[Soul-Shaking Ancient Village] A Strange Change

The scene from his dream was still vivid before his eyes.

Si Yehan awoke from a deep sleep to the light of dawn. Unperturbed, he felt that the ghost in this instance seemed somewhat weak. So far, only one of its killing rules had been revealed, and it had actually killed only one person.

All the others had died at his own hands, and the difficulty was indeed consistent with a beginner instance.

Si Yehan lowered his gaze to the bloodstains that had vanished from his clothes, a little surprised. Then he turned to look at the mirror. Its smooth surface reflected the scene before it.

Everything in the room had returned to its original position. Only then did Si Yehan realize that the rooms could reset themselves. When he had seen the mirror in a different position yesterday, he had thought the ghost had moved it. He had not expected it to be a special property of the room.

Si Yehan got out of bed, opened the door, and went downstairs to wait in the living room.

He sat on the sofa, considering his plans for the day.

In the morning, he would first wander around the village and see if he could find any unusual natives.

That old bastard of a village chief had food delivered only once a day, so he would come back a little early at noon to eat.

In the afternoon, he would take the three of them to the Elder Care Tower and test for other killing rules.

Sitting around waiting to die was nothing more than a slow death. The changes in the instance might gradually increase as time went on.

The patter of rain suddenly rang out, exceptionally clear.

Through the living room doors and windows, he could clearly see a light drizzle falling outside beneath a hazy veil of mist.

Si Yehan rose from the sofa, pushed open the door, and stood beneath the eaves, watching the scene before him.

The crowing of roosters and barking of dogs were drowned out by the rain. There was no howling wind or torrential downpour, yet the village was unusually silent.

The Elder Care Tower stood in the rain not far away. Rain dripped down its walls amid swirling mist, and when it ran off the characters on the signboard, it looked just like blood.

Si Yehan raised his eyes and watched the Elder Care Tower in the rain for a moment, his hands still in his outer pockets. Suddenly, he had an urge to rush through the rain into the Elder Care Tower and smear all of his own blood over it.

The scarlet characters grew clearer and clearer in his eyes! They possessed a strange, magical power, like a whispering demon whose voice kept echoing in his ears.

Si Yehan turned and went back inside, suppressing the strange thought. The doll in his outer pocket was growing hot, dispelling the influence completely.

He took out the doll and examined it, discovering a crack on the sole of each foot. They seemed to correspond to the number of times it had grown hot.

Si Yehan's expression remained cold as he put the doll away again.

The rain outside had disrupted his plans and still showed no sign of stopping.

Some time later, Chen Yong came downstairs.

When he saw Si Yehan, a guilty look flickered across his face. He forced himself to remain calm and greeted him. "Morning, Brother Han."

Si Yehan paid Chen Yong no attention, and Chen Yong showed no anger.

As Chen Yong sat on the sofa, his feet kept rubbing against the floor. Alone with Si Yehan, he found it hard to sit still.

Only when Jing Xi and Xie Ran came downstairs together did Chen Yong relax a little.

The two women were also a little surprised to see Si Yehan. He was actually not the last to wake up today. Nevertheless, they both greeted him politely and ignored his indifference.

The four of them sat on the sofas without making a sound. The silence was deathly.

Shen Jing still had not come downstairs, and Jing Xi grew uneasy. "Why isn't Sister Jing up yet? She was the first one up yesterday. Could the ghost have..."

Xie Ran patted Jing Xi. "Don't talk nonsense. Sister Jing is experienced. How could she fall in a beginner instance like ours? But we should go check on her."

Thinking of Shen Jing, who still had not appeared, Chen Yong recalled her reaction last night and their conversation. He slowly shifted his gaze toward Si Yehan and felt a chill sink into his bones.

This person was too quiet and cold. Could he be not human, but a ghost that had infiltrated the players?

Although Shen Jing had said ghosts had no consciousness or emotions, Chen Yong could not stop himself from making the connection.

Chen Yong saw what seemed to be a smile directed at him on that cold, handsome face. He shuddered, then looked again and felt that the smile might have been an illusion. Si Yehan had remained cold and indifferent the whole time.

Xie Ran's voice pulled Chen Yong out of his thoughts. "Are you two coming along?"

Chen Yong took a deep breath and hurriedly steadied himself. In a place like this, he really could not rely on anyone else, only himself. He absolutely could not die in the instance; he still had to go back and pay his mother's medical bills. "I'm coming, but we should check the storage room on the third floor first."

Chen Yong's answer made Jing Xi's expression change, and her face turned pale. "Do we have to go to the storage room again?"

If it was not absolutely necessary, she really did not want to go there again.

Si Yehan rose from the sofa and said calmly, "Let's go take a look at the storage room on the third floor."

Chen Yong reassured Jing Xi. "Just stay toward the back. Come with us. If you stay alone on the first floor, something might happen to you too."

Jing Xi had no choice but to follow them.

When they pushed open the storage room door, no dust flew up, and no corpse loomed before them as they had expected. Shen Jing's hanging corpse had vanished.

Only three dolls remained on the table, corresponding to Chen Yong, Xie Ran, and Jing Xi.

The bloodstains that had yet to disappear from the floor were being erased little by little, right before their eyes.

The sight left Si Yehan unmoved. Shen Jing's corpse and doll had both been erased, but today it had not waited for them to discover them.

The instance was growing more and more baffling, with an air of strangeness about it.

The other three naturally looked grim. By now, the situation was perfectly clear: Shen Jing was dead.

Looking at the lifelike dolls on the table, Chen Yong took a deep breath and picked up the one that corresponded to him. "Let's take them. There's no use leaving the dolls here. We might as well keep them with us. There might be something special about them."

As though it had heard Chen Yong's words, a smile slowly spread across the doll's face, and blood seeped from the corners of its mouth!

The sight was so terrifying that Chen Yong staggered, and the doll fell from his hand. But Xie Ran caught it securely.

Xie Ran adjusted her glasses. After handing Chen Yong's doll back to him, she took the one that corresponded to her as well. "You're right. As far as we can tell, the dolls' only use is to confirm our deaths. We might as well keep them."

Chen Yong seemed to want to say something but hesitated. When he looked at the doll again, he found there was no blood seeping from it at all. Everything he had just seen was an illusion. Cold sweat suddenly broke out on his back, and his clothes clung to his body. Holding the doll, he felt afraid.

Has the ghost set its sights on me?

His memories of yesterday afternoon suddenly came flooding back.

Chen Yong's voice trembled slightly. "I think the ghost has set its sights on me. I've had several hallucinations today. Yesterday, when I went out with Sister Shen Jing, we saw a rusty Buddha statue lying in the weeds. It was half a meter tall. I thought it was strange, so I set it upright. Right after that, an old madman rushed over and carried it away. I didn't tell anyone about it at the time, but now that I think back on the statue's eyes, they seem more and more blurry and strange."

The sound of a child crying drew nearer, approaching through the curtain of rain. As Chen Yong spoke, it grew increasingly shrill.

An eerie change had occurred! The ghost's killing rules had changed.

Chen Yong was still talking without realizing it. Xie Ran's expression changed drastically, and her eyes widened as though she had seen something unbelievable.

Jing Xi stood frozen in place, staring fixedly ahead.

The instant Si Yehan noticed something was wrong, he had already backed out of the storage room, closed the door behind him, and hurried back to his room on the second floor.

Muffled footsteps sounded slowly, still lingering outside the door for the moment.

Si Yehan did not walk hurriedly, and he made almost no sound. Within the instance, there was no way to know whether sound could become a means for the ghost to kill.

For now, it seemed that the only thing one could do when facing a ghost was to stay calm and rational.