"Ouch! Ouch! I got pricked," Shen Yue exclaimed as she suddenly jumped up, remembering the object around her neck.


    A cool voice came from nearby: "What are you wearing around your neck?"


    "Ow, shit..." Shen Yue turned her head and nearly got pricked again by the homemade wolf fang necklace around her neck.


    "Heh." A soft laugh came from beside her.


    Shen Yue was grimacing in pain when she suddenly whipped her head around to glare at Kun Yao.


    "I heard you laugh."


    But Kun Yao simply asked: "Can you explain your foolish behavior?"


    Shen Yue pouted and reached behind her neck to remove the homemade wolf fang necklace she was wearing.


    "This is to prevent that vine from strangling me while I sleep. It likes to choke people, right? Well, let''s see it try with this on."


    As Shen Yue finished speaking, she realized Kun Yao had already walked up in front of her and was examining her very seriously.


    "What are you doing?"


    Shen Yue was startled. Kun Yao was incredibly tall, at least half a head taller than her.


    A thought suddenly flashed through Shen Yue''s mind: She must be at least 180 cm tall. What a waste not to be a model with that height.


    It was quite intimidating to have her walk over so solemnly with such a domineering presence.


    Kun Yao simply glanced down at the necklace in Shen Yue''s hand, then looked at her and said: "Beautiful lady, do you know that necklaces like this are usually worn by Axue?"


    "Axue?"


    Kun Yao ignored her and quickly disappeared through the doorway.


    Shen Yue had a bad feeling about this. She sensed that this "Axue" was probably not a person''s name.


    "Is it dawn already?"


    Shen Yue looked out the window and realized the sky was starting to brighten. The originally gloomy dark sky had turned a hazy gray.


    Shen Yue quickly went downstairs.


    "Is everyone here?"


    "Not yet, we''re still missing two people," Xue Yangyang said, looking around at the few people present.


    "Why hasn''t Ding Jiajia come out yet?" Qi Zeming looked behind Shen Yue. "She and Zhu Rui found a room to rest in. Zhu Rui is Number 91, you''ve met him before. He found his way here last night."


    Shen Yue nodded. She had seen him last night but hadn''t come downstairs.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    "Neither of them have come out?" Kun Yao asked.


    "Mm, seems like they''re the only two left," Qi Zeming confirmed.


    Xue Yangyang looked at the room and asked quietly, "What''s going on? Should we go check on them?"


    Before he finished speaking, Kun Yao had already started walking over.


    Seeing her move, Shen Yue raised an eyebrow and followed.


    There weren''t many rooms on the first floor, only three in total.


    "You knock on the door."


    Shen Yue had just walked up to the door with Kun Yao when she heard the latter''s voice. But she didn''t refuse.


    She immediately started knocking forcefully, making the door rattle loudly.


    "Hey, Ding Jiajia, time to get up! The sun''s already high in the sky..."


    But there was no response from inside.


    The two women exchanged a glance.


    "Ahhh!"


    Just then, a scream came from inside. But it was a man''s voice.


    Shen Yue immediately kicked the door, sending the man behind it flying out.


    As the door burst open, everyone was stunned by the scene before them. No one noticed that a petite girl like Shen Yue could kick down a door with one strike.


    They saw a body hanging down from the center of the room - it was Ding Jiajia.


    Her neck was tightly constricted by a vine, suspending her from the ceiling. She was wearing only an undergarment, her arms and legs hanging limply, clearly long dead.


    Most horrifying of all, the vine had pierced into the corpse''s neck and was now silently but visibly sucking out the flesh and blood from under the skin.


    The upper half of the body was left with only skin, while the lower half still appeared normal. However, the originally plump flesh was rapidly shriveling.


    Shen Yue scanned the scene and drew in a sharp breath.


    Damn, now she really wanted to put that necklace on...immediately!


    The man who had just been kicked flying scrambled over, ignoring his pain.


    Same room, yet Ding Jiajia died so horribly while Zhu Rui was unharmed?!


    "Zhu Rui..."


    "I''m scared to death! Don''t ask me, I don''t know what happened either. We slept together last night, but when I woke up to your knocking this morning, I opened my eyes and there she was - her corpse hanging right above my head. I don''t know, I don''t know what happened..."


    Looking at Zhu Rui''s pale face and trembling body, Shen Yue didn''t think he was lying.


    "Enough talk, let''s go!" Kun Yao suddenly warned.


    Ding Jiajia''s body had nearly turned into just a sheet of skin, and during their conversation, the vine had imperceptibly penetrated through the corpse and was now emerging from the soles of her feet.


    The group quickly fled, but Kun Yao suddenly realized someone was missing.


    She looked back and saw that Shen Yue was actually using the spikes on her necklace to poke at the soles of the corpse''s feet, apparently trying to push the vine back in.


    Push it back in???


    But suddenly the vine accelerated, rapidly extending towards Shen Yue''s hand.


    "Holy shit!" Shen Yue cried out, immediately dropping it and rushing out.


    "You really have a death wish!" came Kun Yao''s voice.


    Shen Yue caught up to Kun Yao as they ran out of the room: "I was just testing if the necklace would work. Who knew it would move so fast..."


    "What are you two doing? Hurry up and run!"


    As the two burst out of the room, they realized the others were all stuck at the entrance.


    "We can''t get out, it''s blocked!" Qi Zeming looked at them.


    "What?" Shen Yue quickly glanced back to see if the vine was chasing them. Fortunately not. "What''s going on? Let me see."


    Shen Yue rushed to the front and saw that the doorway was completely blocked by a huge mass of vines. These vines had turned yellow and died, some even rotting, but there were so many that they completely sealed off the exit.


    "You do it." Kun Yao suddenly moved aside.


    Shen Yue: "? Do what?"


    "Kick the door open."


    Shen Yue''s mouth twitched: "There wasn''t this much... garbage behind that door earlier."


    "Look!" Xue Yangyang suddenly pointed outside and said in a low voice.


    Everyone''s gaze followed to where he was pointing. It was the vine from the room earlier, dragging Ding Jiajia''s corpse - no, it could no longer be called a corpse, just a skin with bones inside. It was slowly dragging Ding Jiajia''s skin, disappearing into the tall grass.


    The vine that had fed on human flesh was like a satiated python, leisurely departing after devouring a day''s worth of human life.


    Kun Yao''s voice came from the side:


    "It''s not just this door. The windows over there have been sealed off too."


    "Have you noticed, the vines blocking the doorway seem to be..." Old Man Lin''s voice was a bit hoarse.


    Shen Yue followed his gaze.


    "These vines... are shed skins?!"