Buddhist player

As the bard left the villa, the last remaining stub of the white candle in his hand quietly went out.

Without much delay, dragging his tired body, he returned to the five villas in the rain. However, before he could even enter the door, he was suddenly pulled by someone.

Because he didn't have much strength left, the other person's move almost made him fall flat on his face.

"Don't go in yet."

Before he could even stand up straight, Yuan Qing's cold voice came from behind him.

"What's wrong?"

Turning around, the bard looked at the other person with some confusion.

Unlike his disheveled state, the other person was in much better condition, and there was not even any obvious fatigue on their face.

He wasn't surprised that the other person had returned before him.

Yuan Qing did not answer his question, but simply pointed to the window.

In the dimly lit hall, the five corpses that should have been lying quietly on the ground had somehow gotten up and, with an eerie gesture, bowed their heads and sat around the dining table.

"This... the corpse moved again?"

Looking at the scene in the hall, the bard's expression changed slightly.

"It's best not to go in until they get back."

Yuan Qing leaned closer to the eaves, his face indifferent.

"And what else did you bring back?"

"Uh... a cake knife."

After a moment's hesitation, the bard took the knife out of his backpack.

He had no choice but to hesitate. If the sew-up needles that Chen Bai had brought back were for stitching up those five corpses, then he really couldn't think of any use for this cake-cutting knife that Chen Bai had brought back.

He originally wanted to discuss this matter with Yuan Qing, but unexpectedly, after the other party glanced at what he had taken out, he only nodded slightly and then fell silent, which made him feel quite stifled.

Finally, after waiting a while longer, the bard couldn't help but ask.

"cake."

Yuan Qing glanced at him, his face expressionless.

"……what?"

Birthday cake.

Seemingly showing some impatience, the girl's expression this time showed a clear emotional fluctuation.

—Clearly, he wasn't the only one worried about having picked up the wrong thing.

"Birthday cake, cake knife..."

As if he had thought of something, the bard looked at the terrifying family sitting around the dining table inside the room with a strange expression.

"Is their family's wish simply to get together and celebrate their birthdays? That seems a bit too much..."

"Hard to say."

Just then, a very weak voice came from behind him. When he turned around in surprise, he was shocked by the tragic scene before him, a scene so devastating that the Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.

The other person seemed to have a broken leg, which caused their body to be tilted abnormally. There was a long, narrow wound on their abdomen that had been made by something, and blood was constantly seeping out from between their fingers that were tightly covering their abdomen. The most terrifying thing was the other person's left hand, which was completely turned outward from the wrist, and the white bone fragments even pierced out directly from the back of the hand.

"What happened to you? You got so badly injured!"

Upon witnessing the tragic state of the Dao that can be spoken of, the bard rushed forward to help, but upon reaching it, he found himself completely at a loss as to how to assist.

"Don't worry, you're not going to die yet."

He sat down with difficulty against the corner of the wall, and a bitter smile appeared on his face.

"I'm just unlucky; I ran into a pervert."

"But... but isn't it said that as long as you hold the white candle, you won't be harmed? You..."

"There's no other way; I can't solve the puzzle, so I have to take a shortcut."

Leaning against the wall, Dao Ke Dao Cannot Be Spoken Of

"I was worried that guy wouldn't keep his word and would just give me a few junk pieces to make do, but it seems that's still the case..."

Open your mouth.

Before the words "The Way that can be spoken is not the eternal Way" could be finished, Yuan Qing approached him with a cold face.

"……what?"

Just as he was lost in thought about the Tao that can be told but is not the eternal Tao, a bottle of medicine was shoved into his mouth, causing him to choke and involuntarily bend over and cough violently.

Surprisingly, as the cold liquid entered my stomach, the intense pain in my body immediately subsided, and within a few seconds it was reduced to a level that was almost negligible.

"this……"

"There are only two bottles left. Pour the one with the most serious symptoms onto the bottle."

Ignoring the other party, Yuan Qing turned around and handed the bard the last two bottles of basic healing potion that Bai Chen had given her earlier.

In fact, to maximize efficiency, the three bottles of basic healing potion should have been used on Dao Kedao's abdomen, hands, and feet respectively. However, considering the terrible state of the Tiger King who had fainted from the pain, taking one bottle internally was the best option.

...If that's the case, then he did give Blown Maple Leaves two bottles before?

Thinking of this, the girl frowned slightly.

....................................

Just as the Tao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Tao, he was not going to die for the time being. After emergency treatment of his wounds, he finally managed to recover a little from the state where he was on the verge of dying at any moment.

Although his injuries had not yet healed, at least his critically low blood pressure had been pulled up a little.

"...Me? What I brought back were birthday candles."

With a wry smile on his face, he said, "The Way that can be spoken of is not the eternal Way," and took out the few birthday candles he had brought back from his backpack.

"I originally thought it was a special kind of funeral candle, used for a prayer or ritual for this family that died tragically, but I never expected it to be this kind of candle."

"Okay, I've got it. This family's wish is just to eat a birthday cake together, and for that, they went so far as to drag those college students to this godforsaken place."

With a slight twitch at the corner of his eye, the bard glanced at the birthday candles in his hand, his expression one of utter disbelief.

"To be honest, if it weren't for..."

"Obsession".

Suddenly, Yuan Qing spoke up.

"Is the obsession... with that family photo?"

The bard quickly realized what was happening.

"That……"

"As long as you hold onto your obsession, you will be trapped here forever."

As a voice rang out, a figure holding a black umbrella appeared in the rain. After glancing at the Dao that could not be spoken of, who was sitting on the ground leaning against the wall, Bai Chen paused slightly and walked towards the door.

"Let's go in."

In the dimly lit hall, the firelight had dimmed to an extremely dangerous degree. With their heads bowed, the five corpses sat silently at the dining table.

Without wasting any more time, Bai Chen took out everything that Yuan Qing and the others had found and placed it on the dining table, including the camera he had found.

Just seconds later, the corpses on the table began to move. They picked up the birthday candles, the father took the cake and went to the kitchen, the mother picked up the camera and handed it to Bai Chen, and the daughter happily ran to her grandparents... although her nearly two-meter height, swollen from being soaked in water, was extremely strange and disproportionate.

Half a minute later, carrying a birthday cake with lit candles, the father walked out of the kitchen amidst the cheers of the family or the roars of the horde of zombies that Bai Chen and the others had heard.

The daughter ran happily to her father, took his hand, and they walked together to the dining table. Amidst the blessings of her family, she blew out the candles, made a wish, and then began the joyful scene of cutting the cake...

Actually, if you only look at this description, the scene seems quite heartwarming. However, if you look at it from the perspective of Bai Chen, who was helping to film the scene, and the others, it only feels indescribably eerie and grotesque.

...especially when my father's eyes fell into the cake again while he was cutting it.

Finally, after patiently waiting for the family to finish eating the cake, the father walked up to Bai Chen and stretched out his hand. In his palm lay a brass key.

Without saying much, Bai Chen handed the camera back to the other party and then led everyone towards the basement.

As he walked toward the basement entrance, Bai Chen seemed to sense something and turned to look toward the dining table.

The corpses beside the dining table had all disappeared without a trace. Only the leftover cake and a video camera were left quietly on the table.

—That family disappeared.

"Alright, let's go, we should head back too."

Bai Chen pressed his brow and used the brass key in his hand to open the basement door in front of him.

Behind the door was a bottomless darkness.

However, faced with this situation, Bai Chen did not hesitate at all, but walked into the door quite decisively. Just as the bard was the last to step into the door, the faint flame in the center of the living room finally went out completely.

The darkness, surging in from all directions like a tidal wave, swallowed the entire villa in the blink of an eye.

In this world, only the torrential rain never stops.