Wu Qingsheng frowned at the corpse and said, "In that case, the murderer might be trying to sow confusion. He might want to take further action. Everyone, be careful."
This back and forth made everyone present look uncomfortable. If one or two people can die, it means four or five people can die.
The next person to die could be any one of them.
"Besides those two, did any of you leave alone just now?" Su Changxing immediately asked.
Qiu Jing glanced at Su Changxing and said, "We were all in the same room, and Huang Keying had just left the room when we heard the scream."
Su Changxing meticulously surveyed the people around him, using "True Knowledge" to measure their general mental state, deducing from another angle.
[Heartās Doubt]
[Frightened and Unsettled]
[Heavy]
[Proud]
Ā·Ā·Ā·Ā·Ā·Ā·
Wait a minute.
What is this "Proud"?
Su Changxing turned his head to look back and saw that bald man slightly bowing his head at the back, as if lost in thought.
Could it be him?
"I know who it is."
Su Changxing gestured to Wu Qingsheng toward the bald man at the back, definitively saying, "Hmm, it should be him. Go ahead and deal with it."
Wu Qingsheng looked surprised but didnāt doubt Su Changxingās judgment in the slightest. He immediately shouted, "Fatty, come over here."
The bald man was called over, looking bewildered, and hurriedly walked up, saying, "Boss, whatās going on?"
"Pa~"
Wu Qingsheng slapped him across the face, the tremendous force knocking him to the ground, coldly saying:
"You killed him, didnāt you? Killing isnāt the problem, but sneakily killing our own is a big issue."
The bald man said in terror, "I didnāt do it, Boss. Everyone can vouch for me; I was over there the whole time."
Before he could finish, Wu Qingsheng slashed at his neck, the blade cutting through the skin and wedging into the bone.
He saw through people easily; the first expression the bald man made showed he was pretending, the smell of deceit inescapable.
But, there was no blood.
The bald man showed a mad grin, suddenly lunging forward to hug Wu Qingsheng, laughing maniacally:
"Youāre never off, Boss; you even saw through this."
Wu Qingsheng flipped the bald man onto the ground, then slashed again, cutting his body in two, immediately after which some dry branches grew rapidly from the bald manās body.
The bald manās body swelled visibly, becoming blurry and unreal, like a black projection.
Su Changxing had just placed his hand on the revolver when he saw the monk running over, eyes shining with golden light, punching the bald manās body.
The clear sound of impact echoed in the corridor.
The bald man immediately ceased to breathe, the dry twigs dropping to the floor in pieces, turning into black ash-like fragments, no longer moving.
The monk turned, his expression solemn, and said:
"This is the same as those demon puppets, but hidden very deeply. Itās hard to discover without exposure."
Su Changxing raised an eyebrow and said, "You mean to say other people might also be parasitized by this thing."
The monk nodded and said, "Yes, I sensed a sinister presence around, but didnāt expect it to be such a thing. It had been parasitized since its time in the settlement."
This is very bad.
The monk had almost been parasitized by that thing before.
Wu Qingsheng, nonchalantly, said to Huang Longhu:
"Clean this place up; this smell is really unpleasant. Those who should sleep at night should still sleep, and those who canāt sleep can stay on watch."
Qu Zhaoyu and the others all looked uncertain and suspicious.
The woman with the fair face regretfully said:
"I should have left here; these people seemed weird, if we had left then, she wouldnāt have died."
Qiu Jing frowned and said, "Saying so much now is useless. Later, half of the people sleep and half keep watch."
The hall returned to silence again, and until the sun rose the next day, no more deaths occurred, and no further incidents happened.
Su Changxing felt the sunlight on his face, slowly opened his eyes, only to see the monk with his head lowered, his expression becoming more grim.
He took a swig of water, asking, "Hmm? Whatās wrong?"
The monk, gravely, said in a low voice:
"I feel that strange aura still exists, and itās even stronger. Iām afraid there are still people with problems... Although many escaped from the settlement, that may not be a good thing."
Su Changxing paused for a moment, not expecting the monk to think this far, and said in a slacker manner:
"Thereās nothing that can be done; some things canāt be changed by human power, and thereās no need to struggle."
"But..."
The monk hesitated, then said, "Donor Su, you accomplished what no one else could. Is it really appropriate to say this?"
Su Changxing pursed his lips and chuckled lightly: "This makes no difference? We still canāt control our fate, we can only barely hang on."
The monkās eyes regained their original clarity, speaking earnestly:
"Iāll post a notice later to warn others, to prevent more deaths."
Su Changxing nodded and said, "Hmm, good idea."
Qu Zhaoyu and others not only didnāt leave but even joined Huang Longhu and the others in cleaning the hall.
"Brother Su, breakfast is ready, come have some."
Wu Qingsheng sat by the campfire, holding a bowl, and shouted.
Su Changxing sat beside him and asked, "Hmm? Why havenāt they left?"
Wu Qingsheng glanced back and said:
"They said they wanted to join us. I thought about it; because of us, people died yesterday, so I agreed."
Wu Qingsheng probably had enough food too, and had no qualms about taking in people. With enough food, the more people, the better.
Wu Qingsheng took a sip of white rice porridge from the bowl and said in a low voice:
"The main thing is, among these people, only a few show signs of corpse change; the chances of survival are high."
Su Changxing nodded, reminding:
"The monk confirmed, thereās still someone parasitized among you. They might not even know. Be careful."
Wu Qingsheng was silent for a while, then said, "We must find a way to root them out, or there will be a problem sooner or later."
Su Changxing shrugged, somewhat helpless, and said, "Monk, can you find out specifically who it is? I have no way."
The monk shook his head and said, "No, I can only sense a faint presence, like a seed, very weak, about to sprout but not yet."
After saying that, he began eating the food in his bowl with large bites. He didnāt eat yesterday and was very hungry now.