Carnivore (3) Couplets

As everyone crossed the stone tablet at the village entrance inscribed with the three characters "Su Village," a crisp, childish voice rang out from the air, singing a nursery rhyme:

[Year of famine, year of dearth, no rice or flour to stave off the curse.]

[Outside the ancestral hall, by the locust tree, set up a big pot to boil meat for thee.]

Qi Si looked in the direction of the sound and saw a gaunt, pot-bellied boy sitting on a stark, withered tree.

The boy's skeleton-like frame was topped with a bloated, hydrocephalic head; veins and blood vessels stood out beneath his thin skin. He was as dark as if he had been rolling in mud, save for a pair of startlingly white eyes.

He chanted the nursery rhyme while swinging his feet, the bells tied to his ankles chiming with a cold, metallic sound.

Seeing the players approach, the boy jumped down from the tree, tilted his head to examine them, and giggled, "You must be the guests Grandma mentioned, right? I've been waiting for you for such a long time."

He clutched his stomach with twig-like hands, his pupil-less eyes staring ahead as he muttered, "I'm so hungry, I'm so hungry. Which one of you has meat for me to eat?"

The boy's gaze wandered over the players, greedy and covetous, as if he might pounce and start feeding at any moment.

Qi Si had never liked children, and it was clear this one harbored ill intent. He rubbed the special bracelet on his right wrist, darkness gathering in the depths of his eyes.

He soon realized, however, that this state of mind was unusual, as if his hostility had been deliberately triggered by some mechanism.

The disheveled man standing nearby clearly hadn't thought that far; he stepped forward and slapped the boy across the face.

Qi Si noticed that the man had a cross tied to his palm with a black cord, which emitted a blinding white light the moment it made contact with the boy.

This was likely an item he had obtained in his first instance, meant for dealing with ghosts; his sudden attack was not without reason.

"I'll beat you to death! I'll beat you to death!" The man cursed while slapping the boy, as if to bolster his own courage or perhaps to put on a show for the others.

The two newcomers watched with awe, and the other veteran players made no move to intervene.

Rashly attacking a ghost NPC could be a death sentence, but it could also signify an opportunity to raise one's rating or unlock achievements.

It was best to let the bold test the waters; the players were well-versed in the philosophy of abandoning the savior complex and mocking the fates of others.

The boy did not fight back, nor did he show any reaction. As the man's slaps continued, his head tilted further and further until, with a "plop," it fell to the ground at a ninety-degree angle.

The man recoiled in shock, only to see the severed head rolling across the ground before biting down on his pant leg.

The boy's gaunt body stood upright nearby, a hollow, muffled voice emanating from his abdomen: "Are you willing to give me meat to eat?"

The system notification sounded right on cue.

[The Rules have been refreshed]

[1. The ghosts of Su Village cannot be killed by power originating from outside the village. They are vengeful, but sometimes forgetful; as long as you are willing to provide them with meat, they are willing to be your friend.]

The disheveled man, Zhao Feng, lost all his previous ferocity the moment he saw the refreshed rules on the system interface, his face turning a pale, fearful shade.

The others whispered words like "unkillable" and "it's over," looking at him as if he were already a dead man.

Qi Si squinted at the new rule, his eyebrows arching slightly.

He hadn't expected this to be another "Rule of Horror" instance, though compared to the last one, the rules here were hidden much deeper. They weren't given directly to the players, but required them to court death to test them.

If they couldn't be killed by power from outside the village, did that mean they had to rely on power from within? But what would that be?

"I'm so hungry, I'm so hungry, give me meat to eat..." Blood seeped into the eyes of the severed head as it grinned, revealing rows of dense, jagged teeth.

The teeth were coated in mucus and shreds of meat, a nauseating sight; the incessant, rambling murmurs grated on the players' nerves, stirring an inexplicable irritation. A few even felt the urge to follow in Zhao Feng's footsteps and take a knife to the ghost child.

"Agree to it," Yang Yundong suddenly said in a low voice.

Zhao Feng kicked his leg, trying to shake the head off, while shouting at the top of his lungs: "How can I agree? Where am I supposed to get meat for him?"

Yang Yundong raised his voice: "If you don't want to die right now, agree to it!"

Zhao Feng was stunned, his body stiffening.

Seeing the head's expression becoming increasingly ferocious, he could only stare and shout: "I agree! I'll give you meat to eat!"

The head released its bite and looked upward, staring fixedly into Zhao Feng's eyes.

Yang Yundong instructed, "Tell him you don't have any meat for him right now, and that he'll have to wait a few days."

Zhao Feng looked down, locking eyes with the head on the ground: "I don't have any meat for you right now; you'll have to wait a few days."

After saying this, he held his breath, waiting for a response.

After an unknown amount of time, the boy's body bent down, picked up the head from the ground, and expertly reattached it to his bare neck.

"It's a deal. Tomorrow—tomorrow I want to eat meat."

As he spoke, he twisted his head and smiled at the players as if nothing had happened: "You must be the guests Grandma mentioned, right? My name is Axi. Follow me to my house; we love guests the most."

The boy called "Axi" turned around, no longer looking at the players, and skipped ahead to lead the way.

At this, everyone secretly breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed the first death trap had been cleared through sheer dumb luck.

With Yang Yundong still in the lead, the players followed one after another.

Zhao Feng cursed under his breath and sidled up to Yang Yundong: "Brother Yang, what do I do tomorrow? Where am I supposed to find meat for him?"

Yang Yundong didn't even look back: "Figure it out yourself. You deserve it for provoking these ghosts on your own."

Zhao Feng was rebuffed, his facial muscles twitching in indignation: "If it weren't for these damn rules, I would have sent it to oblivion in a heartbeat! Now it's over; I can't kill it, and it's riding on my back..."

Zhu Ling, standing nearby, quickly offered comfort: "Don't be afraid. Every ghost has a way to be countered. At the very worst, you have a whole day to find some meat."

Zhao Feng glanced at her twice and fell silent.

The roads inside Su Village were narrow and rugged, with dilapidated houses crowded on both sides, creating a cramped and oppressive atmosphere.

The couplets pasted on the doors of the houses had long since faded and tattered, clinging to the wood like festering scars, their characters blurred and illegible.

Moss and ferns grew wantonly on the eaves, dangling down and swaying slightly in the breeze.

Looking along the path, the interiors of the windows were pitch black, with not a single shadow to be seen.

Where had all the people gone? For a village that attracted tourists, even if it wasn't lined with shops, it shouldn't be this desolate, should it?

Qi Si waited for a long time, but when no other players asked a question, he simply asked in a casual, conversational tone, "A-Xi, why are there so few people in your village? Have they all moved away?"

"Not at all." The boy leading the way replied with a smile, "When night falls, everyone will come out."

Qi Si raised an eyebrow, feigning curiosity, "Why don't they come out during the day? I see your tourism industry is well-developed; wouldn't it be more profitable to set up stalls during the day?"

He was telling a complete lie; Su Village looked dilapidated no matter how one viewed it, showing no signs of a thriving tourism industry.

But lies often provoke the desire to refute, thereby eliciting more information.

The boy took the bait and shook his head, "You're lying! Grandma said that ever since 'that incident' happened, no one has come to our village for tourism in a long time."

Qi Si pressed, "What was 'that incident'?"

The boy shook his head repeatedly, "You'll have to ask Grandma; Grandma won't let me say."

"Fair enough. But since no one comes for tourism, why do you all stay here?" Qi Si feigned disbelief, "I don't see anyone farming, and staying in the village yields no income. You'd be better off finding work in the city."

The boy said in an exaggerated tone, "Grandma told me that someone must stay in the village, otherwise there would be no one to look after the ancestral hall, and something terrible would happen!"

Qi Si wanted to ask, "What kind of terrible thing?" but saw the boy point to a courtyard in the distance and say, "Look, that's my house up ahead!"

The courtyard featured a traditional design with upturned eaves, and two faded red lanterns hung beneath them, looking no different from an ordinary rural residence.

Two "Fu" characters were pasted on the door, and there were couplets on the doorposts: the right side read "Year after year, burn incense to remove karmic obstacles," and the left read "Year after year, eat vegetarian to dissolve sins."

The couplets had faded, but the characters were still legible, indicating they hadn't been up for very long—certainly less than a year.

Qi Si's gaze lingered on the words "eat vegetarian" on the couplet; if he remembered correctly, this instance was called "Carnivore"...

In the silence, a long, drawn-out creak suddenly echoed. The door opened from the inside, and an old woman wearing a floral garment of red and yellow stepped out.

Her hair was completely white and coiled at the back of her head. Her wrinkled face looked like a crumpled tissue, darkened as if smeared with charcoal. She wore small black cloth shoes and stood shakily, as if a gust of wind could knock her over.

Compared to the clearly strange boy, her expression could be described as kind and benevolent, and her face and figure showed no abnormalities, looking exactly like a living person.

Upon seeing the old woman, the boy ran up happily, hugged her leg, and turned his head to look back at the players.

The old woman leaned against the doorframe, grinned with her toothless mouth, and said with a chuckle, "Guests have arrived. Come, let's assign the rooms. Only after the rooms are assigned can we share the meat..."