Chapter 10 The Giant-Mouthed Ghoul's Demise

Da, da, da.

Accompanied by the sound of light footsteps, a tall and thin figure slowly emerged from the shadows of the mansion's first floor.

It was a man wearing a kimono, about two meters tall, with turbid, rotting eyes, a fractured jaw, and his entire mouth, along with the skin and muscles of his chin, drooping to his chest.

His arms were very long, hanging down like those of a gorilla, dragging on the ground.

The newly appeared giant-mouthed ghoul seemed to have been attracted by the flesh and blood near the well.

It walked down the steps, its turbid eyes fixed on the severed limbs being torn apart by the black-haired monster, taking a slow step, pausing for a moment, and then taking another step.

It looked as if it were... afraid of that black-haired creature?

The two players' doubts didn't last long.

When the gaunt, giant-mouthed ghoul approached within ten meters of the well, it suddenly leaped forward, reaching out with both hands, grabbing a piece of severed limb at the extreme distance, and then abruptly turned and fled.

However,

the black-haired creature, which had been pacing around the well as if oblivious to the outside world, instantly disappeared from its spot with lightning speed, blocking the escape route of the gaunt, giant-mouthed ghoul. It looked up at the creature and once again uttered its soliloquy, "It's not..."

The gaunt, giant-mouthed ghoul, seeing no escape, continued to open its mouth, which already drooped to its chin, almost wide enough to swallow a person whole. It lunged toward the black-haired creature,

but the latter raised its arms, supporting the ghoul's upper and lower jaws with both hands, and slowly tore them apart.

Blood splattered everywhere as the head fell to the ground.

Li Ang's eyelids twitched. Even from a distance, he could feel the power emanating from the black-haired creature.

After killing the gaunt, giant-mouthed ghoul, the black-haired creature once again reverted to its dazed, wandering state, returning to the edge of the dried well to continue circling.

"Hmm... is the system hinting that we can't get too close, or we'll be attacked?"

Li Ang narrowed his eyes. The dried well named Gui Quan (Returning Spring), which appeared in Ogawasara Tetsuya's painting, was obviously an important clue to clearing the game.

But with a ghoul climbing out of the well and a black-haired creature guarding the outside, how were they supposed to get past it...

Just as the two players were deep in thought, a gust of cold wind blew toward them, and the black-haired creature, without their noticing, had silently crossed half of the courtyard and appeared directly in front of them.

"It's not..."

It muttered, its furry arm suddenly rising and swinging toward Li Ang.

Bang!

Wang Congshan, without hesitation, pulled the trigger, and the enchanted bullet spun as it struck the black-haired creature's head.

The creature's head tilted to the side, and a cracking sound came from its neck.

At the same time, its right arm, which was swinging at him, was barely blocked by the Mind Monkey Staff.

So strong.

Li Ang had already cast the [Powei Art] (Tenacity Art) of the Mental Self-Sculpting school on himself, slightly increasing his constitution, but he still had to grip the Mind Monkey Staff with both hands to withstand the creature's single-handed attack.

Now wasn't the time to conserve spirit energy. Li Ang gathered spiritual energy from the sea of consciousness.

[Burning Finger], [Dizzying Spell], [Bio-Current], [Paralysis Suggestion], and other abilities were ready, and he was about to aim and release them when

the creature recoiled its hand as if shocked.

"Is... not... is..."

The black-haired creature stood in place, muttering to itself for a while, and then fell silent, no longer making any attacking movements.

Li Ang tentatively asked, "What is it?"

"...Masumi... Ryosuke... Yoichi..."

The black-haired creature repeatedly uttered these few words, lowered its head, and slowly turned to walk toward the stone well.

"Are you looking for Fujimura Masumi? Are you Fujimura Shuhei?"

Li Ang tried to ask further, taking a few steps forward,

The black-haired creature abruptly turned its head, its forehead hair swaying, revealing its red eyes full of ferocity.

Its meaning seemed very clear: no further approach allowed.

Li Ang stopped and continued to ask from where he stood, "What happened to the Fujimura family, the Hiratsuka family, and Yuzakari Village? Did the two children of the Fujimura family go missing? Why are you here? Do you recognize this iron box? And these two Noh masks, this lantern."

He took out the iron box he had obtained from the Fujimura family's house from his backpack and shook it,

but the creature didn't react at all, and just continued to walk around the well.

"..."

Li Ang stood in place and released spirit energy, but abilities such as [Subordinate Mind Link Technique] were like stones sinking into the sea without any response. He had no choice but to give up and put the iron box and Noh masks back into his backpack.

Wang Congshan hesitated and asked, "What should we do now?"

"Hmm... it seems like we can't interact with him right now."

Li Ang said, "If he really is that Noh mask maker Fujimura Shuhei, and the iron box and Noh masks we got from the Fujimura family can't get any reaction from him,

we might need something else.

Like that child who seemed to be Fujimura Ryosuke or Fujimura Yoichi, who we saw hiding in the shoe cabinet in the Fujimura house.

But what's strange is why Fujimura Shuhei would appear at the Hiratsuka family's place and be guarding the well.

Is it some kind of wealthy family feud again?"

This question couldn't be answered for the time being. Li Ang and Wang Congshan pondered for a while and had no choice but to bypass the well area and return to the main building of the Hiratsuka mansion.

During this time, Li Ang also used the Mind Monkey Staff to pole-vault up to the second floor, stood on the eaves extending outward from the second floor, and looked down.

He vaguely saw that the Gui Quan well was accumulating well water as normal, and he couldn't see anything unusual.

Li Ang jumped down from the eaves and walked back into the main building with Wang Congshan. Following the map's guidance, they stepped onto the second floor and walked toward the Rope Corridor.

Soon, the two once again saw the L-shaped corridor full of hemp ropes.

Due to the architectural design, the end of the Rope Corridor leading to the atrium was longer, and through the dense hemp ropes, they could vaguely see a wooden sliding door in the middle of the corridor. A flat, giant face with closed eyes was pasted on the door.

According to the map, that should be the knot-tying room that the Hiratsuka family used to make Shimenawa (sacred ropes).

As before, the hemp ropes in the Rope Corridor would frantically attack anything that entered the corridor.

Li Ang first tried lying on the floor and moving forward, but it was ineffective.

Then he tried moving tables, chairs, benches, and other objects from other rooms and throwing them into the corridor, wanting to give all the hemp ropes a target to attack, but it still failed—the strangling force of those hemp ropes was too great, and the tables, chairs, and benches couldn't withstand the destruction.

"Could it be..."

Li Ang pondered and took out the Head Lantern, shining it on the corridor.

He saw that wherever the light reached, all the shadows of the hemp ropes came to life, entangling their main bodies.

Each hemp rope, like an Ouroboros, twisted into a ball, unable to spare any energy. The entire corridor was unobstructed.

"Okay, it really works."

Li Ang sighed, carrying the lantern and stepping into the corridor with Wang Congshan, standing in front of the face on the door of the knot-tying room.