Chapter 61: Offering (4)

Chapter 61: Offering (4)

◎ Nightmare ◎

Before nightfall, all the players who were out hurried back to their respective cabins.

In the evening, Hao Tianshuo boiled some water and, while bringing it inside, playfully warned, “Actually, it's best not to drink it. There’s no toilet in here, and we can’t go out at night…”

Luo Yanzhong: “Can a person really die from holding their pee?”

Hao Tianshuo: “True, we're worried about our lives here, who cares about modesty. Uncle, don’t worry, I’ll cover for you!”

Luo Yanzhong dryly remarked, “There’s a waste bucket in that room, no need to wet your pants.”

Hao Tianshuo burst into laughter.

Xia Yue: “Only you would find this funny.”

Hao Tianshuo: “Just trying to lighten the mood!”

Shi Youqing, listening to their banter, had taken his medicine and was resting in a corner.

Just as the last light of dusk faded, Sister Li arrived, carrying a bag. Instead of entering immediately, she threw the bag heavily in front of the cabin, quickly stepped inside, and locked the door without waiting for anyone to check the bag.

As she entered, Shi Youqing detected a strong scent of blood and an indescribable, strange odor.

The others obviously smelled it too, with Hao Tianshuo even covering his nose.

Xia Yue asked softly, “Sister Li, what’s that smell on you?”

Sister Li patted her clothes, a hint of pride in her tone: “Our revered deity rewarded us with plenty of fresh fish, but since it's the time for the souls to return home, we’ve left the fish outside for the spirits. They can only return during this period, while we have plenty of time ahead, no rush.”

Xia Yue glanced at Guo Yalan and muttered, “So smelly, yet fresh…”

Guo Yalan quickly gestured for her to be quiet.

Sister Li turned sharply, fixing a cold, unsettling stare on Xia Yue, who immediately fell silent and retreated in fear to her mat from the previous night.

Sister Li, pale and icy, only lay down in the central coffin after Xia Yue was fully reclined, then grunted and slid into it, closing the lid behind her.

As the coffin lid shut completely, Xia Yue exhaled deeply, “That scared me to death…”

Hao Tianshuo, also visibly shaken, whispered, “Those outside… are they really fish?”

“It probably is,” Luo Yanzhong sniffed, “There’s a fishy smell, but the stench is something else.”

Hao Tianshuo: “Could there be dead bodies in it?”

Luo Yanzhong: “...It’s not impossible.”

“……”

Hao Tianshuo and Xia Yue shivered simultaneously.

Shi Youqing stared at the coffin for a while before shifting his gaze to the window.

Soon, the same eerie scene as the previous night reappeared.

It was like a procession of a hundred ghosts. Shadows moved back and forth outside, but this time they all congregated near the spot where Sister Li had dropped the bag, each bending down to it…

The sounds of chewing, ripping, and swallowing then became distinctly audible, creating an almost vivid and horrifying tableau in their minds, despite not seeing anything. The sticky, lingering air seemed to gradually envelop them.

Xia Yue covered her mouth and nose: “That sounds… so disgusting.”

Hao Tianshuo also found it unbearable, constantly shifting to stay further away from the doors and windows.

Shi Youqing was listening intently when suddenly…

“Thump thump thump—”

A knocking sound at the door!!!

All five of them changed color instantaneously.

The knocking was steady and rhythmic, just one knock after another.

At this moment, no one dared to ask who it was.

Who else could it be but a ghost?!

“Thump”

“Thump thump”...

The knocking continued.

The group was visibly terrified, clenching their teeth and waiting for the ghost to leave, but the knocking persisted, relentless and unending.

Gradually, Hao Tianshuo and the others showed signs of extreme agitation. The ghost that had torn the window paper the previous night had stayed only briefly, but now, the knocking seemed as if it would never cease.

Each knock sent a jolt through their hearts, as if being twisted by an unseen hand.

Shi Youqing closed his eyes, trying to ignore the sounds from outside the door.

Time passed, and suddenly, after one more loud “thump,” an eerie silence descended.

The air cooled several degrees, prompting a puzzled Shi Youqing to open his eyes.

Darkness enveloped him, rendering everything invisible.

The faint light that had been inside the cabin was now completely absent.

“Guo Yalan?” he called out softly.

No response.

“Hao Tianshuo, Xia Yue… Luo Yanzhong?”

Still no response.

Something was terribly wrong.

Shi Youqing stood up, reaching out into the void. It was empty.

There were no walls, no people.

It was as if he had suddenly entered an endless, dark void.

Before he could contemplate further, the sound of leather shoes lightly tapping on the ground approached from afar.

Right behind him...

Someone was walking towards him!

Shi Youqing didn’t turn around; his instincts screamed that he must not look back.

The footsteps were drawing closer!

He started to run, but no matter which direction he chose or how fast he went, the footsteps maintained a constant distance from him.

The moment he stopped, the footsteps sounded closer.

Shi Youqing had no choice but to keep moving forward. He estimated he had covered a considerable distance, yet his surroundings remained shrouded in darkness.

He tried calling out softly for Guo Yalan and the others, but there was no response.

This was very strange.

They had all followed the rules, so why was tonight so different from last night?

Almost out of energy, Shi Youqing gritted his teeth and continued moving forward.

Suddenly, another sound joined the footsteps behind him.

A rustling sound.

More rustling.

Shi Youqing stopped in his tracks.

That sound... it was somewhat familiar.

The rustling continues.

The strange noise was rapidly closing in on him. Before he could think further, his feet were ensnared by a substance that felt like mud, gripping him tightly!

Shi Youqing looked down silently, his eyes widening.

He couldn’t see what it was, although he thought of the black object that had brought him the thermos the previous night. Without any certainty, he felt only an instinctual fear of these inhuman entities.

He tried to shake off the substance on his feet, but it clung tighter and tighter. In just a few seconds, it had “swollen” at his feet!

The thing grew larger and taller. Shi Youqing, originally entangled at the feet, felt as if he was being lifted by some massive entity during his struggle.

The thing continued to wrap around his legs.

However, the footsteps behind him were gradually receding.

Shi Youqing, blind, focused intently on listening. He quickly realized that the giant creature beneath him was moving rapidly forward.

Soon, the footsteps were completely left behind.

Shi Youqing stood motionless.

Something warm and soft rubbed against his foot.

“……”

He lowered his head, gazing at the dark mass for a long moment, his expression complex, but eventually, he bent down to sit.

“Bo Huai,” he said, “is that you?”

The massive creature responded only with a rustling sound.

Shi Youqing fell silent.

They moved for a while longer until, at last, a light appeared ahead—a candle placed at the crossroads, nearly burnt down to its base, about to extinguish.

In front of the candle was a steaming bowl of rice.

Upon seeing the rice, Shi Youqing was suddenly overwhelmed by an unprecedented hunger.

It felt as if he had been starving for seven days and nights, on the brink of death.

—He wanted to devour that bowl of rice.

This thought was instinctive.

Under such a powerful desire, Shi Youqing's senses hadn't fully returned, and he detected a different, enticing aroma.

The aroma was distinctly different from that of the rice, yet even more enticing.

Then, a limb resembling a tentacle extended from the giant creature, its dark surface holding a bag of roasted chestnuts.

As if worried he couldn't see, it even shook the bag in front of his eyes.

Shi Youqing: “…”

He took the bag of chestnuts.

The giant creature continued moving forward.

The bowl of rice at the crossroad was crushed under his foot.

Despite his hunger, Shi Youqing, wary of the eeriness of this place, just clutched the bag of roasted chestnuts tightly without eating them.

As the white light fully emerged, the scene before his eyes began to blur.

Back in the cabin at the same time.

Shi Youqing suddenly opened his eyes, gasping for breath.

“Are you okay?” Guo Yalan asked from beside him.

“I’m fine…” His voice was hoarse.

Moments later, adjusting to the dim light, Shi Youqing felt his pocket, now bulging with an additional item.

“They haven’t woken up yet,” Guo Yalan said worriedly,

Shi Youqing turned to look at the other three people.

All of them were sleeping, heads drooping.

“Soon after the knocking started, you all fell asleep,” Guo Yalan explained the situation, “No matter how loudly I called, I couldn’t wake anyone, especially you. Your breathing was very erratic…”

Knowing already about her “Traveling Companion” identity, Shi Youqing wasn’t surprised by her being the only one awake. He leaned over to check on the sleeping trio: “We need to wake them up.”

Guo Yalan shook her head: “Shouting or hitting, nothing works. They’re like devoid of consciousness... I don’t understand what’s happening.”

Now free to move and with a clear mind, Shi Youqing reflected on his dream and stood up decisively, “It’s related to our offerings. The spirits we offered food to during the day are now 'repaying' us.”

“...Repaying?”

Shi Youqing nodded: “Everyone was fine last night. It must be something we all did today that we didn’t do yesterday.”

Guo Yalan immediately understood: “You mean the offerings?!”

Shi Youqing said, “Right, we offered sacrifices to the ghosts, and now it seems they are reciprocating. Do you remember the knocking sound? We entered the dream right after it. In the dream, I encountered a bowl of white rice. I was very hungry, but I didn’t eat it and kept walking until I woke up. That bowl of rice was food for the dead, and eating it might have meant not coming back.”

Guo Yalan: “What do we do now? We can’t enter someone else’s dream.”

Shi Youqing took out the bag of roasted chestnuts from his pocket.

The other person was momentarily surprised, curiosity in their eyes, but they didn’t ask further.

Shi Youqing shared half of the chestnuts with Guo Yalan, and the two dangled the fragrant nuts in front of the noses of the three dreamers.

He wasn’t sure if this would wake them, but without other options, they had to try something.

Hao Tianshuo was the first to wake, reaching for the chestnuts. Shi Youqing pushed him away and continued to rouse the others.

Hao Tianshuo: “…”

Luo Yanzhong and Xia Yue woke almost simultaneously, exhausted as if they had climbed a mountain, gasping for breath.

Ghostly shadows still roamed outside the window.

Yet, the atmosphere inside the room gradually lightened.

Shi Youqing sat back down with the chestnuts.

Hao Tianshuo, patting his chest excitedly, chattered about his experience.

He described a pitch-black dreamscape. Alone, he wandered for hours in search of an exit, tired and thirsty, until he came upon a bowl of rice at a crossroads.

“I didn’t eat it! I’ve heard rumors about premonitory dreams before death, like eating funeral offerings or food meant for the dead… It's superstitious in reality, but here it might be different. I didn’t dare to eat! But even without eating, whenever I crossed the intersection, the rice reappeared… Finally, I smelled something good. I thought it was a ghost tricking me. I tentatively tossed the bowl away, and then I woke up! Ah, tell me, where did you get these roasted chestnuts!”

Shi Youqing: “…”

“I had a similar experience,” Xia Yue, drenched in sweat from exhaustion, said, “But I overturned the bowl instead.”

Luo Yanzhong spoke seriously: “Sometimes, dreams within the game come with hints. I ignored the bowl of rice and searched around for a while but found nothing. When I smelled the scent, I knew one of you had awakened. Eventually, I shattered the bowl, and that indeed woke me up.”

Xia Yue realized, “So, to wake up from that dream, all we needed to do was destroy the bowl of rice?”

Luo Yanzhong nodded.

Shi Youqing asked, “Did any of you really not hear the footsteps?”

All three shook their heads in unison.

Realizing belatedly, Guo Yalan also shook her head, imitating the players.

Shi Youqing’s expression darkened slightly.

The footsteps following him were likely from the monster that appeared in the Six Families instance — the Black World boss.

Deciding this matter was unrelated to the other players, Shi Youqing pushed it aside in his mind and addressed the pressing issue, “Our nightmares are connected to our daytime offerings, but since the offerings are a mandatory task, the game wouldn’t set an inescapable trap through it. There might be similar dreams each night, but there will always be a way out. Don’t take the dreams lightly, and never give up.”

Luo Yanzhong nodded, then asked after a moment, “Do you remember what the NPC said yesterday? ‘The spirits here have no emotions from when they were alive.’”

Hao Tianshuo: “What about that phrase?”

Luo Yanzhong cast a frustrated glance at him, and Shi Youqing explained, “The fact that the spirits have no emotions from their lives implies that these ghosts aren’t vengeful spirits.”

Hao Tianshuo was dumbfounded: “Ah, so they’re not vengeful spirits despite being so terrifying and deadly?”

Luo Yanzhong said, “Their lethality is only from our human perspective. To the emotionless spirits, the actions in the dream were merely reciprocation. As for the consequence of never waking up again after eating, that might not be their primary intent... I think the island’s real mystery isn’t necessarily with the ghosts.”

Silence followed.

Shi Youqing looked at Luo Yanzhong, then at Hao Tianshuo, and smiled slightly: “Your money was well spent.”

Catching Shi Youqing’s implication, Luo Yanzhong exclaimed, “You think so too?”

Shi Youqing nodded: “Despite the abundance and ferocity of ghosts here, so far, no player has died because of them.”

Xia Yue: “But on the first night, eight people…”

Shi Youqing was about to speak directly but paused, reminded of his mother who used to play chess with him. He advised, “Think about the rules again.”

Xia Yue was stunned for a few seconds, then turned to look at Hao Tianshuo, who was equally puzzled. Suddenly, it clicked, and both exclaimed in shock: “My goodness, does that mean those people disappeared because…”

Guo Yalan quickly covered their mouths, pointing to the central coffin.

They immediately fell silent.

The rule states that everyone must be home before dark, corresponding to the threat of ghosts taking lives after dark.

Therefore, as long as one stays indoors and avoids contact with ghosts after dark, at the very least, they won’t die at the hands of ghosts.

The notion that being in coffins makes one undetectable to ghosts is a false rule. Most people assumed those eight players died because of breaking the rules.

While it's possible, the assumption that the false rule caused their deaths is based solely on the disappearance of those eight.

No one actually witnessed the bodies of those eight — no one saw their deaths.

The exact cause of their deaths remains speculative at best.

But it certainly wasn't ghost-related, as the coffins were inside a safe home.

As for the nightmares, on their first day, they hadn’t started making offerings, so nightmares couldn’t manifest.

If... if they’ve been wrong in their assumptions, and the false rule isn’t lethal, then where did those people go?

With the coffins inside the house, only a person could tamper with someone in a coffin.

Shi Youqing glanced at the central coffin and lip-synced, “Keep a close eye on her movements tomorrow.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, then quietly discussed in surprise before Hao Tianshuo again brought up the topic of the bag of roasted chestnuts...

Before Shi Youqing could fabricate a reason, Guo Yalan covered for him, “Found it outside this afternoon, left by someone who made too many and didn’t want them.”

Xia Yue, full of questions: “Ah? Really?”

Guo Yalan: “You were in the bathroom then.”

Xia Yue: “Oh, right!”

Shi Youqing distributed the chestnuts. The hunger they felt in the dream had subsided, but the sight of food still tempted them. With a long night ahead, they sat together, chatting while snacking.

Hao Tianshuo: “...All we’re missing is a campfire, eh!”

Xia Yue: “You really think this is a vacation, huh?”

Hao Tianshuo: “Who says thrill-seeking isn’t a form of tourism?”

Xia Yue: “…”

Luo Yanzhong: “...These chestnuts are good.”

Guo Yalan ate one and then stopped, staring out the window, lost in thought.

Shi Youqing listened to their chatter about reality and the mysteries within the instance. He peeled chestnuts slowly, eating absentmindedly. After consuming five or six, he suddenly realized he had only peeled three initially!

He quietly lowered his eyelids.

In his hands, two pitch-black tentacles tirelessly peeled the chestnuts from the bag, quickly adding two or three more peeled ones to his hand...

Shi Youqing: “…”

Sensing his gaze, the dark entity instantly disappeared into the shadows.

Shi Youqing continued eating the chestnuts. As soon as he finished what was in his hand, the dark entity reappeared, this time more discreetly.

The young man diverted his gaze, focusing again on the others' conversation.

His hand quickly filled up with chestnuts again.

Shi Youqing looked down, bringing his face closer to the dark creature, his eyes intently observing the unmoving, round orbs.

The shadowy creature froze, then scuttled away in a rustling sound, looking utterly flustered…

Soon, everyone got ready to sleep.

Once the cabin was completely silent, the eerie black mass reemerged with a rustling sound.

Moments later, in a dark corner of the wooden cabin, a growing, bizarre shadow was cast by the moonlight filtering through the window.

The shadow slowly approached the sleeping young man, bending down close to his forehead. Then it shivered slightly, enveloping him completely and becoming motionless.

[Author’s Note]

Thanks to the angels who watered with nutrient solution: "Men Who Don’t Love Themselves Are Like Spoiled Cabbages" 10 bottles; Yun Qi, Lillian 5 bottles; Silver Key 3 bottles; Sui Qiu 2 bottles; Xiu Ying, Nan Yu 1 bottle each;

Shi Youqing expressed his gratitude: “Thank you all for your support; I will keep striving!”