Breaking the Game (3)

The unique texture the candy brought made her feel a sense of novelty, and for a moment, marriage didn't seem so terrifying. But why did her mother object so strongly?

Was it jealousy that she got to eat such delicious things?

Sitting by the bedside, she harbored a hint of complaint towards her mother.

She carefully, bit by bit, licked the remaining candy from the wrapper.

Her heart felt happy because of the sweetness the candy brought. Just as only a tiny piece of candy was left on the wrapper, the tightly shut door creaked open.

She looked at the person entering with confusion. Seeing it was the village chief who had initially given her the candy, her heart grew even happier, thinking he had come to give her more.

She looked at the village chief's cloudy, yellowish eyes and mustered the courage to reach out, wanting another piece of candy.

What awaited her instead was an ending like a wolf pouncing on its prey. She didn't understand why the village chief suddenly pressed down on her and tore open her clothes.

The village chief coaxed her, his breath reeking of the acrid smell of opium.

He told her not to be afraid, that he would give her more delicious things later.

She naively believed that doing as the village chief said would earn her more candy, so she endured the discomfort without crying or making a fuss.

Little did she know, that was the beginning of a devilish ordeal.

That night, for every person celebrating outside, there were just as many who entered this room…

Finally, by dawn, not a single piece of candy had arrived. Naked, she hugged her clothes and, enduring the pain, tremblingly walked to the door. She heard the middle-aged man outside, still drunk, contentedly counting the rice, flour, soy sauce, and vinegar given by others, muttering, "With a young girl in the room, we'll never worry about food or clothing again…"

She looked back at the messy bed and her own bewildered state, as if she finally understood something.

She let go of her clothes, dropping them to the ground, and walked out completely naked. Her dazed gaze fell upon the middle-aged man slumped in a chair, a wide smile on his face.

She echoed his smile and picked up the scissors from the table. Though her movements were frenzied, her expression was calm.

She cut open the unfamiliar floral packaging of the rice, flour, soy sauce, and vinegar.

Even though her hands were weak, she still forcefully threw those items onto the ground. Finally, she picked up the scissors and stabbed the man in front of her.

By dawn, only a raging fire remained in the entire village.

The village ended its farce in flames and annihilation.

That great fire took not only the people involved but also the guilt of others.

The roses in front of her scattered with the wind, their petals falling to the ground.

Zheng Wuyou and the two people behind her returned to Zhu Li's home.

Why did the story's ending diverge with different perspectives?

In this story, that night…

Did Zhu Li die at the doorway long ago?

Zheng Wuyou lowered her head and discovered that Zhu Li, who was holding her hand, had turned into a skeleton.

The bones rested on her hand, and roses grew along his skeletal structure.

He lay nestled among the blooming roses.

As if slumbering there forever.

Until a pair of hands pulled hers out from the bones…

Zheng Wuyou, snapping back to reality, lowered her head and realized…

The roses had, at some unknown time, climbed onto the back of her hand along the bones.

Threatening to engulf her in broad daylight.

"Don't get distracted," Miao Laisheng's simple three words carried a hint of anger.

Zheng Wuyou sheepishly plucked the roses clinging to the back of her hand and played with them in the sunlight.

"Tell me…" she looked up, the setting sun vaguely casting through the petals onto her face, "where would those siblings parasitize together?"

Miao Laisheng didn't answer, merely casting his gaze in the direction of Old Zhu's family.

This was not a terrifying level, yet each scene inscribed the deepest fears.

In the final moment before leaving Zhu Li's home, Zheng Wuyou glanced back at the spectacular center of the small courtyard.

Her previous guess was wrong…

Zhu Li was indeed the King Yama from the children's rhyme, but he wore the face of not all women, but… his sister's.

Thus, positioned between good and evil, his scales were always tipping to one side.

As Zheng Wuyou hurried towards Old Zhu's family, her gaze swept across the wooden houses.

She always felt she had overlooked something…

Hu Yu and Wen Dian, along with others, had been waiting at Old Zhu's family for a long time.

They, without exception, had entered that rose-filled feast.

Their complexions were not good, having just witnessed two dramatic turns of events immersively.

Hu Yu, in particular, had very complex feelings at this moment.

It felt as bad as eating shit.

While pitying Zhu Li, she also hated these people for dragging them into this.

"What kind of place full of bad customs is this?" Wen Dian looked at the petals falling all over the ground, saying it was romantic... but these were blood-stained roses.

"A game that kills people." Zheng Wuyou ignored these people who felt uncomfortable and walked directly to the backyard.

At this time, the orange-red sunset once again dyed the entire sky.

Once the sun sets...

The entire Zhu Family Village will become the deserted village from the first night outside the window.

Thinking of the scene in the woodshed, Zheng Wuyou sighed inwardly.

These ghosts were starting to become aggressive.

Tonight was bound to be fraught with danger.

She couldn't drag it out any longer...

"We searched the backyard, and there was nothing. This house is like an empty one left behind after a hasty escape." Uncle Cai hurried to Zheng Wuyou's side in the backyard. Seeing her staring blankly at the bare backyard, he kindly explained to her.

Even the tree they saw in the side yard at first had withered and collapsed beside it, unable to withstand the wind and rain.

No...

Something's wrong...

All the women in the backyard, in order for us to understand the truth, spared no expense, sacrificing themselves at the altar to recreate the scene of that year with their bones.

And Zhu Li, who had been bound to the villagers for so long, also became a pile of bones struggling with his sister.

If Zhu Li disappears, the villagers will disappear with him.

She thought the door to passing the trial would be in the backyard, which was full of secrets...

But now, it was barren and completely exposed.

Where would the key to trapping herself be?

A chicken walked calmly between their feet, beginning to peck at its wriggling dinner in the ground like a dragonfly skimming the water.

Zheng Wuyou had to lift her foot to let the chicken pass.

"Let's check the second floor of the wooden house."

In a daze, Zheng Wuyou remembered the woman who always sat by her bed at night.

It turned out there was one more point of doubt she hadn't figured out...

That was the three tightly shut rooms in the wooden house.

Miao Laisheng and the others waited in Old Zhu's family courtyard. From a distance, they saw her with short brown hair, dusty and disheveled, rushing out of the gate.

Uncle Cai, who was unaware of what was happening, followed behind her.

"What's wrong?" Hu Yu wanted to stop her and ask when she saw her rushing around in a hurry.

But she was too fast, so she could only stop Uncle Cai behind her.

"I don't know what's wrong with Big Sister either!" Uncle Cai only gave a brief answer as he turned his head before quickly following.

However, no one noticed Miao Laisheng standing in place, watching that retreating figure and sighing inwardly.

The five people still alive in Zhu Family Village crowded onto the second floor of the wooden house, scrambling to get there.

Except for Miao Laisheng, who maintained a distance, no one dared to disturb Zheng Wuyou, who was studying the note at the very front.

"This is interesting, there's even a seal on the door." Zheng Wuyou wanted to tear off the seal immediately, but considering that night was approaching.

So she turned and told Miao Laisheng.