Chapter 24: Night Stroll at Yin Village 22

Chapter 24: Night Stroll at Yin Village 22

"Why?" The other spectators around the high-level spirit entity were collectively stunned.

Wasn't Xu Yangshu, this NPC, dug out by players for the first time?

Why did it seem like it already knew what was to come?

The high-level spirit entity lifted its gaze to look at the players through the live stream, as if observing countless pitifully small insects. "It's true that this NPC is appearing for the first time, but players have been exploring the Xu family's old residence before."

Instance Dungeon World 0039, also known as the Night Stroll at Yin Village, had become a popular instance among new players shortly after its release five years ago, gaining fame for its abnormally low completion rate.

However, despite the low success rate of 0039, the map exploration rate had consistently remained at a relatively high 76.3%.

This situation was mainly due to the low guidance provided in World 0039, with its scattered and deeply hidden main storyline.

Xu Yangshu, the most crucial NPC for triggering the main plot, had never been discovered by players during the two years the instance dungeon had been operating normally.

For an entire two years, not a single person had succeeded in uncovering the secrets hidden behind Yin Village.

In the past, players would often wander around the village like headless chickens for seven days, searching every accessible area before ultimately accepting their defeat in confusion and frustration.

"The Xu family's old residence is an abandoned and dilapidated mansion, a sight not commonly seen in Shadow Guard Village. Its appearance is quite distinctive," the high-ranking spirit said with a curled lip. "I just used gold coins to purchase the historical live broadcast records from previous years, only to find out that the Xu family's old mansion has been thoroughly searched."

Their efforts were, of course, in vain, yielding nothing.

The high-ranking spirit sighed.

It was unexpected that despite experiencing the detours in the plot, such as the ancestral hall, the mass graves, and the bus, this group of players had still ended up at the same destination.

"But they did manage to find Xu Yangshu," pointed out a spirit. "Perhaps they might actually discover something valuable at the Xu residence that previous players couldn't?"

It was like facing a door that was close but inaccessible. Past players could only stare at it, scratching their heads in futility, while this group possessed the key, effortlessly able to unlock it.

The high-ranking spirit shook his head. "I don't believe Xu Yangshu possesses such abilities."

According to the historical live broadcasts, not only were there no valuable clues to be found in the Xu family's old mansion, but it also harbored numerous dangers. Many players had even lost their lives there.

Xu Yangshu appeared to be a complete waste of potential. Would bringing him along truly have a game-changing effect?

Higher-dimensional spirits could almost predict how the story would unfold.

Players would continue to wander aimlessly within the instance, like headless flies crashing about haphazardly.

As time passed, they would become increasingly agitated and restless. The more anxious they were, the farther the truth would slip from their grasp...

Eventually, the players would be captured by the villagers in despair and fear, each one dragged to the altar to be chosen by that so-called deity.

The lucky ones might survive, while the unlucky ones would be forever trapped within that instance.

What a tedious outcome!

"Sigh," the Higher-dimensional spirit said with waning interest. "Forget it, I'll just keep watching. There's nothing else worth seeing anyway."

With that, the spirit vanished, presumably returning to its own personal dimension.

On the other side of the light screen, only a group of Lower-dimensional spirits remained, engaged in animated discussion.

The Higher-dimensional powerhouse's remarks had undoubtedly dealt a heavy blow to them.

Is the truth they anticipated and the plot twists they eagerly waited for nothing more than this?

"I thought this NPC was a crucial clue, but now I'm somewhat confused," a spirit murmured softly.

"These players were busy entertaining NPCs and listening to stories, expending great effort, only to uncover a side quest that's utterly useless?"

"Well, I thought Scenario 0039 was finally getting interesting. What a waste of my effort rushing to the Newcomers' Hall without even having lunch."

With a collective sigh of disappointment, a large crowd dispersed from in front of the light screen.

Despite this, a considerable number of spectators chose to remain steadfastly in their original positions.

"Well, that's not entirely true. Qin Fei's ability to win over NPCs is genuine. I'll keep reading; it seems quite intriguing."

"Flattery is futile without aiming at the right target; eventually, death still awaits."

"Let me tell you, plenty of players attempt to win over the NPCs, but only a few succeed. That's what sets them apart with their skills."

"Isn't he capable? Look at how delicate his little face is, hehe, I'd be willing to listen to him too..."

The conversation veered into an odd tangent.

In the front of the crowd, only the gambler remained with his eyes fixated on the screen.

An apparition asked in confusion, "Why are you watching so intently? Aren't we tired of seeing similar plots already?"

The gambler shook his head, wearing a cryptic expression. "You don't understand."

Perhaps it was his intuition honed from years at the gambling table, but he had a strong premonition that this sudden storyline wasn't over yet. The new streamer named Qin Fei was bound to surprise them with something different.

The apparition beside him, feeling somewhat indignant at being dismissed, dared not speak up loudly against the gambling madman, muttering under his breath, "You sound like you know him so well, yet this isn't even your first time watching his live stream..."

...

On the screen, the players in the funeral parlor all wore grave expressions.

Each of them was analyzing the information Xu Yangshu had just provided.

Sun Shouyi broke the silence, "So, our next move is to visit Xu's ancestral home?"

Finishing his words, he cautiously glanced at Qin Fei.

This was Sun Shouyi's third live broadcast. In most F-rated worlds, the participants were newbies just entering the instance. Sun Shouyi, with his steady personality and older age, had always taken on a more central leadership role within the team since his first live stream.

—Until now, when he encountered Qin Fei, who seemed harmless but was actually a tough nut to crack.

Nonetheless, Sun Shouyi didn't hold any resentment towards Qin Fei.

After all, Qin Fei's perceptiveness was evident to all, and Sun Shouyi had always been pragmatic, unlike Tan Yong and his ilk who courted trouble.

On the other side of the mortuary, Scarface and Cheng Song were in deep discussion, occasionally casting glances over at them.

Xiao Xiao and Lin Ye both grew tense simultaneously.

Xiao Xiao said, "The clues at the Xu family's old residence are very straightforward. Could they be planning some underhanded move?"

Worried, Lin Ye placed a finger to his lips and silently 'shushed' before creeping up to Qin Fei's ear like a thief, whispering, "Brother Qin, should we try to sneak away first?"

Time was life, time was money. If they could arrive at their destination ahead of the other two, their chances of finding usable clues would be greater.

A muscle twitched at the corner of Qin Fei's eye.

This child was indeed thinking too optimistically. They were all in the same courtyard; a yawn across the way could be seen. Trying to sneak away unnoticed was nothing but a pipe dream.

In the coffin before him, Xu Yangshu continued to snore soundly, his expression relaxed and his breathing steady.

He seemed to be sleeping very peacefully.

However, Qin Fei wasn't so easily fooled.

"Hey." A gentle smile played at the youth's lips as he crouched down and gently patted Xu Yangshu's cheek. "Stop pretending. Aren't you also looking for the book?"

Sun Shouyi was taken aback upon hearing this.

Was this NPC pretending to sleep? How had he not noticed it at all??

Xu Yangshu in the coffin could no longer keep up the act.

Although he still didn't move, being so directly exposed by Qin Fei made his nervousness manifest in the form of a gradually reddening neck, spreading across his entire face.

The act was instantly exposed.

Xu Yangshu finally opened his eyes and looked at Qin Fei with a bitter smile.

"Come on," Qin Fei said.

"No, no, no, no." To everyone's surprise, Xu Yangshu not only didn't show any intention of complying when he heard Qin Fei but instead shook his head like a rattle drum.

The burly man forced a flattering smile that looked worse than crying, "Uh, uh, can I not go? I...?"

"Sorry, not an option," Qin Fei waved with a grin, "You're the only one here who has been to the Xu residence before. Without your guidance, how would we know where it is?"

The other players behind Qin Fei couldn't help widening their eyes upon hearing this.

However, Xu Yangshu's response was even more unexpected.

The NPC in the coffin instinctively followed Qin Fei's lead, "But taking me along won't be of any use. I didn't find anything. You might as well go there yourselves. I can tell you where my ancestral home is—"

He finally realized his slip of tongue and abruptly shut his mouth.

Xiao Xiao was astonished. "Oh really? When did you return to the ancestral home?!"

Didn't this guy say he had been lying in the coffin for the past two days?

Xu Yangshu wished he could slap himself.

"Well... it was last night," Xu Yangshu said reluctantly, not really wanting to bring it up. "After all of you left, I was left alone in the funeral parlor."

He figured that since he was already there and couldn't leave just yet, he might as well do something.

Xu Yangshu didn't dare to venture out at night. He visited the Xu family's ancestral home early the next morning, when the players had yet to return to the funeral parlor.

"But..." Xu Yangshu shuddered, as if recalling a terrifying experience. "That place is haunted."

A chilling breeze swept past, fluttering everyone's clothes.

"Haunted?"

Xiao Xiao seemed to have suddenly grasped Xu Yangshu's intentions. "You knew about the haunting but didn't tell us? Were you hoping we'd die in your house and never come back?"

"Oh no, no, no!" Xu Yangshu waved his hands frantically. "How could that be? I definitely didn't mean that."

He knew he couldn't escape this situation now. His face flushed red as he made one last attempt to persuade the players. "I'm not lying to you, there really is a ghost in that house!"

Unfortunately, the players didn't seem to be particularly afraid of ghosts.

Qin Fei's lips curved up slightly as he spoke softly, "Tell me, what kind of ghost did you see?"

With his last bit of hope, Xu Yangshu looked at the person who had just seemed like an angel to him. "If I tell you, can you please not make me go with you?"

Qin Fei's smile grew more pronounced as he shook his head, firmly rejecting the request. "Sorry, but that's not possible."

Xu Yangshu was defeated!

Xu Yangshu was on the verge of tears.

But he didn't dare to resist.

The group in front of him was too numerous and powerful; he had no chance of standing up against them.

Moreover, in this eerie ghost village, the presence of living people around him did provide a sense of security.

...Fine, I'll go.

What if, with their larger group, they really do find that book?

After all, it's an artifact belonging to the old Xu family. If I take something from them, I should at least give them some benefit in return.

Xu Yangshu resigned himself to his fate and recounted his morning experience:

"At that time, as soon as I entered the house, a chilling gust of wind started blowing inside."

As a fraudster wandering through the world, Xu Yangshu had no real abilities; he was utterly terrified at that moment.

However, he couldn't bear to leave and mustered up the courage to proceed.

"Then, I heard a woman weeping inside the house."

"After that, I seemed to catch a glimpse of her shadow."

Clad in a white gown, with his black hair resembling damp, entwining seaweed, the figure lunged at him with a distorted posture!

How could Xu Yangshu possibly withstand it?

"That's exactly what happened." Xu Yangshu shuddered again as he continued, "Then, I...I managed to escape."

"…Are you serious?"

Xiao Xiao was skeptical. Wasn't this supposed to be a local Xiangxi zombie story? Why did Xu Yangshu's description of the ghost sound like Sadako from The Ring?

"I swear on my life, I'm not lying this time," Xu Yangshu vowed, stretching out his hand. "I guarantee that I searched the old mansion thoroughly. There really was nothing there."

His oath was sincere, but nobody paid attention.

This obviously unreliable NPC had already lost all credibility with his words.

Should they believe him?

Better to trust oneself!

People are often like that; they can never truly let go of something they crave until they've tried it for themselves.

"It's getting dark," Xu Yangshu pleaded pathetically as he saw the determination in the group before him, "Can't we go tomorrow?"

"Of course—" Qin Fei drew out his words, delivering a gentle yet ruthless response, "not."

It was already their third night since entering the dungeon, and the live broadcast was halfway through. Time was running out, and they couldn't afford to waste any more moments.

"There's still time. If we set off now, we can return before midnight," Sun Shouyi agreed.

They had returned from the cemetery early in the morning, and Cheng Song and the others would have arrived even earlier. The fact that Xu Yangshu could make a round trip to the ancestral house before everyone else indicated that this journey wouldn't take long.

With a consensus reached, they immediately set off.

Strangely, Scarface and Cheng Song remained detached from their discussion, conversing quietly to the side. They barely spared a glance when Qin Fei and the others left.

Sun Shouyi, filled with concern, asked, "Xiao Qin, do you have any idea what they're planning?"

Qin Fei shook his head. "Who knows?"

Perhaps Cheng Song had indeed made some other discoveries, but Qin Fei was more concerned about the guide's hints.

The Xu Family's Ghost Controlling Technique was undoubtedly a crucial clue in this instance.

This much was certain.

Behind the screen, the spectators were also engaged in heated discussions.

"Why aren't those two going?"

The spectators knew that the players' trip would be fruitless because they had an omniscient perspective.

But the players couldn't possibly be aware of this.

From the players' point of view, the most reasonable choice at the moment was indeed to head for the Xu Family's ancestral home.

"They won't go," a spirit entity with access to Cheng Song's perspective interjected. "That player with the surname Cheng is a talent scout for a major guild. He has an item that can quantify the number of high-quality clues in different areas of the instance."

This compass was a useful tool. The so-called "high-quality clues" were calculated based on the historical completion paths of other players. The more times the instance had been cleared, the more accurate the estimation would be.

The higher the recommendation level, the greater the likelihood of finding crucial information.

"This compass can only be activated when the live broadcast progress exceeds 50%. Just now, I checked, and the most recommended location on the compass is the ancestral hall."

Aside from the ancestral hall, all other areas had an evenly distributed recommendation level – zero.

"Zero??" The uninformed audience found it perplexing. "There are no clues in any places other than the ancestral hall?"

"Not exactly," the spectral entity teased, "You'll have to see for yourself. When you reach the final night, everything will become clear."

Not that there were no clues elsewhere, but no matter how many clues the players managed to gather, they would hold no significance within this particular instance.

Those fragmented and disconnected pieces of information offered no assistance whatsoever to the players in their ultimate quest for survival.

In fact, on the third night, Qin Fei had already uncovered the truth behind the instance dungeon - in the end, success relied on luck.

This was also the reason why the compass recommended the ancestral hall.

Getting a grasp of the ancestral hall's layout could, to some extent, extract players from the plight of relying solely on luck, thereby adding a margin of survival to their own odds.

"In any case, there's absolutely no need to visit Xu Yangshu's home," the spectral entity declared disinterestedly, shaking its head as it wandered away.

...

On the screen, the players silently traversed the village lanes under the cover of night. After several transitions, a narrow alleyway came into view.

Xu Yangshu was reluctantly leading the way, his legs visibly trembling with each step, practically clinging to Xiao Xiao's side.

Xiao Xiao's face darkened. It was just a female ghost; he had encountered plenty before. Was it really that terrifying?

Seemingly oblivious to how he had nearly suffered a heart attack from the zombies in the graveyard the previous night, Xiao Xiao strode briskly, his legs moving at an alarming pace.

In the distance, a two-story house with its own enclosed courtyard stood solemnly in the darkness.

Qin Fei could almost immediately determine that this was the place they had been searching for.

Although the entire Yin Guard Village appeared dreary and dusty, the neglect of this particular house surpassed that of the others by far.

Daylight seemed to be obscured in this area, and the house was shrouded by a thick, near-visible aura of negativity.

Even from about ten meters away, Xu Yangshu's trembling had spread from his legs to his entire body.

"Um, um, um, um, um…" He couldn't manage to complete a single sentence.

The pitiful NPC didn't receive any mercy from the players and was escorted by Xiao Xiao on one side and Lin Ye on the other to the entrance of the old mansion. With a creak, the heavy, aged courtyard door swung open, and a bone-chilling coldness greeted them.

"Giggle."

"Giggle."

It sounded like someone was giggling.

Yet upon closer listening, the sound vanished into thin air.

Behind the door lay a dilapidated courtyard, overgrown with weeds. The trees on one side of the yard had long since withered, and a flock of crows took to the skies in a flurry at the players' entrance, their wings beating loudly, startling everyone.

In the center of the courtyard, a small building was draped with two white curtains that billowed in the absence of wind, resembling long, pale tentacles, as if ready to wrap around the players' necks at any moment.

Qin Fei stood at the entrance for a few seconds, ensuring there were no other abnormalities before proceeding further into the yard.

Arriving at a place akin to a haunted house, the players couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Except for Qin Fei, whose expression remained calm, even bordering on delight. He strolled effortlessly through the weeds and gravel, casually turning his head to tease Xu Yangshu, "Your yard is quite uniquely arranged."

Xu Yangshu: "..."

He couldn't force a laugh.

The door to the small building was unlocked, slightly ajar and easily pushed open. Xu Yangshu, huddled at the back of the group, dared not lift his head as he entered, almost burying his face between his legs.

Qin Fei gave Xu Yangshu a thoughtful glance.

Something was amiss with his condition, and it was evident.

The chill inside the building was even more intense than outside, as it had remained uninhabited for years, filling the air with the musty scent of dust mites.

Qin Fei started coughing again.

The ghost infant, sensing something, perched on Qin Fei's shoulder, chirping with excitement.

"Such dense ghostly aura," Xiao Xiao muttered softly.

Qin Fei glanced at the ghost infant before stepping into the building.

The sky outside had already turned completely dark, and without any lights inside, the faint light seemed to be blocked at the entrance.

From the moment Qin Fei entered, his vision was plunged into pitch blackness.

In the following instant, Qin Fei sensed something coming dangerously close to his face.

He blinked and stepped back silently.

In the pitch-black surroundings where one couldn't see their own fingers in front of their face, Qin Fei should have been unable to perceive anything. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, the outline of that entity standing opposite him appeared exceptionally distinct.

It was a pair of blood-red eyes, dilated like copper bells, with small and round pupils that shifted slightly, locking onto Qin Fei with an unyielding gaze.

"AHHH!!!"

"Damn! What on earth is this?"

A series of screams echoed nearby, clearly indicating that Qin Fei was not the only one receiving the ghostly maiden's 'hospitality.'

The door behind them had seemingly closed without notice, and the entire building echoed with Xu Yangshu's piercing screams.

"–Stop shouting!" Sun Shouyi panted heavily, pulling a candle from his pocket.

Without the act of lighting it, the candle ignited spontaneously in the air, casting a dim glow that illuminated a corner of the small building.

Xu Yangshu, still recovering from his fright, sat on the ground. Upon noticing everyone's gazes, he awkwardly stood up.

"Heh heh, aren't you all scared... You really have guts," he scratched the back of his head.

Players: "..."

In truth, they were also afraid, just not to the point of crawling around on the ground in terror.

With light, they could now see each other's positions, and the group finally managed to regain some composure.

Xiao Xiao began to examine the layout of the building:

"There are three incense sticks at the front door, a pile of ashes from burnt plants on the east, west, and south sides, a white curtain hangs at the entrance, and a copper mirror is suspended inside the room."

He quickly identified the key elements:

"Someone has set up a Yin-gathering formation in the Xu family's residence. This area of Xiangxi is already eerily haunted, and during the reanimation of corpses, various wandering spirits pass through here. With no one living in the Xu family home and the house left in disrepair for years, it has become a favorite refuge for lost souls."

The Xu family ancestors practiced the art of reanimating corpses, and their home was said to hold secret techniques for controlling ghosts. It seemed that their family's knowledge ran deep. Even though Xu Yangshu's grandfather's generation had fallen on hard times, it wouldn't be surprising if they still knew a few formations.

"If I'm not mistaken, this formation might have been deliberately set up by the Xu family before they left."

Their purpose was to turn the house into a gathering place for Yin energy, using the ghosts to scare away any treasure-hungry bandits who dared to enter the Xu family home.

No wonder Xu Yangshu encountered a ghost when he returned home this morning. If nothing unexpected happened, this building was probably crawling with all sorts of ghosts.

As Xiao Xiao analyzed and explained, Sun Shouyi listened in astonishment, "How did you know?"

Xiao Xiao replied, "Didn't I tell you? Before entering the instance dungeons, I was an authentic Taoist priest."

Unlike Xu Yangshu, who was a fraudulent charlatan, he had been initiated into a genuine Taoist lineage since childhood, eventually attending a Taoist college where he pursued both his undergraduate and graduate studies, graduating as a postgraduate.

Sun Shouyi: "..."

In the decades before being pulled into the rule-bound world, Sun Shouyi had always been an unwavering atheist, with socialism as his only belief.

Hearing Xiao Xiao's words now, it felt as if a dimensional barrier had been shattered, and his worldview was beginning to crumble.

He turned his head and noticed Qin Fei quietly observing the situation inside the room.

Sun Shouyi couldn't help raising an eyebrow, "Why aren't you surprised at all?"

Qin Fei blinked, puzzled, "Why should I be surprised?"

Qin Fei's occupation naturally exposed him to an extraordinary number of abnormal events beyond the ordinary person's experience. After spending so much time amidst the deceased, he had inevitably heard about incidents that defied scientific explanation.

Qin Fei had always taken such occurrences in stride, not finding them particularly remarkable. After all, he had been fascinated by ghosts in the past and wasn't afraid of them now.

Sun Shouyi: "..."

He felt a subtle sense of injury.

Sun Shouyi stepped back and moved closer to Lin Ye and Ling Na, who were equally unsettled.

That was where he belonged.

Qin Fei had already started questioning Xu Yangshu, "In which room did you keep the old books?"

Xu Yangshu fell silent for a moment before reluctantly answering, "They should be in the attic on the second floor."

Qin Fei nodded, showing no hesitation as he strode towards the wooden staircase nearby.

The others hurried to follow.

The second floor was significantly smaller than the first.

Directly opposite the stairs was a corridor cluttered with all sorts of items – old newspapers, scattered bedding, light bulbs, wire, canes… A jumble of odds and ends sprawled across the floor.

There were no rooms on either side of the corridor; only at its end stood a very dilapidated wooden door, upon which a faint pattern was etched.

"Looks like… a line of text?" Lin Ye leaned in for a closer look and managed to make out a few characters, "The… most…"

"The most dangerous place is the safest," Qin Fei recited slowly with his arms crossed behind Lin Ye.

Lin Ye studied it more carefully and exclaimed with delight, "It really is!"

But he was puzzled. "What does it mean?"

Unfortunately, Qin Fei was just as clueless.

A low, eerie laugh echoed from behind them. Sun Shouyi's expression darkened as he waved the candle he held aloft into the darkness behind him.

"This is a Basic Spirit-Light Candle," Xiao Xiao explained to Lin Ye and Ling Na. "It has some demon-repelling effects and works in both Eastern and Western versions of the book."

Among F-rated players, Spirit Illuminating Candles were already rare treasures.

Sun Shouyi frowned and said, "We need to hurry. The Spirit Illuminating Candle's duration is only 20 minutes."

There were numerous messy, filthy things in the building. Without any props to assist them, they might not be able to handle it.

Xiao Xiao nodded and stepped forward, trying to turn the doorknob several times but failing. "Why can't I turn this door?"

He took a deep breath to gather strength and kicked the door with all his might!

"Bang!"

Accompanied by a loud thud, the old wooden door appeared to be completely immovable.

Instead, the plaster on the ceiling began to crumble, filling the air with dust that choked Xiao Xiao until he couldn't keep his eyes open.

"Cough! Cough, cough... Damn it!" The Daoist priest, dressed in a Taoist robe, managed to utter a classic Chinese curse amidst the chaos.

In the corridor behind them, the white ghostly figure darted past once again.

With Sun Shouyi's candle as a barrier, the entity was temporarily unable to approach the group. The players were powerless against it and could only blankly stare, pretending not to see it.

Poor Xu Yangshu, he was so frightened that he nearly fell back onto the ground again.

As they watched the white figure vanish at the end of the corridor, their expressions turned grim.

If they wanted to return before midnight, they had to speed up their pace.

Although the dungeon didn't have explicit rules forbidding players from leaving, everyone knew that the dangers of the night surpassed those of the day.

It was barely dark, and the house was already displaying such eerie phenomena. One could only imagine what it might be like closer to midnight...

Sun Shouyi knitted his brows, swiftly catching the nearly collapsing Xu Yangshu. "What's going on?"

According to Xu Yangshu, he had only visited this place earlier in the morning when the sun had just risen.

Now that the door wouldn't budge, either he had locked it or he was lying.

With the situation at hand, there was no way Xu Yangshu could continue to deceive them. He cautiously took a half-step back, beads of sweat mixing with visible veins on his forehead. "Y-Yes, I lied to you all..."

Indeed, he had come here in the morning and failed to find the book.

But the phrase "turned the house upside down" was entirely fabricated by him.

After entering the old mansion alone, he encountered an identical situation to the current one – the entire house was pitch black, with eerie shadows lurking within.

Xu Yangshu, who was always on his own, nearly lost his nerve. Summoning all the courage he had accumulated in half his life, he climbed up to the second floor, tugged at the door a few times only to find it locked, and then promptly fled without looking back.

"Ran away??" Xiao Xiao was perplexed. "You just ran?"

Xu Yangshu nodded vigorously. "Of course!"

The house was filled with ghosts. If he didn't run, wouldn't he be waiting to be captured as their prey?

Though running also meant death, it allowed him a few more days of life. Staying any longer, he might blink and find himself on the brink of departure from this world.

"And the key? This is your hometown," Ling Na said, displeased with Xu Yangshu's repeated withholding of information. This guy was full of hot air, not a single truthful word coming out of his mouth.

Xu Yangshu was near tears. "How would I know?!"

This was truly his first time visiting this village.

"Grandpas, my dear grandpas—" He paused when he saw Ling Na and added, "and my dear grandma! Please, I beg of you, don't stay here any longer. This place is genuinely eerie!"

"We can't open the door anyway," Xu Yangshu commented.

He faced away from the door while talking to the others, completely unaware of what was happening behind him.

Click.

In the blink of an eye, the lock emitted a soft sound.

"It's… open—" Xiao Xiao's eyes widened in astonishment, while Xu Yangshu jumped in fright, swiftly turning around.

Qin Fei stood behind him, looking up innocently as the door had already swung wide open.

"What did he—?" Xu Yangshu spun to ask the others, his voice trembling with shock.

All he received in response was a deafening silence.

Xu Yangshu had missed the scene, but the others had seen everything clearly.

Qin Fei approached the door and studied the lock mechanism for a moment. Then, he reached out to poke through the one-way glass of the peephole, peering into the room.

Afterward, he rummaged on the ground for a while and found a long, slender steel rod. He inserted it into the peephole and casually pressed downward—

The door swung open.

Xiao Xiao: "…."

Just moments ago, he was lamenting Tan Yong's death and the absence of Scar. Those two seemed to be experts in picking locks.

But who could have guessed that Qin Fei, with his pristine appearance, was equally proficient in such matters?

"Let's go," Qin Fei brushed off the dust from his hands, his demeanor suggesting he was a master of stealth. "We'll talk once we're inside."

He was eager to find out if the enigmatic book of the Xu family was indeed hidden within this room.