Chapter 3: “Burial in the Mountain Village”

Chapter 3: "Burial in the Mountain Village"

Tires crushed the joss paper scattered on the ground, and the villagers who had led the way gradually gathered at the back of the car, watching them depart with blank expressions.

Ninth Uncle glanced at the ashen faces of the passengers in the rearview mirror, a hint of schadenfreude flashing in his eyes. Just then, he heard someone remark, "The locals are quite hospitable, seeing us off for such a long distance."

Ninth Uncle: "?"

The group, stunned into silence: "...?"

Li Zhi waved at the villagers behind him with genuine gratitude. "Thank you, this is far enough. I'll definitely invite everyone in the village to the feast when the time comes."

The NPC's eerie smile seemed to freeze for a moment.

Lian Qinglin couldn't resist letting out a startled honk.

Ninth Uncle shot them a menacing glance but didn't say anything further. He stepped on the accelerator, speeding up the hearse as it skidded before finally stopping in front of a courtyard wall.

White banners already hung at the entrance of the yard, and two emaciated men with numb expressions stood guard. Dressed in mourning clothes, they glared maliciously at those in the vehicle.

Ninth Uncle switched off the car engine and turned to them. "In Guanping Village, it's customary for children to personally handle their parents' funeral arrangements. No step can be delegated to others. The village chief's body is still on the bed, untouched."

He smiled gently. "He has been waiting for you."

With a slam, the car door opened, and a chilly wind carrying the scent of incense, candles, and ashes blew in, making everyone shiver. As Chi Yi stood up, her legs went weak, and she nearly stumbled. Li Zhi caught her in time. "Be careful."

Chi Yi's eyes reddened again, and her voice trembled. "I'm so scared of corpses."

Xu Shu consoled her from behind. " Corpses aren't scary. What's terrifying are those that move on their own."

Chi Yi: "...Thanks, now I'm even more scared."

One by one, they alighted from the car. Two men dressed in mourning clothes climbed in to carry out the paper effigies. Ninth Uncle greeted them. "Have the Yin-Yang Masters arrived?"

The duo nodded. "Yes, they're in the main hall."

The players followed the NPCs inside. Lian Qinglin whispered surreptitiously, "What's a Yin-Yang Master? Is it someone who's really good at being sardonic?"

Xu Shu shot him a look as if he were an idiot.

Li Zhi felt that he couldn't let his friends from parallel worlds think that their counterparts in this world were fools. "In some places, geomancers and fortune-tellers are called Yin-Yang Masters, and they preside over funeral ceremonies."

As they spoke, the group entered the courtyard, where a makeshift mourning hall had been set up. A circle of wreaths surrounded an altar, and the eight paper figures from the hearse stood on either side, making the black-and-white portrait on the table seem even more eerie.

The old man in the photo wore a traditional Zhongshan suit, his gray hair meticulously combed. The corners of his mouth drooped due to loose skin, his eye bags sagged, and his eyes were prominently white, giving him a sharp and sinister appearance. At that moment, he seemed to be staring sullenly at his tardy children, as if resenting their late arrival.

None dared to look for too long. Prompted by Ninth Uncle, they hurried into the room where the body was laid out.

The moment they stepped inside, the temperature dropped several degrees, and the damp chill made the entire floor moist, with a musty odor. The main room was spacious and square, but the old hanging lamp above failed to illuminate the whole space, leaving the corners shrouded in darkness.

In the center of the room stood a chipped redwood bed. Their deceased father, the village chief of Guanping Village, lay there. A white cloth covered his body, exposing only his head. Under the dim yellow light, his serene, gray face bore large patches of lividity.

Someone in the group gagged softly.

Xu Shu kindly reminded them, "Last time, a player vomited in front of the corpse and was judged to have desecrated the dead. It triggered a death condition, and they choked to death on their own vomit."

With a gulp, someone, presumably in fear, swallowed it back down.

Damn! Even more disgusting now!

Everyone clutched their mouths in horror.

Ninth Uncle stood by the bed, savoring their fear. The flickering light cast an eerie smile on his face. "You're home. Bow to your father first."

Gao Shijun, the bravest of them all, resisted and whispered, "What will happen if we don't?"

Xu Shu glanced at him coldly. "You'll die."

With that, Xu Shu stepped forward and knelt by the bed. The others reluctantly followed, trembling, trying not to look at the peaceful, lifeless face. Li Zhi held her forehead with her palm, recalling the scene years ago when she and her siblings bowed to their late father at the funeral parlor.

If this system could revive ghosts, would she ever see her father again one day?

Lost in thought, she straightened up, only to find herself staring into a pair of dull, lifeless eyes.

The deceased village chief, her father, had somehow opened his eyes. Li Zhi even felt his eyeballs slowly rotate, fixing them on them with an eerie angle.

This terrifying sight made the players scream. Gao Shijun, in sheer panic, stumbled out of the room, but his limbs were too weak, and he collapsed on the floor, powerless.

"Nonsense!" Ninth Uncle's expression darkened. "Children have returned. What's wrong with a father looking at them? All this commotion is inappropriate."

Death seemed as casual to him as having a meal.

He reached out and gently closed the village chief's eyes, saying with relief, "Now that he's seen you all, he can finally rest in peace."

After that, he glanced around at the players and warned in a grim voice, "The rest is up to you. The village chief struggled to raise you all. You must give your all in handling his funeral and make sure it meets his expectations. Do you understand?"

With that, he left, leaving only eight players and a corpse in the main hall.

The old man on the bed regained his serene expression as if the previous reanimation was truly just for one last look at them. Someone cried, "How do we satisfy him? What will happen if he's not satisfied?"

No one could answer this question, or rather, everyone actually knew the answer.

Gao Shijun's face was smeared with snot and tears. "We can't do it—we can't possibly satisfy a dead person! We're going to die here!"

Xu Shu grew annoyed by his commotion. "A grown man is even more timid than the female players? If you're afraid of death, get out! Don't disrupt others here!"

Gao Shijun glared at him furiously. Suddenly, he leaped up and lunged at Xu Shu, yelling, "This is all because of you, isn't it?! The system, the reality show—it's all tricks from you, an alien monster, to harm people! I'll kill you! Once I kill you, everything will be over, ah—kill you!"

Despite his tall and burly frame, no one expected him to suddenly go berserk. Xu Shu barely dodged his attack, but Gao Shijun, like a desperate beast on its last legs, unleashed a shocking assault. Xu Shu was knocked down rather clumsily, and he raged, "Are you f*cking crazy?! Let go!"

Gao Shijun lunged forward to strangle the man without hesitation, stunning everyone with this sudden outburst. Zhang Xiao wanted to intervene but hesitated, fearing for his own safety. Just as he was indecisive, he caught a glimpse of a swift figure stepping forward and swiftly knocking Gao Shijun unconscious with a precise chop to the neck.

Xu Shu finally freed himself, sitting up abruptly while covering his throat and coughing violently.

Li Zhi rubbed her wrist and muttered, "His flesh is quite tough."

Xu Shu's expression was grim. As an experienced player, he had nearly fallen victim to a rookie's mistake. If not for Li Zhi, he might not have made it out alive today.

Newbies often lacked the mental resilience needed in such situations; their panic-induced chaos could lead to the team's demise. No wonder his companions had repeatedly warned him before coming. Being a guide for new players wasn't an easy task. Had it not been for his desperate need for points...

Xu Shu realized he had been affected. He was never one of those emotionally stable experts, and now his confidence was not as unwavering as when they first entered the scenario. He managed to whisper a muted thank you to Li Zhi.

Li Zhi waved her hand dismissively, indicating it was nothing. "Carry him aside. He'll probably sleep until evening." She then looked around. "Didn't someone say the Yin-Yang Master was in the main room? Where is he?"

Only then did everyone remember that there was indeed a Yin-Yang Master! They hurriedly began searching.

Unbeknownst to them, the backbone of the team had shifted from Xu Shu to Li Zhi.

The Yin-Yang Master, who had been forgotten since they entered the house, was finally remembered and given a chance to step into the spotlight. The hanging lamp above swayed slightly, casting moving shadows on the walls. From the corner, a figure emerged slowly into the light.

He wore a long, azure robe and held a compass in his hand, resembling an erudite scholar from an old film. He was elegant and handsome, a stark contrast to the eerie atmosphere of Guanping Village.

Standing tall and composed, he seemed like a leading man from a romantic drama who had wandered onto the wrong set. Amidst the stunned players, a calm, monotonous voice rang out, "Children, enter the house to prepare the deceased for burial."

The gamers stared blankly at him.

After two seconds of silence, Lian Qinglin turned around, astonished, and asked, "Is it reasonable for an NPC to be more handsome than me?"

His question echoed the thoughts of the live stream viewers:

"Holy moly! Are the NPCs in this dungeon really this good-looking? If they all looked like this, I wouldn't be able to sleep!"

"Are these NPCs' faces crafted by the system? Then this Yin-Yang Master must be a significant character!"

"Well played, well played indeed. Lian Qinglin's godly looks have been outshone by an NPC!"

"I'm screenshotting my screen in a horror reality show!"

"As a fan of Lian Qinglin's looks, I'm now swooning over a virtual NPC."

...

After the Yin-Yang Master finished speaking, he retreated back into the shadows. While the spectators were captivated, the players had no interest in admiring his looks.

Chi Yi asked nervously, "What does 'shroud' mean?"

In front of where the Yin-Yang Master stood, there was a square wooden table. On it sat a copper basin with a white towel draped over it, and behind the table, a long wooden rack hung with many clothes.

Li Zhi walked over to inspect the objects on the table. "In traditional funeral rites, they usually consist of three parts: dressing, mourning, and burial. The shroud refers to the first step of dressing. It means we have to cleanse his body and dress him in burial clothes."

The group gasped in unison. The thought of having to personally wipe the corpse made them wish they could faint on the spot.

Xu Shu was somewhat surprised. "You're quite knowledgeable about these things?"

Li Zhi replied, "Two years ago, I starred in a horror movie as a concubine who colluded with the butler to kill the master. I did some research for the role."

Everyone responded with question marks.

Your character sounds pretty impressive!

Li Zhi picked up the copper basin. "Let's start with fetching water."

The task of fetching water seemed harmless, so everyone eagerly rushed to do it. Turning right from the main room led to the kitchen, known in rural areas as the hearth room. On the mud-built stove, an iron pot was rusted, and in a corner stood a water jar reaching half a person's height, with a pipe above its opening dripping water slowly.

Despite being just a jar of water, when one scooped down to look, it appeared as deep as a well, dark and unfathomable.

None dared to linger, and after hurriedly fetching the water, they returned to the main room. Facing the corpse on the bed, the previously eager individuals fell silent.

The image of the village chief staring at them with open eyes was still vivid in their minds.

At this moment, Xu Shu volunteered, "I'll take care of it."

He walked to the bedside and lifted the white cloth covering the body. The village chief had been gone for two days, and his stiff corpse wore clothes that had likely been on him for a while, emitting an unpleasant odor of old age.

He moved swiftly, and within less than two minutes, a shriveled, aged corpse was revealed before everyone. Twisted finger bones, wrinkled skin resembling rigid tree bark clung to the body, like a monster wrapped in human flesh.

Someone couldn't bear it, rushing outside to vomit with a hand over their mouth.

Having safely removed the clothes, Xu Shu noticed Li Zhi placing the full copper basin by the bedside. Dipping a towel into the water, she glanced at the corpse, said nothing, and directly started wiping the face.

Beside them, Chi Yi's teeth were chattering. "Li Zhi, aren't you scared?"

Li Zhi replied, "When my father passed away, I also cleaned his body."

Back then, she was still very young, just starting junior high school. Cleaning her father's body, who had always been meticulous about cleanliness in life, seemed to be the only thing she could do.

Chi Yi stammered, "I'm sorry—"

But Li Zhi didn't take it to heart. "But after my father passed away, he was directly cremated at a funeral home, so the process was different from traditional burial. Otherwise, I'd be more experienced now."

With the two of them setting the example, the cleansing process was quickly completed. The village chief still lay peacefully on the bed, and the resurrection scene they had imagined never occurred.

Zhang Xiao promptly stepped forward and said, "Let me take over next!"

He hadn't forgotten that this was a live broadcast, and their every move was being watched by the audience. If Li Zhi continued to be so proactive, her popularity might surpass his. As for the idiot Gao Shijun, Zhang Xiao didn't think he would survive until the end.

Together, they lifted the wooden rack filled with clothes to the bedside. The long rack held at least twenty garments of different colors and styles.

Zhang Xiao picked out two shrouds embroidered with the character for "blessing." To alleviate his fear, he joked while dressing the corpse, "Dad, do you like these two outfits your son chose? Wear these beautiful new clothes and leave happily."

The elderly man's expression remained serene throughout.

Finally, Zhang Xiao let out a long sigh of relief as he finished dressing the body.

Up to this point, the funeral preparations were complete.

The handsome Yin-Yang master emerged from the shadows once more, his voice now tinged with a chill, "Place the coin in the mouth, light the corpse lamp, burn the underworld banknotes, and set up the door panel in front of the main room. Tonight—" He lifted his beautiful yet empty eyes to scan the group, "We'll hold the wake."

Xu Shu glanced at the impending dusk outside and spoke with gravity, "We must finish all of this before nightfall. It's best not to venture outdoors in the instance after dark within the instance. The likelihood of encountering malevolent spirits is significantly higher."

Upon hearing this, everyone grew tense and promptly divided tasks among themselves.

Three copper coins were placed in a small box on the table. With great disgust, Lian Qinglin forced the village chief's mouth open and inserted the coins, fulfilling the ritual of placing money in the deceased's mouth.

Next, they removed the door panel from the main room and positioned it near the threshold. After kneeling by the bed to burn the underworld banknotes, the men worked together to lift the village chief's body onto the door panel.

The corpse was laid with its head inward and feet outward, hands crossed over the chest. The corpse lamp was lit and placed above the head, illuminating the peaceful countenance of the deceased village chief.

After spending so much time in the same room with the corpse, everyone had grown somewhat desensitized.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly without any mishaps. Ninth Uncle, who had been missing for quite some time, reappeared, now acting like a caring elder as he carried some food. "You must all be tired today. Finish dinner and get some rest early. There's still much to do tomorrow."

His words made everyone feel the depths of their exhaustion. They had been on high alert since entering the dungeon, and now that they could finally relax, they were both drained and hungry. Xu Shu suggested, "Let's eat first. After that, you can form your groups and find a room to rest. Remember, no matter what noise you hear at night, do not come out."

During dinner, Gao Shijun, who had been in a deep slumber for hours, finally stirred awake. After his nap, his emotions seemed more stable, though he was even quieter than before.

Zhang Xiao handed him a steamed bun and patted his shoulder. "Brother, don't worry so much. The mission isn't as difficult as you think."

After the meal, Chi Yi approached Li Zhi timidly. "Zhi Zhi, can I sleep with you?"

She had even used a term of familiarity to bridge their relationship.

Li Zhi smiled. "Sure."

Once they finished eating and assigned their teams, they each returned to their rooms. There was only one bed in the room, and after a quick freshen up, Li Zhi lay down. Chi Yi followed closely behind her, like a lovely little shadow.

Clinging to the covers, she asked hesitantly, "Zhi Zhi, can I hold your arm while I sleep?"

Li Zhi closed her eyes. "Of course, go ahead and sleep."

Chi Yi's nose tingled with emotion, determined to repay her kindness once they got out of this situation.

Night fell, and countless souls slumbered while others tossed and turned with anxiety. The exterior was quiet, save for the rustling sound of the night breeze sweeping through the memorial hall.

With his eyes closed, Li Zhi pondered over the day's events. Listening to Chi Yi's steady breathing beside him, he too began to feel drowsy. He must have dozed off for some time when, in his half-awake state, he thought he heard a faint meow.

Meow—

His sleep was deep, and it wasn't until the dawn's pale light started to filter through that a blood-curdling scream echoed from the neighboring hall.

It was Gao Shijun's voice.

Li Zhi shot up from his bed, and Chi Yi, clearly startled, sat up as well, her eyes wide with fear. "What's happening? What's going on?"

Both of them put on their shoes and stepped out of the room, only to find that others who had heard the commotion were also emerging. Sleepiness was nowhere to be seen on anyone's face; instead, their eyes conveyed sheer panic. "What is Gao Shijun screaming about now? What has happened?"

In a hurry, everyone rushed towards the main hall.

The sky was almost bright, casting a faint blue-white glow upon the entrance of the hall.

On the door panel that was originally used for laying corpses, it was Zhang Xiao who now lay there.

He was dressed in the funeral shroud that he himself had draped over the village chief the day before, his bare feet exposed. His hands were crossed over his chest, with the corners of his mouth slightly curved upward. His face was deathly pale, yet his expression was serene and tranquil.