Chapter 40 Paper Figure

Inside a side room of the Wu family mansion.

After hearing the fifth clack of the watchman's clapper, Chen Hao and Du Moyu calmed down instead. The fourth clack signified A Biao's death and Wang Fugui's departure, while this fifth clack clearly meant Wang Fugui had also failed.

"Brother Hao, this Wang Fugui is no simple man; he's even more formidable than that Jiang Cheng," Du Moyu said, recalling Jiang Cheng's words.

Chen Hao stared at the door, the hand clenching his teacup loosening slightly. "But he only lasted seventeen minutes, less than anyone else."

"In other words, excluding the time he spent on the road, something happened to him almost as soon as the mission started," Chen Hao continued analyzing. "That's not right."

Du Moyu was silent for a moment, then looked at Chen Hao and tentatively asked, "Could it be...they didn't actually die, but..."

"Bang."

The sudden knock on the door startled them both.

The knocking was muffled; they hadn't heard any footsteps approaching. More importantly, there was no shadow of the person outside on the papered door, instantly putting them on edge.

Chen Hao gave Du Moyu a look, telling him not to move or speak. He tiptoed to the door, not intending to open it, but to peek through the crack.

One glance was enough to make Chen Hao shudder.

Standing outside was... a paper figure!

The paper figure's face was painted with strange features; its eyes were hollow, replaced by flat circles without pupils. The paper figure was raising its arm, slowly and stubbornly banging on the door.

"Bang."

"Bang."

Seeing Chen Hao's reaction, Du Moyu warily moved closer, receiving a shock doubled in intensity. Fortunately, both had strong mental fortitude and didn't make a sound.

After knocking for less than a minute, the paper figure swayed and left.

A fog had risen outside, and the paper figure's back quickly disappeared into the mist.

Once the paper figure was completely gone, Du Moyu dared to speak, his voice low. "It was a paper figure, and did you see its face? It doesn't look like the work of a real corpse painter; it's too crude."

"It was painted by one of our own," Chen Hao added.

Du Moyu nodded emphatically. "Exactly, that's what I thought too."

Chen Hao didn't believe that all four people on this mission had been wiped out. The reason was simple: there wouldn't be a mission of such high difficulty. If there were, they might as well just kill themselves.

In just over an hour, they had lost four teammates, and the strongest, Wang Fugui, hadn't even lasted twenty minutes. It was unimaginable.

So... the most logical explanation was that they hadn't died but had been drawn into an even more bizarre mission format.

Integrating clues and unraveling mysteries was Chen Hao's forte. He was a genuine academic, unlike Du Moyu, who was a half-baked amateur.

After carefully recalling what the watchman had said, Chen Hao came to a conclusion that seemed outlandish but was highly probable.

The paper figures outside were their teammates. Though it was unclear how it was done, that must be it. The real danger was the rain at the fourth watch.

But whether other things had been mixed into the paper figures was another matter. Chen Hao believed that even if the paper figures were fine, other traps would be waiting for them.

"If fake figures have been mixed in with the paper figures, wouldn't opening the door to a fake one mean...wouldn't we be in danger too?" Du Moyu was a little nervous. Last time, after Pang Xiaofeng died, the ghost disguised as him had entered the door and almost caused a disaster.

Chen Hao nodded. "So, no one can be spared in this mission. Whether it's the four who were chosen or those staying in the room, all are participants in this mission, only with different levels of involvement and identities."

"For those outside, to survive, they have to enter the door and avoid the rain at the fourth watch. But for us, we have more flexibility. After all, we have the initiative; we can choose to open the door, but we risk opening it to the wrong person. If that happens, we'll surely die."

Chen Hao paused, looked at Du Moyu, and continued coldly, "Of course, we can also choose to stand idly by. That's the safest way."

Du Moyu felt a chill and suddenly stood up. "Chen Hao, what do you mean by that? If we don't do anything, Lei Mingyu is dead!"

Seeing Du Moyu's attitude, a trace of relief appeared on Chen Hao's cold expression. "Good, I didn't misjudge you. But I want to say that opening the door inevitably involves risk, and that risk needs to be shared by you and me. I don't care, but I don't want to implicate you, so... if you're unwilling, I won't force you."

"Stop talking, let's do it!" Du Moyu suddenly straightened up, his face fierce. "If we can save Lei Mingyu this time, let's see what he dares to say about me in the future?"

"We can't act rashly. There's still some time before the rain. We need to judge carefully." Chen Hao took a deep breath, a hint of worry emerging in his eyes. The worst-case scenario was that they opened the wrong door and were deceived by a fake paper figure. If that happened, not only would they fail to save Lei Mingyu, but they would also drag him and Du Moyu down with them. That would be a tragedy.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

Hastily, another series of knocks sounded.

Through the crack in the door, they saw a paper figure standing in front of the door, knocking stiffly. They could clearly tell that it wasn't the same one as before, but they couldn't judge whether it was Lei Mingyu or not based on its face.

Besides, they knew that the mission would never leave them with such a big loophole.

Knowing that the paper figure couldn't break down the door, Du Moyu grew bolder and tentatively asked, "Who are you? Can you speak?"

The paper figure actually stopped moving. After a moment, it made a "woo-woo" sound from its throat, hurried and heartbreaking, as if their brother Lei Mingyu was really trapped inside.

Chen Hao pondered for a moment and said through the door, "Okay, we know you can't speak, but can you prove your identity?"

The paper figure immediately squatted down, then stretched out its club-like finger and scribbled on the ground, trying to write. But what it wrote was completely illegible; no one could understand it.

The paper figure let out a helpless wail, then seemed to get anxious, rushing forward a few steps and continuing to bang on the door, its movements much more violent than before.

Du Moyu knew that if it were the real Lei Mingyu, he would probably do the same. This guy hated evil and couldn't stand being wronged. If he turned into a paper figure and was misunderstood by his brothers, he would definitely be extremely anxious.