It's pitch black here.
As soon as the thirteen people from the Douding class arrived here, the fear dominated by the polar night apocalypse attacked them again. The environment here was pitch black again. Even though they couldn't see anything, they could still feel the oppression and dullness like a mountain pressing down on their heads.
Even stronger than the polar night apocalypse.
The air was filled with a strong smell of foul earth, which condensed all around, making people feel stuffy and uncomfortable. If you rubbed the clothes on your body with your fingertips, you could feel a trace of moisture.
"Oh my God, why is it so dark here again? Did the sun run into outer space and be eaten by a monster?" Wang Xiaohu slapped his forehead, speechless.
In the last apocalypse, the cubs were well protected in the base. Even though they had to live underground, the atmosphere was lively and harmonious. There were also many toys to play with, so they had a pretty happy time.
Now that darkness has returned, everyone's expressions are filled with loss and worry.
Qi Mi looked around and pointed at a few red lights in the distance ahead: "Let's go over there and take a look."
She had the ability of night vision and could confirm that they were now underground. The compacted soil above their heads was only two or three meters away from them, so there was such a strong smell of mud and mold.
For a moment, she forgot that these people couldn't see. When Du Rui and Zheng Yuanyuan reacted and turned on the flashlight, she saw more than ten pairs of eyes staring at her in the bright light, with confusion written all over their faces.
Zheng Yuanyuan subconsciously turned her head and asked in confusion, "Where are we going to look?"
Looking around, I saw vast expanses of yellow land on both sides, which looked desolate but also a bit weird, and I couldn't help but shudder.
At this time, I don’t know what Yu Jiaojiao saw, she turned around and buried her little head in Zheng Yuanyuan, holding her legs tightly and not letting go.
Zheng Yuanyuan's heart skipped a beat and she looked at Qi Mi.
Everyone knows that Yu Jiaojiao is psychic. Now that she is so scared, there must be something unclean around her.
Qi Mi pursed her lips and remained silent. Honestly, she felt a little guilty. Although her physical attacks were maxed out, they weren't very effective against things like ghosts. She glanced back, raised an eyebrow in confusion, and then scanned the area with her gaze, her brow furrowing even deeper.
Langyu is missing.
She originally thought that she had to ask the person who had the ability to control dark matter about the dark matter. Just when she was about to ask about the situation, she turned around and found that the person was gone.
But she clearly remembered that Langyu entered the portal after her, so how could he not be here?
Qi Mi looked around again, and after making sure that Lang Yu did not follow, he took a deep breath, comforted Yu Jiaojiao, and walked aside to ask.
No matter what, it's helpful to know what the current situation is so that you can find a way to deal with it.
"Jiaojiao, don't be afraid. Teacher Qi is here. Tell the teacher, did you see anything?" Qi Mi asked while running his hand along Yu Jiaojiao's back and holding her tightly in his arms to give her enough sense of security.
Yu Jiaojiao put her arms around Qi Mi's neck and rested her little head on her shoulder. After a few seconds, she nodded silently.
"Where is it? How far away is it?" Qi Mi didn't dare ask specifically what those creatures looked like, fearing her imagination would overwhelm her with horror and her SAN value would drop. After all, just before she came out of the previous world, she had used an instrument to measure her SAN value, which was around the critical value of 50. If she wasn't careful and her consciousness was confused, these creatures, big and small, would be in danger.
After listening to it, Yu Jiaojiao looked again with her round eyes flashing, and whispered in Qi Mi's ear: "Very close, yet very far away, and everywhere."
Everywhere?!
Qi Mi took a deep breath and asked hurriedly, "Can your spells deal with them? Or, do the ones you saw have any intention of attacking us?"
Yu Jiaojiao glanced around again and confirmed: "No, they are just looking at us."
"No intention of attacking?"
"No."
Qi Mi asked again seriously, and breathed a sigh of relief after getting a relatively safe answer. After comforting her for a while, she directly hugged Yu Jiaojiao in her arms so that she could ask about the movements of the dark matter at any time.
Due to the current special situation, Du Rui, who has the most yang energy in the team, can only take the lead. The boys and girls are lined up in an alternating row, holding hands with each other. Zheng Yuanyuan walks in the middle, and Qi Mi walks at the end. They walk vigilantly and orderly towards the lights in the distance.
This was a solution Qi's fans came up with on the spur of the moment. Although it had no metaphysical basis, it at least gave them peace of mind. And with the approval of the half-immortal Yu Jiaojiao, everyone just did as they were told.
Although the yellow mud ground under their feet was a little dirty and the environment was dark, fortunately, it was flat and open everywhere. Looking around, there was land above their heads and land under their feet, and they were like earthworms and mud worms crawling underground.
The closer you get to those red lights, the more clearly you can see what they are.
They are big red lanterns.
Slightly different from the lanterns hung in every household during the Spring Festival today, the lanterns in front of me are all long cylindrical in shape, quite old-fashioned, and appear to be made of thick red paper. The light that shines through is very dim, and a very tall archway can be vaguely seen.
The top of the archway just touched the yellow mud ceiling above, standing quietly in the darkness.
I don’t know if it was intentional, but these red lanterns are not symmetrical on the left and right sides. There are seven on the left and four on the right. Combined with the towering archway, it gives people a strong sense of oppression.
It's not just oppressive, it's also eerie. I always feel like something strange will suddenly appear behind that lonely archway. The old-fashioned archway + the red lanterns in the dark, the atmosphere alone can make you imagine a horror movie.
And it is the kind of fear that is engraved in the bones, the deepest fear of Chinese terror.
In an instant, as if awakening the deepest fear in his heart, Du Rui clenched his teeth and unconsciously slowed down his pace... The closer he got to the archway, the faster his heart beat.
Suddenly, he seemed to see something and froze in his tracks.
The large group following behind him also barely stopped.
Qi Mi glanced behind him, and after confirming that there was no one behind him, he leaned forward and asked, "Teacher Du, what happened?"
Unable to speak due to the [Word Curse], Du Rui mechanically turned around, raised his cell phone, and directed the pale beam of light towards the tall archway.
There was no wind here, and lanterns fell quietly under the archway. On each lantern was written the same word in black brush:
Memorial.
Words that symbolize death and funeral are written on festive red lanterns, which makes anyone's scalp tingle when they see them.
An inexplicable chill rose from the soles of their feet and hit their hearts. Zheng Yuanyuan and Du Rui looked at each other silently, hesitating whether to continue moving forward.
After all, this obvious weirdness is often the prelude to various horror movies. It is not difficult to see from the routine that eight out of ten people who dare to go deep into the ghost cave will not come out alive.
No one can guarantee that they are not the luckiest two.
However, looking around, only the village behind the archway was lit. If they didn't move forward, they would have to stay overnight in this wilderness. The ground was cold, and the children had taken off their thick and warm down jackets in the previous world. Their little hands were cold in their thin coats.
After a moment of silence, the environment fell into a dead silence.
The adults' secretive fear affected the children's emotions, and the children all huddled together and leaned against the adults.
Qi Mi took the opportunity to hug them.
If it were before, she would definitely tell them to wait here while she went in to take a look. But after Lao Wei's advice, she was a little hesitant. This place was not like other apocalyptic worlds. In this world full of dark matter, her fatal acupoints could be buried everywhere. If she was not careful, something could happen. No matter how she looked at it, it was better to act together.
She suppressed her chaotic thoughts and deliberately changed the subject: "Do you know what those lanterns mean?"
Several people shook their heads.
"Doesn't it symbolize [marriage is the grave of love]?" She raised her head and said in a profound tone, "If you don't believe me, try it carefully."
Zheng Yuanyuan and Du Rui looked back again.
What should have been a festive wedding lantern had the word "death" written on it... After hearing what Qi's fans said, it really did make sense.
"So it's nothing, don't think too much, let's keep moving forward." Qi Mi clapped his hands encouragingly.
After the fight, Du Rui's fear was indeed relieved a little. He took a deep breath and continued to lead the children forward.
There is only this village here, and even if it is weird, she has to go in and see if there are any clues to pass the level. For safety reasons, Qi Mi looks around while walking, and asks Yu Jiaojiao from time to time about the current movements of ghosts to ensure that she can react quickly when the ghosts take action. Even if she can't beat them, she can create a space barrier to take everyone to hide.
Out of fear, Du Rui and Zheng Yuanyuan consciously lowered their heads when walking past the archway, avoiding looking at the strange big lanterns above their heads.
Only a few kids who were not affected by the weird feeling kept watching. In the dead silence, the studious baby Zhao Yize suddenly spoke.
"Shi Zhuangzi...what Shi Zhuangzi? Teacher Qi, that word is so strange, I have never seen it before." He pointed at the four big words on the archway.
Qi Mi raised his eyes and said, "That's the character kuai, kuai, with the third tone."
"Kuai?" Zhao Yize repeated it, not quite understanding it, and roughly realized that this was an uncommon surname.
After Qi Mi finished explaining, he reflected. Throughout history, there have been countless villages with these surnames, like "Zhangjia Village" and "Lijiatun." You couldn't even count them on your fingers. These villages generally housed large, extended families, with everyone from the oldest to the youngest sharing the same surname. And this village, with the inscription "Kuaishi Zhuangzi," as the name suggests, was populated by people of all ages and surnames.
"Teacher Qi, there is..."
As she was thinking, Wang Xiaohu saw something and pointed with his hand. Before she could see what the little guy was pointing at, she heard him scream, and suddenly shook off Fang Xinyue's hand and rushed towards her.
Qi Mi patted his back to comfort him, and looked in the direction of his finger, and found a pair of shoes.
A pair of old-fashioned men's cloth shoes made of brand new black cloth were placed right in the middle of the village intersection. The two shoes on the left and right were neatly arranged, as if someone had placed them there on purpose.
It looks like a pair of shroud shoes for the dead.
A pair of black longevity shoes sat on the empty street in the dark night, a sight that sent chills down anyone's spine. Even Du Rui was startled when he shone his flashlight there, let alone a child like Wang Xiaohu, whose face paled with fear.
At this time, not knowing what had happened, Yang Shengzhuang and Ye Shushi screamed at the same time:
"Teacher Zheng, you're pulling me so hard it hurts."
"Teacher Zheng, it hurts!"
The voices of the two cubs brought Zheng Yuanyuan back to her senses. This time she made a lot of progress. Even though she was scared, she didn't cry or scream out loud. She just unconsciously used force with her hands, squeezing the two cubs so hard that they screamed.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, teacher didn't mean it..." Zheng Yuanyuan quickly let go of her hands and quickly rubbed them.
Qi Mi glanced at Yu Jiaojiao, who immediately understood what she was about to ask and shook her head: "They didn't move."
"Nothing moving?"
"No."
That was strange, Qi Mi frowned, thinking. If ghosts weren't scary, why was Wang Xiaohu so frightened? So many children hadn't reacted to the sight of the longevity shoes. Usually, only adults who understood their meaning, like Zheng Yuanyuan and Du Rui, would be frightened. So why was Wang Xiaohu, usually so brave, so frightened that he was shaking all over?
She touched Wang Xiaohu's head and was about to speak to comfort him when suddenly a strange figure flashed before her eyes. It was so fast that she could only see the pale face.
A paper-made face with two bright red blushes.
At the same time, a mechanical female voice rang in her ears that only she could hear.
[Your durability -1, currently 80]
Durability = health.
A decrease in durability also means a decrease in health.
Qi Mi's face became increasingly gloomy. Her strong intuition made her quickly remove her hand from Wang Xiaohu's head. She then checked Wang Xiaohu's current physical data. Sure enough, his durability had dropped by 1 compared to when he first came in.
It’s probably related to the scare I just had.
She stared at the pair of longevity shoes again, recalling Wang Xiaohu's actions before he yelled, and tentatively reached out her hand -
In an instant, when she pointed at the longevity shoes, a paper-made figure with a black background and gold and silver patterns on its feet wore the shoes. It had two red cheeks on its pale face, smiled strangely, and then disappeared.
Hehehe, haha.
A shrill laugh flashed by.
Qi Mi withdrew his hand.
The next second, the sound of durability value -1 came to my ears again.
Now it can be confirmed that Wang Xiaohu was frightened like this because he pointed at the pair of shoes just now and saw the paper man appear out of thin air.
"Don't touch the shoes with your fingers." Qi Mi reminded.
Everyone nodded.
Just in case, she checked their data one by one. Fortunately, everyone else was fine. After calming Wang Xiaohu down, the group continued to move forward.
This village is old and dilapidated, much like the old houses of the old times. It is rectangular in shape, has only one floor, and is arranged in an orderly manner. The two red lanterns hanging in front of the door are the only lights in the dark night. The streets are lined with black and red. Every frame of the picture seems to be still, yet moving, with an indescribable chill.
They didn't dare go too far inside and went straight to the bungalow closest to the archway.
Du Rui looked left and right with the flashlight, and finally found the door and window on the side of the rectangular house.
For a moment, this annoying feeling of disharmony appeared again.
He had seen many houses in the countryside, including many houses with rectangular shapes, but this was the first time he had seen a house with doors and windows on the side walls. Besides, there were no windows on the other three sides except for the old wooden door and window in front of him.
Combined with the gloomy cement color, it is not an exaggeration to say that it looks like a coffin.
Because Du Rui couldn't speak, Qi Mi switched places with him and came to the front of the line, gently knocking on the wooden door twice.
Soon, a cheerful young man's voice was heard from inside the house. The wooden door creaked open, and the young man poked his head out and looked them over. His voice suddenly dropped: "Who are you?"
Qi Mi smiled politely: "Sorry to bother you, we are just passing by. Is it convenient for you to stay here for a while? We can pay for the room."
The young man rolled his eyes, neither saying yes nor no, and glanced back and forth at them again: "You brought ten children?"
"right."
"Ten children, an even number, not bad..."
Qi Mi was puzzled: "What's okay?"
The young man didn't answer her. Instead, he suddenly made a flower-picking gesture with his hand and tapped his index, middle, and ring fingers a few times, muttering to himself, "Six boys and four girls, all even numbers, not bad. Thirteen in total, seven boys and six girls, pretty strong yang energy..." As he spoke, he suddenly paused, raised his eyes, and stared at Du Rui, "Your birthday is in July, isn't it?"
Du Rui hesitated for a moment and nodded.
The young man immediately looked like he had eaten something unclean, his features all twisted in disgust, and he waved his hands at them: "Men with evil spirits, no no, get out of here right now! Damn, this is so unlucky, where did these unwanted ghosts come from to knock on my door? Get out now!"
Qi Mi's eyes darkened: "What did you say?"
She had never encountered a fortune teller who gave her a cold reception.
The young man didn't intend to waste any more words with her. He turned around and shouted into the house, "Bring me a bowl of that jar of black dog blood. Damn it, it's so unlucky to have evil spirits rushing towards my door!"
Bang! He slammed the door shut, and even through the door, I could hear his loud voice urging for the black dog blood.
Qi Mi frowned and was about to knock on the door to have a good talk with the man when he was pulled back by Zheng Yuanyuan.
She shook her head at Qi Mi: "Forget it, maybe we really have violated their taboos, let's go."
As she spoke, she pulled Qi Mi away.
As soon as the two men left, the door was opened again, and then a bowl of smelly black dog blood was poured out.
It almost splashed on the two of them.
Before closing the door, the man did not forget to spit in their direction, as if they were some unwanted bugs.
Qi Mi sighed softly, suppressed his anger and insisted on going over to find out clearly. He broke free from Zheng Yuanyuan's hand and walked back.
【Qi fans, stop! 】
A deep and magnetic male voice sounded, and in an instant, Qi Mi felt as if his limbs were tied with heavy sandbags, and he could not move at all.
She glanced sideways and saw a circle of strange light suddenly appear around Du Rui's neck.
This is what he does when he uses the verbal spell.
Qi Mi's eyes moved slightly: "Teacher Du?"
Du Rui smiled and shook his head, telling her to forget it with his mouth.
He could tell that the man's expression changed after he heard that his birthday was in July, and he was most likely scolding him. Qi Mi did this to stand up for him, and he appreciated the man's kindness.
Qi Mi glanced at the pool of black dog blood on the ground and sighed: "Okay, I was impulsive. Let me go, let's go."
Du Rui nodded and whispered, "Broken!"
In an instant, the spell shattered and the light lingering around his neck disappeared.
Qi Mi stretched her sore hands and feet twice, and then she walked in front of the group of kids and turned to leave towards the archway.
After taking two steps, the sound of a gong suddenly broke the silence.
It's spacious and echoing here, and the sound of a gong from a distance feels like it's being struck right next to your ears.
Everyone looked back curiously.
On the street with red lanterns hanging on both sides, a group of people wearing mourning clothes and holding white banners were carrying a coffin and slowly approaching from a distance. Smoky yellow paper money was floating in the sky, and the air was faintly filled with the smell of incense.
Two figures with white banners draped around their bodies walked at the front of the procession, twirling and leaping in a strange and lively manner, joyfully scattering paper money. Behind them followed the gong-beaters, solemnly and solemnly clearing the way for the deceased.
There was a word written on the coffin - happiness.
Single person happy.
Bang! The second gong sounded.
"The ancestors are happy to die, and they will immediately move forward to enjoy wealth and glory, and smile!"
Hehehaha, hahahaha.
Hehehe, hehe, hehe, hehe.
…
The people on both sides of the coffin and behind the team all laughed with their hands covering their eyes with their white sleeves.
It should have been a funeral for mourning, but these people in mourning clothes were laughing so hard that they were rolling on the ground. The shrill laughter that came one after another was so ear-piercing that it made your scalp tingle.
Hearing the mechanical female voice beside their ears reporting the durability value as -1, Qi Mi hurriedly asked them to turn around and stop looking.
Everyone obeyed and continued to move forward.
But the health value is still decreasing.
Afraid that their health would drop further if they stayed here, Qi Mi quickly pulled them forward. Unexpectedly, she still heard the -1-1 voice broadcast every few minutes. She didn't dare to move and stopped in a hurry.
Why does my health keep dropping?
Could it be that you can't run when you encounter a funeral procession?
As she pondered this, she heard two deep laughs coming from the direction of the archway. Looking up, she saw a middle-aged man in ragged clothes standing upright on the side of the road, his hands covering his ears as he spoke slowly and leisurely.
"If you encounter a funeral procession, you must not walk in front of it. You must immediately give way and stand aside, with your back to the procession. Close your eyes to avoid looking, cover your ears to avoid listening, and keep your mouth shut to avoid reciting. Only by adhering to these four principles of [not moving, not looking, not listening, and not reciting] can you save your life!"
After hearing this, everyone hurriedly imitated the man, turned their backs to the funeral procession, closed their eyes and covered their ears, and stood in a row on the side of the road.
As soon as we stood up, the sound of gongs rang out again from not far away.
"Descendants are happy to mourn, but they never forget to bless their loved ones with wealth and safety, smile!"
Hehehaha, hahahaha.
…
Another strange laugh.
The laughter lasted for a long time, echoing behind them as the funeral procession passed by, sometimes far away and sometimes near. When it was closest, the laughter seemed to pass directly through their hands, reach their eardrums, and finally penetrate into their brains.
A lot of paper money fell on their heads and shoulders, and the pungent smell of incense penetrated their noses from time to time, but they dared not move.
Fortunately, my health points didn't drop anymore.
I don’t know how long it took, but when the sound of the gong stopped, a foul smell suddenly approached. Feeling someone coming, Qi Mi suddenly opened his eyes and grabbed the man’s neck with a quick move.
The strange man screamed in fear, and the features on his dark, fat face fluttered in fear: "What's going on? I just helped you, and now you turn your face and don't recognize me?!"
When he realized it was that kindhearted person, Qi Mi retracted his hand and smiled awkwardly: "Sorry, you suddenly got too close, so..."
Fortunately, the man was magnanimous and didn't pursue the matter any further. He cleared his throat and said, "Hey, little girl, your moves are steady, accurate and ruthless. It seems you're a martial artist."
"Yeah, I learned a little."
The man's eyes rolled around, as if he was pondering something. "How about this, since I just saved one, two, three... thirteen of you, how about you do thirteen things for me?"
Qi Mi looked him up and down, then folded his arms: "You're really calculating. You've blackmailed me for twelve things at once."
The man chuckled and raised his thick black eyebrows mysteriously. "If you do thirteen things for me, I'll find you all a place to stay and teach you some daily rules. You won't lose out no matter how you do it. Take that encounter with Baisha just now, for example. If I hadn't told you what to do, I'll tell you what to do, you would have been half dead by the time you ran out of that archway."
Qi Mi didn't answer in a hurry. He estimated the distance. Although it was not as exaggerated as half a life as the man said, it was certain that he would lose a quarter of his health if he ran from here to the outside of the archway.
As she was looking and thinking, she suddenly realized that at the intersection over there, except for paper money and fallen white tassels, the brand new black longevity shoes were gone.
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