Chapter 62: Offering (5)

Chapter 62: Offering (5)

◎Deity◎

The next morning, Xia Yue was the first to hear the sound of a coffin being moved — Sister Li had awakened.

She hurriedly called the others.

As Sister Li stepped out, Luo Yanzhong quietly followed her.

Xia Yue and Hao Tianshuo stayed back to cook rice, while Shi Youqing and Guo Yalan went to check on the other cabins.

Another death had occurred last night — the bald man who stayed in the same cabin as Chu Wei.

Chu Wei, in his now crumpled suit, looked exhausted: “Something knocked on the door last night. I unknowingly fell asleep and when I woke from the dream, he was already breathless…”

At that moment, Qiao Mingcheng also arrived. Having experienced the nightmare himself, he was incredulous upon hearing this: “He died in the dream?”

Chu Wei solemnly nodded: “He never came out of the dream.”

The body had already vanished. Qiao Mingcheng said, “The living didn’t touch last night’s rice, so he must have eaten the dream's food… The ghosts can indeed kill in dreams.”

Shi Youqing, standing at the door, surveyed the room before his gaze settled back on Chu Wei: “So right after you woke up, he stopped breathing?”

Chu Wei adjusted his glasses, looking down: “Of course, otherwise I would have tried everything to wake him.”

Shi Youqing shifted his gaze and walked away.

At the crossroads, Zong Zhu Yuan and his two cabin mates approached. Seeing Shi Youqing, they hesitated.

Shi Youqing glanced at the two men with Zong Zhu Yuan. One appeared over fifty, bearing a slight resemblance to Zong Zhu Yuan in his demeanor, though his expression was troubled. He seemed to know Zong Zhu Yuan but their relationship appeared strained. The other, a young man of similar age to Shi Youqing, seemed more at ease, likely an experienced player as well.

Shi Youqing continued walking forward, brushing past Zong Zhu Yuan who suddenly spoke: “Be careful of the people around you.”

Guo Yalan, following close behind, stiffened for a moment.

Shi Youqing blocked Zong Zhu Yuan's gaze from Guo Yalan and retorted, “Watch your mouth.”

The other raised an eyebrow, then chuckled, “You really hold a grudge.”

Shi Youqing, as if he hadn't heard anything, walked away with Guo Yalan without looking back.

Along the way, Guo Yalan seemed to want to speak but hesitated.

Shi Youqing glanced at her from the corner of his eye, “You don’t need to say anything; I understand.”

Zong Zhu Yuan had seen her corpse, so his suspicion was not without reason.

However, after understanding the meaning of “Traveling Companion” in the instance’s clues, Shi Youqing had completely dismissed all his doubts about her. Even if he hadn’t taken Yu Ze out of the last instance, he had a basic understanding of Guo Yalan – her actions in the Fenggu Town incident, allowing other players into the house at a critical moment, saving Feng Bin when monsters roamed...

If such a person became a puppet of the game – an NPC, he wouldn’t be surprised by any of her actions.

But as a spirit, as a traveling companion in this instance, Shi Youqing trusted himself and her.

“You shouldn’t have come alone,” Guo Yalan sighed.

“I’m not alone.”

She looked at him.

Shi Youqing was calm: “Past friends, new friends, I’m not alone.”

……

The morning offering was about to begin.

Lin Yong, no longer acting insane today, had cooked the rice himself. When Shi Youqing arrived, he was closely guarding the bowl on the offering table, as if afraid someone would take it away.

“Lin Yong?”

Startled, Lin Yong turned around quickly.

Shi Youqing asked, “Are you okay now?”

Lin Yong tensed up, seemingly afraid of him, and started to back away, head lowered.

Standing at the doorway, Shi Youqing didn’t approach further but asked, “What exactly happened yesterday? Do you remember?”

At these words, Lin Yong’s eyes filled with terror, and he began to shake his head vigorously while clutching it, starting to spout incoherent words. Shi Youqing could only make out a few words from his unclear speech.

“Death” and “well.”

He continued in this state, seemingly unable to communicate normally. Shi Youqing stepped closer, reaching out for the bowl of offering.

Lin Yong immediately screamed, “No… don’t kill me!!!”

Shi Youqing's eyes shifted subtly, and he asked softly, “Who wants to kill you?”

“You!”

“Me?”

“No… not you, you save me!”

“...Talk properly.”

Shi Youqing had been speaking gently, but his sudden sternness made Lin Yong shiver into compliance: “It... it looked just like you! It’s you! No, not you… It wants to kill me! Save me…” His words became disjointed and erratic towards the end.

“Looks like me? Is it a player or an NPC?!”

But Lin Yong couldn’t answer anything further, his lips twitching as he kept shaking his head.

Guo Yalan, who had entered upon hearing the commotion, observed for a while and said quietly, “He's been severely traumatized, possibly influenced by other factors. Although his life is saved, he won’t recover to normal before we leave.”

“……”

Shortly after leaving Lin Yong’s cabin, the food Hao Tianshuo and the others were guarding had completely vanished. Luo Yanzhong returned at this time, looking uneasy: “I lost track of them.”

Hao Tianshuo exclaimed, “I thought you were good at tailing people! Did they notice you and shake you off?”

Luo Yanzhong shook his head: “They were heading deep into the peach blossom forest. I maintained distance and was careful, as they seemed preoccupied with rushing. They definitely didn’t notice me… But when I reached the end of the forest, the group ahead had completely disappeared.”

“……”

Hao Tianshuo and Xia Yue looked astonished.

Shi Youqing asked, “They vanished into thin air?”

Luo Yanzhong: “Yeah, I thought there might be a hidden passage, but after a long search, I found nothing. That’s why I returned so late.”

Shi Youqing pondered briefly, then suggested, “Let’s check on Xiao Hai’s family first.”

On the way, they didn’t encounter a single person; surprisingly, all the locals who stayed home today seemed to have remained indoors.

When they reached Xiao Hai’s house, the wooden door was tightly shut.

Shi Youqing approached and knocked on the door.

After a long while, a childish voice came from inside: “Grandpa won’t let me go out…”

“They are at home!” Xia Yue said, quickly stepping forward, “Xiao Hai, is your grandpa feeling better?”

Xiao Hai’s voice was hesitant: “Thank you, he’s better…”

Xia Yue: “Can we come in to see?”

This time, a forceful and angry shout answered them: “Get lost! All of you, just get lost! Leave as soon as possible!!!”

It was the voice of the old man.

Xia Yue, startled, stepped back, indignantly saying, “We helped with medical care, and this is how you treat us? What kind of gratitude is this?!”

The old man’s voice grew shrill: “Leave if you don’t want to die—”

Shi Youqing bent down, trying to peer through the crack in the door. Suddenly, he found himself staring into a pair of cloudy, bloodshot eyes: “Leave if you don’t want to die!”

He blinked slowly, then, with delayed realization, gasped softly.

Hao Tianshuo quickly pulled him back, noticing the terrifying eyes in the door gap, and shuddered: “Oh my god! Qingqing Bro, your reaction time... Let’s get out of here!”

Reluctantly leaving Xiao Hai’s house, they wandered aimlessly forward.

Hao Tianshuo continued to complain about how frightening the old man was.

Shi Youqing, eating the leftover roasted chestnuts from yesterday, wiped his hands and said, “He was probably warning us.”

Luo Yanzhong, deep in thought, agreed: “What he meant was—staying here means death.”

Hao Tianshuo: “Aren’t we going to die if we can’t find the chess pieces and the exit?”

Luo Yanzhong glanced at him with a look of exasperation yet again.

Shi Youqing: "NPCs aren’t aware of the players’ tasks. That old man might have seen tourists who came here before and all died. To him, if we don’t leave soon, we’ll meet the same fate.”

Luo Yanzhong: "But other NPCs have been friendly towards us, which suggests our death is somehow beneficial to them.”

Xia Yue: “Aren’t they performing a deity worship? Could the offerings be outsiders?”

Hao Tianshuo couldn’t resist joking: “Did you forget the stele? It says those who respect the deity are their friends. We’ve been respectful. Is it appropriate to use the deity’s friends as offerings?”

Xia Yue: “…”

Shi Youqing countered: “Maybe those who died had ‘disrespected the deity’ in some way.”

Hao Tianshuo: “Damn, so sleeping in coffins is disrespecting the deity!”

Luo Yanzhong disagreed: “But the NPCs also sleep in coffins.”

Suddenly, Shi Youqing stopped: “We need to go back.”

“Huh?”

“We haven’t thoroughly checked inside the coffins.”

“……”

They nearly ran back to the cabin, where they promptly opened all five coffins and began inspecting them.

“They’re completely sealed, nothing inside…” Luo Yanzhong’s expression darkened, “Could it be that the false rule is indeed lethal?”

Shi Youqing bent down, tapping the inside of a coffin with a stick.

Hearing the sound, Luo Yanzhong remarked, “There’s space underneath.”

Shi Youqing nodded: “The secret passage can only be opened from the other end, so from this side, it looks sealed.”

Hao Tianshuo exclaimed, “Are you saying... those eight people on the first night were all taken away through a secret passage?”

Shi Youqing didn’t answer directly but looked at the coffins: “Can you pry these coffins open?”

Hao Tianshuo tried and said, “They’re attached to the floor, we need tools…”

The group went outside to search and found only a rusty iron shovel behind the cabin.

Hao Tianshuo, holding the shovel, teamed up with Luo Yanzhong to figure out how to pry open the coffin to access the secret passage. Shi Youqing left them to it, having drunk a lot of water in the morning and needing to relieve himself.

The latrines were scarce and quite a distance from the cabin. As Shi Youqing walked, he suddenly felt as if he was being watched.

He turned around, only to see a small figure quickly running away.

Shi Youqing didn’t give chase. After using the latrine, he took a different path.

That unsettling feeling emerged again.

He shifted his gaze to the tree where Xiao Hai had been hiding and walked directly towards it.

Seeing him approach, the other party tried to flee.

With the advantage of longer adult legs, Shi Youqing quickly caught him: “Why are you following me?”

“I... I wasn’t following!” The child shook his head, “I just wanted to see you again!”

Shi Youqing frowned slightly: “Tell the truth.”

“It’s true, I wasn’t following! The one following you wasn’t me! That person already left…” Xiao Hai explained fearfully, “Didn’t you want to heed my grandpa’s words and leave? I... I just wanted to see you again!”

Someone else? Shi Youqing lowered his eyes and asked the immediate question: “Why did you want to see me? It wasn’t me who cured your grandfather; it was Qiao Mingcheng.”

“Not because of that!” The child took a deep breath, “It’s because... you look a lot like our deity!”

[Author’s Note]

Thanks to the angel who sent a rocket: Cabbage 1;

Thanks to the angels who watered with nutrient solution: --Waiting for the Aurora-- 19 bottles; lilin, Men Who Don’t Love Themselves Are Like Spoiled Cabbages, Please Let It Snow Next 10 bottles; Speeding Little Prince, Luo Shui Floating Lantern 5 bottles; Nan Yu 3 bottles; Qiu An 2 bottles; Xiu Ying, xxdx, Chu Yan 1 bottle each;

Shi Youqing repeated his appreciation: “Thank you all for your support; I will continue to work hard!”