The Price of Lies

　　Tang's screams echoed through the night.

　　No one dared to investigate, not for a moment.

　　No one knew what horrors unfolded within that room.

　　It wasn't until the following morning, as sunlight pierced through the guesthouse, chasing away the lingering dread, that a newcomer, the one Tang had brought through the blood-red door, found the courage to approach her room. 

　　A hesitant push of the door, a glimpse inside, and the poor girl was met with a sight so horrifying that she instantly lost control of her bladder.

　　Normally, adults possessed a certain level of mental fortitude.

　　 Even when faced with the macabre and the terrifying, while long-lasting psychological scars were inevitable, incontinence was a rarity.

　　However, there were exceptions.

　　Especially when one had been holding in a full bladder all morning.

　　The girl's bloodcurdling shrieks drew everyone to Tang's room.

　　Hesitantly, they peered inside.

　　Tang lay sprawled on the floor, her body twisted at an unnatural angle. 

　　Blood and viscera painted the floor, erasing any semblance of her human form…

　　"Did any of you hear her screaming last night?" the bespectacled man asked, his voice trembling.

　　Bai's eyes held no pity as she looked upon Tang's remains.

　　"She was screaming loud enough; of course, we heard her."

　　"Then… why didn't anyone help her?"

　　"You heard her, why didn't you?"

　　"I, I was scared… We're just newcomers; we don't have any life-saving artifacts..."

　　Bai scoffed.

　　"Life-saving artifacts are precious. Any ghost artifact brought back from a blood-red door, regardless of its power, has limited uses. Three times at most!"

　　"Why would I waste a precious tool to save someone irrelevant?"

　　Silence descended upon the group. 

　　Even the bespectacled man fell quiet.

　　Only the girl on the floor continued to sob uncontrollably.

　　The air reeked of blood and urine.

　　The girl, Luo, was the newcomer Tang had brought through the Blood Gate. 

　　It seemed she and Tang had been close.

　　 Now, she knelt, wracked with grief.

　　Liu pitied her. 

　　He was about to offer some words of comfort when Luo suddenly lifted her tear-stained face and glared at them accusingly.

　　"You selfish monsters! You had life-saving tools but you didn't even try to save Sister Tang!"

　　"Now she's gone! The clue is gone! None of us will make it out of here alive!"

　　"Waaaaah..."

　　Bai folded her arms beneath her breasts. 

　　"Well, she's dead, yes, but it doesn't really affect our chances of finding a way out…"

　　"After all, your precious Sister Tang was lying to us from the very beginning. I'm sure she had more than one life-saving artifact on her, but I suspect she got careless last night and didn't even keep them close… To be so reckless knowing the dangers lurking behind these blood-red doors? She got what she deserved."

　　As soon as Bai finished speaking, a look of realization dawned on the bespectacled man's face. 

　　"Bai, you just said… Tang was lying to us from the beginning? What do you mean?"

　　"Some of it's speculation, but… there's something I know for a fact. Tang never went to Fang Cun Tang."

　　"She was just trying to intimidate us!"

　　Luo, who had been sobbing on the ground, suddenly reacted as if she'd been stung.

　　"You're lying! Sister Tang went there!"

　　"I went with her!"

　　Luo's outburst wasn't about defending Tang's honor.

　　 She knew if everyone found out Tang had lied about going to Fang Cun Tang, her own claim – as Tang's companion – would be equally invalid.

　　Two possibilities terrified her:

　　First, she would be ostracized, excluded from any leads that might promise survival.

　　Second, she would be forced to visit the remaining attractions alone, facing whatever dangers lurked there, hoping to find a clue she could then share.

　　Normally, the second option might have been manageable. 

　　But ever since Ning had recounted his harrowing experience at the last attraction, a bone-chilling fear had gripped Luo.

　　 Even Tang had hinted at the potential horrors hidden within those attractions, whispering about unclean entities lurking in the shadows.

　　"Oh? You went with her? Are you sure about that?"

　　Bai, usually friendly and alluring, now radiated an oppressive aura.

　　Luo stammered, her face flushing red.

　　"I…I'm sure!"

　　"Sister Tang went there!"

　　Bai shook her head, a smirk playing on her lips.

　　"That's a terrible lie. At least make it believable."

　　"I'm not lying!"

　　"Fine. Answer one question and I'll believe you."

　　"Wh-what question?"

　　Bai smiled, her eyes glinting.

　　"No one here has been to Fang Cun Tang, so I won't ask you to describe it. It's not like anyone would know if you were lying or not."

　　"Tell me this… if you and Tang went to Fang Cun Tang, when did you go?"

　　Luo's heart skipped a beat.

　　It seemed harmless enough, an easy question to answer.

　　Except… it wasn't.

　　This was their third day in the village.

　　The previous afternoon, Tang had declared, with utmost confidence, that she had been to Fang Cun Tang.

　　Which meant Tang could only have gone sometime before yesterday noon!

　　Thinking quickly, Luo was about to say they had gone that morning. 

　　However, she remembered Fang Cun Tang being the farthest attraction from the guesthouse.

　　Without thinking, she blurted out, "We went in the afternoon on the first day."

　　"We arrived at 3 pm and thought it was still early, so we decided to explore some attractions. See if we could find any clues..."

　　The moment the words left her mouth, everyone knew she was lying.

　　"And what time did you get back?" Bai pressed on, her voice colder now.

　　Luo swallowed hard, trying to maintain her composure.

　　"I… I don't remember."

　　"It was already late when we got back, and I didn't check the time."

　　"Didn't check the time? You mean to tell me you don't look at your own wrist, even with a glow-in-the-dark watch right there?"

　　Luo trembled. 

　　Perhaps she'd reached her breaking point, for she suddenly shot to her feet. 

　　She glared at them, her voice bordering on hysterical.

　　"I've had enough! We went to Fang Cun Tang, on the afternoon of the first day!"

　　"Believe what you want!"

　　"Ganging up on a newcomer! That's all you're good at!"

　　With that, she pushed past them, storming back to her room.

　　The door slammed shut with a resounding bang.

　　Bai seemed unfazed.

　　"Sis Bai, wasn't that a bit much?" Liu whispered, concern etched on his face. 

　　He hated injustice but had a soft spot for the innocent.

　　Bai gave him a cold stare.

　　"In an avalanche, no snowflake is innocent."

　　"Tang wouldn't have shared anything important with her, but she definitely wasn't completely in the dark either. Yet, she chose to stay silent, to be complicit in this whole charade."

　　"Does that sound like a good person to you?"

　　Liu fell silent.

　　"That girl, she might be cowardly, but she's not stupid…. If she had the guts, the ruthlessness… she could have been even worse than Tang."

　　With a sigh, Bai stretched her arms overhead.

　　"I'm exhausted. I'm going back to get some sleep."

　　"That infernal wailing all night… Not a wink of sleep did I get..."