Chapter 71 The Little Taoist Priest [“The Buddha said, evil thoughts often come from…”]
And so the group began their third day of games at the Zhong residence.
The system, which had been offline for a while, has now loaded new progress for players.
It was midday, and the sky above the old house, with its antique charm, suddenly turned a gloomy color. Everyone dressed in traditional opera costumes heard "dong dong dong—qiang qiang qiang—dong," followed by the sound of traditional musical instruments passing by the main hall. Lanlan, who was serving dishes, and the other servants interrupted the guests' meal.
The people who came from the modern era were taken aback. When they looked up and saw the others in the mansion, they immediately stopped working.
These "pseudo" people from the Republic of China era were so well-behaved and quiet.
The guests at the dinner table, who had little regard for family etiquette, suddenly felt that the Zhong Tianshi Mansion had become very oppressive and tense, with a sense of strict etiquette that could not be violated in a wealthy family.
It's... kind of creepy, and it really recreates the old society so realistically, it's like it actually happened.
The players shut up now.
They were clearly quite uneasy, because having traveled from the modern world, they still had a bit of paranoia. They felt that any of these NPCs might suddenly go crazy, change their expressions, and eat them.
[Deer: "Hello host, are we about to start a new dungeon?"]
Jane Dieder held a grudge and not only did she not say anything about the situation, she remained quite calm.
Because he knew that this was a ritual arranged by Uncle Zhong Wu to worship the dead on the mountain, and it was also the first test of these people's psychological qualities.
Secondly, he and the narrator were discussing some things that the players had mentioned.
Mainly, he suddenly wanted to ask something: while many of the storylines in the Overnight System were terrifying, they never seemed to intentionally trap players and send them to their deaths. The difficulty of the levels was mostly focused on uncovering the truth, with no massacre scenarios. Although there were some strange traps that caused him to fail a few times, the consequences of his own testing were... hair? Staying up all night was tiring? And... the loss of a portion of his data?
Having played J&D for so long, this is truly the first time I've seriously considered the criteria for recruiting players and the probability of completing this bald-headed game.
The narrator actually answered.
"You're right. This game has never offered any player a guaranteed death ending; there are only countless paths to completion and the educational significance of each story behind them."
Jane Dieda: "Why? Aren't death games all about forcing people to survive, level up, and even harming ordinary players from lower dimensions without hesitation?"
Narrator: "Because this system follows the cycle of cause and effect, which is closest to human nature."
"Perhaps in your eyes, there really are only ghosts on our side."
"But isn't it also fair in giving every lost person another chance to start over?"
"Many humans, influenced by their obsessions, become lost souls once they enter a game instance. If they are not temporarily placed in a world, where else can they go? Of course, our company was not originally called the Overnight System. It just gradually became a shelter for you guys. Later, to avoid data overload, my colleagues wrote the code."
"At the same time, my superiors are worried that you people will get lost."
"I've also arranged for your little bald-headed system and me to be in charge of explaining the rules."
"It's just that you often identify with yourselves in those cycles of reincarnation, and you can't avoid suffering."
"Therefore, we do not archive, we only record the data."
"But this system doesn't favor one person; all players can get points based on their reincarnation records."
"Even if you were two poisonous women who poisoned and killed your husbands in your first life, as long as you are destined to be reborn as a human in the next life, even if you were a college student who suffered injustice, as long as you enter the cycle of reincarnation again, you can regain your light."
"..." Master Jian remained silent.
Why do I hear others talk about their "past lives"?
He actually felt it was so far away.
Chunlan, Fengxia.
Chongli University.
Although the narrator's few words didn't make him literally gasp and clutch his chest to say he wanted to cry, they did make his lifeless heart feel uneasy. Even though he was the kind of person who never said it, countless scripted murder mystery lines imprinted with the faces and thoughts of NPCs had appeared in his vast memories.
Missing someone is very difficult for someone who lacks emotional awareness.
Forgetting someone and preventing them from vaguely appearing in your dreams is also a bit difficult.
Master Jian suddenly remembered something, then frowned and thought for a long time but couldn't remember who "he" was. He didn't understand why all this was happening, but the narrator understood perfectly. He said, "The answers you want will be given to you at the moment the game ends and you clear it."
"One day, you will no longer be alone."
He will come back to you.
"But now, the only thing you need to do is to alleviate all the human suffering and joys you have witnessed."
"This is a task given to you by the system. Because this game is both the hell you call it and a hell that all living beings can enter, by the same token, this system is a system that everyone can enter and a system that all living beings can see. Living beings never harm living beings; they only save living beings. What do you say, you expert player?"
The narrator has never been so tender and affectionate.
Even the little bald guy couldn't help but exclaim "...". Yes, it... couldn't believe that Jane Dieda had used his personal charm to win over its colleague, making the narrator start to go easy on him.
Perhaps the player Jane Dieda, who appears so lonely and empty, is actually quite likable at times, given the multiple personalities he displays in the first three worlds.
After that, a real-life, aloof male voice took pity on this ignorant mortal and "enlightened" him, without wasting time with the simple player who was still in the middle of the game, and directly issued a task and logged off.
"Will I beat the game someday?"
Jian Dieda could hardly believe it. Was the narrator making this up because he was afraid that he would lead the team of players astray? Moreover, he couldn't figure out who the other "he" was, even after racking his brains.
However, being alone for the time being doesn't bother him at all; he was already used to being alone when he was still Jian Dieda.
Eating takeout alone.
A person writes.
Staying up all night alone.
Life did not break that child when his parents died.
As people grow up, they gradually become living dead, as simple as their names suggest, devoid of any sense of the difficulty of survival.
Until... he came to this game, and experienced three different life scenarios.
This is my first time working as a local police officer.
He felt like crying while eating the food Chunlan cooked.
Perhaps only the bald guy and the narrator know that during the "forty years" he was away from that game, he earnestly paid homage to Chunlan every year, aging normally as a person.
Looking at the tombstone makes him miss Chunlan terribly again.
In fact, compared to the past, Jian Dieda has come a long way and is no longer so solitary. He can tell himself, "It's okay, I have persisted in living a good life in this world for another day."
Therefore... all beings suffer after death, and the system's secret to unlocking the secret lies in equally liberating all beings.
This sounds incredibly touching and patriotic, and it does fit some of the story logic of this game.
Because...someday.
— He will appear by my side.
【bite--】
That's all.
Jian Dieda felt that he should show some compassion this time and take responsibility for the players for even a second to live up to the narrator's answer to the question.
This brain teaser game about catching demons in the Republican era began simultaneously with him waking up from his mental drama. The others watched as Zhong Ding was helped to his feet under the influence of the curse from the Celestial Master's Mansion family.
……nervous.
And the ancient-style game music that was inexplicably playing in my ears was quite eerie.
The players, who were in good spirits, all stared at Master Zhong. He had been drinking tea and hadn't said a word until now. He had just picked up a sacrificial banner for sending off the gods and was about to put a red bat-patterned cloak on himself as he prepared to begin the ritual.
At this moment, unlike everyone else who were in player or NPC mode, Jian Dieda entered another instance. In his field of vision, there appeared an ancient stage with a festive yet bizarre set design and a row of floating game buttons on the left.
[Dialogue Box]:
This round's guiding NPC: Zhong Tianshi
"It's Zu Zhan!" Bai Xiaosheng indirectly revealed the information card related to the Nine Schools to the players. This is a kind of Qimen Dunjia technique that involves the interaction of divine power between humans and gods and ghosts.
Zhong Ding is currently asking the ancient god in the town to descend and give an omen of whether he will be fortunate enough to investigate the case.
[The deer asked: So who was the first witness to be called in?]
Nobody knows. The game created a misunderstanding for them.
Jane Dieda also stared at the nine terrifying pig heads with their eyes open.
He pointed, and the answer was revealed: the entire Zhong Mansion became even darker, the four sides were black holes like the eyes of a skull, and the theatrical effect shining down from above had a suona echo like watching a movie in a Peking Opera theater. After a while, a film reel sound also came, which made him feel that the structural design of the Zhong Mansion was particularly like a rural ghost movie projector from the last century.
But he wasn't an actor, nor was he an audience member; he was an intern film projectionist.
[Ding-dong]
[Qingyang Town Ghost Stories Murder Mystery Game Host Guidance Manual Tip 1 - Scene Setup Instructions Practice]
"The system will first turn off the lights around you."
"Before you are nine pig heads hanging from pointed iron hooks. After Master Zhong's magic takes effect, each pig head will be associated with a witness. Please collect their testimonies to guide the players in solving the puzzle. At the same time, please also get into the habit of observing the secrets of everyone in the dark. After the oil lamp is lit, use your role as the host to try to tell everyone what you have discovered."
Master Jian now found everyone's expression suspicious.
Once Master Zhong becomes an NPC, the way he looks at Jian Dieda is very AI-like, no different from Fifth Master and Zhao Laosi in the dungeon. Even his handsome appearance seems to have been lost, leaving him as empty as a puppet show.
Unfazed, Jian Dieda turned his gaze to the left side of the game panel, where a long bar of investigation functions pointed to the puppet Zhong Tianshi on the stage. After staring at it for a long time, Jian Dieda still couldn't figure out how to touch the puppet's body, so he could only tap an "eye" on his panel.
According to the typical design philosophy of small games, this represents a tutorial for beginners, who need to flexibly understand the gameplay before exploring other aspects on their own.
—Congratulations on starting the [Newbie Tutorial]!
We will now demonstrate how to use the "Auto Explore" feature.
*Note: This function can only be used by the host, and each use requires the consumption of one Peach Wood Sword Cultivation Curse.
Your current available balance: 1
Jane Dieda then used the card from last night.
[Automatic Exploration] It moved. Those big eyes with curved eyelashes, which were not cute but rather disgustingly adorable, suddenly opened, widened, and then drooped back into an ancient women's mirror with a gurgling sound coming from its mouth.
If you magnify this mirror and no one knocks on it, a corner of the living mirror suddenly shatters, dripping out a line of eerie, bright red tears.
The first step of the tutorial provided an ancient book, which Jian Dieda opened, and everyone immediately saw it.
The third day of the third lunar month was the most painful and sorrowful day for Xiaomei, a day she didn't want to recall.
[She secretly met with Master Li, without telling Sun Youfu who was out getting medicine.]
Who is Master Li?
“It’s just…” Fu Rongdan looked confused, clearly unable to accept that Xiao Mei was lying, “It’s just that Xiao Mei’s second husband, she and that eighty-year-old man who also died this time had been having an affair for a long time…?”
The heroine found the murderer: "Did Master Li fake his death? Where is he? Let's go catch him!"
Master Jian: "..."
He said, "What's this called again? It's not a coincidence that it was so difficult for Furongdan and the other two to find me before."
Even though they only know a tiny, superficial clue, why do they immediately throw out the werewolf? Isn't this the typical cannon fodder mentality from a detective novel?
Fortunately, the other player faction is somewhat reliable.
Master Li?
—No, this isn't right.
The faces of several ordinary players all wore the same expression.
Xiaomei's hidden testimony seems to correspond to Sun Youfu's testimony, and also confirms that there were some unspeakable secrets surrounding the incident on March 3rd, but...
“Hey, Amitabha, this isn’t right. I saw that Xiaomei said she was sad,” said the monk among the players. “Could it be a misunderstanding? But Sun Youfu said he saw another version of himself at home. If it was Master Li? This strange night is hard to explain.”
"..."
Everyone stared at the line of text and fell into deep thought. At this moment, Master Zhong, who truly understood how to summon spirits and gods in this story, remained silent. He then wrote down the names of the nine people on red paper. Accompanied by the crowing of a rooster from the outer courtyard, the nine "quest items"—boiled pork—were put to use in the players' view.
The next second, the first of the nine pig heads opened its eyes!
The initial panel displayed a completely black human figure.
He stood on the stage, his head red.
should……
He must be dead?
—Holy crap! How come there's even a Conan-style black character here?! It seems like everyone in real life is thinking the same thing right now.
But this little black guy is not simple. His true nature, like the atmosphere of the whole game, is full of suspense and plot twists.
At this moment, everyone saw that the creature in the game rulebook flipped over and suddenly stood in the place closest to everyone on the stage. This scene startled the players again, but fortunately, the creature stopped on its own in the end.
Xiao Hei looked at them: [...]
Jane Diedda: "..."
Little Black remained motionless.
Remembering that he had to figure out the game rules on his own, Master Jian finally tried the second function key on the host panel.
Then the pages of the ancient book began to turn.
As the dark mist engulfed the game, the screen went black for a moment.
Everyone close your eyes.
system:
"The ancestral spirits are invoked; players, please listen to the question."
"Please write down the corresponding ancient words and fables based on the images in the ancient books."
Is this a test of literacy, requiring correct answers to turn on the lights? A wave of despair washed over them. Nobody wanted to be held back by their illiteracy, but the next second they broke down again, because they really didn't know how.
"What does this painting mean? A house, a well? A group of people?"
"A large group of people carrying water on their backs? The well was dug, and now what are they saying?"
"Are they all hiding from that well?"
Players who opened up kept trying to guess the answer.
Even the live stream room was being manipulated by imposters, who kept increasing the stakes.
The players realized the difficulty of the team battle, and their faces turned pale. They were at a loss when they looked at the blood-soaked mirror.
Jian Dieda was finally ready to lead his teammates through the dungeon. He hadn't revealed his identity as the host yet; in the game, he was dressed as a handsome and dashing young Taoist priest. In front of everyone, he tied his hair with a wooden hairpin, turned his body to the side, and carefully examined the puzzle depicting a well. Then, the young Taoist priest spoke in a clear, calm, and abstinent voice, which immediately put everyone at ease.
—Answer: "The Story of Finding a Man While Digging a Well"
His opening remarks immediately drew a wave of experience points being given away in the live stream.
"Ding dong, the answer is correct. Now we will announce the answer for this round. It is said that in the State of Song, there was a man whose family did not have a well. The whole family had to travel over mountains and rivers to get water. Every day, a family member had to be responsible for carrying water, and there was one less person to do the farm work."
Later, the owner dug a well, and from then on, his family no longer needed to carry water. He said to people, "Because of the extra well, it's like there's an extra person to do the work every day."
"Some people spread this rumor around because of that."
"They say they dug a person out of a well belonging to the people of Song!"
The king then summoned the master, who could only reply, "This extra person doesn't mean we dug someone out; it simply means my household has one more person available."
"Players, sometimes, isn't hearsay more terrifying than the heart of ghosts and gods?"
Wait, what does this mean?
What will happen when the mystery is solved? Everyone is filled with doubt at this moment, but the little black figure on the panel has already told everyone who he is.
The panel then displayed classical Chinese dialogue depicting the first pig-headed offering with blood flowing from its eyes.
The Buddha said, "Evil thoughts often arise from a heart that desires but cannot obtain."
"Why would Xiaomei rather marry a woodcutter than a wealthy man? Is it only when Sun Youfu dies that I will have a chance to marry this beautiful woman? Is it only when I regain my youthful vigor, or steal her husband's face, that I can become her ideal lover?"
——【Master Li】
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Author's Note: This dungeon will have more detailed levels. Ah, my boundless imagination is running wild!
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