Chapter 11
Xiao Tangqiu turned pale, his stomach queasy from watching a man burn to death right in front of his eyes. But he still managed to maintain a calm demeanor. Lu Xiaotao had already started vomiting by the side.
The calmest person amongst them was of course Luo Mansu; he seemed to have gotten used to seeing such a thing. He looked the corpse up and down and said, âHeâs dead; died the same way as the other guy.â
âWhy?â Tang Mianmianâs face was pale with horror, âWhy did they die? Whatâs the trigger condition?â
Xiao Tangqiu was also wondering the same thing. As live streamers for horror games, they were used to this train of thought. Since Zeng Jinping had reached the
BE
, he must have triggered one of the death conditionsâ¦â¦.. Then, what is the death condition?
âWhy?â Luo Mansu laughed coldly, âWhy must there be a reason? This place is haunted. What reason does a ghost need to hurt someone? Donât tell me you want to reason with a ghost?â
Tang Mianmian was left speechless. Yang Bing carefully asked, âWhat should we do with the body?â
âWe donât need to do anything. Itâll be gone by tomorrow,â Luo Mansuâs sounded uninterested. âDidnât you guys notice that the other body hasâ¦â¦.. disappeared?
n.o.body wanted to say anything. Finally, Xiao Tangqiu asked, âShould we check if thereâs really something in the well?â
Luo Mansu asked, âWhoâs going to go check? Didnât you see what happened to him?â
Xiao Tangqiu laughed dryly, âForget it then. Should we talk to the village chief?â
Luo Mansu nodded; the others didnât have any objections either. As they were about set off to look for the village chief, Xiao Tangqiu couldnât resist turning around to look at the well.
There was a red figure crouching beside the well.
Xiao Tangqiu screamed in surprise, giving Tang Mianmian a shock, âWhatâs wrong?â
âThereâs someone!â Xiao Tangqiu exclaimed.
âThereâs someone there?â Tang Mianmian turned his head and asked in confusion.
When Xiao Tangqiu looked again, that red figure had disappeared.
They soon reached the village chiefâs house. Ding Tiantian and Ding Mimi were already waiting outside.
â
Older brother
Luo!â The twins immediately greeted Luo Mansu upon seeing him, but only got a cold response in return.
Luo Mansu went up to the village chief but before he had the chance to speak, the village chief repeated without emotion, âIâve already said that I donât know anythingk2026;k2026; I donât know anythingk2026;k2026;..â
Lu Xiaotao laughed bitterly, âEvery time we speak to the village chief, he repeats the same sentence over and over again, just like an NPC in a game.â
Xiao Tangqiu contemplated for a second, then removed the handkerchief from his pocket. He waved it at the village chief, âVillage Chief, do you recognize this?â
The village chief raised his glazed eyes. As soon as he saw the handkerchief, he emotions were like a stagnant pool of water that started to bubble and boil. He agitatedly cried out, âThisâ¦â¦ thisâ¦â¦.. this handkerchief!â
âDo you know who this handkerchief belongs to?â Xiao Tangqiu knew he was onto something.
âNo! I donât know anything! I donât know anything!â The village chief wanted to walk away but Luo Mansu pushed him back onto his seat.
Luo Mansu eyed the village chief, flas.h.i.+ng a sly smile, âVillage Chief, I think itâs better for you to start talking. Or else, weâll throw you into the well!â
âThe well! The well!â The village chief started to twitch violently, as if he was going through an epileptic episode. Xiao Tangqiu was worried he would start to thrash about. Fortunately, the village chief regained his calm. Rather, it was this sort of eerie calmness that resembled the stillness of death.
âFang Lanâ¦.. Fang Lanâ¦.. Fang Lan must be back!â The village chiefâs glazed eyes turned red and teary. âSheâs back for revenge! Weâre all going to die!â
âFang Lan?â Xiao Tangqiu frowned, âWho is she?â
âSheâs going to kill Xiaohaiâ¦.. Xiaohaiâ¦â¦.. My poor childâ¦â¦. She is a woman who brings misfortuneâ¦â¦..â The village chief mumbled those words over and over again. Xiao Tangqiu tried to remain patient as he repeated his question a few times. The village chief eventually narrated what happened in that fateful year.
It turned out that the village chiefâs son, Zhou Hai had a childhood sweetheart named Fang Lan. They promised to be together but when Fang Lan turned eighteen, Yunjia Villageâs most influential family, the Yun family, came to ask for her hand in marriage. They wanted to arrange a ghost wedding for Fang Lan and the Yun familyâs oldest young master who had died prematurely.
Under the tyranny of Yun family, Fang Lan had no choice but to marry into Yun family despite being unwilling. Not long after, she got pregnant. Although the pregnancy was a strange matter, the Yun family was actually very happy about itâ¦â¦. But the day before she was supposed to give birth, the Yun family discovered that she was having an affair. Fang Lan was immediately tied up, stuffed into a pig cage and drowned in the river.
Xiao Tangqiu frowned, âGhost marriage? Pregnant with a ghostâs baby?â No wonder Fang Lanâs coffin had a paper doll dressed in a red wedding dress. The customs for ghost weddings differed from place to place; perhaps this was the custom in this fis.h.i.+ng village.
âBut thatâs a pregnant woman!â Tang Mianmian argued against the injustice done to Fang Lan, âEven if that child was fathered by someone else, the Yun familyâs oldest young master was already dead. Did they expect a young and beautiful woman to live as a widow? How can they drown a pregnant woman to death? Itâs so cruel!â
âWhat else? Just now, you said Fang Lan was back for revenge. What do you mean by that?â The village chief had been quiet after talking about Fang Lanâs death. Lu Dadong anxiously pushed the village chief, trying to get him to speak, but he used too much strength and pushed the chief onto the ground. Suddenly, Lu Xiaotao let out a shrill scream.
The moment the village chiefâs body touched the ground, it ruptured into pieces; his flesh and bone fell apart and his head rolled off. Coincidentally, when the head finally stopped rolling, the village chiefâs face was turned towards them, a look of disbelief plastered onto it.
A second later, he stopped breathing and his face was forever frozen in that look of incredulity.
âAhhhhhhh!â Lu Xiaotao and Lu Dadong screamed at the same time.
âI didnât kill him! It wasnât me! I didnât kill him!â Lu Dadong was frightened and speaking incoherently, âI had only pushed him gently earlierâ¦â¦ I didnât kill him! Iâm innocent!â
âCalm down!â Luo Mansu shouted. âThereâs no way that push killed him. He mustâve already been dead.â
âHe was already dead?â They all s.h.i.+vered uncontrollably.
âIâm afraid Fang Lan already came back for her revenge.â Luo Mansu laughed coldly, âThis guy probably didnât realize he was already dead. When he recounted Fang Lanâs story, he probably remembered that Fang Lan had already returned and killed himâ¦â¦â
He paused before continuing, âThis also means weâve completed the task involving this NPC. Letâs go, weâve unlocked the next map.â
Tang Mianmian gulped and asked knowingly, â
Yun Manor
?â
âNo! We donât want to go!â Ding Tiantian and Ding Mimi were trembling.
âYou can choose not to go, but let me tell you thisâ¦..â Luo Mansu flashed a sinister smile at the twins. âAnother person has just died.â
Both girls looked ashen, but went along with it when they saw everyone leaving as well.
After leaving the village chiefâs house, Xiao Tangqiu immediately perceived an eerie change in the fis.h.i.+ng village. âThe villagers have all disappearedâ¦â¦..â
âTheyâre probably dead,â Luo Mansu seemed to disagree. âThe village chief was so frightened. Fang Lan mustâve turned into an evil spirit.â
Xiao Tangqiu frowned, âIf everyone is dead, then where are the bodies? If they didnât realize they were dead like the village chiefâ¦â¦. then where did the bodies go? Did they disappear into thin air? Are NPC bodies not subjected to the same rule of disappearing after a day?
âKid, youâre overthinking it,â Luo Mansu looked at Xiao Tangqiu in surprise. âBut then again, this world is very strange. Not everything has cause and effect.â
Xiao Tangqiu didnât think so, but he was suddenly hit with a sinking feeling in his chest â this was the exact feeling he felt whenever he was about to trigger a death condition in a horror game. Whenever he was about to select a choice in-game, his intuition would always point him in the right direction. This
jinxed
mouth of his was never wrong.
âI have a bad feeling about thisâ¦â¦.â
âf.u.c.k!â Tang Mianmian was extremely clear about Xiao Tangqiuâs mystifying âgiftâ, âStop raising Flags ah!â
Then, Luo Mansu widened his eyes, turning to run without a momentâs pause. âQuickly, run!!!â
Xiao Tangqiu couldnât resist turning back. The paper doll had exited the village chiefâs house, carrying the village chiefâs head in one hand and dragging the shovel they dug the grave with, in another.
A pair of lifelike eyes stared straight at them; its gaze mournful, and br.i.m.m.i.n.g with bitter resentment.