The House of Cannibals

Zhu Yan turned on his phone's flashlight. By the faint white light, he opened the table of contents and read through it carefully, line by line.

Man-Eating House, page 558.

The pages had an unusually soft and warm texture, like human skin.

"[Man-Eating House]: A horror creature that is neither common nor rare..."

Zhu Yan read silently in his heart, following the neat handwriting down the page.

"They feed on the flesh and blood of players."

"The higher the level of the [Man-Eating House], the more players it needs to consume."

"It can also be humans or unpolluted livestock, but absolutely never horror creatures."

"It cannot consume any horror creatures!"

Cannot consume horror creatures.

If he disguised himself as a horror creature, could he deceive the [Man-Eating House]?

Reading in the tram made him a little dizzy. Zhu Yan took a sip of sweet fruit tea to ease the feeling and continued reading.

"However, a [Man-Eating House] cannot capture wild players or humans on its own."

"Many [Man-Eating Houses] located deep in the mountains will light up on their own at night to attract passing pedestrians."

"Therefore, [Carnival Paradise] centrally manages the [Man-Eating Houses]..."

Seeing the next sentence, Zhu Yan took a soft breath.

"...assigning a landlord to each [Man-Eating House]."

"The landlord can be any other horror creature."

This Man-Eating House and its landlord, were they actually two bosses?

The Lv.4-5 broadcasted by the female voice earlier, did it correspond to the two levels of the two horror creatures?

Then his mission, "Kill the landlord of the Man-Eating House", actually meant killing two things?

A chill ran down Zhu Yan's back, and he felt a bit creeped out.

If he hadn't bought this book, he wasn't sure if he would have thought of this layer of depth.

"Landlords can sign a [Lease Agreement] with the relevant departments of [Carnival Paradise]."

Lease Agreement?

This was interesting. Zhu Yan continued reading.

"...to own a fully equipped [Man-Eating House] at extremely low rent, but they must guarantee the [Man-Eating House]'s meals for each cycle and ensure it stays in a good mood."

"Otherwise, the [Man-Eating House] will make noises out of hunger."

The house making noise means it's hungry, Zhu Yan repeated in his mind.

"The landlord needs to throw food into the mouth of the [Man-Eating House] to complete the feeding."

The section belonging to the [Man-Eating House] ended here.

Zhu Yan closed the book and looked at the silhouettes of trees speeding past the window, feeling his mild motion sickness ease.

The vehicle was already on the highway, speeding towards the dark, misty mountains.

Zhu Yan raised a hand to massage his slightly tense scalp, slowly chewing over the words.

The last sentence was interesting. The mouth of the [Man-Eating House]...

Could it be that only a specific part of the [Man-Eating House] could eat people?

And where was the weakness of the [Man-Eating House]?

Then there was the landlord. He didn't even know what the landlord was.

These two things, one level four and one level five, how could he kill them both?

Up until now, besides his abilities, Zhu Yan still didn't have a handy weapon.

He went back to the online mall and spent 40 bone coins to buy a short dagger and a bottle of universal potion.

These two items could deal with level 4 monsters. With them, Zhu Yan felt a bit more confident.

He sipped his fruit tea, feeling the sweetness gradually fill his mouth, bringing a trace of joy.

After relaxing a little, Zhu Yan turned his gaze back to check the description of his upgraded abilities.

"[Acting] Lv.5: Congratulations, your ability has undergone a minor qualitative change."

"You can act as any horror creature, but you can only deceive horror creatures of level 5 and below. There is no time limit for this aspect."

"You can partially change your aura to deceive players of level 5 and below, making them think you are someone else or a horror creature. There is no time limit for this aspect."

"In each instance, you can hide your player tattoo for 1.5 hours."

Zhu Yan was a little pleased.

The difference between level 4 and level 5 was that at level 4, he could only act as horror creatures of level 4 and below, while level 5 had no such restriction.

In other words, if Zhu Yan saw enough high-level horror creatures, he could totally borrow their appearances to put up a terrifying front and bluff his way through!

It was convenient, useful, and quite novel.

Zhu Yan adjusted his state and continued to read down the description of the leveled-up [Complaining].

"[Complaining] Lv.4: You can hurl verbal abuse, shift blame, and make personal attacks against a specific target, pointing out that they caused your misfortune. This will weaken their spirit and extract their power."

"Currently, players and horror creatures of level 4 and below will be affected by this ability."

"This ability does not affect you personally."

[Bullying] had not leveled up, so there was no need to check it.

Zhu Yan focused on the bright red text in his vision, pondering.

His mission was to "kill" the level 4 and level 5 horror creatures.

His strongest ability was the level 5 [Acting], which could deceive horror creatures of level 5 and below.

But [Acting] lacked offensive power.

And the level 4 [Complaining] only "weakened spirit" and "extracted power," which didn't seem entirely lethal.

[Bullying] was only level 2, which was too weak.

In this round, the only thing he could rely on seemed to be the short dagger from the online mall.

He would figure out the level 5 creature later, but the dagger could definitely handle the level 4 creature.

Zhu Yan lowered his head, curiously turning the silver-gray steel dagger over and over in his hands.

...

Meanwhile, about 8 kilometers away from him.

In an official vehicle also heading to the quarantine zone, Guan En, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly sat up straight, listening in disbelief to the female voice broadcast that suddenly appeared.

"Hello, player. An instance you can enter has been detected."

"After the instance [Cat and Mouse Game] ended, you completely lost the memory and data regarding a certain someone."

Guan En's expression gradually turned solemn.

In the next instance, would that mysterious player the police station had been searching for also appear?

"Of course, a certain someone felt this was not enough. He chose to take the risk and head to the quarantine zone where you are located to strive for one more benefit for himself."

Guan En listened quietly, his attention highly focused.

"In 2 hours and 20 minutes, the instance [Devouring Villa] will begin. Instance location: Villa No. 12 in the far suburbs quarantine zone."

Guan En was stunned.

This was his originally scheduled quarantine location!

"Are you willing to participate in the instance [Devouring Villa]?"

He looked at the leader in the front row and chose "Yes" without hesitation.

The broadcast was quite clear.

That person was participating in the instance to "strive for more benefits for himself."

Now, they had lost the other party's identity information, and the surveillance cameras could not capture him clearly.

This was obviously done with the help of the power of [Carnival Paradise].

If they really let the other party get more, then the difficulty of the police station's work would greatly increase.

Even if there were many doubts about the "spreading of instance pollution," the other party was a player after all.

Catching him and bringing him back for questioning was necessary!

The bright red text disappeared, and Guan En was so tense that cold sweat seeped from his palms.

I wonder if this instance will be difficult.

He had far too many questions weighing on his mind.

If he could successfully get this person out, then at least some of those questions would be answered, right?

"Attention player. You will enter the instance [Devouring Villa] in 2 hours and 20 minutes."

"Horror Creature Level: Lv. 4-5 Man-Eating House Landlord."

"Instance Mission: Kill the players threatening the safety of the Man-Eating House Landlord, and protect the most precious treasure inside the house."

Kill?

Guan En's heart skipped a beat as the gruesome image of his colleague's death from that morning suddenly flashed into his mind.

He gripped the handrail and dry-heaved, feeling sour bile rising in his throat.

...To directly murder the person who had saved his life, just to become a mindless pawn of the [Carnival Paradise]?

Who would ever agree to that?

Guan En closed his eyes, his heart pounding wildly like a beating drum.

A moment later, he took out his phone and dialed a number.