Chapter 4: Hometown (4)

Chapter 4: Hometown (4)

◎"Save... save me..."◎

All five, including Yu Yifan, were taken aback.

Especially Wang Dong, who had been envious just a second ago, now looked at him almost agape.

Guo Yalan and Yu Ze were also puzzled. Yu Yifan was the most experienced player among them, having survived five instances. He was considered a veteran. Usually, newcomers and less experienced players would go to great lengths to team up with veterans, even at the cost of their pride. After all, this wasn't just a game; a single misstep could mean death.

"Well, at least he knows his limits..." Dropping his knife, Wang Dong forced a smile and sidled up to Yu Yifan, "Yu, team up with me instead. I'll do whatever you say and won't hold you back. If you get me out, I'll give you a house in the center of Ruocheng City!"

"I know you guys don't care about money, but it's just a token of my gratitude. It's not just about me; I have a family waiting for me to come back... Helping me means helping my whole family!"

Yu Yifan quietly watched Shi Youqing, and after a long pause, smiled, glancing at Wang Dong, "Are you sure you'll do whatever I say?"

Wang Dong: "Would I lie to you? I swear on my family's lives, I'll truly listen to you!"

Yu Ze/Guo Yalan: "..."

"Come to my room tonight."

"…Is that a yes?" Wang Dong was simultaneously shocked and overjoyed. "Blessed heavens... you really are a good person!!!"

Before nightfall, Wang Dong joyfully packed his things and left the first floor.

As he passed by Shi Youqing, he hummed with smugness.

The youth, often ignored, whispered softly, "Going there might lead to death."

"Damn... are you sick in the head?" Wang Dong cursed angrily. "Cursing me to die with your sickly look? Sour grapes because I got the opportunity and you didn't! Too late for regrets now, it's your own fault for not seizing the chance!"

The others still searching for clues nearby didn't hear Shi Youqing's remark; they only knew Wang Dong suddenly started cursing furiously before storming off in a huff.

In the hall, Guo Yalan, watching the short, stout figure at the top of the stairs, couldn't help but comment, "So they really teamed up? I thought Yu Yifan looked down on that guy?"

"A house in the center of Ruocheng City is quite tempting, and besides, if that man dies in the instance, it's not his responsibility," Yu Ze said wearily, pouring himself a glass of water and turning to Shi Youqing, "Uh... may I ask what's in your thermos?"

"This? Strawberry-flavored probiotics," the young man replied, opening his thermos for another sip. "I have a few more packets in my backpack. They're a bit sweet and good for the stomach. Would you like some?"

Yu Ze was taken aback and chuckled awkwardly, waving his hand, "No, thank you."

Who would think about health and wellness in such a place, at such a time?

As for Yu Yifan, he had gone upstairs with the newspaper soon after Shi Youqing rejected his offer to team up. Now, with Wang Dong also upstairs, only Guo Yalan, Yu Ze, Feng Bin, and Shi Youqing remained in the first-floor hall.

Everyone had finished dinner, and the clock on the wall now pointed to nine.

Shi Youqing stared blankly at his wristwatch.

Guo Yalan and Yu Ze were still examining the stack of newspapers, having already found five missing person notices for Jiang Xiaodou within the tofu block articles, identical to the first notice they saw. All the contact details provided were Li Mei's.

A person, never mentioned in the safe house nor by the NPC claiming to be Jiang Xiaodou's father, appeared in all the missing person notices for Jiang Xiaodou.

There was no phone in the house, and the players' mobile phones had lost signal upon entering the dark world, making it impossible to dial the number on the missing person notice.

As they pondered over the newspaper, someone asked in a soft, delicate voice, "Is there a place called Chenggu Town in the real world?"

It was Shi Youqing.

"No," Yu Ze replied, "I searched tirelessly for several days about Chenggu Town after receiving the prompt to enter this scenario. There's no such place! By the way, I forgot to ask, how did you think to check the tofu block section?"

"...It wasn't so much a thought as a habit," Shi Youqing said, looking at the newspapers on the floor. "Before coming here, my house was also piled with newspapers."

"Eh?"

"Someone in my family went missing. At first, we reported it to the police, but there was no news. To find my family member quickly, we contacted some TV stations and newspapers to publish a missing person notice... However, not all newspapers would publish it, so during that period, I bought many newspapers we had approached, checking to see if they published it... I also bought other newspapers to find contact details and request them to publish the missing person notice..."

So that's how it was...

Silence enveloped the group.

Noticing the comforting expressions of the couple in front, Shi Youqing pursed his lips slightly and held back his following words.

His mother didn't just disappear suddenly.

The day before the incident, he had beaten his mother at chess.

Shi Youqing had always been frail, and going outside had become a luxury after his last serious illness. To keep him entertained, his mother started playing chess with him at home.

He hadn't been learning Go for long and never managed to win against his mother without her guidance.

But that day, he won.

His mother's eyes began to look strange, and the already odd chessboard turned eerily blood-red. He even thought it was a high-tech board his mother had bought to amuse him, and he watched it excitedly for a long time.

His mother had asked then, "Youqing, do you want to go back to your hometown?"

"Hometown?"

"Yes, your birthplace. You lived there when you were very young."

"I don't remember it... Where is that?"

After a long silence, the other person smiled and said, "Chenggu Town."

After his mother disappeared, he mentioned Chenggu Town to the police, but they said no such place existed.

It couldn't be found on any map either.

Until yesterday.

Initially, he just wanted to visit a newspaper office in the neighboring city. Unable to buy a bus ticket, he tried to find a carpool on a ride-hailing app and stumbled upon the words "Chenggu Town" in the search bar...

A completed route appeared in a place that had always shown no results before.

The moment he got into the car and looked at the fiery sunset outside the window, he felt an inexplicable sadness.

It was then he realized that this ominous place might truly be his hometown.

*

At night, around eleven, Guo Yalan and Yu Ze couldn't stay awake any longer and went back to their room to rest.

Shi Youqing remained seated, staring up at the clock on the wall.

Feng Bin stood up: "Aren't you going back?"

Shi Youqing glanced at him: "Do you think the child upstairs is really Jiang Xiaodou?"

The other person frowned: "What do you mean?"

Shi Youqing's gaze returned to the newspaper: "The missing Jiang Xiaodou has returned, but where did Li Mei, who was searching for him, go?"

“……”

"A five or six-year-old child would keep looking for their mother if they can't see her, right? But the child upstairs never cried out for his mother even when he was upset."

Feng Bin's expression became grave: "You mean..."

"Maybe, he knows he'll never see his mother again."

"No, that's not right," Feng Bin said, "If his mother died in an accident, it's unlikely that the adults would tell such a small child who was just found that his mother is dead..."

"You misunderstand," Shi Youqing gently pointed towards the ceiling, "I mean, maybe Jiang Xiaodou himself is already dead."

Feng Bin: "..."

"So, he knows he will never meet his mother again."

*

Back in his bedroom, Feng Bin still found it absurd.

Shi Youqing's words were full of holes. The safe house isolated sinister spirits, so how could a ghost, already dead, possibly live here?

And there was no evidence to prove Jiang Xiaodou was dead!

When he questioned this, the other person even joked, "There's no evidence. I'm just speculating."

“……”

It was incomprehensible!

Yet, deep inside, he felt an indescribable unease ever since hearing those words.

Shi Youqing had stayed in the hall without coming in, and Feng Bin didn't bother with him anymore, climbing to the upper bunk and closing his eyes.

Time trickled by, the room eerily silent.

Feng Bin tossed and turned, unable to sleep, and finally glanced at the time. There were only five minutes left until midnight.

Shi Youqing was still outside!

Frowning, he got out of bed and opened the door to call him, when suddenly, a piercing scream echoed through the entire building.

“……”

The sound came from upstairs!

A second of stunned hesitation later, Feng Bin quickly grabbed an axe and dashed out, spotting Shi Youqing's figure even before reaching the stairwell.

Like him, Shi Youqing had picked up a handy iron rod and was heading upstairs. Hindered by his physical condition, his movements were slower, prompting Feng Bin to instinctively pull him along as he passed.

Both reached the second-floor corridor simultaneously.

The stench was unbearable...

A potent mix of blood and decay filled the air.

Unprepared, the sight outside Yu Yifan's door struck them violently as they looked up.

"Those creatures have gotten in," Shi Youqing said.

Feng Bin's face turned ashen.

In this urgent situation, with Yu Yifan's cries for help almost hoarse, he clenched his teeth, closed his eyes, and swung the axe fiercely...

Following a loud crash, a twisted purple-black arm that had been sticking through the door gap fell to the floor with a thud.

At the same time, Yu Yifan and the others - Guo and Yu, trembling as they assisted - managed to push the door tightly shut and hurriedly locked it.

"Save... save me..."

The cries from inside the door grew fainter, soon overtaken by sounds of tearing and swallowing.

Standing in the second-floor corridor were five people, and one severed purple-black arm.

Wang Dong was dead.

[? Author's Note]

Thanks to the angel who cast a deep-sea torpedo: --Waiting for the Aurora-- 1 piece;

Thanks to the angels who cast rockets: zbht (Love to Raise Little Beauty Version), Cabbage 1 piece;

Thanks to the angel who cast a hand grenade: Late Night No More 1 piece;

Special thanks to the angel who cast a landmine: Lichuan, Bai Lan Family Salted Fish Number 1 piece;

Heartfelt thanks to the angels who irrigated with nutrient solution: Keke 13 bottles; A Roll of Steel Wool 11 bottles; Li Zhi Yao Lv Jinjiang All Attackers, Ji Shan 10 bottles; Jiang Panpan 3 bottles; Lin Beibei 2 bottles;

I'm very grateful for everyone's support, and I will continue to work hard!