The Clap Game

The Clap Game

Wu Xian had been on edge for a long time. After reaching inside, he pulled his hand back several times in quick succession.

But what he feared didn't happen. There were no traps inside the integrated cooker, and the statue was easy to move. Wu Xian dragged it out without trouble, a smile appearing on his face.

Splut!

Wu Xian's smile froze.

"We're done for!"

Things really weren't that simple. Something else had come out with the statue!

It was a warm, sticky mass. One end had been tied to the statue with a thin cord. When the statue was pulled out, it had been dragged from deep inside the integrated cooker too, and had landed on the floor with a wet slap.

"Have you heard of a prayer like this?"

They had already known how to summon the Child-Seeking Ghost Mother.

"Praise the Ghost Mother. I offer my flesh and bones. Shield my eyes and spare my life. I clap my hands in reverence!"

Also, the Ghost Mother would keep clapping while she waited, and had to appear at least once in every round of the game.

"How can you guarantee that after we summon the Ghost Mother, she won't kill us?"

He suddenly understood what Yue Mei meant. Just as predators had their own territories, other predators usually kept their distance in the presence of a stronger one.

It seemed that the male corpse wraith moved by crawling on its hands and feet, dragging its torso along the ground.

Even though he had memorized the game rules.

On the first night, she had encountered a terror beyond imagining.

So Wu Xian found a box in the room, packed the Blessed Land Lord God statue, the incense burner, candles, and other items inside, then dragged the box out of the room as quickly as he could.

At the familiar prayer, Wu Xian's eyes widened.

That shape...

A second person had to clap within one minute. The first person had to keep their eyes closed and find the second person within ten minutes. Then the second person would become the seeker...

No wonder the male corpse had been hanging in such an obvious place. It was a trap. The moment someone tried to worship at the statue in this room, the male corpse would be released, and the wraith would set its sights on them!

The players were divided into seekers and those being sought.

The six people left split into pairs, each pair staying in a different room.

Yue Mei held her hands ready to clap, her expression devout.

After dinner.

Once outside, Wu Xian looked around carefully.

The way to keep the Breaking Door Wraith from attacking that night was to summon an even more powerful evil spirit!

But an evil spirit that was stronger would be even more deadly to them.

"It's simple. We'll all play a game with the Ghost Mother!"

But on the second night, amid the terror, she had found a rare sense of safety since entering the blessed land. The feeling made her happier than she had ever been.

The previous day had been too rushed, so everyone had made do. Now, faced with a steaming hot meal, they forgot their complaints and dug in.

Su Huilan asked Yue Mei, "You were being evasive this morning. Now's the time to tell us plainly: how are you going to solve the problem?"

It was the male corpse whose abdominal cavity had been hollowed out!

"Shit!"

Besides, tonight was different from other nights. He had to head back early to discuss with Yue Mei how they could get through the night safely.

The sun sank below the horizon.

All the survivors gathered in the First Floor Hall of Ping'an Hostel.

The city was dim, with only a few scattered billboards still glowing. The atmosphere was eerie and terrifying, and twisted shadows occasionally flickered past.

Throughout the entire game, nobody could open their eyes. They also had to remain relatively quiet and could make no loud noises other than clapping.

When the seeker changed, everyone nearby would hear the information.

If the game went smoothly, then the Child-Seeking Ghost Mother would be just an ordinary player in the game, and no evil spirits would appear at all.

Though his view had been blocked, Wu Xian knew exactly what had fallen.

I just hope this thing finds me sooner or later—but please, don't interfere with tonight's plan...

The group fell silent for a long while. Then Wu Xian asked what everyone wanted to know.

A closer look revealed that the mass was made up of internal organs—a heart, liver, stomach, lungs, intestines, and even a brain. The things mixed in among them stained the floor red and yellow.

The sun outside was already sinking in the west. If he wasted too much time outdoors, he'd have to face those eerie monsters without shelter.

The rules were simple.

Wu Xian angrily grabbed his curls, realizing he had gotten into trouble again.

But keeping your eyes closed still left you feeling anxious, especially with the door open, leaving the way clear for an evil spirit to come in at any moment.

The doors of the only remaining rooms—404, 401, and 403—opened.

First, they absolutely could not get the timing wrong.

She was a kind-hearted girl.

Of course she had to share this good news with everyone.

The dish had gone from large-intestine rice to rice stuffed in pig stomach. These people's cooking never strayed far from offal.

"Do you know about the Child-Seeking Ghost Mother?!"

If they wanted to survive the game, there were certain hard rules they couldn't break.

"Don't be disrespectful. You must address her as the Ghost Mother!"

It didn't look like it belonged to an animal or livestock.

It had come from a human!

Before Wu Xian could figure out what had happened, a shrill scream came from outside. It was full of pain and misery, along with a hint of relief.

The fourth floor of Ping'an Hostel.

Yue Mei rebuked him sharply. When she spoke of the Ghost Mother, her eyes shone with a strange light. The day before yesterday, she had been forced to go to the Original Inhabitants to seek a way out.

The Ghost Mother was the first seeker. She would target the first person to clap. Once she found that person, they would take her place as the seeker, while the Ghost Mother stayed where she was.

So she had returned to Ping'an Hostel and passed on the Ghost Mother's gospel to the other outsiders, people like herself.

But they had no choice. They had to play this game.

Shi Ji was still the one cooking today.

All they had to do was clap.

Yue Mei described the Child-Seeking Ghost Mother, and everyone immediately understood. It was the first evil spirit in this world—the one Wen Chao had once talked about!

Shi Ji asked, puzzled, "Can this evil spirit help us avoid the Breaking Door Wraith?"

But if anyone broke the rules...

The Child-Seeking Ghost Mother would turn into a terrifying nightmare, making those who broke the rules pay with their lives...