American Horror Story, Starting from Falls Town

Chapter 413 Headless Horseman
The woman turned around and realized that it was a mummified corpse!
Upon hearing the game character's voice, the mummified corpse immediately walked towards the two of them.

The scene just now startled Nidi again, causing her to forget to control the character for a moment.

Fortunately, Ashley was brave enough to quickly control her character to shoot, but her marksmanship was terrible. Out of six bullets in the revolver, she only managed to hit the target once, making her shot a mere outline of the target.

"Nidi, attack now!"

"oh oh!"

Nidi finally came to her senses and controlled the character to raise the gun and fire. Her marksmanship was much better; she aimed for the head almost every time.

The police revolver was not very powerful; after being shot three times, the mummified corpse finally fell to the ground, and Nidi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phew! You scared me to death!"

Roy looked at Nidi and noticed that the internet-addicted girl's forehead was covered in cold sweat.

Nidi and Ashley controlled their characters to walk to the mummified corpse, examined the glowing spots on it, and then another cutscene played.

Nicole: What the hell is this? Has Mrs. Stock come back to life?

Jack: No! It doesn't seem quite the same as Mrs. Stock's body! Look at her clothes, she's wearing a blue dress, I remember Mrs. Stock wore a red dress!

Nicole: You're very observant.

Jack: Isn't that a basic quality of a detective?
Nicole: Okay, you're right! But Dr. Stock just said that there are only three people living in the mansion, so who is this fourth person?
Jack: I don't know. Dr. Stock is nowhere to be found right now. Perhaps only Annie can answer our questions.

After the cutscene ends, the character is controllable again.

Nidi and Ashley guided their characters forward and soon arrived at the servants' quarters.

There are quite a few rooms here, and perhaps many servants once lived here. After all, it's very strange that such a large mansion only had one maid, Anne.

I don't know if it was because of insufficient funding to produce so many characters, or if it was designed this way on purpose.

Most of the rooms in the servants' area were locked, except for one room with light that could be opened—the room of the blonde maid, Anne.

Inside the room, a blonde maid sat alone in front of a dressing table with a mirror. In front of the mirror were two lit white candles, which looked very much like the urban legend ritual to summon Bloody Mary.

Anne: Huh, haven't the two detectives gone back yet?
Jack: Ms. Anne, we have something we need to discuss with you.

Anne: Please tell me, I will try my best to cooperate.

Nicole: We just saw a strange mummified corpse in the hallway. Do you know what happened?
Anne: A mummified corpse? What mummified corpse? I've lived here for so long and I've never seen a mummified corpse before.

Jack: What about Mrs. Stock? Wasn't she a mummy?
Anne: Sheriff, what nonsense are you talking about? Mrs. Stock has only been dead for a year, how could she be a mummified corpse?

Seeing this, the people watching from outside the screen felt very strange.

Jennifer couldn't help but discuss the plot with Roy.

"Roy, what do you think is going on?"

“If Anne isn’t lying, then it’s possible that what Anne saw was different from what the two main characters saw.”

Upon hearing this, Nidi couldn't help but join the discussion.

"Roy, are you saying that what Annie saw was actually an illusion?"

"I'm not sure, but there are only these two possibilities."

The story continues.

Jack: But the fact is, we did just take down a walking mummy. Didn't you hear the gunshot?

Anne: Sorry, I don't think I heard anything.

Nicole: Including the woman's scream in the garden earlier?
Anne: What scream? I didn't hear anything when I got back to my bedroom.

Jack: Alright, let's not continue this pointless conversation. I'll take you to see the mummified body first, and then we'll go to the garden. Do you agree, Ms. Anne?

Anne: As I said, I will try my best to cooperate with your work, but I hope it won't take too much time. I need to rest early because I have to get up early to work tomorrow.

Nicole: Of course!
After the cutscene ends, the character Annie begins to follow the protagonist.

Nidi and Ashley controlled their characters to return the way they came, but when they arrived at the corridor with the mummified corpse, they found nothing on the ground.

Jack: That's impossible! I just shot and killed a mummified corpse right here!
Anne: But I didn't see anything.

Nicole: Could someone have moved the body?

Anne: Are you saying Dr. Stock moved the body? That's impossible! Dr. Stock must have been asleep by now.

Jack: Damn it! Take me to the garden right now, there must be someone else hiding in this house!
The cutscene ends, and Nidi and Ashley control their characters as they walk towards the gate leading to the garden.

The blonde maid used a key to open the gate leading to the garden.

Anne: The door is open. I need to go back to my room to rest. I hope you finish your investigation quickly and don't bother me again.

Jack: Ms. Anne, whether what you're saying is true or not, I will definitely find out the truth!
Anne: The truth exists only in the eyes of God; it is invisible to us mortals.

Seeing this, Nidi had another idea.

"I think there's something fishy about this blonde maid; she must have lied before!"

Ashley agreed with Nidi's opinion.

"Indeed, the blonde maid's last words seemed to be hinting at something."

The two main characters in the game are having a conversation similar to that between Nidi and Ashley, and then they enter the garden.

The main feature of the garden is a huge green plant maze, which is very troublesome to maintain. It was very popular in Europe and America at certain times and was a symbol of power and wealth.

(Plant Maze)
After all, building a plant maze requires a lot of time and money, and gardeners need to be hired to maintain it, otherwise the plants will definitely grow uncontrollably.

This situation has already occurred in the plant maze in the Stoke Mansion in the game.

Dr. Stock said there were only three people in the mansion, one of whom was dead, so they definitely couldn't maintain the plant maze.

After all, pruning and caring for plants is physically demanding, and almost no women do gardening.

Jack: Look over there, there looks like a tall tower! The woman's scream just now probably came from there!
Nicole: It seems we have to get through this plant maze. Jack, I suddenly have a bad feeling.

Jack: Me too! But there are some things that still need to be done.

Nidi and Ashley guide their characters into a dilapidated plant maze.

In reality, you could simply go around such situations, but in a game, you have to follow the pre-designed route.

The dilapidated plant maze is full of obstacles caused by the uncontrolled, disorderly growth of the plants, but fortunately, the maze is not too complicated.

The only problem is that more female mummies are starting to appear here. They will suddenly crawl out from various corners and give the two protagonists a loving hug.

The game's difficulty suddenly increased, leaving Ashley somewhat flustered.

Fortunately, Nidi is indeed quite skilled, and she can still perform well even with a novice in tow, although the consumption of ammunition and medicine is relatively high.

Suddenly, a red female figure floated past them, startling Nydy and Ashley.

"Nidi, did something just flash by?"

"It looks like a woman!"

At that moment, all three girls felt the temperature in the living room plummet, and their skin crawled with goosebumps.

"Why does it feel so cold? Is the air conditioning too cold?"

Jennifer touched her arm and stood up, wanting to check what was wrong with the central air conditioning panel. But as soon as she stood up, she saw a red figure run past outside, startling her so much she screamed.

The scream terrified the other three people.

"What happened?"

Roy quickly stood up and hugged Jennifer.

"I...I think I just saw a ghost!"

Upon hearing this, Roy was speechless.

"Jennifer, it's just a ghost, what's there to be afraid of?"

Jennifer was stunned for a moment.

"Yeah, why should I be afraid of ghosts?"

Jennifer is a witch, and now she has demonic blood. Small ghosts are no match for her, and even a demon lord might not be able to defeat her.

Then, Jennifer remembered the ghost she had just seen.

"Wait a minute, the ghost I just saw looked a lot like that ghostly figure from the game!"

That's something new.

"You mean, the ghost from the game came over?"

Roy activated his Eye of Truth, his dark golden pupils scanning the surroundings. Apart from some dark elements around the living room, there seemed to be nothing particularly special about it.

However, when Roy turned his attention to the game console, he finally made a discovery.

"Interesting! That game disc is actually a magical item!"

"what?"

Jennifer and Nydy were both a little surprised because they didn't sense anything from the game disc.

"The magical aura of the CD is very faint; it's actually just an anchor point, so it's normal that you didn't perceive it."

"So, someone used this CD to anchor a space? What was their purpose?"

Nidi looked curiously at the Xbox game console.

"You'll find out if you keep playing. Do you want to keep playing?"

Roy glanced at Nydy and Ashley, but he didn't really care. With his strength, no ghost, regardless of its level, could do anything to him.

"I find it very interesting and want to keep playing!"

Nidi licked her lips and looked at Roy with pleading eyes.

Ashley, however, hesitated. She was just an ordinary person and didn't have Nidi's special abilities.

"Roy, let me play with Nidy then? That way we can face off head-on!"

Jennifer hadn't forgotten the previous match, but the original rules were no longer valid, so she chose to change the conditions and continue the competition.

Nidice looked at Jennifer with a confident expression.

"Jennifer, you're doomed! I never lose a game to anyone!"

"Let's talk about the rules first. The items on both characters will be split equally. Whichever character dies first loses, okay?"

"Okay, let's keep it up like this!"

Ashley handed the controller to Jennifer and then sat in Roy's lap. Knowing that there might be ghosts around, she felt safest in Roy's arms.

The game continues!

After the battle, the two characters successfully navigated the plant maze and arrived at the tower.

At this point, the game enters a cutscene.

Jack and Nicole were walking up the steps when they suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves, but when they looked around, they saw nothing.

Nicole: Jack, can you hear the sound of horses' hooves?
Jack: I heard you, but I can't see any horses!

Nicole: So where did this sound come from?

Jack: I think... be careful!
Jack pushed Nicole aside, and then a headless horseman's phantom appeared on the screen. Clearly, the sound of hooves from earlier was coming from this headless horseman's mount.

Nicole: What is that?
Jack: It looks like a ghost?

Nicole: A ghost? Are you sure you're not kidding?
Jack: But the facts are right in front of you, as you just saw!
Nicole: Fuck! I feel like I'm going crazy!
Jack: Now is not the time to think about these things. It seems like that thing is turning around and charging towards us again.

After the cutscene ends, control of both characters is restored.

The phantom of the headless knight is clearly a boss; you must defeat this guy before you can proceed to the tower.

Nidi reacted very quickly. She knew that there would definitely be a lot of supplies to pick up during the boss battle, so after confirming the location of the Headless Horseman, she immediately went to collect items around her.

Although Jennifer didn't have much gaming experience, she could imitate others. When she saw Nidi picking up items, she started picking them up too.

However, the Headless Horseman becomes invisible when you are far away, and his charging speed is very fast, making him easy to ambush in blind spots.

Moreover, the damage is extremely high; one hit can take away half of your health.

After being ambushed by the Headless Horseman once each, Needy and Jennifer were too afraid to pick up anything anymore.

The two decided to kill the headless horseman first, and then each collect the items by their own means.

Although they were competing, Jennifer and Nydy still managed to control their characters back-to-back in perfect harmony, minimizing the drawbacks of the narrow field of view in split-screen games.

"I see it!"

Jennifer spotted the headless horseman first, but after firing several shots, she found that the headless horseman showed no reaction to being hit, indicating that her bullets had not caused any damage.

"Strange, the bullets don't seem to have any effect?"

"Let me try!"

Nidi controlled her character to turn around and fired several shots, but she couldn't stop the headless horseman at all.

"What exactly is going on?"

Jennifer was getting anxious. Her positioning was far inferior to Nydy's, and if she couldn't find a way to deal with the Headless Horseman, her character would definitely die first.

"There must be some mechanisms we haven't discovered yet!"

At that moment, Ashley, nestled in Roy's arms, suddenly remembered something.

"Have you forgotten there's something else in your inventory?"

These words reminded Jennifer and Neely, making them realize that the way to deal with the Boss was to use roses.

However, there are only four roses in total, and each of them has two in their inventory, so who gets to use them first is a problem.

"Nidi, why don't you use it first?"

"Why should we? Let's see who gives up first!"

The blonde maid in Among Ashes

(End of this chapter)