Imagination proved unhelpful in reality. Instead, the disseminated scene within the house amplified the existing panic.
And some people genuinely believed the man's words.
"A skeleton? Perhaps this is a clue for us. Ghosts are skeletons. We can devise a countermeasure or something!"
"Will we all die like this?"
"Damn it... Even if it isn't a ghost, having a murderer hiding here is terrifying!"
Grace frowned and retrieved her mobile phone to check it.
"Without further delay, let's examine the house next door."
Although the adjacent room was not in such a gruesome state, it still had the power to frighten many. As soon as the door was opened, a mummy was visible, seated on a rocking chair. Judging by the clothing, it was a woman. Her entire body had become waxy, her mouth agape, and a dagger was embedded in her right eye socket. Dried blood had trickled down both sides of her cheeks, forming several black, congealed masses above and below the rocking chair.
"It's all turned into adipocere..." Anna murmured, slightly surprised. Corpses typically decompose more readily. The conditions required for adipocere formation are quite specific, and this hut clearly didn't seem to meet them.
Grace quickly entered the house and surveyed the surroundings, but found nothing of note. Finally, her gaze settled on the corpse. Then, to the surprise of the other three, she reached out and pressed the head of the corpse to extract the dagger.
"You... what are you doing, Sister Grace?" Anna recoiled a step. The other two men stared at Grace as if she were a monster, but the person performing this horrifying act remained unperturbed. She reached out and wiped the dagger on the bed sheet twice, carefully observed it, and then nodded.
"This is it."
Anna immediately understood and took out the introduction booklet. The first item listed was an inconspicuous carved dagger, labeled a sacrificial dagger. The description stated that it was a murder weapon blessed by some kind of soul ritual, capable of absorbing the soul of its victim. After Victor Ravencourt acquired it, it had never been displayed publicly, known only to family members.
But how had Grace recognized it from the small portion of the handle that was visible?
Confused, Anna voiced the question.
"I have a good memory. I remember the names and appearances of all fifteen collections. If the descriptions weren't so vague, I would even recall their functions," Grace explained as she tore off a piece of bed sheet, wrapped the dagger, and tied it around her waist. "The collection might be useful so I won't elaborate. Since I found it, I will keep it."
Anna and the others had no intention of stealing it and nodded to indicate their agreement.
When they left the gardener's hut, fifteen minutes remained before the three-hour mark.
"Let's not venture too far. What if... what if we're attacked?" A particularly timid-looking man said, his voice trembling. He was also one of the three white-collar men's team members who were visibly frightened.
"Do you think you'll be any safer going back?" The grumpy man scoffed. "If you ask me, you should leave and go as far away as possible. I don't want to stay in this damn place any longer."
"I still need to go to the greenhouse. I won't stop you if you want to return. I believe you all made some discoveries in the past two hours, but..." Grace deliberately paused, "I advise you not to gamble with your own lives."
"Humph! Who are you trying to scare? Ron and Amir, let's go back!"
The nouveau riche was the first to voice dissent, and then he led his two followers towards the main house without a backward glance. The three white-collar workers were momentarily stunned before quickly chasing after them.
Once these six people took the lead, many others immediately began to retreat.
"Well... I think it's better for me to start translating as soon as possible, so I won't accompany you?" The woman with glasses said hesitantly.
Grace nodded. "Please."
Francesco flicked his cigarette onto the ground, glanced at the woman with glasses, and said casually, "Then we'll go back and see if there's any solution to the generator. I can't be of much help here, so I won't get involved."
Two more groups of people departed, and the remaining individuals exchanged glances. It seemed that those with greater combat prowess were the ones who stayed.
"Isn't this... not good?" The young policeman said hesitantly. "If they really encounter a ghost, there's nothing they can do."
"David, trust me, no matter who it is, there's nothing we can do. Physical advantage only makes us the ones who can run faster," Noah said, placing a hand on the policeman's shoulder and waving his other hand. "Let's go. I'll take the lead."
The greenhouse was less than 100 meters from the main house. Everyone hurried towards its entrance. Just then, a few raindrops splattered on their heads.
"Sigh, forget about the heavy rain in the afternoon; it's starting now!" The handsome man exclaimed spiritedly. This fellow had introduced himself on the way, omitting the boasts and exaggerations, so Anna only remembered his name: Beom Seok.
Putting that aside, upon entering the greenhouse, everyone began searching for items. This time, due to the large number of people, they divided into groups. Anna and the cold-eyed woman in Noah's team discovered another collection in a small handicraft exhibition room: a wooden sword with eight trigrams carved on its hilt.
It had almost become Anna's habit to consult the manual whenever they found something. Now she had a vague recollection of the items within it. When the woman lifted the wooden sword from a shelf, Anna immediately remembered it.
"The Eight Trigrams Wooden Sword was a magical tool for exorcising evil spirits, given to Victor Ravencourt by an old Taoist friend. After all, Victor Ravencourt frequently came into contact with various ghosts and artifacts from other continents and was inevitably contaminated by evil spirits. The primary material of this wooden sword is peach wood, but it also contains some special materials, granting it a certain efficacy in slaying spirits. It is said that it had been used as a magical tool for thirty years before being gifted. It possesses great spiritual power and can be used simply even by those with no knowledge of mysticism."
"Good stuff," The woman commented. Her voice was very pleasant, possessing a calming quality.
"Do you want it?"
The next second, the wooden sword was offered to Anna.
Anna was stunned. First, Grace, and now this woman – how could they not value something that could potentially save their lives?
"You found it, so you should take it," Anna said, shaking her head in refusal.
"Okay."
The woman removed the matching scabbard, slung it behind her, and deftly sheathed the wooden sword with a backhanded motion. Her movements were crisp, efficient, and quite graceful.
Well, including this woman who seemed to have practiced fighting techniques, it was probably confirmed that Noah's group possessed the strongest combat capability.
Anna didn't know why she had this irrelevant thought and quickly shook her head. "Sister, have you practiced kung fu, martial arts, or something? My name is Anna. Let's get to know each other."
"Ling Yan. I come from a family of martial artists, though the tradition has declined."
Although she didn't mention it directly but Anna, hearing her name and seeing the face that looked 50% similar to a Chinese, she had guessed that she was half Chinese, which shows why she is so interested in martial arts.
It seemed they had touched upon a sensitive topic, which made Ling Yan's already cold face colder, so Anna dropped the subject.
"It's time," Ling Yan said, taking out her phone to check. Anna nodded. She had also been keeping track of the time. Although the greenhouse wasn't particularly large, it contained many small rooms, making the search time-consuming.
"Everyone, gather now!"
Outside, Noah's loud voice had begun to urge them, and the two hurried out. After everyone assembled, they counted heads and were relieved to find no one missing.
The wooden sword behind Ling Yan was naturally quite conspicuous, but everyone now assumed that whoever found an item kept it, and there was naturally no objection to this arrangement. Another discovery was a rotten and dried model hand. This item was too distinctive even in the collection catalog, so it was naturally not overlooked.
This item was also the only collection with a relatively precise description of its function: place a candle in its hand and light it to warn of the arrival of ghosts.
The couple had found this. They were now guarding it on either side, ready to find a candle quickly.
"Don't be so nervous. No one will steal your things. Since this can warn us, we just need to stay close to you," Beom Seok said with a smile, comforting the two overly anxious individuals. "There are candles in the warehouse, several bundles, enough for you to burn until the end of seven days. Relax."
Seeing that those around them, including the grumpy man, showed no signs of greed, the two relaxed slightly.
"In short, any discovery is a gain. The flowers in the greenhouse are not part of the collection. Since we've finished searching, we'll return to the main house and regroup immediately," Grace stated.
Naturally, no one objected to this proposal.
"Sigh, we found so many things so early. As long as we figure out how to use them, we can probably play with ghosts in the future. Three ghosts, haha, and there are thirty of us," Beom Seok said, his optimism inexplicably returning.
However, this optimism was shattered just after they returned to the main house.
The timid man who had rushed to leave earlier lay dead in the corridor leading to the first-floor toilet. Purple-red pinch marks marred his neck, his limbs were contorted backward at unnatural angles, and his stomach was slashed open with some of his internal organs pulled out.
"He... he said he was scared and went to the bathroom, and then... he never came back..."
The white-collar worker huddled in a chair, clutching his arms and trembling. The three members of the nouveau riche group were not in the hall. The only other person was the last member of the white-collar group, a heavily made-up woman, sitting on another chair. Her eyes were wide open, and she remained unresponsive no matter who spoke to her.
A loud clap of thunder echoed, followed by the drumming sound of heavy rain pouring down. The sticky, bloody odor that clung in the air, carrying unspeakable malice, announced the real existence of ghosts to everyone, and at the same time, it heralded the beginning of this survival game.
At this moment, a strong desire surged within Anna's heart:
"I must survive."