Strange Tales from the Deep Mountains (Part Six)
"I was bitten by a snake on my way to the witch village. I was treated by a witch doctor, which is why I was a little late."
Li Su felt somewhat uncomfortable. Although he hadn't originally intended to hide anything and was planning to organize his thoughts before sharing this information with everyone, Li Xue's words had thrust him into the spotlight. Her words of concern contained a subtle, peculiar undertone, leaving him with no choice.
“We should all be ‘His’ brides, and we should only know more details after meeting ‘His’.” Li Su’s beautiful eyebrows furrowed. “But I don’t know who ‘His’ is, or when we will meet ‘His’.”
Lin Ran excitedly grabbed Li Su's arm and asked urgently, "Anything else? Is there any other information? Tell me quickly!"
Li Su frowned; even through the clothes, his arm was still being pinched painfully.
Lin Ran doesn't seem to be the delicate girl she appears to be.
Li Su looked at Lin Ran, who immediately let go of her hand, her voice trembling with tears as she apologized, "I'm sorry, I was too hasty..."
"It doesn't matter."
After all, she was a girl, so Li Su shook her head and didn't say much. She put her arm, which Lin Ran had pinched painfully, under the table and gently pressed it a couple of times with her other hand to relieve the pain. "I don't know anything else."
Despite learning more information, everyone's expressions did not show any relief.
The six-day countdown hung over everyone's heads like an invisible knife, waiting to fall without hesitation and wipe them all out when the time came.
Li Xue suggested, "Then let's not sleep tonight, let's see what happens together."
"I think it's better to work in pairs. Two people can take turns keeping watch each night, and the rest of the people should try to rest as much as possible. Otherwise, it will be difficult to be energetic during the day after staying up all night, and they won't have the energy to deal with any emergencies. If two people work in pairs, they can wake up the others immediately if something happens, so everyone can take turns getting rest, how about that?"
Xia Liqiao presented a new plan, along with its advantages and disadvantages. Comparing the two plans, the superiority of one over the other is self-evident.
Jiang Yue sniffed, her voice thick with nasal tone, and asked, "Then, how do we group them?"
Li Su looked at Jiang Yue and Gu Qingyan, who both looked terrible, and said, "This is your first time in this game, so it's better if you don't team up. It's safer to be with someone experienced in case of trouble."
They both nodded.
"I'll team up with Su Su," Li Xue said first.
Sensing the gazes of the others, Li Xue continued to explain, "We were in the same group in the first instance, so we had a good understanding of each other."
After Li Xue finished speaking, she turned to look at Li Su and asked, "Su Su, is it okay?"
He can team up with anyone, but only Li Xue knows that he is a man dressed as a woman, so it seems that it would be more convenient for them to team up.
Li Su nodded.
Xia Liqiao looked at the two newcomers in the corner, "Where are you two?"
Gu Qingyan glanced at Jiang Yue and said, "You choose first. I'm fine with whoever I'm paired with." Both Lin Ran and Xia Liqiao are more experienced than her.
"Can I choose Lin Ran then?" Jiang Yue looked at Lin Ran with red and swollen eyes, cautiously seeking her opinion.
Both of their eyes were red and swollen from crying. Xia Liqiao wanted to advise them not to stay in the same group anymore, fearing that if something happened, they would only be crying and causing trouble. But seeing Lin Ran nod, she didn't say anything more.
Xia Liqiao looked at Gu Qingyan and said, "Okay, then Qingyan and I will be in the same group."
"Let our group take the night watch tonight," Li Su said, looking at Li Xue and asking for her opinion.
After all, he was the only boy there, so he had to be a gentleman. He couldn't just hide behind the girls and have two girls keep watch on the first night.
Li Xue nodded. Although she was much stronger than in the first instance, the first night was still very difficult for her, and she had a hard time falling asleep. It was better to stay up all night and keep watch, so that she could at least get a sense of what was going to happen that night.
"I need to go to the toilet, does anyone want to go?" Li Xue was a little embarrassed, but she could only say it quickly before everyone was ready to sleep.
Seeing that everyone was shaking their heads, Li Xue turned her gaze to Li Su, "Su Su, will you come with me? I'm a little scared to be alone."
Seemingly afraid that Li Su would refuse, Li Xue quickly added, "You can just wait for me nearby."
Li Su nodded and stood up: "Okay."
The two walked out of the room side by side.
Lin Ran, with red eyes, nervously bit his fingernails. Just as Xia Liqiao was about to comfort him, Lin Ran hurriedly stood up, saying, "I suddenly need to go to the bathroom too."
"Do you...do you want me to come with you?" Jiang Yue had stopped crying, but her eyelids were swollen to the size of two walnuts.
"No need, they haven't gone far, I can catch up with them in a couple of steps..." The last few words were shut out from outside the door.
Xia Liqiao frowned as she watched her hurriedly run away.
Outside, Li Xue led Li Su around to the back of the wooden house, clearly not the path to the toilet. Li Su stopped shortly after walking and looked at Li Xue. "Is there something you want to ask me?"
Li Xue nodded somewhat embarrassedly, lowering her voice, "Su Su, how did you get pulled into this instance? Is there something wrong with the game? You're clearly a boy, so how did you become 'His' bride, and even... have to have a child?"
Li Su shook her head. "I don't know either, but the system said that the NPCs in the game can't know that I'm a man dressed as a woman, otherwise it will be dangerous. So I hope you can keep it a secret for me. I won't get too close to you and I won't implicate you. Don't worry."
Li Xue quickly shook her head. The kerosene lamp inside the room pierced through the paper window, illuminating a small area where the two of them were in the darkness. The dim light and shadow reflected on Li Xue's face, and one could vaguely see that her cheeks were flushed.
Li Xue stammered, her voice barely audible, "That's not what I meant. I know who you are. I just wanted to find a chance to clarify things."
Li Xue pursed her lips and whispered, "Su Su, don't be angry..."
The dim light coming through the window illuminated only a small area, while the surroundings were pitch black, as if it could swallow everything.
Li Su smiled helplessly, "I'm not angry. Do you still need to go to the bathroom? I'll go with you."
"Let's not go, let's go back." Li Xue shook her head.
Before the two turned around, a dark figure flashed by at the corner of a house not far from them.
The door was gently pushed open a crack, and Xia Liqiao looked at Lin Ran, who had returned alone, with some surprise. "Why did you come back alone? Didn't you run into the other two?"
"Hmm," Lin Ran replied absentmindedly.
Xia Liqiao frowned. "Should we go find them? Should we...?"
"They should be back soon. It was too dark outside, so I didn't dare to make a sound," Lin Ran interrupted her.
Xia Liqiao was about to say something when she saw the door being pushed open again, and Li Su and Li Xue returned shortly after.
Noticing Lin Ran's gaze, Li Su turned her head and glanced at her: "You two go to sleep, the two of us will keep watch."
The wooden plank bed in the room was large enough for ten people to lie down side by side. After making their beds, the group prepared to lie down one by one.
Soon, only the sound of breathing could be heard in the room as Li Su and Li Xue sat at the table.
Everything was too quiet. He didn't know what time it was. When he and Li Xue were outside, they noticed that there was no light at all, not even a sliver of moonlight. The entire witch village seemed to be isolated.
The kerosene lamp glowed dimly, with the flame occasionally leaping higher.
"Am I the only one who thinks something's off about this place not having lights?"
"Upstairs, I also think...it's kind of creepy..."
"Village, darkness, candles, firelight...it all looks terrifying! (terrified face emoji)"
"I'm shivering, pulling my blanket tighter around me..."
"This shadow isn't right, is it? I did pretty well in high school physics, don't kid me."
Li Su looked at the flame and vaguely noticed a dim, distorted shadow cast on the wall behind it. But Li Xue was sitting next to him, and there was no one in front of the candle, so where did the shadow come from?
Li Su rubbed his eyes, and when he opened them again, everything was back to normal. There were no distorted shadows, as if everything that had just happened was his illusion.
Li Su was also unsure. He had been staring at the kerosene lamp for too long, and now a dark bluish-black shadow would appear in front of him with every blink, distorting and emerging with each blink.
He probably misread it.
Despite thinking this, Li Su's heart was still beating faster and faster uncontrollably.
A long time should have passed, but Li Su suddenly noticed that the kerosene lamp on the table was still full, without any burning.
The unease in my heart grew stronger.
"Li Xue..." Li Su lowered her voice, but heard no reply.
Turning my head, I realized that Li Xue had fallen asleep sometime earlier.
Li Su sensed something was wrong and tried to push her shoulder, but found that Li Xue didn't react at all.
His breath hitched, and his fingers stiffly reached for Li Xue's nose. Confirming that Li Xue was still breathing, he breathed a sigh of relief.
However, her eyes were physiologically red due to excessive tension.
"Jiang Yue?"
"Xia Liqiao?"
"Gu Qingyan?"
"Lin Ran?"
With each name called, Li Su's nerves tightened even more. Li Su got up and carefully checked everyone's breathing. Before she could even relax, she heard sounds approaching from outside the door.
Li Su's heart started pounding wildly.
"Vocal! What's going on? Only my wife is awake?"
"My god, if I were in that situation, I'd punch myself unconscious..."
"I've lit it. It's better to pass out than to be awake. SOS!"
"This is terrifying. I can't even tell if I'm in a coma or fully conscious..."
It was pitch black outside, and even through the paper windows, no one could see anything.
"Did you know? There are six brides this time."
"Ha, it really is endless..."
“You weren’t in the meeting today, but I saw a bride being carried over by Doctor Qi.”
"The witch doctor Qi? Really?"
"Would I lie to you?"
The wooden door was flung open, and the people outside seemed completely unconcerned that the people inside would find out, or rather, they already knew that the people inside were all fast asleep.
Li Su lay down next to Lin Ran, her eyes tightly closed, pretending to be asleep.
Although Li Su hadn't figured out why he was the only one who was awake, time was of the essence and he didn't have time to think about it further, so he could only lie on the bed and pretend to be like everyone else.
"If you ask me, isn't Doctor Qi already having an affair with those brides..." The man, who had been so nonchalant just moments before, suddenly lowered his voice.
"Shh!" someone nearby quickly shouted, staring at him with wide eyes. "Are you crazy? How dare you talk about Doctor Qi like that? Do you have a death wish?"
The man pursed his lips as if he didn't care, but then fell silent.
Li Su kept her eyes tightly closed, feeling the footsteps beside her getting closer and closer.
In his terror, he even forgot to breathe, and just lay there stiffly.
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