Chapter 52

Chapter 52

No one understood why, in such a critical moment, would Bu Jiuzhao speak out?

Was he not afraid of death?

It seemed Bu Jiuzhao truly wasn't. Those sitting behind him, who could also see the red-robed spirit approaching, were holding their breath. But Bu Jiuzhao remained as unflappable as a mountain, not even a tremble in his stance.

Only when the spirit in red was close enough did he finally move. Bu Jiuzhao raised his right arm and pointed straight at Gao He in the dim night, saying: "Gao Wan, your brother Gao He is here to see you."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the spirit abruptly turned and dashed towards Gao He.

Xie Yinxue hadn't anticipated this move by Bu Jiuzhao. There's an old saying: when traveling through the wilderness at night, never call out a companion's real name. Otherwise, if a malicious entity hears it, it will latch onto you.

Although Gao He had just revealed his name to everyone, he certainly hadn't expected Bu Jiuzhao to use it against him. After all, under such circumstances, most people would either lose their voice from fear or, like Li Lumeng, Yu Qinwen, and Duan Ying, scream to attract the full attention of the spirit in red.

Defying conventional wisdom, Bu Jiuzhao acted unpredictably. Lacking Bu Jiuzhao's composure, how could Gao He calmly watch the red-robed spirit rush towards him? He cursed, "Damn it!" and immediately turned to run.

In his hasty escape, he dropped his basket by the riverbank, leaving behind the incense sticks. As Xie Yinxue contemplated stealing some incense to continue their ruse, a voice from the left rear suddenly urged, "Let's run too!"

Before the echo faded, the sounds of footsteps and rustling clothes suggested that some were indeed fleeing.

Humans tend to follow the crowd, especially in dire situations. Few can hold their own convictions. While some were tempted by the call to flee, others stopped in their tracks when Xie Yinxue sternly commanded, "Stay seated and don't move!"

But it was already too late. Xie Yinxue heard multiple sets of footsteps scattering. In just that fleeting moment, the spirit in red returned.

Xie Yinxue could only maintain his posture with the straw atop his head, letting the spirit in red hover around them.

Despite her eerie appearance, the spirit didn't harm them as long as they remained still and silent. She knelt before each participant, bowing as if genuinely regarding them as deities of the land.

Not until dawn did the spirit stop bowing. She slowly moved to the middle of the bridge, faced downwards, and plunged into the river—repeating the action from her final living moment.

As Xie Yinxue watched her figure disappear into the river, he finally stood up and began counting the participants.

Despite his serious illness, Xie Yinxue was confident that apart from being on the brink of death, his hearing was fine. He had indeed heard footsteps fleeing the previous night. But after counting heads, he realized all participants were present, not one missing.

Something was amiss.

"Can... can we move now?"

Liao Xinyang, noticing Xie Yinxue stand and the sky brightening, asked her tremulously. However, he didn't remove the straw from his head.

Xie Yinxue simply said, "It's alright."

Relieved by Xie Yinxue's words, everyone let out a sigh, removed the straw from their heads, and unceremoniously flopped onto the ground, massaging their numb, sore legs from having been crossed all night.

Xie Yinxue looked thoughtfully over the group.

Immediately upon regaining movement, Li Lumeng's first reaction was to check on her teacher and classmates. Once reassured, she cautiously asked Yu Qinwen, "Who ran off last night? I heard someone fleeing."

"I heard it too," Yu Qinwen replied, her eyes wide, pointing at her arm, "Someone even grabbed my arm, trying to drag me away with them."

"Me too!" Duan Ying interjected when she heard the conversation, "But my legs had gone numb, and..."

At this point, Duan Ying stole a glance at Xie Yinxue.

In truth, it was Xie Yinxue's stern warning to "stay seated and don't move" from the night before that had frozen her in place. By the time she snapped out of her fear, the ghost in red had returned, so she didn't dare move recklessly.

Once the numbness subsided and she could stand, Li Lumeng bowed her head in gratitude to Li Hong, "Thank you, Li Hong. I might have been dead if not for you last night."

"Running around aimlessly in that situation would've been a bad idea. You shouldn't act like that again," Li Hong wanted to scold them, but he softened his words for Li Lumeng, whom he had feelings for. He scratched his head and added, "Besides, you should be thanking Mr. Xie, not me."

The three girls nodded in unison and moved closer to Xie Yinxue, their eyes still red from fear, seemingly having learned their lesson.

For Xie Yinxue, he wasn't truly upset with them. After all, if something had happened, it would've been them facing the consequences, not him.

Their reaction was quite typical. Some girls just naturally panic when confronted with danger. Strongly adaptive girls, like Chen Yun from the first instance, were rare.

At least they weren't pretending to be innocent and causing more trouble, like Su Xunlan. That alone was a relief to Xie Yinxue.

So, Xie Yinxue gently reminded them, "This place is dangerous. Your lives are in your hands. I saved you last night, but you might not be so lucky next time."

The three nodded again, "We understand, Mr. Xie."

"By the way," Xie Yinxue began, looking thoughtful, "you mentioned someone tried to drag you away last night?"

"Yes!" Duan Ying exclaimed, rolling up her sleeves to show Xie Yinxue, "He gripped me so tightly it hurt."

"Same here," Li Hong added, pulling up his own sleeve to reveal a dark mark on his wrist.

As others gathered around, they noticed similar blackened finger marks on the wrists or arms of Duan Ying, Li Hong, and a few others. Unlike bruises, these marks resembled charcoal smudges and wouldn't come off, no matter how hard they rubbed.

Another girl, Ying Yishui, looked puzzled, "Why wasn’t I grabbed?"

Xu Lu added, "I wasn't grabbed either, but I did hear footsteps."

From the looks of it, while everyone had heard the footsteps, only a few had been grabbed.

"Who was it that told us to run last night? If Mr. Xie hadn’t told us to stay put, I would've run," Liao Xinyang exclaimed, irritated by the memory. "Isn't that endangering us? That ghost came back. We might've died if we had run."

It had been dark, but each participant had a distinctive voice. For instance, Xie Yinxue's voice was soft, while Bu Jiuzhao's was deep. So, even if they couldn't clearly see their faces, they could recognize them by voice alone.

Yet, that voice urging them to run was utterly unfamiliar, its origin indistinct, making it impossible to discern where it had come from.

At this moment, Xie Yinxue grabbed Li Hong's arm, explaining, "The mark on your arms is called a 'ghost's grasp.' These bruises appear after being grabbed by a ghost and will fade over time."

Upon hearing this, Li Hong swallowed hard, rendered speechless by the revelation.

The others were equally stunned, a creeping realization settling in. Could the voice and footsteps from last night have been from... a ghost?

"This is a typical paranormal instance," Lu Ling commented with a furrowed brow, looking a bit displeased. Glancing at the sky, he added, "Dawn is approaching. Let's head back to the village house."

They had been under the bridge all night. Having been gone for so long, they wondered how severely Min Yuandan would scold them.

As expected, upon their return, Min Yuandan berated them nonstop, calling them "unlucky." He didn't even allow them to rest but insisted they rehearse their lines and scenes for the evening's dress rehearsal.

Missing one night of sleep had no impact on Xie Yinxue or Liu Buhua.

Especially since Xie Yinxue had an exceptional memory. After flipping through the script once, he had memorized all his lines. Chatting with Liu Buhua, he remarked, "This instance isn't bad. It's teeming with ghosts. It'd be great if Ahan was here; then I wouldn't need to play ghost summoning games with him."

"Yes, and there's even the ghost in red," Liu Buhua responded while perusing the script, "It's a shame her hair was so long; I couldn't see her face."

However, the others weren't in such high spirits.

They had hoped to uncover clues from Gao He about the swimming spot last night but instead fell into a treacherous trap. They were no closer to understanding the issue between Yang Ruolan and Xue Sheng, and they had almost lost their lives in the process.

With these thoughts, they wished that the ghost in red had caught and killed Gao He the previous night.

Yet, to their surprise, as Min Yuandan led them to familiarize themselves with the newly constructed stage, they once again encountered Gao He.

Xu Chen, unable to contain his anger, pointed at Gao He and shouted, "There's that damned traitor!"

No one understood how Gao He had managed to survive the previous night. On seeing them, he acted like a rat seeing a cat, running faster than anyone else. They tried to chase him, but he disappeared without a trace.

"Should we ask some villagers about him?" Li Hong proposed. "Was the water ghost really his sister? That's... terrifying, isn't it?"

Muttering under his breath, Lu Ling agreed, "We should make inquiries. If we can't uncover the situation with Yang Ruolan and Xue Sheng, perhaps he can provide a breakthrough."

Initially, Lu Ling hadn't planned to get involved too much, opting to simply follow the rules set by the NPC guide. However, with an unreliable guide like Min Yuandan, who was stingy even with clues and always prioritized his greed, Lu Ling was reconsidering. No matter what they asked, Min Yuandan just told them to mind their own business, rehearse their performance, and simply wait for the wedding to conclude.

But could they really clear the instance this way?

Lu Ling did not want to lose his life in this instance. Seeing that among the newcomers, none seemed particularly capable, and even among the veterans, there was someone like Bu Jiuzhao who was even more passive, he felt the need to take the lead in searching for clues.

Fortunately, Min Yuandan had only tasked them with rehearsing and memorizing lines during the day, allowing them freedom, thus giving everyone the chance to wander around and inquire with the villagers.

Taking advantage of the lunch break, the group approached a kind-looking elderly man. The seemingly gentle Li Lumeng stepped forward, asking: "Old sir, we are from the Jin Yuanbao troupe. As you know, we're here to perform for the wedding celebration of the Xue and Yang families. Are Yang Ruolan and Xue Sheng in love?"

"Oh yes, their relationship is the best," replied the elderly man, with a warm smile to Li Lumeng, answering every question. "Everyone in Qingfeng Village believes their union is a miracle."

The answer remains identical to what the other villagers have said.

Then, Li Lumeng asked, "Why did Gao He say their marriage wouldn't work out?"

"How did you run into this loser?" The old man frowned upon hearing Gao He's name. "Ah, you should steer clear of him. He might seem harmless, but he's no good. He upset his parents to their graves. Truly despicable! My dear, with your beauty, be wary he doesn’t set his sights on you!"

Li Lumeng glanced back, read Lu Ling's lips for guidance, then continued, "Old man, what about his sister, Gao Wan?"

Instead of answering directly, the old man queried, "Gao Wan? Why are you asking about her?"

Li Lumeng smiled and said, "Just curious."

"She was a good girl, just a bit stubborn. Passed away last year, such a pity." The old man tsked and shook his head, letting out a sigh. "If she hadn't died, Gao He might have had the money to get married. Now, he's left with no chance at all. Serves him right!"

The old man seemed to deeply dislike Gao He, always belittling and criticizing him whenever mentioned.

Those who had been deceived by Gao He the previous night strongly agreed with the old man. However, gathering information about Gao He was easier than asking about Yang Ruolan and Xue Sheng. By simply asking a random villager, they obtained significant clues, such as Gao He relying on Gao Wan for marriage funds.

Both Li Hong and Liao Xinyang, being men themselves, were taken aback and commented, "Just how worthless does a man have to be to rely on his sister for marriage funds?"

Hearing this, Duan Ying turned to look at Xu Chen. Before entering this game, their relationship was strained with frequent arguments. Although they hadn’t argued since joining the game, it didn’t mean their issues were resolved.

Li Lumeng, Yu Qinwen, and Li Hong all assumed their quarrels were due to an incident at Wenxin Tower. However, the truth had little to do with that. The Wenxin Tower incident was merely the trigger for their irreconcilable differences.

The root of their problem: Xu Chen had two elder sisters, making him the third child in the family.

Xu Chen's family had a strong preference for boys over girls, and disturbingly, both his sisters and mother were influenced by this ideology. Just the thought of marrying into such a family suffocated Duan Ying.

However, pondering this now seemed pointless. Xie Yinxue said that once they entered the game, they had to clear it or die. Even if they survived, they'd only have one more month to live unless they entered another game and cleared it.

Everyone in the game was on the brink of death. Maybe this was their punishment for delving into darkness, for those who gaze into the abyss are also gazed upon by it.

With this thought, Duan Ying withdrew her gaze from Xu Chen and let out a soft sigh.

However, her movement seemed to touch a nerve in Xu Chen, who abruptly questioned, "Why are you looking at me?"

Startled by his tone, Duan Ying looked up and as their eyes met, he said, "Do you also think I'm worthless?"

"Xu Chen," Duan Ying exclaimed in disbelief, "I didn’t say anything."

Xu Chen let out a sarcastic laugh, "Heh."

Their inexplicable argument drew the attention of everyone around. Flushed with embarrassment, Duan Ying told Xu Chen, "I don't want to argue now; we have more important things to focus on."

"Indeed, no one here cares whether you're worthless or not." Bu Jiuzhao rarely spoke, but when he did, his words weren't kind. He coldly glanced at Xu Chen and said, "We won't get any information related to Yang Ruolan or Xue Sheng from the villagers. We should head directly to the Xue and Yang households."

It would be ideal if they could meet Xue Sheng or Yang Ruolan directly.

However, as they inquired about the directions to the Xue and Yang residences, they felt the chances of meeting either Xue Sheng or Yang Ruolan were slim. And indeed—

Although the Xue residence had lanterns hanging high and was adorned with red silk, the main gate was tightly shut. When they knocked and expressed their desire to meet the young master, Xue Sheng, they were blocked by the house servants, not even allowed past the entrance, leaving them with a bitter taste of rejection.

Liao Xinyang immediately asserted, "If they're not letting us see him, there's definitely something fishy going on!"

Liu Buhua pondered for a moment and suggested, "Should we climb over the wall to get in?"

Just as the words left his lips, a clear voice from Xie Yinxue rang out, "There's no need to enter."

Everyone followed the voice and saw a young man in a snow-colored robe standing by the road, his back to them, seemingly engrossed in something.

Liu Buhua approached him and inquired, "Godfather, what are you doing?"

Xie Yinxue slightly nodded, pointing to the ground with his chin, and simply said, "Observing the path."

On hearing this, everyone else also focused their gaze on the road.

Fengnianzhai is a village with many preserved ancient buildings. Its paths are made of clay and azurite cobblestones, becoming muddy when it rains. While it hadn’t rained recently, the fog last night left the path damp and slightly dirty. Apart from that, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

After scrutinizing the path and finding nothing unusual, Li Hong asked Xie Yinxue, "Mr. Xie, is there something peculiar about this path?"

"This path..."

Yet, the person who answered was Ying Yishui. She stepped forward, squatting down to pick up some brownish clumps from the ground. After examining them closely, she remarked, "Why are there medicinal residues on the path?"

She then sniffed the residues and frowned, "It has frankincense, dragon's blood, and notoginseng... These are all hemostatic herbs."

Xu Lu exclaimed in surprise, "Can you actually identify these herbs by smell?"

Ying Yishui gave a shy smile and responded, "My father is a traditional doctor, and I’m studying traditional medicine. So I recognize these herbs."

Chao Qinghe commented, "No wonder you got the role of a medicine sage."

When the discussion returned to the herbs, everyone began to speculate: Could these herbs have been used to treat Xue Sheng?

It's worth noting that at yesterday's village feast, everyone from the Xue family appeared except Xue Sheng. Those present seemed perfectly healthy, with no signs of injury or illness, nor a need for medicinal treatment. Therefore, the obvious answer regarding whom the herbs were for was Xue Sheng.

Xie Yinxue confidently deduced, "Xue Sheng is critically ill, and chances are, he's on the brink of death."

He too stepped forward, squatting to inspect the barely noticeable medicinal residues which almost blended into the muddy road, and posed a question, "Have you ever heard of 'Bei Du'?"

"Bei Du?"

"What's that?"

Many looked puzzled upon hearing the term.

"It's a cultural belief," Xie Yinxue explained to the group. "In some places, households with a severely ill member would scatter the leftover medicine residues on frequently trodden paths, hoping that passing pedestrians would step on them and, in doing so, take away the ailment."

"There's such a belief?" Li Hong wondered aloud, "Isn’t it useless? If it really worked, why would we need doctors?"

"It might be ineffective in the real world, but here in Fengnianzhai, we've just encountered a ghost last night," Xie Yinxue warned as he rose and stepped back, "So, stay away from these residues."

"Moreover, only impoverished families typically resort to such practices, as they can't afford professional medical treatment. They rely on such superstitious methods, entrusting their hopes to the elusive divine. But the Xue family isn't lacking in wealth," Liu Buhua picked up where Xie Yinxue left off, furrowing his brows. "If the Xue family is now resorting to such practices for Xue Sheng's ailment, it might mean he really doesn’t have long left."

Everyone fell silent. They all, to varying extents, had their suspicions. Otherwise, they couldn't make sense of why Lord Xue, who had vehemently opposed Xue Sheng's relationship with Yang Ruolan for so long, would suddenly change his stance overnight and consent to their union.

They had originally assumed that the mission of this scenario—“Saving the Match”—meant that someone intended to disrupt the wedding and they needed to ensure its smooth progression. However, given the current circumstances, the situation might not be that straightforward.

Yu Qinwen posed a crucial question, “Does Yang Ruolan... know about this?”

"…Probably not?" Duan Ying hesitated, "The servants from the Xue residence are barring us from seeing Xue Sheng. It seems they're desperately trying to keep this a secret until Yang Ruolan is brought into the family."

Xu Chen, however, played devil's advocate, "What if Yang Ruolan knows about Xue Sheng's critical condition and still wants to marry him?"

Author’s note:

NPC: "Why are you wearing white again?"

Mr. Xie: "I'm playing the role of White Snake. You might as well start wearing green."

npc：？