Chapter 51 - Smell

This was exactly the part Xu Huo couldn’t figure out; the Skinning Artisan instance wasn’t a closed instance—if players could simply hide outside the factory and not enter, it didn’t count as forced participation.

But what was happening before him made it clear that even if you hid outside during the day, you would definitely be driven into the factory at night!

If Peng Fengnian’s information was accurate, the Skinning Artisan at night was much more dangerous than the one during the day, and players trying to take advantage by hiding outside might become the first target, making it even more perilous.

After hesitating between the pigsty and the Skinning Artisan’s bedroom, Xu Huo chose the former.

Before the darkness completely enveloped the factory, he caught the rats he had hidden outside during the day and wrapped them with meat strips on the wires above the workshop; then he snuck into the pigsty, gestured for Sima Xiao’er and the others to be quiet, draped the peeled pigskin back over himself, and crawled into a corner.

The others, seeing his actions, were initially puzzled when they suddenly heard footsteps coming from the front door of the pigsty, panicked, they all crowded into the corner, naturally concealing him.

The heavy and slow footsteps didn’t belong to any player; Xu Huo was certain it was the Skinning Artisan, but different from the one during the day.

“Creak…” The front door slowly opened, “click” a light turned on, and a figure gradually walked up to the front of the pigsty.

This man had the same face as the Skinning Artisan, the same red nose and tall stature, but his messy brown hair was neatly combed, slicked with hair oil, each strand clinging tightly to his scalp, and his thick beard was also smoothly tied into a neat little braid, the tips showing signs of trimming.

The bloody dirty coat was replaced with a clean white lab coat, over which he wore a leather apron; the edge of the apron pinned with two moon-shaped black thin blades, two fingers wide, whose patterned edges reflected a faint light, like a pair of butterfly wings echoing each other.

Those were the Skinning Knives!

Through the narrow gap, Xu Huo watched this Skinning Artisan, who seemed entirely different from the Butcher version he had seen earlier, and a thought flashed urgently through his mind:

He absolutely must not be discovered!

And, as if sensing something, the Skinning Artisan turned his head, his calm and cold eyes looking towards the inside of the pigsty.

In that instant, Xu Huo’s hands and feet uncontrollably stiffened, as the Skinning Artisan’s figure loomed larger in his view; seeing the hand he extended, Xu Huo even felt an overwhelming desperation, as if there was no chance he could escape!

The fear of death seized his body and mind, thoughts of resistance, fleeing, or fighting to the death all weakened, and another realization rapidly took over his brain—he was going to die here!

“Oink!!!” Just then, a few meters away inside the pigsty, a piglet started screaming, stepping on other piglets to flip out of the pigsty, and frantically ran towards the dormitory behind.

The Skinning Artisan shifted his gaze, stepped forward to chase the piglet; from a distance of a dozen meters, he reached out his right hand toward the piglet, and in the next second, the somewhat frantic piglet immediately became quiet, trembling and lying on the ground, unable to move.

The Skinning Artisan walked over, picked up the piglet, and gently stroked its head, “Running around recklessly could damage the skin, making it uneven in color and less pretty.

You’re so naughty…”

He paused in his speech, grabbed the tag hanging from the pig’s ear, “Turns out there’s a customer order for this one.”

The Skinning Artisan regretfully tossed the small pig back into the pigsty, then turned his attention back to the main pigsty, “There still is a strange smell here…”

He didn’t finish his sentence when the lights inside the pigsty suddenly went out, and the darkness from outside the factory stopped at the windowsill.

In the pitch-black, the Skinning Artisan took a deep breath, and then spoke in a pleased tone, “A new scent, seems like a disobedient piggy is hiding outside.”

Footsteps rapidly left the pigsty, seemingly eager.

In the darkness, the door to the pigsty had long been shut, but Xu Huo was unable to recover his senses for a long time.

The way he had reacted when the Skinning Artisan had set his sights on him was too abnormal.

The presence and aura of a person are limited; without an external force to terrify them, they wouldn’t be so scared to the point of being unable to resist.

Was this one of the Skinning Artisan’s traits?

Feeling a bit better after exhaling, Xu Huo wrapped in pigskin climbed onto the windowsill and jumped down, but passing through the darkness, he fell back into the pigsty.

This happened several times; the night outside seemed like a barrier surrounding the factory, indicating that the factory would not return to its daytime state until a certain time passed.

The one who lured the Skinning Artisan away must have been Peng Fengnian who just entered.

If he couldn’t last until the darkness vanished, the Skinning Artisan might very well turn back here.

If possible, Xu Huo wanted to avoid direct conflict as much as he could, hoping Peng Fengnian could hold out a bit longer.

As he placed his hopes on Peng Fengnian, Peng Fengnian, hiding at the top of the wall by the workshop’s front door, similarly hoped that Xu Huo could do something to attract the Skinning Artisan’s attention.

Hiding outside and not entering the factory was not an option, and the consequence of exploiting the game’s rules was backlash from the scenario.

He was certain that the Skinning Artisan would make him the first target; knowing his own level, he could only be easy prey in a fight.

Thinking of various rumors about the Skinning Artisan, his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

In the factory, apart from the pigsty at the back, the Skinning Artisan’s bedroom and secret room, the slaughterhouse, and the adjacent storeroom had walls extending to the ceiling.

The other rooms had an open space above, except for the crossbeams for wiring, so as long as the angle was high enough, one could more or less observe the situation in other parts of the factory.

The moment he entered, he was thrown onto this wall and immediately concealed his presence without any intention to change locations.

Whether it was the bedroom or the offices and fur rooms, entering them would mean getting trapped.

It would be better to hide on the wall and move to Tang Pei and the others’ rest area after the Skinning Artisan passed by.

Right then, the factory’s power went out again.

He used all his traits and props that could cover his tracks, hoping to deceive the Skinning Artisan.

Less than half a minute after the lights went out, the back door of the pigsty was opened.

The Skinning Artisan’s figure stepped inside.

Although his appearance was unclear, judging from the sound of his footsteps, it seemed he went into the adjacent storeroom.

Peng Fengnian’s held breath slightly eased; at this distance, if the Skinning Artisan had discovered him, he would likely have struck first.

The fact that the Skinning Artisan had gone to the storeroom meant he hadn’t been noticed.

While he nervously awaited the Skinning Artisan’s reappearance, a figure suddenly rose from the bed inside the rest area for players across from the storeroom.

Without anyone noticing, this person silently walked out of the room.

At such a close distance, and with the players on high alert, it was impossible not to notice him unless he had used a trait or a prop.

Before their alliance of six, each had briefly introduced their traits, and Peng Fengnian knew this was Zou Weichang’s trait “Black Under the Light.”

What was he doing out?

Zou Weichang, who was enveloped by the darkness, had no idea someone else was on the wall.

He sneaked through the workshop, conveniently bypassing the Skinning Artisan who was in the storeroom, and left through the front door into the fur room.