Chapter 6
Xiao Tangqiu suddenly recalled that inexplicable voice in his head. Earlier, that cold, mechanical voice announced that he had received a D level mission t.i.tled, âFis.h.i.+ng Villageâs Haunted Houseâ¦â¦â So right now, were they in that âFis.h.i.+ng Villageâs Haunted Houseâ mission?
Within this small fis.h.i.+ng village, the only building that matched the âhaunted houseâ mentioned in the mission would undoubtedly be that ancient Chinese-style building in the middle of the village. Itâs no wonder Luo Mansu asked the village chief about it.
If Xiao Tangqiu could figure out that much, so could the others. Tang Mianmian immediately turned around to ask Luo Mansu, âShould we chase after him?â
Luo Mansu shrugged his shoulders, âJudging by his reaction, that big house over there is most likely the objective of this mission. Unfortunately, it wonât be easy getting NPCs to talk unless we manage to find important clues. Or else, weâll have to look for another way.â
âAnother way?â Xiao Tangqiu raised an eyebrow, âLike beating him up?â
Luo Mansu smiled faintly at Xiao Tangqiu, âI thought that among this group, the first one to suggest something like this wouldâve been that yellow-haired delinquent. I really didnât expect it to be you.â
The yellow-haired delinquent immediately blew his top, âHey, what do you mean by that?!â
But Luo Mansu didnât bother explaining himself. He grinned broadly as he continued, âYou can indeed use violence to deal with NPCs. Every NPCâs character is different so threatening them may or may not work, depending on the NPC. Instead, you may end up offending an NPC. You can weigh the pros and cons yourself. Iâm not afraid to tell you that itâs ok to kill NPCs, but if you kill an NPC thatâs key to the mission, you will also be killed on the spot.â
Everyone kept quiet â it was obvious they each had their own opinions. Luo Mansu didnât care at all, âYou can choose your partners now, whether youâd like to join me or form your own teamâ¦â¦. Of course, even if you decide to form your own team, I wonât refuse to exchange information with you. As long as you offer me valuable information, I will also share whatever information I find.â
His att.i.tude could be considered frank, and in the horrifying atmosphere of this game â that is, if this world could be called a âgameâ â a person with such leaders.h.i.+p seemed very convincing. But, it was also precisely this that raised doubt and uncertainty.
While everyone was busy sizing each other up, the quiet trio walked away without the slightest pause. Yet, none of them were surprised since the the trio didnât want to have anything to do with them from the very start.
The couple hesitated for a bit before turning away to leave while the yellow-haired delinquent partnered up with the guy in the suit. In a flash, only the twin sisters, Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian remained.
Xiao Tangqiu looked at Tang Mianmian and asked for his opinion, âShould we both partner up?â
Tang Mianmian immediately nodded in agreement.
Luo Mansu wasnât surprised by the outcome; he flashed Xiao Tangqiu and Tang Mianmian a wide grin, and left with the twin sisters.
When the others had finally left, Tang Mianmian pulled a long face and asked, âXiao Tangqiu! Do you know what the h.e.l.l is going on?!â
Xiao Tangqiu laughed bitterly, âI was just about to ask you the same question ah! We were clearly still live streaming the game. How did we physically get pulled into the game?!â Although he enjoyed playing horror games, it didnât mean that he wanted to personally experience it!
All of a sudden, Tang Mianmian was dumbstruck. ââ¦â¦Live stream? When did I live stream this game with you?â
Xiao Tangqiu frowned, âArenât you a bit too young to be senile? Clearly, you were the one who sent me the official download link for the game, insisting I live stream it with you!â
Tang Mianmianâs jaw dropped; he seemed to have been shocked into silence. After a minute, he exclaimed, âI didnât!â
Xiao Tangqiu stared blankly at him, âWhat do you mean you didnât?â
Tang Mianmianâs face was deathly pale. âDidnât you tell me youâd be visiting your friendâs grave today? So, I decided to try out the game on my own. But less than a minute into the game, I fainted, and the next thing I knew, I woke up in that tour bus with you!â
Xiao Tangqiu didnât know what to say. He suddenly felt a chill creeping up his spine. If Tang Mianmian was telling the truth, then who was it that sent him the link to the game? Or more accurately, perhaps it wasnât human at allâ¦.
Tang Mianmian was almost frightened to tears. âHelp ah! I donât want to play a real-live horror game ah! Iâm such a scaredy-cat; Iâm afraid Iâll be frightened to death before I even make it the end!â
Xiao Tangqiu comforted him, âLook on the bright side; I think there are ghosts in this game. Perhaps youâll be killed by them before you even get to the end ah.â
Tang Mianmian cried out, â
Wuwuwu
! I donât want to play anymore. I want to go home!â
âI was just joking,â Xiao Tangqiu pulled Tang Mianmian along. âWeâll definitely make it to the end. Then, weâll go home and get married.â
Tang Mianmian shouted, ââ¦.. Donât simply create Flags ah!â
The both of them randomly wandered around the village. As rookies, they had little experience in this real-live horror game. But as live broadcast anchors for horror games, they had a fair bit of insight regarding the various routines of a horror game. Very quickly, they started to happily make fun of the usual game tropes.
âWhat do you think is in that big house?â
âThere must be ghosts in there.â
âWhat are ghosts afraid of? Do you think we should get some yellow talismans first? We donât seem to have much experience with Chinese ghosts ah! Aiâ¦. Why are there so few domestic horror games?â
There were definitely more Western and j.a.panese horror games, so they had much more experience with that.
âForget about domestic horror games. Donât tell me youâve never watched a domestic horror movie?â
ââ¦â¦â¦But there arenât any ghosts in domestic horror movies.â
âHmm, what you said makes sense.â
âGlutinous rice? Cinnabar? Roosterâs blood?â Tang Mianmian turned his head inside out, trying to think of a solution.
Xiao Tangqiu lamented in dismay, âForget about roosterâs blood. Havenât you noticed that we havenât come across another living thing even though weâve been walking for so long?â
Tang Mianmian suddenly realized, âYouâre right ahâ¦â¦. Wait! That canât be right. Isnât this a fis.h.i.+ng village? There must be fish, right?â
âG.o.d knows, if this was a regular fis.h.i.+ng village, of course thereâd be fish. But we both know this village is far from normal.â Xiao Tangqiu continued to look around. The fis.h.i.+ng village was really small; Just by standing on a slightly higher terrain, perhaps on a hillside, it would be possible to take in the entire view of the village.
âAlthough the village is rather strange, there doesnât seem to be anything special about itâ¦.. How on earth are we supposed to get rid of the curse?â
Tang Mianmian diligently a.n.a.lyzed their situation, âPerhaps we need to find a key item that will trigger the plotline. Or maybe, we should look for the village chief again. Maybe weâll get some clues from that NPC. Of course, thereâs another option, that is to break into that big building.
âThere must be something wrong with that house. We canât just hastily barge into the house. If there are ghosts or something sinister inside, weâll definitely lose our lives going in without any protective measures.â Xiao Tangqiu rubbed his chin in contemplation and eventually made a decision, âLetâs go look for the village chief first. Weâll only explore that house as a last resort.â
Tang Mianmian nodded his head; this was indeed the safest option. No one knows what could happen if they just barged into that big house.
âLetâs go look for the village chief.â
Xiao Tangqiu was about to start walking when Tang Mianmian suddenly mumbled in a small voice, âUmâ¦. I need to use the restroomâ¦..â
Xiao Tangqiu looked at Tang Mianmian, not saying a word. Tang Mianmian blushed a bright red as he explained, âI needed to use the restroom earlier when we were on the tour bus. Iâve been holding it in the whole time, I really canât hold it anymore.â
âOk, you donât need to explain. Just go.â
Xiao Tangqiu pursed his lips; in fact, he had realized that there wasnât an indoor restroom while they were walking around. The entire village shared a public restroom, which was basically a small wooden hut with several squat toilets. But these âtoiletsâ were really just pits dug into the ground. Tang Mianmian seemed to have noticed that earlier as well, but he couldnât get over how primitive and dirty the toilet was. At this point however, he couldnât hold it in any longer and had no choice.
Tang Mianmian hesitated, âIâm a little scaredâ¦â¦.â
Xiao Tangqiu thought about it; although he didnât need to use the restroom yet, it was better to go now than to wait till it turned dark. Even he was afraid of going to the restroom alone at night.
âIâll go to the restroom with you then.â
Tang Mianmian breathed out a sigh of relief, âGood friends should go to the restroom together!â
Xiao Tangqiu only teased him, âOnly schoolboys use the restroom together!â
Tang Mianmian impatiently urged, âLetâs go, letâs go! If we donât hurry, the skyâs going to turn dark!â