fang Fei nodded and took off the earthenware bracelet from her wrist: "I was planning to talk about it when we got back, but since you thought of it beforehand, let's take a look at this."
Ke Xun took the wide, rough-style bracelet. To call it simple would be an understatement; it was crude, like something a beginner would make for fun, and it wasn't even perfectly round: "It's really ugly."
Fang Fei: "..."
"Damn, Ke'er, you have a boyfriend now, what's with taking off a girl's bracelet?" Wei Dong's tone was like he was scolding Jia Baoyu.
Ke Xun seemed not to hear, seriously fiddling with the bracelet, his fingers lingering on the inner circle: "Is there a character here? It looks like a simple single-character word."
Wei Dong: "Holy crap, are you possessed by Shao Ling?"
Fang Fei looked around to make sure no one was watching before nodding: "It's the character '巫' (witch/shaman)."
Perhaps the character '巫' was particularly special in this world, for the other three were quite surprised. Wei Dong recalled the terrifying scene when the shaman approached him: "No wonder he stared at us for so long, and then nodded at us. It seems... we met someone in the same line of work? Was that a greeting?"
Lu Heng stammered from behind, "Was he nodding? I thought he was laughing... laughing so hard his head was shaking..." "
..."
Fang Fei: "Let's go back first. What did Mu Yiran say? Where do we meet?"
"It's in the place we just came in. The room next to the corridor should be our accommodation in this world. Let's go back to our rooms first. Brother Qin, Haowen, and the others went to scout out the other floors; they should be back by now." Ke Xun gazed at the fist-sized flame flickering in the lampshade beside him, beautiful yet terrifying.
Fang Fei smiled faintly, somewhat incredulous that Ke Xun had only exchanged a glance with Mu Yiran and whispered a few words, yet they had already discussed and decided on so many things.
"Which floor did we come down from?" Lu Heng stared at the huge rectangular atrium and the almost identical rooms all around. "What if we can't find our way back?!"
Wei Dong's tone was reassuring: "We're on the ninth floor, right next to the stairs. There's a crow painted on the lantern by the door."
"Touch the wood." Ke Xun's voice came from above the stairs.
Wei Dong subconsciously touched the wooden pillar of the stairs: "That's a crow. Do you think I, an artist, can't tell a crow from another bird? Even though it's not painted black, the shape, head, and beak are definitely a crow! -- Lu Heng, what's wrong with you?"
"I have ornithophobia..." Lu Heng was on the verge of tears.
"...Sorry."
"It's okay, it's not that serious. It's mainly the beak that's scary..." Lu Heng tried to distract himself from thinking about such uncomfortable things. "By the way, there's one more thing I want to ask everyone to keep secret."
Ke Xun and Fang Fei slowed down, looking at Lu Heng's slightly pale face.
Lu Heng: "Just now, regarding Xia Yu's disfigurement and severed fingers by the murderer, I don't want Sheng Nan to know. She seems strong, but she's actually very fragile. Please, everyone."
Everyone remained silent, tacitly agreeing.
Wei Dong, walking behind Lu Heng, couldn't help but ask, "Are you trying to pursue her?"
Lu Heng gave a bitter smile: "You figured it out."
"Quite obvious."
"Unfortunately, she didn't agree. She's been hurt before and doesn't really believe in relationships anymore." Lu Heng's weak voice held a firm tone. "I only started learning photography because of her. I knew nothing about it before and wasn't interested at all."
Wei Dong glanced at the camera hanging around Lu Heng's neck. People in the crowd seemed familiar with it, meaning that in this world where time is blurred, cameras have always existed.
Lu Heng's hesitant voice came again: "I... I secretly took a picture of Xia Yu just now."