A Manual for Surviving a Weird World

Chapter 410 The Devil's Footprint
The group walked around the mortuary once, and finally returned to the village entrance.

Along the way, they discovered that the entire village was surrounded by bamboo poles tied with five-colored ropes, and the only way in and out was through the dirt road they had just walked on.

“This godforsaken place is deserted.” Ding Wei said, taking the camera and walking around the area.

“No, there’s someone.” Feng Yushu’s expression hardened slightly, and she let go of Ning Zhe’s hand: “There’s someone in a house behind the stage.”

Special permission allowed him to see his shadow.

"Could it be Xu Beicheng and his group?" Miao Miaomiao pondered. "Perhaps they also got out of the car and came here when we were secretly observing them in the village earlier?"

Feng Yushu shook her head slightly: "The Zhang brothers seem to be quite straightforward, but Xu Beicheng is a smart man. If I were him, I would never choose to separate from my companions."

If it were Xu Beichen and his group, the shadows they were allowed to 'see' would have been three people together, not one alone.

……and many more.

Feng Yushu's pupils contracted slightly, and a hint of surprise appeared in her eyes.

Ning Zhe noticed her micro-expressions and asked softly, "What's wrong?"

“There are two of us now.” Feng Yushu glanced warily at Ding Wei and Miao Miaomiao, who were cautiously watching the stage ahead. Without speaking directly, she took out her phone and quickly typed a few lines:

[Previously, only one person's shadow was seen inside the house.]

But just now, a second shadow suddenly appeared in that house.

If a person walks from darkness into light, their shadow will gradually emerge.

But the shadow didn't appear; it appeared suddenly, without any intermediate transition, going directly from 'nothing' to 'something'.

Feng Yushu handed him the phone. Ning Zhe quickly read the text in the input box and then deleted it. His eyes flickered slightly, as if he was deep in thought.

At this moment, Feng Yushu tugged at Ning Zhe's sleeve again, signaling him to look back.

Ning Zhe casually handed the phone back to her, and when he turned around, he saw three people walking towards him along the way they had come from. They were Zhang Genshuo, Zhang Genjian, and Xu Beicheng.

"Brother Xu? That's great, you're all alright." Ding Wei was overjoyed to see this and quickly stepped forward with his camera.

Xu Beicheng's clothes were stained with blood, and the Zhang brothers also had many injuries, as if they had gone through a fierce fight before they were able to get out of the car.

"You...you also exposed your tickets to those passengers?" Miao Miaomiao asked with concern.

Jang Geun-suk nodded, his breathing slightly disordered: "Those monsters went berserk and pounced on me like crazy as soon as they saw my ticket. Luckily, I'm a sports student, and my younger brother and Brother Xu looked after each other, so I barely managed to hold on until I got off the train."

Zhang Genjian sighed, "But Brother Xu's ticket was still stolen, alas!"

Although I don't know exactly what the ticket is for, I imagine it must be of great importance.

Upon hearing this, Ding Wei couldn't help but look at Xu Beichen, who appeared slightly regretful but remained relatively calm.

"It's lucky we got off the train alive," Xu Beichen sighed. His gaze lingered on the four people who had gotten off first, and he said with some surprise, "You guys are all clean. It seems you hid your tickets before boarding? You're much luckier than us." Zhang Genshuo and Zhang Genjian couldn't help but look envious upon hearing this.

Ding Wei and Miao Miaomiao exchanged a glance, unsure whether they should reveal what had happened in carriage 103.

"Let's talk about the situation at this mortuary..." Xu Beichen didn't delve into the matter, but instead asked, "You guys got off the train earlier than us, so you must have been in the village for a while now, right? What's the situation here?"

Ding Wei was about to speak when Ning Zhe said, "Let me do it."

He briefly described the situation in the village: the village surrounded by five-colored ropes, every household had a coffin in their house, there was a stage in the center of the village, and the figure in the house behind the stage...

“We’re planning to go check out that room now,” Ning Zhe concluded. “If nothing unexpected happens, the person in that room is the only living person in this mortuary besides us outsiders.”

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Zhang Genshuo couldn't sit still any longer and took the lead in walking towards the center of the village, with his younger brother Zhang Genjian following closely behind.

Ding Wei and Miao Miaomiao exchanged a glance, then looked at Ning Zhe's calm expression, and had no choice but to follow.

The seven of them traveled together and soon arrived at the open space in the center of the village, where the stage, built of bamboo beams and wooden planks, was placed right in the middle.

The stage was empty, and so was the audience.

Feng Yushu took Ning Zhe's hand and gently squeezed his palm.

"Hmm?" Ning Zhe narrowed his eyes and glanced at his aunt. He saw that she had one arm around his arm and the other hand was intentionally or unintentionally holding up only three fingers, making a '3' gesture.

Ning Zhe immediately understood what she meant:
A third shadow appeared in the room.

"As expected..." Ning Zhe did not share this with everyone, but silently followed behind the Zhang brothers. Together they went to the back of the stage and found the house where someone was.

It was actually quite easy to tell whether there were any living people inside – all the houses in the mortuary were closed, except for this small house behind the stage, whose door was open and whose window was propped up with a stick. From inside, one could hear the rustling of clothes and the soft sounds of footsteps.

Jang Geun-suk took the lead, went straight to the door, knocked lightly, and asked, "Is anyone home?"

A slightly overweight middle-aged man came out at the sound. His face was sallow and he was dressed simply. His cloudy eyes looked at the crowd in front of the door: "It's been a long time since any outsiders have come... Which car did you come in?"

Everyone knew, of course, which car he was referring to.

"You know that train?" Xu Beichen asked, somewhat surprised. "Aren't you a local?"

“Of course not.” The middle-aged man shook his head slightly: “My name is Qin Shou, Qin as in Qin Shi Huang, and Shou as in longevity. I also came here by carriage, but I was trapped here for almost three years.”

These words surprised everyone even more, and Miao Miaomiao hurriedly asked, "You've been here for three years? Do you know what the ghost hiding in this village looks like? Where is it?"

According to Ning Zhe's previous statement, if they did not find a way to get rid of the obstacles blocking the road at the mortuary, the train would not be able to continue its journey, and they would be trapped here to die just like Qin Shou in front of them.

Qin Shou simply shook his head: "Ghosts? There are no ghosts here anymore. Not long ago, a strange man passed by and killed everyone in the mortuary. I only survived because I possessed a special item."

"After that strange man left, the ghost that had been lurking in the mortuary disappeared. I suppose he took it with him."

(End of this chapter)