Strange Tales from the Deep Mountains (15)
Li Su looked closely and finally saw the situation before her.
A woman dressed in a red robe... no, perhaps "female ghost" would be a more accurate description.
Standing in front of Li Su, his dark eyes stared at him.
A ring of blue-green flames surrounded his entire body. The will-o'-the-wisp flames continued to flicker and burn.
This is the blue light he just saw.
"Husband, husband!"
"Husband, why are you only coming to find me now?" The woman in red frowned, her expression seemingly full of confusion.
"Huh? No, isn't this an NPC? Why is it randomly choosing husbands? OO?"
"Some men are trying to steal my wife, and some women are trying to steal my husband! What am I going to do? TT..."
"SuSu is truly a sweetheart who appeals to both men and women, young and old alike~"
Li Su could tell that she must have been very beautiful when she was alive. Even now, with her eyes dark and empty, he could still tell that she was exceptionally beautiful.
Congratulations, player, for triggering a hidden side quest.
Mission details: Confidential (This involves the main storyline and requires players to explore on their own.)
A successful completion of the task will earn you 300 points.
If the mission fails, the player will be eliminated by the system.
Quest Hint: Don't anger the woman in red! Good luck!
"??? What? Could this game get any more outrageous?"
"How can we play if we don't even know what the missions are???"
"Is this even possible? This is my darling's second dungeon, is this the right level of difficulty?!"
"Is this game a bit unfair? Giving newbies dungeons they've never seen before?"
Before Li Su could even ponder what the so-called hidden side quest was, the red-clad female ghost in front of her drew closer.
"Husband, why aren't you saying anything?" The empty eyes of the woman in red were almost touching his. The blue-green ghost flames gradually approached with the movements of the woman in red. Li Su didn't dare to breathe, and pinched his palms to force himself not to dodge.
However, the will-o'-the-wisp did not burn him.
The will-o'-the-wisps that approached Li Su gradually weakened, always maintaining a tiny distance from his body.
The words the female ghost had just spoken flashed through Li Su's mind. She swallowed hard, looked directly into the red-clad ghost's dark eyes, and said, "I...I haven't seen you in so long, I almost don't recognize you..."
"ah……"
The red-clad female ghost frowned, her dark, empty eyes staring unblinkingly at Li Su.
Just when he thought he had said something wrong, the red-clad female ghost's expression suddenly became somewhat shy, but with her stiff features, the shy expression became extremely eerie and terrifying.
"These are new clothes made for me by the people in the village." The woman in red said, taking Li Su's hand, then raising it and pinching his fingers as if dancing, turning him around in a circle. The bright red hem of her dress was like a butterfly fluttering in the air, ready to take flight.
Li Su looked at his hand clasped with the red-clad female ghost's hand. The ghostly flames around the edge of the ghost's palm were extinguished silently when they touched his hand.
"Wait a minute! Wait a minute! How could this female ghost touch Su Su???"
"Weren't the previous female ghosts supposed to be untouchable? They would get hurt if you touched them! How come this female ghost isn't hurt???"
"Has Su Bao not noticed yet? Or is he so terrified that he's forgotten the female ghost couldn't touch him before?"
"Wait a minute! Where's my baby's necklace???"
"Holy crap! It really is! Where's the necklace that Doctor Qi gave me?!"
"The necklace is gone! No wonder that red-clad ghost was unharmed when she touched Su Su! I thought it was a game bug..."
"So, does that mean Li Su is completely powerless against this female ghost in red? If she were to harm him..."
"She has a ring of fire around her? Why is that? The female ghosts I've seen before were all normal..."
The woman in red stopped, a beautiful yet eerie smile curving her lips. She leaned closer, her bright red lips brushing against Li Su's ear as she whispered, "Husband, am I pretty?"
A chilling aura crept into her ears, causing Li Su to flinch and stiffen. "So...beautiful."
"Hahahahaha..."
A sharp laugh rang in her ears, and Li Su couldn't help but close her eyes.
"Then why don't you look at me?" The woman in red blinked her dark eyes, her expression seemingly confused, and asked him, "Or does my husband think Rou Rou doesn't look good like this?"
"Husband, you were just trying to make Rou Rou happy, right?" The red-clad female ghost silently approached Li Su, her lips almost touching Li Su's ear as she spoke.
Her eyelashes trembled, and Li Su immediately opened her eyes, using a trembling voice to soothe the red-clad female ghost's emotions, "Yes, I'm watching."
"Rou... Rou Rou is very beautiful." Li Su's body stiffened, but he didn't dare to back away, afraid that this action would anger Rou Rou.
"Hmm!" The red-clad female ghost's lips curled up in a strange arc, almost reaching her ears, and her voice was indeed that of an innocent girl who was unaware of the ways of the world.
Looking at her terrifying face, Li Su felt inexplicably disconnected.
The NPCs in this instance all have natural expressions and movements, so why is the expression of this red-clad female ghost so strange? It's different from the stiffness of the other NPCs.
Moreover, why would she consider him her husband?
Li Su stared into her dark eyes, lost in thought.
"Honey, it's so dark here. Shall I take you somewhere else?" The woman in red said, not intending to listen to Li Su's opinion, and pulled him forward.
Everywhere was pitch black, and the blue-green flames on the red-clad female ghost were the only light in this darkness.
The absolute darkness made Li Su feel uneasy, as if there were eyes watching him all around, and the hairs on his body stood on end uncontrollably.
Li Su tentatively called out to the red-clad female ghost who was holding his hand and walking ahead: "Where are we going?"
"Go home." The woman in red glanced back, her expression one of self-righteousness, but her face still looked unnatural, making her appear somewhat incongruous.
Li Su frowned: "Home?"
"yes."
The female ghost frowned and slowly stopped walking. Li Su stopped as well.
"Honey, what's wrong?"
The female ghost turned around to face him and approached him step by step.
The red-clad female ghost's sudden question startled him, and he broke out in a cold sweat. Li Su clenched his other hand, which wasn't being held, and the stinging pain in his palm brought him back to his senses.
"What's wrong?"
Li Su forced herself to remain calm and met the gaze of the woman in red, but a slight tremor could still be heard in her voice.
"you……"
The beautiful face of the woman in red suddenly drew close, their noses almost touching. The woman in red stared at him with her dark eyes, saying, "Husband, your hands are so cold."
Li Su was caught off guard by the red-clad female ghost's sudden topic and stood there dumbfounded, letting the red-clad female ghost cover his hands with both of hers.
He was prepared to be recognized by the woman in red, and even prepared for her to attack him.
But the red-clad female ghost in front of him took his hands in her own and brought them to her lips, breathing on his cold palms again and again.
"Ha...ha..." The red-clad female ghost was tireless, rubbing his hand gently with her palms in coordination with the panting motion.
As Li Su watched her movements, her hands still trembled slightly uncontrollably, yet she was unwilling to withdraw them.
"Why is it still so cold?" The red-clad female ghost frowned slightly, and the corners of her mouth turned down.
If you don't look at those empty eyes, you would think she looks like a beautiful woman in a fit of anger.
The woman in red rubbed his hands again, her eyelids closed stiffly for a moment before opening again. She looked at him and said, "Let's go back inside quickly, it's very warm inside!"
The red-clad female ghost spoke with excitement, a natural romanticism typical of young girls.
Li Su mentally called out to the system: Is she a bad person? Why is she so nice to me?
A monotone system voice announced: "[Please make your own judgment.]"
"The woman in red probably isn't a good person, right? After all, the system warned us from the beginning not to provoke her?"
"Seriously? They only said not to provoke her, they didn't say she was a bad person..."
"Exactly, even a good person gets angry when provoked, let alone a ghost whose cause of death we don't even know..."
"But I've heard a saying before that female ghosts wearing red clothes are the ones who harbored the most hatred and resentment before they died..."
"Damn it, don't scare me from upstairs! It's the middle of the night, I'm in bed right now, I'm too scared to get up and turn on the light..."
The system's reply contained no useful information. Li Su took a deep breath, trying to calm her wildly beating heart, and asked, "How far is the house?"
The female ghost's happy expression froze for a moment, and combined with her stiff facial features, it was as if she had paused.
"Honey, what's wrong?" The woman in red waved a hand in front of his eyes. "It's the house we live in together."
The female ghost in red asked again, "Husband, don't you remember?"
Her breath hitched, and Li Su, seeing the red-clad female ghost's puzzled expression, tried her best to keep her voice calm: "I remember, I remember..."
"It's just too dark, I can't see the road very well..."
The red-clad female ghost's expression remained unchanged. Li Su felt his heart leap into his throat. Just as he was about to find another excuse, the red-clad female ghost in front of him suddenly curved her eyes very slowly.
"So that's how it is!" The red-clad female ghost's tone became cheerful again.
Li Su frowned.
The red-clad female ghost in front of me clearly looks like a young girl, so why do she have so many lines around her eyes when she smiles?
These aren't normal smile lines; they're more like...
The condition of loose skin in elderly people as they age.
However, Li Su suddenly became uncertain, because the blue-green flames around the red-clothed female ghost were burning continuously, and the patterns looked somewhat like the flickering projection of the firelight.
"It's alright." As if to comfort her, the woman in red raised her hand and touched Li Su's head, saying, "I can't see very clearly either."
"Husband, let's go?" The woman in red withdrew her hand from stroking his head.
Li Su: "...Hmm."
The woman in red mistook him for her husband for some unknown reason, but Li Su had a vague feeling about it.
This red-clad female ghost, unlike any other NPC, likely has a unique backstory.
Perhaps that will be the key to breaking this stalemate in the game.
The woman in red led him, and the two walked for an unknown amount of time, rounding one bend after another, until they finally stopped in front of a wooden house.
Li Su's pupils dilated uncontrollably.
The wooden house in front of them, like the red-clad female ghost, was surrounded by a ring of blue-green flames.
Leaving a single ray of light in the pitch-black environment.
The door to the wooden house was not closed tightly, but left with a small gap.
The woman in red stepped halfway into the wooden house, turning back to look at Li Su as a strange smile curved her lips once more. Her face was illuminated by the blue-green firelight, flickering between light and shadow. The firelight cast shadows on her face, causing the shadows to shift and resemble the hands of demons, making her appear exceptionally eerie.
Li Su felt his hand being gripped tightly by the woman in red, so tightly that it even hurt a little. Li Su tried to pull his hand away, but she gripped it even tighter.
The red-clad female ghost tilted her head slightly, as if puzzled, her dark, empty eyes looking at him with inexplicable emotions.
Through the gap between the red-clad female ghost and the wooden door, Li Su could vaguely see the orange-yellow light inside the wooden house, like the warm glow of a kerosene lamp.
Someone pulled her arm towards the wooden house, causing Li Su to stumble slightly.
The female ghost in red seemed extremely excited, her facial features beginning to distort.
Her voice, however, remained as sweet and gentle as a young girl's.
"Honey, come in quickly, our baby must have been waiting for you for a long time."
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