Chapter 21 Chapter 21 Yinhuai Village 7
At this moment, all the players in the carpenter's workshop were in a state of bewilderment, helplessness and confusion, and confusion and fear.
This copy, really doesn't even need to be performed?
Put him in the coffin directly?
This routine is wrong!
For this kind of highly plot-oriented dungeon, players often need to work hard to find clues, deduce bit by bit, explore carefully, and guess what methods the dungeon will use to torture players.
In the Yinhuai Village instance, they did try hard to find clues yesterday, but today... it was as if they hadn't been ready yet and he used his ultimate move directly!
Fear often comes from the unknown, and now, this coffin is placed here openly, telling you that it will be used in the evening ceremony, which makes the players fall into an indescribable emotion.
Seeing that the tourists were still in a daze, the old carpenter immediately greeted them.
"What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and choose. Every tour group has a time limit. If you delay, you will only waste your own time."
"Choosing a coffin is such a hassle!"
When the old carpenter said this, the players hesitated and dared not say anything. It was like they were choosing a coffin for themselves, so they had to choose carefully.
The NPC was urging them to go ahead, so the seven of them had to go ahead regardless, as the coffin was a must for the ceremony.
Tian Tian was comforting herself in her heart at this moment. Sooner or later, she would have to go into the coffin, and now she was experiencing it in advance in the copy.
For children who grew up in cities, even if an elderly person in the family passed away and a funeral was held, it was often the uncles and aunts of the parents' generation who took care of it. This was the first time for them to feel the impact of a coffin on such a large scale.
"What kind of wood are these?" Zhang Wei looked at it. Most of the wood used for house decoration nowadays is synthetic boards. Solid wood is rare, let alone in this state.
The old carpenter put his hands behind his back and said in a relaxed tone: "Of course it's locust wood."
"This mountain is full of locust trees. If we don't use locust wood, what else can we use?"
When he heard him mention locust trees, Plaid Shirt couldn't help but shudder. The players' experience on the mountain was still vivid in his mind. The locust trees here were obviously wrong and weird, and today they had to enter the coffin of this locust tree.
No matter how reluctant they are, players must follow the NPC's current procedures.
"I'll choose this one." Xiang Tianyi dragged out a coffin directly.
"Old man, what should I do now?" she asked, holding the locust branch in her hand.
"This girl is really skillful and strong!" The old carpenter praised her and asked Xiang Tianyi to come with him to get the tools next to him.
When other players saw Xiang Tianyi taking the lead and setting an example, they couldn't help but look at her with admiration as a "warrior".
Liu Yanran didn't hesitate at the moment and simply pulled a coffin that was closest to her.
These coffins are very simple, and there are no carvings on the coffins. The only difference is the paint color. There is really nothing to choose from. Players are hesitating here, but they are just delaying time.
If there is any difference between the coffin here and the coffin in reality, the biggest difference is the "coffin lid"!
The coffin lids are thick, but all the coffins placed here have a gap of moderate size on their lids, as if it was left there intentionally.
Seven coffins were lined up in the yard. The old carpenter reminded them again, "Remember what you chose. Don't make the wrong choice later." "Come, follow me into the shed."
"You are from outside the village, unlike us villagers. You didn't have coffin wood prepared for you by your family when you were young. You can only use my ready-made currency. However, this coffin must be unique."
After listening to the old carpenter's words, the players finally understood that the locust tree branches that had tortured them were used to seal the coffin.
Afterwards, it was indeed a unique folk handicraft experience as the tour guide said. Each player made his own coffin under the guidance of the old carpenter.
Among the seven people, none of them had ever done carpentry work. Teacher He and the man in plaid shirt were clumsy, and were scolded by the old carpenter.
The leaves of the locust tree branches were stripped off, the bark was peeled off, and under the guidance of the old carpenter, they were gradually transformed into another shape.
When each player's locust tree branch had become a square coffin, the old carpenter's hoarse voice started shouting again.
"It's all done, take your things and get out!"
"Someone will deliver your coffin to the destination."
"The tour guide sent a message in the group, asking us to go back for lunch and go to the next experience project at 1:30 pm." Liu Yanran said as she looked at the message on her phone.
In the carpentry workshop, the old carpenter was watching the players closely. They didn't dare to speak freely. Now they had to go back to the restaurant in the farmhouse and finally had a chance to continue communicating.
"I think I'm about to guess what the afternoon project is." Murphy smiled bitterly.
"The tour guide said it's sewing and flower arranging, you can choose any one." Liu Yanran said.
"If nothing unexpected happens, I'll probably have to make funeral clothes and wreaths." Tian Tian pinched her brows.
"This copy is really..." Teacher He was speechless at this moment.
The Yinhuai Village dungeon doesn't even hide anything, and even directly presents the riddle to the players. We show you directly what tricks we are going to use to deal with you, which makes the players at a loss as to what to do.
"Referring to this carpentry work, the two tasks in the afternoon should not be dangerous, but they will be quite frightening." Liu Yanran said.
"The more this happens, the more frightening it is." said the man in the plaid shirt.
"And just now the old carpenter said that the coffin would be delivered to a certain place. Where? The farmhouse where we live?" Liu Yanran's eyes narrowed.
"Yes! We all know that tonight's ceremony is called Bai Yuehuai, but we have no idea where this ceremony will be held!" Zhang Wei clapped his hands.
"Could it be in the back mountain? According to the old carpenter, it seems that the villagers also have their own coffins. How can Yinhuai Village have such a large space to store so many coffins?"
The players went back to eat lunch with heavy hearts. When they saw the tour guide, Liu Yanran asked, "Guide, aren't you going to participate in the project with us?"
The tour guide, Luo Qing, coughed awkwardly. "Although I'm a tour guide, the experience programs still cost extra, and the travel agency won't cover them."
Although she is very familiar with the villagers of Yinhuai Village, since the village has carried out industrial reforms for folk tourism projects and has established a company, the accounts are very clear about how many people are participating in each project and when the experience is held.
Moreover...the experience projects in Yinhuai Village are not cheap. Considering that his real estate has not been opened for business, the frugal Luo Qing did not pay for the experience projects himself.
"By the way, for the afternoon activities, everyone can choose one of the two. They are all in the same time period. Do you want to try sewing or flower arranging? It doesn't have to be completely unified. You can choose whatever you want."
"I choose sewing." Xiang Tianyi was the first to raise her hand again. Tian Tian looked at the little sister thoughtfully.
Why did she feel that ever since she saw the coffin, Yi Yi had entered a strange state of excitement? When she was polishing and sealing the coffin in the carpentry workshop, Tian Tian peeked at Xiang Tianyi many times, but Xiang Tianyi didn't notice at all. He was concentrating on polishing with sandpaper, and was very serious.
"I sew too." Tian Tian responded immediately.
The coffin is ready, and the wreaths and shrouds are not much different, both bring bad luck.
Zhang Wei and Plaid Shand originally wanted to choose flower arranging, but most of the group chose sewing. After thinking about it, they decided that collective action would be better. In the end, Luo Qing received the response that the entire group had signed up for sewing.
The clothing workshop in the village where people could experience "sewing" was not far from the carpenter's workshop. Luo Qing brought the group members over and they were directly led into the shop.
Although it is said to be a sewing experience, there is actually not much work that tourists can actually do. In the huge lobby, there are rows of open wardrobe hangers, where you can see all kinds of funeral clothes.
"Please choose one of the experiences in your group." The aunt in black and white skirt instructed.
"Everyone chooses a suit, then goes to the next room to choose buttons and sew their name on each piece of clothing."
The funeral clothes here are mostly buttoned styles, similar to Tang suits, but there are also shirts and suits.
"Pick one with bright colors, and you can wear it as a new Chinese style." Xiang Tianyi said as he walked over to start choosing.
During this period, the garment workshop also only accommodated seven players. Luo Qing sat on a small bench outside the door and yawned.
Everyone has bought clothes for themselves, but for most people, funeral clothes have to be prepared by their descendants after they die.
"I never thought that at my age I would have to choose my own burial clothes." Murphy sighed.
"I think it's pretty good." Xiang Tianyi said.
"In a dungeon, people might die at any moment. There's no urn, no shroud, let alone a coffin. They might even be eaten to the last drop."
"Compared to dying so easily in other dungeons, I think even if I don't survive this one, it's still good to be able to prepare everything for my own death with my own hands."
After she said this, the others were all stunned.
"Yi Yi, are you serious?" Tian Tian opened her mouth.
She never expected Xiang Tianyi to have this idea!
"Of course. Don't you think so? It's been nine months since I was chosen as a player. Every time I emerge from a dungeon, I'm terrified of the next one. I'm grateful to have survived another, but the threat of death is always there."
"Sometimes I think dying in a dungeon is pretty good, at least I won't be in constant fear."
Xiang Tianyi took down a pink floral funeral suit from the hanger, his face full of admiration: "Not bad, this is the one, it matches my hair very well."
"What a pity." she said again.
"What a pity?" Liu Yanran asked.
Xiang Tianyi looked at her. "When I was a child, I lived in the countryside with my grandmother. She prepared her own funeral materials, coffin wood, and funeral clothes a long time ago. The funeral clothes at that time were still very old-fashioned styles, dark-colored Tang suits, like the ones worn by zombies and ghosts in old movies in the 1990s. They were not as good-looking as the ones now."
"A shroud should have four collars and three waists, but we can only choose one set, which is not enough to wear it all year round."
"But this is what death is like." Liu Yanran said calmly.
“When a person dies, he will just stay in that season forever.”
Xiang Tianyi thought about it and said, "That's right, it makes sense to have only one set of clothes."
It's often difficult for players to broach topics related to death or passing away. It's mainly due to taboos, and everyone is afraid of sounding the wrong way and causing displeasure among other players.
Not to mention that in reality, ordinary people would not talk about these unlucky topics with players.
But now the coffin has been prepared and the funeral clothes must be chosen. The few people have a bit of a desperate attitude and don't care what happens.
"After hearing what you said, I don't feel so scared anymore." Teacher He laughed.
"At my age, I used to be most afraid of death, with old parents and young children. I'll take this suit."
When people face "death" calmly and talk about it without any hesitation, it doesn't seem so scary anymore.
Everyone experiences this sooner or later, doesn't they? For players, it's either in this dungeon or that dungeon, but this might be the only time they get the chance to personally prepare their own coffin.
Zhang Wei was the last one to finish choosing. He looked around silently and picked a dark blue Tang suit as if at random. He was already dark and thin, and this blue suit made him look even darker.
Tian Tian was about to speak, but then she thought, this is what she will wear when she dies anyway, so it’s fine as long as she likes it.
Liu Yanran chose a beautiful crimson dress. "I haven't worn a skirt since entering the dungeon," she said.
The others mostly chose new Chinese styles of different colors in a conventional way. After making their choices, they went to the next room to get name tags to sew.
"There are very few copies that have such detailed handcrafting." said the man in the plaid shirt.
Tian Tian was amused by him: "It should be said that there are very few copies that have a part that directly asks players to prepare to die."
"Right, Sister Xiao Liu?"
Liu Yanran nodded: "This is the first time I've seen the contents of this dungeon, and this is my first time here."
"I remember when my daughter was in kindergarten and elementary school, the teacher asked her to write her name on the school uniform and sew a piece of cloth. My wife did it at that time. It was her first time doing needlework." Teacher He, who had pricked her hands twice, spoke.
Most of the weird dungeons don't last long, at least one or two days, or three or four days, and not many last as long as seven days. Players are wary of each other and cooperate with each other, so it is difficult for them to open up to each other.
But at this moment, a group of people talked about some real situations, which made Liu Yanran a little dazed. They talked about their wives and children, their parents, and their friends. It was hard to imagine that these were the topics that players talked about in the weird copy.
In addition to sewing names, players who choose Chinese clothing have another handicraft to do, which is sewing buttons. Teacher He sews buttons on shirts.
Zhang Wei seemed to be a little clumsy with his hands. After sewing a few times, he became very crazy. He put down the needle in frustration, and then stared at the shroud, not knowing what he was thinking. He seemed to be unable to calm down at all.
He'd been like this since the carpenter's workshop, and the other players completely understood. Facing the possibility of impending death, Zhang Wei's attitude was normal.
In the face of death, everyone pretends to be calm, and it is difficult to truly take it lightly.
In the garment workshop, all the players stayed for more than an hour and were free again at around three o'clock. Although the tour guide said that they could do the flower arrangement project at their own expense, only Xiang Tianyi signed up for it.
"Since we're here now," Xiang Tianyi said.
Since she was ready to die anyway, she might as well prepare her own wreath as well.
Liu Yanran could see that Xiang Tianyi was really open-minded. She didn't plan to do the flower arranging herself. She wanted to find more clues while there was still time.
The six players dispersed again, and Luo Qing took Xiang Tianyi to the greenhouse.
Xiang Tianyi remembered the funeral wreaths he saw as a child, which were mostly colorful artificial flowers that looked real from a distance. The flower arrangement service cost 200 Gui coins, and required him to make a garland or wreath by hand.
She chose white and yellow chrysanthemums, as well as lilies, and did it very carefully.
At 5:30 in the evening, Xiang Tianyi returned to the restaurant after making the wreath. The eldest sister in the flower room said that she would send it to her coffin.
The dinner on the evening of Baiyuehuai was particularly sumptuous, with chicken, duck, fish, beef, mutton and even some wine prepared for tasting.
The more the players ate, the more they felt that this was the last supper, as death row prisoners needed to be given a good meal before they died.
The meal lasted for more than an hour. Teacher He drank some wine, Xiang Tianyi gulped down a glass, Liu Yanran just touched her lips with it, Zhang Wei didn't drink, Plaid Shant, Mo Fei and Tian Tian all drank a little, as if to give themselves courage.
It was dark and the power in Yinhuai Village was cut off.
Night comes early in the mountains, and the restaurant suddenly became dark. The tour guide suddenly appeared with a lit candle in his hand.
"There's a power outage. Everyone, please light one first." Luo Qing handed the white candle in his hand to the player.
"I guess the village used too much electricity tonight," she guessed.
The tour guide said so, but none of the players believed it. At this time, it was obvious that the plot was going to kill them!
"Are you all ready? Tonight's ceremony is the core event of this tour group! It's a great value experience that has received all five-star reviews since it opened. Are you all ready? Gogogo!" Seeing that the group members were not in high spirits, Luo Qing tried hard to liven up the atmosphere.
The white candles flickered, and Luo Qing led the group members out of the farmyard.
"The ceremony is about to begin, dear tourists, please change your clothes--" Village Chief Meng, who had just appeared in the morning, appeared again at this moment. He was wearing a black suit with ancient patterns on it, and holding an oil lamp in his hand.
In the dim firelight, Village Chief Meng's face, his shadow, and his voice became eerie.
The oil lamp in his hand stretched the shadow cast on the ground longer and longer, until Liu Yanran wanted to see it carefully.
The shadow of Village Chief Meng disappeared.
It was as if he had never existed.
At this moment, in the square farmhouse, there was a big locust tree at the door of the main house, and on the surrounding walls, densely packed white candles had been placed at some point. The flickering candlelight, contrasting with the moonlight at night, illuminated the seven coffins placed in the yard.
"Gulp—" Murphy clearly heard the man in the plaid shirt swallow his saliva.
The wind was rustling, and every player's steps were extremely difficult. Although they gave themselves an entire afternoon to prepare themselves mentally, their hands still couldn't stop shaking when they saw the scene before them.
Xiang Tianyi took a step forward and found her coffin.
The coffin lid was half open. She held a white candle and saw her own pink shroud and wreath inside.
Death is inevitable. If you want to complete the dungeon, you must participate in this ceremony. She put on the pink shroud, her arms and legs trembling slightly.
When Xiang Tianyi stepped one foot into the coffin, she found that the coffin was covered with a golden mattress and a silver quilt.
"It's covered with gold and silver," she said.
"What?" Liu Yanran had also come to her side at this moment.
"When my grandmother passed away, she was given a longevity quilt like this," said Xiang Tianyi.
Without hesitation, she stepped into the coffin and took out her own sealed coffin.
The other players were also "taken" into the coffin. Liu Yanran saw that Tan Qiuju, the serving aunt in the farmyard, appeared again. She was holding a red rope and tying a belt for Liu Yanran. She also found a black rope and tied the legs in the coffin tightly, and then covered it with a silver quilt.
The lids of the coffins were closed one after another, and the seven coffins seemed to be sealed.
The villagers of Yinhuai Village who were collecting the coffin seemed to have left, and at this moment, they suddenly heard voices.
"Is everyone in bed? For tonight's Moon-Worshiping Sophora japonica ceremony, please remember the following taboos."
"First, during the ceremony, please do not make any noise, as this will offend the ancient locust tree and interrupt the ceremony."
"Second, before the ceremony is over, do not make any random movements to avoid causing Gu Huai to be uneasy."
"Third, the coffin is sealed tightly. Don't move it. Even if you hear any noise, don't move it."
"Follow these three rules, and Baiyuehuai will surely bless you."
It was the tour guide Luo Qing's voice. Tian Tian could hear it clearly. Were these three rules the rules of the ceremony? It was like they were lying in this coffin, motionless and speechless, like dead people!
Her face was covered with a yellow cloth. Tian Tian closed her eyes, not looking, not hearing, not smelling, not thinking, not moving. Go to sleep, go to sleep. It would be quite happy if she died in her sleep.
What time is it? He didn't know. It was so quiet around him that Plaid Shirt couldn't help but think wildly. The guide only mentioned the taboo after they were already in the coffin. He doubted Liu Yanran's suggestion that the guide might be a benevolent NPC.
Murphy lay in the coffin, a six-sided dice appeared in his mind. He gritted his teeth and faced a difficult decision.
If death is inevitable in the coffin, should he try another gamble with the dice? Currently, his fortune is "?", which shouldn't represent death; he prefers it to represent the unknown.
But...what could cause the dice to give the answer [? ]?
If he wants to reverse or change his current fortune before the end of the fortune period, he must sacrifice his life. Should he gamble on the unknown or try to trade his life for the chance to roll the dice again?
Time passed minute by minute, and Zhang Wei could no longer lie still in the coffin. He stared at the yellow cloth covering his face.
Am I going to die? Am I going to die? Am I going to die?
He couldn't die, he really couldn't die! The players in this dungeon were so united, why did they end up in this situation? Why did they draw him into such a difficult and bizarre dungeon?
Why did all the players follow the requirements of the dungeon? They had done all the requirements, but were still locked in the coffin!
Sophora japonica tree, Sophora japonica tree! Wood, ghost, yes, yes, there is a ghost under the tree, which is Sophora japonica.
Zhang Wei thought of the tombstone in the locust tree forest on the back mountain. If there is a tombstone under the tree, it must be a ghost!
The villagers of Yinhuai Village are probably all ghosts or weird!
Not only, not only...this house, this yard, Zhang Wei's lips trembled. This is a square yard, and there is also a locust tree in the yard.
The four directions are a mouth, and there is a piece of wood in the mouth, which means trapped. This is the word "困".
How come no one has figured out such a simple puzzle? The locust tree in this yard might be the key to their entrapment!
There are seven of them, seven players, and seven is a special number. You know, according to legend, it was the Seven Star Lamp that extended Zhuge Liang and Liu Bowen's lives!
They, the seven of them, were probably really sacrifices, or offerings to the locust tree.
Thinking of this, Zhang Wei couldn't restrain himself at all. He couldn't just sit there and wait for death. He couldn't believe the tour guide NPC or the official girl. He couldn't believe it!!!
He wants to live, he wants to live, he has to go, he has to leave, he absolutely cannot stay in this yard!
Fortunately, he had a backup plan! Zhang Wei held a folding knife in his tightly clenched hand.
This is not an ordinary folding knife, it is a special replica prop.
[A folding knife that's not universal: Outside of the human body, it's truly versatile, capable of cutting through over 90% of objects. (1/3)]
Zhang Wei cut open the lid of his coffin. Players have very strong night vision, and he had already quietly untied the black rope that bound his feet in the coffin.
He jumped up, and sorry everyone, his props can only be used once.
Zhang Wei jumped out of the coffin, his eyes bloodshot as he watched the scene in front of him.
At some unknown time, the branches of the locust tree had slowly surrounded the entire courtyard.
Spiky branches and leaves wrapped around each coffin, twisting, moving, and swaying.
This time he jumped, he did not jump out of the open space, but instead landed on a branch of a locust tree that stretched out strangely.
"No - I want to live, the locust tree is -" Zhang Wei's voice stopped abruptly.
The other six players in the coffin heard it clearly.
Hiss, hiss...
It sounded like something was poking at the seal of each coffin, trying to get in!
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