Chapter 56: Yinghu Park (Part 9)
Wang Jia sat in a dark place, trembling with fear.
She is one of the two new players.
Just now, she walked to the game base station with the boy named Xu Dong, and she was called into the wooden house alone.
After putting on her wedding dress, her boss asked her to write down a place to wait for the groom. She tried several ways of writing it and finally succeeded in writing "an absolutely safe place".
At this moment, she inexplicably had a feeling that she seemed to be in a very small space.
She was wrapped in something, and the flow of wind became strange here.
She didn't know how much time had passed since she was teleported here. She could hardly remember the rules she had just read, and there seemed to be no one around, and no footsteps.
Someone come quickly...
She prayed inwardly.
Someone must find her faster than the monsters...
…
Xu Dong was trembling as he wandered around in the woods.
Suddenly, a girl in a red wedding dress jumped out from the bushes nearby, and both of them were startled by each other.
The girl asked in shock: "Who are you?"
Xu Dong stuttered, "I, I'm the new groom, my name is Xu Dong, who are you? Are you a player too?"
The girl suddenly realized: "Ah, you-you are here to replace me and my boyfriend."
Xu Dong was stunned: "What?"
The girl's expression dimmed. "Let's go first. You haven't found your bride yet, right? We can talk while we're looking for her."
The girl said her name was Qin Jiang, and she and her boyfriend Lu Bin were pulled into this dungeon game.
The copy teleported her into a tree hole and shrunk her body, but she didn't know it.
At first she might have encountered a real player, but that real player was too big for her, so she thought it was a monster.
Later, her "boyfriend" came, and she agreed without hesitation to let him take off her red veil. It turned out that he was the real monster disguised as her boyfriend.
"Monsters can disguise themselves - ah, don't be afraid, monsters don't look like us, they only have a mouth on their faces, no other facial features, they can only make their bodies and voices look like the players."
Qin Jiang comforted the pale-faced Xu Dong and continued sadly, "Anyway, because of me, my boyfriend and I failed to pair up. The monster replaced my boyfriend, and the two of us were set on fire by the candles."
"ignite?!"
"Yes," Qin Jiang said seriously, "We must stay away from the candles in this copy. They will burn us."
Xu Dong immediately moved away from the red candle beside him, swallowed his saliva and asked: "Then, what happened next? You were all set on fire, how did you..."
...safe and sound?
"Because our other partner arrived, his name is Jiang He," Qin Jiang sighed, "He saw me and my boyfriend and blew out the fire for us, but at that time my boyfriend's mind was completely controlled by the monster. When he saw Jiang He, he rushed over and the two of us started fighting. The dungeon rules stipulate... fighting is prohibited in the park."
"They broke the rules and died. I had no choice but to come out and look for others..."
Xu Dong suddenly didn’t know how to comfort her. How could such a tragic thing happen?
Qin Jiang was silent for a moment, then raised his head and asked, "What about you? Who is your bride?"
"Her name is Wang Jia, and I just met her. I have no idea where she could be hiding..."
In the darkness, Wang Jia suddenly heard two people talking and felt delighted.
She pricked up her ears and listened.
"This place is a bit remote..." It was a girl's voice, "I didn't see anyone there, how about we look somewhere else?"
Wang Jia became anxious.
Don't go, there are people here, please take a closer look!
At the same time, she also felt a little strange, because the other party's voice seemed to come from above... ?
"Huh?" the girl suddenly said, "There is a well over there."
Wang Jia opened her eyes silently and her lips trembled.
well?
"Want to go over and take a look?"
“…”
On the other side, outside the well.
Xu Dong looked at the large patch of tall grass blocking their way and the eerie-looking ancient well in the distance. He hesitated and said, "Forget it. Let's look somewhere else as you said..."
"That's fine," Qin Jiang said, "I also think it's unlikely that there would be anyone here. Let's go."
The two voices faded away, and Wang Jia became extremely anxious.
Don't go, don't go!
I'm here!
Don't go!
However, the two voices still disappeared.
Wang Jia thought dejectedly, how did he end up in the well?
Well, it might be safer in the well, at least from a psychological point of view. With a piece of cloth covering your head and unable to see the surrounding scenery at all, you do feel safer in a narrow well than in an open place where monsters may jump out at any time.
But who would have thought that there was a person hiding in the well?
She was abandoned in this place. Would it be possible that no one would find her until the end of the copy... ?
Wang Jia was lost in thought, and at this moment, she heard some slight noises again.
There was the sound of footsteps approaching the well.
She was startled and heard Xu Dong mumbling to himself after he came back.
"Forget it, I'll take a look anyway...but it's so dark...I can't see anything clearly..."
Wang Jia: “!”
Her heart began to beat rapidly.
"I can't see it even with a flashlight..."
No, look again carefully, I'm right here, see me quickly!
Wang Jia started to get anxious again.
The boy struggled for a long time and seemed to want to give up, but he hesitated and shouted down: "Hey, is there anyone down there?"
At this moment, the desire to survive made Wang Jia blurt out: "Yes..."
As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she remembered the rules and froze.
But it's too late.
Something came out from between her upper and lower lips, like a piece of flesh, and quickly sewed her mouth shut in her horror.
*
Yan Shaowen ran all the way to the north of the grove.
He was running while observing the scene along the way. Suddenly, he caught sight of a figure in the open space ahead. He stopped, squinted his eyes for a while, and said slowly, "Hong Yang?"
The figure in red wedding dress in front heard the voice and turned around.
It’s Hong Yang.
When Hong Yang saw him, he was incredulous: "It's really you? How did you get in?"
"I want to know, too." Yan Shaowen walked over and looked at him calmly, "Why are you here alone?"
Judging from the markings on the map that Lu Chongnian obtained, this location was exactly where Hong Yang chose to wait.
At this moment, he had taken off his red veil and was standing here.
Hong Yang said: "Ye Sui and I are in the same group. We just connected successfully. He went to the game base station to get the reward. I wanted to go find Mu Yu and the others, but——"
He lowered his head and pointed to his feet: "Don't you think these two candles are a little strange?"
Yan Shaowen looked over.
The two candles that Hong Yang pointed to were stuck among the grass leaves. They were not lit, but the candle bodies had burned to the bottom, with a pile of melted wax solidified around them.
Yan Shaowen: "What's strange about that?"
Hong Yang raised his head and scanned the candles around him: "All the candles in this grove are lit, only these two are not burning. I don't know if they were blown out by the wind. But the wind has been blowing for so long, only these two candles are out."
"In this instance, 'candle' is obviously a very important clue, so I think these two candles are a bit weird."
After listening to this analysis, Yan Shaowen raised his eyebrows and said, "So, are you going to keep watching here?"
Hong Yang thought for a moment, bent down to pick up the two candles, put them in his pocket, and asked him, "Where are you going?"
"I'm looking for a girl named Su Mingyun. By the way," Yan Shaowen kindly told him, "Lu Zhongnian should have gone to Mu Yu's place, and the two of them should have successfully connected."
"So they went to the gaming base station?"
"Not necessarily." Yan Shaowen said as he was about to leave, and before leaving he glanced at Hong Yang again.
The two looked at each other, and Hong Yang said, "Then I'll go with you."
The open space where Hong Yang was located was almost in the middle of the entire forest.
Walking further north from here, they soon arrived at another red dot marked on the map.
Arriving at the coordinates, Yan Shaowen and Hong Yang stopped and looked up.
In front, under the cover of night, a tall tree stretched out a thick branch to the left and right. Two brides of the same size, wearing red wedding dresses, were sitting quietly at both ends.
The night was dark, and the red wedding dress was blown in the wind, rustling in the air, like two stains of blood in the dark night.
Hong Yang whispered: "One of them must be a monster!"
Yan Shaowen walked over slowly.
He walked around the tree, looking calmly at the two brides above.
The two brides are three or four meters above the ground, so other players won't see anything they shouldn't see from this bottom-up angle, but it is true that no details on the brides can be seen.
The only thing Yan Shaowen could notice was the legs of the bride on the left - the dangling legs were trembling slightly under the fluttering hem of her dress.
The one on the right, on the other hand, was truly motionless.
Hong Yang stood there and shouted, "Do you have any clues?"
Yan Shaowen asked without even turning his head: "Hong Yang, are you a new player or an old player?"
Hong Yang was stunned for a moment: "This is my first time entering a dungeon today."
"Is she a new player or an old player?" Yan Shaowen pointed upwards.
"She seems to be a veteran player," Hong Yang came over and took a closer look. He discovered the difference between the two brides and understood Yan Shaowen's idea. "You think veteran players will be calmer? But this is not 100% absolute, right? I remember that this girl doesn't seem to be very courageous..."
Yan Shaowen laughed: "No, that's not what I want to say. The difference between new players and old players is indeed not the size of their courage."
"A coward who enters a dungeon a hundred times is still a coward and will still be afraid, but experienced players should know to strictly follow the dungeon rules," he said slowly, "They will know which rules to remember in order to save their lives if they can't remember all the rules."
He passed beneath the shivering bride on the left.
"We have been talking for such a long time, and these two brides have not moved or said anything. Hong Yang, you are a bride yourself, and you should know what your bride rules require of you."
Hong Yang paused and said, "We can't move or make any noise. We can't give any hints to the groom who might appear nearby."
"So..." Yan Shaowen stopped below the bride on the right and said jokingly, "How could an old player allow himself to tremble at a time like this?"
"She had no way of confirming whether trembling would be counted as an 'action' or a 'hint' by the copy."
After saying this, Yan Shaowen raised his head without hesitation and said to the bride on the branch: "Can I unveil it?"
The bride answered without hesitation: "Yes!"
In an instant, the scale in Yan Shaowen's hand stretched out quickly.
Yan Shaowen gently lifted the red veil on the bride's head. Su Mingyun sat on the branch and instantly relieved her strength: "You are finally here! How do I get down?"
Although it was their first meeting, Yan Shaowen mercilessly complained: "I have to ask you, why did you choose such a place?"
Su Mingyun immediately started to complain: "I thought the bride would have to wear a red veil, so if I sat on the tree, I would have a higher view, so wouldn't I be able to see more? But after sitting for a while, my back and waist started to ache. There's nothing to lean my back against here, and I'm so tired!"
Yan Shaowen smiled casually and opened his hands to signal her to jump down. Su Mingyun was a little afraid of death, but she still closed her eyes, gritted her teeth and jumped down. The two of them fell into the grass together.
Su Mingyun patted his chest and got up: "It's okay, it's okay, everything is going well, I'm still alive, my name is Su Mingyun, hello, you are Yan Shaowen, right? You are amazing, you don't even look like a newcomer..."
Yan Shaowen stood up and elegantly brushed off the grass seeds on his body. This girl talks too much.
Then Su Mingyun changed the subject and said seriously, "By the way, something happened here just now."
"Jiang He seemed to have had an accident nearby just now. I heard his voice..."
Yan Shaowen and Hong Yang paused and looked at her together.
Yan Shaowen asked slowly: "What did you hear specifically?"
*
Xu Dong and Qin Jiang were walking in the opposite direction of the ancient well.
Xu Dong didn't know where to look next, so he could only follow Qin Jiang in a panic. Halfway through the walk, two figures suddenly appeared in front of him.
They are Mu Yu and Lu Chongnian.
The four people met each other, and Mu Yu and Lu Zhongnian's eyes immediately fixed on Qin Jiang.
Qin Jiang opened his eyes wide and said, "Did you two recognize each other successfully? Lu Bin and I failed, and he and Jiang He are both dead..."
On the way here just now, Mu Yu had heard Lu Chongnian tell her what happened outside.
At this moment, he looked at the girl calmly: "Why don't you go to the game base station?"
Qin Jiang paused and explained, "I didn't know where to go just now, and I ran into him while wandering around. Oh, by the way, his name is Xu Dong, and he's a new recruit..."
Mu Yu interrupted her: "Qin Jiang knows Yinghu Park very well."
"This place is very close to the gaming base station. There's no way she doesn't know where she is."
Qin Jiang's facial muscles suddenly relaxed.
The sadness, excitement and other emotions on her face suddenly disappeared, and her face became expressionless.
She stared at Mu Yu expressionlessly.
Xu Dong shuddered.
He immediately understood and took a step back with a pale face.
The next second, "Qin Jiang" flashed and pounced towards Lu Chongnian and Mu Yu, but the two of them dodged him swiftly.
Xu Dong turned around and ran away - he suddenly realized that there might really be a player hiding in the ancient well!
Mu Yu saw him running and wanted to chase him. At this stage of the copy, the monsters had already made the situation very chaotic, and he was afraid that the newcomer would not be able to cope with it.
But Lu Zhongnian and the monster——
Seeing that he was hesitant, Lu Zhongnian said to him, "Go after him, I can handle it!"
Mu Yu pursed her lips and said, "...Remember, don't fight with her. Fighting is prohibited in this dungeon!"
After giving the instructions, he ran behind Xu Dong.
Xu Dong and Mu Yu walked one after the other, passing through countless trees, pushing aside the tall grass, and jumping over. They saw a figure in a groom's wedding suit lying beside the ancient well, trying to climb down.
Hearing the footsteps, the figure turned around, revealing a head with only a mouth and no other facial features.
The pupils of both of them constricted.
——It’s a monster!
The monster immediately turned back and shouted to the bottom of the well: "Can I reveal it?"
Xu Dong yelled, "Don't answer it, it's a monster!"
Mu Yu was unable to stop it and watched helplessly as countless flesh buds grew on Xu Dong's lips in an instant, sewing his mouth together like thread!
This is the punishment for the copy?!
The monster jumped into the well. Xu Dong endured the severe pain in his mouth and rushed to the side of the well. Mu Yu also ran over.
The two men saw the bride sitting down in the well, trembling slightly and not answering.
The monster approached her, as if wanting to do it again. Mu Yu pushed Xu Dong and said, "Go down and play rock-paper-scissors with it. Quick!"
Xu Dong immediately turned over, climbed into the well and jumped down.
He stumbled, but didn't dare waste time. He limped over and stood in front of the monster, tremblingly making a rock-paper-scissors gesture.
The monster faced him coldly.
Mu Yu lay on top and shouted, "You monsters also have to follow the rules of the dungeon, right?!"
"..." The monster stretched out his hand and said coldly, "Rock, Paper, Scissors."
It produced cloth, and Xu Dong produced scissors!
Xu Dong clenched his fists excitedly. He fearfully motioned for the monster to go away, then turned around and faced the bride.
He couldn't speak, but the transcript never said that "communication" couldn't be "text communication."
So he took out his cell phone, quickly typed "Can I unveil it?", and then handed the phone under the bride's red veil with anticipation and nervousness.
The bride was still trembling slightly and did not answer.
Confusion gradually emerged on Xu Dong's face... Could it be that this was not Wang Jia, but another player?
Inoue, Mu Yu was also concentrating on thinking.
If the bride was not Wang Jia, she could have answered "no" and rejected the groom instead of remaining silent.
Unless she was doubting and struggling with Xu Dong's identity at the moment, but a newcomer's brain circuit rarely takes so many turns...
Mu Yu thought of something and immediately shouted to Xu Dong: "She might be like you, breaking the rules and having her mouth sealed!"
Xu Dong opened his eyes wide.
Yes, that is possible!
But, but if the bride can't give an answer, how can the game continue?
He quickly checked the groom rules that he had just taken at the game base station, read them one by one, and fixed his eyes on the fourth rule.
"If the bride does not respond within three seconds, she can choose to leave."
“You can” choose to leave, which actually means... “you can” choose to reveal it, right?
Yes, otherwise if the bride can't answer the question, will she never be able to unveil her red veil? The copy must have set up a special way to deal with this special situation!
Xu Dong thought he had discovered the hint in the rules and excitedly mentioned Xicheng.
Mu Yu felt something was wrong and spoke up to stop them: "The fifth rule of the couple game stipulates that each of us must confirm each other's identity through communication before lifting the red veil. She hasn't answered yet, what are you doing?!"
Xu Dong raised his head in confusion - but Wang Jia couldn't speak?
Just then, three seconds passed, and the monster came over and pushed Xu Dong away, asking the bride, "Can I reveal it?"
The bride still didn't answer.
She clasped her hands together so tightly that the knuckles turned white.
The monster clicked his tongue and was about to speak again, but Xu Dong stood in front of him again and forced a game of rock-paper-scissors.
This time the monster played rock and he played paper, and he won again!
He pushed the monster away again, but his mind was blank as to what to do next.
By the well, Mu Yu reviewed the rules on the bride's side and remembered a detail.
Bride Rule 3: During the entire game, except for designated communication situations and special circumstances, in order to avoid giving hints to the groom who may appear nearby, please do not move your limbs, do not speak, and wait quietly for the groom to arrive and ask "Can I reveal it?"
The "designated communication scenario" obviously refers to the part where the groom asks questions and the bride answers.
And what do “special circumstances” mean?
Under "special circumstances", the bride seems to be able to move her limbs. Under what circumstances is the bride allowed to do so?
Mu Yu's eyes lit up and she shouted to Xu Dong, "Xu Dong, ask her to nod or shake her head instead of answering! Article 3 of the Bride's Rules gives the bride this right!"
Xu Dong and the bride trembled at the same time.
Xu Dong immediately lowered his head to add the line of words and handed the phone back under the bride's red veil.
The phone screen reads:
"Can I reveal it? You can nod or shake your head instead of answering."
This time, the bride in front of him nodded heavily.
Xu Dong was delighted and used a wedding scale to lift up her red veil, revealing Wang Jia's face.
Her face turned red, and her mouth was sewn up just like Xu Dong's.
The monster on the side suddenly pounced towards Xu Dong!
Xu Dong was unable to react and was thrown to the ground!
The monster's hands grabbed Xu Dong's neck. Seeing Xu Dong's terrified face, he raised his hands to resist. Lu Zhongnian's voice appeared at the well in time:
"Don't fight back, let it strangle you!"
Xu Dong's movements suddenly stopped.
The monster grabbed his neck hard, and at that moment, its two arms fell off its shoulders, and rolled to the ground with two thuds.
The monster froze there, and Xu Dong also froze there.
Wang Jia was so frightened that she stood still, staring at the scene.
At the well, Lu Zhongnian said calmly: "Monsters attacking players will also be punished by the rules."
"Attacks only count if they touch the player's body."
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