Chapter 163 The Truth Under the Magnifying Glass

Lin Xi didn't want to die before even starting; if they discovered she was an impostor before she was even pushed out, wouldn't all this be for nothing?

Xin Shan naturally understood this logic as well. After looking at Lin Xi Yi Meng and then at herself, she slowly nodded.

Insisting on helping like characters in TV dramas might seem kind-hearted, but it would actually only harm Boss Yi Meng.

As someone who complained about such plots every time, Xin Shan wouldn't say anything so ridiculous. She could only put on Lin Xi Yi Meng's clothes and try her best to pretend to be her, avoiding any flaws that might affect Boss Yi Meng's plan.

"Boss, please be careful."

"Don't worry, this place can't trap me." Lin Xi waved her hand, signaling Xin Shan to be at ease.

It wasn't certain who should be warning whom to be careful. Once she figured out the things inside, it would likely be the moment she left this dungeon and achieved a full clear.

That night.

This time, Lin Xi didn't sleep on the floor; instead, she had the two of them sleep in their respective assigned beds. As soon as she lay down, she felt something uncomfortable against her back—not a hard object, but more like a small bulge in the middle of the mattress near her lower back.

It was very subtle and hard to notice without a light. Only by lying down and sleeping on this bed could she detect this slight discrepancy.

Lin Xi reached out to feel it. The area that felt protruding and abrupt seemed slightly thicker than the rest of the mattress, as if other parts only had one layer while this area had two.

Flipping the bedsheet up to look closely, Lin Xi discovered that the sheet seemed to be two sewn together with a middle layer!

To have a bedsheet with a middle layer in this place, the previous owner of this dorm room was no simple person.

Lin Xi tried a few times but couldn't tear the bedsheet apart. Not only that, she even felt that the sheet was quite flexible and had a leather-like feel to it. Rubbing it a few times gave it the texture of a cowhide cooling mat used in summer.

This... bedsheet has a problem!

Lin Xi's eyebrows quirked as if she had thought of something. Squinting her eyes, she quickly stripped the entire bedsheet and took out an item from her backpack given by the black card.

Dungeon Magnifying Glass.

Who would have thought it would come in handy so soon!

As an old-fashioned, antique-looking magnifying glass decorated with a Ghost-faced Doll appeared in Lin Xi's hand, the originally dim dormitory became bright.

Aiming the magnifying glass at the bedsheet held in her left hand, the area viewed through the glass reflected the true appearance of the sheet.

This is...

Human skin?!

Two different layers of human skin had been sewn together. Perhaps because the previous players were of different sizes and heights, the bedsheet presented a bizarre shape.

The part in the middle that Lin Xi felt was protruding was exactly the head area. No matter how much the crushed facial features were ironed, they would still be slightly higher than other parts. The combination of two human skins made it even more abrupt.

This...

Lin Xi violently threw the thing in her left hand away. As the human skin bedsheet hit the floor, she seemed to hear two unfamiliar voices let out a cry of pain.

At the thought that she had just been lying on that thing, Lin Xi's stomach churned. Even with her vast experience from this life and the previous one, this was just too much!

If even the bedsheet is made of human skin, can the bed itself be normal?

Lin Xi quickly got off the bed. Shaking the item in her hand and aiming it at the bedboard above her head, the originally wooden underside of the bedboard suddenly turned into a mirror. On the mirror, many words were written in a dark red liquid, all about "save me," "help me," and the like.

And in the mirror, Lin Xi saw someone standing behind her, staring back at her through the mirror and even smiling!

She whipped her head around, but there was no one behind her!

Lin Xi looked back at the mirror. In the mirror, that figure was still there and getting closer—so close that their back was almost pressed against hers...

"Do you like my bedsheet?"

"You look so good, I want to turn you into a bed too..."

Before the rest of the words could be spoken, black bandages shot up from Lin Xi's shadow as if extremely angry. Without waiting for the person to finish, Xi Niang moved with lightning speed, stabbing countless holes into the figure.

'Puff, puff-puff-puff!'

A series of sounds like a leaking balloon echoed in the dormitory. The originally full figure began to wither rapidly, turning into a piece of human skin that fell onto the bedsheet like a popped balloon.

Another human skin?

Lin Xi frowned, thinking to herself that if not for Xi Niang, she might have met her end in an unexpected way this time.

It seemed this dormitory wasn't as clean as she had imagined. The so-called cleanliness was merely a cover-up. Just as free things are often the most expensive, the cleaner it appeared, the more it was meant to hide.

Thinking of this, Lin Xi immediately used the magnifying glass to scan the entire dormitory.

Through the magnifying glass, the originally spotless dormitory transformed into a different scene.

The white ceiling was hung with things like leather balloons—some bloated and rotting, others shriveled and thin, even becoming desiccated corpses. Dark red blood was everywhere by the beds. Inside the wardrobe, what looked like minced meat from a blender was plastered to the inside of the door. Only the area where the numbers were located was uncontaminated.

However...

1314.

At the very bottom of this row of numbers, there was a new string of numbers that Xi Niang hadn't told her about before. The beginning of the sequence was an unknown number, and the '4' at the end was missing half of its last vertical stroke.

Could this... be some kind of countdown?

If the numerical code was completely engraved on this thing, would one become a walking corpse like these hollow human skins?

Wait!

That's not right.

She was currently sleeping in Xin Shan's bed, so it should have been 52011. Why were the numbers 1314 engraved there?

At this thought, Lin Xi quickly looked toward the bed that should have been hers. On the bed, Xin Shan's back was toward her, and she seemed to be asleep, her breathing steady and relaxed, showing no signs of abnormality.

Is she... sleeping that soundly?

She had made such a big commotion here, yet Xin Shan hadn't reacted at all. This was just like a scene from some ghost movie.

Without immediately waking the other person, Lin Xi walked to the bed that originally belonged to her with the magnifying glass. She opened the wardrobe, and as the magnifying glass lit up, the area in the corner where the numbers were engraved clearly showed 52011!

How... how is this possible?!

Lin Xi's eyes widened slightly as she took a half-step back, looking at the still-sleeping Xin Shan on the bed in disbelief.

No, not necessarily.

No one had said, and no rules indicated that if the numerical code was completely engraved in the corner of the wardrobe, it meant death. Perhaps... it was just a coincidence?

Perhaps...

The Xin Shan before her eyes was no longer Xin Shan.

Don't forget, when she went to the neighboring dorm to get information from that 970311, she had been separated from Xin Shan for a period of time. No one could guarantee that no accidents happened during that time.

Thinking of this, Lin Xi slowly raised her hand and pointed the Dungeon Magnifying Glass at Xin Shan, who was on the upper bunk with her back to the room, unsure if she was faking sleep or truly asleep...