Chapter 16: Human Life

Perhaps realizing his words were too harsh, Kuang Hongyi smiled again to make amends, "Brother Chu, this is just my guess. In any case, just stay alert."

Afterward, the two chatted idly about other things, growing closer with every word; it was "Brother Kuang" this and "Brother Chu" that, as if they were old friends meeting for the first time, getting along as if they were one person.

Sensing some sleepiness, and after checking the movement outside through the door and window cracks once more to confirm all was well, Kuang Hongyi walked over to wake Xu Su, while Yang Xiao went to wake Su Tingting; it was time to change shifts.

Lying on the bed Su Tingting had occupied earlier, Yang Xiao could still smell a hint of herbs from time to time. Kuang Hongyi's attitude toward him had done a 180-degree turn, not because Kuang Hongyi was kind-hearted, but simply because he deemed him useful.

Kuang Hongyi claimed to be a police officer, but Yang Xiao did not believe it; this man carried an air of ferocity about him.

Furthermore, taking the opportunity to shake his hand, Yang Xiao noticed the edges of this man's palms were rough, there were calluses on the web of his thumbs, and his finger joints were powerful and agile, like an expert who handled firearms. Ordinary police officers had no such requirements; he was more like a mercenary.

As for the Shi Dali mentioned by Kuang Hongyi, Yang Xiao had noticed this person early on. He had a sinister look, was taciturn, and was not particularly tall, perhaps around 170 centimeters, but his build was lean and strong. A pair of small eyes glinted with a thievish light. He was accustomed to hunching his body slightly, and when he walked, he dropped his shoulders and elbows, his stance very stable; he definitely possessed martial arts skills, and not low-level ones at that.

If he were to truly clash with such a person, Yang Xiao had considered that he would have no chance of winning in a frontal confrontation; he could only strike first to gain the advantage.

That Xu Su was also not simple; a girl in her early twenties who remained calm and unhurried when facing trouble—this was not something an ordinary science and engineering teacher could pull off.

And then there was Ke Long. Yang Xiao recalled his habitual traits... hmm... he hadn't found anything particularly noteworthy, but since he had survived the previous Script, he likely had his own extraordinary qualities.

However, at this stage, everyone was a teammate, and he would certainly help within the scope of his ability. Kuang Hongyi had good capabilities, was cautious enough, and was an experienced player; cooperating with him could greatly compensate for the experience he lacked most as a newcomer to the Script. This was a deal that wouldn't lose money.

In the upcoming tasks, he had to appropriately demonstrate his own utility and try his best to make everyone notice his value. Only in this way could he ensure his safety to the greatest extent; even if they encountered danger, his teammates would choose to rescue him after weighing the pros and cons.

"Sigh," Yang Xiao sighed, looking up at the carvings on the top of the wooden bed, unable to help feeling a sense of sorrow. Having written Scripts for so long, and all of them in the supernatural genre, he never imagined he would one day be trapped in a Script himself. If he were to accidentally fall, and that group of Script-friends who loved to watch the excitement knew about it, he didn't know how they would slander him.

As he thought, Yang Xiao's consciousness slowly blurred, and finally, his head tilted to the side, and he actually fell asleep.

Early the next morning, Yang Xiao was woken up by Su Tingting. The moment he opened his eyes, Yang Xiao was completely stunned. He had clearly intended to stay awake all night, but a supernatural author had only this much vigilance?

How embarrassing...

The door was already open, and warm sunlight shone in. Only Su Tingting and he remained in the room, and the other bed was also empty. Yang Xiao was stunned for a moment and hurriedly looked at Su Tingting, "Where are they?"

"A servant came just now and said to send one person from each room to fetch the food boxes. Brother Kuang was worried it wouldn't be safe for Sister Xu Su to go alone, so he went with her and told me to stay in the room and wait for you to wake up."

"How long have they been gone?"

"For a while now, that's why I woke you up." Su Tingting pinched her fingers nervously.

"How long is 'a while'?"

"Half an hour... at least."

Yang Xiao knew something was wrong. Why would it take so long just to fetch a food box? Something must have happened.

He pulled Su Tingting along and quickly hurried to the other room. Pushing the door open, he saw Shi Guanming pacing back and forth in the room in a panic. After asking, it turned out that Shi Dali and Ke Long had also been called away for the same reason.

They couldn't wait any longer. The three of them followed the path they had taken yesterday to search, and at the corner of a corridor, they happened to hear people arguing, and faintly, the sound of someone crying.

Following the sound, they found a spacious courtyard. Kuang Hongyi, Shi Dali, and several others were there, and opposite them was a group of people dressed as servants, surrounding Kuang Hongyi and the others. The two sides seemed to be having an argument.

As they got closer, Yang Xiao saw through the gaps in the crowd a corpse covered by a white cloth on the ground in the middle. The corpse only revealed a pair of feet wearing cloth shoes, and the whole body was soaking wet.

"What's going on?" Yang Xiao squeezed into the crowd.

"Damn it, you had someone die, what does that have to do with us?" Ke Long's voice was very loud, his expression unfriendly, "We didn't kill him!"

The leader on the opposite side was a rough-looking man, burly and thick-set, with a scar on the corner of his eye, "What kind of talk is that? What are you here for! You took the silver but didn't do the job, and you still have the nerve to talk?"

After listening for a while, Yang Xiao roughly understood what was going on. Early this morning, a servant of the mansion went to the water vat in the backyard to fetch water, but when he lifted the lid, he was nearly scared to death; a human face was floating inside. Someone had drowned in the water vat.

Yang Xiao stepped forward and slowly lifted the white cloth. Inside was a person dressed as a servant, not very old, eyes wide open, dead with eyes unclosed. The more Yang Xiao looked, the more familiar the person seemed. Suddenly, a jolt went through his heart—wasn't this the worker who carried the Paper Person last night?

The reason he remembered clearly was because this person had tripped on the way back.

"Steward Liu is here!"

Someone shouted this, and the few people who had been arguing the loudest on the opposite side immediately dared not act recklessly. A moment later, a man wearing a silk long robe walked over, surrounded by several people, and the crowd made way.

A hooked nose, thin lips, and slanted eyes—it was exactly that old guy who led the burning of the Paper Person last night!

So he was the steward of the Feng Mansion.

After Steward Liu arrived, he didn't say a word. He waved his hand, and a strong, sturdy follower stepped forward quickly and slapped the leading man twice directly, causing the man's mouth and nose to spurt blood. These two slaps used martial arts, directly stunning the man.

"I know everything that happened. Sun Amao's death is due to his own cheap fate and has nothing to do with others. Carry the body away, and compensate his family generously."

Steward Liu raised his heavy eyelids and scanned everyone present. His cold, sinister voice carried a strong sense of deterrence, "Let today's matter end here. Anyone who dares to go out and wag their tongue and ruin the reputation of the Feng family, don't blame me for being heartless."

It was clear that Steward Liu had a high status among this group. With just these few words, those who had been making a scene just now instantly fell silent, each of them lowering their heads, not daring to breathe loudly.

Seeing that the situation was under control, Steward Liu turned around and looked at Yang Xiao and the others. That dead-faced expression held no emotion, "Honorable Lucky Guests, the Master has woken up and has words to speak to you."