False Surprise

"It is not your place to interrupt, boy!" the landlord roared.

Despite his words, the landlord did not dare to let his guard down.

He slammed the door shut, locked it from the inside, and immediately went to check the next room.

The door was closed, the windows were shut, but the Madam was already gone.

He sniffed the air lightly twice, and the sliver of doubt in his heart began to slowly expand.

Could what that player said be true?

If it were true, how could the person in the room leave without anyone noticing?

He originally thought that when the other party asked him to bring the player up, it was so they could swagger out the front door.

But...

The monster landlord wiped his nose and shuffled downstairs in his slippers.

This method of leaving was very characteristic of a high-level thriller creature.

The landlord strode across the living room, but even so, the doubts in his mind did not dissipate.

If that player was lying to him, then how did he know there was a high-level thriller creature just now...?

Why would he know he was having difficulties?

The landlord cast a suspicious glance at the front door.

However...

If the other party was as weak a player as the one upstairs, then it would be too easy.

A good beating would reveal everything!

......

As the Plague Fiend's footsteps drew closer to the front door, Zhu Yan's heart also slightly leaped into his throat.

The name of the [Plague Fiend] was rarely known... This was determined by medieval philosophy and theology.

Although the book did not explain it, Zhu Yan had a bold guess.

He had read a little bit of the Bible, and in the Bible, God brought all things to Adam to be named.

In that era, knowing a name meant holding authority.

If "medieval philosophy and theology" referred to this, then the words "[Plague Fiend] Walter" would be of extraordinary significance to him.

Zhu Yan smiled and took a step back, watching the front door being yanked open by a tremendous force.

The landlord's gloomy and tense face suddenly appeared at the door, his arm raised high, his sharp claws swiping fiercely at his head with the sound of breaking air!

Zhu Yan was startled, and a massive sense of crisis swept over him in an instant, pushing him to the absolute limit.

His mouth moved faster than his almost blank mind. Zhu Yan spoke sternly while jumping backward quite agilely.

"Walter!"

He narrowly dodged this round of attacks—

[Plague Fiend] Walter's nails slashed past just a few millimeters from his forehead, and Zhu Yan could even smell the rot on the other party's body.

Two seconds later, Zhu Yan's heart started pounding wildly, and the tension of surviving a disaster made him unable to stop trembling.

He maintained his composure and looked at the [Plague Fiend], half of whose face was bathed in the dim yellow light of the streetlamp.

The muscles around its eyes strained to open, its cloudy eyes wide, and the excess skin on both sides of its cheeks trembling with fear.

The name.

This suit-wearing fake human knew its name!

Under extreme terror, the [Plague Fiend] did not even have time to consider its previous doubts.

Zhu Yan swept his peripheral vision towards the high courtyard wall, guessing that the police officer was by the window of the room, eagerly wanting to come out.

In just a few minutes, the [Plague Fiend]'s attitude towards Zhu Yan went from submissive to direct attack; something must have happened in between.

Or rather, that police officer must have said something.

"Walter," Zhu Yan called its name again, watching with satisfaction as the [Plague Fiend]'s pathological trembling spread to its shoulders.

"You had better take me inside first, and then slowly explain this matter."

He said coldly, stepping past the tall, hunched landlord and onto the lawn again.

Zhu Yan really wanted to interrogate the [Plague Fiend] immediately and know everything, but he could not.

He had to push forward with his plan and keep everything going.

He could find a way out, and of course Guan En could too.

Zhu Yan believed the other party would not be stupid enough to jump out the window as a level one player and confront them on the spot.

However, he also did not trust the [Plague Fiend].

What if the [Plague Fiend] had not locked the room door...

Zhu Yan strode into the house, not daring to delay for even a moment.

He carried the two legs wrapped in white cloth, which emitted a strong, fishy stench that thriller creatures found irresistible.

"Originally, I deeply sympathized with your situation. After I found out the information about this [Cannibal House], I even brought this specifically."

He lifted the cloth bundle in one of his hands and wrinkled his nose where the [Plague Fiend] could not see.

"Unfortunately, you do not have the fortune to enjoy it. This is for the house..."

Zhu Yan stepped over the threshold and offered a soft compliment.

"Oh, beautiful house."

He turned his head to glance at the still-trembling landlord behind him, lowered his volume to a level absolutely inaudible upstairs, and began to make his point clear.

"You had better understand reality, Walter. Stop trembling so much—let's get down to business first!"

He had to be fast.

Delaying for a minute meant the danger increased by a fraction.

"Show me your legal documents first," he ordered coldly. "Including the [Lease Contract] and [Sublease Contract]. Then, tell me about the instance before it begins."

"Hurry up!"

The landlord looked down at him, hunching over even more.

The fear brought by having his name mastered was unprecedented. He could only respectfully lead Zhu Yan up the dim, narrow stairs and through the stuffy, foul-smelling narrow corridor.

Zhu Yan deliberately glanced at the room doors.

The room where the [Cannibal House]'s mouth was located was empty, while the doors of the other two rooms were tightly closed.

He could not tell which room Guan En was locked in or if he had ever come out.

Zhu Yan followed the landlord, heading straight for the wooden stairs leading to the attic at the end of the corridor.

"There is the aura of a player."

After they were further away from the two room doors, Zhu Yan said in a voice that Guan En absolutely could not hear.

"You locked the player up properly, right?"

"I do not want anyone hearing things they shouldn't."

The landlord took off the heavy lock on the attic and pushed open the ajar door.

"Please... please rest assured." His hoarse voice was still trembling slightly from fear.

Now, thinking about what that player had told him earlier, he felt stupid.

The previous Madam clearly knew everything too.

Even this subordinate sent by the Madam knew the name he treasured!

The other party was able to incite his thoughts with just some piece of garbage from who knows where.

Why couldn't he just wait a bit?

Why did he have to attack directly?

"I... locked it properly."

The [Plague Fiend] walked into the stuffy, smelly attic, bowed deeply to Zhu Yan, and lowered his volume, imitating him.

"Please... I will go get the items for you."

It was too smelly, simply too smelly.

The original smell of decay mixed with the meaty stench of the two legs, making Zhu Yan feel like his face was turning green from the fumes.

Why did he buy those two human legs?

Zhu Yan desperately suppressed the urge to gag, comforting himself that he would get used to the smell after a while.

He watched the landlord close the door properly and tremblingly take out the familiar stack of contracts from the drawer.

The [Plague Fiend] did not notice anything unusual.

It handed the stack of human skin parchment to Zhu Yan, watching this not-so-high-level fake human carefully look through them one by one, muttering softly to himself.

"Oh my, oh my. The house is a good house..."

Zhu Yan put on a regretful expression, pretending to be very interested in the [Cannibal House].

"...It is just a pity. Three months of rent in arrears... and it has probably never had a full meal either. Sigh..."

He looked at the landlord and sighed softly.

"This house is truly a burden for you, Walter."

"Unlike you, I have always wanted to own a living house that can move at my command."

"That is also why I could not wait to accept this commission and come here..."

The murky eyes of the [Plague Demon] seemed to light up.

It had been far too unlucky today.

First, it was targeted by the [Eye of the Abyss], toyed with by some big shot disguised as an ordinary person who warned it about its overdue rent.

Then it was tricked by a player, getting into a fierce fight with a doppelganger who could call out its name.

Now, this doppelganger seemed to have shown a fondness for the [Man-Eating House] from the moment he walked in. This was a genuine surprise.

A surprise that could save it from its current misery!

Zhu Yan walked over to the dilapidated chair. Mimicking the doppelganger, he furrowed his brows as if caught in a difficult position.

His goal was not just the [Man-Eating House], but also the treasures hidden within it.

There was still room to squeeze this [Plague Demon] a bit more.

"What a pity. Three bone gold coins..."

That was 300 bucks.

"Three bone gold coins is still money, Walter."