Chapter 42: Happy Event in the Mountain Village 2 Baichuan? He doesn’t look like he will be happy…

The Zheng family was clearly a wealthy family in Xingfu Village. On the tall courtyard gate hung a doorplate with the words "Zheng's House" written in gold lacquer. The long walls were hung with red silk, red flowers and red lanterns, and the ground was covered with red and gold round heart-shaped and colored paper fragments with the word "happiness" in them. It looked very festive, but because everyone knew that this place was haunted, the originally joyous atmosphere was given an indescribable layer of horror and weirdness against the bleak sunlight.

An Rao looked up at the sky. It was a dim sky with thick clouds that suggested it was about to rain. It was like an incandescent lamp in the summer that was filled with insects that accidentally flew in and died. It was barely lit, making it difficult to tell the time. An Rao glanced at his watch. It was six o'clock in the afternoon. Perhaps it was indeed getting dark.

Many players have gathered in front of Zheng's house, but the gate is still closed. It should be because not all the players have arrived, so the conditions for triggering the opening of the haunted house have not been met.

An Rao took Su Ming and Shi Yirou into the crowd and counted. There were already ten people in front of the door. They wondered how big an appetite this haunted house would have.

"Hello, everyone." An Rao greeted the seven silent people in front of him. As a lawyer who is good at quarreling, breaking the ice is simply a professional instinct.

The young man's clear voice rang out in the silent house and crowd, like a white dove suddenly appearing in the gray sky, immediately attracting everyone's attention.

"Since the haunted house is not open yet, let's get to know each other while we still have time, so that we can take care of each other after we go in." The young man was dressed in white and black pants, with clear and handsome features, and spoke slowly and steadily, which made people unconsciously have a good impression of him. "My last name is Lin, and I'm a doctor. You can call me Doctor Lin. The two behind me are my companions. One is Su Ming, who is good at mathematics, and the other is Shi Yirou, who is good at painting."

This was the strategy that An Rao, Su Ming and Shi Yirou had discussed before entering the game. The haunted house was most likely an escape game, and it was necessary to gain the trust and unity among players to the greatest extent possible. Otherwise, they would be easily defeated by the boss one by one. The cornerstone of unity was sincerity, and actively introducing one's basic personal information could gain the trust of unfamiliar players. Even if an equal exchange could not be achieved, it could at least minimize the possibility of hostility.

Sure enough, after the seven players who arrived first looked at each other, a very handsome young man spoke up: "My name is Cheng Lin, and I'm a programmer."

"My name is Fang Qingqing. I'm a sophomore in the Chinese department." A girl in a white cotton short-sleeved dress introduced herself, and then several other players also began to introduce themselves one by one.

"Cough cough cough, my name is Wang Quanmin. I'm old, and my legs and feet are not very agile. Please bear with me." An old man in casual clothes coughed for a long time before he calmed down and said, his hand was shaking as he leaned on a cane, he looked tired and exhausted, and no one knew why he chose a project like a haunted house.

"I think a haunted house is just to scare people, but it doesn't test people's escape speed and endurance," Wang Quanmin seemed to see everyone's confusion, so he took the initiative to explain, "I'm old, and my relatives and friends around me have died or gotten sick. I've seen a lot of weird things. I can stand being scared, but I can't stand running."

The two players standing next to the old man Wang Quanmin were very special. A middle-aged man was pushing a wheelchair, and a middle-aged woman with short hair was sitting on the wheelchair. It could be seen that the woman in the wheelchair was well taken care of. She was dressed cleanly and had fresh hair, and a thin blanket covered her legs that were unable to move. Both of them had a kind of reserve and decency unique to intellectuals.

"My name is Gao Zhifei," the middle-aged man introduced, "and this is my wife He Xin. The two of us run a bookstore. My wife had a car accident before entering the amusement park and her leg was broken."

"My name is Wei Rong'er, and I'm a product sales manager," a woman in a black suit and skirt standing in the middle of the crowd introduced herself. She had a high ponytail and wore glasses, and looked very smart and capable. "Since the first rule of the haunted house game states that players with disabilities must be accompanied by family members, then I think there should be no chasing and escaping plots in the haunted house."

An Rao looked at the lady named Wei Ronger with some surprise. Few players would express their opinions to other players before the game started. If it wasn't due to her nature, then it was because she was a sales manager who was well versed in human nature. It was just like their small team of three who agreed that they needed to actively introduce themselves to gain the trust of others before entering the game.

Sure enough, as soon as Wei Ronger finished speaking, Wang Quanmin, who was using a crutch, and the couple pushing the wheelchair, looked at her with vague approval in their eyes.

After the capable and strong-looking female manager Wei Ronger introduced herself, everyone looked at the player who had been standing at the edge of the crowd and remained silent. The man had a gloomy and fierce look, and there was a long scar running from his brow to his cheek, which seemed to be caused by a long knife.

"Shi." The scarred man uttered the surname coldly and said nothing more.

An Rao didn't care. It was a personal freedom to say more or less. For a lawyer who was used to observing people's words and expressions, this little self-introduction was enough to obtain enough information.

Wei Ronger is a strong woman. Considering her professional attributes, she should be not only good at taking advantage of people but also good at getting out of the situation safely; Cheng Lin is a programmer. He is cautious and perhaps has his own ideas; Fang Qingqing is a college student majoring in Chinese. She is sensitive and young, so she is very easy to be exploited; Wang Quanmin is a disabled old man. If he doesn't hold on to everyone, he will probably find it difficult to survive in the next game. He must be very clear about this, so he must have his own special way of self-protection and we need to be vigilant; there is no need to count on Gao Zhifei and He Xin. Like the three of them, any small group that sticks together is very closed and difficult to intervene in, and their information will not be shared with everyone easily.

"Squeak--" The courtyard door was suddenly opened from the inside.

The door is open which means everyone is here.

An Rao reflexively turned his head to look at the dirt road he had just walked on. A familiar tall figure appeared in the dim shadow of the house. Bai Chuan? He didn't look like someone who would like to play in a haunted house!

Eleven players. The condition for opening the haunted house is eleven players.

The other players also realized that a new player had joined, but at this moment no one was distracted by this person's personal information. Everyone's attention was focused on the newly opened gate.

"Oh, I've been looking forward to seeing you guys coming!" A plump auntie walked out of the courtyard gate quickly. She smiled kindly and stretched out her hand to hold the hand of Shi Yirou who was standing closest to her. Then, as if she remembered something, she quickly retracted her flour-stained hand and wiped it repeatedly on the apron she was wearing in front of her. Then she stretched out her hand to Shi Yirou again, and said with apology on her simple round face, "I'm sorry. I was kneading dough just now. It was windy outside and I was afraid that the dough would dry out, so I closed the courtyard gate temporarily. You are all distinguished guests invited by my daughter. I'm really sorry to lock you out!"

"It's okay, it's okay," Shi Yirou obediently let the aunt hold her hand and said to the aunt sweetly, "We just arrived a while ago. This village is so beautiful. We just looked around. It's our fault that we didn't knock on the door!"

"Oh, you city kids are so sweet-talkers. No wonder my daughter talks about you every day!" The aunt took Shi Yirou to the yard and turned back to greet everyone, "Come in quickly, it's getting late and time to eat!"

Through the wide-open gate, the Zheng family mansion was truly revealed to everyone. The Zheng family was a two-story black wooden building, which was "U"-shaped facing the gate. The room facing the gate was the bottom of the "U"-shaped house, and it was also the hall of the whole mansion. Two red candles more than one person tall were burning next to the two chairs of the two heads of the family in the hall. The large open space between the gate and the "U"-shaped house had now been arranged into a wedding banquet. Ten round tables and benches were placed in an orderly manner in the open space, and almost all of them were occupied by guests. This posture of inviting guests showed that he attached great importance to his daughter's marriage.

"Why did you choose the haunted house too?" An Rao deliberately slowed down his pace, walked up to Bai Chuan and asked in a low voice.

"Randomly selected." Baichuan had no expression.

An Rao: “…”

"Don't ask the bride's name." Baichuan suddenly turned to An Rao and whispered.

An Rao's heart sank. The courtyard was decorated with lights and bustling with people. The air was filled with the tempting aroma of hot meals. From time to time, guests would burst into laughter. Everywhere there were sounds of people picking up food, toasting, and boasting. The ground was covered with peanut and melon seed shells. Children were running and laughing between the tables and were then caught and scolded by their parents. From time to time, a few stray dogs would slowly crawl under the tables to look for bones and meat scraps left over by the guests.

"Bang!" Someone at the table they happened to pass by opened a bottle of beer. The golden liquid along with the dense white bubbles overflowed from the edge of the bottle and spilled onto the person who opened the beer. Immediately, other guests began to look for tissues everywhere to wipe his clothes while laughing and cursing.

This seemed like a perfectly normal rural wedding banquet. Even the extremely alert An Rao was infected by the joyous atmosphere and unconsciously relaxed his guard until he was awakened by Baichuan's words.

Article 2 of the "Haunted House Game Rules" stipulates that "Please integrate into the atmosphere of the haunted house and refrain from creating chaos." This means that players need to play the roles assigned by the game in the haunted house and cannot behave in a way that is inconsistent with the role settings, otherwise it will cause chaos.

According to what the fat aunt who opened the door to greet them just now said, it can be confirmed that their current identity is the city friends of the bride, who came to this small mountain village specifically to attend their good friend's wedding. Since they are good friends, it is of course impossible for them not to know the bride's name. Neither the old man at the village entrance nor the fat aunt just now mentioned the bride's name. The haunted house has begun to set a trap for the players silently and unnoticeably.

In fact, what An Rao finds most terrifying is not the haunted house, but this atmosphere. This overly ordinary and lively atmosphere of human life can easily make players who have not enjoyed a normal life for a long time addicted to it and confuse the amusement park with reality.

"Come, come, come," the fat aunt enthusiastically led everyone to an empty table, "please sit here. This is the wine table that our daughter specially prepared for you."

"Thank you, Auntie!" An Rao thanked her first, "When can we see the bride?"

Hearing this, the smile on the fat aunt's face suddenly faded a little, and murderous intent flashed in her eyes: "Haven't you heard our girl introduce our customs here?"

Oh no! Did the story set that the bride had introduced the characters to the wedding customs of Xingfu Village?

An Rao's heart was beating hard, but she put on an innocent expression, blinking at the fat aunt and said coquettishly, "Ah, aunt, you don't know how tiring our work and study are. We forget a lot of things as soon as we say them. Young people are under too much pressure nowadays. Our Xingfu Village is still the best, with beautiful mountains and rivers and a leisurely environment. It's a good place to live at first glance!"

Hearing the compliment, the fat aunt's originally cold face smiled again: "Who said it wasn't true? If it were you, my daughter made the right choice to come back and get married. Young people nowadays are really forgetful! Our custom is to hold a banquet for at least three days to entertain relatives and friends, and then the wedding ceremony. Before that, the bride has to stay in her boudoir and can't come out to see people!"

"Ah?! What does she eat? Where is her boudoir? Can I secretly go there to bring her something to eat?!" An Rao looked around, very worried about his friend's physical and mental health.

The fat aunt was amused by An Rao's anxious look and laughed out loud: "Silly boy, can you let our bride starve? Someone has brought her food! Our Zheng family loves our eldest daughter the most. The daughter is getting married this time, so the Zheng family is holding a seven-day banquet and inviting all the villagers to eat for free until the seventh day before the wedding. What a generous gesture! "

The wedding is on the seventh day. This is the deadline given by the haunted house. Including today, the wedding day six days later will be the ultimate test of the boss. If you haven't found a way to get the pass stamp by then, don't even think about getting out.