Kaidan Game Train: Abide Rule or Die!
Chapter 673: The Shrine in the Wooden Cabinet

Chapter 673: Chapter 673: The Shrine in the Wooden Cabinet

"Do you guys still remember the game background mentioned that people here often offer the best room to guests, and that best room is actually where they worship their deity?" Tian Kunwen said, "As for which specific god they worship, it’s unclear, but it’s said that the deity’s statue is placed inside a wooden cabinet."

"Has nobody opened it to take a look?" Yi Pei asked.

"Most of those who opened it disappeared," Fu Danhong said. "Two players at the guesthouse disappeared last night as well. Tian Kunwen and I went to check, and those two families had already been through three rounds of interrogation, and one had died. They refused to speak and insisted that it must be divine retribution for offending the deity."

"With this groundwork, other players also dare not open the cabinet to see what kind of deity is actually being worshipped inside."

So after searching around, they still had no clue as to why the players disappeared.

If only those who saw the deity’s statue disappeared, then it doesn’t make sense for You Jun to be missing.

"Could it be that You Jun saw the deity’s statue somewhere?" Yi Pei said.

"He came here with us, went to the same places, and met the same people. If he had unwittingly violated the instance’s murder conditions, then we should all be affected," Tian Kunwen was more worried about this.

"It’s also possible that You Jun saw the deity’s statue," Xu Huo said at this time. "He was the one who opened the door last night. Logically, he should have checked from the peephole first. If the deity’s statue appeared outside the door, then he fits the criteria."

The several of them exchanged glances before Fu Danhong made a call to the front desk, asking the manager to send up some snacks.

The manager came running up quickly, and as soon as the door opened, Tian Kunwen and Wei Xian dragged him inside and pressed him to the floor, interrogating, "Was it you who knocked on the door last night?"

The manager’s face contorted, he mumbled unclearly, "What are you trying to do? Let go! Otherwise, I won’t be polite to you!"

"How will you not be polite?" Xu Huo stepped on his head, leaning over with a dagger against his neck, "I ask a question, you answer. Otherwise, don’t expect to walk out of this door alive."

The manager’s face showed fear, "Big brother, what do you want to know? Just ask, I’ll tell you everything I know!"

"Was it you who knocked on the door last night?" Xu Huo asked.

"What knocking on the door?" the manager said, "I already finished work early yesterday, didn’t you also call the front desk?"

"Not picking up the phone doesn’t prove you weren’t there," Wei Xian twisted his arm, "If you don’t start telling the truth, you can kiss your arm goodbye."

"What’s the deal with the missing people? Speak!"

"Oh, so that’s what you wanted to ask..." the manager pulled a face, "You could have just said so earlier. Why go through all this trouble..."

Xu Huo applied more pressure with his foot, "You can save the extraneous talk."

The manager gnawed the carpet, and only when the pressure on his head eased did he hurriedly say, "We people of Sifang Palace City are protected by the deity; any outsiders who insult us will receive retribution!"

Tian Kunwen’s hands loosened a bit.

Xu Huo’s foot pressed down even harder, "You think we’re easy to fool?"

"What I’m saying... is the truth," the manager struggled as he spoke, "Every household worships a deity, of course we will be protected by the gods. You think you can bully us, just wait, you will definitely suffer retribution!"

Not caring about the manager’s verbal threats, Fu Danhong stepped in front of Xu Huo and held a rapidly spinning pocket watch in front of the manager’s eyes, "Keep looking at this, look carefully, and when I ask you questions later, you’ll answer them."

At first, the manager was somewhat resistant, but his expression soon became vacant.

"How did those people disappear?" Fu Danhong asked.

The manager’s expression struggled for a moment, then he answered, "They disrespected the deity."

"Why did You Jun disappear?"

"I don’t know..."

"Is it forbidden to look at the deity’s statue?"

"Directly gazing at the deity is an offense."

Fu Danhong asked a few more questions, and the manager’s answers were all of the same nature.

"Under the influence of the potion, he won’t lie," Fu Danhong sneered. "No wonder he’s still alive despite so many players disappearing; it seems he really doesn’t know anything."

Unable to find any clues, Tian Kunwen threw the manager out and closed the door, "Last night, the most likely person to knock on the door was the manager, followed by other players who arrived early. If the manager isn’t informed, could it have been done by other players?"

Guessing that the knocker was a player seemed quite reasonable; Wei Xian barely left the doorway when the person disappeared, so the manager shouldn’t be that fast.

"But isn’t viewing the deity’s statue supposed to trigger the killing condition? That doesn’t make sense," Wei Xian said.

"Maybe the deity here really does protect the locals," Xu Huo slowly said.

Everyone quieted down, and then Fu Danhong said, "Just now, we encountered a few troublemakers; whether or not attacking the locals is a trigger, we’ll find out first thing tomorrow morning."

"If there’s a power in the instance that’s beyond our understanding, all we can do is to avoid the triggering conditions," Yi Pei said.

"Right, did you guys find the bodies of You Jun or any of the others?" Tian Kunwen changed the subject.

"There are no signs of buried bodies in the woods," Xu Huo said. "Unless the killer is truly a god, then they must be hidden somewhere in this county town, and even if they were eaten, there would still be bones left."

Aside from the Cannibal Player, it couldn’t be guaranteed that people in this county didn’t eat humans.

A look of disgust appeared on several players’ faces, and Yi Pei said, "I don’t think that’s likely; there are mostly old and young people here, and those of capable age are less than a tenth. Some families don’t even have a young person."

"It’s not surprising, in such a remote place with locals who keep muttering about their gods, if I were a young person, I wouldn’t want to stay either," Wei Xian said.

"I’m going back to rest," Xu Huo said, as his arm wound started acting up again and a thin sweat broke out on his forehead.

"I’ll go out after I’ve eaten," Fu Danhong folded her arms and saw the guest out.

Xu Huo turned and headed to his room, Yi Pei caught up with him and handed him a potion, smiling and saying, "You seem pretty badly injured; this is a powerful potion, it might be useful."

"Thank you," Xu Huo took it, then said, "Could I borrow your voice recorder to listen to it."

Yi Pei cheerfully handed it to him.

"Let’s go have dinner together," Wei Xian called out to her.

They all left together, and Xu Huo closed the door to his room. Only after checking the room did he start playing the recording.

As Yi Pei mentioned, regarding the religious history of Sifang Palace City, the locals couldn’t articulate a reason, and whenever asked about the deities they worshipped, they would deflect the question, apparently truly unaware.

This contrasted with the manager’s statement.

The residents avoided discussing deity worship, whereas the manager claimed their worshipped deity could protect the locals from humiliation.

Xu Huo didn’t believe that deities would be so idle and so interfering; otherwise, there wouldn’t have been a knock on the door the night before.

However, no matter how the disappearances happened, they seemed to be related to religion, which is to say, related to the deity’s statue... His gaze swept across the wall carvings, and then successively shifted to the peephole on the door and the mirror in the washroom before he dialed the front desk and ordered a set of small mirrors from the manager.