Though the participant had died inside a sealed room, her body was buried in the soil beneath the withered tree. This eerie sight instantly drained the color from Ye Xiaomei and Ke Shufan's faces. They were more inclined to believe it was the work of supernatural forces rather than human hands!
Xiao Bai's expression was equally grim.
The missing Chen Cailing's body being unearthed by her own hands—such a bizarre occurrence felt like a cruel prank by the story itself. If it were merely a twisted joke, that would be one thing, but if not, then...
Just as Xiao Bai was thinking this, suddenly, rustling sounds emerged from the ground all around them—*shasha, shasha, shasha*.
The noise sounded like something was clawing through the dirt, trying to crawl up from below!
Ye Xiaomei and Ke Shufan were terrified, trembling as they backed away, only to realize the sound was coming from every direction, surrounding them!
The soil around them began to bulge, and then, one by one, arms broke through the earth.
From the ground beneath the withered tree, more and more arms thrust upward, as if something was struggling to climb out from the depths!
"This... could it be that underground..."
Ye Xiaomei's words trailed off, but everyone could guess her meaning.
The noose hanging from the withered tree was actually a hint to the participants: this eerie tree was a burial site, or perhaps, under the influence of some supernatural force, all the dead in the manor would eventually be moved here!
Chen Cailing's mysteriously relocated body had already proven that, and those arms breaking through the soil—the other victims...
Could they be the nannies who had come here in previous years?
Had they never left the manor at all, but been killed and eerily buried beneath this tree?
More and more pale arms emerged from the dirt, seemingly instinctively drawn to the call of flesh and blood, wildly reaching for the three of them. Without hesitation, Xiao Bai grabbed the pendant on her chest again.
Just as she was about to yank it off, a beam of light suddenly pierced through the torrential rain, followed by a familiar figure tearing through the rain curtain to stand before them.
The moment the gardener appeared, the countless pale arms around them, illuminated by the lantern's glow, vanished as if driven away by specters, disappearing without a trace. All that remained was the pouring rain and the gardener holding his lantern.
As if nothing had ever happened.
"What are you doing here so late?"
Raising his lantern, the gardener's face showed a hint of confusion.
As if he couldn't see those pale arms at all.
What was going on?
Ye Xiaomei and Ke Shufan exchanged bewildered glances—had everything just now been an illusion imposed on them by the story?
Only Xiao Bai stood in the rain, her brow deeply furrowed.
"What... what is all this?"
"Ever since we arrived, so many strange things have happened here!"
"What really happened in this place in the past? You must know! Please, tell us the truth, won't you?"
After this series of shocks and terrors, Ye Xiaomei could no longer bear the immense pressure and burst into tears.
Between sobs, she pleaded with him.
On one hand, it was because she couldn't handle the fear; on the other, Ye Xiaomei wasn't someone who panicked blindly. In her view, this man was almost certainly a story character meant to give hints to participants, and his actions so far had consistently been helpful.
Moreover, Ye Xiaomei was convinced that this gardener character must know the manor's secrets. So her pitiful plea, while genuine in its fear, also served as her unique weapon.
As her name suggested, Ye Xiaomei was a young and beautiful woman. Many self-important men in the workplace had fallen for her manipulations. Now, facing this gardener, she had full confidence in her acting skills!
How could an old man, too ashamed of his ugliness to interact with others, resist the tearful appeal of a young beauty?
Of course, this tactic wasn't without risk, but after weighing her options, she decided to take the gamble!
If she could extract key information from this insider, maybe they wouldn't have to risk exploring further!
"Sigh..."
The lantern's flame flickered in the heavy rain, illuminating a face full of complex emotions.
"Being trapped here, you poor souls."
"What... what do you mean?" Ye Xiaomei looked up, startled. They were trapped here by the task's rules, but as a story character, he couldn't possibly know that.
Yet the gardener seemed oblivious to her reaction, continuing on his own.
"The master didn't tell you, did he? Whenever it rains heavily, the road outside the villa floods, and the main gate closes. So for now, you can't leave this manor."
So that's it, Ye Xiaomei thought, slightly relieved, until he suddenly added.
"I don't know why, but every time someone tries to leave, a storm hits outside, and then the gate closes..."
What?
Ye Xiaomei froze. Every time someone tried to leave, the rain stopped them, but those people...
Why hadn't they seen a single one?
Had they all...
Her face turned pale. She didn't dare ask that question.
Asking might trigger the story's core deadly mechanism.
So she could only probe indirectly: "Is there any way... any way you can help us... *sob sob*... We didn't do anything wrong... Why does this have to happen to us..."
Even in the downpour, Ye Xiaomei's crying didn't seem pathetic but rather pitifully endearing, stirring a strong protective instinct.
The scar-faced gardener and the vulnerable Ye Xiaomei—if not for the perilous supernatural setting, it might have felt like a scene from Beauty and the Beast.
True to form, seeing her so pitiful, the gardener sighed again: "You got the key I gave you, right?"
"The key?" Ye Xiaomei paused, then quickly nodded. "But we don't know..."
"Go find it. Find the door that key fits, and you'll understand everything. The way out of here is hidden there too."
At these words, Xiao Bai and Ke Shufan's expressions also shifted.
So that was it.
After all this circling, the story's key point came back to that mysterious key.
"But where exactly is it..."
Ye Xiaomei tried to say more, but the gardener shook his head and turned to walk into the darkness.
"That door is right in front of you, but you haven't noticed it."
"Inside that door lies something that can dispel all evil."
——l
PS: Thanks to the great from the Evil Spirit Kingdom world for tipping this book as a leader! Never thought a nobody like me could get a leader! So happy! Two updates today!