Chapter 11: Statue Party (3)

Source: https://www.gongzicp.com/novel-1388844.html
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com

Shu Yushuang finally turned her gaze toward the small hole in the "window."  

This was the third floor, and it wasn't entirely impossible to climb up from the outside.  

At least Shu Yushuang herself could do it.  

She tiptoed to the window and quickly reached out, stabbing the stone knife into the small hole.  

"Ah!!!!"  

A piercing scream came from outside, followed by the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground a few seconds later.  

Downstairs, there was immediately a commotion. It seemed like everyone still outside had gathered around.

The voices downstairs faintly reached Shu Yushuang's ears. She frowned and listened carefully.  

The people downstairs weren't concerned about the injured person who had fallen. Instead, they anxiously asked, "How is it? Did you see anything? Do you know what to do now?"  

The person gritted his teeth and cursed angrily, "You blind idiot, can't you see what state I'm in? Hurry up and call an ambulance!"  

"Stop acting. People like us won't die from a fall. There's nothing serious with your eyes. Just rest for two days, and it'll be fine."  

"Shut up! Aren't you afraid they'll hear?"  

Then the people outside deliberately lowered their voices, and Shu Yushuang could no longer hear their conversation.  

She used the two heavy stone pillows on the bed to block the small hole in the window tightly. After that, she leaned against the stone pillows and closed her eyes to rest.  

Putting aside the fact that someone had climbed up to the third floor to spy on her, she was more concerned with the conversation downstairs.  

What did they mean by "Do you know what to do now?" What were they planning to do?

Were they going to kill someone, or were they planning something else?  

Shu Yushuang didn’t know if she was the only one being spied on tonight or if all the executors were being treated this way.  

If it was just her, what was the reason? Was it just because she went out to buy something?  

Of course, that wasn't really important.  

What mattered was, what exactly did the people in this city want to do to her?  

Also, what was wrong with the people in this city? What kind of people were they?  

Shu Yushuang sat like that, leaning against the stone pillow, the whole night.

The room was extremely dim. Shu Yushuang had left the lights on, unable to distinguish between day and night.  

Outside, a noisy sound came through, so Shu Yushuang realized that it must be morning already.  

She rubbed her tired, stiff eyes and got up, then walked to the door.  

Peeking through the peephole, she saw that there were quite a few people in the hallway.  

The bustling scene of people coming and going was a world apart from last night.  

After observing for a while, Shu Yushuang noticed that the two people who had knocked on her door yesterday were also among the crowd.  

These two appeared as calm as ever and greeted everyone with enthusiasm.  

But now, like the residents of the small town, they had dressed in long sleeves and pants, covering their arms and legs completely.

Didn't they die?  

But why were they dressed the same as the townspeople now? Had they been assimilated?  

No matter what, Shu Yushuang knew that these two executors couldn't return to their original world like the others.  

Source: https://www.gongzicp.com/novel-1388844.html
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com

They had already failed one mission.  

Among the people outside, only two were wearing short sleeves and shorts, while everyone else had covered all parts of their bodies except their faces.  

Those two were a man and a woman, so they seemed to be executors as well.  

Shu Yushuang didn't continue watching. She wasn't planning to go out right now.

The room should be safe for now, and she had no need to take any risks by going out when there were so many people.  

But not wanting trouble didn't mean trouble wouldn't find her.  

The door was knocked on again.  

Shu Yushuang didn’t want to respond to the knocking. After checking the door lock once more, she lay back down on the bed.  

The knocking continued, and Shu Yushuang grew irritated. But she thought that since the people outside hadn't received a response, they would soon leave.  

However, the person knocking seemed determined to go against her, persistently knocking on her door with the attitude of not giving up until she answered.

Shu Yushuang had no choice but to walk to the door again and look outside through the peephole.  

To her surprise, it was still the same man, and this time, he was the only one outside. Everyone else had disappeared.  

Suddenly, Shu Yushuang quickly turned her head to the side.  

At the same time, a finger, a pale white finger, stretched through the peephole.  

No, the finger itself wasn't pale; it was the glove on the hand that was.  

The glove was made of some kind of white fabric.  

If Shu Yushuang had delayed even a second, her eye would surely have been poked out by that finger.  

She raised the stone knife and forcefully stabbed at the finger.  

The scene of blood flowing that she expected didn't happen. She didn’t even feel the knife hit flesh. The finger was incredibly hard, like… stone.  

She cut through the fabric covering the finger and discovered that the finger was indeed made of stone.  

As the stone finger was exposed, a sharp, mournful howl echoed outside the door, and the entire finger quickly retracted.

Shu Yushuang looked outside again through the peephole, but this time, she didn't dare get too close.  

The man from earlier was now holding his finger, wailing, but the entire finger had already turned to dust.  

However, the base of his finger had no flesh or bone.  

It was still just stone.  

Shu Yushuang suddenly held her breath.  

The man hastily covered the base of his finger with torn fabric and then glared viciously at Shu Yushuang's door.  

Once he turned and walked toward other rooms, she leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.  

Was this the reason the townspeople had to cover their bodies completely?  

What kind of monster could this be?  

Why did this person come to find her, and for what purpose?  

Was it because she didn't help him yesterday, and now he wanted revenge?  

"Do you know what to do now?"

The conversation she had heard yesterday resurfaced in Shu Yushuang's mind.  

They definitely had other intentions.  

Shu Yushuang decided to visit the mysterious resident from yesterday.  

Although it might be dangerous, it could also provide clues to complete the first task.  

The people who had disappeared earlier reappeared outside the door, including the two executors.  

But the two "former executors" were nowhere to be found.

Shu Yushuang noticed that although the townspeople looked at the two executors with greedy eyes, they made no move to harm them.  

She tightened her grip on the stone knife and stepped out the door.  

As soon as she exited, she felt countless scorching gazes from all directions.  

Shu Yushuang pretended to remain calm as she walked to the door diagonally opposite and knocked.  

The door quickly opened, but to her surprise, the person who opened it was someone she had seen before—the woman from yesterday, one of the two "former executors."  

The woman saw Shu Yushuang and gave a twisted smile caused by extreme excitement.

Although the woman's expression had twisted to the extreme, she still pretended to be polite and asked, "May I help you with something?"  

Shu Yushuang took a large step back, saying as she retreated, "No, it's nothing. I knocked on the wrong door."  

The woman, unwilling to give up, tried to grab Shu Yushuang, but Shu Yushuang didn't give her the chance.  

When her back hit the hard wall, Shu Yushuang immediately turned around and ran back to her room.  

Just as the woman opened the door, Shu Yushuang saw an extremely horrifying scene inside.  

The room was piled high with skinned corpses.  

Saying "piled high as a mountain" wasn't exaggerated in the slightest.  

The woman stood in front of the mountain of corpses, looking at Shu Yushuang with a strange expression.  

The woman's gaze sent a chill down Shu Yushuang's spine.

She believed that if she stayed here any longer, she'd surely become part of the mountain of corpses.

Shu Yushuang, still shaken, returned to her room.

The scene from earlier lingered in her mind, unable to dissipate for a long time.

Why, after those two people knocked on that room's door yesterday, did they not notice so many corpses and instead chatted with the previous occupant for so long?

Had the occupant used an illusion, or was it because the room had been too dark at that time?

Shu Yushuang didn't understand why the woman hadn't attacked her as soon as the door was opened. She speculated that the woman might've been restricted in some way.

Shu Yushuang noticed that when the woman tried to grab her, she stretched her arm desperately, but her body never moved even an inch from the door.

So, as long as she didn't enter that room, there'd be no problem, right

But if she kept avoiding it, it'd be hard to complete the first task.

Shu Yushuang believed that the way the town's residents had become was definitely connected to that room.

She looked outside again. The room across from hers was now tightly shut, exuding an icy coldness that kept everyone at bay.

Since the two former executors now lived in that room, where had the previous occupant gone?

That occupant must know something, and Shu Yushuang wanted to find him to gather information.

But had he become part of the mountain of corpses, or had he left this place?

Shu Yushuang had no way of knowing.

She didn't even know what the previous occupant looked like, so naturally, she had no idea where to begin searching.

People still came and went outside the door, but they were the same ones Shu Yushuang had seen at first.

For some reason, these people continued to walk aimlessly up and down the corridor.

No one was going downstairs or upstairs.

The two executors blending in among them repeated the same meaningless actions, just like everyone else.

Would doing this lead to any clues?

Shu Yushuang's gaze stayed fixed on the two executors.

If what they were doing had a purpose, she planned to go out and walk with the residents as well.

However, after watching outside for more than ten minutes, she couldn't figure out anything.

During this time, the two executors hadn't stopped; they kept wandering in the corridor.

Shu Yushuang sensed something was off.

"What exactly is going on with those two? Are they really executors?"

Although they were dressed differently from the others, their numb, mechanical steps were exactly the same.

Suddenly, Shu Yushuang had a bold guess in her mind.

But to verify this guess, she'd need to speak with the two directly. The only issue was whether they were willing to communicate with her.

Shu Yushuang opened the door again, enduring the strange, burning stares of the residents, and forced herself to approach the two executors.

She noticed another difference between the two executors and the residents: they weren't staring at her.

She asked straightforwardly, "Are you executors?"

The two finally looked at Shu Yushuang, their expressions full of surprise, as if they had only just noticed there was someone in front of them.

"Of course not," said the man, his face contorting into a twisted smile, much like the woman in the room. "We're different from you. You're just..."

At this point, the man suddenly stopped speaking, but the smile on his face remained.

"Just what?"

"You aren't qualified to know."

This time, it was the woman who spoke. She greedily eyed Shu Yushuang before turning to the man and saying, "This skin is good. We could..."

"No, there are others who need it. We can't be too greedy."

The two spoke without any intention of avoiding Shu Yushuang, but she couldn't understand what they were saying.

Even so, Shu Yushuang could sense that they had some sort of plan for her, so she immediately returned to her room.

Good skin?

Had they removed the skin from the two executors and put it on themselves, which was why they no longer had to cover their own bodies?

This would explain the bodies in the room with their skin removed.

So, the current situation was clearly that the two executors whose skin had been removed were now planning to strip the skin from other executors.

However, realizing this didn't seem to help in completing the task.

Shu Yushuang still had no idea why the residents had become like this.

Could the source of all this be that room?

Shu Yushuang looked deeply at the room across from hers once more.