Chapter 41 An uncontrollable anger flared up instantly…
In the dark, moonless countryside, a young woman was bound and thrown into a woodshed, her mouth covered by a mask. Judging from her still-intact, dust-free clothes, this person was likely a player. The woman's clear eyes revealed a pair of bright eyes; it was none other than Mu Yubing.
She was captured when she was summoned to the well.
At that time, she wasn't alone; she came with Luo Ziqi to carry out the mission. The mission was to wait for Aunt Mo to deliver a quilt at the Changshou Well at 7:30 pm.
The task itself was strange. They were participating in the program with a summer game theme, which of course meant it was summer. Who would want a quilt in the summer? But that was the task slip they received. They couldn't find anyone to ask, so the two of them mustered up their courage and went there together after dark.
When she boldly stepped forward to inspect the Changshou Well, Luo Ziqi was suddenly bumped from behind, nearly fainting from fright. She immediately pressed the alarm.
The alarm provided by the production team is meant to be used to call for help when they are too scared. After calling for help, the scary NPC will leave the scene and will not attack them. Moreover, someone will come to their rescue later.
After the guests call for help, they have half an hour to rest in a place prepared by the production team. During this time, they cannot participate in the plot, but they can experience a god's-eye view through the monitor.
Some people deliberately asked for help during the show in order to better observe the plot, while others were so frightened after being brought in that they thought about quitting the show or just coasting through the second half and had no interest in watching the monitor.
Luo Ziqi was somewhere between the former and the latter. When she was surrounded by cameras, directors, and other normally dressed behind-the-scenes staff, she detached herself from the storyline and wasn't so afraid.
It's true that she practiced judo, but it's also true that she's timid. She can't stand these kinds of mysterious and terrifying legends. When Luo Ziqi was little, she was so scared by the stories her grandmother told her that she couldn't sleep, and could only silently pray for her safety.
She was patted on the shoulder from behind by a wild man. Yu Shuling and the others had also seen wild men during the day, but the level of danger during the day and at night was different.
Luo Ziqi was terrified. Seeing that she was beyond saving, Mu Yubing pressed the alarm and ran away first. Unfortunately, she hadn't taken two steps when the tall, savage grabbed her arm, dragged her into a woodshed, and gagged her with a mask. After a while, someone threw in a piece of clothing. Once Luo Ziqi regained her courage, she looked closely at the monitor and realized it was a wedding dress.
Tao Liang is currently on his way to find Mu Yubing. The male guest is definitely braver; he walks along a desolate path, loudly calling out his friend's name.
"Yu Bing! Mu Yu Bing!"
The production team gave the guests masks instead of other sealing devices. Mu Yubing vaguely heard Tao Liang calling her, so she tentatively called back a couple of times. Tao Liang heard her and walked over.
Although he liked to play tricks in the game, he didn't act cunningly when facing his former partner. When the two successfully met and saw Mu Yubing tied up in the woodshed, Tao Liang cursed the production team for being so realistic and jumped in through the window.
Before Mu Yubing could even remind her, Luo Ziqi saw it clearly in the surveillance footage from God's perspective: because it was too dark there, they had turned on the night light mode.
Tao Liang stepped into a "trap".
To prevent players from getting hurt, this trap wasn't a real trap, but rather a circle drawn on the ground. Stepping on it meant "winning." Unfortunately, it was too dark, and Tao Liang was in a hurry, so he couldn't see it clearly. The NPCs waiting outside, upon hearing the director's command, rushed in impatiently.
"Who went through our woodshed in the middle of the night?!"
"Arrest him, thief!"
The voices indicated there was more than one person, and they were all men. Tao Liang panicked for a moment and tried to run, but his path was blocked. The instant the door was pushed open, he was pinned down by two strong young men. Tao Liang tried to break free, but he couldn't. These two men were clearly prepared and very strong. They ruthlessly pushed Tao Liang to the ground, much more roughly than they had treated Mu Yubing.
A few minutes later, Tao Liang was also tied up and thrown into the woodshed, and his belongings were confiscated. Even the medicated oil he had hidden in his pocket was taken.
Mu Yubing, waiting for his help: "..."
"This NPC is acting way too hard!"
After calming down, Tao Liang couldn't help but complain to Mu Yubing, whom he knew well.
During the fight, he heard the two men address each other as Second Brother and Third Brother, and he assumed they were family. It was strange that someone would break into the woodshed in the middle of the night, but before he could explain, they started punching and kicking him.
The punches and kicks were fake; the production team certainly couldn't hurt the guest. But the force with which he was slammed to the ground was real. Tao Liang's face was pressed against the rough ground, and it hurt a little. Even though he knew it was acting, he was still somewhat dissatisfied with the other party's rough actions.
They seemed to genuinely be villagers, speaking in a dialect that was difficult to understand. Tao Liang pieced together what they were saying: that his belongings might be of some value. So they ransacked him, turning him upside down like turtles, and ruthlessly snatched his bag.
"Oh right, our house was taken over by savages, so I took my things out."
"Savages?" Mu Yubing asked in surprise, "You encountered savages too?"
Tao Liang gave a wry smile.
The package he received contained a sleeping bag. At first, seeing that the rural environment here was actually quite nice, he wondered what the sleeping bag was for. Only now did he realize that this was a trap set by the production team.
When they let their guard down, their home was taken over by savages. Tonight, they would probably have to rely on the contents of their packs to get through the night. But now, even their packs have been stolen. Those two brothers are clearly not good people either. If he sees himself as a thief, then to them, they are robbers!
"What is this?"
Tao Liang, with his long legs, kicked a pile of clothes not far away with his toes. By the moonlight, he seemed to see that the clothes were red and had a rather intricate design, somewhat like clothing for a Chinese wedding.
"I suspect there's something strange about this village."
Upon hearing this, Mu Yubing frowned.
Tao Liang turned to look at her and noticed that Mu Yubing's eyes were slightly watery, and upon closer inspection, her eye rims were a little red, as if she had just been crying. He had worked with Mu Yubing before, and the two had a good personal relationship. In his memory, Mu Yubing wasn't such a timid girl. Seeing this, he said seriously:
"What’s wrong with you?"
Mu Yubing took a deep breath:
"They asked me how old I was and whether I was married..."
**
In the courtyard late at night, a row of bright red lanterns were hung, their light so bright in the darkness it hurt the eyes. Yu Shuling had been staking out the place for a long time and saw several older women taking turns going into the young girl's room and speaking to her in their dialect. The girl seemed not to understand, or perhaps she was numb, and just pursed her lips without saying a word.
Yu Shuling couldn't fully understand the local dialect; she could only glean the general meaning from a few sentences that were mixed with Mandarin.
"Every woman goes through this. Now that you're here, do you expect to leave?"
"Why don't we let Xiaoyan try to persuade her?"
"Xiaoyan is staying home with her child today. Her child has a fever, so she can't come."
In the candlelight, Yu Shuling could see the girl's face clearly. She wasn't particularly pretty, just an ordinary girl, but young. After crying her eyes out, she looked emaciated, not at all like a lively girl in her early twenties. The girl let them talk, her head drooping, like a puppet.
"Give him some water and some bread, don't let him starve!"
Someone went out to fetch something and quickly returned with a chipped bowl of water and half a multigrain bun in their other hand. The girl kept her head down, and only when the older women grabbed her chin, trying to force her to eat or drink, did anger finally surface in her eyes. She must have been dehydrated for a long time; her voice was hoarse, but she shouted with all her might:
"roll!"
At first, the older women tried to persuade her gently, but their patience gradually wore thin after the girl struggled so hard that she broke the bowl.
"Don't be ungrateful!"
"Once the groom arrives, you won't have a choice. If your wife doesn't listen to you, she'll get beaten!"
"Hold her down!"
Their voices became clearer as they spoke, perhaps to make it easier for the audience to understand. The person on the scene was already certain of the direction this was going. Even though she had seen so many people scheming against each other in the palace, she had never felt that people could be so disgusting.
Under their coercion, the girl went from silent to shouting and screaming, clearly unwilling to accept the fact that she was about to be married off. They were women themselves, yet they threatened and beat the young girl, taking advantage of their numbers to bully her mercilessly. The girl's face was streaked with tears, but she was no match for their strength. They ripped off her outer garment and forced her into a wedding dress, leaving her sobbing uncontrollably.
If this were true, Yu Shuling would definitely go down and kill all these people if she had a sword.
They were acting, but even acting wasn't enough for her. No normal woman could remain unmoved by a little girl being forced into this state. Just as she was wondering if she could appear, she heard a firecracker explode in the distance. Amidst the deafening sound of the firecrackers, someone played celebratory music. This music was undoubtedly a death knell for the little girl inside. She cried even more bitterly and struggled even more fiercely, but to no avail.
Yu Shuling stopped what she was doing and looked outside. Finally, amidst the crowd, she saw the groom who was inexplicably getting married late at night. She didn't know it until she glanced at him and saw that the man wearing a hat had wrinkles on his face. She estimated that he was at least in his forties.
They're going to marry this young girl off to a man in his forties!
An uncontrollable surge of anger suddenly welled up inside him.
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Author's Note: Happy New Year! Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants between 2023-12-24 11:43:57 and 2024-01-02 22:12:01!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Moyu (5 bottles);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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