Crossroads

But the child didn't continue the story. Instead, he abruptly began singing something else.

"Ten little black boys went out to dine."

"One choked and couldn't be saved; then there were nine."

"Nine little black boys stayed up late, feeling tired."

"One went to sleep and never woke; then there were eight."

Why was it Mother Goose Nursery Rhymes again?

Zhou You frowned, but still followed the song's instructions. He raised his leg and jumped out.

After that, the child sang more than a dozen songs in succession. Most were well-known "dark nursery rhymes," but the pace grew faster and faster, and Zhou You struggled more and more to keep up.

Fortunately, he managed to hold on.

But just as he was about to reach the exit, the child's voice suddenly changed again.

This time, however, it was no longer a solo. The grotesque faces on the walls suddenly broke free of their restraints and began singing along.

In an instant, the nursery rhyme became a chaotic, terrifying jumble. Every voice seemed to take on physical form, forcing its way into Zhou You's ears. After only a few lines, he felt an overwhelming urge to vomit.

"All the children were brought there."

"That was the Master's mansion."

"The house was dark, and bloodstains covered everything in sight."

"Even the solemn Bodhisattva Statue had been draped in a deep red robe."

"The children were so frightened by the sight that they wept bitterly."

"But just then,"

"they suddenly heard a voice say,"

"Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid at all."

"Because very soon, we'll become one."

As the deafening chorus stopped, the system notification sounded.

"You have been corrupted. Your sanity has decreased. Current sanity: 80/100."

--Damn it, the difficulty went up? You didn't even give me a warning!

Clenching his teeth and enduring the disorientation that came with his loss of sanity, Zhou You finally spotted a head with a fused body drawn on it. With the time limit almost up, he jumped onto it.

"After that,"

"The Master finally received the long-awaited reward."

"But it still wasn't enough."

"It would never be enough."

"So if he didn't find more,"

"the next one would be himself."

"You have been corrupted. Your sanity has decreased. Current sanity: 75/100."

The disorientation grew worse. Zhou You seemed to be hallucinating again. Layers of rotting flesh appeared in the alley, piling one on top of another until they formed a grotesque face.

For some reason, the face seemed familiar to him. But there was no time to think about it. He searched around and finally found a suitable "Master"—a picture of a portly gentleman—then hurriedly jumped down.

The alley's exit was right before him, but it was obvious his opponent wasn't going to let him escape so easily. The final song began.

"So the children grew fewer and fewer,"

"until one day, there were none left."

"The Master could only set a fire, destroying all the evidence."

"But that wasn't how the story would end."

"So who would be next?"

The voice paused. Then the child, the faces, the walls—even the floor—began to laugh wildly.

"It's you, it's you, it's you!"

The song roared like a tidal wave, nearly turning his brain to mush. Under normal circumstances, an ordinary person would have had no chance of escaping. But Zhou You suddenly grinned.

He was always being overlooked and forgotten, but he did have a skill that let him ignore sanity loss.

"Wuwo Ruding, activate."

His muddled mind cleared. Zhou You glanced around and immediately picked his target. It was a face that belonged to him. He leaped with all his strength!

Then, all at once, the surroundings fell silent.

Zhou You turned around and saw that all the faces had withdrawn. The alley was dark and empty once more.

The child standing at the other end had also stopped singing. The cruel smile was gone from its face, but there was no other expression, either. It simply watched Zhou You indifferently for a moment. Then a gust of wind blew, and it scattered like ash.

"Congratulations, player. You have completed the side quest: Escape."

"Player has obtained a temporary green talent: Basic Acting."

"Effect: When interacting with others, you can use your acting to forcibly conceal your emotional fluctuations, preventing them from becoming suspicious of you."

<Fooling people is an art. Fooling ghosts is an even greater art. For now, you've only learned a little of the basics.>

"Game progress has been saved automatically."

"Half of the night patrol mission is complete. Please keep up the good work and finish this scenario as soon as possible."

Hearing this, Zhou You didn't feel relieved. Instead, his expression grew strange.

--The mission was complete now, but more and more questions had come up.

First, the Master's identity should be clear by now. He was the Liu Family Richest Man in this city, and the one who had set all of this in motion. But how had a human managed to create this scenario?

Second, what was the voice the children heard in the mansion? Was it connected to the Bodhisattva Statue? And what did it mean to become one?

Third, it seemed the Master had received some kind of reward through those children. But why had he said that if he didn't find more, he'd be the next one sacrificed?

There were more clues now, but unfortunately, just as he'd thought before, there still wasn't any key piece that could tie them together.

"It looks like the farther I go, the more this scenario reveals. Forget it. I won't figure anything out by thinking about it now. I should get back to the patrol."

With that, Zhou You looked ahead.

Beyond the alley lay a crossroads.

According to the patrol map, every direction from this intersection led to the final destination, Chang Song Slope. It looked simple enough, with no special markings at all. But...

"This is obviously making me gamble on luck, isn't it?"

One path ahead, one to the left, and one to the right. He had to choose one of the three and hope he picked the Life Gate.

Zhou You really disliked games that came down to pure luck. For some reason, he'd always been unlucky whenever chance was involved. But since the other side had set it up this way, he had no choice but to play along.

"Men go left, women go right, and monsters go down the middle. So I'll... take the left."

Zhou You chose a path and went straight in.

The night grew darker.

In this run-down neighborhood, the only sound was the faint rustling coming from the stairwells.

After patrolling several times, Zhou You had grown more accustomed to the surroundings, and his pace was steady. He soon covered half the distance.

Unfortunately, how did that saying go?

Things never went exactly as you wished.

Zhou You had always been right about his own luck.

Just after he passed a corner, the bell on his wrist suddenly rang.

--And then he saw something he absolutely did not want to see.

A woman in a white dress sat in the middle of the road, hugging her knees. She looked as though she was crying.

But under the streetlight...

She had no shadow.