The autumn sunlight was leisurely.
Qingshan Village, bathed in sunlight, was peaceful and serene. The villagers passing by had simple smiles on their faces, looking at them with a hint of curiosity and reserve. When Fatty greeted them, they responded warmly.
Lin Dandan said enviously, “Fatty is really good with people.”
Among them, Fatty had the best rapport with others, as if he could get along with anyone. It was a kind of personal charm. This kind of popularity was just as important in the gaming world, often helping him lower the NPC’s guard and gain unexpected information.
Wang Peiping felt dissatisfied, thinking that these villagers might all be monsters. There was nothing to be happy about in gaining the favor of “people” who were actually monsters.
Fatty chuckled and said, “It’s because I’m big; when people stand next to me, they don’t see me as a competitor.”
This made sense. A non-threatening, easygoing Fatty would naturally make people feel at ease.
Gu Jiu walked slowly, squinting her eyes as the sunlight fell on her. “There seem to be fewer villagers around.”
Her words made Wu Yang and the others pause, quickly realizing it.
“Yes, there are indeed fewer.” Wu Yang looked sharply at the sunlit Qingshan Village. “On our first day here, we encountered many villagers on the road, but it seems like there are fewer and fewer each day. I initially thought they were staying at home, so I didn’t pay much attention…”
Qingshan Village was an isolated and backward mountain village that primarily relied on farming. The villagers lived a routine life. It was now autumn, and the crops in the fields were about to mature, so villagers should be busy in the fields every morning and evening; it was impossible for them to stay home every day.
But over the past few days, they had noticed fewer and fewer villagers out and about.
Today, they had walked for a long time but only encountered a few villagers. Even when they looked out to the fields outside the village, they saw few people working, which was completely different from the scene when they first arrived.
Fatty guessed, “Could it be that those missing villagers, like Old Li’s family of three, have all turned into monsters and are hiding at home?”
Lin Dandan and Wang Peiping couldn’t help but shiver, suddenly feeling that this bright and sunny village had turned eerie and chilling.
The two looked around nervously, afraid that the transformed villagers might suddenly appear.
At this moment, Gu Jiu added, “And the children haven’t returned.”
Yesterday, when they asked the villagers, they were told that the children had gone to the market with the adults and should have returned by evening. But today, there was still no sign of the children, which was clearly abnormal.
Fatty swallowed hard, his voice trembling as he said, “Could they have all turned into…” He made a gesture of transforming into a ghost with his chubby hand.
Gu Jiu said nothing, staring at the misty mountains ahead. Her eyes behind the glasses were dim, and no one knew what she was thinking.
Her silence led the group to fall silent as well.
After walking slowly for nearly half an hour, they finally arrived at the ancestral hall at the end of the village.
The hall was built on a slope at the village’s edge, its elevation higher than the villagers’ houses, making it easy to spot.
It was a standalone structure, taller than the other houses in the village. The red paint on the wooden walls and pillars was peeling, and two villagers sat guarding the tightly shut entrance, working on bamboo crafts. They wove baskets and trays from bamboo, which could be sold in the town.
The two villagers chatted as they worked.
When they saw the group of seven approaching, their faces became wary, and their hands paused unconsciously.
One of the dark-faced villagers said, “This is our village’s ancestral hall; outsiders are not allowed in.”
Wu Yang smiled warmly and said, “Brothers, we won’t go in. We’re just taking a stroll around here. The scenery is quite nice.”
The hillside was planted with many fruit trees, their branches heavy with fruit. Wildflowers bloomed by the roadside, and the towering, deep green mountains stood in the background. From a distance, the forest looked dense and impenetrable, making it impossible to climb easily. To the villagers, there was nothing noteworthy about the scenery.
Hearing this, the two villagers’ expressions softened a bit, but they still watched the group cautiously.
The group pretended to admire the scenery while secretly observing the ancestral hall.
Besides the main entrance, the hall also had windows on both sides, but they were quite high and not easy to climb through.
Wu Yang whispered, “We could sneak in through the windows, but someone needs to distract those two villagers. They patrol the area occasionally while working on the bamboo crafts.”
Their task, therefore, was to keep an eye on the two patrolling villagers and prevent them from noticing anyone sneaking into the hall.
The fact that the villagers were guarding the hall indicated that something important was inside. If they forced their way in or were caught climbing through the windows, it could provoke the villagers, and they had no idea what might happen.
In the gaming world, it was best not to provoke NPCs unnecessarily.
Gu Jiu asked, “Brother Wu, can you two get in without a problem?”
Wu Yang replied, “I’ll be fine.” He looked at Skinny.
Skinny nodded, “I’ll be fine too.”
Since both of them felt confident, they decided to proceed.
Gu Jiu said, “We’ll distract the two villagers. You two sneak in through the window when you get the chance. Be careful, and run if anything happens.”
Wu Yang and Skinny both acknowledged and then pretended to leave for something else.
Gu Jiu and the others approached the two villagers and started chatting with them.
Fatty was quite the talker, and his plump appearance seemed to have a natural charm. After a few exchanges, the villagers began to relax and laugh with him.
Gu Jiu, meanwhile, inspected the bamboo baskets they were making, occasionally asking a question or two.
Compared to Fatty’s innate charm, Gu Jiu’s innocent and well-behaved appearance also made her endearing to the elders, and the villagers responded to her questions.
Lu Ji sat next to Gu Jiu, seemingly interested in the bamboo baskets, staring at them intently.
Lin Dandan and Wang Peiping stood there awkwardly, unable to join the conversation.
It was one thing for Fatty to be charismatic, but Gu Jiu, just by showing her face, could make the villagers treat her like their own daughter, answering her questions freely. What was going on?
×××
After Wu Yang and Skinny left the hillside, they took a hidden path that led to the back of the hall. Concealed by the tall grass, they reached the window on the right side.
The window was over three meters off the ground, and the wall was smooth with no footholds.
Wu Yang noticed a discarded bamboo pole in the grass nearby. He dragged it over, leaning it diagonally against the wall, forming a triangle between the pole and the wall. He then used the pole as a springboard, jumping up and stepping on it. As the pole bent downwards, he used the momentum to leap up, grabbing onto the window ledge and pulling himself up with ease.
The window wasn’t covered with glass but wooden bars instead. Wu Yang applied a bit of force, prying the bars open and tossing them into the thick grass below without making a sound.
After removing about half of the wooden bars, there was an opening about half a meter wide.
Wu Yang turned to look at Skinny, signaling that it was his turn.
Skinny copied Wu Yang, stepping onto the pole and using the rebound to launch himself up. His slender, lightweight body seemed to float up like a piece of paper as he easily climbed to the window.
Wu Yang was a bit surprised; it seemed that Skinny was quite capable too.
The two of them leapt into the ancestral hall through the window, their movements light and soundless.
Inside the hall, it was very dark. Despite the presence of windows, for some reason, the outside light couldn’t penetrate the space. It was eerily similar to when they had visited Old Li’s house with the three generations of his family.
The two of them immediately became alert.
Wu Yang and Skinny took out their flashlights and scanned the area. They instantly saw a long altar table at the back of the ancestral hall, lined with a dense array of memorial tablets—about three hundred of them.
When Skinny got a clear look at the names on the tablets, he gasped.
Wu Yang’s expression also turned serious.
These were the memorial tablets of all the villagers of Qingshan Village. The names of the people they had encountered, including the village chief and Granny Wang, were all there.
If they were right, the villagers of Qingshan Village were already dead.
“Since they’re dead, why can they still move around during the day?” Skinny asked in confusion. If they were ghosts, they should follow the behaviors typical of such beings.
But the villagers of Qingshan Village seemed alive—they ate, rested, and worked.
Ghosts don’t need to eat or rest and are usually aggressive.
“It might have something to do with a curse,” Wu Yang speculated while inspecting the ancestral hall, meticulously checking every corner as he quickly pieced together the information they had gathered over the past few days. His mind raced, and he felt he was close to figuring it out.
Suddenly, Skinny let out a cry.
Wu Yang quickly turned to look and saw Skinny staring in terror at a small table by the hall’s entrance. On the table were two cloth dolls of a boy and a girl, arranged as if they were guardians of the hall. The dolls had identical eerie smiles, their mouths split all the way to their ears, grinning at them.
As the two stared, the dolls’ human-like eyes blinked, and then they flew towards them, mouths wide open.
Wu Yang and Skinny quickly dodged, and the dolls crashed into the pillar behind them, their grotesquely stretched mouths biting off a chunk of wood, which they chewed and swallowed.
The dolls moved with incredible speed, and after devouring the wood, they pounced at the two of them again.
Wu Yang pulled out a blood talisman, which glowed with a bright red light. He aimed it at the doll attacking him, striking it and sending it flying. The doll crashed into the memorial tablets, causing half of them to clatter to the ground, making a loud noise.
Skinny pulled out a jet-black rope and used it like a whip, lashing at the other doll and sending it flying.
“Let’s go!” Wu Yang shouted to Skinny, and the two of them ran towards the window.