There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

Chapter 127: Chapter 123: The Degeneration of Faith

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Swish——The black liquid from the monster's body spilled onto the ground, viscous like oil, emitting an unpleasant fishy stench.

The monster, which had still been staring at Xu Shuo, suddenly turned its blood-red eyes towards them after being attacked.

Those eyes lacked any semblance of emotion, but they made them feel a tremendous evil intent!

Desire, greed, destruction, and hatred, countless negative energies flooded into their minds from those eyes, frantically occupying their thoughts, and the feelings of nausea and fear grew stronger and stronger.

"Run! Get out!"

Suddenly, a loud shout came, and the several police officers, as if waking from a dream, turned and ran upon seeing the distorted, gruesome monster.

The monster's several limbs touched the ground and it bounced toward them with a leap, landing silently on the ground!

Old Li had already run out like mad when he realized the police couldn't handle the creature. The four people pumped their legs with all their might, but a young police officer at the back suddenly stumbled and fell.

Turning his head, he saw his ankle was caught by a black tentacle; the monster's blood-red eyes were now filled with a bloodthirsty intent.

"Save... Save me!"

The leading officer, upon seeing this, shot several rounds at the tentacle while running back, then grabbed the young policeman by the collar and dragged him out, with the latter kicking frantically.

The tentacle wrapped around his ankle suddenly trembled and quickly retracted.

The monster, crouching, with its stomach mouth dripping flesh and blood, stood with several limbs on the ground, its fleshy tumor-like organs pulsating, and its blood-red eyes fixed on them menacingly.

But it didn't pursue them any further.

The young man, trembling, sat on the edge of the village square, gazing at the twisted monster in the dwelling, feeling a strong surge of nausea.

The female reporter who had come around, watching this scene, felt a sense of realization.

Indeed, the monster had its own domain rules when hunting for prey.

It was she who had shouted at them. The police officer had fallen right on the border line between the village square and the dwelling—if he had been any slower, the monster might have dragged him back.

The female reporter stepped forward, intending to greet them, only to suddenly see the young man covering his throat in discomfort.

At the same time, the upper body of the black monster also stirred, like... an animal ruminating.

She halted suddenly, her expression strange.

"Ugh!"

Right after that, the young police officer, unable to bear the nausea, vomited something out. The debris, mixed with flesh and blood, spilled on the ground, spreading its foul smell.

He trembled, his face contorting from the nausea that surged up his throat, making him vomit out another mass of flesh containing organs.

The others, pale-faced, watched him; the officer hesitated before rushing to pat him on the back.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?!"

"I... Ugh!"

Chunks of flesh, including bits of nail and bone, were vomited out, splashing the officer in front of him. Tears of distress streamed down the young man's face as he felt as if his stomach would come out, yet he couldn't suppress the nausea and even reached into his throat to scoop out more.

Seeing the young man's behavior becoming more and more bizarre, the officer steeled himself, and with the butt of his gun, he struck the back of the young man's neck with force!

Thump!

The latter's eyes rolled back as he collapsed to the ground, but in the next moment, he propped himself up again and continued to vomit in distress.

Even a beating couldn't knock him out!

"Give up. A person contaminated by that monster can't be saved by ordinary means. This is beyond our understanding," the female reporter said softly, her face showing sympathy as she looked at him.

"What the hell is this thing?!"

The officer, with a ghastly expression, turned his gaze back to the eerie monster but, after only half a second of watching, he couldn't help feeling fear and disgust, and he dared not look any longer.

The young man's convulsions intensified towards the end, and then he lay motionless on the ground, surrounded by chunks of flesh and blood, an extreme fishy stench in the air.

Two more people had died tonight, though if nothing unexpected had happened, only one person from the village would have died.

The female reporter withdrew her gaze from the policeman and looked nervously at the monster.

It stopped its rumination, and tumor-like organs on its body pulsated spontaneously, making "gurgling" sounds. Then it looked around, apparently not finding anything, and soon its body began to collapse and melt away.

A thick, foul-smelling liquid was left on the ground, slowly seeping into the soil and permeating through the cracks in the walls.

The few onlookers were horrified by the disappearance of the monster, feeling chills down their spines as it lay hidden in the village, its flesh and blood seemingly splattered everywhere.

The village at night became silent once again. Despite there being many people in the square, the quietness was eerily terrifying.

After a while, a dry heave from the corner of the dwelling broke the silence; the monster was gone, and the painter couldn't hold back the nausea anymore.

The remaining three officers looked at her in terror, thinking she was going to be sick to death like the young man. The reporter knew the worst had passed, so she wasn't as nervous.

After a few dry heaves, the young woman apologized, waving her hand, "I'm sorry, I couldn't help it..."

Her willpower had always been a bit weak; otherwise, she wouldn't have nearly been contaminated while recalling the monster in her mind later on.

This time when she went out, she had specifically brought her sketchpad, but now when she looked at the paper, everything was just chaotic lines.

The girl tried to recall a little, but the discomfort and pain in her mind stopped her from thinking any further.

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This thing simply cannot be captured in a painting…

But there must be a way to complete this task.

At this moment, Xu Shuo emerged from the darkness, looking frightened, and said to the group, "Comrades, look, I told you there is a monster in our village! How come you can't deal with it now, what are we going to do?"

The female reporter had a strange expression on her face: "…"

His worried appearance was incredibly realistic.

The officer fell into silence, and the forensic expert, with a heart full of apprehension, went forward to examine the fallen comrade, eventually saying with a complex expression, "It was asphyxiation."

A death very similar to that of the detective.

But they couldn't possibly report this mystical stuff, just as the Acting Village Chief had said they didn't believe, no more would their superiors believe it.

"The creature here… is it the 'Green-Faced Fangs' that the villagers speak of?" Officer Zhang asked gravely.

"That's probably it," Xu Shuo nodded hesitantly.

"But it doesn't look anything like the 'Green-Faced Fangs' depicted," Officer Zhang implied, looking toward the direction of the fields.

"Whatever people imagine it to be, that's what it will grow into," Xu Shuo said, with even more profound implications: "In everyone's heart, the 'Green-Faced Fangs' has a different image. Like in my heart, it might just be a little girl."

And with the convergence of countless people's thoughts, it becomes an indescribable monster.

At that point, the female reporter sighed and said, "Thousands of years ago, it was the 'deity' that protected the region; thousands of years later, it has become the 'monster' bringing calamity to the people."

"Why would this monster attack your village now?" Officer Zhang grabbed the crux of the discussion, and abruptly knitting his brows, he stared intently at Xu Shuo and asked, "Has anyone else died in your village these days?"

Given the trend, it couldn't just be outsiders who had died!

Xu Shuo stroked his chin and said, "I think, what happened before is not important anymore. In the end, everyone might die."

Because every person in the village has their own selfish desires, and the malice they exude influences the 'Green-Faced Fangs'' thoughts. Their existence is the monster's sustenance.

And the Acting Village Chief was actually the beginning of it all.

…

…

The action tonight had exhausted the several policemen both physically and mentally. In the end, they apprehended Old Li, who had escaped, for interrogation; they needed to thoroughly understand everything inside and outside this village.

Otherwise, if there truly was a catastrophe that led to the village's demise, it would certainly cause a sensation. What's scarier is, what if the monster got out?

As for the Acting Village Chief, that occasionally odd man, they did not dare put full trust in him.

—How on earth should this story be unraveled?

The maiden followed Xu Shuo in a daze, thinking they were going back, only to realize after turning a corner that they were at the ancestral hall.

After all, it was a place of worship, and the pitch-black interior of the ancestral hall felt quite eerie.

Xu Shuo pushed the door open and saw the little girl carefully picking up marbles from the floor, not making a sound.

The door suddenly swung open, and she startled, then quickly explained, "I'm sorry, Uncle Dai, I'm not avoiding sleep, it's just that these things fell down…"

This small room had just been ravaged by the monster; tables and chairs were overturned, let alone a game of marbles.

Xu Shuo walked over and pinched her soft cheek, smiling, "It's okay."

Then, he suddenly took out a purple net bag, which seemed quite ordinary at first, but swung it over the little girl's head, the huge net enveloping the five or six-year-old girl completely.

"Caught you," Xu Shuo said with a smile.

"Eh?" The little girl tilting her head cutely, her face rife with innocence and confusion.

[Congratulations on completing the task: Capture the Green-Faced Fangs.]

Find more to read at M V L

The little girl, covered by the net, stood obediently, without a hint of evasive action, quite compliant, even thinking that Xu Shuo was playing with her.

She reached out her little hand to grasp the edge of the net, her eyes gleaming as she exclaimed, "Oh no, Uncle Dai caught me!"

Xu Shuo: HP-99!

At this moment, Xu Shuo inexplicably shared Officer Zhang's sentiment: How could such a cute little girl be a monster?

But in truth, she had no sense of good or evil, nor her own thoughts; she was born from people's beliefs and mutated because of the degeneration of those beliefs.

If people thought she was timid, weak, and hungry due to their inherent views of orphans, then that's what she became.

If people's impression of a monster was ferocious and terrifying, a man-eater, then that's what she became as well.

Whatever people hoped she would be, that's what she would become.

Xu Shuo picked up the little girl, squeezing her soft, plump cheeks, and felt the touch become even more pleasant.

—The Acting Village Chief wanted to make the village prosper and sought fame through spreading bizarre legends to draw the longing of travelers, but it also awakened the dormant monster.

It also induced the villagers' concealed desires.

The Acting Village Chief had the best attitude towards the 'Green-Faced Fangs,' harboring neither malice nor benevolence, only looking to make money from it.

Xu Shuo found this idea appealing because he too was rather fond of making money.