When the Joker demanded that the little girl continue to point people out, she wanted to identify her sister-in-law this time, but she was told by the Joker that another Electric Shock might kill her, hesitating for a moment, she could only point to one of her brothers.
The second brother, who was pointed out, cursed furiously, not only cursing the little girl but also his father and elder brother, and even his sister-in-law, wishing her dead.
In the next two rounds, the little girl pointed out her elder brother and father respectively, both of whom also hurled curses, initially at the girl but then they started cursing each other.
From their cross-insults, Shiller could tell that the men in this family were each unique in their own bizarre ways.
Hoff had been addicted to gambling ever since he was fired from his team; the big brother had bullied others in school until he was retaliated against, leaving him with a broken leg that still limped; the second brother loved petty theft, not only did he steal from outsiders but he also stole money from home, beating up his mother when she refused to give him money.
The only comparatively innocent members of the family were the grandfather and the mother, who also happened to be the kindest to the little girl.
After electrocuting everyone else, the Joker asked the little girl to continue pointing out people, but the little girl wouldn't do it anymore, even when the Joker threatened to kill her, she staunchly refused to point out her own mother and grandfather.
If it had been an ordinary killer, at this point in the process, he would either have made the little girl watch as he electrocuted her beloved relatives or killed the little girl in front of her relatives.
But the Joker was no ordinary man; he was surprised and praised the little girl, saying, "Great job, Jenny! I wanted to teach you this lesson, if you don't want to do something, then firmly refuse!"
"Your refusal has won them the victory, alright, the game is over now, you and your family can be reunited, I will release them now."
What happened next could be guessed.
Adult men generally have better physical fitness, even though the electric current caused them great damage, it still didn't affect their ability to move, and there was a short Excitement Phase after being shocked.
They madly rushed towards Jenny, wanting to kill her, because Jenny hadn't refused, causing them such immense pain.
More importantly, their dignity was challenged.
The structure of the Hoff family showed that they were a traditional type of family, with men working outside and women staying home with the children, even if the family was this poor, they didn't want their women to work outside.
In this game, however, their roles were reversed, as the weakest and most vulnerable person, who needed the most protection, became the judge who could decide the life or death of others.
The mother, who was always lower in the family hierarchy, and the elderly grandfather escaped the disaster, while the men who usually strutted around the house acting high and mighty suffered a fatal blow, making a disgraceful spectacle.
Believing that they had lost their dignity, they couldn't tolerate such an insult, and rage consumed their hearts.
But normally, they were not the type of people to face difficulties head-on; otherwise, their lives wouldn't have become this way, they were used to attacking the weaker ones, actively ignoring who the real culprit was, plotting to teach a lesson to those who couldn't fight back.
Blood stained the screen red.
After the video ended, Batman and Shiller didn't speak.
"How is it?" Shiller asked.
"There are too many problems," Batman said. "I don't even know where to begin."
"Oh?" Shiller looked interestedly at him and said, "To hear you speak like that, it seems like the issue is quite serious."
"The biggest problem is Jenny," Batman stared at the blood-stained screen, he reached out with his mouse to drag the progress bar back to the beginning, and the frame froze on the first close-up of the little girl Jenny.
The girl named Jenny wasn't particularly delicate or cute, obviously a country girl often exposed to the wind and sun with somewhat messy hair, but she had a pair of big brown eyes that seemed very spirited.
"She's too calm," Batman remarked.
Shiller had also noticed this, from the moment the Joker appeared, to the Hoff family members beginning to kill each other, Jenny had never cried, nor had she shown any particular fear, essentially doing whatever the Joker asked her to do.
This was highly unusual, a mere 6-year-old girl facing such a situation, being able to speak a complete sentence could be akin to her not having forgotten everything due to drinking less Mengpo Soup.
Keep in mind, even Batman himself cried when his parents met with an accident in his childhood, which is a normal emotional and psychological reaction.
Even if this girl named Jenny was an exceptional genius capable of keeping her composure in such a terrifying situation, her displayed level of understanding was rather exaggerated.
Perhaps for an adult, this scene wasn't so complicated, but for a mere 6-year-old girl, there should be too much that she couldn't understand in such a situation.
This village was very remote, without internet access, probably didn't receive many TV channels, a little girl growing up in such an environment couldn't possibly have much experience.
She must be very confused about why her family members were tied to chairs because she probably didn't understand what "kidnapping" means.
She would also find it hard to understand why the Joker wanted her to point someone out because she didn't know what a serial killer was, what home invasion means, or what a psychopath is.
She could never understand what the device Joker had created was, why pressing it onto someone's body would cause them to scream, nor could she comprehend the meanings behind her family members' curses and yells, because it all was too complex for her.
Human beings are always limited by their own knowledge, and this 6-year-old little girl named Jenny, in her brief life, had encountered far too few things; naturally, there were many things she did not understand.
However, she questioned nothing throughout the entire process, simply doing whatever Joker told her to do, uncurious and unafraid of everything that was happening, as if she already knew what was going to happen.
This was not a typical reaction for a rural little girl.
Most children encountering such a situation would either cry loudly, unable to speak a word, or, even if they didn't dare cry, they also wouldn't dare to do anything, constantly seeking their father or mother.
Even if it were merely a game mimicking such dangerous circumstances, children of this age rarely could maintain focus for so long, with their actions, words, and reactions not straying off topic.
But Jenny did just that.
This made Shiller very suspicious of her identity, as he remembered Batman had mentioned that when the lost goat disappeared, only young Jenny knew the direction it had gone.
Without this clue, the Hefu family would not have followed that direction to find the goat's carcass, and naturally would not have eaten any goat meat.
Could Jenny have deliberately let the goat escape, leading the Hefu family to that place and tampered with the goat's meat, which then caused the Hefu family to go mad?
No, Shiller then considered another possibility, that the goat might just have been a distraction since, after watching the video, the language and emotional responses of the Hefu family appeared normal with no signs of madness.
So the rumor of the Hefu family going insane after eating goat meat could be false, but they had been driven out of the village certainly because the villagers saw something that made them think the family had gone mad.
Jenny, being a member of the Hefu family and the least likely to lie as the young daughter, if she did and said something, it could easily influence the villagers' judgment.
This reminded Shiller of another thing mentioned in Madeline's notes—these bizarre monsters all possess intelligence, and can even be considered quite cunning.
These creatures might not have powerful skills, but they can completely manipulate humans with their invisible presence and evil wisdom, and Jenny seemed as if she had been bewitched by a demon.
If it really was a monster that had possessed Jenny first, guiding the Hefu family into killing each other, and after Jenny's death, moved on to possess another person, then who might that person be?
"Is the corpse in the security room on the first floor the Lighthouse Guardian?" Shiller asked, looking at Batman.
Batman nodded and said, "He was probably killed by an external invader."
"No, that's not right," Shiller said. "He wasn't killed by the madman in the video."
"Then who was it?"
"It should be Hoff," Shiller continued. "After the Hefu family was let loose, Hoff first killed his other family members, or maybe in the process where they were fighting each other, only Hoff survived."
"Then maybe he wanted to leave this place, or perhaps was mentally stimulated, and on coming to the first floor, he killed the Lighthouse Guardian but was also bitten by his dog."
Shiller inferred this mainly because of the wound on Hoff's leg, given that he had fought with those dogs and was familiar with the Hunting Dog's body type and attack method. The scar on Hoff's leg was certainly left by a Hunting Dog, indicating he had had a conflict with the dog's owner.
Batman furrowed his brows, "If that's the case, there's another possibility—that the monster possessed the little girl Jenny to lead the Hefu family to kill each other, and after Jenny's death, it possessed Hoff to kill the Lighthouse Guardian."
And Hoff had lived until the time he met Shiller and his team, and when he finally died, the monster would certainly find a new host.
When Hoff died, everyone in the team was present, meaning this cunning monster could be on anyone.
"Do you think it can influence us?" Batman asked.
"I think the monster probably doesn't have the ability to communicate directly," Shiller said. "After all, it's not a demon from myths that influences others through conversation; otherwise, it wouldn't choose a little girl as a host, because a child's thinking and communication ability are inferior to adults', making it harder to persuade and have them perfectly execute a task."
"You mean the monster can directly influence thoughts?"
Shiller nodded.
"This could be troublesome."
Batman finished this sentence and noticed Shiller looking at him with a slightly doubtful expression.
"What's the trouble?" Shiller asked.
"People who might be influenced might not even know they've been influenced," Batman explained. "They could subconsciously perform evil deeds."
Shiller looked at him, hesitated to speak, but finally said,
"But in this team, who else but you has room to decline?"