Chapter 30: Night Stroll in Yin Village 28

Chapter 30: Night Stroll in Yin Village 28

Tap.

Tap.

Tap.

Soft and rhythmic footsteps echoed along the side of the annex.

Qin Fei leaned on the wall with one hand, while the other hung limply by his side. He strolled leisurely forward.

Sun Shouyi and Xu Yangshu stood at the corner ahead of Qin Fei.

To ensure they remained together, Sun Shouyi took the lead, with Xu Yangshu following closely behind. They held each other's left hands with their left and right hands respectively, forming a line like little children playing train in kindergarten.

The annex of the funeral parlor wasn't particularly spacious. Qin Fei soon approached Xu Yangshu from behind.

Before reaching his destination, he had deliberately made his steps louder to avoid startling the person in front.

When Qin Fei's hand touched Xu Yangshu's shoulder, the man's body still trembled violently, despite his attempt to remain composed.

It had to be said, from the Xu family's ancestral home to the world behind the door and then to the mortuary annex, Xu Yangshu had experienced more fright within this short day than his physical limits could handle.

Xu Yangshu was, of course, familiar with the concept of the Four Corners Game.

Playing such a ghost-summoning game in a dimly lit room filled with coffins was enough to make any man's knees go weak just thinking about it.

Behind him, the hand that rested on his shoulder felt icy cold.

Xu Yangshu knew that it belonged to the tourist named Qin Fei, but for a fleeting moment, he couldn't help but conjure up various classic horror scenarios in his mind.

His knee involuntarily lifted, colliding with the back of Sun Shouyi's knee joint.

Caught off guard, Sun Shouyi nearly tumbled headfirst to the ground.

Fortunately, Qin Fei, even in the darkness, remained quick-witted and agile, as if he had anticipated Xu Yangshu's feeble reaction. He swiftly reached out and caught Sun Shouyi, preventing him from falling.

Sun Shouyi hastily regained his balance.

Despite the pitch-black room that made it impossible to see anyone around him, he still turned back to shoot Xu Yangshu a fierce glare.

With a forward push, Sun Shouyi led Xu Yangshu away from the corner, heading in the direction of Xiao Xiao.

Qin Fei quietly leaned against another corner, listening to the fading sound of their footsteps.

Considering Xu Yangshu's emotions, Sun Shouyi walked slowly, almost tiptoeing his way forward.

After about a hundred steps, the two groups met at the next turn.

In contrast, Xiao Xiao's pace was much quicker, steady and rhythmic. In just moments, he reached the corner where Ling Na and Lin Ye were situated.

Positions exchanged once again, and the lighter footsteps overlapped, creating a soft tapping sound.

Tap, tap.

Tap, tap.

In a distant corner was where Qin Fei had started, but it was now deserted.

Qin Fei's eyes were half-lowered, patiently awaiting the sound of footsteps to resound.

Yet, for a long while,

Tap... Tap...

Tap... Tap...

The gentle and delicate sound of their toes touching the ground continued incessantly.

Qin Fei's eyes suddenly widened.

Something was amiss.

There was Ling Na, a girl, and Lin Ye, a young adolescent who had yet to fully mature.

Even if they were taking smaller strides, it was impossible for them to spend so much time on a straight path.

For such an extended period, it was more than ample time to traverse both walls.

The two sets of footsteps, overlapping yet distinct, had somehow merged into one without notice.

A glint of realization flashed in Qin Fei's eyes.

Has it come so soon?

He had initially thought that it wouldn't appear until they had played several rounds first.

Behind him, the footsteps drew ever closer.

Closer and closer.

Even closer, inching nearer.

Until they ceased right behind Qin Fei's back.

"Phew~"

Gentle breaths brushed against the exposed skin of Qin Fei's neck, while a slender finger gently tapped against it, circling around in a mesmerizing rhythm.

Apparently, this was a female ghost.

Qin Fei's expression remained unchanged as he allowed the female ghost to explore his body with her hands.

He began walking forward the moment the female ghost's finger touched his neck, and unfortunately, it seemed that the female ghost did not have to abide by the game's rules like they did.

For Qin Fei, a male character, discovered that this entity had started following him forward.

Soft moisture lingered by the ear, accompanied by the rich scent of orchids, as breaths fell tantalizingly close.

Two arms wrapped around Qin Fei's arm, followed by half of the person's body pressing intimately against him, their softness distinctly palpable.

What should have been a mere few seconds' walk to the next corner stretched into an eternity. Qin Fei walked and walked, yet the end remained perpetually out of reach.

During this time, the female ghost remained glued to his side, alternately caressing him on the left and then on the right.

Qin Fei: "..."

This ghost was quite willing to go all out to torment the players.

But could she clarify whether she wanted Qin Fei to take advantage of her or if she was the one trying to take advantage of him?

The reason behind the female ghost's flirtatious gestures wasn't hard to guess. It was likely an attempt to disrupt the players' normal gameplay, forcing them to make noise or causing the game to end prematurely.

However, Qin Fei couldn't understand why this ghost would resort to seduction as a means of distraction.

In most conventional ghost stories, when spirits attempted to influence the living, they would usually transform into the weakest link in the person's psyche.

To put it simply, a greedy person might see a pile of gold coins, while a glutton might see a pile of chicken legs.

So, following that logic...

Did he really look like someone with a lustful nature??

Qin Fei found it utterly perplexing and even felt a sudden urge to complain about this lousy game that failed miserably at understanding its users' minds.

In the live-streaming hall, this inexplicably steamy scene successfully stirred up excitement among the audience.

"Damn, screenshot, quick, take a screenshot! Pay for it if you have to!"

"Ahahahahaha, I'm dying of laughter! The beautiful female ghost goes left, and the host goes right; she goes right, and the host goes left."

"Ahahaha, what's with the host's expression, as if he's been forced into prostitution? Hahahaha..."

"So, can someone explain to me why? How can there be a man who remains untouched in the face of intense psychological corruption, even when a deliberately seductive beauty is right in front of him? This is like a modern-day Liu Xiahui, isn't it?"

"Exactly, exactly, not even a flicker of SAN value loss! It's truly remarkable!"

"Wondering why? Because he's my husband! My husband only has eyes for me!"

"It's our love that safeguards his purity!"

"What are you doing, ghostly lady? Get away, get away! Don't you have your own spouse? Why cling to my husband?!"

Qin Fei, as for the so-called spiritual pollution mentioned by the viewers, didn't actually experience it as vividly as they did.

He had long noticed that the contamination, which posed a threat to other players in the instances, seemed non-existent before him.

Of course, this wave was no exception.

Perhaps, this had something to do with the "His" aura that the Ghost Lady mentioned being attached to Qin Fei.

In a nutshell, no matter how hard the charming female ghost before him tried, Qin Fei remained utterly unresponsive.

With an unwavering gaze straight ahead, his eyes were clear as if reflecting an impeccable character, resembling a magnificent white lotus that remains untainted amidst the mud, shimmering brightly under the sunlight.

Thanks to the restrictions of this scenario that prevented arbitrary speech and actions, Qin Fei was spared from having to forcefully push away the female ghost and demonstrate, with resolute conviction, that he would never take advantage of a lady without her consent through his actions.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes.

With no other obstacles expected on this path, Qin Fei simply emptied his mind and walked with an air of detachment from the world.

Female ghost: "..."

The female ghost was utterly speechless. What on earth was going on?!

Is this man still a man? How can he not show the slightest reaction at all?

The female ghost was discouraged, but she wasn't the type to give up easily.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

Since seductive beauty didn't work,

She decided to change her approach.

A grim smile spread across the corners of the female ghost's lips, painted with bright red lipstick. In an instant, her appearance shifted from one extreme to another.

Suddenly, she pressed her entire face close to Qin Fei's, their noses touching. The originally cold yet sweet scent emanating from her vanished, replaced by a nauseatingly thick smell of blood.

The female ghost blinked, and crimson droplets rolled down from her exquisite phoenix eyes.

Her eyelashes fell one by one, followed by her eyeballs, then the sockets.

That lovely half of her face melted away before Qin Fei's eyes, dissolving like tar. Her skin rotted, exposing the crimson interior.

Qin Fei could even see his brain pulsating inside the skull, as if maggots were wriggling within.

The sudden turn of events provoked two entirely opposite reactions from the live-stream viewers.

Some spirits nearly spilled the spiritual wine they held in their hands from the shock.

"I swear, why does this always have to be a surprise attack? Even if I watched 100 live streams, I'd still get startled by scenes like these."

"The host is so cool, not reacting at all. Sometimes, I'm grateful I'm just a viewer."

"Exactly, exactly. If I were thrown into the live stream, I'd probably be eliminated in the first round."

"Ugh—Ugh—Ughhh—"

The other group, however, wore excited expressions as they looked down on those who had fainted in disgust.

"They really don't know how to appreciate it. The most thrilling moments in these rule-bound live streams are precisely these sensory-stimulating scenes."

"What a shame. Although this scene is terrifying enough, it lacks bloodiness. It would've been great if that female ghost ate people, chewing the host's skull to pieces!"

...

In the scene, the young man facing the female ghost's onslaught exhibited a response utterly distinct from any of the viewers at that moment.

He still didn't have any reaction at all.

For Qin Fei, there is no difference between horror films and erotic films. In any case, he acts as if he is blind, turning a blind eye to everything.

Female ghost: "..."

How vexing, this time she was truly shaken to her core!

She began circling around Qin Fei, extending her finger to poke at the hole in her own head.

She stirred within it and then smeared the putrid, fishy-smelling slime across Qin Fei's face.

...Damn it, you son of a bitch!

Qin Fei maintained his composure, silently cursing inwardly.

He wasn't afraid, but this ghostly woman's action had crossed a line with him.

I really want to kick this guy away!!!

Forget it, forget it.

I can still endure.

I have no choice but to endure.

The young man utilized all his self-restraint, taking a deep breath before maintaining an appearance of indifference.

The female ghost was completely driven over the edge.

In the following quarter of an hour, she showcased an "encyclopedia of ways to court death" right in front of Qin Fei.

She removed her head and tossed it at Qin Fei's feet.

She transformed her face into the back of her head, then turned around, revealing that the other side was still the back of her head.

She contorted her limbs, landing on all fours like a coconut crab crawling beside Qin Fei.

Unfortunately, no matter how intricately the female ghost planned, the young man before her eyes always maintained his composed and nonchalant demeanor.

He simply walked step by step, his back leaning against the wall in the dark chamber.

Each step was evenly paced, with equal intervals, always following a straight line.

The female ghost felt she was on the verge of losing her mind.

As time ticked away, her progress in disrupting the game remained stubbornly at 0%.

Realizing she had met her match, her eyes rolled in thought.

The game had a limited duration, and if she perished, the other teammates would also be forcibly recalled.

By then, they would undoubtedly curse her to high heaven.

Defeated, she let out a regretful sigh and stared at Qin Fei for a few seconds with an admiring gaze befitting a hero appreciating another, before finally moving away.

With the departure of the female ghost, the eerie darkness that had enveloped Qin Fei gradually dissipated. Though the room remained pitch black, Qin Fei could sense that something around him had shifted.

It had returned to its original, normal state.

Not far ahead, Xu Yangshu's slightly hurried breaths echoed in the air.

Qin Fei stepped more heavily to signal his approach.

This time, he didn't tap Xu Yangshu but instead reached out to pat Sun Shouyi's shoulder.

The game continued.

...

Lin Ye was on the verge of being terrified to death.

Ever since earlier, he'd felt as though he was being haunted by some mysterious presence.

In fact, he had already noticed that an extra "person" had appeared in the room.

In the first round of the quadrilateral game, as the last participant, Lin Ye walked alongside Ling Na to the starting corner where Qin Fei initially stood.

That spot should have been empty, but upon their arrival, they were startled to find a dark figure already standing there.

Lin Ye's heart pounded wildly at that moment.

Fortunately, he had prepared himself mentally even before the game began, allowing him to maintain control and not reveal excessive emotions.

But this time, he found it increasingly difficult to hold back.

The dense darkness in the air was like a drying blob of concrete, squeezing in from all sides, pressing against his chest until it caused a subtle ache.

Breathing became labored, with an intense burning sensation in his throat.

His left hand, which should have been holding Ling Na's, no longer sensed her presence since a while ago.

And his right hand.

His supposed empty right hand was now entwined by a cold and damp grip.

That hand felt as if it had been soaked in icy water for too long, its skin unnaturally soft and slippery, akin to touching a dead fish.

What on earth was this...

Speaking of which, as a teenage high school boy, Lin Ye should have been at an age fearless of anything.

Unfortunately, he had always been excessively timid since childhood.

Back when he was in school, if his evening self-study session ended too late, Lin Ye would try every means possible to find a classmate to accompany him on the night walk. He had been ridiculed numerous times by his classmates because of this.

That short stretch of road seemed like it would never end.

Lin Ye lifted his head, looking towards where the system's countdown was supposed to hang from the ceiling, but found it pitch black, revealing nothing.

The countdown had vanished.

Lin Ye's heart skipped a beat.

As if sensing his vulnerability, the thing beside him suddenly drew closer.

A chilling and clammy sensation made Lin Ye's body stiffen, sending shivers down his spine as his mind went blank in an instant.

He felt as if something was blocking his nostrils, and a constriction around his neck made it increasingly difficult to breathe.

Dizziness swept over him.

His legs turned weak.

He could barely keep moving.

This feeling was not unfamiliar to Lin Ye.

When he had ventured alone to the abandoned graveyard that night, lying in front of a tombstone, he had also experienced this bizarre sensation of impending death.

This was a sign of a player losing SAN.

Tears welled up in Lin Ye's eyes.

He desperately wanted to pull up his attribute panel to see how much SAN he had lost, but he dared not.

He was uncertain if such actions would be deemed as abnormal gameplay by the system.

His feet felt incredibly heavy, as if ten sandbags were tied to them.

The unknown entity beside him seemed to be growing increasingly excited. Lin Ye heard her laughter, squeezed out from the depths of her throat, sharp and piercing.

Her hand reached up to touch his face.

It was utterly terrifying.

Tears flowed uncontrollably down his cheeks, dropping onto the ground with a steady pat-pat sound. Lin Ye couldn't comprehend why he had been so unfortunate to endure all this.

The darkness and unknown fears often proved more overwhelming than the vivid, bloody scenes before one's eyes.

Lin Ye sensed the surroundings growing colder, as if summer had instantly skipped to winter.

How much longer would this game last?

Could his SAN value ever return to normal?

With the last vestige of his strength, the young man sniffled, feeling in his heart that this time, he might not make it through.

Didn't Uncle Sun mention that? Once a player's SAN value drops to zero, they can no longer leave the instance dungeon.

If death truly came in this manner, it wouldn't be altogether bad; at least, there wouldn't be much physical agony involved.

Lost in a daze, vivid scenes like a carousel of memories started flashing through Lin Ye's mind.

He saw himself studying in the classroom during evening self-study, and then crossing the road after class.

Observing a drunken man harassing two girls walking alone at night;

Seeing himself filled with fear yet still rushing forward with his backpack swinging;

Witnessing the man pull a knife from nowhere and stab it into his abdomen.

Then, he found himself entering the instance world.

He sat on the bus, feeling lost and vulnerable as he gazed at his surroundings. Haunted by the disgusting scene in the auditorium, he summoned all the analytical power his not-so-abundant brain cells could muster to comprehend the situation for his own survival. Mustering great courage, he ventured alone into the chaotic burial ground.

Surrounded by ghouls, his life hung by a thread.

Amidst his daze, a face with a gentle smile suddenly flashed before him. That person extended a hand, warm and strong, pulling him back from the brink of death.

It was like a refreshing breeze tinged with the scent of mint, caressing his face.

In that instant, Lin Ye's mind cleared up a little.

Something was off, something wasn't right.

It shouldn't be like this.

He shouldn't be so afraid.

Though he was timid, he was by no means cowardly. He had always been someone who cherished his life dearly; why would he think of giving up unless it was the absolute last resort?

It's all part of the plot within the instance dungeon!

The heart, once shrunk by fear, began to pulsate vigorously once more, propelling blood into every limb and corner of the body, gradually restoring warmth throughout.

It was a courage that sprouted from within, pulling Lin Ye back from the boundless darkness into reality. This strength gradually grew, eventually surpassing his fear of death, darkness, and all else.

No, he couldn't give up!

His life wasn't solely his own.

Qin Fei had saved him; he didn't have the right or privilege to squander it carelessly.

This wasn't a game that only concerned him.

If he were to die mid-journey, perhaps, all the others would be dragged down by his failure.

If he were to fail the mission now due to his cowardice, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself, even in death!

Persevere.

Hang on tight!

I must not become a burden to the team!

Lin Ye's nails dug into his flesh, causing a sharp sting to radiate from the palm of his hand.

To prevent the female ghost from suddenly making any moves that might cause him to involuntarily vocalize, the young man clenched his upper teeth onto his lip with such force that it nearly drew a row of bloodied holes upon his tender flesh.

Lin Ye felt as if he were sinking in an immense and boundless swamp, with hands reaching out from all sides, attempting to pull him deeper into its depths. He was desperately struggling against this force.

Step by step, inch by inch.

The metallic tang of blood grew stronger in his mouth, but Lin Ye cared not in the slightest.

Hang on.

Keep going.

Every path has its end.

He would either reach the end or die trying.

Never fall in the middle of the journey.

Perhaps it was an eternity. Or perhaps it was but the blink of an eye.

The darkness that seemed to devour all the oxygen around him vanished abruptly, and he found himself back in that ordinary, lightless room.

A warm sensation grazed his left hand; it was Ling Na's hand, her gaze filled with concern as she looked at him.

Lin Ye swiftly lifted his head.

Sure enough, he saw the countdown this time. As the digits reached zero, the floating timer disintegrated into particles and dissipated into thin air.

The game was over!

He had succeeded!

A genuine smile spread across Lin Ye's face.

With the game finally concluded, the players stood their ground, their eyes collectively fixed on the coffin in the center of the room.

Immediately following a thunderous crash, six corpses materialized in the coffin before everyone's eyes!

These were the corpses the Ghost Maiden had requested them to find!

Everyone's expressions shifted abruptly, a mix of joy and tension intertwining.

The corpses had pale complexions, their eyes wide open with tiny, black pupils resembling rice grains. The whites of their eyes were turbid, filled with bloodshot veins. Long fangs protruded from the sides of their mouths.

They wore Qing dynasty official uniforms identical to those worn by the zombies Qin Fei had seen in the Xu family's ancestral mansion. Their arms stretched straight up into the air, with bells tied to their wrists and ankles.

Jingle, jingle, jingle.

The bells rang out.

In the next instant, the six zombies sat up in unison from the coffin.

The players' faces grew stern as they immediately assumed defensive positions.

However, the zombies didn't seem to have any intention of harming them.

One of the female corpses even smiled, opened her mouth, and, with her stiff lips, said, "There's no need to be so nervous."

The zombie spoke.

Sun Shouyi was taken aback and instinctively looked at the rules posted on the wall of the chamber.

To his surprise, the paper had somehow self-ignited and was now reduced to a small corner. As he gazed at it, even that tiny remnant turned to ashes, scattering across the floor.

The successful completion of the game had acknowledged the players as recognized managers of the mortuary chamber, granting them supreme authority within this room, surpassing even the original rules of the chamber.

Hence, the rules on the wall automatically self-destructed.

"Tell us, after all the effort to bring us back, what do you want us to do?" The female zombie lounged casually inside her coffin and asked.

She was an old, wrinkled zombie, and Qin Fei examined her carefully, realizing she was the female ghost who had repeatedly attempted to disrupt him during the game.

She had been young and beautiful, then hideously grotesque, and now she appeared as a somewhat sour and sharp-tongued old lady.

This zombie truly has more than one face.

Upon realizing that the corpses showed no intention of opposing the players, their initially tense muscles gradually relaxed.

But now, what should they do next?

The Ghost Maiden only asked them to destroy these six corpses for the village ritual, but didn't specify how to do so.

According to the players' initial plan, if those six corpses were just ordinary ones, they would have simply burned them. If they were vicious ghasts, they would confront them head-on.

However, the current situation seemed to have surpassed everyone's expectations.

These zombies appeared to be... somewhat communicative, surprisingly?

The players glanced at the zombies' sharp, glaring fangs and, without a word, silently agreed: it was best to avoid a fight if possible.

Was there really no way to achieve a win-win outcome?

Lin Ye swallowed, mustering his courage to suggest, "What if we steal them?"

The Ghost Lady's main objective was to dismantle the village ritual. If they could steal and hide these six zombies, the ceremony wouldn't be able to proceed as planned.

However, Sun Shouyi shook his head. "Where would we hide them after stealing them?"

This was someone else's village. It was naive to think they could easily steal and conceal items on someone else's territory.

After all, the villagers of Shouyin Village were no ordinary people. Even if they lacked skills, locating a few zombies wouldn't be a difficult task for them.

On the side, the old zombie lady, who had been listening to the players' discussion, had somehow managed to piece together the truth with her limited understanding. "You want to disrupt the village ritual?"

Why waste so much breath on such a simple matter?

She curled her lips inside the coffin, propping one leg over the other in an elder's condescending manner, and offered advice. "Do you have dog blood, dog teeth, cinnabar, or peach wood? Or anything that can ward off evil spirits? Just smear them on us, and it should do the trick."

Sun Shouyi: "?"

"You, you...," he stammered, stunned into speechlessness.

Does this guy have some kind of mental issue?

Is he cooperating so willingly because there's a hidden scheme at play?

The old lady zombie saw through Sun Shouyi's dark thoughts and sneered disdainfully, "Believe it or not, that's up to you."

In reality, the players' destruction of their corpses didn't harm these six zombies in the slightest.

They were more than just zombies.

Their flesh had been transformed into zombies, but due to the unique environment of Shouyin Village, their souls had turned into ghosts.

Whether their bodies existed or not was merely a medium; it wasn't a significant loss.

Attached to their corpses, they were living zombies.

Detached from them, they were wandering spirits.

That was the only difference.

Can he be trusted?

Several players stood silently in place, their inner scales oscillating incessantly.

"Should we proceed with this or not? It's up to you to weigh the consequences, anyway..."

The elderly zombie flirtatiously cast a seductive glance at Qin Fei, despite the label "Untouchable" hovering above her head, openly demonstrating her favoritism towards him: "I always have to give this young man some face."

A man with such grace and demeanor is quite rare these days.

Qin Fei: "..."

Qin Fei subtly took a half-step back, turning his face to avoid the curious gazes of the others, their eyes filled with the unspoken question, "How on earth did Brother Qin gain such influence?"

"Come on, hurry up. Don't dawdle," an elderly man in another coffin grumbled impatiently, tapping on the wood of his own coffin as he instructed.

There was even a hint of anticipation in his eyes.

If the players didn't interfere and disrupt their corpses, after tonight's village ritual was completed, their spirits would be forever sealed within the darkness alongside Lin Shouying.

But.

If the village sacrifice couldn't proceed as planned, everything would be different.

Wasn't it better to roam freely as a ghost than to be utterly destroyed?

As for the fact that the entire village would be buried along with them if the village sacrifice failed—

The ghosts didn't really care about that.

What relatives, what friends? Dying together and becoming ghosts would be such a lively affair!

The old ghost rambled on and on about his visions of a blissful afterlife, making Xiao Xiao's lips twitch in disdain.

Such a person who, upon being laid to rest, would constantly scheme to take others down with them… Xiao Xiao could only pray that he didn't have any relatives like this.

With no other options left, they had to act.

Xiao Xiao fished a handful of cinnabar from his robe, eager to give it a try. "Let's test it out first before deciding if it's possible or not."

According to the principles of the Mystic Dao, what these two ghosts said made sense and didn't seem like a deception.

Since neither the humans nor the ghosts present had any objections, Xiao Xiao quickly applied cinnabar to the faces of the six corpses.

The moment the cinnabar touched their flesh, the previously pale corpses in the coffins began to decompose at an alarming rate until they were reduced to six skeletons.

A pungent, burnt odor similar to that of burning flesh filled the air, causing the players to instinctively cover their noses.

At the same time, a brilliant golden glow flashed above their heads.

"Congratulations to Player Qin Fei, Player Xiao Xiao, Player Sun Shouyi, Player Ling Na, and Player Lin Ye for completing the hidden side quest in Instance Dungeon World 0039, 'Night Patrol in Yin Village.' You have successfully obtained the side quest reward."

Side quest reward!

Upon reading this message, both Sun Shouyi and Xiao Xiao's faces lit up with ecstatic joy.

They couldn't believe that such good fortune would actually befall them!

After all, they were just F-rated streamers! Many high-ranking streamers had never even come close to obtaining a side quest reward!

In the Rule Realm's live broadcast, obtaining branch quest rewards was incredibly challenging.

Players could only receive the reward by being the first to explore and clear the same branch quest within a dungeon. If they discovered a branch quest but failed to clear it, or if they cleared it but weren't the first to find it, they would be ineligible for the reward.

The specifics of the branch quest reward were only revealed at the end of the dungeon run, but both Sun Shouyi and Xiao Xiao were certain that it would be incredibly, incredibly, incredibly valuable – perhaps even surpassing the cumulative rewards from all the dungeons they had previously cleared.

What kind of incredible luck did they have!

Both men were nearly stunned by this unexpected stroke of fortune.

The other players didn't fully grasp the significance of the branch quest reward. Although they were happy to see it, their excitement was fleeting, and they quickly shifted their attention to other matters.

As the golden radiance dissipated, a blue-cloth-bound book appeared in Qin Fei's hand, along with a bewildered Ghost Infant.

The ghost infant sat atop the book, lifting its head to see Qin Fei in front of it. It giggled, revealing a set of tiny teeth, then crawled onto Qin Fei's shoulder using its hands and feet, hugging his neck affectionately.

Qin Fei: "?"

What was happening? Did the system transport the ghost infant along with the book during the transfer?

It seemed that only Qin Fei could see this little creature; the other players showed no reaction. Their eyes were fixated on the book in Qin Fei's hand.

Not knowing if Cheng Song and the scarred man were still outside in the courtyard, they decided to stay in the chamber for safety.

Sun Shouyi lit the candle once more, casting a faint flame upon the book.

...

The moment the book was opened, all the players froze in astonishment.

"Are there... no words on this?" After examining the pages horizontally and vertically, Lin Ye hesitantly asked.

Qin Fei was equally perplexed. "Isn't it all filled with words?"

Xiao Xiao was taken aback.

As if he had realized something, he turned to look at Xu Yangshu beside him. "Can you read the words on it?"

Xu Yangshu shook his head honestly and somewhat awkwardly.

Qin Fei also understood.

The Ghost Lady had mentioned that the Necromancy Technique was stored in the Xu family's ancestral home because Xu Yangshu's grandfather felt guilty for abandoning the family's ancestral business and hoped that a capable descendant would return to carry on this craft.

To the Xu family, this wasn't just a simple book; it was a legacy.

And the Ghost Lady was the guardian of that legacy, the one who administered the trial.

Xu Yangshu, as an ungrateful descendant, clearly didn't meet the Ghost Lady's standards. She refused to acknowledge him as a qualified member of the Xu family and instead bestowed the right to inherit the legacy upon Qin Fei—who had no connection whatsoever to the Xu family.

Qin Fei wore a peculiar expression.

He wondered whether this was the intention of the Xu family's ancestors or the Ghost Lady's personal decision.

One thing the Ghost Lady had gotten right, though: Xu Yangshu was indeed an ungrateful descendant.

He showed no guilt or remorse when their family's inheritance fell into the hands of an outsider. Although he appeared full of regret, Qin Fei could read the true essence of that regret in his eyes:

He was upset that only Qin Fei could see the words on this book, preventing him from selling it for profit.

Qin Fei opened the "Necromancy Technique" in his hands.

It was a thin booklet consisting of no more than ten pages. The content was concise and to the point, without any unnecessary elaboration.

By the flickering candlelight, Qin Fei began reading the text aloud, selectively picking out passages.

At the beginning were ordinary methods of necromancy.

Qin Fei had once come across a Mount Mo zombie cultivation method while casually browsing trivia online, which was quite similar to what was recorded in this book.

Zombie cultivation involved a series of intricate steps: selection, preservation, cleansing, choosing, and refinement. If one successfully completed all these, they would end up with a perfect zombie.

To then "drive" the zombie, the necromancer would need to nourish it with their own blood for three days. Afterward, they would bind specially crafted copper bells to the zombie's wrists, ankles, and neck, finally sealing it with yellow charms.

In this manner, one could successfully command the zombie to move on its own with the sound of the bell and the incantation.

Qin Fei scanned through the text at an astonishing pace, flipping through the pages with swift fingers.

Not until he reached the last page did he finally come across the method of turning a living person into a zombie.

Perhaps because this was the core theme of the entire book, the concise text was accompanied by a brief backstory for this particular ritual.

It was said that the inventor of this technique was a corpse herder from over two hundred years ago.

The necromancer was exceptionally skilled, possessing the ability to see both Yin and Yang, and could communicate with the dead, earning him fame across the land.

One day, a family approached him for assistance, claiming that their son had passed away a few days prior, but his body had mysteriously vanished from the morgue.

They had reported the incident to the authorities, but the officials were unable to find the corpse thief. Having heard of the necromancer's renowned abilities, the family was willing to pay a hefty sum just to locate their son and give him a proper burial.

Initially, everyone, including the necromancer himself, assumed that some enemy must have sought out the young man's corpse for the purpose of dishonoring him.

However, as he cast his divination, shook his bronze bell, and his Yin-Yang vision pierced through the veil of mystery, he witnessed a scene that defied belief.

It turned out that after the son passed away, his body was placed in a mourning hall. During the night, when the Yin-Yang Messengers came to collect his soul, the young man, in a daze, followed them without resistance.

However, since he had just died, his soul had yet to fully separate from his body. As a result, his physical form actually accompanied the Yin-Yang Messengers to the Netherworld.

Now, seven days had already passed since his death. But because his body hadn't been buried, his soul couldn't reincarnate either. Trapped together along the Sangtu River, his soul cried day and night, pleading with his parents for help.

The corpse walker couldn't help but marvel at this extraordinary sight. In his decades of life, he had never encountered such a bizarre occurrence!

Upon hearing the story, the elderly parents wept bitterly before him. Their son's untimely demise and his inability to enter the cycle of rebirth were truly heartbreaking.

But the Sangtu River lay within the Netherworld Realm, a place no living person could set foot in.

Not to mention the possibility of returning, the mere entrance to the Netherworld was completely inaccessible to the living. With their vitality, the living couldn't see the Ghost Gate, walk the Yellow Springs Road, and naturally, they couldn't reach the banks of the Sangtu River.

What was he to do now?

Driven by his curiosity and the desire to console the grieving elderly couple, the Corpse Herder secluded himself for a full two months before finally devising a spell that could transmute living beings into false corpses and then revert them back to humans by dissipating their corpse aura.

In the end, this Corpse Herder indeed used this spell to bring the old couple's son's body back from the Netherworld to the mortal realm.

The method of refining a false corpse was rather straightforward, without any particularly complex procedures.

Qin Fei scanned the list of required items, and it wasn't much different from the process of creating an ordinary zombie. There were only slight variations in the quantities needed, and these items would surely be easily found in Yin Guardian Village.

There was no issue with time either.

It usually took nearly a month to create an ordinary zombie, but refining a living person into a corpse only required concealing their life force, which took just three hours.

However, as Qin Fei read on, his brows knitted together.

"The refinement of a living corpse harms one's moral integrity, and the excessive negative energy makes it highly susceptible to zombification," Qin Fei read.

If zombification occurred, the person would lose consciousness and become an ordinary zombie, with no chance of regaining their senses.

This, of course, was unacceptable.

If players were to accidentally fall into such a situation, they could forget about completing the mission and leaving the instance dungeon. They would be doomed to spend their lives dodging zombie fangs within the village.

"To prevent zombification, the creation of animated corpses requires exactly eight individuals, gathered together for the purpose. Neither more nor less should be involved; otherwise, it forebodes great calamity."

Upon reading this, Qin Fei's expression darkened.

In the dimly lit room, the remaining five people, excluding Qin Fei, exchanged uneasy glances.

It required... eight people?