Chapter 1 Playing Games Before Dark

According to Zhang Yuanqing's experience, the most frightening thing about this kind of 24-hour survival instance is wandering around aimlessly, only to be struck by a crisis and returned to the Lingjing Xingzhe.

Unlike those instances with clear objectives, which directly tell you what to do and what to find.

So, the first thing Zhang Yuanqing needs to do now is to find out what dangers exist in the instance. Once he understands these, everything becomes simple.

No need to rush to find Wang Xiaoer just yet. Let's ask Cat King what he knows... Zhang Yuanqing, standing outside the far gate, took out the small and exquisite Cat King speaker from his pocket.

"Have you been here before? Is there anything you want to tell me, like information about this instance?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.

Silence was his only response.

This guy just doesn't feel right unless he's beaten... Zhang Yuanqing raised his hand and slapped him twice: "Think hard!"

Having been slapped, the Cat King speaker emitted a "zzzz" sound of static, and the next second, a 3D surround sound effect echoed around them:

"Ah, ah, ah... Demon Lord, please be gentle..."

"Pa, pa, pa, pa..."

Zhang Yuanqing's mouth twitched. He silently placed the Cat King speaker at his feet, took out the Bloodthirsty Blade with a chipped edge, and held the tip of the blade against the Cat King speaker, saying expressionlessly:

"So these are your last words? Very well, I'll send you to see your predecessor now!"

His palm silently exerted force, and the tip of the blade pierced a small mark on the Cat King speaker's black metal casing.

The decadent sounds were immediately replaced by the "zzzz" of static.

The Cat King speaker compromised and was preparing the next audio clip.

Zhang Yuanqing maintained his threatening posture, relieved, and muttered to himself, "I'm actually quite curious to know who the heroine is this time..." Also, judging from the sounds, Demon Lord, you're the man behind the mistress again... Zhang Yuanqing thought to himself.

At this moment, a childish, ethereal female voice rang out from the Cat King speaker:

"You clap one, I clap one, let's play games before dark."

"You clap two, I clap two, touch your tongue, touch your ear."

"You clap three, I clap three, add a shadow and there are three."

The song was sung with a monotonous rhythm, becoming more and more eerie the more one listened. The most innocent is also the most terrifying.

What an underworld nursery rhyme... Zhang Yuanqing listened quietly until he confirmed that the audio had finished playing and there was no continuation. He then stuffed the Cat King speaker into his pocket, pondering the nursery rhyme.

"Play games before dark, a clear indication that there will be danger after dark. Playing games is a way to avoid the crisis, but what games to play... Uh, if I remember correctly, this song is about a game, just like Drop the Handkerchief."

"So, the game to play is 'You clap one, I clap one'? The second line, 'touch your tongue, touch your ear' is easy to understand..."

"The third line, 'add a shadow and there are three,' three probably represents the number of people playing the game."

Hiss...

Zhang Yuanqing suddenly felt something was wrong. The phrase "add a shadow and there are three" was terrifying. How can a shadow play a game? If the shadow really joins in, it will be a horror game.

Based on his personal understanding, he believed that the third line should be a warning: if three people are not gathered, then the shadow will join the game.

The shadow is likely to be the crisis itself.

"My body plus the Yin corpse can be counted as two people. Little Doubi is a spirit body and can't speak, so he probably can't be a candidate for the game. Then I need to find one more person to play with me."

Got it!

Zhang Yuanqing looked at the rammed earth house, thinking that there was a ready-made old man.

But... Zhang Yuanqing's heart stirred. He controlled the Yin corpse to re-enter the rammed earth house and pried open the old man's mouth, despite his resistance.

The old man had no tongue; it had been cut off. "As expected, it's not that simple. The second line, 'touch your tongue, touch your ear,' directly blocks this path... No, it should be telling me what to do next."

Find the tongue!

Or, restore the old man's tongue.

"Let's try to verify this idea first. This kind of instance without clear clues relies on repeated exploration and summarization to find a way out."

"I have no choice. If the idea is wrong, then I can only face the weirdness in the village head-on."

He raised his eyes and looked at the sky.

A thin layer of clouds shrouded the dilapidated mountain village, with no sun, making it easy to lose track of time.

"There will be danger after dark, so I don't have much time left. The abnormalities in the village started with Wang Xiaoer. If I want to find the tongue, Wang Xiaoer should be the breakthrough point," Zhang Yuanqing thought with exceptional clarity.

The village was neither big nor small, and it wouldn't be easy to find Wang Xiaoer's residence. Obviously, this was a step to delay time and increase the difficulty.

If too much time was wasted in this step, he wouldn't be able to find the tongue before dark. Then he would have to face the crisis directly.

How could he find Wang Xiaoer as soon as possible? Zhang Yuanqing pondered for a moment and came up with a plan.

"Clatter!"

Undead One leaped over the rammed earth wall, carrying the struggling old man on his shoulder, and returned to his master's side.

"Ah, ah, ah..."

The old man shouted angrily, hitting Undead One with all his might. He seemed very angry, since they had clearly said goodbye.

"Old man, you have to take us to see Wang Xiaoer," Zhang Yuanqing said. The old man ignored him, struggling incessantly.

Zhang Yuanqing had already figured out the correct way to interact with the old man from the previous exchange. He put the Bloodthirsty Blade against his neck.

As expected, the old man stopped shouting. The two people and one corpse reached an agreement and headed towards the west of the village.

Walking in the lonely and desolate mountain village, there was no dog barking, no birds singing, and everything exuded suppression and weirdness.

Zhang Yuanqing secretly summoned Little Doubi and had him randomly enter the houses along the road to scout out the situation. He found that there were villagers in every house, hiding and looking at the windows and doors with terrified expressions, as if they were afraid of something.

It's a little strange. The people in this village are still alive?

Although this means that Wang Xiaoer is mostly alive, which is a good thing, it is inevitably a little strange... What are they afraid of? Alas, it's a pity that I can't communicate with them. They can't speak, so I'm destined not to be able to ask anything... Also, where is the female ghost? I don't feel the aura of a vengeful spirit.

After walking for about ten minutes, the old man on Undead One's shoulder suddenly "ah, ah"ed twice.

At this time, they stopped outside a small courtyard in the west of the village. The courtyard wall was made of irregular stones.

The courtyard door was not closed, but half-open.

"Is this the place?" Zhang Yuanqing raised the Bloodthirsty Blade. The old man nodded warily.

Zhang Yuanqing immediately split his will in half, leaving one part in his main body and the other part entering the Yin corpse. Then he controlled Undead One to put down the old man and walk alone to the courtyard door, pushing it open with a "creak."

Just as Undead One entered the courtyard, he heard a coughing sound from the stone house, followed by the sound of thick phlegm stuck in the throat:

"Who's there?"

He can speak... Undead One raised his eyebrows and also made a sound of thick phlegm stuck in his throat: "Are you Wang Xiaoer? I'm a stranger. I heard about what happened in the village, so I came to take a look."

He spoke cautiously, afraid of saying a single word wrong and triggering a hidden crisis. Therefore, he avoided words like ancient tomb and female ghost, and even didn't mention what exactly happened in the village.

After hearing the person in the house speak, Zhang Yuanqing knew that his idea was correct.

This Wang Xiaoer was an important character in the instance. The other villagers could not communicate, but Wang Xiaoer could. The person inside the house was silent for a few seconds and then asked, "What do you want to know?"

Zhang Yuanqing tentatively asked, "Why can't the people in the village speak?"

"...Some time ago, I met a wandering Taoist priest. He said that the back mountain was a treasure land of Feng Shui, and there must be a large tomb in the mountain. He was right. I've been hearing the old people in the village talk about a tomb in the back mountain since I was little. It's said to be a tomb from the Ming Dynasty.

"A noble princess is buried in the tomb, with many funerary objects, but no one has ever been able to find the location of the tomb. The Taoist priest gave me a string of coins, saying that he needed someone familiar with the mountain roads to lead the way, so I agreed.

"We entered the mountain at noon and wandered around all day. When it got dark, the Taoist priest actually found the tomb."

That Taoist priest can also locate graves? Which school does he belong to... Zhang Yuanqing complained inwardly.

Wang Xiaoer continued, "The Taoist priest told me that he wouldn't take any of the funerary objects in the tomb. They would all be mine. He only wanted the ancient books in the tomb, if there were any."

loubiqu.

"So the next day, I prepared tools, food, and water, and spent a day and a night with the Taoist priest digging open the ancient tomb."

Hearing this, Zhang Yuanqing interrupted, "Ancient books? What ancient books was he looking for?"

The voice with thick phlegm stuck in the throat replied:

"The Taoist priest said that the princess was a cultivator in her lifetime, lived for two Jiazi (120 years), and had collected secret methods from all over the world, including many ancient books. There must be secret methods among the princess's funerary objects. He was running out of life and wanted to take a gamble in the tomb... What a fool. If the princess knew the method of longevity, would she have died?

"What ancient books and secret methods, there's nothing more real than gold and silver treasures."

Another one who wants to live forever. The cultivators of the Ming Dynasty all seem to want to live forever. Zhang Yuanqing asked:

"What happened later? What does all this have to do with the villagers not being able to speak?" "Of course, it has something to do with it..." Wang Xiaoer in the stone house said, "I'm not feeling well, and it's a bit difficult to speak from this distance. Come in, come in and I'll tell you."

Colosseum. Yin Ji, wearing a black veil, frowned when she heard the conversation of the disciples around her, "The Village of Lost Voices..."

She found the name of this village a little familiar.

A few seconds later, she remembered where she had heard this name. Yin Ji looked at Fu Qingyang, who was dressed in white, and said in a gentle voice, "The Village of Lost Voices is very dangerous."

Fu Qingyang turned to look at her, his eyes deep and calm, "How do you know?"

Yin Ji said, "I remember the Demon Lord said that the Village of Lost Voices was the only instance in the Transcendence stage where he almost died and was severely injured. And before the Village of Lost Voices, none of the S-rank instances he had entered had made him so embarrassed."

When she spoke of the Demon Lord, her tone was natural and her expression generous, as if that unfortunate relationship was not shameful but something that could be openly and honestly discussed.

Hearing this, the elders all turned to look.

Dog Elder's button eyes widened slightly, and he asked loudly, "What do you mean by that?"

ps: I'll fix the typos later.