Chapter 11: Mountain Village in the Rain (11)
Yima walked into the ancestral hall with a gloomy face.
After a while, he came out with a gloomy face again.
"The High Priest invites the distinguished guests in." Yima delivered the message expressionlessly.
Entering the ancestral hall is a small hall with a cold light hanging above the head. In the middle is a plaque with local characters written on it.
The walls of the ancestral hall are made of stone bricks and there are no windows, so no light from outside can penetrate.
In front of the hall was a long altar, littered with candles, a jumble of flower cards, some paper offerings, and several plates of incense. A deity was being worshipped on the altar. Behind the deity was a passageway, leading to the main hall. The deity stood here, acting as a screen.
The god was not any statue seen in common religious systems. It looked like it was made of paper, pitch black all over, with a faint fluorescent light, just like the paper-cut material that covered the walls of the room they lived in.
It was a pitch-black mass, and its body structure and even its face could not be seen clearly.
In fact, there are very few such statues. They are so secretive that they dare not show their faces to believers, giving a strong feeling of being an evil god.
In fact, there are very few such ancestral halls.
Ancestral halls are usually regarded as symbols of clan power and are built in a majestic and imposing manner. Sometimes the most magnificent building in a village or town is the ancestral hall, and descendants of large families will go there to worship during festivals.
But the ancestral hall in Qiyun Village is different. Although it also has a high ceiling and a very spacious space, it does not make people feel grand at all.
Instead, it makes people feel that there are things lurking on those beams and in the shadows.
There was a very strong feeling that something was very wrong.
Call it witchcraft or something else, when Su Yue came in, he wasn't afraid, but he became alert instinctively.
.
Yima took out a lighter and lit the candles on the altar one by one.
"The ancestral hall is a precious cultural relic preservation site, so we have set a time limit for visiting," Yima said. "Please return to the lobby before the candles go out. The time limit is half an hour. Thank you for your cooperation."
What this means is that in the ancestral hall, they are equivalent to completing a time-limited task.
You must get enough clues from the High Priest to break the "Nightmare" spell within a limited time. If you don't get them before the candle goes out, you can only wait until the next day.
But every night someone's doll would turn into a smiling face, and someone would die, and not necessarily just one person.
"Dear guests, please take a self-guided tour of the ancestral hall." After saying this, Yima lightly walked out of the hallway.
…
Theoretically, according to the rules of the game, this means that the NPC will not provide any help to the player, but after what happened just now, it always gives people the feeling that Yima quit because he was afraid of being questioned by Su Yue.
But in short, the door was closed by Ima with a "click".
She also turned off the cold light.
The only thing left dimly lit in the hallway was the candle in the middle of the table. Zhao Shuo habitually looked around as if he was playing a game normally, but the moment he looked up, he screamed in fright and almost fell to the ground.
The candlelight on the altar was dim, and many dark figures were reflected on the stone walls on all sides.
The figures were gathered together, head to head, and stretched out by the high wall, several meters high.
They arched their necks, bent their waists, and looked down curiously at the rude intruders in a strange posture.
.
"ah--!!"
The two girls screamed and hugged each other at the same time. Even Zhou Hu cursed viciously, "Fuck!", but he only used the curse to ease the fear in his heart.
"Don't be afraid." Cang Zhi considered the reactions of the people around him and immediately stepped forward to protect Su Yue.
"..." Su Yue said helplessly, "I'm not afraid."
Su Yue turned on the built-in flashlight on his phone. The light shone brightly, and the figures around him suddenly faded a lot. He shone it on the altar, and everyone realized:
The moon was shining on a paper castle on the altar. The castle was so lifelike that there were even countless little paper soldiers standing on the walls.
The candles were cleverly placed so that the shadows of the little paper soldiers were cast on the stone wall.
It is precisely because they are paper soldiers on guard, some holding weapons and some on patrol, that their postures appear strange.
Everyone knows the principle of pinhole imaging. Although the paper soldier itself is only as high as a finger, it becomes an eerily long shadow when projected on the wall.
"...I'm really convinced." Zhao Shuo breathed a sigh of relief. His legs were so weak that he almost sat on the ground. Fortunately, Zhou Hu behind him helped him up. "Did you do it on purpose? Why did you make it so scary?"
But after looking up again, he still couldn't complain without restraint. Even if those shadows were just the shadows of the little paper soldiers, they still gave a sense of oppression when reflected on the wall.
Su Yue flicked the paper doll in his hand expressionlessly. His fingers tapped on the paper, making a powerful "clang" sound. He didn't know if it was an illusion or something, but the shadows of the paper soldiers on the wall seemed to be fainter.
"Although it's not a serious thing, it's still quite weird." Su Yue did not stay in the small hall any longer. The candle only burned for a limited time, at most thirty minutes.
The faster he moved, the more clues he could collect.
.
After walking around the blurry statue and through the path, a tightly closed bronze door appeared in front of me. There were no electric lights here at all, and the whole place was illuminated by candlelight, which was half-lit and even more terrifying than total darkness.
Su Yue knocked on the door, and a sinister voice came from behind the door: "Come in."
Su Yue pushed the door open with a slap of his hand.
With a "bang" sound, the bronze door opened, and an extremely spacious mourning hall appeared before everyone.
In front is an altar with burning incense and candles, and behind it are many tablets, hundreds of them at a glance.
There are white flowers and photos under the tablet.
What is interesting is that some of the tablets have paper dolls placed next to them.
In addition to these tablets, there is a locked door on each side of the house, and an elegant carved wooden table in the southeast corner of the house.
A woman in a black robe and a mask is sitting at a table cutting paper.
The little girl saw the woman and cried out, her voice trembling: "She...she is...she is..."
"She is the woman you saw in the vision." Su Yue confirmed her statement in a low voice, "Master Priest."
.
Su Yue pronounced the words "Master Priest" clearly, a hint of coldness lingering between his words. The masked woman turned when he called her that, her scissors slashing with silver light, her crimson lips smeared with blood.
"Do you want to become my believer? Outsider." Her voice was vague.
It was obvious that this ancestral hall was the home of the high priest. Shadows were still cast everywhere on the wall. As the high priest spoke, those shadows peeked at the tourists.
Everyone knew that those shadows were paper figures, but now even a fool could see that they were not simple paper figures.
It can be fatal.
"You don't need to become a believer." Time was precious, so Su Yue went straight to the point. He had already thought about what he was going to do when he entered this room. "Can you open the two rooms on the left and right?"
"Yes." The high priest replied.
Before everyone could be surprised by her straightforwardness, the High Priest continued, "But you need to bring something in exchange."
After saying this, the priest placed the scissors in his hand on the table.
She flicked her left hand, and the lock of the door on the left clicked down out of thin air.
A very complex door lock was revealed on the door, similar to a multi-level Sudoku puzzle. Only less than ten numbers on it were fixed, and the rest were movable, requiring players to choose the numbers themselves.
She flicked her right hand again, and the door on the right creaked and slowly opened inward.
Behind the door was a huge library. At a glance, there were at least five rows of huge bookshelves, and each row of bookshelves contained hundreds or even thousands of books.
"I admire humans who possess wisdom and luck," the high priest said. "Wisdom will open the door on the left for you, and luck will help you choose the right book for the room on the right."
"Don't force the door, outsider. Otherwise, you will die."
.
Her tone was sinister as she spoke these last few words, and she spoke through her mask, but her face was turned towards Su Yue.
As the High Priest spoke, the shadow on the wall suddenly grew in size, as if it was about to strike down with a knife in hand. Even though the shadow was completely illusory at that moment, the immense pressure still made one's back break into a cold sweat.
This is obviously still the setting of the game, "knowledge, wisdom and luck". Knowledge is the burned study. You can ask the priest to open the door to the ancestral hall. Wisdom unlocks the door and you can see the house on the left. Luck is more outrageous. You have to find the right book among so many books.
And all this can only be done in half an hour every day, otherwise at least one person will die every day until the end of seven days.
Cangzhi took a step forward and blocked Suyue behind him.
Su Yue didn't seem to be afraid at all. Instead, he suddenly said, "Azhi, I want the scissors."
Lord Priest:?
She suddenly realized something, but just as she was about to move, Cang Zhi quickly reached out and snatched the scissors on the table.
At that moment, his figure almost disappeared.
Behind the High Priest, the shadow on the wall had just ended its scary state, but with Cang Zhi's action, it suddenly grew larger again. Even in the position of the shadow's eyes, a strange red light could be seen faintly.
Su Yue was unmoved. He took the scissors and before the high priest tried to snatch them away, he raised the paper dolls with his left hand, opened the scissors with his right hand, and placed the paper dolls' necks under the scissors.
If this pair of scissors is used, all the paper dolls that the priest has worked so hard to raise will become headless dolls.
The High Priest's mask turned pale with anger.
"I don't have much luck, but I think you have good luck." Su Yue said, "How about you help me choose some books?"
The High Priestess glanced at the books in the room on the right, then suddenly turned to look at Su Yue. The hatred in her eyes seemed to splash into Su Yue's face through her mask. She shouted hoarsely, "Breaking through the door by force will only lead to death!"
"I didn't force the door." Su Yue innocently closed the scissors a little, "I just asked you to help me find the book."
Lord Priest: "..."
.
The High Priest was obviously extremely angry, because the shadows on the wall were so long that their heads touched the heads on the opposite sides, and their red eyes were completely lit up, staring at Su Yue across the wall.
Unfortunately, without the order from the High Priest, none of them could come out.
There are fewer paper dolls on the memorial tablet, and it can be seen that the doll in Su Yue's hand is still quite intimidating.
The High Priest rushed into the library with furious steps, and soon came out with three books, throwing them to the ground in anger. Cang Zhi was quick-witted and easily picked up the books before they hit the ground.
"Can you put them down now?" The High Priest stared at Su Yue.
"No." Su Yue said.
The shadow on the wall had grown taller than the roof, and it looked funny as it peeked down from the opposite wall, beginning to look a bit like an arch bridge.
Su Yue acted as if he couldn't see anything. He pointed to the door lock on the left that looked like a multi-level Sudoku puzzle and said calmly, "I'm not very smart, but you must be very smart. Why don't you help me open this door too?"
Lord Priest: "..."
The High Priest: "...It's a dead end!!!"
Su Yue: "You're welcome."
.
Everyone looked at the furious priestess who was trying to unlock the door. Of course, she knew the correct answer and worked it out very quickly.
Su Yue took advantage of this waiting time to take the first book from Cang Zhi. It was obvious that the clue to cracking the nightmare spell was in these three books.
However, just as he had time to glance at the cover of "Qiyun Village Local Chronicles", Su Yue suddenly felt a sharp pain in his left ear.
This is the alarm that triggers the earrings.
Su Yue:? ? ?
He didn't do anything this time?
.
Su Yue, who had a clear understanding of everything just now, suddenly became confused. He quickly took off the ring and opened the electronic screen.
-【Supervisor Z: What's wrong with you?】
As soon as he saw the man's tone, Su Yue felt inexplicably angry, or maybe it was because someone was killed that made him more irritable.
All in all, he didn't know what was going on, but there was a very subtle feeling of disharmony between him and Supervisor Z.
-【Su Yue: I still want to know.】
-【Su Yue: I didn’t do anything this time.】
- [Supervisor Z: You didn't use divine power, nor did you imply that you are a god?]
-【Su Yue: Nonsense.】
-【Supervisor Z:……】
-【Supervisor Z: Then I think I understand.】
Supervisor Z: According to the newly added rule "Sensor Usage Regulations" in Volume 26 of the "Other Volumes" of the "Code of Conduct for Gods," when the rules of the game are severely violated by Gods (commonly known as bugs), the sensors will issue an alarm as appropriate.
-[Supervisor Z: Did you bully the NPC too much?]
Su Yue: "..."
-【System prompt: Suyue has disconnected.】
Su Yue had no expression on his face and calmly put the ring back on his hand.
Do you care about bullying NPCs?
He doesn't just bully NPCs.
He can also bully Supervisor Z.
Any comments?
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