Chapter 60: Shut Up

Chapter 60: Shut Up

Sitting at the dinner table, drenched in cold sweat, Wu Yu Jiao looked incredulously at the pretty sweet girl in a plaid dress, with ear-length curly hair.

This girl seemed sweet and delicate, apparently harmless, yet how could she be so, so reckless?!

Resorting to violence at the slightest disagreement, was this Chen Sijin's style? Or was she not Chen Sijin at all, and the real Chen Sijin was the young man sitting opposite her with a mystifying smile?

However, the long-haired woman dressed in a somewhat masculine manner also didn't seem like a regular, ordinary exile.

So, who among these three was the real Chen Sijin?!

Wu Yu Jiao felt confused for a moment, especially after almost having the table flipped by the explosive sweet girl, deciding it was best not to probe any further during this communal meal.

After dinner, when it was time to sleep, they had ways to make noise exceeding fifty decibels in the rooms of these three individuals.

Thus, Wu Yu Jiao sharpened her black nails and refrained from taking any action.

At this moment, the exiles seated on both sides of the dinner table were all sitting upright, sizing each other up.

Some looked like they wanted to speak, but in this place, where not a single word could be uttered, they could only open their mouths and then close them again, sitting still as if they were made of wood.

It was becoming somewhat boring.

Chen Sijin rolled his ear-length curly hair with his hand, looking around. When he saw the tail-coated butler standing nearby, he flashed a sweet smile.

For some reason, the butler twitched at the sight of the sweet girl signaling him, feeling the dreadful premonition of a hard-working employee caught in the gaze of a terrifying boss.

Still, he approached with a polite smile, silently moving forward. Chen Sijin noticed that as the butler walked, a series of numbers, 2-3-2-4, suddenly popped up on the antique vine-patterned black circular decoration on the right wall of the glittering dining room.

The butler took four steps to reach him, matching the four digits displayed on the circular decoration.

Sweet girl Jin raised her eyebrows, realizing it was a volume decibel display.

Even the nearly silent footsteps of the butler were detected for their volume. If those dishes and cups had really hit the floor earlier, exceeding 50 decibels would have been inevitable.

Chen Sijin shrugged. So what? He wasn't afraid of everyone dying together.

As long as he could run faster than anyone else, the man-eating monster wouldn't catch him.

After all, nearly everyone gathered here was here to kill him; why should he be kind?

Hilarious.

Faced with the small sign raised by the tail-coated butler, Sweet Girl Jin smiled and, without speaking, made a gesture of writing with her hand, then pointed at the butler's small sign.

The butler instantly understood, bowed slightly, and turned to wave his white-gloved hand at several maids dressed in maid outfits. A few minutes later, a maid brought over a white writing board and a corresponding marker.

Chen Sijin started to laugh.

The writing board then began to scribble quickly.

[What's for dinner tonight? Can I have seafood, preferably the freshest king crab and large sweet shrimp, as well as genuine Atlantic salmon, plus a top-quality steak, and a glass of rich red wine. If there's no red wine, cola will do!]

His writing speed was super fast, the handwriting somewhat messy but beautiful and clearly legible.

The tail-coated butler looked wooden for a moment upon seeing this long list of requests but ultimately offered a polite smile.

He provided an answer on his own portable writing board.

[Dear guest, we will try our best to accommodate your requests. Please wait a moment.]

Thus, Sweet Girl Jin smiled contently and sweetly.

With Sweet Girl Jin's writing board move, the other exiles wanting to speak all lit up with realization.

Following that, they all requested writing boards similar to the one the sweet girl had, for greeting purposes.

After all, even in Silent Mansion, it wouldn’t do to remain completely speechless, right?

Thus, before the appetizer was served, all twenty-three attendees acquired their own writing boards.

They had finally regained their ability to 'speak'.

No sooner had they the means to communicate than some began to inquire about the trio that included Chen Sijin, with pointed interest.

The first to lift his board was a radiant and handsome young man from a team of seven, all of whom were notably attractive.

His smile was bright and sweet, making him seem especially well-matched with the sweet girl standing beside him.

He seemed to think so too, as he directly displayed his board to Chen Sijin:

[Hello, miss! What's your name? Your smile is really sweet and lovely. Let's be friends? My name is Liu Can, "Can" as in bright and sunny. How about you?]

The ladies opposite saw this display, and the three beauties on Liu Can's team looked at Chen Sijin with smiles or teasing glances, as if they were witnessing a sweet scene from a romantic drama.

Then, they saw the curly-haired sweet girl swiftly write a few words on her board.

[Why ask for a name when you can't speak it out loud? Why don’t you try calling out?]

Liu Can: "..."

This response was entirely unexpected for him.

The curly-haired sweet girl seemed somewhat difficult and temperamental, with a tone that strangely didn’t match that of a typical sweet girl.

For a moment, everyone cast doubtful glances at Chen Sijin, suspecting whether beneath the guise of the sweet girl lay a real man.

But Liu Can wasn’t one to be easily deterred. His eyes sparkled with determination to try again, believing no woman could resist his genuine charm.

If any could, she surely wasn’t a woman!

However, as he was fervently writing a lengthy message to show the target sweet girl, lifting his head he was met with her board showing four words that nearly gave him a heart attack.

[Don’t mess with me!]

Liu Can: [Speechless]

That has to be Chen Sijin! It must be Chen Sijin!! Time to end him now!!

Liu Can’s gaze darkened as he stared at Chen Sijin for a few seconds before looking away.

Having tested the sweet girl, it was now his companions' turn to probe the other two.

Moreover, dinner had been served, allowing him to momentarily hold off on action. He could plan his move once he found out which room the girl occupied at night.

The maids began serving exquisitely delicious dishes, with Chen Sijin observing these servers, noticing their similar appearances, heights, and builds.

Fortunately, despite their resemblances, distinct facial features allowed for differentiation, else finding the speaking monster among them would have been even more challenging.

How could one verify whether these maids could speak?

Chen Sijin savored the ultra-fresh sweet shrimp and salmon in broth, followed by a bite of top-grade steak and a sip of wine, feeling utterly fantastic.

Although others didn't specify their food preferences as Chen Sijin did, every dish prepared by the Silent Villa was delicious and beyond reproach.

Everyone dined quietly, with only the soft sounds of eating permeating the dining room.

The combination of exquisite food and the dining room's fragrant scent allowed for an oddly acceptable, yet relaxed atmosphere.

Then suddenly—

Two enormous shadows crashed onto the dining table without warning!

In an instant, Chen Sijin saw a gaping maw silently roaring at him; he paused with his steak-fork, then rolled his eyes and continued eating.

Face-to-face kills had ceased to work on him since he was six years old.

Chen Sijin even discreetly moved his salmon, sweet shrimp, and king crab aside to prevent these two dark behemoths from interrupting his meal.

However, for others, the abrupt appearance of two dark felines sent their heart rates soaring to 180 in a flash.

Immediately, three men and two women screamed uncontrollably, their faces turning ashen after their outburst.

Almost simultaneously, two men and two women, without screaming, instinctively launched attacks at the two dark felines.

Chen Sijin observed fireballs, ice spikes, vines, and hair-thin needles—each a formidable attack method.

These four individuals, divided into two groups, targeted the black cats, resembling two small panthers about a meter long, which screamed silently and fled without hesitation upon being attacked.

Yet as they left, the deep green eyes they turned back to glance at those four attackers made the expressions of the four involuntary assailants turn extremely ugly in an instant — a grudge was noted!

The look in the eyes of these two black feline beasts as they left was definitely one of promised retaliation and remembered grievances.

But for now, these four individuals were holding steady.

Though they had earned the enmity of the two giant black cats, potentially causing trouble for them in the days to come or forcing them to make a sound, at least for now, they were safe.

And for the three men and two women who couldn't hold back their screams when the black cats suddenly dropped from the sky, their situation was now the worst —

Chen Shijin stuffed the last piece of beef into his mouth and, holding a refilled glass of red wine, smiled at Liu Can, who had previously thought about striking a dazzling combination with him.

Liu Can was one of the three men in the screaming group.

At this moment, his face was pale, and he looked around warily, fearing any danger that might befall him.

After all, the survival task required them not to speak, as each word spoken would bring bad luck and threaten their lives.

But now, there seemed to be no danger in the restaurant, and Liu Can felt his heart pounding faster and faster, even beginning to ache.

Then he and the other four who had made a sound suddenly clutched their chests in pain and bent over.

Chen Shijin, covering his left eye that faintly shimmered with silver light, saw Liu Can and the others lose one-fifth of their life and energy levels in an instant.

This was the consequence of losing life and energy for every word spoken.

What about triggering bad luck?

As Chen Shijin pondered, he looked up to see the maids smiling as they approached with the last course of dessert soup.

He understood then.

That was a single-serving soup pot, flames dancing beneath it.

As the maids approached, Liu Can and his group of five, gasping and bent over, failed to notice their approach.

With all present constrained by the rule against making noise, they couldn't alert them—

So when Liu Can finally felt the piercing pain and weakness fade and straightened up with a sigh of relief, he inadvertently knocked over the soup pot that had been placed right in front of him.

The scalding soup splashed over Liu Can's face and neck, and the alcohol lamp beneath the pot, enriched with the soup's grease, was tipped over, setting him aflame.

"Aaaaah—"

Unable to control his pain and fear, he frantically tried to pat out the flames on himself while screaming to run outside the villa.

One of his companions, a water-specialized ability user, couldn't extinguish the flames on him in time.

Aside from him, another woman also screamed and attempted to flee outside, while another man and woman on-site managed to staunchly endure without making another sound.

In the quiet dining room, the screams were particularly jarring, along with the sound of flesh burning in the fire.

Chen Shijin noticed that all the maids and butlers standing in the restaurant had simultaneously raised their writing boards.

On them was written in large, crimson letters:

[Please, no loud noises!]

[Please, no loud noises!]

[Please maintain silence—]

Everyone silently watched them, not speaking, their smiles juxtaposed with the chilling crimson signs they held.

Then, everyone in the restaurant heard a piercing scream coming from outside.

Chen Shijin quickly moved from his wine glass to the window to look outside, while Lezi Jin, with a face full of schadenfreude, followed him with another glass of wine to see the commotion—

Liu Can and the woman who ran out were dead.

They were killed by the security guards at the villa's entrance.

Six guards had surrounded them, four holding up [Please, no loud noises!] signs, while the other two, without hesitation, swung their blades and decapitated them.

Chen Sijin's brows furrowed slightly.

The abilities of these guards are quite formidable.

Liu Can, a third-level traveler with relatively high energy levels among travelers,

was taken out in one hit.

However, having screamed two or three times, he likely lost half of his life and energy already.

This Silent Villa is indeed a bit savage.

Sweet Sister Jin blinked her eyes.

But as long as she remained silent, the monster couldn't catch up to her.

With a sidelong glance, she saw Le Zi, who wore her own face, smiling with a creepy delight that made him look like an ultimate villain, which was painfully cringeworthy.

Ah, he even silently gave two thumbs up.

Sweet Sister Jin: “...”

She aimed a kick at him! Stop making such bizarre expressions with my face!

But Le Zi Jin dodged swiftly, and didn’t forget to throw a wink with her face, chillingly thrilling!

Sweet Sister Jin: “!”

Deep breaths, deep breaths, deep breaths! Can’t shout, can’t shout, can’t shout!!!

Who among her companions could have imagined? Not the two giant cats with their gaping maws, but a single Le Zi nearly pushed her to the brink.

Really want to curse someone out!

Then, Sweet Sister Jin expressionlessly filled her writing board with [Roll Roll Roll Die Die Die Die Die Die] to replace the previous "Don't mess with me."

Le Zi Jin responded with a big [Thumbs Up].

While these two were clashing, the tragedy of the other three at the dining table also concluded.

Of the remaining two men and one woman, two had terrifying burns and blisters on their faces and necks. The only man who was breathing heavily from the shock, who wasn't burned because a companion pulled him away at a critical moment, merely suffered from scalding soup instead of the burning alcohol lamp.

But all three of them looked quite pale, and Sweet Sister Jin even noticed that the life values of the severely burned man and woman had dropped to a dangerous one-fifth.

This indicates that if this man and woman were to speak even a single word, their life and energy values could bottom out, possibly causing death from just one more step or a minor injury.

The unburned man had two-fifths of his life value left.

All the exiles sitting around the dining table became even more silent.

Everyone's expressions were quite grim.

No one expected that on the very first day in this world, not even two hours in, two people would die outright.

And the remaining three don't look like they will last much longer.

Is this about them hunting Chen Jin, or the devourer consuming them all?!

At this moment, Chen Jin keenly noticed the dangerous glances coming from all directions.

It seems these people plan for a quick battle and won't allow him to have a good night's sleep tonight.

Although these glances weren't solely directed at him, Chen Jin glanced at the woman lazily drinking shots after shots of liquor on the side, deciding to help her out tonight if he has the time.

After all, this person is likely an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.

At this point, the swallow-tailed butler finally reappeared before everyone, stepping silently.

[Ladies and gentlemen, my apologies for the fright just now.]

[Those two black cats are the manor's pets, a bit mischievous and prone to pranks, sometimes liking to scare the visitors here for sightseeing.]

[Please don't mind them, they may be scary, appear and disappear unpredictably, and look fierce, but they are good cats that don’t bite. As long as you don’t harm them, they won’t harm anyone.]

Seeing this message, the faces of the other four exiles who attacked the two black cats darkened.

It's settled, Chen Jin must be taken out early. Then, as the hunters of Chen Jin, they can band together for defense and focus all their energy on completing the survival task.

"Well then, let me lead everyone to the guest rooms for rest."

"Our guest rooms are divided into hot spring rooms and plum-viewing rooms."

[There are ten hot spring rooms on the first floor, each with a small hot spring pool outside that can accommodate two people. It is said that it will snow tonight, and soaking in the hot springs during snowfall is an even more wonderful experience.

Of course, experiencing our large hot spring is even better, where you can enjoy soaking while admiring the snow-covered red plum trees on the left and the glass flower house on the right.]

[The plum viewing rooms are on the second floor, facing the west side plum garden. Standing on the balcony, one can see the beautiful sight of blooming red plums.]

After the introduction, the tailcoat butler presented two different colored room cards.

A maid stood by holding a sign.

[Cards with a hot spring icon are for hot spring rooms, and those with a red plum are for plum viewing rooms. Everyone can choose according to their preference.]

No one moved; instead, they all turned their heads in unison to look at Chen Sijin and his group.

Chen Sijin, unsurprised, walked up to the tailcoat butler and started picking between the plum viewing and hot spring room cards, with everyone watching his every move, their eyes following along.

Le Zi Jin: Smiles.

The laid-back woman: ...What's wrong with these people? Everything has felt strange since entering this world.

Chen Sijin eventually chose the hot spring room.

He preferred soaking in a hot spring amidst the snow over admiring the red plums.

The moment Chen Jin chose a hot spring room card, Joyful Jin swiftly grabbed another hot spring room card adjacent to Chen Jin's.

"And the third was the man who, from start to finish, didn't speak but wore a constant smile."

"Several others, who were keenly watching, were a step slower but quickly snapped up all the Hot Spring Rooms on the first floor."

"Then, the remaining people chose the Plum View Rooms."

"However, by then, they didn't care as long as one of their members got a room next to Chen Shijin."

"In fact, knowing which room Chen Shijin was in was enough for them."

"Chen Shijin stayed in Hot Spring Room No. 01."

"Unlike other hotels, Hot Spring Room No. 01 is located in the very center of the first floor, boasting the best view of the hot springs."

"After witnessing Chen Shijin entering Room No. 1, more than half of the twenty people standing in the hallway revealed a cold smirk."

"Le Zijin: 'Heh. That certainly didn't make him happy.'"

"The laid-back woman: '...So what exactly is this world? These people seem ready to commit murder?!'"

"What did the beautiful and sweet girl who entered Room No. 1 do to deserve this? Chased by these individuals with intense murderous aura and heavy sins, aiming to kill a pretty girl, aren't they afraid of being struck by lightning?"

"At this moment, the laid-back woman slowly straightened up, making a decision in her heart."

"It was 8:30 PM."

"Everyone had gone back to their rooms."

"At least, it seemed that way."

"Chen Shijin had already taken a shower and changed into a bathrobe for soaking in the hot spring. Then, with a smile, he wrote four characters on his writing pad before heading out to enjoy the hot spring."

"As he stepped into the warm currents amidst the silent cold wind, he almost let out a sigh of comfort."

"Just then, a vine with spikes suddenly appeared above him, swiftly coiling towards his neck!"

"The curly-haired sweet girl, without even lifting her head, flipped her right hand, and with a flash of cold light, the vine coiling towards him was cut into two."

"Then, with a flip of his left hand, he threw a huge smoke bomb directly to the second floor above him."

"Soon, suppressed and panicked coughs were heard from upstairs."

"Chen Shijin took a second step, and in the darkness, dozens of black nails came hurtling towards him with a whoosh."

"The sweet girl flipped her wrist again, and with a golden shimmer, a semi-circular box appeared in her hand. She slapped it onto herself, and the box transformed into a semi-circular protective shield enveloping the entire hot spring."

"The black nails puffed against the shield, turning directly into black mist and dissipating completely."

"The sweet girl could finally soak in the bath in peace."

"But soon, Chen Shijin looked down to see the once steaming hot spring begin to cool down bit by bit, even emitting cold air at an alarming rate, as if it wanted to freeze over."

"Chen Shijin: '...'"

"It never ends, does it?"

"With a cold laugh, Chen Shijin pulled a huge, yellow object from his storage ring."

"The surrounding attacks paused momentarily."

"But the temperature continued to drop."

"Chen Shijin pulled out a second, third, and fourth yellow object."

"Exiles all around: '!!!'"

"All other attacks ceased."

"Only the exile wielding ice still intended to freeze Chen Shijin to death right there in the hot spring."

"Sweet Girl Jin silently smirked and precisely threw all four huge, yellow objects onto the balcony of the exile using ice."

"Then—"

"Ah!"

"Cluck cluck squawk!"

"Aaargh!"

"Boom—"

"Four incredibly loud cries of agony and chicken squawks echoed through the silent villa."

"The exile who thought an ice spike would suffice to deal with the screaming chicken: '!!!!'"

"Help! Someone's not playing fair!"