Late at Night, Sleepiness Descends

Although the nine newcomers were scared and somewhat unwilling, they still accepted the assignment.

They certainly knew that keeping vigil could trigger an incident.

After all, even if you've never eaten pork, you've at least seen pigs run, and who hasn't seen a few supernatural horror movies or read a few supernatural horror novels?

But no matter how afraid they were, the decision was made by four seasoned professionals.

As newcomers, they had absolutely no courage to resist.

night.

Only the candlelight flickered in the mourning hall.

The photo of the deceased is displayed in the center. I heard that the old man passed away at the age of seventy-nine, without any illness or disaster, so it was considered a happy death.

However, this family did not hold it as a joyous funeral; it was just a regular funeral.

White wreaths were placed on both sides, and white silk was all around. A coffin was placed in the center, with a sacrificial basin at the head of the coffin, on which two pairs of candles and many incense sticks were placed.

In the countryside, people are very particular about these things. They believe that after a person dies, their soul needs incense and candles to guide it on its journey to the Yellow Spring and light its way.

Therefore, these incense sticks and candles are indispensable and cannot be extinguished; they must burn continuously, and new incense sticks and candles must be added before they are completely burned out.

The candles must continue burning until the coffin is buried; the flames must not be extinguished.

Therefore, a night watchman is needed in the mourning hall to keep an eye on the candles and add new ones from time to time.

Many people believe that this candle flame must not be extinguished or broken, otherwise the soul will get lost on the road to the Yellow Spring and will not be able to find its way to reincarnation.

Next to the coffin was a brazier.

This is used for burning paper money, in order to communicate with the underworld ghosts and jailers, so that the ghosts will not cause trouble and the jailers can take good care of the deceased.

Also, so that the deceased can have a better life in the afterlife.

Although there are many intricacies involved, most of them are simply expressions of the living's longing and yearning.

Perhaps it was also to offer some solace to the survivors who have lost loved ones, and it gradually evolved into this form.

However, the three newlyweds sat trembling on small stools in the mourning hall, feeling only fear and finding no comfort whatsoever.

On the contrary, the dark funeral hall, the flickering candlelight, the dim firelight, and the coffin sitting quietly to the side all resembled a scene from a ghost movie.

They felt a draft blowing down their necks, as if something had touched them. They shrank back and looked around nervously.

They obviously didn't see anything, but they were still terrified by their own imagination.

"Why is it that we're the ones keeping vigil while the senior members don't have to do anything? That's not fair!"

"Shh, just keep it to yourself, don't say it out loud."

"They're making us newbies who haven't even tried a single Dungeon do tasks that even seasoned veterans wouldn't dare to do. Isn't that just sending us to our deaths?"

They sat on small stools, talking in hushed tones, their voices filled with dissatisfaction with the actions of the more senior members.

"What can we do? They're veterans, we..."

"Shh... Quiet down, making noise in the mourning hall, are you out of your mind?"

The mourning hall was silent.

The newlyweds huddled together, their mouths tightly shut, the only sounds being their heavy breathing and the occasional crackling of the burning candles.

"It's okay, we'll keep watch for another three hours, then it'll be the next shift's turn."

"Being the first group is alright, but we get sleepier and sleepier as the night goes on."

"The candle is almost burned out, let's replace it with a new one."

The three newlyweds quickly changed the candles and incense.

Then they started throwing paper money into the brazier and burning it every now and then.

This continued for three hours.

They dared not be distracted, nor dared they risk the consequences of the incense and candles going out.

Fortunately, I wasn't sleepy during the first half of the night.

They rallied their spirits and held out for those four hours.

It's the next shift's turn.

Outside, a few hundred meters from the mourning hall, a family in the town was still setting up a feast.

Many people in the town, even those who were related to him, would come to his house to help with chores.

We're preparing the ingredients now; many of the main dishes need to be cleaned and prepared so they can be stir-fried as soon as the chef arrives tomorrow.

Of course, the commotion over there had nothing to do with the funeral hall.

Li Yue was assigned to the second group.

It's 10 o'clock now.

Li Yue guarded the brazier, while the other two men guarded the sacrificial basin.

"Ha~" one of the men yawned.

After entering the Dungeon, although they were assigned to keep watch at night, they were also allowed to catch up on sleep and rest. The town provided several unoccupied houses for them to rest in.

However, the newlyweds lay on the slightly moldy tatami mat, smelling a rotten odor in the air, and couldn't fall asleep for several hours with their eyes closed.

The mere thought that they might be in a supernatural Dungeon, where ghosts and monsters might appear, always made them feel like there was a pair of eyes watching them from the shadows.

If your tense nerves can't relax, you naturally won't be able to fall asleep.

The work of keeping vigil is both boring and tedious.

They kept staring at the burning candlelight, and soon felt a wave of drowsiness wash over them.

They shook their heads and yawned.

What time is it now?

"Is it almost midnight?"

"Just two more hours until our shift ends."

Li Yue glanced at the offering basin, where candles and incense were burning, with the candles only half-burned. She then focused her attention on the brazier and tossed in a piece of yellow paper money.

"This photo is really creepy."

The two sat beside the sacrificial basin, very close to the photograph placed in front of the coffin. Occasionally, when they looked up and saw the black and white photograph, they felt a chill run down their spines.

"Look closely, he seems to be staring at us."

"No way, don't scare me."

The man patted another person on the shoulder. He looked at the photo carefully for a few moments but found nothing unusual.

"Ha~" another person yawned. "I guess I'm just too sleepy and I must have misread it. It's strange, I usually don't feel this sleepy even when I stay up until three or four in the morning. Why am I sleepy so quickly today?"

"Stop yawning, it's contagious, it's making me want to yawn too, haha~"

That person couldn't help but yawn.

Li Yue was quiet, but she was deep in thought.

At the same time, he was also observing the other two newcomers.

Both newcomers were men; one was an ordinary white-collar worker, and the other was a student who had just graduated.

The guy behind him is the unlucky one who got hit by a car while crossing the street. He said the light was green when he was crossing, but the truck's brakes failed, and it couldn't stop in time, so it hit him.

Students nowadays often stay up late, sometimes even all night.

They are young and full of energy.

The white-collar worker was a middle-aged man who had been working for more than ten years. His energy was not what it used to be, so it was normal for him to feel sleepy.

But it's not normal for the recent college graduate to start feeling sleepy.