Townspeople dressed in ancient costumes were walking around in the streets and alleys, buying and selling, asking prices, talking loudly, and most of them had cheerful expressions on their faces.
“This place is really nice. We don’t have to worry about food and clothing. There is nothing better than this Peach Blossom Land.”
“Thanks to Mr. Meng for taking us to settle here. From now on No need to be afraid of war anymore.”
The two townspeople talked to each other and walked in front of the players with a smile.
Their feet were firmly planted on the ground, with thick or light shadows following behind them. Their movements were smooth and natural, and they looked like living people no matter how they looked.
In contrast, the players who were carrying lanterns covered in dust and stained with bamboo leaves and blood looked like evil ghosts who had strayed into the Peach Blossom Land.
"This place doesn't look like there is a tiger infestation. They all live quite comfortably." Tang Yu shrugged disapprovingly.
“Not necessarily.”
Qisi’s eyes fell on the notice posted on the stone wall not far away. Although the page was tattered, ink marks could still be seen on it. Outlined is a tiger.
Other players naturally noticed the notice and approached one after another.
I saw it read:
[There is a tiger in the forest outside the town, which has injured some passers-by. Unless there is something urgent, people, vehicles and horses are not allowed to leave the town without authorization. 】
【There are thousands of ghosts in the town, lying around during the day and coming out at night, preying on people and feeding them to tigers. At dusk, you should find a house and live in it, but do not open the door. 】
【There are many new dead ghosts outside the town, trying to sneak into the passing convoys and occasionally entering the town. If there are foreign guests, don’t dare to neglect them. 】
According to the notice, Yanghua Town has been surrounded by a tiger and several of its minions. The town has been infiltrated and is full of loopholes. There are always new minions trying to sneak in outside the town. It can be said that there are internal and external troubles, and the situation is precarious.
Lin Chen thought: "No wonder the Meng family didn't send someone to ask for a doctor in person. They should be afraid of encountering ghosts and being killed after leaving the town.
"The townspeople are trapped in the town, and it is not easy to obey them. There are rules for leaving the town, closing the door at night, and being wary of outsiders. Contact with the outside of the town relies entirely on crows to deliver messages... So if they still invite us over, aren't they afraid that there will be minions among us? "
"I don't know what they think. Tang Yu reached out and took off the notice, turning it over and over again. "I don't think they are very panicked. They are probably used to coexisting with ghosts." "
The speaker is unintentional, but the listener is intentional.
Luo Haihua looked around at the townspeople: "Yes, the notice said that ghosts can lurk in the convoy and sneak into the town, which is quite Yu tells us they can disguise themselves as humans. I don’t know if these townspeople are human beings..."
While a few people were talking, the townspeople also noticed the player's presence and surrounded him from all directions, with the wind blowing up broken straw leaves.
The air soon filled with whispers.
“They have lanterns in their hands and they are from outside the town...”
“They are all strangers, I don’t know how many are humans and how many are ghosts...”
< br>The townspeople look unkind, and their hostility is getting stronger and stronger, as if they will turn into ferocious beasts and pounce on the player at any time.
Qisi lowered his eyes and saw the shadows of several people swaying gracefully, as if blown by the wind, and twisted into weird shapes at certain moments, like...lying tigers.
There is a ghost among the townspeople, and the ghost’s shadow will look like a tiger... right?
Qisi continued to move his gaze downwards, looking at the soles of his feet.
It was empty there, nothing.
He looked at the soles of Tang Yu's feet, then at Lin Chen, and then at the other players...
All players have no shadows.
"Catch them..."
"Go and ask Mr. Meng to come and ask the mountain god what he means!"
The townspeople are getting closer and closer, and some He also took a knife from the stall and gestured aggressively at the players.
"What do you want to do?" Tang Yu took out a piece of letter paper from his arms, shook it out, and held it above his head, "I was invited to Fuhu by your Master Meng's personal letter. Why don't you come out to greet me? That’s all, do you dare to make a mistake?”
His voice was loud and resonant, and he had the temperament of an ancient official when he was doing things. The townspeople were really taken back by him.
"Is there anyone who can read? Go up and see what's true." Someone in the crowd whispered.
A scholar wearing a long gown walked out of the crowd in response.
He is twenty-four or five years old, dressed in green clothes and a cloth hat. He stands out among the men in gray clothes and women in yellow clothes. He looks educated.
I don’t know if it’s the players’ misunderstanding, but his face is so white that it’s scary, his eyes are so black that they can devour people, and the rest of his facial features are as pale as if they were painted on, giving people a very uncoordinated look. feeling.
The scholar took the letter from Tang Yu's hand and moved his eyes left and right, scanning the words on it back and forth.
Probably not seeing the flaw, he stuffed the letter back into Tang Yu's hand, then slowly turned his head to look at the other players.
Lin Chen quickly took out the crumpled medical letter from the medicine box and handed it over.
Qisi also pulled out a blood-stained letter from his sleeve and handed it to him.
The scholar opened them one by one and looked at them one by one. He turned around and said to the townspeople: "These three are indeed invited by Master Meng. Although I don't know whether they were killed on the way, you don't have to worry.
"If ghosts want to harm people, they must be in the same room with others at night, within three meters of each other. Please be more vigilant tonight, don't go out, and don't let strangers enter the house."
He His voice was sharp and sharp, sounding rather sarcastic.
Tang Yu withdrew the knife from his waist by three inches and frowned: "What do you mean? You have already taken out the letter, and you still suspect that we are ghosts. I think you are like ghosts!"
"Did you hear that? Foreigners actually said that we look like ghosts..."
The townspeople looked at each other, laughed "hehe", and winked like at a god-welcoming game. A painted scarecrow.
The figures on the ground were whirling, swaying, and trembling, forming a large, grotesque gray stain. It had a nose and eyes, and it was clearly a huge tiger.
The shadows of almost all the townspeople in this area are in the shape of tigers, including the scholars.
"What do you do here?" The scholar looked at the three people who did not carry letters and asked in a tone of voice.
Qiu Xinyan said concisely and comprehensively: "I went up the mountain to collect medicine and got lost."
Luo Haihua pulled Luo Jianhua and gave the scholar a bow: "My friend and I went to the provincial examination and returned, and we were in the nearby mountains and forests. I got lost in the middle of the road and met Guizhen on the way, so I wanted to stay one night and ask for directions before setting off. ”
It should be said that she is worthy of being a Chinese teacher, and her speeches are elegant and presentable.
The scholar turned to look at her and said in a pitiful tone: "You guys came at the wrong time. According to the rules of the town, all foreigners must stay in pairs at the residence in the west of the town after entering the town. One room, rest for the night before doing anything else.
“If you want to see Mr. Meng and ask for directions, you have to wait until tomorrow morning to make sure there are no scoundrels among you. Whether you have a letter or not, the rules are the rules. "
Luo Haihua asked: "Brother, can you tell us, what is the meaning of these two living together? "
The scholar said: "The newly deceased ghost must harm one person every night, otherwise his soul will be gone. Wait until tomorrow to see if anyone dies, and you will know if there are any scoundrels among you.
"At that time, we will ask Mr. Meng to come forward and deal with the scoundrels who sneak into the town who do not obey the rules."
As soon as he finished speaking, all the players heard the system prompts.
[Side mission has been refreshed]
[Side mission (must do): Find all the ghosts hidden among you]
[Task tips: ①The identity is "Ghost" players must kill one person every day;
② After nightfall, when the "ghost" and the "human" are in the same room and the distance is less than three meters, the "ghost" can choose to kill the "human" (there is only one chance per day);
③ "Humans" who are killed by "ghosts" will die, and "humans" who die from the tiger's mouth will become "ghosts". 】
Three prompts summarize the information implicit in the scholar's words.
It is not difficult to see from this that this is a Werewolf-like camp game, and it is very unfair.
No matter who the player is as a "ghost", he must kill someone, and the players in the same room with him will have no chance of survival. And as long as the next day comes, the candidate for the "ghost" can be inferred based on the deceased, and the "ghost" will definitely die.
In other words, the death of two people has been written in the rules from the beginning of this game.
Of course, all this is based on the players following the scholar's arrangements and sharing a room in pairs.
Everyone present was an old player, and they quickly thought of another solution: first let the "ghost" reveal himself and help the "human beings" complete side tasks, and then others would capture a town citizen every day and hand it over to " "Ghost" treatment to prevent the soul from flying to pieces.
After all, the life of the NPC is not life; after all, the side mission only talks about finding the "ghost", not "killing"; after all, this is a team survival dungeon...
However, although the idea is beautiful, it can only be thought about.
Slaughter flow players exist objectively. After all, players cannot completely trust each other. It is unrealistic for the enemy camp to reveal their identity.
"You sent the letter to invite us here, and you are here to act like an uncle?" Tang Yu took out the knife from his waist and poked it on the floor, making a crisp sound, "We You deserve to take the risk and you deserve to feed the tiger, right?"
The scholar met Tang Yu's gaze without evading it, with a strange smile on his face: "Maybe there are no scoundrels among you, so that's the best thing to do. That's fine. If you are not satisfied with this arrangement, you can leave." When the players heard the word "leave", they subconsciously looked back and saw that the way they came had disappeared.
Behind the two-story archway is no longer a dense bamboo forest, but a flat stone road. Looking to the end, the line of sight is blocked by small buildings with white walls and black tiles.
The roads have changed, the environment has changed, and I don’t know the general situation inside and outside the town - how to leave?
Tang Yu sneered at the scholar: "You said we should live in a room in pairs, so why should we listen to you?"
The smile on the scholar's face did not diminish: "You guys After you move into the residence, someone will check whether you live in accordance with the rules and help you lock the door from the outside, so that you will not know the situation on the first day and be harmed by the ghosts outside.
"Of course you can. Choose not to live in a dormitory, but no one else will be willing to provide you with a place to live. After the Zi Shi, those who do not have a house to shelter will be taken away by demons. ”
After he said that, he pointed to the direction where everyone came from: "The residence is in that area. You can go there by yourself. Someone will come to take you at the entrance of the alley."
The empty road spreads out at the end. The small building was dark and deserted in front of it, and it was too quiet and desolate.
The sky darkened, coating the buildings with a layer of light gray, and the shadows of the huge houses faded, returning to an unclear fog.
"It's getting dark, go back..."
"Don't forget to lock the doors and windows. See you tomorrow!"
The onlookers whispered to each other and dispersed sparsely; the scholar also waved his paper fan and turned around to leave.
No one gave the player another look, and no one said another word to the player.
Darkness is like a sacred ceremony, or the announcement of the end. Everyone will stop what they are doing, like a tired bird returning to its nest.
Soon there were only six players left on the street.
The taciturn Luo Jianhua said in a low voice: "The shadows of the townspeople will change into the shape of tigers. I'm afraid most of them are ghosts. You should be able to distinguish between humans and ghosts by looking at their shadows, but I don't know why. All of us have no shadow..."
"Anyway, everyone should be more careful." Luo Haihua looked around at everyone, "If most of the townspeople are ghosts, let us live in the mansion in pairs, I'm afraid we won't be well-intentioned."
She paused, His eyes fell on Qisi, and there was a flash of surprise: "Lin Wen, what are you reading?"
Since Qisi gave the letter to the scholar to read, he never talked to anyone else and just kept quiet. Standing aside quietly, he took out a tattered ancient book from nowhere and gently turned the pages.
It wasn't until Luo Haihua asked aloud that he was reluctant to look away from the page and looked at the person in front of him calmly: ""Netherworld Record", an ancient book that records the knowledge of various ghosts and monsters."
He closed the book and put it into his wide sleeves. There was no wave in his eyes with scarlet light: "If the above record is correct, we don't need to worry about the ghosts among the townspeople harming people for the time being.< br>
"It is said that ghosts and ghosts have lived with people for a long time, and after being infected with popularity, they will gradually give birth to human shadows, and their movements are the same as those of humans. Although their souls are still bound by tigers, and their shadows often change into tiger shadows, in their eyes, they are the real deal.
"The ghost is trying to save lives for tigers, just to get people to die in exchange for a chance to be reincarnated as a human being. If you can live peacefully and like a human being, even if you are deceiving yourself and others, why not? "
Qiu Xin raised his eyes and asked: "So those townspeople are all ghosts who mistakenly think they are human beings? "
Qisi was noncommittal and continued: "Just like after Bigan dug out his heart, he met a woman who said, 'If you don't have a heart, you will die.' As long as we don't tell the truth in front of the townspeople, they won't realize that they have become a traitor, and there is no need to help the tiger kill us.
“And once it is revealed, we, as the culprits who caused them to pretend to be incapable of being human, will undoubtedly die.”
Tang Yu asked: "Did the book say why we have no shadow? Are we still alive now?"
"Who knows? The system didn't say that we are ghosts, so we should be alive. . As for the lack of shadow-"
Chis chuckled: "Maybe it's to prevent us from finding the ghost too easily."
Everyone couldn't understand the humor and looked at each other. , speechless for a moment.
Lin Chen raised his hand and asked: "Then do we want to live in the mansion? The game has already said that there is a rogue among us. If we lock the two of us in a room, at least two of us will definitely die in the end... ”
"Maybe four people." Qiu Xin shook his head, "There are at least two wolves in Werewolf. I suspect there are two 'ghosts' among us. If it weren't for the two 'ghosts' who happened to be in the same room, the last one The result was that two 'humans' were killed at night, and the 'ghosts' were executed by the townspeople the next day. "
These words made sense, and the players' expressions became solemn.
If things develop as Qiu Xin said, there will be only two players left by tomorrow morning.
The difficulty of completing the main mission will be greatly increased. The best solution is for the remaining two people to die one more time, allowing the sole survivor to trigger the guaranteed death toll mechanism.
Luo Haihua considered it and said: "At that time, let's try to see if we can find accommodation elsewhere, one room per person. If we really want to live in a dormitory, we can only hope that the 'ghost' will take the initiative. Sacrificed..."
She didn't say anything, and saw a short black shadow tremblingly walking towards the players in the direction of the mansion.
It was a little old man wearing a bamboo hat and a black robe, holding a bunch of keys in his hand, wandering back and forth.
Seeing the player, he grinned his jagged yellow teeth and said, "Few foreigners, please follow me back to my residence."
The old man's shadow trailed upright on the Behind him, no matter from which angle he looked, he looked like a human, not a tiger.
Without waiting for the players to respond, he turned his back and led the way, as if he was sure that the players would follow.
Players did follow him.
Tang Yu walked a few steps quickly, and when he was half a step away from the old man, he suddenly flipped his wrist, raised the saber dragging on the ground, and slashed at him.
——As long as this copy allows players to kill townspeople, all problems will be solved.
First kill the townspeople who manage the mansion tonight, and then everyone can be assigned a room; tomorrow morning, we will select the living people among the townspeople, and kill a few every day...
Veteran players have been tempered by the dungeon, and armed with props and skills, it is not easy to kill an ordinary person.
The sharp saber hit the old man's back, and with a "swish", a long gash was made.
Blood spattered, and the wound was deep enough to show bone. The old man was almost cut off from the waist, leaving only a thumb-width of skin and flesh connected.
The old man fell to the ground with a muffled "bang" sound.
The key in his hand was thrown out, making a "clatter" sound.
Tang Yu stood steadily in front of the pool of blood, maintaining the posture of holding the knife in his hand, without any trace of panic.
The other players held their breaths and stood far away, staring at the old man's body in a pool of blood.
Time passed by minute by second, the corpse was just a corpse, no changes occurred.
Probably dead.
Tang Yu breathed a sigh of relief, shook off the blood on the blade, stepped over the old man's body in a few steps, and picked up the key chain on the ground.
"Tonight we will live in a dormitory, one room per person." He said in a brisk tone. (End of chapter)