Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 42 Haunted House and Shadows
After discovering the apparent presence of supernatural beings in this world, Levi's biggest concern wasn't fighting vampires, serial killers, or werewolves. It was the curses, the ghosts… these things were so difficult to understand, and how to deal with them was truly baffling.

At least it wasn't something that could be destroyed with ordinary weapons.

Li Wei felt the magazine in his pocket. This time he had prepared silver bullets and incendiary bombs, but no mercury bullets. Li Wei's plan was simple: if things really couldn't be handled, he would just burn this hellhole down. As for the silver bullets—he could only pray that they might come in handy.

Even Li Wei's system couldn't help him much in this regard. The only thing Li Wei could rely on now was that he had watched thousands more horror movies, novels, and games from ancient and modern times, both Chinese and foreign, than the people of this world. His experience from those films, novels, and games might, perhaps, possibly, or maybe, be of some help to his investigation.

What else can we do? Hold onto the all-knowing eye and cry out for divine protection?
That's something that nun might very well do.

Levi didn't know what Katie would do.

As for the others... well, let fate decide.

"Welcome, guest."

Suddenly, a voice rang in Li Wei's ears. He turned around almost instantly, raised his gun, and aimed in the direction from which the voice came.

Then, Li Wei saw a maid standing quietly by the door, watching him.

"The party has already begun."

"banquet?"

Li Wei frowned. He glanced at the door beside him and, sure enough, could hear music, conversation, and the clinking of cutlery coming from inside. However, these sounds were like the noisy background music in a game; Li Wei could only make out the intermingling conversations, but couldn't make out anything clearly.

"The host of the banquet is..."

Li Wei withdrew his gaze and looked at the maid again, but this time, he found that there was only a puppet dressed as a maid standing in front of him.

"………………………"

Fortunately, I've seen it all.

Li Wei's cheek twitched slightly, but he quickly returned to normal. Thanks to the convenience of the information age, almost every form of fear that humankind can imagine has been thoroughly depicted in movies, games, and novels, so Li Wei remained quite calm at this moment.

If it were Katie, she might scream and punch her right away.

Turning his gaze away again, Li Wei stared at the door in front of him, hesitated for a moment, and then reached out to push it open.

The noise vanished instantly.

Only the tape recorder was still playing music. Li Wei walked into the room and saw several mannequins dressed as guests sitting in chairs at the long dining table. Some of them held knives and forks, while others held wine glasses. However, each mannequin had turned its head and was looking towards the door, as if they were not mannequins, but living people staring at this uninvited guest.

"If this were made into an escape room, it would be quite interesting."

Li Wei muttered a complaint, calming himself down once more. Indeed, to Li Wei, it felt like he was in a real-life escape room. At least so far, he hadn't encountered any monsters attacking him—but frankly, Li Wei would rather encounter something to fight than play this slapstick game with these wooden figures.

"Excuse me."

Li Wei took off his hat and nodded to the puppets. When he looked up again, he saw that the puppets on the table in front of him, who had been staring at him, had now turned their heads away and were staring at the food in front of them again.

Ah, I know this one well.

Anyone else would probably be terrified by now. But Li Wei wasn't that scared; he was tired of seeing similar scenarios in horror movies. It was just a matter of the puppets moving when he tried to distract them, and stopping when he looked back at them.

It's just like playing "Red Light, Green Light".

So, will they kill themselves?

Unsure, Li Wei turned around and began to observe his surroundings. The room looked very clean and tidy, not at all like a long-abandoned house. There were many oil paintings hanging nearby; Li Wei knew that paintings hung in such places were usually those of the highest-ranking members of the family, or those who had held titles throughout history.

Of course, with the advent of the steam age and the emergence of cameras, black and white photography gradually replaced oil paintings and became a completely new way of recording.

However, this family seems to still follow an ancient way, with the oil paintings hanging on both sides depicting the head of the family in each generation.

As Li Wei walked, he compared the situation with the information he had gathered earlier. Clearly, this wasn't the original family; it seemed more like the family that had last disappeared…

"————!"

Li Wei suddenly felt his wrist being grabbed. He turned his head and saw a boy doll sitting on the chair next to him staring at him. At the same time, its hand was inexplicably grabbing Li Wei's wrist.

It's all a routine, stay calm, stay calm.

Li Wei sighed silently, then withdrew his hand from the puppet's grasp, as if something had suddenly occurred to him.

In a horror game, this would be considered a trigger event cutscene. Could there be some clues nearby?
Thinking of this, Li Wei stopped again and carefully looked around.

Then, his eyes narrowed.

After focusing his attention, Li Wei quickly spotted something. It was an oil painting, and judging from its position, it depicted the current head of the family. He was a serious-looking man, and Li Wei had never seen him before. But that didn't matter, because Li Wei soon saw what he was looking for in the painting.

In the oil painting, the man's right hand is placed on his chest, and Li Wei can see a ring on his right index finger.

It was a bright red ring, but whether the painter did it intentionally or not, the ring did not have the texture of a gemstone. Instead, it had a flowing feel, as if it were fixed in place, like flowing blood!

Li Wei had seen this ring before!

At the same time, a system notification finally popped up in front of Li Wei's eyes.

[Activate Special Mission: Haunted House Shadows]

[Mission Objective: Find the source of evil in this house]

[Mission Rewards: Lifespan +80, Ownership License for Crimson Temptation, Random Rewards]

"How can these be connected?"

Staring at the ring in the oil painting, Li Wei's expression immediately became solemn and serious. When he was investigating the vampire, he had visited that jewelry store and seen that ring. According to the diary and the shop assistant, the vampire had clearly been very interested in the ring at the time.

Moreover, Li Wei also remembered seeing some kind of illusion when he was examining the ring.

Wait, that’s not right!
Looking at the quest prompt again, Li Wei suddenly realized the problem. The quest reward was actually ownership of that ring?

What does this mean? A mere ring, and its ownership has become a quest reward?

Couldn't he just go and buy the ring himself? If we consider the reward of lifespan in terms of mission difficulty, this mission is much harder than the vampire mission! He risked his life for this mission, just to gain ownership of a ring—hmm?

Wait... if that's the case...

After carefully recalling everything that had happened, Li Wei realized something. What had he done after carefully examining the ring in that jewelry store?
He put the ring back in the box!

Why did I do that? Now that I think about it, since Betty was interested in the ring, and I saw an illusion through it, why didn't I buy it and study it carefully, but instead put it back?

And Betty too... If she really liked that ring, even without money, wouldn't she be able to steal it with her vampire powers?

But the fact is, as things stand, neither Levi nor Betty seems to have ever considered taking the ring away directly.

Why is that?
Is it true, as this mission states, that only by obtaining ownership permission can one take the ring?

So what's the story behind these portraits?

Li Wei turned his head again to look at the dining table, but this time, there was no one behind him. It was as if the guests had finished their meal and left while Li Wei was admiring the painting.

"If it's just a puzzle game, then I can accept it."

Li Wei doesn't like horror escape games, but he can play puzzle games.

After thoroughly inspecting the restaurant and confirming there was nothing else amiss, Li Wei walked to the door. At the same time, he heard children's laughter and playful shouts outside. Hearing these sounds, Li Wei paused again before reaching out to push open the door.

The corridor that appeared before Li Wei this time was somewhat different from before; it looked rather dilapidated. In the corridor, a boy and a girl were playfully fighting. The boy was running, and the girl was chasing, while a maid was trying to help the girl so she wouldn't fall to the ground. The boy, on the other hand, stood at the end of the corridor, at the top of the stairs leading to the second floor, making a face at the girl.

Naturally, they are all puppets.

Li Wei paused for a moment, then walked towards the stairwell. He had a feeling that these dolls appearing before him were more like a "guide," and that all of this was very likely still related to that ring…

As Li Wei climbed the stairs, he soon saw another row of oil paintings hanging there, and it was obvious that the figures in them were not the same as those in the restaurant.

The reason is simple: their family crests are all different.

Li Wei stared at the oil paintings, walked forward step by step, and then stopped in front of the oil painting located at the entrance of the second-floor staircase.

"Dong dong dong dong."

Hurried footsteps sounded behind Li Wei, passed by him, and then entered the second-floor corridor. Li Wei then heard the sound of a door being slammed shut, followed by screams and arguing.

They seem to be putting on a show.

Li Wei now understood more or less that these puppets seemed to represent those who had once lived in this house, and they were performing their daily lives in this house.

Yes, the arguing earlier was like background noise, just like in the restaurant earlier. Li Wei could hear the man's roars and the woman's screams, but he couldn't make out what they were arguing about.

But he'll find out soon enough.

Li Wei pushed open the door and went inside.

The quarrel stopped abruptly.

Li Wei could see that the bedroom was in chaos. A man was holding a sharp knife, pinning a woman to the bed, the blade raised high in his hand. The woman was reaching out to grab his wrists, trying to break free. On the floor, two children lay in pools of blood.

Li Wei glanced around at his surroundings, then looked at the wall beside the bed, where an oil painting depicted a loving couple. However, what caught Li Wei's attention was not the couple, but the man's right hand as he embraced his wife—on his index finger, he too wore a blood-red ring.

It's exactly the same as the previous one.

Li Wei looked at the two people on the bed again. The man's movements had changed. He was swinging his blade down, but there was no ring on the hand holding the blade.

The woman seemed to sense the danger as well. Her eyes widened, filled with terror and despair, as if she were alive... um?

Li Wei stared at the woman for a moment, then his eyes narrowed, and a gray glint flashed within them.

At the same time, Li Wei suddenly raised the gun in his hand!
"boom!"

Gunshots rang out, and at that moment, the male puppet that had been in the stabbing position suddenly disappeared. Then, Li Wei quickly moved his gaze and saw that it was now crawling on the ceiling like a spider with its limbs upside down!
It stared at Li Wei, opened its mouth, and its dark, gaping mouth was aimed at him like the muzzle of a gun.

"clatter-----!"

The puppet reached out and threw the blade at Li Wei. Li Wei's figure flickered and vanished from his spot, reappearing in the shadows of a corner on the other side, his gun already aimed at his target again!

Shadow Movement!

"boom!!"

This time, Li Wei's shot hit the target correctly. The doll's head exploded and shattered instantly, and the headless doll fell from the ceiling and crashed to the ground.

Just as the doll fell to the ground, a bright light emanated from the female doll lying on the bed. Levi then saw Katie suddenly roll out of the light and crash headfirst into the wall. Luckily, the young lady's head was hard enough to avoid a head full of bumps, but even so, she clutched her head and groaned softly in pain.

The girl only breathed a sigh of relief when she looked up and saw Li Wei.

"That was terrifying, Detective! I thought I was going to die!"

"That's really dangerous."

Li Wei glanced warily at the wooden puppet whose head he had smashed. The puppet was still lying on the ground, blood still flowing from the broken wooden head...

Then, Levi looked at Katie.

"What happened?"

(End of this chapter)