Chapter 21: The Flying Axe

"Clang... clang... clang..."

The intermittent crashing sound drifted from the fog. In the depths of this ancient, dense forest, the noise seemed amplified, drilling clearly into their ears.

"The cabin door was latched," Xu Huo said.

The cabin used an old-fashioned latch lock. After the players moved the corpse inside, they had hooked it shut on their way out—out of respect for the dead, to prevent wild beasts from desecrating the body. But now, someone was slamming against that door.

"Is... is there a ghost?" Yuan Yao’s voice trembled, unable to form a coherent sentence.

"Would a ghost need to bash a door?" Xu Huo walked toward the entrance. As he pulled the door open, he heard a "clatter" from inside, followed by Zhang Xiong’s roar.

By now, several other players had emerged, drawn by the sound. They rushed to the outside of Zhang Xiong’s room, and the wealthy second-generation heir in the lead kicked the door open without a second thought.

The lights in the room were on. One could immediately see shards of glass scattered across the floor. Huang Junjie was slumped against the wall, drenched in sweat, his left hand pressing hard against his right shoulder. Fresh blood surged between his fingers, already pooling into a small puddle on the ground.

Zhang Xiong was supporting him, frantically pouring a healing agent into his mouth!

"What is going on?" Wang Wei pushed past Xu Huo and hurried over to help. Huang Junjie managed to free a hand, his face deathly pale. "It’s the Headhunter!"

The expressions of those present shifted instantly.

"You were attacked by the Headhunter?" Xu Huo asked. "Did you see him?"

Huang Junjie shook his head. "I had just finished checking the outer wall and was heading back to my room when I was attacked by an axe flying from outside the courtyard. Luckily, I dodged in time, or my head would have been shaved off. When I turned to look, I only saw a black shadow running past the outer wall."

Xu Huo looked out into the courtyard. The villa was entirely open-air, with the courtyard and the rooms separated only by floor-to-ceiling glass. The perimeter was lined with a hedge wall that stood at least a head taller than a person. Even if Huang Junjie had only caught a glimpse of the head, the Headhunter had to be at least two meters tall.

"Are you kidding me?" the heir said. "The outer wall is two meters high. How could you see the person?"

"At least two-three or two-four meters," Huang Junjie added. "I saw it clearly. He was wearing a black mask."

"Could your eyes have been playing tricks on you?" Du Lanlan asked. "After all, it was so dark."

"There’s no mistake," Huang Junjie said, his mind sharp.

"Where is the axe?" Xu Huo glanced at the marks left by the sharp blade on the stone floor. "If the opponent attacked you with an axe, it should have landed in the courtyard."

"That’s the part that puzzles me. The axe flew away on its own," Huang Junjie said, as if it had been sucked away.

Flew away on its own?

"It’s true, I saw it with my own eyes," Zhang Xiong added hurriedly.

"How is that possible!" Yuan Yao exclaimed. "You mean there’s a nearly two-and-a-half-meter-tall maniac wandering around the villa with a flying axe?"

Xu Huo shifted his gaze from the courtyard wall back to the wreckage on the floor. This method felt too crude and simplistic; it contradicted the game's description.

"It might not even be a person..." Wang Wei looked up. "This is a game world, it wouldn't be strange to have ghosts or monsters!"

"Are we in a ghost-themed dungeon?" Xia Guo rubbed her arms. "And the door-bashing sound from earlier? That definitely came from the cabin. But we checked that area earlier, there was no one around. If it’s not a ghost, could it be a reanimated corpse?"

The young foreigner, Abel, clutched the cross hanging around his neck. "This is my first time in a dungeon. Is this what they are like?"

"Who the hell knows!" the middle-aged bald man, Wan Zhikang, said irritably. "It’s our first time too!"

The game prompt hadn't mentioned ghosts. They had all assumed the "Headhunter" was a murderer hiding in the villa—that their opponents were human. Humans could be dealt with, but how do you fight a ghost?

"What door-bashing sound?" Zhang Xiong asked.

Du Lanlan immediately explained. The reason they had arrived so quickly was because of that very sound; they had been planning to come out and investigate anyway.

"It seems to have stopped now," she said, casting a hopeful look at Huang Junjie.

"It might have been a wild boar or some other beast," Huang Junjie said, his energy waning.

"I think you’re just scaring yourselves," Liu Yuanyuan said, touching up her lipstick in a small mirror. "Ghosts and monsters? Maybe the Headhunter is just trying to scare people. As for the height? High heels and lifts—I could reach two meters myself. It’s pitch black outside, and you didn't see the wires attached to the axe."

That explanation sounded fairly reasonable.

"Should we go take a look?" Yuan Yao looked at Xu Huo.

"It’s too dark, and the villa has no lighting. Let’s wait until tomorrow morning," Xu Huo said.

"Agreed." The heir gave him an appreciative look. "What’s the point of just standing here shouting? Tomorrow, we’ll turn this place upside down. I don't believe we can't find a single Headhunter."

After saying this, he walked off with his arm around Liu Yuanyuan. The other players looked at one another; none dared to go out, so they retreated to their respective rooms.

"You should come to our room tonight," Xu Huo said. "What if the Headhunter comes back for a second strike?"

"Good point!" Zhang Xiong hurriedly helped Huang Junjie up, and Yuan Yao stepped in to assist.

The four of them moved to the same room. Xu Huo gave the bed to Huang Junjie and curled up on a small sofa.

"Thank you," Huang Junjie said sincerely.

Xu Huo smiled and nodded, leaning against the sofa to sleep.

They passed the night without incident. Just before dawn the next day, he was awakened by a rhythmic "clack-clack" sound. He sat up, walked into the courtyard, and followed the noise.

Coincidentally, it was coming from the direction of the cabin again.

"What is that sound?" Huang Junjie had woken up too. "Is this what you heard yesterday?"

"No," Xu Huo wiped his face and walked toward the lobby.

Wan Zhikang and Abel were already there. Abel was gripping his cross, muttering, "Amitabha, Hallelujah, Amen..."

"Your foreign gods can't control the ghosts of our country," the heir said, appearing and tilting his head to listen. "That doesn't sound like door-bashing."

"It’s the sound of chopping wood," Xu Huo said. "There’s an axe among the logging tools at the cabin."

"Don't tell me the Headhunter doesn't hide during the day but comes out to chop wood?" Liu Yuanyuan said.

"We'll know if we go look," Wang Wei said.

Once Du Lanlan and Xia Guo came out, the group left their quarters and headed toward the cabin.

It wasn't fully light yet—or perhaps, under the heavy shroud of mist, the sky could only brighten to this extent. They bypassed the main road and walked through the woods. From a distance, they saw a figure standing before a log, raising an axe high to split a piece of firewood in two.

"That person’s clothes look a bit familiar..." Du Lanlan trembled as she spoke.

Seeming to hear them, the figure turned around. It was the very same person who had hanged himself in front of them the day before!