Repayment in Blood (III)

Early that morning, He Jian, Shi Lianshan, and Chen Ping left the inn.

After leaving the inn, the three headed straight for the village's Ancestral Hall.

But they ran into the village chief and his companions, who were also up early, and failed to get inside to investigate. Judging by their expressions when they later left, however, something deeply unpleasant seemed to have happened inside the Ancestral Hall.

"Too bad. They've shut the doors and even posted four guards. There's definitely something strange in there."

Shi Lianshan muttered.

He Jian studied the Ancestral Hall's size and overall design, then said, "The surrounding wall was added later, but the hall itself must be several hundred years old. There's more to this village than meets the eye."

"If there weren't, it wouldn't be haunted," Shi Lianshan said. Then, as though something had occurred to him, he added, "Tell me, ghosts clearly exist in this world, and every one of them is so powerful. Even people like the Ten Seats can't fight a vengeful ghost head-on after redeeming permanent items. So why hasn't the real world descended into chaos?"

"Restrictions imposed by rules, probably. I think even ghosts can't resist the will of the entire world," He Jian answered, drawing on his own understanding. "Ultimately, our world is material, while ghosts are almost entirely manifestations of the mind. Their existence might pose an enormous threat to the foundations of the material world, so the world itself must be restricting them."

"I... I was thinking... this Game might be... an embodiment of the World Will." The usually quiet Chen Ping offered his own opinion.

"Let's leave that aside," He Jian sighed. "Judging by the opening message, the layout of the village, and the village chief's suspicious movements, the secret should be inside the Ancestral Hall. But we can't get in."

"Why don't we fight our way in? You're a PE teacher. You should be able to handle two of them, right?" Shi Lianshan clenched his fists. "We can't just sit here and let a little obstacle stop us. We know something's wrong in there. We have to get inside."

"First, I'm a history teacher. I just like exercising and happen to be a bit muscular," He Jian stressed. "Second, you only know there are four people outside the doors. What if they've left guards inside the Ancestral Hall too? I'm not that good a fighter."

Shi Lianshan glanced at He Jian's physique, which could completely hide Chen Ping behind it. A bit muscular?

"Actually... there's a hole over there."

Chen Ping, who had been silent for some time, pointed toward the wall on the other side.

"Really?" Shi Lianshan's eyes lit up, and he asked offhandedly, "How did you know, Chen?"

Chen Ping lowered his head sheepishly. "You were both watching the village chief and the others earlier. My mind wandered, and I looked the other way. I happened to see someone sneak into the bushes and never come out. I thought... there must be a hole or something in there that we can get through."

He Jian turned to look at him, then nodded. "Whether we can get through or not, let's take a look first."

They made the decision quickly. All three agreed.

They crept over to the wall, where the bushes did indeed show signs of having been pushed aside.

"Hey! There really is a hole!"

Shi Lianshan said happily.

He was about to crawl through when He Jian stopped him.

"Chen, you're smaller and more nimble. You try first."

Chen Ping seemed to think nothing of He Jian's suggestion. He nodded and crawled through without hesitation.

"Shi! He! I'm through! It's safe!"

On the other side of the white wall, He Jian and Shi Lianshan wore completely different expressions now. Shi Lianshan called back, "Good! We'll be right there!"

His reply sounded relaxed, but there was no trace of ease on his face.

"Something's wrong with this kid," Shi Lianshan whispered.

"Yes. Something's been wrong since last night." He Jian nodded. "He's been steering us into doing things. Shi, keep your guard up."

"Right."

Without discussing it further, the two crawled through the hole in the bushes one after the other and entered the Ancestral Hall grounds.

Perhaps it was all in their heads, but the moment they entered, the sky seemed much gloomier, and... their surroundings had become much quieter.

Despite the mountains surrounding them, they couldn't hear a single insect or bird.

The sensation was deeply unsettling.

They couldn't quite describe it... it felt as though... something terrible would happen if they went any farther.

Chen Ping suddenly turned to look at them. "The Ancestral Hall is right there. Let's go."

One glance at the hall sent alarm bells ringing in both men's minds!

Their lips grew terribly dry, and a suffocating sensation welled up within them.

There was definitely something inside that hall!

"Sh-should... I go first again?" Seeing that neither man moved, Chen Ping seemed a little hurt.

"Stop! Don't go over there either," Shi Lianshan stopped him.

"Can't you feel it? There's no sound at all. Just like Qin Manjiang told us last night. I suspect... the Sheep Ghost has dragged the entire Ancestral Hall into that completely silent domain," He Jian whispered. "No. We can't go any farther. Let's get out!"

He took a step back and turned to look for the hole, only to discover, to his horror, that the opening that should have been at the foot of the wall was gone!

"Where's the hole?" He Jian began to panic. "We came in through here, didn't we?"

Shi Lianshan was also rattled. After searching several times with He Jian, both saw the fear in the other's eyes.

"I was thinking... if the entire Ancestral Hall grounds are a soundless space created by a vengeful ghost, doesn't that also mean it knew we'd broken in from the moment we entered...?" He Jian looked up at the hall and spoke bitterly.

"We have no way back now... do we?" Chen Ping, on the other hand, seemed the calmest of them all. "Since we can't retreat, we might as well keep going... If it's as you said, and we've broken in but it hasn't killed us yet, either it's too busy killing someone else to deal with us, or... it deliberately wants us to see what's inside the Ancestral Hall..."

"Either way, we have to hurry. We can't waste any more time."

At Chen Ping's words, Shi Lianshan and He Jian exchanged glances and nodded. "All right. We'll go in together!"

The inner hall was locked too, but the wooden window hadn't been secured completely. A narrow gap remained.

Chen Ping pushed the wooden window open, and Shi Lianshan and He Jian quickly climbed through.

Once both men had landed safely, Chen Ping climbed into the room as well.

The room was large and cold.

The dark yellow roof beams were weathered with age. Incense ash lay scattered across the icy floor, where faint dark red spots were visible, as though something had once dripped there. Though the floor had been wiped and cleaned, traces remained.

"What's that?"

A dark gold incense burner stood in the center of the room. Five sticks of Longevity Incense protruded from it, extinguished before they had burned all the way down.

On the altar directly facing the incense burner sat two wooden trays.

Apparently, the incense had been offered to whatever lay in those trays.

Yet at that moment, the trays were completely empty.

"Are these... sheep horns and a sheepskin?"

Chen Ping suddenly spoke.

He Jian, who had been staring at the trays, immediately felt his scalp prickle and a chill run down his back.

What was he talking about?

Where were these sheep horns and sheepskin?

Why could he see something in the trays?

Before He Jian could speak, Shi Lianshan glanced over and also saw that the trays were empty. Instinctively, he said, "What things?"

The instant the words left his mouth, Shi Lianshan realized something was wrong.

"Really?"

"Only... I can see them...?"

Chen Ping murmured. Suddenly... blood seeped from his eyes, and horrific strangulation marks appeared around his neck.

A deathly chill.

Now, both Shi Lianshan and He Jian could distinctly feel an unimaginably terrifying, malicious gaze fixed on their backs.

But... neither dared turn around.

Was it Chen Ping?

Was Chen Ping a ghost?

Why?

The malice in his eyes was completely undisguised now... How could they escape?

"Am I..."

"Already dead?"

Chen Ping slowly raised his hands, and patches of lividity eerily surfaced on his skin.

Bloody tears streamed from the corners of his eyes as Chen Ping smiled eerily.

"Tell me... your wishes."

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(End of chapter)