Under the gaze of sheep

There was... something seriously wrong with this Qin Manjiang.

Under everyone's wary gazes, Qin Manjiang himself looked utterly bewildered.

What was wrong?

They had been chatting perfectly happily just a moment ago.

"Hey, he seems to have completely forgotten what he just did..." He Jian whispered.

"What did I do just now?" Qin Manjiang heard He Jian's muttering and looked at everyone in surprise.

After taking a moment to recover, Shi Lianshan felt the atmosphere had returned somewhat to normal. He hurriedly started the car again and continued toward Xianyang Village. If they were late, everyone in the car would die.

"Qin, I suggest you find some time to get a checkup at the hospital."

Qin Manjiang had no idea why. This was already the second person to tell him that recently.

"Forget it, forget it. Let's drop it and get moving. Hopefully, that member of the Ten Seats in tenth place will arrive on time too. I suggest you all catch a little sleep in the car. Once we get to a place like that, there's no way we'll sleep soundly for the next seven days."

That made sense, so Qin Manjiang took the advice and dozed for a little while.

He had a gift: he never dreamed when he slept.

Ever since childhood, the quality of his sleep had been astonishingly good.

Screech-

The jolt of braking woke Qin Manjiang from his nap.

"Wake up, everyone. We're here..."

Shi Lianshan's voice reached them. In truth, none of the others had fallen fully asleep. Who could sleep peacefully somewhere they knew was haunted?

Except Qin Manjiang.

Everyone looked outside through the car windows.

They had set off that morning, and now dusk was approaching.

The sun had sunk behind the mountains, leaving only brilliant red clouds filling half the sky.

Encircled by mountains, the village houses formed a scattered cluster. In the dim light, they could make out people moving around.

Strangely, some of the houses were so exquisite and luxurious that they looked every bit as fine as villas, while others were still perfectly ordinary, low single-story homes.

"They had the money to build themselves little villas, but never thought to fix the road out of the mountains. What were they thinking?" He Jian said, shaking his head.

"If the people here thought like us normal people, would this place still be haunted?" Shi Lianshan said.

"Fair point."

Carrying bags of all sizes, they exchanged looks and took a few deep breaths. Shi Lianshan said, "Everyone, no infighting. If something happens, help if you can. If you can't, run."

The others nodded, all agreeing with him.

"One more thing, Qin. This is for you. You've only just entered the game, so there's still a lot you don't know. Unlike the ghost you encountered in the Beginner Level, a Vengeful Ghost in multiplayer mode has more than one terrifying ability. It might possess immense strength, appear and disappear without a trace, or even disguise itself as you or me. You must be careful. If you encounter it, stay calm and look for a chance to escape."

"But don't worry too much, either. Aside from exploration mode, which we know nothing about, both multiplayer mode and challenge mode have ways to clear them. The path to survival might be deeply hidden, or it might be incredibly simple. Whether you survive ultimately depends on you."

Shi Lianshan looked at Qin Manjiang, his tone softening.

It was not only because Qin Manjiang really was a new player, but also because he was the youngest. He was only twenty, an age when he should have been attending university, yet something like this had happened to him. It inevitably reminded Shi Lianshan of his own son.

Qin Manjiang nodded earnestly too. "I'll remember."

They checked the time. They had received the task at nine in the evening, and the game would begin at around nine that evening as well.

It was almost time now.

Following the principle that every moment spent outside the village was one less moment spent inside it, they dawdled for over three hours, waiting until the very last moment to enter.

Throughout that time, the tenth member of the Ten Seats never appeared.

Apparently, he had either entered the village long before them or met with an accident on the way. Either way, it was beyond their ability to resolve.

"Let's go in."

The five of them entered the village. As they passed the huge stone at the entrance inscribed with "Xianyang Village," a blood-red line abruptly appeared!

Under Qin Manjiang's startled, uncertain gaze, the blood-red light rapidly spread, enclosing the whole of Xianyang Village! Then the world outside suddenly turned pitch-black. The night seemed to have plunged into a bottomless abyss, and the stars and moon vanished completely...

"This is..."

"From this moment on, this area has been separated from the real world. But that's only how it appears to us. To the people in this village, everything is normal."

So that was it...

Qin Manjiang followed the other four, studying Xianyang Village.

After night fell, lights came on in every household.

The village had a large population and was quite lively.

And there was no denying that the village had plenty of sheep-related features.

The greatest difference from the outside world was that every household kept sheep. Not only were they not left to roam freely, they were kept inside the homes.

Moreover, every sheep they had seen so far was black.

Black goats.

"Let's find somewhere to stay first, then visit the village chief's house to ask about the situation," Shi Lianshan said.

"Do any of you feel like someone's watching us?" He Jian whispered.

"Not someone. Sheep," Qin Manjiang corrected.

His words seemed to pierce some invisible veil. In the darkness, elongated pupils suddenly appeared. From courtyards and windowsills, black sheep in every direction... all stared at them.

"Shit... This ghost story is called Sick Sheep. Could one of these sheep have become a supernatural creature?"

"Those Opening Lines too. It sounded like a sheep that developed its own consciousness was forcibly made into a god, and now it wants revenge..." He Jian said.

For some reason, that perfectly ordinary phrase, "a sheep that developed its own consciousness," left Qin Manjiang dazed for a long time.

Only when a gust of wind came whimpering past did he abruptly snap out of it.

"Hey, you lot! You're from out of town, aren't you?"

A middle-aged man's voice reached them.

They turned to look. Sure enough, it was a man in his forties or fifties.

"If you're here for the Sheep Transformation Festival, you need to register so we can arrange your accommodation and activities. Come over here."

The middle-aged man thought nothing of it. Although Xianyang Village did not receive many travelers, there were always one or two people who had heard of the Sheep Transformation Festival and chose to come during the festivities to join in the fun and seek a little good fortune.

The villagers were not particularly hostile to these outsiders, either.

Qin Manjiang and the others exchanged glances, then followed the middle-aged man over.

Something happened while they were registering their names.

"Chen Ping? You're called Chen Ping too? There's a kid in our village with the same name. Better not get them mixed up..." He said that last part very quietly, but Qin Manjiang still heard it, just as he had heard He Jian's earlier muttering.

"All right, follow me! There's a place over there specifically for travelers. Three hundred a night. If you want something to eat, you can wander around outside, or wait for tomorrow's activities. There'll be a hundred-meter banquet."

They dragged their luggage after him. Along the way, the sheep continued staring fixedly at the five of them, their elongated pupils making everyone's skin crawl.

Shi Lianshan was an old hand at dealing with people. He soon learned that the middle-aged man's surname was Chen and that his family was one of the prominent households in Xianyang Village.

"Thanks, Brother Chen. Let's have a drink sometime."

Brother Chen merely waved a hand and opened the inn's front door.

Directly opposite the entrance stood a huge dressing mirror.

But the instant the door opened!

Everyone clearly saw that, in the mirror, Brother Chen's face had turned into that of a black sheep!

Those eerie rectangular sheep pupils stared at them through the mirror, sending a chill through every one of them.

They shifted their feet, just about to turn and run, when Brother Chen turned around and looked at them impatiently. "What are you doing now? It's late. Don't go wandering around outside. If you want to look around, wait until tomorrow."

As he turned toward them, his face became human again, and his reflection returned to normal too.

But every one of them knew... their eyes had not deceived them.

The ghost story... Sick Sheep.

Were these sheep that had become human, or... humans that had become sheep?

Watching Brother Chen take their money and turn away in satisfaction, they knew...

It had already arrived.

The third update is here! That's all for today. If you have recommendation votes or monthly votes, please send some my way. Good night!

(End of chapter)