Very well, all three generations of the Old Li family were now together.
The mother and son on the bed seemed to be in a deep sleep, their postures stiff, resembling corpses laid out. Looking at the deathly pallor on their faces, one would not doubt if they were indeed corpses.
As a few people observed the two on the bed, the old lady suddenly opened her eyes.
Those eyes were very cloudy, with more white than black, and the pupils were only a third the size of a normal person’s, giving her elderly face an ominous, deathly look.
She slowly turned her head, her eyes fixed intently on the people at the bedside. A raspy sound came from her throat, like the low growl of an animal.
The oil lamp on the table flickered suddenly, and the dim, swaying light cast eerie shadows on the old lady’s face, adding to the sinister atmosphere.
It was a frightening sight.
The chubby guy, startled, immediately grabbed his brother’s hand tightly. The skinny one felt his arm, as thin as a stick, was almost crushed by his grip.
Wu Yang had experienced many game worlds and encountered plenty of ghosts and monsters, so he wasn’t scared. Instead, he displayed a cautious expression, wary that the old lady might suddenly attack.
Gu Jiu stared directly at the old lady and suddenly said, “Old lady, we are your tenants; we’ve paid the rent.”
Old lady: “…”
Even Fatty and the others were left speechless.
The old lady’s raspy noise paused for a moment, then quickened. She stiffly stretched out a skinny hand towards them; her fingernails were pitch black, like animal claws—definitely unnatural.
The people by the bed were startled and quickly stepped back.
Luckily, the old lady’s movements were slow and stiff, like an elderly person nearing death, seemingly harmless.
Just as Fatty let out a sigh of relief, he saw Gu Jiu take the rolling pin from his hand. She used it to roughly push the old lady back onto the bed, speaking softly, “Old lady, we came to check on you out of courtesy. No need to be so enthusiastic; you don’t need to get up to greet us. Just continue lying down; there’s no need to be so polite.”
The old lady who had just struggled to get up: …Who the hell is being polite with you?
Wu Yang and the others: “…”
The old lady made an indistinct raspy sound, her cloudy eyes filled with malice as she stared at Gu Jiu.
Wu Yang and the others did not miss the look in the old lady’s eyes and became even more cautious.
Gu Jiu held the rolling pin against the struggling old lady, then looked at Old Li, who remained deep in sleep, unaffected by the commotion.
Fatty gathered the courage to look and thought that Old Li, staying so still, really looked like a corpse. The old lady was clearly the one pretending to be dead.
After examining them, Gu Jiu finally withdrew the rolling pin and tossed it back to Fatty, stepping away from the bed.
The child who had led them in stood quietly a short distance from the bed, watching them. Seeing they were about to leave, he showed no reaction.
Gu Jiu waved at him, “Little one, we’re leaving now. I hope next time we meet, we can continue to coexist peacefully.”
Everyone: “….” The implication behind those words was heavy.
The child didn’t move and silently watched them without any intention of stopping them. The oil lamp inside flickered, casting shadows everywhere. The small room, like a haunted house, felt eerie and terrifying.
Wu Yang and the others cautiously followed behind Gu Jiu, heading towards the door.
Even though the door was right in front of them, they walked for quite a while but still couldn’t seem to reach it.
By the light of the oil lamp, they could tell that the layout of the rooms upstairs and downstairs in the Old Li family’s house was roughly the same. Having lived there for a few days, they knew the size of the rooms, so there was no reason it should take so long to walk out.
In the darkness beyond the reach of the lamp’s light was an endless void, and it was this darkness that trapped them.
Wu Yang and the brothers all realized this was a classic “ghost wall” situation, causing cold sweat to bead on their foreheads.
They turned to look back and could still see the canopy bed and the child standing beside it, the distance showing they had been walking in place the entire time.
Gu Jiu stopped and slowly walked back to the canopy bed.
The old lady on the bed made a raspy sound, and her eyes, filled with malice, carried a hint of glee.
Seeing the old lady’s behavior, Fatty immediately understood that she was the one behind this.
Gu Jiu looked at her for a moment and suddenly said, “Brother Fatty, the rolling pin.”
Without hesitation, Fatty handed it over, watching her expectantly, completely forgetting that she was just a newcomer without any special tools.
In the next moment, the rolling pin pressed down on the old lady as she struggled to rise. Gu Jiu spoke in a particularly gentle voice, “Old lady, we came with good intentions to check on you. How can you treat your guests this way? We’ve paid the rent and owe you nothing. If you continue like this, I’ll have no choice but to break your arms and legs so you stay in bed forever.”
As she said this, she really struck down with the rolling pin, her violent actions in stark contrast with her gentle tone.
No one knew exactly where the rolling pin hit the old lady, but a sharp, urgent scream echoed through the room.
The old lady lay back down, staring at Gu Jiu with a mix of fear and shock.
Fatty and the others were stunned.
What exactly did she do to scare the old lady so much?
Gu Jiu smiled at the old lady. Under the gaze of the old lady, filled with malice and fear, she tossed the rolling pin back to Fatty and turned to leave.
This time, they finally managed to walk out of the room smoothly.
Seeing the bright sunlight outside, Wu Yang, Fatty, and his brother felt a sense of disbelief.
They had just entered a haunted lair where the ghosts had intentionally trapped them. But after Gu Jiu threatened them with a rolling pin, they were allowed to leave.
Could the rolling pin really be that effective?
Fatty stared at the rolling pin in his hand, turning it over and over, unable to see anything special about it. It definitely wasn’t a special tool.
Lin Dandan and Wang Peiping, who were waiting outside, finally sighed in relief when they saw them emerge safely.
“Brother Wu, are you all alright?” Lin Dandan asked urgently. “After you went in, we quickly lost any sense of your presence, as if something had isolated you.”
Wu Yang thought to himself that it was indeed the ghosts isolating them within their space.
Many ghosts possess special abilities known as an “absolute domain,” commonly called a ghost wall. Within this domain, without special means, it’s very difficult to escape.
Wu Yang said, “We’re fine, but the three generations of the Old Li family are no longer human.”
Wang Peipang exclaimed in fright, “So we’ve been living in the same house as ghosts every day?” He was almost scared out of his wits. He feared ghosts the most, and yet in this game world, ghosts were especially prevalent.
Lin Dandan was slightly better off, but her heart was still racing with fear.
She swallowed and asked, “Will they attack us?”
Wu Yang shook his head, uncertain. After all, the game rules had arranged for them to stay at the Old Li family’s house, indicating it was an important location. However, the connection between the house and the village’s curse was still unclear.
Unable to piece things together for now, Wu Yang couldn’t help but look at Gu Jiu.
He noticed that, although Gu Jiu was a newcomer, her actions were always unusual. Moreover, she wasn’t afraid of ghosts, which alone set her apart from many other new players.
Just as he looked over, he saw Gu Jiu take out the doll from her pocket.
At this moment, the doll’s expression had changed from a smile to an unhappy frown.
“What is this…” Wu Yang asked, puzzled. He felt that the doll’s changing expression had some significance.
Gu Jiu explained, “When I entered the room earlier, I deliberately checked the doll’s expression and noticed it had changed to a frown.”
Everyone looked at her in confusion, not understanding her point.
Gu Jiu put the doll back into her pocket and smiled at them warmly, making Fatty shiver.
Earlier, she had smiled like this, then aggressively pinned the ghostly old lady back onto the bed and threatened her. This delicate-looking young lady might seem gentle and sweet, but she actually had quite a temper.
“If I’m not mistaken, the doll’s changing expressions serve as a kind of hint. It could be related to the ghosts, or maybe the curse. We’ll need further investigation to confirm.”
Wu Yang thought for a moment and asked, “Where else do you think we need to investigate?”
“The ancestral hall.”
Everyone fell silent.
The ancestral hall was the one place in the village they were forbidden from entering. The door was locked, and villagers stood guard, making it impossible for them to get inside. The only option would be to sneak in at night, but they hesitated due to the village chief’s warning and the risks involved.
So, up until now, they hadn’t had a chance to explore the ancestral hall.
Wu Yang quickly made up his mind, “I’ll see if I can sneak past the villagers and get into the ancestral hall.”
To clear the game, they had to face dangerous places. After going through four games, Wu Yang understood better than anyone how perilous the game world could be. Sometimes, to gather the information needed for clearing the game, players had to take great risks, and many had lost their lives doing so.
But it was unavoidable.
Wu Yang looked at the others. “Who’s coming with me?”
Lin Dandan and Wang Peiping immediately shrank back. They didn’t have the courage or the ability to sneak into the ancestral hall.
“I’ll go with you,” Skinny volunteered.
Seeing the skinny brother step up, Gu Jiu and the others were surprised. He usually had such a low presence, always sticking with his chubby brother. Without Fatty’s lively demeanor, and given his stick-thin figure, he often faded into the background, making it easy to overlook his existence.
To their surprise, Gu Jiu also spoke up, “Brother Wu, I’ll go too.”
Lin Dandan and Wang Peiping stared at her, their expressions straightforward: What’s she going for? To hold them back?
However, Wu Yang and the others, who had witnessed her earlier actions, weren’t surprised. Gu Jiu had already shown them a lot of unexpected things today. Just the fact that she had willingly entered the room where the Old Li family stayed made them realize that this newcomer not only had initiative but also courage. She seemed quick-witted too—exactly the type of person likely to clear the game.
Wu Yang didn’t refuse and allowed her to join.
Seeing her join, Fatty and Lu Ji decided to follow along as well. Lin Dandan and Wang Peiping exchanged a look, puzzled, but followed along anyway.
Gu Jiu was injured last night and was walking slowly, so everyone had to adjust to her pace.
Lin Dandan couldn’t help but roll her eyes.
This is just too delicate.
On the way, Fatty said admiringly, “Girl, you were so brave earlier. You weren’t even scared.”
Not only was she unafraid, but she also scared the ghost, completely shattering their impression of newcomers.
If it weren’t for the game system confirming she was a newbie, they would have suspected she was an advanced player pretending to be inexperienced.
Gu Jiu adjusted her glasses and calmly said, “Actually, I was quite scared too, so when I face ghosts, I choose to close my eyes. If I don’t look, I won’t be afraid.”
Fatty: “…”
“How do you close your eyes?” he asked curiously.
“Just like this. Don’t tell me you don’t even know how to close your eyes?” Gu Jiu deliberately shut her eyes for a few seconds before opening them again.
Fatty was once again at a loss for words, feeling like she was teasing him.
Even Skinny and Wu Yang couldn’t help but stifle their laughter.