Chapter 61 The Appearing Figure

To make sure, Huan Xiao deliberately crouched down and approached the "human skin" on the ground to inspect it closely.

Smooth yellow skin, with a jelly-like texture to the touch. Such a flawless creation definitely could not be real human skin; it looked more like a medical training prop.

Looking at the sharp and neat cut edges along the skin, it must have been peeled right off a mannequin.

Yet Huan Xiao still frowned and said, "Does this place have to be so meticulous, even smearing fake skin with fake blood? What if we accidentally get some on us? How are we supposed to walk outside afterwards?"

"Xiaoxiao makes a point. New shops are always so careless with their work. I certainly don't want to be hauled in for questioning over a misunderstanding like this."

Beibei lost her enthusiasm for moving props, and the fear in her heart faded slightly. She said, "Let's go check the cupboards first. We need to bring back at least one of those things."

"Alright. It's too dark here, watch your step."

Huan Xiao stood up, taking the opportunity to scan her surroundings once more, trying to find whatever was meant to hold the human skin.

Although this prop was filthy, since they were already here, they had to strive to complete the game's objectives. She considered this part of the fun.

"Ah!"

Beibei let out a sudden, short gasp.

Huan Xiao hurried over and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I—I think I just saw a black figure... Is, is that an NPC?"

Beibei grabbed Huan Xiao's hand tightly, not daring to let go.

In the dark room, the corner was cast in pure shadow, making it impossible to tell if anything was placed there.

Where Beibei pointed, an old electric fan and some cardboard boxes were lumped together, resembling a young woman doing her makeup before a mirror.

Huan Xiao pointed at the electric fan and asked, "Is it that one?"

Of all things here, the electric fan felt the most like a human silhouette to her.

Beibei took a glance, startled, and then shook her feet—no, shook her head and said, "N—no, not it."

"Did you see wrong?"

It was too dark here; Huan Xiao wasn't sure what Beibei had seen.

Meanwhile, Beibei bit her lip as she tried to recall.

Back then in the darkness, a bizarre figure had faced her, only to vanish in the blink of an eye.

Perhaps it was an illusion? Or maybe a projection.

She couldn't be certain, so she could only say, "The shadow I saw had long hair, and it was very clear. It shouldn't have been an illusion."

Recalling the dark figure she had just seen, she found her memories becoming increasingly vivid.

A faint beam of light was cast upon the shadow's white clothing, which seemed to bear stains of red blood—not just blood, but also long, smooth hair that gleamed with a glossy sheen.

Scared by the sudden flashback, Beibei spoke to Huan Xiao with a crying tone in her voice, "No, it definitely wasn't an illusion! This place's NPCs sure love to scare people for no reason. Clearly we haven't even found the item in the bookcase yet, why is she jumping out to scare us ahead of time?"

"Didn't we step on the human skin just now? Maybe they saw us through the surveillance cameras?"

Huan Xiao patted Beibei on the back, comforting her, "Look on the bright side, at least she didn't come chasing after us directly."

"...Alright. But I didn't see how she disappeared, do you think she's still crouching over there?"

Beibei pointed toward the electric fan.

Huan Xiao nodded in agreement, "It's possible."

"Mm... Then we'd better not go over there. Let's go find the props in the bookcase instead."

After hesitating for a moment, Beibei still lacked the courage to face that terrifying silhouette head-on.

She felt as though her legs were trembling with every step she took now.

Thus, Huan Xiao and Beibei opened the cabinets in the room, but they did not find the hidden "corpse parts."

"Strange, we've searched all the cabinets on this side. Could the items be over with Baihe and the others?"

Beibei stamped her foot on the floor in frustration.

At that moment, Huan Xiao pushed out a utility cart from the side.

"Xiaoxiao, what are you rolling a cart out for?"

"We can put the props we find on the cart; it'll be much easier to push them along."

Huan Xiao explained while pinching a clean spot on the "human skin," preparing to drag it onto the cart.

"I'll help you."

Beibei came over as well.

The two busy girls failed to notice the figure approaching from behind.

Silently, the shadow shuffled unsteadily right up behind the pair without making a single sound.

*Thwack.*

An extra hand suddenly landed on the shoulders of both Huan Xiao and Beibei.

"Ah!!!"

Beibei's high-pitched scream made Huan Xiao, standing right next to her, feel as though her ears were about to go deaf.

Huan Xiao calmly removed the hand resting on her shoulder and turned around.

It was Baihe.

Seeing that their objective was achieved, Baihe, standing right behind them, burst into loud laughter.

"Hahaha, you two are such cowards! And yet you still come to play escape rooms? Aren't you afraid you'll pee your pants from fright?"

"Baihe, are you out of your mind?" Beibei glared at her speechlessly.

Baihe merely laughed offhandedly, ignoring Beibei. Instead, she looked at the human skin prop on the cart and asked, "Is this what you found in the bookcase? Tch, your luck is just slightly better than mine."

Huan Xiao stated honestly, "No, we picked this up off the floor."

"Picked it off the floor? Whose important prop gets thrown on the floor? You guys are lying without even blinking."

Baihe obviously didn't believe it.

Beibei frowned and said, "It's true! Whoever lies gets the lowest score on the exam."

At these words, whether startled by Baihe's rather "vicious" oath or something else, Baihe momentarily froze, her gaze turning vacant.

Huan Xiao asked, "Baihe, where is your friend?"

Baihe snapped back to her senses, her tone remaining impatient as she said, "She went her separate way from me. I didn't see her when I came over just now, she's probably hiding somewhere getting ready to scare me."

"Then aren't you going to look for her? What if something happens to her?"

Beibei's remark earned a snort of contempt from Baihe, who retorted, "What could possibly happen? There are surveillance cameras everywhere. Who knows, Chu Huimin might be hiding somewhere right now having a good laugh, and she'll come out when she feels like it. Did you guys find any clues to the next corpse-hiding spot?"

"We didn't find the prop in the wardrobe, so we don't have any clues either," Huan Xiao replied helplessly.

Hearing that there was no progress, Baihe eyed Huan Xiao and the other girl suspiciously and said, "Did you guys even look properly? There are only a few rooms here in total."

"You're the one who didn't look properly! We carefully searched every single wardrobe," Beibei rebuked Baihe angrily. She and Huan Xiao were taking the game very seriously; it must have been Baihe and her group who failed to search thoroughly.