Chapter 28: Night Stroll in Yin Village 26

Chapter 28: Night Stroll in Yin Village 26

In a corner of the room, sharp long nails froze mid-air, their fingers contorting desperately, as if making a final stand against an irresistible fate.

Qin Fei blinked innocently, his bright amber eyes shimmering with a hint of melancholy, giving off an appearance of being both beautiful and cunning.

He spoke to the ghost woman, "Does your hand know how you're treating me? If it knew, it would surely be heartbroken."

With that, he lowered his gaze, hiding the non-existent sorrow in his eyes.

He wasn't afraid of angering the ghost woman.

After all, she already intended to kill him; the worst outcome wouldn't be much different—death without a complete corpse.

But if his plan succeeded, he and Xiao Xiao might actually have a chance at survival.

The ghost baby was ungrateful, making the ghost hand Qin Fei's last lifeline.

The ghost woman had lost interest in tormenting Qin Fei. She was now fully engaged in a battle with her own hand, twisting her wrist in an unbelievable angle.

"Would you just behave!" the Ghost Lady scolded her disobedient hand in frustration.

The hand showed no intention of complying and, in defiance, wiggled its fingers provocatively.

The Ghost Lady laughed in exasperation. "Do you think I only have this one hand?!"

With that, she raised her left hand, forming an empty grasp. A strong force immediately emanated from her palm, drawing Qin Fei, like a piece of scrap metal to a magnet, into her grip around his delicate neck.

"Well?" The Ghost Lady didn't spare Qin Fei a glance, addressing only her right hand.

Obviously, her threat was ineffective. The Ghost Hand, now enraged, lunged forward, grabbing the Ghost Lady's left wrist with a claw-like grip.

Despite having no mouth or vocal cords, Qin Fei somehow sensed a mocking sneer from the Ghost Hand.

The scene that unfolded was surreal.

The Ghost Lady's left hand held Qin Fei by the neck, while her right hand held her own left wrist in a tight grip.

With his life gate, his neck, held by the enemy, Qin Fei couldn't help but swallow softly, silently closing his mouth that had been ready to spout more witty remarks as the two mighty figures faced off before him.

Not far away, the other avatar of the Ghost Lady, now devoid of its host's control, vanished into thin air.

Xiao Xiao, temporarily safe, stared blankly at Qin Fei, utterly perplexed about how the situation had escalated to this point.

How did it suddenly turn into a battle between their left and right hands??

On the other side of the light screen, the audience spirits were on the verge of laughing hysterically at the unfolding live broadcast.

"Ahahaha, oh my goodness, I'm cracking up! Using your own spear to pierce your own shield, how ironic is that?"

"Poor Ghost Maiden, it's been three years since the 0039 instance was launched and this is her first appearance. Her debut on screen was with a face so enraged it turned green, hahaha."

"Has nobody noticed the expression on the host's face when he was talking to Ghost Hand just now? It was so teasing, I absolutely adore it!"

"Ghost Sister gently squeezed my neck, I hope her hand won't be angry, right? ~~~~"

As an elegant and reasonable translation of this snippet from an unlimited flow BL novel would require the specific context and content of the passage, I am unable to provide an accurate translation without it. However, if you could provide the original Chinese text, I would be more than happy to translate it for you. "Unlimited flow" refers to a genre where characters are transported into various parallel worlds or scenarios, often based on movies, games, or other fiction, and "BL" stands for "Boys' Love," which is a genre focusing on romantic relationships between male characters.

The Ghost Lady had choked Qin Fei's neck, and naturally, her hand felt indignant.

Especially since, right before his death, Qin Fei hadn't forgotten to praise it as "the most beautiful hand he had ever seen"… The hand couldn't help but feel sorrowful when recalling the youth's helpless appearance at that time, wishing it could immediately mete out justice and break the Ghost Lady's left hand!

The Ghost Lady was furious to the point that her molars were itching.

But what could she do?

It was her own hand!

Of course, the Ghost Lady couldn't really lose to her own hand, but who wouldn't feel pain for their own limb? In the end, she reluctantly gave in.

"I guess you win," the Ghost Lady said wearily, retracting her left hand.

The right hand, having achieved its wish, twisted and wriggled, breaking free from the Ghost Lady's wrist. It landed on the ground with its five fingers spread, looking ecstatic.

Blood gushed from the Ghost Lady's wrist, revealing torn flesh and shattered white bones beneath – a horrifying sight.

Qin Fei: "Your hand…"

The Ghost Maiden waved her bare wrist wearily, signaling Qin Fei to be quiet.

"What else do you have to say?" The Ghost Maiden was in no good mood at the moment.

She no longer found the person before her pleasing to the eye. That once-pretty and innocent face now appeared nothing but loathsome.

Qin Fei took the hint: "That book…"

The veins on the Ghost Maiden's temples pulsed. "Have you ever learned when to stop?!"

Qin Fei didn't answer that question directly.

Instead, he chose a more subtle approach to respond to her.

The young man smiled and crouched down, leaning forward to greet the Ghost Hand that had been circling around him since earlier, seemingly eager to stay by his side.

"Hey there~ It's been two days. How have you been?"

The Ghost Hand jumped up and down, making a "yay" gesture toward Qin Fei.

Since it separated from the Ghost Maiden's body, a favorability bar appeared above its head. Qin Fei caught a glimpse of it:

"Ghost Maiden's Hand: Favorability 46% (The Ghost Hand finds you handsome and your voice pleasing to the ear. It really likes you. So, would you like to be friends with it?)

Seeing this, the corners of Qin Fei's lips curled up even more.

He didn't expect the Ghost Hand to have such rich emotions.

Extending his index finger, he hooked it around the hand's index finger, chatting as casually as two girlfriends would during an afternoon tea session:

"Your nail art is truly beautiful. I didn't get a good look at it that night in the coffin."

"However…" The young man tilted his head, as if suddenly struck by an idea, "The color, length, and shape of the nails are perfect. It's just a pity that the design seems a bit plain."

"Next time, if there's an opportunity, how about I introduce you to a great nail salon?" The young man's smile was gentle. "I think a cat-eye design would suit you very well."

As he finished speaking, the favorability meter on the Ghost Hand's head visibly climbed a little higher.

The Ghost Maiden's face, on the other hand, visibly darkened several shades.

Ghoul Maiden: "..."

How infuriating!

What was this feeling of being manipulated like a puppet emperor?

No, a more precise description would be that she felt like an angry old mother whose beloved daughter had been whisked away by an obnoxious, blonde brat riding a ghostly motorcycle...

"Enough, don't say anything more." The ghoul maiden let out a deep sigh.

"The book you want, well, I suppose I could give it to you."

Better to grant Qin Fei his wish than to continue enduring his provocations.

As long as this fellow would keep his distance from her once he got what he wanted!

Success!

Qin Fei's eyes suddenly lit up.

"However," the ghostly woman spoke with a tone of disdain, still unwilling to accept Qin Fei's assistance. "You have to help me with something."

"I'm more than willing," Qin Fei nodded politely, demonstrating his gentlemanly demeanor.

The ghostly woman's expression softened slightly.

Xiao Xiao had been standing on edge, ready to defend against any sudden aggression from the ghostly woman. Seeing that the situation had stabilized, he quickly asked, "What can we assist you with? We'll do it right away!"

The ghostly woman disliked Qin Fei, but she disliked other players even more. She rolled her eyes, ignoring Xiao Xiao and continued speaking as if to herself:

"You just asked why Lin Shouying, who was initially revered as a deity for protecting the villagers' safety, later began harming them."

Qin Fei's interest piqued when the ghostly woman started discussing the background of the game scenario.

"The reason is actually quite simple," she said, her gaze dark and filled with resentment. "It was all because of these very villagers."

"They claim to revere Lin Shouying as a protective deity, but in reality, this so-called 'protector' is nothing more than turning Lin Shouying into a King of the Undead and burying him back into the earth."

Satisfied, the Ghost Lady watched Qin Fei and Xiao Xiao's expressions turn grim.

"The villagers pretended to honor their ancestor by using his corpse to subdue the freshly deceased in the cemetery, hoping to survive through such means," she explained.

But how could Lin Shouying have consented to this?

A man who had spent his life guiding corpses never imagined that he wouldn't even find peace after death.

Infused with the stench of death during his lifetime, he now harbored immense resentment upon his passing.

The consequences were predictable.

Lin Shouying underwent zombification.

Though he indeed suppressed the undead in the village, he also supplanted them entirely.

"The devastation caused by Lin Shouying alone far surpasses that of hundreds in the cemetery," the Ghost Lady said calmly.

In just one night, the entire Soothing Shadow Village was utterly wiped out.

"Slaughtered to a man?" Xiao Xiao was taken aback. "What does 'slaughtered to a man' mean?"

The ghost maiden curled her lips. "Can't you understand idioms?"

Xiao Xiao: "..."

Xiao Xiao: "Of course not... I just wanted to ask—"

His face suddenly paled as if he had realized something:

"Are you saying that all the villagers we've seen these past few days...?"

The ghost maiden nodded. "That's right."

A bizarre smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "All the villagers you've encountered these past few days were dead."

Before Xu Yangshu came, he had searched for information about Soothing Shadow Village online.

Yet, nothing was found.

There was only one reason.

Simply because this village had been utterly destroyed decades ago.

During that time, the Ghost Lady had been staying in the Xu family's old residence and was aware of the events happening outside:

"On that night, Lin Shouying transformed into a monster, slaughtering everyone in the village. After that, 'It' descended upon this land."

Under the influence of the contamination source, the deceased villagers neither decayed nor turned into zombies; instead, they still believed themselves to be alive.

Day after day, they lived in this fog-shrouded village, eating, drinking, falling ill, and aging as normal.

They couldn't establish contact with the outside world. There was no birth here, nor death.

—Except on the 15th of July each year.

The 15th of July was the day when yin energy was at its peak annually.

On that day, the power of the pollution source would reach a bizarre equilibrium with Lin Shouying's power, and Lin Shouying would awaken from his slumber.

This was the reason behind the villagers' annual sacrifice to him.

To quell his resentment.

For decades, on New Year's Eve, the village had chosen the annual sacrifice through a lottery system.

Day after day, year after year, the villagers grew older and fewer in number.

They were forced to seek assistance from outsiders.

"If the sacrifice isn't completed by the 15th of July, Lin Shouying will turn into a zombie again," the Ghost Lady said. "I want you to disrupt this ritual."

She hated the villagers more than she held any grudge against the unrelated Lin Shouying.

She wanted Lin Shouying to return and recreate the inhumane massacre that took place decades ago!

Upon hearing all this, Qin Fei softly hummed, "So it seems our goals align. As long as we obtain the Art of Ghost Control and successfully leave the village, the village's ritual on the 15th won't be able to proceed…"

The ghost maiden interrupted before he could finish, "Of course not!"

She wasn't so easily fooled, "I'll give you the item first. What if something goes wrong? I know what you plan to do after obtaining that book - turning living beings into zombies is indeed the only way to leave this village. But there are still three days until the 15th of July. If you complete the zombification process early, the time difference would be enough for the villagers to notice something amiss and find new replacements."

To make a mule obey, the most effective method was to dangle a carrot in front of it.

The ghost maiden spoke softly, "I want you to find the corpses of the first six sacrifices this year and destroy them."

Suppressing vengeful zombies required meticulous and intricate steps.

The six villagers who had died this year already had their spirit tablets set up in the ancestral hall; they couldn't be casually replaced.

On the 15th of July, the day of the ritual, their corpses must be present.

"Alright," Qin Fei agreed without hesitation.

Although the ghost maiden had rejected his proposal, her words had undoubtedly given Qin Fei a strong sense of reassurance.

Their approach was correct.

By following the established steps, there was a chance to escape unscathed, avoiding the humiliating fate of being randomly chosen by the scenario to meet death.

The Ghost Maiden, however, seemed displeased by his words. "Did you say that just now to deceive me, so you could seize the book beforehand?"

Qin Fei indeed had that intention.

The condition for clearing this live broadcast challenge was to stay in the village for seven days. This meant that regardless of whether the players found the "Art of Ghost Control" or not, they couldn't leave until the village ritual began.

If they wasted too much time during their mission, their efforts might prove counterproductive, ultimately leading them back to the same fate as sacrificial offerings.

Survival tools are naturally best obtained as early as possible.

Of course, Qin Fei might think this way, but he would never reveal such honesty at this moment.

"Why would you think that?" The youth frowned slightly, looking somewhat wronged, a hint of hurt flashing in his eyes. "I made that suggestion simply because I didn't think that far."

His gaze held blatant reproach, as if blaming the Ghost Lady for thinking too poorly of them.

"Of course, I have no objections to this matter. Whatever it takes to reassure Miss Ghost Lady, we're willing to do it," the youth said softly, his entire being as delicate as a feather swaying in the wind, seemingly on the verge of shattering at any moment.

Instantly, both Ghost Hand and Ghost Baby expressed their dissatisfaction with the Ghost Lady. One of them jumped up and down, while the other let out a series of "ah ah ah" cries, clinging once again to Qin Fei's thigh as if to comfort the young man and alleviate his disappointment.

Ghost Lady: "..."

I don't believe a word you're saying!

"Fine, fine, fine." The Ghost Lady had reached a point where she even got a headache just seeing Qin Fei's face. "Whatever you say is fine. Anyway, that's how it is. Now, be on your way!"

She once again urged the person in front of her to leave.

Qin Fei, however, refused to leave.

He had one more question, one that piqued his curiosity with its answer.

A question unrelated to the scenario's plot but held significant value in deepening his understanding of the entire live-streaming system.

"If we succeed in destroying this year's village sacrifice," Qin Fei said, "Will the village be destroyed along with it?"

"I mean," he clarified, "You mentioned that if the village sacrifice isn't completed, Lin Shouying would emerge to slaughter everyone in the village. Those who die during the sacrifice cannot be revived. Would the same apply to those killed by Lin Shouying?"

The arrival of the Pollution Source granted the villagers an undying rebirth, but this immortality seemed to be a one-time affair.

In essence, those villagers who perished during the annual village sacrifice were also killed by Lin Shouying.

It was no different from what Lin Shouying did on the 15th of July.

"No," the Ghost Lady said with lackluster interest. "Aside from 'Him,' there's another power present here."

"Didn't you come because of it?" The Ghost Lady looked at Qin Fei curiously. "Since that power descended, no one in the village has truly died anymore."

The entire world began to cycle, again and again.

Different people came and went, while everyone in the village was trapped in those seven days.

Qin Fei's eyes flickered.

The Ghost Lady's words once again confirmed his conjecture.

The System and the 'Him' mentioned by the Ghost Lady didn't seem to be one and the same, as players assumed.

On the contrary, it sounded more like two opposing forces.

They restrained each other yet diverged simultaneously.

"Thank you so much," Qin Fei finally sorted everything out, full of energy and enthusiasm.

The young man standing there exuded an invigorating aura, like a tiny sun in his own right.

But the Ghost Maiden couldn't bear to see him so smug.

"Since you're so eager to leave this place," she said with a malevolent tinge to her smile, "I'll lend you a hand then."

...

In the live broadcast hall, the engrossed audience erupted in another round of boos.

"Why is it snowing again?!!"

"Where's the system? Stop playing dead, will you? With all the gold coins we pay annually, you'd think you'd maintain the servers!"

"Ugh, so annoying! When will the signal come back? Urgent, urgent, I'm the King of Panic!"

Compared to the visibly irate ordinary viewers, the elaborately dressed high-ranking spirits appeared much calmer.

Faced with a live stream filled with pixelation and indistinct sound, these high-ranking spirits could still manage a laugh.

"Everyone, please remain patient. The best shows always come after a long string of commercials," the golden spirit said, even waving for a server again. "Come, let me treat everyone today. A glass of Spirit Wine for each friend here!"

This generous gesture left the crowd in disbelief.

"Holy crap! We've really struck it rich today!"

Spirit Wine was a precious commodity; low-ranking spirits couldn't afford it.

"Thank you, big shot! Thank you, big shot!"

No one paid any attention to the static on the live broadcast anymore.

A few minutes later, a waiter appeared in the grand hall with a towering stack of wine glasses. On the screen, the live feed finally returned to normal.

...

The wooden door creaked shut slowly, its sound grating on the ears.

The filthy blackish-red gradually faded away, leaving behind an unremarkable, pitch-black wooden door that was so ordinary it was forgettable.

Beside the door, the zombie on the left remained trapped within the glutinous rice circle, unable to move. Meanwhile, the zombie on the right, seeing the players return, stood up blankly and took a few steps forward, once again offering its head to Qin Fei—

Qin Fei: "..."

Why was this child so persistent?

He reached out and gently brushed the zombie's head aside. "Polite decline."

The players had been suddenly teleported back from various locations on the side quest map and were still in a state of confusion.

"What happened?" Sun Shouyi asked.

Upon entering, he found himself plunging straight into a horde of zombies, leaving him in a state of panic, nearly losing his wits.

The zombies were as nimble as fleas, and Sun Shouyi was too preoccupied with survival to even consider heading towards the Xu family's ancestral home.

Without Qin Fei drawing their attention, Sun Shouyi was in an even worse predicament than he had been at the cemetery. The bottom half of his shirt was torn off by the zombies, exposing his round belly.

Sun Shouyi felt mortified but couldn't bring himself to mention it.

After all, worrying about one's appearance in such a life-and-death situation would seem overly pretentious and superficial.

He could only blush and pretend nothing was amiss.

Next to Sun Shouyi, Lin Ye and Ling Na weren't faring much better.

Xu Yangshu, on the other hand, appeared on the verge of fainting, clearly deeply frightened.

Only Xiao Xiao stood beside Qin Fei, exuding an air of smug satisfaction reminiscent of a grand eunuch attending to an emperor.

"Let me tell you all what has happened during this period!"

There was no need to stay at the Xu family's ancestral home any longer. The five of them set off, chatting as they walked towards the mortuary.

"...Brother Qin first rescued me from a horde of zombies...fooled the female ghost...fought the Boss in a three-hundred-round showdown...and extracted secrets about the dungeon..."

There were indeed many points worth sharing, and Xiao Xiao talked animatedly, eliciting occasional "oohs" of surprise from the other players.

In contrast, Qin Fei, the main subject of the conversation, remained silent throughout.

Xiao Xiao attempted several times to pass the conversation back to Qin Fei, but the latter seemed to ignore him. The young man's eyes were blank, fixated on a spot on the ground.

For some reason, whenever he recalled the smile the Ghost Lady had given him before she vanished, Qin Fei felt an unsettling sensation.

The sky above was gradually darkening.

Lin Ye looked up at the heavens, trying in vain to determine the time. "Hasn't it even gotten dark yet?"

Brother Qin had mentioned that the flow of time inside the Gate might be different from that outside.

Perhaps, while they were dashing about inside the door for what seemed like an eternity, only a few minutes had passed outside?

Qin Fei paused in his steps, his gaze piercing through the mist to rest upon the layers of dark clouds: "No, it should almost be dawn by now."

"Then we've been inside all night?" Lin Ye said as their group approached the entrance of the funeral parlor.

An unexplained circle of yellow talismans had been attached to the black gate at some point, adorned with indecipherable symbols inked in black and dark red.

Qin Fei turned around, looking back at the street behind them.

In fact, he had noticed on their way here that many households had also affixed talismans to their doors.

Above them, daylight had already broken, yet the shrine and stone statue remained in place, not having been moved into a house as they had been in previous days. The players had barely dared to glance to either side as they walked along.

What had transpired within the funeral parlor during the time they spent inside the red door?

Sun Shouyi stepped forward and pushed open the gates: "Let's go in and talk."

After a night of frantic efforts, everyone's sanity points had been depleted to some extent. Now, they needed to continue resting and recuperating.

However, before Sun Shouyi could exert himself, the door was pushed open from the inside.

Scarface and Cheng Song appeared in everyone's line of sight.

Their gazes met, and both sides were taken aback.

"You... You're still alive?" Cheng Song wore an extremely rare expression of astonishment, his words carrying an indescribable strangeness.

He even took a few steps back, cautiously sizing up the people in front of him.

Lin Ye seemed displeased. "Who are you cursing?"

Qin Fei's heart skipped a beat, though.

He spoke hesitantly, "What... What time is it now?"

"It's early morning, just as the sun is rising."

With Cheng Song's response, the last glimmer of hope in Qin Fei's heart vanished. "By the seventh morning, you two had already been missing for a full two days."