Infinite spooky game

Each player holds a lantern and is led by the scholar out of the territory of Zhenxi Mansion.

The rhythmic sound of "click, click" of footsteps rang out, and the dark wooden houses floated away behind them.

The shadows of large buildings shrank quietly like dark clouds blown away by the wind, and the bright white light from the sky poured down from the top of the head, reflecting the ground.

Yanghua Town is very lively during the day. The wooden buildings on both sides of the road are all filled with various shops, selling clothes, rouge, antiques, and pawnshops. There is a wide variety of goods.

The air was filled with a light scent of incense, reminiscent of bamboo leaves or wild flowers, which blew into the player's clothes when blown by the wind.

Townspeople wearing clothes of various colors walked between the shops, blue, green, white, yellow, and gray, a riot of colors.

Lin Chen clearly remembered Qi Si's previous statement that "different professions wear different clothes", and at this moment he deliberately used his peripheral vision to observe the clothes and faces of every townsman.

Those wearing blue are the sons of wealthy families, followed by a group of men and women in yellow and gray. Those wearing green are scholars, and those wearing white are beggars...

Sure enough, people of different identities or genders dress differently, while people in the same "profession" dress generally similarly.

It's as if... people are intentionally divided into different categories.

For no reason, Lin Chen thought of the NPCs in third-rate games on the market, where people were too lazy to remodel the NPCs and simply copied and pasted the original models.

The personnel arrangement in Yanghua Town also reveals a sense of deliberate shoddy workmanship; the worldly atmosphere becomes distorted and false in an instant, just like looking at flowers hidden behind through thick fog, only to find out when you get closer that they are the poisonous sores of a rotting corpse.

"Brother Qi, the townspeople's attire seems to be exactly as you said, determined by their identities and occupations. Many of them have faces that do not match their identities. It is possible that they have swapped occupations and their memories follow their occupations..."

Lin Chen communicated with Qi Si silently through the soul contract.

After realizing that there might be a group of invisible and intangible "Xiyi" following him, he always felt like a fish on a chopping board, being watched by countless pairs of eyes with malicious intent.

It is better not to speak out loud when passing on information or exchanging clues, so as to avoid being overheard by NPCs.

After Lin Chen described his observations, he silently wondered in his mind: "Why is the weird game designed this way? Is it for easier management and governance? Changing identities back and forth will obviously make things more confusing..."

"Who knows?" Qi Si said with a long tone, "After we meet Master Meng, maybe we can ask him the reason. He might tell us when he is in a better mood."

...This mechanism looks very strange. Will it be okay to ask the NPC directly?
Lin Chen was shocked. His eyes moved among the crowd and he saw a middle-aged man in blue clothes picking and choosing in the antique shop. The goods he was looking at were obviously not cheap.

The middle-aged man has a face that is weathered by the wind and sun, with wrinkles all over his dark skin. He looks like a farmer who has toiled in the fields for most of his life. The clothes he wears are out of place, which symbolizes his status, but he is content.

This person is obviously the same as the scholar who came this morning, a person who has changed his profession, but the incongruity in appearance is more obvious than that of the scholar.

Lin Chen saw this and sighed from the bottom of his heart: "If all the identities of Yanghua Town, regardless of their wealth, status, or social status, could be randomly swapped, then it would be fair to the townspeople, haha."

He also passed this message to Qi Si, and then he heard the young man's voice sounded coldly: "Lin Chen, do you really think this is for fairness? Or - do you really think this means fairness?"

Lin Chen just said it casually, not knowing how to respond for a moment.

Qi Si continued in a calm tone: "The capital accumulated over a long period of time is lost in one day, and those who are lucky but lack ability get something for nothing, enjoy rights without taking on responsibilities, or work but do not get corresponding rewards. This is in itself a kind of injustice.

"I don't think the core NPC controlling Yanghua Town is a naive idealist. His attitude towards outsiders is enough to prove that he has a utilitarian mindset. Otherwise, he wouldn't have locked us up in the mansion to fend for ourselves just because we were suspected.

"I tend to think that this exchange of identities is random and disorderly, or that only a small part of the swap is intentional for some purpose, and the rest is just a matter of nature."

Lin Chen seemed to understand: "But... isn't it troublesome to change identities? We should just let them live with the same identity until they die..."

"That's for normal humans. But who knows what the townspeople of Yanghua Town are like?"

"Ah? Oh oh!"

While Qi Si and Lin Chen were chatting privately, Tang Yu suddenly pointed to a group of people in the distance and asked the scholar, "What happened there?"

The location Tang Yu pointed to was the end of the street where the players were.

Because there were roads on all sides and no wooden buildings blocking the way, that place was wider than the surrounding areas, forming a small square, which was now filled with people as if at a gathering.

Not only that, the originally mixed flow of people gradually found a direction, giving full play to the agglomeration effect of sheep, and rushing towards the already crowded crowd one after another, forming a black circle at the intersection, blocking the road.

The scholar stopped and turned to look at Tang Yu: "Someone must have died. They all went there to watch. People die every day. It's like this every day."

Birth, aging, sickness and death are part of human nature. In a city, people die every day for various reasons. This is a normal thing in reality.

But in the weird game, players cannot help but be cautious when it comes to life and death.

Tang Yu held the hilt of the knife at his waist and asked in a cold voice: "Isn't your town very strict in managing outsiders and catching accomplices? Why are there still people dying every day? How did those people die?"

The black eyes on the scholar's pale face spun a circle, staring into Tang Yu's eyes: "The mountain god must eat one person every day, this is the rule. Someone must be on duty at midnight every day, this is also the rule. All of us who live in the town know these rules."

Another rule.

The players all recalled what the scholar said yesterday.

"The newly dead ghost must kill one person every night, otherwise his soul will be scattered. Wait until tomorrow to see if anyone dies, and then you will know if there are any ghosts among you."

"When the time comes, we will ask Master Meng to come forward and deal with the unruly ghosts who sneak into the town."

Originally, players thought that the expression "unruly" was quite strange, but now it seems that it is not just a casual remark.

It is highly likely that the townspeople and the mountain god - that is, the tiger - have reached some kind of agreement, and both the townspeople and the tiger's "henchmen" must act according to the rules.

Tang Yu frowned and said, "So your rule is that if one person dies every day and the tiger eats him, the tiger cannot send its minions into the town to harm other people?"

The scholar nodded his head repeatedly and said word by word: "Yes, rules are rules. Whoever breaks the rules first will be punished."

Of course, the premise is that you are caught violating the rules. The players added silently in their hearts.

After all, as far as the three knew, a villain with a grudge had already sneaked into the town.

Lin Chen thought of a question and asked it immediately: "That's not right. You already have this rule. Why do you still invite people to fight tigers? Isn't this considered a violation of the agreement?"

The scholar turned to Lin Chen, a strange smile on his lips: "It was Master Meng who invited you here. If you have any questions, perhaps you can ask Master Meng."

All right, let’s ask Master Meng again…

Lin Chen complained, but he also had some guesses about the hidden story behind it.

In the final analysis, rules are the playthings of the strong, the wishful thinking of the weak, and can be broken at any time by absolute violence. If human beings want to continue for a long time, they should be prepared for danger in times of peace.

Even with the rules in place, there are still times when bad guys sneak into the town and harm people. Who knows if the tiger will become ferocious one day?

Rather than letting this unstable factor hang over your head like the sword of Damocles, it is better to make plans early and try to solve the problem once and for all.

To take a step back, no one should take it for granted that they have to sacrifice for others. Using one person's life in exchange for the safety of others is definitely not a long-term solution.

"They have all gone to watch. Do you brothers want to go and take a look together?" The scholar glanced at every player with an indifferent attitude.

"Well, let's go and take a look." Qi Si nodded and walked in the direction of the crowd.

He added in a compassionate tone: "If it is true as you said, the deceased knew he would die, but he still insisted on keeping watch at midnight. I think he was a hero who would rather sacrifice himself to save everyone. We should go and see him off."

Qi Si's words sounded high-sounding and righteous, but Lin Chen and Tang Yu did not like what he said. They felt that his words were sarcastic and full of sarcasm.

Fortunately, the scholar did not notice anything wrong and said with a smile: "Well, we will wait for a while. When the funeral procession arrives, there will be fewer people watching. You can follow and take a look.

"According to the rules, we, the people of Yanghua Town, are not allowed to watch the dead being carried out of Yanghua Town. Since you are outsiders, maybe it's okay."

Lin Chen blinked and asked, "Really? Then can we follow the funeral procession out of town today?"

The scholar said, "You can. But you can't get too close. You have to stand ten feet away."

"Yeah! Then... isn't Mr. Meng in a hurry?"

The scholar twisted his neck, making a rustling sound, and said something meaningful: "If you want to watch a funeral, I can make an exception for you and take you there later."

As they were talking, several townspeople had already left through the gaps on both sides of the road, sticking to the wall.

As they walked, they talked in high voices:

"Uncle Li died, alas, all for us. He was the only one who died last night."

"He passed away peacefully, without any pain, just like he was sleeping..."

"It's fine this way. The old people are dying one after another, which is no different from dying of old age."

Tang Yu cast a questioning look at the scholar. Before he could speak, the scholar said, "The night watchman is chosen by everyone together. Everyone knows it."

When it comes to things related to the dead, the scholar seems to be particularly talkative: "Generally speaking, the night watchmen selected are the oldest people in the town. They have lived enough and are about to die, so they are willing to exchange their lives for the safety of their children and grandchildren."

Lin Chen muttered to Qi Si in his heart: "No wonder the tiger sent its minions into the town to eat the elderly every day. It probably doesn't want to..."

Qi Si did not comment, looked at the scholar, and asked out of the blue: "How old is Mr. Meng? How old is the old lady of the Meng family?"

When the scholar heard this, a look of visible confusion appeared on his face.

He stared blankly into the void ahead, mumbling, "How old am I? ...How old am I?"

He seemed possessed, repeating the same words, his hands darting in the air, as if countless invisible figures were wandering around him.

Tang Yu's face condensed slightly. He flipped his right hand, drew out the sword from his waist and held it horizontally in front of him.

Qi Si also pulled Lin Chen back a step, keeping a safe distance from the obviously unconscious scholar.

"The undertakers are here! Everyone make way!" A shout sounded in the distance, carried by the wind.

The scholar's muttering was interrupted and his expression immediately returned to normal.

He smiled at the players, as if he had no memory of what had just happened, and repeated what he had said before: "If you go to see the funeral, I can take you to see Master Meng later."

"Everyone has to die, let him rest in peace—" The shouting sounded again, closer than before.

"Lay in peace..."

"The dead make way..."

The fragmented responses gradually overlapped and were spread in all directions by the townspeople, like the spell of an ancient witch, pulling the crowd back to both sides like a tide.

Soon, the townspeople retreated into the alleys and disappeared, just like the sea flowing into hundreds of rivers.

There were only three players and the scholar who was leading them on the street.

Keith looked in the direction where the sound originally came from.

I saw four people dressed in white riding on four donkeys, which were also white, walking slowly and unsteadily.

The person was a paper figure, only as thick as a thin layer of paper, with a human shape cut out hastily, no face drawn, and just a vast expanse of white.

The donkey was made of paper, but it had a face painted on it. The eyes, cheeks and smiling mouth were painted in blood-red, making it look like a human. It made people feel uneasy when they saw it.

Qi Si's eyes fell on the body lying on the ground again.

He was a little old man wearing a bamboo hat and a black robe, with his eyes closed, as if he was fast asleep.

He had a face that was familiar to all the players, with wrinkled skin and a mouthful of yellow teeth. He was the one who was in charge of the residence yesterday and disappeared again this morning.

The players present knew clearly that he was killed by hatred.

The time of death is before midnight.

The cause of death is that the ghost must kill one person every night.

The reason why he was chosen is that he has exposed a human-shaped shadow and it can be confirmed that he is a real living person.

It was clearly the player who killed the person, and the choice was made from the player's perspective from beginning to end. How could it be related to the inherent rules of Yanghua Town, and the agreement between the "Mountain God" and the townspeople?
Four paper figures riding donkeys had already walked to the side of the corpse, got off the donkeys lightly, and surrounded the corpse with swaying bodies.

They didn't even prepare a roll of straw mat. Two of them raised their hands, two of them raised their feet, and rode on the donkey again, holding the old man's body high up, and walked forward along the long street, swaying from side to side.

The players looked at each other and followed. (End of this chapter)