The Labyrinth of the Monsters

Gao Yang's imagined terrifying and gloomy scene did not appear. In fact, the room was pitch black, and the air was filled with a musty and stale smell.

Officer Huang closed the door and found a pull cord in the darkness. He pulled it.

"Squeak, click." A low-wattage light bulb struggled for a while before finally coming to life. The room was dim, but enough for people to see.

A square hall with white walls, peeling off heavily. The floor was covered with greenish cement, and a dusty and cobweb-covered ceiling fan hung from the ceiling.

On the wall facing the door, there was an old-fashioned red wall clock, out of place with the "Western style," still swinging "tick-tock."

Below the wall was an old-fashioned cabinet, with a black and white television on top. Behind the television was a half-meter-long antenna. In front of the cabinet were several dark black low stools, no sofa. Normally, the family would sit on the chairs to watch TV. On the left wall, there was a calendar hanging, with illustrations of scenic landscapes. Below the calendar was an old sewing machine, and several green jars were stacked in the corner, looking like pickled vegetables.

These were the only things in the hall, nothing else. It was indeed a time of scarce resources.

Officer Huang walked to the sewing machine and dipped his finger in it, finding a thick layer of dust. He frowned, "Strange."

"It is strange." Gao Yang had almost finished surveying the house. "It feels like no one has lived here for a long time."

"No kidding, it's been thirty years!" Wang Zikai said.

Gao Yang smiled bitterly and patiently explained, "In our world, this murder case happened thirty years ago. But in this world, the murder case happened less than half a month ago. The village is still holding a funeral for Hua's family, right?"

"Oh, right!" Wang Zikai suddenly realized.

This intelligence, it's amazing.

"Not only that, there are a lot of residual blood stains on the ground in the front yard, but there is no sign of a struggle in the living room." Officer Huang clicked his tongue. "Let's go, let's check the other rooms."

Officer Huang took the lead and walked into the side bedroom on the left. There was a "Double Happiness" character pasted on the door, indicating that it was the bridal chamber. As expected, when he turned on the light in the room, everything was red. Red quilt, red pillows, red window curtains, red lanterns, red artificial flowers, red wardrobe, red dressing table...

Just like the living room, everything in the room was covered in a layer of dust, giving a feeling of both brightness and antiquity, both festive and strange.

"A girl came to get married, on her wedding night," Officer Huang walked out of the bridal chamber and returned to the living room, pondering. "Something happened, and then the next day, the whole family was dismembered, with the bodies appearing in various corners of Ancient Village. The bride's head has still not been found."

"Stop talking!" Chubby Jun felt uncomfortable all over his body. "We're not here to solve the case. Let's think about how to leave."

"I know, that's why I want to solve the case." Officer Huang said.

Gao Yang nodded, "I also think that in order to leave, we must find the culprit of the massacre."

"Do you have any clues?" Officer Huang asked.

Gao Yang tried to analyze, "There are no signs of a struggle in the house, so this family should have had no resistance or lost the will to resist before being dismembered. As for the scene of the dismemberment..."

"In the front yard," Qing Ling said.

"Yes." Gao Yang thought for a moment. "That's all for now."@@novelbin@@

Officer Huang pulled a chair and sat down. "At that time, my team leader was not an awakened being, so he definitely didn't consider the following two questions."

"One, whether Hua's family is human or beast, or if there are both humans and beasts; two, whether the person who killed Hua's family is human or beast."

"Speaking of beasts..." Gao Yang hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Officer Huang, how many types of beasts do you know?"

Officer Huang looked at Gao Yang, hesitated for a moment, and decided to answer truthfully, "At this point, I don't care about any rules anymore. Wu Dahai told me that their organization has encountered four types of beasts: the Foolish Beast, the Angry Beast, the Greed Beast, and the Delusional Beast."

"Greed Beast? Delusional Beast?" Qing Ling became interested.

"The Greed Beast is also called the Assimilator, and the Delusional Beast is also called the Observer," Officer Huang said. "I don't know the specific types of the Greed Beast. But Wu Dahai said that the scariest thing about the Greed Beasts is that they can become humans through some means."

Everyone gasped, except for Wang Zikai, who had an indifferent expression.

"What does that mean?" Qing Ling didn't understand.

"It means exactly what it says," Officer Huang said in a deep voice. "They are not disguised as humans, they become humans, that's why they are called Assimilators."

Gao Yang thought of something again, "But humans are also divided into awakened beings and unawakened beings."

"Awakened beings," Officer Huang affirmed. "Greed Beasts can become awakened beings. Unawakened beings will not be attacked by any beasts. That is the iron law of this world."

"Then, the Greed Beasts that become awakened beings, are they humans or beasts?" Gao Yang was confused.

Officer Huang shook his head, "If we can leave here alive, maybe we can ask someone from the Zodiac for a clear answer."

"What about the Delusional Beasts?" Qing Ling asked.

Officer Huang shook his head, "About the Delusional Beasts, I only know that there is such a type of beast, and I know nothing else."Gao Yang's mind was racing: if Baili Yi hadn't lied to him, then besides the four beasts of obsession, anger, greed, and delusion, there should also be the 'Living Beast' and 'Dead Beast'. However, Gao Yang had no intention of mentioning them. He knew nothing about these two beasts, and speaking of them would only incite panic and undermine morale.

Despite the stretch, Gao Yang tried to explain the current situation with a logic he could understand: "Suppose, just suppose, that the thing responsible for the massacre is a new type of beast that we don't yet understand. Then, is it possible that this Ancient Village we're in is a domain it created?"

"You mean," Qing Ling's eyes flickered, "if we find it and kill it, we can leave this place?"

"Given the circumstances, Gao Yang's speculation is a reasonable explanation." Officer Huang nodded slightly, "It's also the most worthwhile method to try at the moment. Moreover, we need to try it as soon as possible. We've been without food and water for over 20 hours. Under normal circumstances, we can't last more than three days, and our effective action time is no more than two days."

Gao Yang glanced at Wang Zikai: "Except for you, your body has undergone special modifications, you should be able to survive longer than us."

"Of course!" Wang Zikai was quite pleased with himself, then became excited again: "I'm the one who's going to save the world, how could I be trapped in such a godforsaken place! You guys just need to find that thing, leave the rest to me!"

"Knock, knock, knock——"

Gao Yang spun around abruptly. He was the closest to the door — someone was knocking.