Chapter 24: The Round Lie

The group looked at him in horror. "Then why did you still bring it over!"

Xu Huo grinned, "Such things, if you believe in them, they exist; if you don't, they don't."

"Let me see the diary." Huang Junjie had just opened his mouth when Wan Zhikang snatched the diary from Xu Huo's hands, "I've also read this diary, and I didn't see that sentence."

As he said this, he began flipping through it rapidly, and after a while, he said, "It's all nonsense, not a single useful thing in it."

Zhang Xiong snatched the diary and handed it to Huang Junjie, "You're a smart man, you take a look, maybe you can make something out of it."

Under everyone's gaze, Huang Junjie quickly skimmed through the diary, his expression much like Wan Zhikang's.

"The diary's owner wasn't quite sane; the latter entries are disordered, with many smudges. I didn't find the words hidden inside when I read it before either."

"Apart from the fact that several people die at the villa from time to time, there is indeed very little information about the Beheading Demon."

"However, the characteristics of the Beheading Demon mentioned in the diary are very close to what I saw: wearing a black mask, very tall, carrying a sharp axe."

In fact, several players had flipped through this diary before, but didn't pay much attention to it because compared to other briefings or notes left by some of the deceased, which were more valuable, this diary, with its incoherent beginning and end and scarce valuable information, seemed less significant.

Some people specifically came for the Beheading Demon, having done their research beforehand.

But this information seemed trivial to the players because all the details mentioned, such as massive stature, great strength, and high speed, were visibly obvious, and for an Evolver, these attributes weren't considered significant. It would even be easier to deal with if the Beheading Demon were merely an average Evolver.

"Doesn't the Beheading Demon only behead?" The diary had already been passed to Wang Wei, and standing next to him, the college student who had hardly spoken since entering the villa questioned, "Then why do some people lose hands and feet?"

"Perhaps they were killed after resisting." Du Lanlan said palely, "The Beheading Demon isn't omnipotent. Didn't he flee after failing to kill Mr. Huang yesterday?"

"But why did the Beheading Demon attack Mr. Huang first?" Abel labored to read the text in the diary, "It seems Mr. Huang didn't touch the sculpture. In that case, the diary isn't accurate."

"I did touch it." Huang Junjie said gravely, "Yesterday when I entered the villa, I touched the stone pier at the crossroads by accident."

"Could the Beheading Demon be killing in a specific order?" Du Lanlan looked towards Xu Huo and Xia Guo.

Chewing on bread, Xu Huo said to a trembling Xia Guo, "Don't be afraid, I'm ahead of you in line."

Xia Guo glared at him with red eyes, "It's just a coincidence. I don't believe the Beheading Demon knows I touched its sculpture."

"That's what you think," Wan Zhikang said, "The Beheading Demon is a supernatural being. Maybe it's watching us all the time; we just can't detect it."

"Stop it; you're giving me the creeps in broad daylight," Wang Wei rubbed his arms.

"The way I see it, it's a good thing," said the rich second-generation, resting a foot on the dining table, "Whether the Beheading Demon kills in order or not, at least we know one thing for sure—those who touched the sculpture will definitely die first."

"So that makes it simple. The people who touched the sculpture just need to hold on a little longer, and the rest of us can safely make it through the remaining days, right?"

"Are you even speaking human?" Xia Guo said angrily, "What good does our death do you?"

"It does no harm either," Liu Yuanyuan said with a giggle, "If you three are in more danger, the rest of us are safer."

At this point, Zhang Xiong had already distanced himself from Huang Junjie, and the others also seemed to tacitly agree.

After the short gathering, the players dispersed unhappily, leaving the dining room one after another.

Xu Huo and Yuan Yao were still eating in the restaurant.

"Brother Xu, I was really worried just now that someone would see through us. If they discovered that you added those words, we could have been beaten to death," Yuan Yao said in a lowered voice, his tone one of relief.

"With so many textual materials in the warehouse, even if they looked at each one, it's impossible to remember everything. They'll just think they were careless," Xu Huo said indifferently.

"Then how did you know that those who touched the stone statue would be cursed? Did you see Huang Junjie touching the statue?"

Xu Huo's action of drinking water paused, his gaze circulated around the Beheading Demon statue on the ground before he said, "Just a coincidence."

After eating their fill, Xu Huo asked Yuan Yao to inquire if any other players had touched the statue, while he went back to his room to catch up on sleep.

He didn't get up until almost dusk when a thick fog had descended, making little difference between the lightness of day and the descending darkness.

The players had mostly returned to the villa, and it was only after meeting with Yuan Yao that he learned of the afternoon's happenings.

Huang Junjie, Wang Wei, and the university student had all spent the afternoon in the warehouse, while Du Lanlan and Xia Guo went to the warehouse for a while before heading over to the cabin.

Zhang Xiong and Wan Zhikang also went, but the two of them were there to snatch the Woodcutter's axe. The Woodcutter nearly fought them desperately, but in the end, it was Abel who proposed praying for his relative that calmed the situation.

Xu Huo asked Du Lanlan for some rubber bands to tie his hair up, and called Yuan Yao to go out with him.

"Brother Xu, where are we going?" Yuan Yao asked hesitantly, "It's getting dark, and it doesn't seem safe to go out now."

There were falsehoods in the diary, but the Beheading Demon was very real.

"I can go by myself," Xu Huo said and then walked away.

Yuan Yao looked back at the other players in the lobby, wiped his hands over his face, and followed him anyway.

Just as they walked out, they ran into Huang Junjie, who was also heading toward the cabin.

The three of them nodded to each other in greeting.

After walking for a while, Huang Junjie suddenly stopped, leaning on a tree.

"Are you okay?" Yuan Yao moved closer, "You're bleeding again on your shoulder, aren't there any first aid supplies in the villa?"

"Couldn't find any." Huang Junjie was still holding up, but he suddenly said to Xu Huo a few meters away, "The curse for those who touched the Beheading Demon statue, you added that in the diary, didn't you?"

Xu Huo raised his eyebrows slightly, "You noticed."

Huang Junjie pointed at his own eyes, "That's my ability, to see some details that ordinary people can't. Your imitation was very close, but the handwriting didn't come from the same time as the diary's."

"And you deliberately moved the statue to the dining hall. You suspect the identity of the Beheading Demon?"

Xu Huo lit a cigarette out of habit, his expression untroubled, "I wondered why it was so coincidental. Good cooperation."

Yuan Yao looked back and forth between the two, his mind somewhat overwhelmed, "So it seems you never touched the statue."

"No," Huang Junjie replied succinctly, "I noticed that sculpture yesterday, but I never touched it, nor did I mention it to anyone."

"The reason I played along with the diary's curse today is because, like Mr. Xu, I suspect that some player is posing as the Beheading Demon."