Chapter Seventy-Five: Twisted Humanity

At this moment, Wang Hui quietly walked over and, after inspecting the corpses of these spirit tamers, shook his head with a look of deep distress.

“Now it’s certain—this is definitely the work of a malevolent wraith. He must have disguised himself as one of the spirit tamers and taken advantage of their unawareness to kill them.”

This seemingly simple statement, however, contained all sorts of deadly implications.

Even spirit tamers themselves couldn’t tell whether the person at their side was the wraith in disguise—how could ordinary people possibly distinguish it?

But before anyone could dwell on this, Wang Hui withdrew alone to one side. “This strange entity only kills at sea, so none of you should come near me. I’m afraid one of you will suddenly turn into that thing and murder me.”

With that, he walked further away, leaving the rest with stunned expressions.

The wealthy men looked at one another, fear etched upon every face, unable to suppress their terror.

Anyone could guess what was running through their minds.

When gripped by terror, people instinctively seek as much safety as possible.

In a situation where anyone other than oneself could be the monster in disguise, the fewer people around, the safer one feels.

Thus, they began to consider killing off others to gain a fragile sense of security for themselves.

Most terrifying of all, every one of these wealthy men shared this thought—even to the point of wanting to kill the ones closest to them, those who shared their cabins.

To occupy an entire cabin alone, to be by oneself. As time wore on and everyone was preparing to return to their cabins to rest, a sudden shout erupted.

“You wretch! What are you doing hiding here? Are you trying to assassinate me?”

All eyes turned toward the sound. A hawk-nosed man in a suit was shouting with his head lowered, while before him knelt a woman dressed as a server.

Next to the woman lay shattered dishware.

“What happened?”

“This woman was sneaking around, watching from behind. When I turned around, she tried to run.”

A young man in glasses approached the woman and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“I…I…” The woman stammered, unable to speak coherently.

In such tense circumstances, her reaction was easily misinterpreted—or, perhaps, deliberately misconstrued.

“Are you hiding something?” the young man pressed, his eyes narrowing.

As soon as he spoke, the wealthy men behind him shrank back in fright.

Before the woman could explain, another voice rang out, “I think she’s very likely the monster in disguise!”

No one contradicted this accusation; in fact, many agreed.

Seeing their eyes, the server seemed to realize her peril. She shook her head desperately, “No, no, that’s not it, I was just here to…to…”

She faltered, unable to finish.

The man with glasses stepped forward and forced her, “Then what were you doing here?”

The woman was nearly petrified with fear, tears brimming in her eyes as she looked pleadingly at the wealthy men, hoping someone would speak for her.

But all she met were numb or evasive gazes—no one was willing to help.

“What’s that inside your uniform?”

Noticing something odd, the man with glasses reached for her clothes. As the server instinctively dodged, several plastic bags fell out.

The bags were filled with leftovers from the banquet, spilling broth onto the floor.

Her first reaction was to wipe it up with her hands.

But the man pinned her hand down with his foot.

“What’s the meaning of this? Don’t you servants get staff meals?”

At his words, the woman seemed even more agitated, shaking her head, “No…that’s not it…”

But her nerves failed her, and she couldn’t explain.

“She’s definitely suspicious!” another voice chimed in from the wealthy group.

And before that voice faded, another followed.

“She must be the monster!”

“Kill her, kill her!”

In that moment, the server finally realized the gravity of her situation.

She had no idea what this “monster” was, but she knew one thing: there existed some kind of creature in this world, and it was about to ravage Maoguo—hence why these wealthy people had fled with their families.

Thinking of what had happened on the ship, she immediately understood—she was being accused of being one of those creatures.

With that realization, she fell to her knees, kowtowing as she pleaded.

“No, it’s not true, I’m not a monster. I just wanted to bring some leftovers here for my daughter to eat…”

But before she finished, a man stepped forward. “Don’t listen to her. She’s probably the monster disguised as a server. I say we throw her overboard now!”

No one voiced agreement, but neither did anyone object.

As the man seized the server, ready to drag her away, a child’s cries suddenly rang out.

Everyone turned to see a little girl, her face streaked with tears, running over and dropping to her knees at the server’s feet.

“Let go of my mother! Let go of my mother!”

The woman struggled in pain, scolding her daughter, “Why did you come out? Go back at once!”

She was only an ordinary person. By chance, she’d gotten a job as a server on this ship, but she had a daughter. Knowing the dangers looming in Maoguo, how could she possibly leave her little girl behind?

So she’d resorted to secretly bringing her daughter aboard.

This scene pierced the hearts of everyone present—but what good did that do?

“Don’t you know the rules? No bringing unauthorized people on board.”

The man with glasses spoke coldly, “So even if we throw you overboard, you’ve nothing to complain about.”

He waved his hand dismissively. “She’s just using this to win our sympathy. Don’t be fooled—she’s a monster.”

He didn’t even believe his own words, but he knew that, in this situation, every fewer person meant less danger.

It wasn’t that the others didn’t dare kill, but that they lacked an excuse.

And so, the server and her daughter were seized, their ankles bound, and prepared to be thrown into the sea together.

At the final moment, the ship’s doctor, who had been silent all along, could bear it no longer.

“Have you all gone mad? Is there no reason left among you?”

He rushed forward to shield the mother and daughter. “I may know nothing about these monsters, but I do know this: if this continues, you’ll kill yourselves off before any monster gets the chance.”

His words left the wealthy men ashamed, but the man with glasses remained unmoved.

“Why are you helping a pair of complete strangers?” he asked coldly.

The doctor was stunned, lost for words.

Before he could reply, another voice rose from the crowd.

“Maybe they’re all in it together!”