Chapter 29: Night Stroll in Yin Village 27

Chapter 29: Night Stroll in Yin Village 27

"What?!"

Everyone's expressions changed when Cheng Song finished speaking.

"Are you serious?" Sun Shouyi's face turned ashen, as if he had just heard something astonishing.

Cheng Song didn't mind the skepticism and nodded. "Of course."

He glanced at the silent man with the scar. "We thought you wouldn't be coming back, so we were planning to head to the bus to make a call."

No one could predict how making a phone call would alter the storyline of the scenario. Cheng Song didn't want to take that risk unless it was absolutely necessary.

Therefore, he was quite pleased to see Qin Fei and the others return.

With a rare friendly smile on his face, Cheng Song asked, "Where have you been these two days? Why did it take you so long to come back?"

Qin Fei lifted his eyelids to look at him. His beautiful amber eyes held no spark.

Struck by the ghostly maiden's unexpected attack, he said disinterestedly, "What about you two?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't you discussing where to go before we left?"

"Abandoned burial ground? An ancestral temple? Or perhaps one of the villager's homes?" The youth pretended to smile, his gaze on Cheng Song carrying an unsettling air of comprehension.

As if all hidden secrets were transparent to him.

He raised a finger to stroke his chin, murmuring, "Hmm, I suppose in the end, you must have still gone to the ancestral temple, right?"

As they conversed, Scarface kept glancing subconsciously in the direction of the shrine.

"Did you find anything else inside the shrine?" Qin Fei asked, causing Cheng Song's face to subtly stiffen.

In truth, he hadn't made any new discoveries within the shrine.

He had gone there for only one purpose:

Based on some clues obtained before entering the instance dungeon, Cheng Song had meticulously mapped out the layout of the Ancestral Temple in Shadow Village.

The map was detailed down to the number of rooms and doors, as well as windows, all accurately depicted on paper.

As for the specific purpose of this map, Cheng Song wasn't yet aware, but he was certain that it would come in handy during the final clearance of the dungeon.

In the rule-bound world, players who wished to gain hints about an instance dungeon prior to the live broadcast had to pay a hefty price.

Moreover, the clues they received were often vague and incomplete.

Despite this, countless players still eagerly exchanged the hard-earned points from risking their lives in the dungeons for mere fragments of information about the next one.

What could they do? It was all for the sake of survival.

As a Head Hunter, Cheng Song had more avenues to acquire points than ordinary players.

Before this live broadcast, he had unusually splurged, trading for a single clue.

"The place where the ritual begins is where rebirth takes place."

If Qin Fei were to interpret this clue, he might discern another layer of meaning:

The phrase "where the ritual begins" doesn't necessarily refer solely to the geographical location where the ceremony takes place.

It could also imply "the cause that brings about the ritual."

In this instance, only the village chief, the villagers, and the Ghost Lady possess the full knowledge of the events that transpired.

Due to their personal stance, the village chief and the villagers cannot engage in deep conversations with the players, leaving the task to the Ghost Lady.

Similarly, the book that grants players a new lease on life is under the control of the Ghost Lady, dovetailing perfectly with this clue.

However, Cheng Song didn't visit Xu's residence and missed part of the storyline, thus failing to consider this perspective.

All Cheng Song can do is take the clue at face value and inquire with the village chief for more information.

The village chief informs Cheng Song that tonight's village ritual will be held in the ancestral hall.

With the village chief's statement and the assistance of the compass, Cheng Song was convinced that the key to the players' success lay within the ancestral hall.

In the F-rated live broadcast hall, the spectators in front of the light screen were buzzing with disapproval.

"Oh my god, what a mess. Cleverness can sometimes be one's downfall, huh?"

"Cheng Song hasn't really shown his true strength in this stream. As a talent scout, his judgment seems off, and as a broadcaster, the plot progression is dragging."

"Sigh, boring. What a waste of my time! I think I'll switch to that new player's perspective..."

All these comments came from viewers within Cheng Song's live stream channel.

As a talent scout for a major guild, Cheng Song's number of live broadcasts far exceeded those of Sun Shouyi, Xiao Xiao, and the others. Over time, he had amassed a considerable fan base.

At the start of this particular stream, his viewership alone surpassed ten times the combined audience of all the others. However, that was then; now, Qin Fei's perspective had taken the lead by a wide margin.

Despite this, a significant portion of Cheng Song's loyal fans still hadn't given up on him. Even though the highlights of the live stream mostly revolved around Qin Fei and his group of players, they continued to keep a close eye on Cheng Song's movements.

They watched in dismay as Cheng Song made one wrong move after another, eventually falling into the same old pitfalls that previous streamers had stumbled upon. They couldn't help but clasp their thighs in regret.

Other spirits, confused, asked them, "What happened? What are you all sighing about?"

One of Cheng Song's long-time fans sipped at their spiritual wine and shook their head, replying,

"If Cheng Song hadn't relied on any props or additional clues before the start of the broadcast and had solely followed the storyline of the dungeon, he would've definitely chosen to go to the ancestral home with Xu Yangshu."

It was a smooth and logical path, one that no one should have deviated from under normal circumstances.

However, Cheng Song had seen the hints beforehand and got misled by the clues, thinking that the Xu family's ancestral home was irrelevant information.

"Although those players might not necessarily succeed in completing the ghost maiden's mission, it can't be denied that they've found the most correct way to clear the level."

If they all managed to survive until the end, such a disparity would result in vastly different scores when evaluated by the system.

In the live stream, the players in the mortuary were immersed in an eerie silence.

The live broadcast had progressed to a point where there was no longer any need for information sharing. The players' competitive survival in separate teams was evident, and Cheng Song had no intention of revealing to Qin Fei that he had mapped out the area.

"The nothing much, we just wandered around," the man replied coldly.

Qin Fei shrugged nonchalantly, "Too bad, it's the same for us."

"Exactly, exactly," Xiao Xiao chimed in, "We only explored Xu Yangshu's dilapidated old house and encountered a few useless ghosts. That's all."

Cheng Song couldn't help but frown at their uncooperative attitude.

Of course, he knew that this group had gone to Xu Yangshu's hometown in search of the book on necromancy techniques.

But from their current demeanor, it didn't seem like they had found it.

After a moment's thought, he nodded, "Mm-hmm."

He had no intention of pressing the matter further.

Now that Qin Fei and his team were back, there was no need for Cheng Song and Scarface to venture out again. The two of them took a seat in a corner of the mortuary, silently waiting for time to pass.

Qin Fei's group, on the other hand, had much more to do.

Seeing Cheng Song and Scarface leave, Xiao Xiao couldn't contain his restless heart any longer. He jumped around like a monkey, exclaiming,

"It's over, it's over, it's over! How did that ghost girl trick us? We were only in that door for two hours, but we've been out for two days!"

The village ceremony was about to start soon. With such a short time, how could they possibly complete their mission?

Ling Na tugged at Xiao Xiao's sleeve, "Don't panic too much."

Panic wouldn't help.

"Let's hurry up and think where those people's corpses might be hidden."

That was the most pressing matter now.

Ling Na said, "I remember, in the ancestral hall, the room Brother Qin entered – there seemed to be many spirit tablets scattered on the floor."

Sun Shouyi replied, "But those are just tablets, not corpses."

"I don't think they're in the ancestral hall," Xiao Xiao speculated.

"We've already searched the ancestral hall thoroughly earlier. It was a bit chaotic back then, but based on the information we cross-checked later, we've covered every corner of it."

That afternoon when Qin Fei suddenly disappeared, they had combed through the entire hall in search of him, leaving no stone unturned.

Xiao Xiao was certain that there was no way six corpses could have been concealed within the ancestral hall at that time.

"Moreover, didn't the big boss just say that Cheng Song and the other one were in the ancestral hall the whole afternoon? If anything was amiss there, they would have shown some signs."

Yet, they didn't exhibit any unusual behavior just now.

"What about the mass grave?" Lin Ye asked.

"There are so many tombstones in the mass grave. Perhaps the newly deceased are buried there each year."

However, Qin Fei promptly dismissed this theory.

"Those six aren't just ordinary dead bodies. Their corpses still have a purpose during the village ritual on July 15th. The villagers wouldn't go through the trouble of burying them first and then digging them up again."

Furthermore,

"Yesterday... um, two days ago at the mass grave, I carefully examined all the gravestones."

Standing among the group, Qin Fei softly summarized his findings:

"There were a total of 234 gravestones in the mass grave. Each one bore the name and birth and death years of its occupant. The most recent death dates back forty years."

Combining this with the information the Ghost Maiden had provided in the world behind the door,

the corpses in the Mass Grave of Shou Yin Village were all from a long time ago. The villagers had fraudulently brought them there under the pretense of reanimating corpses. There were no fresh graves at all.

Xiao Xiao also agreed, "There was a zombie outbreak in Shou Yin Village's mass grave. The villagers worked hard to suppress the resentment of those who died far from home. They wouldn't have disturbed the ground there carelessly."

"Well," Lin Ye blinked, somewhat disappointed. "Then where else could it be hidden?"

Shou Yin Village was vast, with many places to conceal a body. Every house could potentially be hiding something.

But they were running out of time. Were they supposed to search each and every house?

How long will the search take? We might as well wait here for death together!

Qin Fei leaned against a coffin with a contemplative expression, his slender and elegant fingers tapping gently on the edge of the casket, producing an unsettling tapping sound.

"Stop that, it's making me anxious," Xiao Xiao said, pulling at Qin Fei's hand with a worried frown. "What are you thinking about so intensely?"

Now, whenever Xiao Xiao saw Qin Fei in deep thought, he instinctively grew nervous, always expecting Qin Fei to uncover some terrifying truth.

True to form, Qin Fei didn't disappoint Xiao Xiao: "I have an idea about where those corpses might be stored."

Several pairs of eyes instantly converged upon Qin Fei's face like searchlights, as both spectators and players alike found themselves simultaneously struck by the same thought at this very moment:

How did he find out again?

What on earth is this person's mind made of?

How is it that every time they're clueless and frantically worried, he always appears supremely confident?

Lin Ye had already resigned himself to his fate and said, "Brother Qin, you speak."

"Though Shadow Village is spacious, it doesn't have many distinctive public structures," Qin Fei explained. "The auditorium, the ancestral hall, and the mass graves—apart from these, there are the six households' own houses."

These were the places that people would instinctively consider as potential hiding spots for sacrificial corpses under normal circumstances.

"First, we can rule out the auditorium."

They had visited it on their first day in the instance dungeon. It was just a square, single-story building.

There were no corners or hidden rooms, so it lacked the basic conditions to conceal a corpse.

"The ancestral hall and the mass graves were also eliminated earlier."

"It's unlikely that the villagers' homes would be hiding anything either."

They had been to the house of the villager with red paper money hanging from the eaves—the crazed old man.

Despite only staying there for about ten minutes, Qin Fei was certain that there were no hidden corpses in his residence.

If he didn't have one, then the other six households likely didn't either.

"If their corpses aren't at home, not in the ancestral hall, and not buried in the mass grave," Qin Fei whispered. "Then where could they be?"

He lifted his head, his gaze landing on the large, rusted lock not far away.

"There's actually one more place that's most suitable for storing corpses."

It was just that everyone seemed to have overlooked it.

Perhaps it was due to the influence of the instance dungeon.

Or maybe it was simply an oversight in plain sight.

"What...?" Xiao Xiao was taken aback for a moment before he quickly grasped the meaning behind Qin Fei's words.

Right!

Aside from the places they had considered, there was another public area in this village that was originally meant for housing corpses.

That would be the charitable mortuary.

Players had spent four or five days within the instance dungeon, all confined to the mortuary despite its seemingly spacious area. In reality, they had only set foot in the courtyard.

Those interconnected houses had been locked from the start.

The guide had forbidden them from tampering with it, so everyone had simply dismissed their curiosity.

Now, thinking back, wasn't that precisely where the corpses should be stored?

"Us outside, them inside, twelve corpses in perfect order," Qin Fei stood up, brushing off the dust from his clothes nonchalantly. "What a logical design."

Other players: "......."

Please, don't praise the dungeon in such an eerie manner!

"Um, um," Lin Ye's face paled. "Are we going in?"

"Certainly," Qin Fei replied.

They had no other option.

...

"Damn, damn, they're really going to find those corpses, aren't they!"

"Help, the host is so persuasive! Even though we haven't seen the bodies yet, I'm already completely convinced by their words!"

"I think you're swayed by his looks. Wipe the drool from the corner of your mouth..."

An increasing number of spirits flooded into the F-Rank Live Broadcast Hall.

"The World 0039, which was taken off the shelves for three years, has resurfaced and a newbie on their first live broadcast has introduced a new storyline." This news had already spread among the spirits.

Despite it being just an F-Rank instance world, the novelty of a new storyline drew a considerable number of mid-to-high-ranking spectators.

The Live Broadcast Hall shimmered with brilliance. To accommodate the overwhelming influx of viewers, the system was compelled to temporarily open a second dimension, allowing the audience to move freely between them.

"Well, this is truly the golden age of the F-Rank Live Broadcast Hall!"

With a gasp of astonishment, on the screen, five players and one NPC found themselves standing before the locked chamber door within the courtyard of the funeral parlor.

Qin Fei reached out and picked up the rusted lock, examining it carefully. He couldn't help but utter a soft "huh" in surprise.

It wasn't locked.

The lock was merely inserted into its hole, not actually engaged.

With a gentle click, the young man's fingers applied pressure, and the lock sprang open.

On the other side of the small courtyard, Cheng Song and Scarface were taken aback as they saw the group approaching the chamber. When they noticed Qin Fei unlocking the door, they hurried over to them.

But it was too late.

As the lock turned, the chamber door swung wide open. For some inexplicable reason, the mere 20 meters to the door seemed like an endless journey for Cheng Song. No matter how he strode forward, he remained rooted to the spot.

He could only watch helplessly as the six individuals entered the chamber, and the door slammed shut with a bang.

Only then did everything return to normal.

...

In the pitch-black chamber, the six of them stood together, gazing at one another in silence.

-Though "gazing" might not be the most accurate term.

The room was too dark for them to discern each other's faces.

Sun Shouyi delved into his pocket and retrieved a half-used candle from his previous visit to the Xu family's ancestral home.

With a "pfft," the flame ignited upon exposure to air, casting a warm yellow glow that illuminated a small area ahead.

Directly before them was a smooth wall adorned with an enormous copper mirror in its center, surrounded by the pattern of the Eight Trigrams.

Their distorted reflections, resembling elongated ghosts, were cast onto the mirror as they stared back at the players.

Startled, the group took a collective jump.

On either side of the copper mirror lay rows of spirit banners and wreaths. In the middle of the wreaths were several black-and-white photographs, depicting both men and women who appeared to be of advanced age.

Qin Fei's heart settled slightly upon witnessing this scene.

It seemed they hadn't made a mistake.

However...

Ling Na took the candle from Sun Shouyi's hand and stepped forward.

In the center of the room, six coffins were arranged neatly in a line. Their lids were ajar, revealing empty interiors.

Where were the corpses?

Ling Na approached in astonishment.

She was very brave. Behind her, Xu Yangshu and Lin Ye both wore grim expressions, but Ling Na alone held the candle, examining each of the six coffins with her hand.

After she finished, she turned to the others and shook her head.

Nothing. There was nothing at all.

The coffin was devoid of a corpse or any other objects, not even residual signs were left behind.

In short, it was completely empty.

Xiao Xiao knitted his brows and approached the pile of wreaths beside the copper mirror.

Unfortunately, despite his meticulous search for quite some time, the wreaths and mourning banners remained undisturbed.

It was only when he lifted his head.

Discovered!

Without any prior notice, a sheet of paper filled with text had appeared on the previously barren wall. A glint of delight flashed across Xiao Xiao's eyes, yet he couldn't help but hesitate, wondering if his eyes or memory had deceived him.

Regardless, they had finally made some progress.

Xiao Xiao waved his hand on the spot, gesturing for the others to approach.

The players swiftly converged.

"Regulations for the Management of the Mortuary"

Ling Na stood at the forefront, holding a candle aloft. The flame illuminated the title at the top of the paper.

Below it was a small line of text:

Designated for exclusive use in the Mortuary Chambers.

The following content was brief, consisting of just a few lines.

1. Daytime is the period for activity.

2. Nighttime is designated for rest.

3. Only corpses are allowed to remain in the morgue.

4. Corpses do not speak; if you hear a corpse speaking, it is not a corpse.

5. 'Orifices' can function during the day but not at night. If the supervisor needs to locate an orifice during the day, they may use the method of 'orifice searching.'

What the hell is this?

Ling Na almost blurted it out, but Qin Fei and Sun Shouyi simultaneously gestured for her to be quiet.

Ling Na quickly shut her mouth.

Those few seconds were enough for her to realize the situation.

Beside her, Xu Yangshu looked at them all in confusion, completely clueless about what was happening.

Fortunately, though somewhat foolish, he was astute enough to read the room. Seeing Qin Fei and the others signaling for Ling Na to be silent, he promptly covered his own mouth.

Qin Fei touched the wall with his finger, picking up some dust, then drew a line beneath the first halves of the third and fourth rules.

Only corpses can remain in the cabin.

Corpses do not speak.

Combining these two rules meant that from the moment the players entered this room, they were forbidden from making any extra sound with their vocal cords.

Everyone began to feel relieved.

Fortunately, they hadn't rashly spoken out before witnessing the rules, or else someone might have already fallen into misfortune by now.

Only Xu Yangshu remained utterly perplexed.

Neither a player nor an advanced boss like the Ghost Lady, who had substantial insight into the inner workings of the rule-bound world, he utterly failed to comprehend why this group of daring individuals suddenly attached such great importance to the scribbled note on the wall.

Qin Fei waved dismissively, indicating that he shouldn't meddle in other people's affairs.

Xiao Xiao stepped forward, frowning as he pointed at the final rule.

What did it mean for a perfectly fine rule to be filled with blanks?

Ever since Ling Na had read the rules, she had been rummaging through the room. Eventually, she found some paper and writing utensils in a corner, freeing their flailing arms.

"Can anyone make sense of these fill-in-the-blank questions?" Lin Ye wrote, perplexed.

Sun Shouyi remained silent, deep in thought.

This was certainly not a fill-in-the-blank question.

He had previously enlightened the new players that in live streaming, not all rules were necessarily correct.

According to the players' various classifications, there were generally three types of rule questions:

The first type were outright false rules.

In every instance, there were NPCs with differing stances.

Occasionally, some NPCs, due to personal reasons, would plant false rules to deceive and entrap players.

The second type were limited rules.

These rules were usually partially accurate but bound by temporal or spatial constraints.

They might be valid within a specific area or time frame, but could become deadly counter-guidance when the circumstances changed.

The third type were contaminated rules.

Contaminated rules undergo content mutations; they are fragmented, broken, and incomplete.

Some are even hidden.

Players must rely on themselves to complete these rules.

Moreover, many rules are not necessarily fatal.

For instance, in the Shadow Village instance, players were not to enter red doors or walk alone at night if it was a double night.

Though they were valid rules, breaking them did not necessarily result in death.

The fifth rule before them was clearly a contaminated one.

It was a lengthy piece of experiential information, and Sun Shouyi found it challenging to condense it into the simplest terms for everyone's understanding.

The only one sharing this predicament was Xiao Xiao.

In the meantime, Qin Fei, Ling Na, and Lin Ye had already started filling in the blanks with great enthusiasm.

"The first two blanks must be filled with 'cadavers'."

Qin Fei wrote this line down.

The core of all the rules revolved around "cadavers"; it was impossible for Rule 5 to completely deviate from this context.

The other two individuals nodded in agreement.

"Cadavers can move during the day but not at night. If the supervisor needs to search for cadavers during the day..."

This completed the rule content.

With this, an idea formed for the latter half.

Cadavers moving during the day indicated that they could be missing or not within the morgue.

— This coincided precisely with what the players were witnessing at the moment.

Players who entered the side room corresponded to the "supervisor" role mentioned in the rules.

Then, how were they supposed to search for the other corpses that had ventured out?

"Use a method of oral communication..."

The trio pondered over the short sentence intently.

"By calling out to them to return?"

Ling Na wrote, only to quickly cross it out herself.

No, it couldn't be calling out.

They were both supervisors and corpses.

Corpses couldn't speak; this line of thinking was definitely flawed.

Ling Na touched her nose and passed the pen to Lin Ye.

"Perhaps by using a knocking method to lure them in?"

"By luring with an open coffin?"

...

Lin Ye dipped his pen and swiftly filled the page with words.

But how could he verify the accuracy of these speculations?

He lifted his head and caught a faint reflection of himself in the copper mirror on the opposite wall.

Suddenly, he recalled a game that the boys from the neighboring dormitory had played last winter when he was living on campus.

It was a classic ghost-summoning game that most people were likely familiar with.

Bloody Mary.

According to legend, if one lit a candle at midnight in front of a mirror and called her name three times, she would appear.

When they played this game, half the floor's boys gathered to watch, yet nothing eventuated.

The next day, some people joked that the yang energy was too strong the previous night, scaring Mary away.

Strangely, although the ritual wasn't successful, the boy who had been sitting in front of the mirror later broke his leg in a bicycle accident.

According to him, on that sunny afternoon, as he cycled down an empty road, a ghostly face with blood gushing from its seven orifices suddenly appeared out of nowhere, terrifying him so much that he crashed into a flower bed nearby.

Lin Ye wrinkled his nose, suppressing the tendrils of fear creeping up in his heart.

This purely European-style spirit-summoning game clearly didn't apply to the traditional Chinese setting of Shadow Village.

Besides, "Bloody Mary" was four characters, not matching the two-character gap in the rule.

After some contemplation, Lin Ye wrote down another hypothesis.

"It's summoned through a game."

However, as he put pen to paper, something astonishing happened.

The rule written on the wall seemed to be completed by an invisible brushstroke. The originally indistinct handwriting gradually became clear, and to his amazement, it matched exactly what Lin Ye had written on his notepad!

"Corpses can move during the day but not at night. If the Administrator needs to search for corpses during the daytime, they may do so by summoning them through a game," explained Xiao Xiao, his excitement palpable as he gave Lin Ye a thumbs up.

Immediately after, new content appeared beneath the rules.

Available Games:

A. Drop the Handkerchief

B. Hide and Seek

C. Four Corners Game

D. Bloody Mary

How were they supposed to choose?

The players' expressions turned cautious.

Playing a game with ghosts in this pitch-black house sounds terrifying no matter how you think about it.

All of them involuntarily swallowed their saliva.

Lin Ye looked at Ling Na, who then looked at Xiao Xiao, who in turn glanced at Sun Shouyi.

Sun Shouyi took a sharp breath and pointed at the fourth option.

Since there was a mirror in the room, Bloody Mary would be the most fitting choice, right?

As his hand reached out, Qin Fei forcefully pressed it down.

The young man knitted his brows, his gaze thoughtful as he stared at the rules-filled note. After a moment, he reached out to take the paper and pen from Lin Ye's hand.

"We can't choose Bloody Mary."

" Bloody Mary requires the summoner to say Mary's name in front of a mirror."

Even if they were to summon something, it definitely wouldn't be Mary, but rather those six corpses.

The names of those six corpses, Qin Fei did recall them — they were inscribed on the plaques in the shrine.

However, they couldn't speak at will.

Similarly, another game that required vocal participation was 'Drop the Handkerchief,' where singing was involved.

But that game was also impractical in this morgue setting.

Only Hide and Seek and Four Corners remained as viable options.

"How about Four Corners?" Sun Shouyi suggested with a glance at Qin Fei.

This square little room was quite suitable for playing Four Corners.

But Hide and Seek was out of the question; there simply weren't any decent hiding spots.

Qin Fei nodded in agreement. He thought the same.

Moreover, Qin Fei recalled another matter.

On the day they returned from the auditorium, before their first night in the instance dungeon, the guide had given them a visitor's manual.

Rule number seven in that guide clearly stated:

There are no living dead in the village.

Should you encounter a living dead, promptly return to the Mortuary, enter your room, and go to sleep. Adequate rest will keep your mind clear.

Qin Fei was unsure how to define "living dead," but if they could indeed summon these six corpses through the game, who were supposed to be in their coffins, he suspected they would exhibit behaviors not characteristic of corpses.

The rule emphasized the need for players to "keep their minds clear." From this, Qin Fei inferred that coming into contact with living dead might result in a significant loss of sanity.

To avoid such a situation, they should minimize contact with the "living dead" as much as possible.

Comparing hide-and-seek and the Four Corners game, the latter seemed more suitable.

Hide and Seek is a group activity. If players could indeed summon a female ghost through this game, Qin Fei imagined it would likely unfold like this:

One player would be the "ghost," while the others would be "seekers." The corpse would stealthily blend into their midst at some point.

Under such circumstances, they wouldn't be able to avoid contact with the female ghost.

Sun Shouyi was right; the room was too small. If they played hide and seek, the game would progress at a lightning-fast pace.

If the corpse became the "ghost," they'd have no escape from its inevitable proximity – a complete and utter close encounter.

However, the Four Corners game was different.

It was originally a spiritual medium game, requiring the lights to be turned off or for participants to keep their eyes closed so that nobody could see anyone else.

Once the game started, even if the corpse did appear, as long as the players pretended not to notice and "peacefully" regarded it as one of their own, the game could continue indefinitely.

With the cause-and-effect logic sorted out, Qin Fei picked up his pen and confidently marked a check on option C.

After he put down his pen, the rules that had later appeared on the paper swiftly dissipated.

Immediately, a familiar luminous countdown appeared in mid-air.

"Quadrangle Game Countdown: 30 minutes"

Note: Failure to summon a corpse or the game ending prematurely will result in a game failure.

...

The instant the countdown appeared, all the players' hearts tightened.

Of course, Qin Fei was an exception.

In the dim environment, amidst the terrifying game and life-or-death countdown, with corpses potentially appearing at any moment, none of these seemed to affect Qin Fei's composure. The young man maintained a calm expression as he quickly scribbled on a piece of paper:

"The rules of the Quadrangle Game should be known to everyone. The game requires four teams. Xiao Xiao and I will each lead one team, Ling Na and Lin Ye, and Brother Sun will take Xu Yangshu."

"Everyone should walk along the walls. If you encounter someone at the next corner, tap their shoulder; if not, stomp your foot."

Everyone nodded in agreement, no objections were raised.

Qin Fei put away the paper and pen by his side. Once everyone was in their respective positions, Sun Shouyi extinguished the candle.

The game had officially begun.