Chapter 20
“Meow!” A clear, sweet meow rang out in the silence, snapping the two of them out of their fixation on the eerie statue.
The cat pawed through the pile of yellow talisman papers beside the statue, then nudged out a small, dirty bag. It was caked in dirt and almost impossible to spot beneath the talismans.
“Is this Mom’s package?” The newcomer crouched down in confusion and reached for the bag on the ground. Before their hand could reach it, a loud shout rang out behind them.
“Put it down!”
They both turned around and saw that the other players, who had arrived late, had finally made it into town. After three days, quite a few were still alive. They poured into town in a huge crowd, dispelling the eerie atmosphere that had hung over it.
Wang Guang, at the head of the group, glared at the newcomer. He recognized them at once as the one who hadn’t fit in and had run off before he could even speak. His voice rose as he scolded them, “You’re a newbie. You don’t even know what that is, and you still dare touch it?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?”
“This is Mom’s...”
The newcomer tried to explain, their face deathly pale, but before they could finish a sentence, Zhang Si cut them off. “How can you talk to the big shot like that? Do you think the big shot doesn’t know what that is? The big shot has experience clearing instances and was only warning you. If the big shot says you’re being careless, then you’re being careless. Do you know more about instances, or does the big shot?”
The two flattered each other, puffing themselves up into arrogant veteran players. As far as the rookies were concerned, anyone who didn’t listen to them was just asking to die in the instance.
The newcomer stood stunned after being inexplicably berated, but still tried to reach for the bag. Before their hand could touch it, Wang Guang kicked them aside. “I told you not to touch it, and you still had to try! If something happens to you, I definitely won’t help. What a clueless idiot.”
Zhang Si hurried forward and picked up the bag. Only when he looked up did he suddenly notice someone standing beside them. They had been so quiet, with so little presence, that he hadn’t noticed them at all. They gave him quite a scare.
“And who are you? Another newbie who ran ahead with the other guy?” Zhang Si glared at the cool, distant Yin Xiu, putting him in his place straightaway. “I’ve cleared three instances. Listen to me and you’ll get through this one safely. Don’t cause trouble!”
Yin Xiu’s lips curled slightly. A hard-to-read smile appeared on his otherwise cold face, making him seem a little unnerving.
“What are you smiling at? You laugh like a ghost.” Zhang Si quickly turned around and handed the bag to Wang Guang. “Here, Brother Guang, take this. You can look at it first.”
“Oh, this... Is that really appropriate?”
“What’s inappropriate about it? You’ll understand more than the others once you’ve seen it.”
The two smiled and pretended to decline, while the large group of newbies behind them watched helplessly. No one dared say anything.
Everyone was watching. There was only one of Mom’s packages, and with so many players, of course everyone wanted to get the information firsthand before anyone else, so they could better protect themselves. Now that it had fallen into these two men’s hands, they probably wouldn’t let anyone else see it. If they figured anything out, the rest would only get the information secondhand.
The newcomer who had been kicked aside stood resentfully beside Yin Xiu. Seeing that Yin Xiu wasn’t saying anything, they said nothing rather than argue with them.
They stayed quiet and restrained, but the chat exploded.
“Holy shit, what are these two geniuses doing? And they’ve cleared three instances?!”
“They don’t know who they’re dealing with. This is hilarious—he actually told Yin Xiu to listen to him.”
“Seems like most of the veteran players from the other planes are like this. They get all arrogant when they meet someone newer.”
“If they were in our town, those two would get a couple of smacks for sure. The veteran players in our town are basically unpaid labor for the newbies.”
“I stayed up all night watching the livestream and still haven’t slept. I was afraid this instance might have some new tricks we didn’t know about. If we missed anything in the strategy guide, that person would lecture us again.”
“Stop talking. I’m suddenly sleepy.”
“Hehe... Thanks to all the experienced seniors in the chat. You’ve worked hard, you’ve worked hard.”
“What are you thanking us for? Once you become a veteran player, you’ll be the one doing all this.”
“...I’m scared.”
Wang Guang and Zhang Si went back and forth for a while, but in the end they decided Wang Guang would open the bag.
“Then I won’t stand on ceremony.” Wang Guang took the bag with a grin and prepared to open it. It didn’t look very big, and he wondered what was inside.
He had just opened the bag a little when a chill wind suddenly swept across the square and through the crowd, making everyone shudder.
“Waaah...” A low woman’s sob rang out across the square. As the cold wind blew, a thick mist began to spread.
“What was that sound?!” someone cried in alarm.
“It’s foggy... I-I can’t see!”
“That wind is so cold!”
Seeing the crowd panic, the two men at the front shouted in an attempt to calm everyone down. “Don’t panic! Stay calm. Do you remember the stone tablet we saw at the entrance?”
“Everyone, remember this: no matter what you hear or see in a moment, pretend you didn’t see anything!”
“If you’re really scared, keep your mouths shut! Don’t make a sound!”
But the newcomers didn’t calm down at their shouts. Their panic only grew in the uneasy white fog.
“I-I feel like someone just touched me!”
“Hair... something brushed the back of my neck...!”
“It’s... it’s that person, that woman—”
“Shut up!! Don’t mention her!” Wang Guang shouted. The unease around him had spread to him too, and he was frightened as well. He couldn’t help swallowing, then edged closer to Zhang Si. At a time like this, the big shot would surely step in.
Zhang Si thought the same thing, waiting for Wang Guang to show his stuff and lead the group out of danger.
The fog grew thicker and thicker, until the players could barely make out the people beside them. Blurred figures shifted in the white mist, making it impossible to tell friend from foe. Even the woman’s sobbing grew closer and clearer, as if she were right beside each and every one of them.
“Have... you seen my child?” an unhurried voice asked beside one of the players. An icy breath brushed his ear as the voice reached him at close range.
The player jolted and screamed, covering his ears as he stumbled backward. “A woman! There’s a woman beside me!”
“Shut up!!” Zhang Si cursed furiously. He had clearly told them to look at the stone tablet, not mention the woman, and pretend they hadn’t seen her. How could someone still be scared enough to scream?
“Hahaha... You saw me... You... can all see me...” The woman’s laughter turned low and sinister, filling her voice with menace. “Then come play hide-and-seek with me, just like my baby.”
“I’ll count to ten, then come find you. Be sure... be sure not to let me catch you.” Her voice sank slowly, laced with laughter that made their skin crawl. Ignoring the players’ terror, she began counting on her own: “One...”
As the woman’s voice drifted through the fog, the players immediately scattered. “Run! Hurry! If we don’t run, we’ll be killed!!”
But the fog was so thick that they couldn’t even find the way out of town.
“Two...”
“Hurry! Find somewhere to hide!”
“Right! The town rules say that if she latches onto you, you can seek help from the townspeople!”
“Quick, quick! Find a resident!”
“Three...”
The players scattered in every direction, rushing toward the nearest houses. But as the fog rose and the woman began her hunt, not a single resident dared open their door. They even barricaded them shut to keep the players out. The residents wouldn’t help them—in fact, they were even more frightened than the players.
The woman giggled, her hoarse voice rasping from her broken throat like a death knell. “Four...”
The players descended into chaos. Wang Guang and Zhang Si tried to rally the scattered crowd, but it was no use. In the end, they gave up and started looking for places to hide, pounding on the residents’ doors as they went.
“Help! Please save us!”
“Open the door! Let me in!”
“Please, I’m begging you!!”
Amid the helpless cries, Yin Xiu stood motionless, turning the matter over and over in his mind.
This woman is part of the town’s rules and seems crucial to the town. Could she be killed at all?