And Then the Skeleton Laughed Out Loud [Infinite] - Chapter 5

◎ Climbing, twitching, gathering together ◎

The mask hit the ground with a muffled thud.

Li Yiqing was startled and instinctively wanted to cry out, but when she saw what was hidden behind the mask, the scream was instantly choked back in her throat.

Behind the mask… was a human skin. A person’s face.

The skin was clean and complete. The lines of the skin were clearly visible, and even the pores could be seen with distinct clarity. The lighting in the exhibition hall was dim, and the various masks were already eerie and terrifying, but no matter how frightening they were, they couldn’t compare to the scene before her.

Not only Li Yiqing, but even Liu Ge’s expression changed. She stared at the face on the wall and murmured under her breath, “Ah Xue, is this real or fake?”

Qi Qiuxue shook her head, her expression grim. “I’m not sure.”

Deep down, she hoped this skin hidden under the mask was just a realistic model. There were thousands of masks in the hall. Li Yiqing had only accidentally bumped into one, and such a horrific sight was hidden behind it. This caused Qi Qiuxue to involuntarily begin imagining what lay behind the other masks.

Would it be face after face? If they were fake, it would be fine, but if they were real, who did they belong to? What had happened to them, and who had flayed them?

Qi Qiuxue didn’t have time to overthink. She leaned down, picked up the mask as quickly as possible, and snapped it back over the face.

Just as she finished, Xiao Xiao, at the front of the line, happened to turn around. She cast a glance toward them, seemingly intentional or otherwise.

Li Yiqing remained silent, wordlessly huddling closer to Qi Qiuxue’s side. Only after the guide turned back did she speak, her voice trembling: “That was a real face.”

Qi Qiuxue looked at her. “How do you know?”

“I worked as a special effects makeup artist for a while before entering the game.” Li Yiqing’s lips were pale; she was clearly shaken. “I’ve handled too many skin models. I can tell at a glance if it’s fake or not.”

“The people on this island aren’t normal. Have you ever seen normal people who wear masks every single day? The owners of those faces must have been killed by them, and now it’s our turn!”

“Wuwuwu, we don’t have many days to live.” She muttered and rambled, sounding as though she had been scared half out of her wits.

Liu Ge’s face grew heavier, but she couldn’t bear to see her like this. She pulled herself together, intending to offer a few words of comfort.

But before she could speak, she saw Li Yiqing suddenly raise a hand and swiftly flip up another mask. Just like the previous one, another human face was revealed.

Qi Qiuxue: “…?”

Liu Ge: “…?”

The two couldn’t understand Li Yiqing’s behavior for a moment. During their brief, stunned silence, Li Yiqing moved with lightning speed, flipping up mask after mask—open, check, close.

It wasn’t until Liu Ge snapped out of it and grabbed her wrist. “What are you doing?!” Her tone was a bit sharp.

Li Yiqing seemed startled by her, blinking piteously. “Since things are already like this, I wanted to see the other masks—to see if there are faces under all of them.”

Liu Ge felt a headache coming on. She had thought Li Yiqing was just a timid newcomer; although she was a bit of a handful, as long as she was patient and gave enough warnings, the girl wouldn’t cause trouble. Who knew her thoughts and actions would be so uncontrollable? She was a total loose cannon!

Liu Ge took a deep breath, trying to suppress her emotions. “Did you forget what the guide said? Do you want to die right here?!”

“I remember,” Li Yiqing said, looking innocent. “In fact, it’s because I remember that I dared to do this so boldly.”

Beside them, Qi Qiuxue seemed to catch onto something. “What do you mean?”

“Xiao Xiao said earlier: ‘Whatever you do, do not break anything in the hall.'” Li Yiqing guided them to recall the scene. “She said it twice—once when getting off the bus, and once before entering the Mask Hall. Repeating a sentence twice usually means it’s a piece of critical information, warning everyone to be cautious and not touch anything lightly.”

“But I just accidentally knocked a mask off, and nothing bad happened. This clearly contradicted the information Xiao Xiao gave us. So, I carefully recalled her exact words, and I really did find a clue.”

Li Yiqing’s voice was steady. “I suspect the emphasis of those warnings wasn’t on the word ‘touch,’ but on ‘break.’ As long as we don’t break the items in the museum, it should be fine.”

As she finished, the system’s voice suddenly rang in their minds.

【Congratulations to the players for achieving the feat: “The Truth Beneath the Mask.”】

It turned out Li Yiqing had actually stumbled upon something significant.

Qi Qiuxue paused, looking at their faces. “Did you two just hear…”

Both Liu Ge and Li Yiqing nodded. “We heard it.”

Qi Qiuxue instinctively observed the other players. They still looked normal, with no signs of surprise or joy from achieving a feat. It seemed only the three of them had heard the system notification.

“I’m sorry.” Liu Ge realized she had lost her cool. She let go of Li Yiqing’s wrist and apologized sincerely. “I was too anxious and snapped at you without understanding. Did I hurt you?”

“Of course not.” Li Yiqing magnanimously patted Liu Ge on the back. “It’s fine, it’s fine.”

“But I really was lucky just now. Thankfully there was carpet here and the mask wasn’t hung very high, so it didn’t break. Otherwise, I’d really be dead.”

“And thanks to Ah Xue’s quick reflexes, hanging it back before Xiao Xiao looked back.” She giggled, showing her dimples again. “We are the best~”

Li Yiqing’s smile went a long way in easing the oppressive atmosphere.

“Be more careful next time,” Qi Qiuxue said, feeling infected by her mood and relaxing slightly. “Don’t test the limits with your life again.”

Li Yiqing agreed brightly. “Okay~”

They exchanged a few more words before falling silent, continuing the tour under Xiao Xiao’s guidance. However, their state of mind was completely different now.

Qi Qiuxue stared at the various masks on the wall. Under every eerie mask, there might be a face—of a woman, a man, an old person, a child… The owners of those skins were likely long dead, becoming wandering souls on this island.

At this moment, she suddenly remembered the system’s warning:

【Please cherish your life. Once you die in any instance, you will be trapped in the game forever and will never be able to return to reality.】

“…” No matter what, she had to survive.

The tour ended, and everyone boarded the bus they had come on.

The bus began to weave through the dense forest once more. The buildings on this island were extremely scattered; even though it had existed for centuries, there hadn’t been much development. Many places remained in their most primitive state.

The further in they went, the denser and thicker the trees became. Even the trunks were covered in moss, and branches hung high, blotting out the sun. Aside from the sound of the bus, the only noise was the occasional bird call from the distance.

It was terrifyingly quiet.

Li Yiqing moved closer to Qi Qiuxue, appearing nervous. Influenced by the atmosphere, she didn’t dare speak.

Qi Qiuxue didn’t speak either, focusing on every turn the bus took, trying to memorize the route from the museum to the next attraction. But it was too difficult. The view was nothing but trees—trees that looked identical and indistinguishable. It was hard to find any key memory points. Moreover, the human eye tires easily when faced with a single color, which causes focus to drop, making it even harder to remember.

After about another half hour, the bus slowly pulled over to the side of the road.

“This part of the path is narrow, we need to walk the rest of the way.” Xiao Xiao directed the driver to open the door and blew her whistle. “Let’s go.”

“Why do we have to walk again!” Li Yiqing’s face soured, and she began to grumble. “This is practically a primeval forest. With all this grass and trees, there must be bugs everywhere, maybe even snakes. What if I get bitten?”

She looked piteous. “Ah Xue, I’m scared.”

Qi Qiuxue sighed, still frustrated that she hadn’t memorized the route. “Then just be careful.”

“Oh.” Li Yiqing followed Qi Qiuxue off the bus like a little tail.

Liu Ge joined them during the walk. The group followed Xiao Xiao’s lead through a narrow tunnel, and at the end of the road, they saw a temple.

It was a massive temple, covering a wide area with exquisite styling and carved pillars. It was clear that great care had been taken in its construction. However, because it sat in such a remote location and was mostly decorated in dark colors like black and gray, it didn’t feel grand or solemn at first glance. It only felt eerie.

“This is the place of sacrifice on our island,” Xiao Xiao introduced as she walked. “The idol enshrined in this temple is the deity we have believed in for generations. According to the rules, whenever tourists land on the island, they must come here to worship sincerely.”

“Worship a Buddha?” someone in the crowd whispered. “But I don’t believe in Buddhism.”

The voice wasn’t loud, but Xiao Xiao heard it. The next second, she whirled around, staring straight at him with a look of contempt and a smirk. “You don’t have to worship, but if anything happens later, we are not responsible.”

This was practically an explicit warning: If you don’t worship, you will die.

The man shut his mouth, not daring to speak further.

The group entered the temple together. It was indeed large, not feeling crowded even with so many people. As they got closer, the idol enshrined within became clearer.

Qi Qiuxue noticed the idol was strange—very strange. It had no face; instead, it wore a pitch-black mask. The idol was in a cross-legged sitting position. Except for the parts covered by clothing, every inch of its exposed skin was covered in carved inscriptions—line after line, dense and terrifying.

The lighting in the temple was dim and filled with smoke from incense, which significantly affected visibility. The longer they stayed, the blurrier everything became. Qi Qiuxue’s eyes grew hazy, and she seemed to experience a hallucination. She saw the inscriptions carved on the idol actually start to wriggle, like a swarm of nauseating insects, twitching, climbing, and gathering together…

And then, they suddenly shattered, turning into gushes of spurting blood.