The Missing Spirit Tablet!

The crisp autumn air was refreshing, and sunlight glittered across the rippling water.

A beautiful girl splashed around in the water, while the sounds of swallows and orioles lingered by his ears.

As Yimo and Dieyu chatted, he gradually relaxed completely and actually fell asleep sprawled across a rock.

In his hazy consciousness, he seemed to hear someone calling him by his ear.

"Mr. Siba Jungler?"

"Mr. Siba Jungler?"

"Honestly, I deliberately wore such a sexy swimsuit, and you actually fell asleep!" There was a hint of resentment in her voice.

"Hehe, but that's precisely what makes people want to get closer and tease you despite themselves."

"Still, even if the system says attacks aren't allowed during the day, that doesn't mean daytime is necessarily safe."

"Honestly, I was careless."

"As expected, your face beneath those messy bangs is really handsome and refined."

"If I didn't still have things to do, I'd really like to lean here and sleep beside you for a while."

"Unfortunately... this Death Game doesn't really allow anyone to relax."

"..."

"Goodbye, Mr. Siba Jungler~"

By the time Yimo woke up, the sky had already darkened.

He was stunned for a moment, wiped away his drool, and rubbed his head. It hurt a little.

He instinctively looked toward the lake and around him, but Dieyu was nowhere to be seen.

"I actually fell asleep. I was far too careless..."

"Still, I really didn't sleep well yesterday..."

Yimo opened the system screen and saw that it was a little after three in the afternoon.

Fortunately, it wasn't too late. The previously clear weather had merely turned cloudy.

It seemed... a violent storm was on its way.

Yimo thought about it. He and Dieyu had arrived very early, so she had probably already gone back. After confirming that nothing was wrong with him, he looked toward the ancestral shrine in the distance and walked over.

While chatting with Dieyu earlier, she had said that the ancestral shrine was gloomy inside. Apart from many spirit tablets, there was nothing else, so there was no need to go in.

But Yimo still wanted to take a look.

As Yimo approached the ancestral shrine, the sky grew even darker, and a wind suddenly rose.

Looking back, he saw quite a few birds circling over the lake, while fallen leaves continuously rolled across the grass.

The ancestral shrine was very dilapidated. Moss grew over the gray bricks, and the corners were covered in spiderwebs.

Only half of a swallow's nest remained, and it seemed that insects had claimed the rest.

"It's rather different from those thatched cottages outside..."

"The architectural style... the Republican era?"

Yimo felt that the ancestral shrine seemed out of place here. But when large raindrops finally began to fall with a steady patter, he didn't think about it any longer and hurriedly pushed open the door and ran inside.

"Creak—!"

The door was already badly damaged and let out a somewhat grating sound.

The sky was already overcast, and there were no windows inside the shrine. It was extremely dark, giving Yimo the feeling that he had stepped into a horror movie.

A cold glint flashed in Yimo's eyes. He wasn't afraid.

He had always believed that...

Compared with ghosts, people were more terrifying.

"Five people have been here?"

The ancestral shrine had been abandoned for who knew how long, so a thick layer of dust covered the floor.

There were quite a few shoeprints on the ground.

Anyone coming here had to cross a stream, and the marks left by dust dampened by water were still quite obvious.

"Something's wrong..."

Just after Yimo confirmed that several people had come here, he suddenly felt a chill run down his back. Goosebumps rose all over his body, and he abruptly turned around.

Crack!

A thunderclap struck, staining the sky deep blue.

Behind Yimo were nine full rows of spirit tablets, all leaning crookedly beneath a thick layer of dust!

Rustle, rustle...

Creak... creak...

Along with the thunder came the increasingly heavy rain pounding the grass outside.

The wooden door, constantly blown by the wind, creaked incessantly beside him.

The atmosphere was incredibly gloomy, as if something had awakened.

Yimo's subconscious kept telling him:

Someone was watching him. This ancestral shrine did not welcome him!

This place was dangerous!

Yimo clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. He carefully examined the grass outside and the trees behind him.

Only after confirming that nobody was there did he turn back around.

He continued studying the footprints on the floor.

"Someone... came here not long ago..."

Yimo pinched his short bangs and stared at the disorderly footprints on the ground.

Four of them had already dried completely.

But the smallest footprint, which had no tread pattern at all...

Was wet!

In other words, while Yimo was asleep, someone had come here!

And that person wasn't Dieyu.

Yimo remembered very clearly that Dieyu was wearing sandals. They definitely couldn't have left a footprint with no tread pattern at all!

Naughty Cat or Ordinary Girl Village Chief?

Yimo rubbed his hair and continuously recalled what footwear the two had been wearing.

If he remembered correctly, one of them had been wearing canvas shoes, and the other had been wearing sneakers.

In other words, it definitely wasn't this small footprint with no tread pattern!!!

The more Yimo thought about it, the more frightening it felt, as if someone had been staring at his back the entire time.

"This... is Werewolf, not a horror game, right..."

Yimo smiled bitterly and opened the game rules interface for a look. It really wasn't a horror game.

With that thought, Yimo simply let it go. He stopped worrying about it and only wanted to quickly confirm that there truly was nothing else inside so he could leave.

Otherwise, if there really was some ghost or monster...

Being here alone in this heavy rain would be incredibly stupid.

In a movie, he would be nothing more than a supporting character volunteering to die.

Yimo looked up.

Nine rows of spirit tablets were enshrined inside the ancestral shrine, all of them leaning crookedly at present.

Their styles differed as well, clearly belonging to different eras.

There were the fewest spirit tablets in the top row, and their number gradually increased below.

Yimo carefully examined them. He could make out some of the traditional characters on the tablets.

'First-generation Hunter: Xu Zi X.'

'Fourth-generation Witch: Xu Mao X.'

'Third-generation Seer: Xu Yin X.'

'Seventh-generation Idiot: Xu Wu X.'

'Fifth-generation Thief: Xu Chen X.'

Xu was probably the surname shared by everyone in this village. The second character likely represented their generation, arranged according to the twelve earthly branches.

The nine rows of spirit tablets were incomplete. Yimo counted several that were missing, but he didn't know where they had gone.

However, the footprints didn't extend toward the spirit tablets, so he deduced that those tablets had probably already been missing, rather than having been taken by a player.

Looking at the spirit tablets, Yimo couldn't help shaking his head. "It seems villagers aren't allowed into the ancestral shrine. They're all special roles."

"But the Thief is actually enshrined inside the ancestral shrine. That's really..."

"..."

"Too ridiculous, isn't it..."

At the thought, Yimo actually found it so absurd that he almost laughed.

After all, being a thief was hardly something glorious.

"Everyone else has a special role, while you, a special identity, have your tablet placed together with theirs..."

"Honestly..."

"Wait!"

At that thought, Yimo suddenly froze and shuddered. He hurried over and carefully examined the writing on the spirit tablets. He even picked up several and wiped away the dust covering the characters.

After finally almost confirming all the spirit tablets, he picked up a Thief tablet and pursed his lips. "The Thief is a special identity allowed into the ancestral shrine. Cupid is also a special identity, and clearly one that leans toward the gods. Yet Cupid's tablet isn't in the ancestral shrine!"

"No, it is in the ancestral shrine..."

Yimo raised his head and looked at the rows of spirit tablets before him. There were several spaces where no spirit tablet had been placed!

They were the tablets Yimo had initially thought were missing.

But... those tablets hadn't been taken by players. They had probably existed in the past, only to be removed at some point before the game began!!!

The differences in the thickness of the dust proved it!

"Dieyu, this place is hiding incredibly important information, and you actually said there was nothing here!"

Yimo's voice was somewhat low. Instead of leaving, he hurriedly looked around inside the ancestral shrine and noticed a crossbar that should have been bracing the door lying in the corner. Without caring whether it was clean, he ran over and picked it up. Rising onto his toes, he swung the crossbar and knocked the spirit tablets into a complete mess.

"Crash, bang..."

The spirit tablets that should have been standing quietly on the shelves were sent flying everywhere by Yimo.

Although this was extremely disrespectful to the village's ancestors, Yimo repented inwardly and did it anyway.

Only after the tablets were scattered messily all over the place did he let out a sigh of relief and prepare to leave.

But then...

Crack!!!

With a muffled thunderclap, lightning illuminated the entire ancestral shrine with dazzling brightness.

And right in front of Yimo...

On the shelves that had been filled with spirit tablets just a minute ago, a shadow was suddenly reflected.

The shadow resembled a corpse bound by a rope. It accompanied Yimo inside the ancestral shrine, quietly watching everything.

From there, it swayed... swayed...