Chapter 2: Hometown (Part 2)

Chapter 2: Hometown (Part 2)

◎Sizzling...◎

As soon as those words were uttered, everyone’s expression changed.

Wang Dong was the first to regain his senses: “Don’t listen to his nonsense. Though I don’t have much experience, I spent a lot of money consulting veteran players before entering the game. No one has ever seen a safe house fail! He’s playing mind games, knowing he’s weak and forcing us to find clues quickly to take him out. If anyone is foolish enough to believe him, they might take risky actions to find the chess piece clues! So sinister!”

Shi Youqing, patting his backpack, stood up: “Let’s divide the rooms. Sorry, I’m a bit sleepy.”

Ignored repeatedly, Wang Dong was furious: “Exposed, huh?”

Shi Youqing had already gone to check the rooms.

Wang Dong cursed: “Damn! Is he deaf?”

Guo Yalan remarked: “Uncle, you really are noisy.”

"Your mother..." He turned to attack but was immediately pinned down by Yu Ze: “Why didn’t you use this energy on the monsters when we got off the car?”

“Enough, stop fighting!” Yu Yifan pulled them apart, sounding very impatient, “If you want to cooperate, do so. If not, at least don’t start infighting. If you really want to die, I won’t stop you.”

Wang Dong finally quieted down.

Yu Ze chuckled, pushing the man away and returned to Guo Yalan.

Meanwhile, Shi Youqing, with his backpack, carefully inspected the first floor. Besides the hall and kitchen, there were two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a roughly ten-square-meter painting studio, likely the landlord’s home office.

Hesitating whether to go upstairs, he saw Feng Bin head up first.

Shi Youqing immediately followed.

The stairway light was dim. As they ascended, the leading figure paused.

“What’s wrong?”

“Are you afraid of ghosts?”

After a two-second silence, seemingly reluctant to even utter the word, Shi Youqing muttered, “Most people are afraid of that, aren’t they?”

The other person sized him up for a moment, then turned to continue walking forward, "Not many are chosen by the game, and those who dare not climb the stairs in the safe house alone, indeed find it hard to survive in the game."

Lowering his eyelids, Shi Youqing walked slowly, remaining silent.

The layout of the second floor was simple, with a master bedroom lit up, two guest rooms, each equipped with a bathroom, unlike the first floor, and a small study room.

The third floor was an attic filled with miscellaneous items.

When he returned to the hall, everyone was already yawning and starting to choose rooms. The young couple chose the bedroom at the end of the second floor, Yu Yifan chose another room on the same floor, and Wang Dong, seeing him as the most experienced, wanted to stay with him but was refused.

So, only two bedrooms on the first floor were left.

Wang Dong hurried into the cleaner master bedroom on the first floor, while the other room, originally used by the landlord to store food, had only a wooden bunk bed.

Shi Youqing went in to check, relieved to find the bed free of clutter.

At the door, Wang Dong tried to chat with Feng Bin, "Young man, why don’t you stay with me? My room is clean, the bed is comfortable, and we can help each other out in case of trouble! That sickly guy will only hold people back!"

Shi Youqing bent down, starting to shake the dust off the lower bunk's bedsheet.

Moments later, the bedsheet was clean, and the door closed with a clang. Feng Bin's figure swept past him, stepping on the wooden ladder to jump onto the upper bunk.

Shi Youqing: "..."

Wang Dong, outside the door, cursed them for being ungrateful.

Shi Youqing glanced at the time on his wristwatch; it was nearly 3 a.m.

He settled his backpack and lay on the bed. The lower bunk was close to the window. Despite the curtains tightly drawn, he could still hear faint movements outside the window.

Certainly not human footsteps.

"The outside is swarming with those monsters."

The image of the face pressed against the car window flashed before his eyes again. Shi Youqing looked up at the bunk above: "Thanks for saving me today."

"I'm not that kind-hearted," the other person replied coldly. "You should be thanking my younger brother."

"Ah?"

"I saved you because your health is as fragile as my brother’s."

"Oh," he replied earnestly, "thank you to your brother then."

“……”

"He was also a player of this game?"

After a brief silence.

"Yes, but he died in the first instance, killed by a teammate."

“……”

"Actually, what you said makes sense," Feng Bin's voice remained flat, "We entered the safe house too easily. If we don't quickly find the clues for the chess piece and a way to counter the monsters outside, something bad might happen... We should start early tomorrow."

"Hmm."

That night, Shi Youqing did not sleep well, plagued by dreams, different from the usual bizarre, escape-themed ones.

He dreamt he was standing alone in the hall of this small building. The lights flickered in the hall, and distant cries of a child echoed. Though frightened, his feet involuntarily moved towards the staircase, then straight to the lit master bedroom on the second floor.

The door wasn't locked. As he approached, it creaked open on its own.

The man named Jiang Haofan wasn't there. On the large bed lay a sobbing boy, about five or six years old, silent despite his tears.

Shi Youqing walked over and, uncontrollably, reached out to pick up the boy.

The boy, not small for his age, was heavy to lift. Just as he leaned down to ask why the boy was crying, his body suddenly froze.

The boy in his arms smiled at him, but that face... that face...

He panicked and threw the boy back onto the bed. In the blink of an eye, the boy's face on the bed changed to an unfamiliar one, looking at him quizzically...

"Hey! Wake up!"

Gasping for breath, Shi Youqing's face was soaked with sweat, damp and glistening.

Feng Bin stood by the bed, looking at him with a strange expression.

Lifting his wristwatch, he saw it was already eight in the morning.

"Sorry, had a nightmare," he said, wiping the sweat off as he sat up.

New players often have nightmares, or even break down in fear and panic. Seeing that Shi Youqing was alright, Feng Bin left the room.

By the time Shi Youqing went out, the hall was bustling, with all the players sitting at the dining table eating.

He went into the bathroom to wash his face. The mirror up close reflected his own face, familiar yet strangely daunting to look at directly.

In the dream, the boy's face had changed into his own childhood likeness after he picked him up...

There were many instant foods in the food storage, and naturally, no one was in the mood to cook, so they all sat eating instant noodles while discussing last night's events.

Shi Youqing, with little appetite, just picked at a bag of bread.

After eating, the six of them split up to search the small building.

Shi Youqing went up to the second floor and paused outside the landlord's bedroom.

A man's voice faintly came from inside: "Xiaodou... stop it, Xiaodou, drink your medicine, it's not bitter..."

After staring at the door for a while, he turned and stepped into the adjacent study.

The study was somewhat disordered, filled with professional books on painting, an assortment of comics, novels, poetry, and prose. Shi Youqing ran his fingers along the spines of the books, reviewing each title until he stumbled upon a conspicuously out-of-place family tree in a corner.

This family tree was thick, seemingly untouched for a long time, covered with a layer of dust.

He picked up the family tree, dusted it off, and opened the heavy cover.

Unlike typical family trees, the first page of this one detailed the history of a clan leader from Chenggu Town.

A century ago, an old man named Jiang, who possessed the ability to communicate with spirits, settled here. With his gift, he dispelled misfortune for many, even exonerating the wrongly deceased, eventually being elected as the clan leader.

Due to the leader’s powerful spirit communication abilities, the entire Chenggu Town was spared misfortunes. For years, not even minor thefts occurred, let alone violent crimes, until the leader passed away at the age of one hundred…

Shi Youqing read on intently.

The study was eerily quiet.

"Crackle, crackle, crackle…" the sound continued, oddly staccato.

The hand flipping through the family tree paused.

"Crackle... crackle... crackle..."

The strange, stuttering noise persisted.

It was coming from right behind him.

Gripping the page, Shi Youqing slowly turned around.

The wind had picked up, causing the tree shadows outside the window to flicker.

The sound originated from an old tape recorder near the window, emitting endless static before suddenly starting to play a nursery rhyme:

"...come to the window, my treasure, join me,"

"to see the stars, twinkling over the sea."

"There are two little stars, playing hide and seek,"

"And two little fish, deep in the ocean deep,"

"Two little frogs, calling: 'Little tide, little tide, little tide',"

"I see a dear treasure,"

"It's time for bed."①

The air grew noticeably colder.

As Shi Youqing was about to turn around, a pale hand landed on his shoulder.

[Author’s Note]

① The rhyme in the story is adapted from “Come to the Window” by Mother Goose.