Chapter 2 Night Sacrifice 1 Nameless Village
The eldest brother's head was squeezed outside the door, while half of his body was inside. Above him, someone was desperately pushing his head outwards, as if doing so would reduce their competitor.
When Wu Wangwang patted his older brother's shoulder, the man was already squeezed and unable to speak. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was contorted, as if he would explode at any moment.
However, no explosion occurred, because the eldest brother's head suddenly fell off.
Blood didn't even spurt out immediately; it was as if the blood vessels in the body hadn't even had time to react before the head was severed.
With the elder brother no longer blocking them, the people outside finally had a chance to squeeze into the Ghost Mother Goddess Temple. Eight people rushed in, and the rest were immediately bounced out through the gate.
In the morning, the Demon Mother ate one of the Japanese soldiers, so when Wu Wangwang went in, there were still nine wishes left in the dish. She used one, so there were eight people left to make a wish. There were fourteen players this time. After removing Wu Wangwang and the eldest brother who lost his head, there were four people left who were stopped outside.
The four remaining players were stunned for a moment, then immediately started hurling insults at the head of the guy on the ground. One of the male players, unable to contain his anger, kicked the guy's head away.
With their eldest brother no longer available to vent their anger, they immediately turned their attention to Wu Wangwang, their eyes brimming with hatred. If Wu Wangwang hadn't run so fast, they might have had a chance, since they could have taken care of a few players on the way and then divided the spots among themselves.
Now, because of Wu Wangwang, a variable, fair competition has become a contest of strength, and they were pushed forward after a moment's hesitation.
But they didn't dare treat Wu Wangwang the way they treated their eldest brother.
After all, the game referee said that wishes made to the Demon Mother would be granted in this instance. Logically speaking, since they were the first to rush in, their wishes must be related to their own survival. Whether it was to survive in the instance or to prevent other players from attacking them, it would render the other players' attempts to kill the wisher futile.
Moreover, players dare not gamble on the consequences of disobeying the Ghost Mother Goddess. What if they attack someone protected by the Ghost Mother Goddess and are hunted down by her?
The game is difficult enough as it is, and I didn't even get a chance to make a wish, so there's no need to make things worse.
Wu Wang noticed that they were all looking at her, so she looked back in confusion. However, the players quickly stopped looking at her and instead looked at the entrance of the Ghost Mother Temple, as if as long as they kept their eyes on that place, they would still have a chance.
After waiting with the players for a while, the eight players who went in finally came out, each with a rosy complexion, making it clear that they had definitely won this round.
The players outside were green with envy. The male player who kicked the leader's head away asked sarcastically, "What did you wish for? Tell us so the brothers can see?"
With the protection of the Ghost Mother, the originally cautious players became more confident. They all openly said they wanted to leave the dungeon alive. After all, one of the conditions for entering "Return of the Soul" was to be near death. If they failed to leave the dungeon alive, they would die in the real world in the same way they originally died.
Only by surviving and getting out of there will there be a chance to recover and live after treatment.
The wishes they made are like a safety net in this game, so they don't have to worry about anything going wrong.
At this moment, someone noticed Wu Wangwang, who had been standing silently to the side, and couldn't help but ask her, "You were the one who ran over here just now, weren't you? Who taught you to play the game like this?"
Wu looked over and saw a short-haired girl. He answered truthfully, "You have to run fast to survive. I thought everyone knew that."
The other players fell into an eerie silence after hearing what she said.
To be honest, it makes a lot of sense at first glance. This game called "Return of the Souls" is more like a soul competition. They were supposed to die, but the game gave them a chance to live again. Basically, every step they take now is like walking on the road to the underworld.
And if you want to survive, all you have to do is run fast and not get caught by the "ghost messengers," right?
The players couldn't refute it, and since the matter was already settled, they could only continue playing the game. Obtaining the trump card didn't mean they didn't have to play anymore; it just meant they wouldn't die under the death rules. They still had to complete the game to leave.
However, after the brief exchange, the players have already agreed that they should never cooperate with Wu Wangwang again, and it's best not to even have contact with her. Who knows what kind of thought process she has? She's obviously a lunatic who only wants to ruin her teammates.
In "Return of the Souls", sometimes players need to cooperate and sometimes they don't. It depends on the content of the dungeon. Players are often most afraid of dungeons that require cooperation. How can a group of people who don't even want to do a group assignment in college entrust their backs to others in the face of life and death?
Therefore, the more cooperative and mutually beneficial the dungeon, the higher the mortality rate.
However, everyone receives different information when entering the instance. No one can predict their own death, so when you are pulled into the game, in addition to knowing that you will die, you also receive information about your participation in the instance.
However, even if all the information in the hands of all the players is put together, it is not necessarily possible to piece together the rules for clearing the dungeon. They must combine the information they have with the dungeon's settings bit by bit and connect each piece of information in order to have a chance of clearing the dungeon.
The players originally estimated that they would finish making their wishes by 5 or 6 pm, but it was only 10:30 am and the matter was already resolved. According to the usual rules of the dungeon, they are free to move around today and do not have to worry about being killed by other rules in the dungeon.
In other words, they can now use the time before the game officially starts to probe each other's information.
Nowadays, players seem to be divided into three camps based on whether or not they make a wish. The eight people who made a wish spontaneously stood together, the four people who failed to enter the Ghost Mother Temple spontaneously formed a group, and Wu Wangwang formed his own team, which has a strong sense of a three-way standoff.
The tallest man among the eight wishers volunteered, "Now that we have time, let's share our secrets. After all, the eight of us are guaranteed to get out alive. If the dungeon requires us to cooperate and we can't cooperate from the start, it's easy for all of us to be left here. Do you have any objections?"
The instance is no longer fair. Even if the four who couldn't make a wish didn't want to hand over their individual information, they couldn't refuse. Now they are the ones asking for help, not the other way around.
Since dying is inevitable if you can't clear the dungeon, you might as well stay alive in the dungeon. Maybe one day you'll have a sudden inspiration and figure it out and clear the dungeon?
Being able to survive to the end is the best buff.
We exchanged names briefly, but considering we would meet again after leaving the game, we all used fake names, basically choosing names based on our own preferences or characteristics, making them simple and easy to remember.
Players don't deliberately memorize nicknames; they just need to call out a characteristic when they need it, and they'll usually get a response.
Suddenly, Wu Wangwang said, "My name is Wu Wangwang, hello."
"..."
The players on both sides fell silent, staring at her speechlessly, hesitant to speak. In fact, none of them wanted to pay attention to her, but what could they do when she was one of the players?
Now that there's one less player, it means there's a piece of information that can't be known. So we can't let any more players disappear. Even if we don't want to play with idiots, we have to coax them into handing over the information first.
It seems Wu Wangwang himself is still quite hated. The male player who kicked the boss in the head earlier said his name was Bao Ge, meaning "Explosive Temper," and Bao Ge immediately scoffed, "What kind of name is that? Wu Wangwang? Are you a dog? Why are you called Wangwang?"
Wu Wangwang tilted her head slightly to look at him: "It's Wangwang, the Wang of looking forward to the future, and I'm sure I'll live longer than a dog."
When Bao Ge heard this, he was stunned for a moment before he realized that Wu Wangwang was also calling him a dog. There was no guarantee that they would leave alive here. Weren't there only four of them?
"You—" Brother Bao wanted to go up and make a move, but was stopped by the three players around him. They really didn't have the ability to compare with the players who had already made a wish. Besides, the other people were still watching. What if they saw them targeting the players who had already made a wish and those eight players were unwilling to cooperate and share with them?
There was nothing he could do but swallow his anger. He just couldn't stand Wu Wangwang, but what could he do when that idiot ran away so fast?
Among the players making wishes, the one with the big head was the leader. The big head said his name was Da Gao because he was tall and big and very recognizable. Da Gao also tried to smooth things over: "Brother Bao, say less. I know you're not convinced, but sometimes luck plays a role in games. This lady is probably just lucky. Now that we have a lot of free time, let's focus on clearing the game."
The referee didn't seem to have any expectations of them, and the rest of the day was indeed their own.
To show his sincerity, Da Gao was the first to share his information. He was the grandson of the lame old man at the entrance of the village. His parents had died, and his grandparents had been healthy for many years, so they raised him. However, three years ago, when his grandmother and grandfather went up the mountain to pick fruit, his grandmother accidentally fell off a cliff, and his grandfather broke his leg.
The most important information here is "three years ago." Generally speaking, time is very important information in games. Anything that includes time is second only to core related information in importance.
The players silently noted down the date "three years ago," and someone started sharing it.
Each player has their own unique identity information, and the key rules for clearing the game are contained within this identity information.
After everyone had finished speaking, they looked at Wu Wangwang; now it was her turn.
Wu Wangwang thought for a moment and said, "My information is that I am the daughter of a widow at the end of the village. I am fifteen years old this year and I am engaged to a young man in the village named Dalin. Oh, it should be called a childhood betrothal. The wedding will be held in half a month."
"A wedding at fifteen? Is that legal?" a female player questioned, as she was a girl and was very sensitive about such matters.
A slender male player said, "It's quite normal. This dungeon looks like a backward mountain village. In those backward places, there is no concept of modern marriage. In their view, as long as a wedding banquet is held and a child is born, it is considered marriage. But legally speaking, it is not considered marriage. It is called premarital pregnancy, which also violates the 'Law on the Protection of Minors'."
However, if both are minors, it's difficult to say who broke the rule.
Bao Ge has a fiery temper. He couldn't stand listening to this kind of feminist talk and interrupted them, saying, "Who cares how old she is to get married? The question now is, who is Da Lin?"
Everyone was stunned. They recalled the identity information they had just shared. There were thirteen people in total, and all of them had been given identities as villagers, and almost all of them had some kind of connection with each other. Now, everyone recited their names again and found that there was no one named Da Lin among the players.
Then everyone looked at the head in the distance, and Wu Wangwang followed suit: "Ah, could it be Brother Dalin? My childhood betrothal is gone, how am I supposed to continue my wedding?"
It's unlikely that a dungeon would leave a player completely disconnected, allowing another player to assume a different identity. That identity must serve some purpose. For example, Wu Wangwang's current identity is to hold a wedding and have a fiancé.
While everyone was still wondering what was going on, Da Gao said, "Don't jump to conclusions yet. Maybe he's not Da Lin? Who says Da Lin has to be a player? Anyway, let's ask around the village and see if there's anyone named Da Lin. If there is, let's find out what the situation is now."
Since things have come to this, the best course of action is to play dumb. If there really is such a person as Da Lin, they should pretend they know nothing. If there is no such person as Da Lin in the village, then Wu Wangwang's identity information becomes quite intriguing.
Since it was still early, Da Gao decided that they should each go back and familiarize themselves with their respective identities and surroundings. They would probably have to stay in the village for half a month until Wu Wangwang's wedding. Right now, they knew nothing about the situation in the village, and if they made any mistakes while playing their roles, according to their game experience, they would likely trigger the death rule directly.
The players were assigned identities that lived in almost every corner of the village, making it difficult for them to visit each other. For example, Wu Wangwang and Da Gao lived at opposite ends of the village, one with a lame old man and the other with a widow. It seemed like they would never interact.
Why would the instance assign such fragmented identities to them?
This is clearly unreasonable, because identity information is the node that connects the clues for players. If it is impossible to connect them, then their identity information is useless.
Therefore, their fragmented identities must have some special purpose, but no one can judge them based on their simple identities alone.
Because Wu Wangwang lived at the end of the village, she was the first to return home after coming down the mountain. The other players observed the area for a while and felt that this location was very suitable for the identity of a widow in the village.
Although it may sound harsh, the saying "a widow's door is always a source of gossip" is all too common. When the men in the village see a widow, no matter how pretty she is, they will definitely make suggestive remarks and flirt with her. Feudal women hate women who would arouse their husbands' desires, but they do not want widows to remarry, as this would make them seem indecent.
The villagers would say whatever they wanted, and in the end, they all thought that women were not human beings but objects. When the object's owner (the man) disappeared, the other people's thoughts of destruction and taking advantage of the situation could not be concealed at all.
The houses at the end of the village were small, even dilapidated. A well was sealed off in the yard with large stones, and nothing hung under the eaves. They were completely different from the yards of other villagers and seemed somewhat out of place.
Wu Wangwang walked into the courtyard, his eyes darting around like a lizard, taking in the entire scene. There was no one inside; it seemed the widow had already gone out to work.
The small courtyard was divided into a kitchen and a bathroom. In the middle of the main house, there was a square table with a chipped bowl and a kettle on it. To the right was a door leading to the only bedroom in the house. There were two quilts on the bed, and it was clear that the mother and daughter slept together.
After looking at the house, Wu Wangwang sat down on the bench by the table, waiting for the widow to return. She wasn't actually unaware of what would happen or what had happened in this village, but since she was now playing the role of a human, she knew nothing. In fact, when necessary, she had to be like that human girl, blindly running forward.
It wasn't until dark that the widow returned carrying a bamboo basket. She was a silent woman with dark, yellowish skin and short hair, almost to her scalp, as if that gave her a little courage.
The widow carried the bamboo basket to the kitchen, then called to Wu Wangwang, "Zhenzhen, come and start the fire."
Wu Wangwang responded and got up to walk over. She remembered that the girl's name was Zhenzhen, but her surname was not mentioned in her identity information.
The kitchen was small, and it was a bit cramped for two people, but as long as Wu Wangwang shrunk down on the small stool by the stove, the widow could tidy up everything in the kitchen by herself and efficiently prepare dinner.
Wu Wangwang had never started a fire before. She wasn't the girl who had lived in the countryside and done farm work since childhood. After discovering that she couldn't get the fire going after several attempts and that the kitchen was filled with smoke, Wu Wangwang glanced guiltily at the widow.
The widow had just finished chopping vegetables and turned around when she saw the kitchen filled with smoke. She silently gave Wu Wangwang a death stare, as if she were her mother.
Wu Wangwang tried to argue, "The Kitchen God might not be happy today. Can we burn it again tomorrow?"
A note from the author:
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[End of this chapter]
Kitchen God: She's slandering me! She's slandering me! She's slandering me!
Wu Wangwang: Well-behaved.jpg
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I, Hu Hansan, am back!
Every time I start writing, my period comes. Sometimes it comes a week early, sometimes it's delayed and only comes when I start writing. This time it was delayed for almost half a month, but it came as soon as I posted the first chapter. Unbelievable, does it have to be so punctual?
My period is almost over now, so I'll be updating daily. I'll post a leave notice if anything comes up, mwah! ^3^
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