IVY GROVE MANOR (III)

LUO YAN stared at the manor not far away.  It only had two floors but despite that, the manor still looked like a small castle that grew out of the well-maintained lawn.  Its stone walls were a pale gray and were barren of the moss or ivy that clung to the walls of the older homes in the village.  It had a large oak door that was sheltered under a wide porch supported by stone pillars.  It had a grand driveway which circled around the dwelling with an ornate fountain at the center.  One look and anyone could see that the person living there was pretty well-off.

Done with observing, Luo Yan jumped off from the tree he was standing on.  The moment he landed, he immediately used his Invisibility Cloak.  He could only use this item thrice a day for 10 minutes with an interval of five minutes in between.  After that, it needed 24 hours cool down before it could be used again.  So he needed to be smart in using it.  

His Shadow Walk skill, on the other hand, could be used for six minutes before it needed a five hour cool down.  It was now level 2, so the duration of its used increased by a minute.  In Arcadia, most skills leveled up the more the players used them.  His fight at the Arena was enough for the skill to level up.

His plan was to use the Invisibility Cloak while he continued his search for the truth, yes, that sounded really lame even inside his head.  And then used his Shadow Walk skill to finish off the 'real' master of Ivy Grove Manor. 

He circled around the manor.  When he saw a balcony connected to a room at the second floor, Luo Yan scaled the wall and jumped over it.  He pushed the window and luckily enough, it was open.  He carefully went inside.

While he was in the village earlier, he already asked some of the NPCs there about the current residents of this manor.  According to them, there were eight people living here.  Which included Mr. Sutton, his only daughter - Miss Jewel, three maids - including the head maid, the butler, the cook, the coachman who sometimes also acted as the gardener.   

During these past two months since the incident of the disappearing girls started, except for the first week, they haven't seen anyone from the manor.  Which should definitely cause suspicion.  But surprise, surprise, the villagers didn't find any problems with it at all.  Like they had some filter when it came to the people living at Ivy Grove Manor.

Luo Yan wasn't sure if that's just how the game designers programmed them so they could get in the way of the players' investigation or if there were other reasons behind it.  Could it be because of that?  Because they kept seeing one of the young maids buying dairies, fruits, and other food in the village they didn't think that there was something wrong?  

That's probably the case.  Especially since that young maid grew up in this village.  But even if it was so, no matter how you look at it, it was still weird.  Surely, at least one of those eight NPCs, aside from the young maid, should have gone out during these past two months.  There's no way all of them just happened to refuse to go out all at the same time.

Just by that, anyone could tell that there's definitely a problem here.  

Luo Yan entered through the window and arrived at an empty room.  It was big and tastefully decorated.  There was a big princess bed with pink bed sheet, a closet with delicate carvings, a crytal table, an elegant bedside lamp - everything just screamed 'this was a girl's room'.  And considering the size of the room, as well as the decorations, this was definitely Miss Jewel's room.

But that was not all he noticed.  He could see the dust that accumulated inside the room.  There was even a stuffy smell, as if the room hadn't been aired for days.  No- it was probably months.  Then where did the young lady sleep?  In one of the guest rooms?  But why would she do that?

Luo Yan decided to check all the rooms first before making any assumption.  He quietly opened the door and when he saw that no one was on the corridor, he quickly went out.  Then he checked the next room.  When nothing was found, he proceeded on checking the next one.  He continued on until he found the master's bedroom.  There, he finally found something.  Or probably, someone.

Inside, there was a bulge covered by a quilt on the king size bed.  The length of it was comparable to an adult male.  Anyone who saw that would think that there was definitely someone sleeping there.  Someone who slept while their whole body was covered by a quilt or something.  If not for the smell.  There was a very unbearable smell inside.  Like rotten meat.    

When he walked towards the bed, he noticed that the effect of the Invisibility Cloak disappeared.  Since he needed to wait for another five minutes before its effect returned, he might as well stay in this room for a bit.  

He stood beside the bed and pulled back the quilt covering it.  If he had a weak stomach, he'd definitely hurl all the things he ate.  If that was even possible in VR.  If he had a weak psychology, he'd definitely be terrified by now.  Because on the bed was a decaying human body.  There was almost no flesh left, only bones and some rotting meat.  There were even maggots crawling on the eyesockets.  

Even if he had a strong mental fortitude, Luo Yan still had to step back a bit.  But not before covering the dead body once again.  What the hell?  Weren't those game designers gone a little bit overboard with this?  This could definitely leave a pyschological shadow to some people.  

He turned around and tried to breathe using his mouth.  That decaying corpse over there was definitely Mr. Sutton - the supposedly owner of this manor.  [Mr. Sutton's Corpse] was displayed on top of its head, after all.   

He sighed.  Earlier, he felt like he was playing a detective game.  Now, it felt like he suddenly switched to a horror game. 

Luo Yan waited for five minutes inside the room.  Once the effect of the cloak returned, he immediately went outside and walked downstairs.  As he did, he noticed the accumulated dust.  Even the flowers in the vases were already withered.  He first looked for the rooms of the servants.  

Usually, in houses like this one, the servants' quarters were located somewhere the guests would not easily see.  So, Luo Yan went to the very back of the house.  He walked to a corridor where there were six rooms - three rooms on both sides.    

Luo Yan checked the first two rooms from his right.  Both were empty.  In the third room, he immediately smelled the same rotting smell.  This time he didn't have to open the cover on the bed because the corpse was already lying on the floor.  [Coachman's Corpse] was displayed on top of its head.  He didn't bother to enter and just proceeded to the opposite room.

The same rotting smell, the corpse on the bed.  [Head Maid's Corpse] was displayed on top of its head.  On the last two rooms, he found the corpse of the Cook and the Butler.

When Luo Yan went out of the last room, he fell into a deep thought.  The corpses identities were readily given.  Which was probably a big clue.  Considering that he didn't find the corpse of Miss Jewel and another maid, besides the one which the villagers kept seeing, he could only arrive at one conclusion.   

The dead people who lived in this manor were either men or older women.  The younger girls, such as Miss Jewel and that other maid, were taken somewhere.  Just like those missing girls in the village.  And since the place of the task was this Ivy Grove Manor, then those girls were definitely taken somewhere here.

His train of thought was broken when he suddenly heard footsteps.  Luo Yan walked towards it.  Hearing those footsteps as the only sound in this silent and dark manor was almost eerily creepy.  When he reached the source, he saw a girl wearing a maid's uniform.  The girl's face was dull and almost lifeless.  There wasn't even any light in her eyes.

This was probably that maid the villagers kept on seeing these past two months.

When the maid walked, Luo Yan immediately followed.