Chapter 2: Night Queen

Yin Xiu pulled the curtains and curled up on the sofa to watch TV.

The TV in the town will not broadcast any information related to the real world. What will appear is the same as the screen in the square, which is the screen of the players who are experiencing the dungeon.

At this moment, a player was sitting in the classroom concentrating on memorizing. Next to him stood a slender and twisted teacher who was almost inhuman shape, staring down at him. He had a strange smile on his face, which was extremely creepy. The player who was stared at was trembling and didn't dare to look up. The whole classroom didn't dare to breathe.

A comment drifted by: "This dungeon is too difficult. No one in our town has cleared it yet, right?"

"Yeah... More and more players have been dying in dungeons lately. It's going to rain tonight, so new people will come. Our town is well planned, but we haven't had any new people in a long time."

"Alas, I don't know how long a newbie can survive. If you don't memorize the rules when you first enter a dungeon, you'll almost never get out."

"Why don't I just live in a small town like Yin Xiu? Why bother clearing dungeons? Staying alive is the most important thing."

"What are you thinking? If you stay in this place for too long, something bad will happen sooner or later. Didn't you see the man who died in the house two days ago? His neck was broken."

"...I saw it and had nightmares for two days. I couldn't move even if I heard the slightest sound at night."

"Me too. I really can't stand it. But Yin Xiu just took one look and walked away expressionlessly. Every time he faces the dead, he seems to have no emotions. Isn't he the weirdo in town?"

"Speaking of which, normal players are automatically pulled into dungeons every once in a while, but he's the only one who's stayed in the town and never entered. I don't know why..."

"He's just weird to begin with. Lady Ye goes looking for him every night. Living in the same alley with him really makes it hard to sleep every day."

"Stop talking, don't forget that the town's barrage is shared. Yin Xiu can see it too. Be careful he gets angry."

The screen suddenly became clear, without a single message.

Yin Xiu supported his chin and squinted his eyes, staring at the TV with a sleepy look on his face, his slender body curled up on the sofa and dozed off.

After a while, another message appeared on the barrage, "Those who haven't slept yet, hurry up and go to bed. Be careful, the Queen of Night is coming."

As the barrage of comments drifted by, the lights in the town quickly dimmed.

The streets were empty and silent, and a cold wind blew through the dark alleys.

There were faint sounds of footsteps in the alley, but no figure appeared. Only a huge, unknown black shadow was swaying between the cracks in the wall.

The footsteps stopped for a moment in front of every door. Every time they stopped, a dull and clear chewing sound came from outside the door. The crunching sound made people's scalps numb in the night.

The sound continued all the way and finally stopped in front of Yin Xiu's door. This time there was no chewing sound.

“Bang, bang!”

Someone knocked on the glass window outside Yin Xiu's house. Although it was a light knock, the entire door and window were shaking.

Yin Xiu raised his sleepy eyelids and glanced at the door.

He stood up and walked to the window, pulling open the curtains. Under the moonlight, a pale, smiling woman's face was pressed tightly against his glass window, staring straight at Yin Xiu.

Her long hair hung disheveled on the ground, her face was pale, but the corners of her smiling mouth were stained with an unknown red liquid. Her huge body almost filled the entire narrow alley, and she was crawling in the alley in a twisted and strange posture.

"What is this?" Queen Ye held up the small iron bowl with her index finger. Inside was a bowl of clear water swaying, with two swollen tea leaves floating on it.

"Tea." Yin Xiu responded calmly and poured himself a cup in front of the window.

The smiling face of Empress Ye froze, her expression gradually becoming ferocious, and she asked again in a low voice, even with a hint of gnashing teeth: "What is this?"

"It's just tea." Yin Xiu disagreed, raised the cup in his hand, and raised it to the woman outside the window, "Have a sip?"

With a click, the small iron bowl was crushed. Empress Ye's pale face was pressed against the glass window. Her wide-open pupils were bloodshot, reflecting Yin Xiu's expressionless face. "I'm not satisfied with your offering. I want a different one."

She slowly pointed her finger at Yin Xiu in the room, and a low tone emanated from her throat, "You must become my sacrifice."

"don't want."

Yin Xiu answered decisively, his eyelids drooping. "Could you please stop bothering me every day? I can't sleep well all night. What's wrong with eating so much meat and drinking a little tea? Why are you being so pretentious?"

The two people's voices were very clear at night. Almost everyone in the alley could hear Yin Xiu's words, and they couldn't help but shrink into their quilts and gasp.

They had seen the enraged Night Goddess bite off a man's head with one bite, and they had also seen houses razed to the ground overnight and people torn to pieces.

In the whole town, only Yin Xiu dared to speak to Empress Ye like this. He was really dancing at the point of death.

Empress Ye's expression began to twist, and she slapped her huge palm against the glass window of Yin Xiu's house. The entire glass cracked with a click, which frightened the others.

"I'm going to eat you alive! Yin Xiu! I must eat you alive!" With gritted teeth and roaring, the woman's body kept hitting Yin Xiu's doors and windows. The sharp sound hurt people's ears in the night, and what was even more frightening was the creaking sound of the doors and windows.

The fragile door panels were clanging against each other, the screws were loosened, and the glass windows were shaking and cracked all over.

Even though the rules state that houses are safe at night as long as doors and windows are closed, this is not necessarily the case if they are damaged. So far, no one has dared to try to see if the doors and windows can be damaged.

"It's so noisy." Yin Xiu pulled the curtains, moved the table to block the door, and returned to the sofa to watch TV.

There are 365 days in a year, a total of six years. The longer he lives here, the longer he is disturbed by Queen Ye.

Yin Xiu has become accustomed to watching TV at night and fishing and taking naps during the day.

Amidst Lady Ye's roars, tiny voices began to echo in the darkness of the town. "He's angered Lady Ye again, even though he knows Lady Ye has a bad temper."

"Empress Ye can't do anything to him. He didn't break any rules, so Empress Ye can't get in."

"How long does this person want to stay here? He doesn't enter or leave the dungeon. How can someone live in a place like this for six years?"

"The other players are afraid of us and Queen Ye, but he's not afraid at all. And that knife on him..."

"Forget it, let's go check on the others. I feel like the town is very damp and uncomfortable tonight."

"Maybe it's going to rain soon."

A few minutes later, raindrops began to fall from the sky, and the sound of the raindrops filled the entire town. A damp wind blew through the alleys of the town, and almost at the same time, the huge clanging sound of the doors and windows stopped abruptly.

Yin Xiu was stunned and turned to look at the window. Did he go home so early tonight?

Normally, he won't be allowed to sleep until dawn.

Yin Xiu stood up and opened the curtains. The huge body was no longer in the deep alley. Only raindrops rolling down from the sky fell to the ground, soaking the rule sheets on the ground.

In the distance, lights kept lighting up in the rain and fog, and voices gradually began to be heard.

Rainy nights are the only nights when the gate can be opened, which provides a rare opportunity for players in the town to have freedom. They can also go out to find new players who have come to the town and add some companions to their own.

But that had nothing to do with Yin Xiu. He pulled the curtains and quickly went back to bed to sleep.

On a rare undisturbed night, you will definitely have a good sleep listening to the voices of people and the sound of rain outside the window.

Yin Xiu curled up in the quilt, his consciousness hazy for a moment. Amid the sound of rain at night, an unusual sound of footsteps suddenly appeared at the entrance of the alley.

He opened his eyes quickly and focused his attention on his hearing.

The voice walked slowly along the alley path, stepping on puddles, and calmly passed through all the other players' footsteps, gradually approaching here as if with a purpose.

No one stopped him, and no one stopped for him. It was as if he was ignored by everyone in the town. Only the sound of footsteps came directly through the sound of rain to his door and stopped.

Yin Xiu lay motionless on the bed, looking towards his door.

Under the fragile door panel after being violently hit by Queen Night, a long shadow stood outside the door.