☆, Chapter 36: Substitute
Go back ten minutes.
After Cheng Dong completely broke off relations with Yu Jiuyin and the other three, he returned to his original room with Qi Ming, intending to discuss how to survive in this house.
The two of them walked down from the second floor. The blood that had flowed to the first floor had dried up, and a black and red mass was solidified on the ground, making it sticky when stepped on.
"It's so disgusting. Let's go back to the room first." Cheng Dong frowned, his face full of disgust.
"Yeah." Qi Ming responded, then lowered his head and followed Cheng Dong.
He was deeply troubled. Cheng Dong had just done something like that, practically single-handedly sending Mu Xiaoxiao and Sheng Chun to their deaths, and had directly mocked Yu Jiuyin and Rong Qing. Although Qi Ming ultimately chose to side with Cheng Dong, for Qi Ming himself, Cheng Dong's violent and utilitarian actions were enough to make him uneasy.
After all, who can guarantee that he will not be a drag? Qi Ming is 100% sure that as long as something happens to him, Cheng Dong will definitely abandon him at the first opportunity.
However, perhaps because they were both too preoccupied, Qi Ming and Cheng Dong entered the house one after the other, but no one noticed that the door behind them had quietly closed at some point.
Cheng Dong seemed tired. After entering the room, he lay down on the bed and closed his eyes to rest, but his mouth was still busy talking to Qi Ming.
"I think there's something strange about those brothers. Remember that morning? The things in the closet went crazy. They made such a big scene, and then in the end, for no apparent reason, they just vanished."
"Yes, indeed. But this village of extinct families is very strange. Maybe they just happened to escape, or they don't meet the conditions for death."
"That shouldn't be the case. Even if the Yi Qing brothers aren't satisfied, it's refreshing that Mu Xiaoxiao is still alive." Cheng Dong lowered his voice, "Mu Xiaoxiao should have died yesterday. I don't know why the female ghost let her go in the end."
"What do you mean?" Cheng Dong's tone made Qi Ming feel a chill on his back.
"Didn't you listen to what the mastermind of the Death Game said? This game is called Seven Days Before Death, and each room is assigned different clothes depending on who enters. This is role-playing. Mu Xiaoxiao got his wife's clothes, but the woman in this room is clearly blind. Tell me, how can a perfect role-play tolerate imperfection?"
"You mean that the female ghost last night wanted to blind Mu Xiaoxiao?" Qi Ming sneered. "If that's what you said, then the clothes you received are my grandfather's. Doesn't that mean you have to look decades older, and half of your body must be buried in the ground to match my grandfather's personality?"
The more he talked, the more he felt that Cheng Dong was a bit possessed. But then, a sudden scene appeared before his eyes, which frightened Qi Ming to the extreme.
Qi Ming suddenly felt that Cheng Dong's bed seemed a little strange, and it was different from the one they slept on last night. When he looked carefully, it was not a bed at all, but a coffin, and Cheng Dong was lying on it half-dead, which meant that half of his body was buried in the ground.
"Splash." There was a sudden sound of water outside the window. Qi Ming subconsciously looked outside and then opened his mouth uncontrollably.
In the courtyard closest to the window, a wooden tub had appeared, and a skinny old man was standing there bathing.
The sound of water splashing could be heard continuously, and the old man was rubbing his body non-stop with his back to them. However, his pale skin did not look like that of a living person, no matter from which angle he looked at it.
"Cheng Dong, did you see that?" Qi Ming swallowed.
"Don't be so weird about what you saw. I'm so sleepy. Do you want to take a rest together?" Cheng Dong replied irritably and covered himself with the quilt.
But Qi Ming stared at Cheng Dong with his eyes wide open, unable to utter a word. He suddenly realized that not only was Cheng Dong lying in the wrong position, but even the clothes he was wearing and covered with were completely different from what he had seen last night. They were clearly shrouds worn by the dead.
But, but when did Cheng Dong put on all this? Qi Ming felt like he was about to be scared crazy.
"Wash it! Once it's clean, you can go on your way." The old man outside the window muttered in a hoarse voice. Then, the house was filled with moisture.
Yao Wan Qiming didn't care about anything else and ran out of the door like crazy. But the door was closed tightly.
He stepped back step by step, watching the old man walk over from outside, standing beside Cheng Dong's bed, looking down at him. Then, he laughed coldly and said, "If you don't return the clothes, you will stay here forever."
As the old man spoke, he grabbed Cheng Dong's hand. Then, Cheng Dong died.
Cheng Dong died just like that.
"Ah!" Qi Ming screamed, unable to control himself any longer. He tugged at the tightly closed door like a madman, his face covered in snot and tears. After an unknown amount of time, the door finally opened, and Qi Ming scrambled out of the room, desperately calling out to Yu Jiuyin and the other three upstairs.
"You deserve it," Mu Xiaoxiao cursed with disdain, and Sheng Chun didn't even look at him.
Instead, Yu Jiuyin took the initiative to go into the room and take a look, then he laughed.
"It smells so strong, the person must have been dead for a few days." Yu Jiuyin opened the door of the room wide, and the stench of corpse wafted out.
"What on earth is this?" Qi Ming wanted to say. Cheng Dong had just died. He had watched him breathe his last. But when he met Yu Jiuyin's half-smile, he didn't know how to explain it. They just stood there for a moment.
Yu Jiuyin shook his head. "Actually, there's no need for you to be afraid. You know best that Cheng Dong died a long time ago, don't you?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Qi Ming's face turned pale, as if he had heard something incredible. Mu Xiaoxiao and Sheng Chun beside him also looked at Yu Jiuyin with shocked eyes.
"Stop messing around." Rongqing shook his head at Yu Jiuyin.
Yu Jiuyin simply stopped keeping everyone in suspense and directly explained the confusion to everyone, "Qi Ming, it's not just Cheng Dong. Didn't you die a long time ago? Aren't you very unwilling to not drag Mu Xiaoxiao as a scapegoat last night?"
"No way!" Mu Xiaoxiao was completely confused. Qi Ming and Cheng Dong had been with them from the beginning. And Mu Xiaoxiao clearly remembered that the night she slept with them, they were warm.
Sheng Chun was also puzzled, "The dead can't eat, right?"
"Who said the dead can do more things?" Yu Jiuyin walked slowly in front of Qi Ming. "Don't you want to admit it? Let me ask you, what were you wearing when you came here? None of us knows where Juehu Village is. We only know that it is 300 kilometers away from the starting point. But you and Cheng Dong were able to plan the journey clearly. Is your game different from ours, or have you been here before and died here?"
Yu Jiuyin pulled out a small porcelain bottle and blew it towards Qi Ming's face. The unique sandalwood scent reduced the stench of corpses in the air, but Cheng Dong covered his face as if he had been splashed with sulfuric acid and rolled on the ground.
Yu Jiuyin looked down at him and said, "You two have long been captured by the evil spirits in this village and used as scapegoats, right?"
"You, you are talking nonsense."
"I'm talking nonsense. Do you want to see the note in your hand?" Yu Jiuyin threw the note that he and Rongqing got while eating rice on the ground. There was clearly nothing on the blank note.
"That soul-calling game is a sham. Human blood is different from chicken blood. How could it possibly have the spiritual energy to resurrect the dead? Moreover, this place has been deserted for a long time. There are no offerings, and the gods have long since left their places. Tell me, who wrote the words on the notes between you two?"
"Eating rice can only summon gods and evil spirits. Didn't Cheng Dong choose the life to be taken tonight in the game?"
"Stop talking, stop talking!" Qi Ming collapsed instantly, and at the same time, his body changed. Just like Cheng Dong lying on the bed in the room, Qi Ming also emitted a strong stench that made people feel sick.
He roared, and finally stood up straight, staring at Yu Jiuyin with eyes full of extreme hatred.
"Seven days before death, that's not the seven days before the death of the Juehu Village family, it's the seven days before the death of you and Cheng Dong, the seven days of resurrection night. You want us to stay here and be scapegoats instead of you, right?"
Yu Jiuyin's words finally revealed the truth, and Qi Ming's memories instantly returned.
That's right, he'd already died. He wasn't part of Yu Jiuyin's group, but rather one of the previous group that died in Juehu Village. Back then, there was only one shameless Celestial Master in the group, who used his Taoist magic to save his life, but they used him as a sacrifice, forever trapped in Juehu Village.
Fortunately, before he died, he met the goddess Hela.
"As long as you can find a scapegoat, you can be resurrected." The goddess said this and gave him a new life, allowing him and Qi Ming to blend in with the new game participants and find their own goals.
Unfortunately, Cheng Dong's memory recovered too early, causing them to lose their advantage. Otherwise, Yu Jiuyin and the other four would have been buried with him.
But it doesn't matter, it's not too late now. Qi Ming smiled strangely, looking at Yu Jiuyin with greedy eyes. Cheng Dong, who was lying in the room, also walked out stiffly. Behind him, still carrying the old man, two pairs of greedy and resentful eyes fell on each of Yu Jiuyin and the other three.
At the same time, the female ghost who wanted to kill Mu Xiaoxiao before, and the little sisters in Yu Jiuyin and Rongqing's room all appeared in the house.
No, not just them. All the people who had died in this extinct village appeared in this relatively spacious living room.
In all directions, densely packed, ghosts were everywhere, and each ghost face stared at the four living beings with eager and strange eyes.
"Stay, stay!" Various ghostly voices echoed in the space. And with each repetition, they got one step closer to Yu Jiuyin and the others.
Sheng Chun and Mu Xiaoxiao were completely frightened and could only lean against Rong Qing and Yu Jiuyin, motionless.
"You can't run away." The smile on Qi Ming's face grew bigger and bigger, the corners of his mouth were cracked to the extreme, and his neat teeth looked like a beast ready to bite people.
"What should I do? What should I do now?" Mu Xiaoxiao was already crying. Rong Qing ordered very calmly, "Why are you still standing there? Run!"
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