Chapter 266: Municipal Third Porcelain Factory 05

Chapter 266: Municipal Third Porcelain Factory 05

Behind Qin Fei, the NPCs' gazes had shifted from panic to amazement and then to admiration.

There was something wrong with that rolling porcelain bottle.

Unlike the players who were still in the dark, the NPCs knew everything about it.

The porcelain bottle foretold misfortune.

It meant being chosen by ghosts and being plagued by strange occurrences.

In the past six months, bizarre incidents had been frequent in the factory. One after another, coworkers mysteriously disappeared, and terrifying events whispered about in private among the workshops had left the ordinary NPCs trembling at the sight of the porcelain bottle.

But Yu Zhoukai!

He actually dared to shovel the bottle into the clay pit!

Absolutely incredible!

"Is Yu Zhoukai... not afraid for his life..." one worker muttered to himself.

The NPCs did not believe that shoveling the bottle away meant Qin Fei had saved himself. If it were that easy to escape the control of ghosts, would they still be ghosts?

While admiring him, everyone took a few steps back, distancing themselves further from Qin Fei.

Qin Fei's expression remained unchanged as he continued to stir the clay in the pit rhythmically.

There was already a ghost hiding in the pit, and Qin Fei could sense that the bottle that rolled in was now entangled with the original ghost in the pit.

Two opposing forces transmitted through the stirring shovel, and Qin Fei watched from the sidelines, occasionally tipping the scales.

When he felt the bottle was about to break free, Qin Fei would press it down with the shovel; when it was quiet for a while, he would lift it up slightly to let it breathe.

This went on until the end of the workday, and the pit had been quiet for quite some time.

Qin Fei couldn't help but worry: Did these two ghosts accidentally exhaust themselves to death?

Because there was an outdoor movie showing in the evening, the NPCs in the workshop rushed to the cafeteria as soon as their shift ended.

Based on Yu Zhoukai's notes, Qin Fei could tell that Yu Zhoukai was somewhat reclusive and had few friends in the factory.

However, he did have a few regular dining companions, the same NPCs who ate with Qin Fei at noon.

At lunchtime, these NPCs had approached Qin Fei voluntarily, but now they walked past him as if they didn't know him at all, not even glancing at him and even quickening their pace, as if afraid he might follow them.

Qin Fei didn't care at all.

The news of him shoveling the ghostly bottle away had spread throughout Workshop Two by afternoon, and it was expected to spread throughout the entire factory soon.

If nothing unexpected happened, no living, normal NPC would want to talk to him for the next few days until the strange tale ended.

But this wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Yu Zhoukai walked forward confidently under the horrified gaze of his coworkers, displaying a demeanor of indifference towards life and death.

For dinner, Qin Fei ate alone—pork and cabbage dumplings, plus a bowl of millet pumpkin porridge.

Without the gloomy NPCs around, Qin Fei found this meal particularly comfortable.

This instance aside, the accommodation and food were indeed excellent, though not luxurious, they were simple and clean.

After dinner, the Black Feather players gathered on the playground.

The playground was not small, with a track made of coal slag that gave off a strong sense of nostalgia.

It was already night, and the playground was pitch black. The players noticed that the factory seemed to have no streetlights at night.

Although it was very dark, the atmosphere was fine because many workers participated in the outdoor movie screening.

According to Xie Jingtian, the factory had strict attendance requirements for such large-scale events. Although the NPCs were unwilling to join in, they had to attend.

The players mingled among the NPCs, observing those they hadn't had a chance to get close to during the day.

The movie screening began quickly, and the noisy crowd quieted down.

Gala took the opportunity to open the communication device: "I've learned some things and thought I'd share them with everyone."

"Just like what Jing Tian found out before, the strange incidents in this porcelain factory started half a year ago.

Last summer, suddenly four or five people went missing in the factory. It was also from that time that rumors began to circulate among the workers.

The factory is haunted."

"It is said that the ghost possesses the most produced item in the factory, which is the decorative porcelain bottle.

The possessed bottles are considered ominous by the workers. They believe that anyone who touches these bottles will be taken as a substitute victim, which is why those people disappeared."

"The decorative porcelain bottles were the main source of profit for this factory, but due to the workers' extreme emotions, the management had to stop production of the decorative bottles three months ago and sell off the existing inventory at a discount."

"So, if you see any decorative porcelain bottles anywhere within the factory grounds, it's best to pay attention. It might help me uncover the background of the strange tale."

"However, this rumor seems a bit far-fetched, and its accuracy needs further verification." Gala rubbed his temples wearily.

Since the workers mostly avoided talking about the ghost, gathering information was extremely difficult. Direct questioning yielded nothing.

The NPCs would mumble and, if pressed, would rather walk away angrily.

Gala had to use his skills and items to extract this information when the NPCs were in a confused state.

The players of Black Feather silently processed the clues given by the vice president. Just then, someone suddenly spoke up, "The rumor is true."

With these words, several players immediately widened their eyes.

The one who spoke was Qin Fei.

In the center of the playground, directly in front of the screen, Qin Fei sat on a bench, watching the movie with great interest.

A long bench could normally seat six people, and in such crowded conditions, it could even fit eight.

However, only four people sat on Qin Fei's bench.

Qin Fei occupied one side alone, while three others huddled together on the other side like quails, leaving enough space for three more people between them and Qin Fei.

The young man slightly raised his chin, seemingly focused on the movie, but actually covered his mouth to cough, using this gesture to speak to the Black Feather players through the prop:

"The Bottle Ghost, I saw it this afternoon."

Everyone from Black Feather: ???

Xie Jingtian, who was pretending to drink water from a mug, nearly choked upon hearing this: "You saw it??"

Was it progressing so quickly? They had just started gathering some clues, how did Xiao Qin already engage in battle with the monster?

Qin Fei replied, "Yes, the Bottle Ghost appeared in Workshop 2 and came straight for me."

Lu Cheng anxiously asked, "And then what?"

He had been controlling the vines to check Workshop 2 every now and then, and now he was almost doubting himself, wondering how he missed such important information.

What Lu Cheng didn't know was that Qin Fei had resolved the issue in just a few seconds.

Qin Fei revealed everything without any concealment: "When the bottle approached me, I scooped it into the clay pool with a shovel.

I told you before, there was something off about that pool; the two ghosts were fighting in it all afternoon."

Now that he had withdrawn from the chaos, he wondered if the two ghosts had settled their dispute in the night.

Mi Yang was speechless.

At noon in the cafeteria, he had exchanged messages with Qin Fei, sharing all the information NPC Chen Da had revealed to him.

While doing so, Mi Yang reminded Qin Fei to be cautious and suggested keeping the information secret.

In Mi Yang's view, not many people in the factory knew that Yu Zhoukai was being targeted by "it," so Xiao Qin's situation was still manageable.

But once the news spread, Xiao Qin would face significant difficulties, which would be detrimental to his subsequent exploration of the ghost stories.

By now, the movie had been playing for over ten minutes, and the empty spaces around Qin Fei grew larger.

One, two, three.

The NPCs sitting next to Qin Fei quietly moved away.

If Qin Fei hadn't reacted promptly, he might have fallen when the last NPC got up, as the bench lost its balance.

Qin Fei turned back thoughtfully, watching the NPCs walk to the edge of the screening area, whispering to the person in charge of registration before sneaking away.

It seemed they weren't heading back to their dormitories.

Where were they going?

Under the intertwined gazes of the NPCs, Qin Fei stood up with a smile and walked in the direction the others had gone.

...

Deceiving the registration NPC was simple. Qin Fei found a random helper and followed him at a distance.

When the registrar stopped him to ask why he was leaving, Qin Fei simply said, "Same reason as the person in front of me," ending the conversation.

The direction that person took was the same as the ones from Workshop 2.

Qin Fei decided to follow him.

They circled around the dark playground and through a small path.

Together, they arrived at a place with an unpleasant smell.

Qin Fei raised an eyebrow, looking at the queue in front of the public toilet, feeling quite speechless.

Many people had gathered in front of the toilet.

The playground was crowded, and the movie content was boring. The workers dared not blatantly return to their dormitories, so they preferred to find an excuse to go to the toilet and smoke here.

Qin Fei scanned the crowd and focused on three NPCs squatting in the corner.

These were the three NPCs who had sat on the same bench as Qin Fei earlier. Each had a cigarette butt in their mouths, looking troubled.

"Tell me, sitting on the same bench as Yu—cough, cough—will we be affected by him...?" the one on the far left wiped his face in distress.

The one next to him waved his hand irritably, "Stop talking about it. Didn't we agree not to mention this? If we don't talk about it, we might avoid trouble, but if we keep mentioning it, we're doomed."

"Really unlucky, why did we end up on the same bench as that jinx!" the one on the far right sighed heavily.

Although they knew it was best to avoid the topic, how could anyone control themselves in such extreme panic?

"You tell me, who is the unlucky one?"

A pleasant voice sounded from behind, laced with a hint of curiosity.

The NPC was annoyed and instinctively turned around. "Who else could it be? Of course it's that—"

The words he didn’t finish got stuck in his throat as he stared in horror at the handsome face that was far too close, magnified several times over.