Looking at the pale female corpse in the bathtub, Chris and the others had begun to believe in the existence of the Deformed Cannibals John spoke of, but they still held out hope that it might just be murder.
Everyone's thoughts were now highly consistent: they wanted to leave the cabin and return to the road, lest they be targeted by the killer.
But as soon as they ran out the door, the roar of a car approached from a distance.
Chris and the others had no choice but to run back into the cabin; Chris had already checked the back door, and it was blocked off.
They had no choice but to find a place to hide.
John crawled under the bed directly opposite the door, followed closely by Jessie; the couple, seeing John's swiftness, quickly hid under the bed by the door, and Chris ran into the inner room.
The cabin was eerily quiet.
Then, the front door was violently pushed open, making a creaking, crashing sound.
Three Deformed Men walked in, one after another.
The strongest one was carrying a woman wrapped in barbed wire who had already died, and he casually threw her onto the ground.
She landed right in front of the two, her eyes wide open in death, as if staring at them.
John lay on the ground, gripping his long Machete, and a phantom card appeared in his hand. "Detecting containable object: Deformed Cannibal."
If there had been some speculation before about whether it was truly a Dead End, it was now confirmed.
Jessie, seeing her friend's corpse, was so terrified she didn't dare breathe, clinging tightly to John, her soft chest pressed firmly against his back, spreading out like cotton.
Soon, the woman was lifted onto the dining table like a dead pig and dismembered; her left hand and right leg were sawn off by the Deformed Cannibal, and fresh blood re-stained the table, slowly flowing down the table's edge and the corpse.
The three Deformed Men began to feast.
It was only then that Chris and the others truly believed in the existence of the Deformed Cannibals, and it was too late for regrets.
Time passed minute by minute.
John's nerves remained taut; even with a warm, soft body pressed against him, he felt nothing.
This continued until the afternoon.
Hearing the snoring, John realized his chance had come; he gestured to Scott and Carly opposite him, preparing to crawl out from under the bed.
Just as he was about to act, Jessie behind him grabbed John's hand and shook her head. She didn't let go until Scott came out.
After cautiously crawling out, John glanced at the Deformed Cannibal sleeping on the bed.
His appearance could be described as disgusting: sparse hair, twisted and ugly features, no eyebrows, and his clothes were covered in filth and stench.
He was true to his name.
John tightened his grip on the long Machete, and at the same time, gestured for Jessie to give the knife to Scott, then pointed at the Deformed Cannibal.
The man looked at the Deformed Cannibal, swallowed, and shook his head; he didn't dare.
Chris also quietly opened the door and came out, making a gesture, indicating that everyone should go outside first to discuss.
This decision was unanimously agreed upon by Jessie and the others.
But John didn't want to miss such a good opportunity; he had just tried, and the sleeping Deformed Cannibal could not be contained by the Heart of Spades 3.
Then he could only try another method; perhaps a corpse could also become a containment object?
Looking at the Deformed Cannibal still asleep on the bed, one hand resting on a shotgun, he directly pulled out his pistol and aimed it at his forehead.
It was then that Chris quietly opened the door; he wanted to stop him because once the Deformed Cannibal was awakened, they would surely be in danger, but it was too late.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Three violent gunshots rang out.
John fired three more shots at his head; if he still didn't die, there was nothing else he could do. He then picked up the machete, and the sharp blade sliced through.
The Deformed Cannibal's wrist was severed.
A heart-wrenching scream erupted.
The entire process took less than three seconds.
The remaining two Deformed Men woke up, wailing.
Only then did everyone come to their senses, running wildly outside, up the mountain along a broken tree, with gunshots echoing behind them.
But everyone had run far, and with the Deformed Men's poor marksmanship, no one was hit.
The shorter Deformed Cannibal stared intently at the several people running up the mountain, letting out strange cries, while the other Deformed Cannibal was driving the car.
After reaching the mountaintop, everyone's surging adrenaline slowly subsided.
Chris, breathing heavily, looked at John with a hint of disbelief.
"Dude, have you always been so brutal?"
"I had some professional training before. If they don't die, we will," John said, panting. He almost vomited when the blood splattered on his clothes.
At this moment, Carly couldn't walk anymore, crying and talking. If he heard correctly, she was talking about the woman who had just been dismembered.
This was a typical example of a useless teammate.
Jessie and Chris ran back to comfort Carly.
Taking advantage of this time, John gradually stopped.
Jessie looked at the stopped John and said anxiously, "What's wrong?"
John made what seemed like a crazy decision: "I need to go back for a bit."
"Shit, brother, are you crazy? Didn't you see how brutal those Deformed Cannibals are?" Chris couldn't hold back immediately. It was one thing for the couple to cry, but for you, the team's combat power, to want to go back and die?
Jessie grabbed John's hand and advised, "No, come with us. It's too dangerous for you to go back alone."
John shook his head; he was certain he wasn't seeking death.
When they ran out, the Deformed Men also drove after them. Rather than aimlessly fleeing, it was better to go back and take a chance. The most dangerous place might now be the safest place.
Plus, with the extended magazine on his pistol, he wouldn't be so passive if he encountered a Deformed Cannibal. As long as he was careful, nothing would happen.
He hadn't lied about having participated in some firearms training after learning about the Ghost Nun's existence; it was to prevent accidents and give himself some peace of mind.
The most crucial thing was for him to figure out the true purpose of the phantom card.
"Then I'll go back with you." Jessie seemed to have decided on John; she only felt a sense of security when she was by his side.
"No, you stay here. I'll go back and check by myself." John and the others hadn't run very far, so there was no need for two people to go back together.
If he found a Deformed Cannibal, he wouldn't fight head-on but would flee immediately.
After separating, John quickly returned to the wooden cabin, cautiously peeking through the door crack.
The Deformed Cannibal lay on the bed, holding a shotgun, his forehead simply bandaged. He was barely breathing, yet he wasn't dead?
Three shots to the head and he still didn't die? It couldn't be that he missed, could it?
After observing the surroundings again and confirming that there was only this one Deformed Cannibal in the house, John directly rushed in, snatched the shotgun from the Deformed Cannibal, who was almost in a vegetative state, and then took out the Heart of Spades 2.
A line of text appeared on the phantom card.
"Name: Deformed Cannibal"
"Status: Dying, Restricted, Containable"
Dying, restricted to be containable? John leaned more towards the latter, being restricted.
Contain. John didn't hesitate; with a thought, the Heart of Spades 2 automatically guided itself to the Deformed Cannibal's forehead, sucking his entire being into the black card.
The card face was no longer blank; a lifelike, ugly Deformed Cannibal now occupied the entire card.
It seemed the Deformed Cannibals could only serve as the lowest-tier existence within the phantom card.
...