On the first day of the copy of "The Ghost", in the bamboo forest shrouded in darkness, Qisi opened his eyes and saw his figure in red clothes and long hair holding a lantern in the mirror that flashed before his eyes.
Under the identity card in the upper right corner of the sight, a small card with a blood-clothed skeleton quietly solidified, inlaid on a purple and black background, dark and strange.
[Your identity: Ghost]
[Identity effect: ① When you are in the same room with a single person and the distance is no more than three meters, you can choose to kill him or her;
②You can kill someone by directly touching their shoulder anywhere;
③You must kill one person every day, otherwise your soul will be scattered and turned into a Xiyi. 】
The ghost seems to be Qis's identity in this copy, or in other words - his camp.
Walking in the game as an [undead], at this moment being assigned to the ghost camp by the copy, it makes sense in a sense.
There are many obstacles in the bamboo forest, and lonely ghosts can easily lose their way and wander around in circles, unable to escape.
Qisi simply found a clean spot and squatted down, controlling the cursed pendulum to fly and circle around him.
After waiting in boredom for half a minute, a deafening roar suddenly sounded in the deep forest, shattering the mist lingering among the bamboos.
A path paved with white stones appeared in front of me, winding forward.
Qisi collected the cursed pendulum, held a paper lantern, and strolled along the path for a while, then arrived at the archway outside Yanghua Town.
There was already a man in a yellow robe standing there, holding a lantern in one hand and a tattered ancient book in the other.
[The main mission has been refreshed]
[Main mission: Eliminate all humans among players]
Two lines of text were refreshed. Qisi smiled and walked towards the man dressed as a Taoist priest.
Seeing Qisi, the man came up to him quickly: "Are you a player too? This is a team copy, we..."
Qisi's smile did not change, and he stretched out his hand to pat him gently. Touched his shoulder.
【You have used your identity effect once today and killed one person】
[Please kill the next person within twelve hours]
Amidst the cold system prompts, fresh blood splashed on the pages of the ancient book.
The player wearing the Taoist robe fell straight backwards, and gradually lost his entity in the process of falling. Only an empty Taoist robe was left, wrapped in ancient books and lanterns, and landed lightly on the ground.
Qisi reached out to fish out the relics of the deceased, stuffed the robe and lantern into his backpack, and studied the ancient book that was obviously a prop that came with the dungeon character.
There was a letter in the book, and he learned from this that the identity of the dead player was the Taoist priest invited by Master Meng to deal with the ghost.
——This status is very good, it is his now.
The first page of the ancient book is a description of the ghost:
[An old saying goes: "A leaf blocks the eyes." The ghost uses bamboo leaves to block people's eyes and lures travelers to bury themselves in the belly of a tiger. 】
[Bamboo leaves are also phantoms...]
Zi read it over, tore off the page, crumpled it into a ball, and stuffed it into his backpack.
After another half minute, Qiu Xin, wearing a purple undershirt, walked out of the bamboo forest and glanced at Qisi's shoulder.
Qisi closed the ancient book and tucked it under his arm. He smiled and nodded to the girl: "Are you also a player? Let me introduce myself first.
"My name is Lin Wen. He is a taxidermist here, and in this copy he is a Taoist priest..."
...
"Lin Wen, a Taoist priest. ”
"My name is Tang Yu."
"My name is Lin Chen, and I am a doctor."
The players briefly introduced their identities to Meng Fang so that he could match their names and Faces match numbers.
Meng Fang is the Master Meng who wrote a letter inviting players to come to Yanghua Town. He is also the General Meng who ordered the fire after the failure to defend the city in the background of the dungeon.
He exchanged a few pleasantries, then turned around and walked ahead to lead the players to the back room.
Before meeting Meng Fang, players might have complained about his behavior of sending soldiers to expel the townspeople and setting fire to the town.
But after meeting each other, no one showed any dissatisfaction with his past actions.
In the final analysis, everyone is here to do the task. The main task is directly assigned by Meng Fang. No one can make trouble by accidentally touching the core NPC.
How the townspeople live and die has nothing to do with the players. The extra kindness and sense of justice are worn away in dungeons again and again. Writing generous words for the established victims is a great thing for veteran players. Nothing could be more stupid.
What's more, in Zis's view, it's not like he has never done arson before, and the move of strengthening the wall and clearing the country is also in line with the rationalist principle of "benefiting oneself at the expense of others" and deserves encouragement.
The three of them followed Mr. Meng side by side, silently walking through the corridors and aisles, while observing the surroundings with their peripheral vision without leaving a trace.
Obviously it is a large mansion with three entrances, but there is not even a maid or servant on the road. It is so lonely and sloppy, like a piece of paper that has cut corners.
The popularity has declined like a tomb, and Mr. Meng seems to be the only one in the lifeless building.
——And maybe his bedridden mother.
“I will not hide it from you, but the evil tiger outside the town is actually the mountain god worshiped by our town every day.”
Meng Fang stood still behind the screen wall in the backyard, turned around to face the players, and said eloquently:
"Back then, the foreign tribes from the north moved south, and the imperial court was retreating steadily. I was just a small local official, and all I could do was The people under the rule wandered all the way and came to Yanghua Town to escape the war.
“This area is not a battleground for military strategists, and there is a strange tiger monster entrenched in the nearby mountains and forests. I happened to know some Taoism, so I negotiated with the tiger demon and proposed that it protect us and not easily interfere with people's lives, and we would be responsible for supporting it.
"There are a lot of us. If we risk our lives, the tiger demon will not be able to do well. It can only agree to our conditions. Only then did the people set out to establish Yanghua Town and be able to live and work here in peace and contentment."
Meng Fang’s expression was sincere and magnanimous, his attitude was modest and courteous, and he did not use official talk. However, he did not mention setting fire to the town at all in his words, as if the fire that destroyed Yanghua Town did not exist in history. .
Lin Chen frowned slightly, but he also knew that it would be difficult to ask him face to face, so he silently whispered to Qi Si in his heart: "Brother Qi, does Mr. Meng not know that he is dead, and has forgotten what he did back then?" Huh?"
Qisi didn't answer, but raised his eyes and looked into Meng Fang's eyes: "Mr. Meng once said in his letter that he hoped that we would eradicate tiger damage from Yanghua Town. I can ask, which tiger is it? Did the demon do anything that violated the agreement? "
"That's right." Meng Fang nodded solemnly, "According to the agreement, we will choose the person to support the tiger demon and send him out of the town. He was so greedy that he sent many ghosts into the town to secretly harm people.
“Just half a month ago, a ghost sneaked into my home and attacked my mother. Although I arrived in time, my mother still suffered from tiger poison and fell into a coma. I just thought about inviting a few people over to take a look. "
Qisi nodded slightly and asked again: "Then, Master Meng, where does that tiger monster usually hang out? ”
Meng Fang said: "You guys go out from the back door of the residence where you live, walk straight for thirty-three feet, and you can see a bamboo forest. The tiger monster is in that bamboo forest. I hope you can get rid of the harm to us as soon as possible." ”
The players looked at each other. Lin Chen hesitated for a moment and said hesitantly: "If the poison in your palace is tiger venom, I may not be able to provide much help. The medical book does not say how to treat this kind of disease, and I have never diagnosed and treated such a case."
Tang Yu also handed over to Meng Fang at the right time: "Mr. Meng, since it is useless for Dr. Lin to stay and will only get in the way, why not let him leave first."
His original intention I wanted to ask about the way to leave Yanghua Town, but Meng Fang frowned and said apologetically: "When you guys entered the town, the tiger demon probably already knew my plan, and he would never let me go there easily. If you leave rashly, you may encounter something unexpected.”
The meaning is very clear, the players cannot leave unless they get rid of the tiger demon.
The originally different main missions all reach the same goal by different routes. Whether it is leaving Yanghua Town, curing Mrs. Meng, or dealing with the evil spirit, the tiger demon cannot be bypassed.
[Main mission has been updated]
[Main mission: Kill the tiger demon outside Yanghua Town]
Two lines of silver-white text between Tang Yu and Lin Chen Refresh on the system interface.
Qisi saw the main mission of the human camp through Lin Chen's perspective. He lowered his eyes slightly and said with a half-smile: "Mr. Meng, I have a question. Since you risked your lives in the past to make the tiger monster afraid, now ——
“Why don’t you fight for your lives together? "
Meng Fang sighed: "That tiger demon is no longer an ordinary tiger demon. It died in a military disaster many years ago, but because of its high level of cultivation, it cannot enter reincarnation and has become a monster that none of us can deal with. I can only turn to a few famous righteous men for help. "
Ordinary people can't deal with demons and ghosts. It makes sense to turn to martial arts masters and Taoist priests for help, but why involve Lin Chen, who only knows how to cure diseases and save people?
There is obviously a problem, don't look for it. A scapegoat?
Seeing the players' eyes flickering, Meng Fang quickly added: "It doesn't matter if a few righteous soldiers are really helpless. I can always find a chance to send a few of them away in five days at most."
The main mission has not changed and remains the same. "Kill the tiger demon" instead of "survive for five days". It can be imagined that there are many variables in Meng Fang's statement of sending the players out of town after five days.
"Five days" is probably the time limit of this dungeon to prevent players from wasting their time. Players must complete the task within the specified time, otherwise the guaranteed death toll mechanism will be activated.
Meng Fang said with a smile: "You guys are staying in the town for a while, just for fun. If you have any requests, I will try my best to satisfy them. I can ask Li Yi to give you anything to eat or drink. I just have a few jars of newly brewed wine in my cellar. You can try it too.”
The players are in a spiritual state and don’t need to eat, drink or wash themselves. In terms of enjoyment, there is no such thing. Leisure, secondly, I don't dare to have too many details.
As for drinks...do you think this is Jingyanggang and the player is Wu Song?
In the silence, Qisi said casually: "The scholar who picked us up yesterday was very talkative. I had a very interesting chat with him. This morning for some reason, there was a different person. Could you please Replace him again?"
"This..." Meng Fang's eyes showed confusion, "I knew that Li Yi had talked with you yesterday, so I arranged for him to continue to be responsible for escorting and accompanying you. "Yes, could it be that he changed someone secretly?"
His doubts don't seem to be false.
Qi Si said: "I'm overthinking it. After exorcising too many ghosts, it's inevitable to be suspicious. This morning I saw that Brother Li was treating us more warmly than yesterday. I thought it was a replacement, but I didn't expect it. Mr. Meng mentioned it.”
He paused and then asked: "I have one more thing. I wonder if there are any places like mass graves in the town? I will do something to deal with the monster tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. I may need to use the Feng Shui there."
When Meng Fang heard this, there was a strange look in his eyes: "To tell you the truth, since we settled in Yanghua Town, all the corpses have been transported outside the town and handed over to the tiger demon for disposal..."
Are all the corpses handed over to the tiger demon? What's going on with the pile of corpses behind the mansion?
Qisi narrowed his eyes when he looked at Meng Fangtan's magnanimous expression.
……
When the players came out of Meng's House, it was almost dusk in Yanghua Town.
The white sky was smeared with gray inch by inch, and the boundary with the white-walled and black-tiled houses in the distance became increasingly difficult to distinguish.
The faint shadows of the houses spread out in all directions on the ground, and when connected together, they were as vast as the sea.
The townspeople dispersed into the streets one after another, leaving only three players holding lanterns standing on the streets.
"At least one problem has been solved." Tang Yu said calmly, "Just like a living tiger will eat living people, because the tiger demon turned into a demon ghost, so he started eating the ghosts of the townspeople. .
"That is to say, we have a high chance of narrow escape against the tiger monster. At best, we are just snacks delivered to its mouth...Gan!"
He stopped talking and stared fixedly at an alleyway on the left. deep.
Chis followed his line of sight.
I saw an old man dressed in black walking out of the alley, holding a watch gong in his hand and chanting a vague song:
"My wife died of a tiger, and my son died again. . Why not go? There is a war in another country..."
The man said he was an old man because his hair was as white as snow and his beard on his nose and mouth was also as white as snow.
But if you look closely, the man’s face behind his beard and hair is surprisingly young, and he looks particularly familiar -
It’s the scholar from the first day!
Lin Chen couldn't help but take a small step forward, pretending to strike up a conversation.
Qisi pulled his sleeve and said softly: "If there is something weird, don't alert the snake."
The light was too dark before to see clearly. After the scholar approached, the players noticed through the light of the lantern that the scholar dressed as an old man in front of them had cloudy eyes, and his legs and feet moved forward step by step, and his consciousness was obviously not clear.
He didn't seem to remember the player at all. Even if he heard Qiss's words, he just tilted his head and continued to move in the previous direction.
He walked slowly into the circle of light formed by the lantern, loose shadows swaying behind him.
Different from the tiger shadow that appeared on the first day, it was a distinctly human shadow, with hands, feet and head clearly visible.
Obviously, yesterday I was still a ghost among the crowd, but today I have changed my identity and outfit, and I have become a human being.
What criteria are used to determine whether the residents of Yanghua Town are ghosts or not?
Is the ghost that players previously understood really the ghost that the name of the dungeon refers to?
Are there really ghosts among the townspeople?
Lin Chen's figure was sluggish, and his astringent voice passed to Qisi through the soul blade: "Brother Qi, as spirit bodies, the townspeople should have no shadows, because they are possessed by the scarecrow.
“Does this mean that the shadow we see is actually the shadow of the scarecrow? When the straw is tied into a human being, the human shadow is reflected on the ground; when the straw is tied into a tiger, the shadow of the tiger is reflected on the ground...
"Why did Yanghua Town design it like this? To scare us? To intimidate the townspeople?"
Qisi did not answer immediately, but looked straight ahead with interest.
The scholar in front of him dragged his slender figure and walked quietly through the circle of light, stepping into the sinking dusk outside the circle of light.
The shadow behind him is immersed in the shadow of the house, like a drop of ink falling into the sewage of the inkstone, blending into one, making it difficult to distinguish the outline.
The candles in the lanterns danced wildly, emitting a light yellow light tirelessly in the dim night.
All the sounds fell silent as the shapes and figures left, and the sleepy travelers did not dare to speak loudly for fear of disturbing the gods of the night.
Qisi looked away and looked down at his destiny pocket watch. It was already seven o'clock in the evening.
"Go back, there are still two hours until midnight."
He looked in the direction the scholar was leaving and showed an unknown smile: "And, I don't like this There have been some speculations about the world view of the dungeon——
“It depends on whether the person who died tonight is that person. "(End of Chapter)