The Sacrifice Enters the Coffin!
"Will the sacrifice please enter the coffin of her own accord."
The aged voice fell silent.
Boom-!
The ancestral hall's doors slammed completely shut.
Even the last trace of light from outside was cut off.
All seven spirit tablets lit up with a faint blood-red glow.
The blood-colored wooden chest stood at the very center.
Click.
Click, click.
It sounded as though something was scratching inside.
Shen Niannian stood at the door.
She didn't move.
(｡ŏ_ŏ)
The atmosphere was great.
The coffin was great too.
The person who had to get inside wasn't doing so great.
The next second.
Bloody words seeped out of the wall once more.
[The sacrifice has entered the ancestral hall.] [The sacrifice must enter the coffin of her own accord within ten breaths.] [Failure to do so in time-out of character.]
A countdown appeared.
[10]
Shen Niannian's expression instantly turned serious.
She couldn't delay.
Wu Lei's death had already proved it.
Once someone refused to carry out an explicit character action.
The theater really would kill them.
But the coffin before her.
No matter how she looked at it, it didn't seem like something she could lie in for five minutes and then climb out of on her own.
The livestream chat was already on edge.
"Ten seconds?!"
"How is that enough time to analyze anything?!"
"There's definitely something wrong with going in, but if she doesn't, she'll be out of character!"
"The end of the first act really was a killing move!"
"That earlier line about the sacrifice entering the ancestral hall was only the first layer!"
Outside the ancestral hall.
Ye Qinglan shoved hard against the door.
It didn't budge.
"Shen Niannian, what's happening in there?"
Her voice could reach inside.
But she couldn't get in.
Shen Niannian answered quickly, "It's making me get into the coffin myself within ten seconds. If I don't, I'll be judged out of character."
Ye Qinglan's expression changed at once.
She didn't say anything like "Don't go in."
Because everyone knew now.
That would only make Shen Niannian die faster.
"First, check the rules for the coffin itself!"
"I'm looking!"
Shen Niannian had already activated [Identity Archive].
[Target: Chen Family Sacrificial Coffin] [Category: sacrificial supernatural object] [Danger level: A-rank]
The moment she saw its rank.
Her heart gave a hard thump.
A-rank!
Not B-rank.
Not an ordinary plot prop.
This thing was an A-rank supernatural object in its own right!
[8] [Purpose: complete the Chen family's Delivering the Sacrifice ritual] [Current status: awaiting sacrifice] [Execution conditions: once the official sacrifice enters the sacrificial coffin and the coffin is sealed, the Chen family's ancestral spirits will claim the sacrifice's life.]
Shen Niannian's pupils contracted sharply.
There it was!
The true death conditions.
An official sacrifice.
Entering the sacrificial coffin.
The coffin being sealed.
Three conditions!
The problem was-
Did she count as an "official sacrifice" right now or not?
[6]
The extra information finally updated.
[Environment-related information: the current target has not yet obtained the "complete sacrificial attire" or "ancestral spirits' recognition." Her status as a sacrifice is not yet complete.]
Shen Niannian's eyes lit up.
(✧ω✧)
Just as she thought!
She hadn't put on the complete wedding attire in the previous chapter.
All that trouble hadn't been for nothing!
She was the [sacrifice] in the story.
But not a sacrifice officially recognized by the Chen family's ancestral spirits!
That meant-
She could enter the coffin.
Sealing it might not kill her!
But that was still only the system's assessment.
When she actually lay down inside.
Who knew what would happen?
[4]
The red rope suddenly tightened.
Shen Niannian was yanked a step forward.
"Hiss!"
Large patches of blood-colored patterns appeared on the floor tiles beneath her feet.
Hoarse whispers came from all seven spirit tablets at once.
"Enter the coffin..."
"Enter the coffin..."
"Enter the coffin..."
The voices grew more and more incessant.
It was as if countless dead people were pressing close to her ears, urging her to her death.
Comments were already flooding the livestream chat.
"Only four seconds left!"
"She's still not going in?!"
"If she stalls any longer, she'll get the same out-of-character punishment as Wu Lei!"
"Hurry!"
Shen Niannian gritted her teeth.
She hesitated no longer.
"Fine!"
"I'll get in!"
[3]
She hurried over to the sacrificial coffin.
She braced both hands on the edge.
She lifted one short little leg.
She didn't make it over.
Shen Niannian: "..."
(°ー°〃)
The edge of the coffin was a little high for her.
Livestream chat: "..."
"Seriously? Your height's stopping you at a time like this?!"
"Quick, lift her in!"
"There's no one in there!"
[2]
"Shit!"
Shen Niannian stepped straight onto the footstool beside her.
She lifted her black-and-red skirt.
And clambered into the sacrificial coffin.
Splat.
She landed sitting on the red cloth.
[1] [The sacrifice has been detected entering the coffin of her own accord.]
The countdown stopped.
Shen Niannian had barely begun to breathe a sigh of relief.
Boom!
The coffin lid rose above her in an instant.
Then it came crashing down!
"I knew it!"
Shen Niannian's scalp tingled.
She immediately lay flat.
Bang-!
The coffin lid closed completely.
Darkness swallowed her vision.
The livestream picture went completely black at that moment too.
The livestream chat exploded.
"It closed!"
"Shen Niannian?!"
"She isn't really dead, is she?!"
"Where's the system notification?!"
"There's no death notification!"
Outside the ancestral hall.
Ye Qinglan stared at the tightly shut doors.
Her hand had tightened around her saber.
Just then.
Seven overlapping voices rang out inside the ancestral hall.
[The sacrificial coffin has been closed.] [Confirming the sacrifice's identity.]
Shen Niannian lay in the cramped coffin.
Completely still.
All she could hear was her own heartbeat.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
Then.
An ice-cold hand reached out from beneath the red cloth.
It grabbed her ankle.
A second hand.
A third.
More and more.
They crept up her calves and arms, bit by bit.
Shen Niannian's face turned pale.
(ΩДΩ)
Knowing she wasn't the official sacrifice was one thing.
Being grabbed by a bunch of dead people's hands was another!
"Calm down."
"The system said I'm not a complete sacrifice yet."
"Calm down..."
The next second.
A hand reached straight up to her neck.
Shen Niannian: "..."
(╥﹏╥)
She couldn't calm down at all!
The voices from the seven spirit tablets rang out at once.
[Checking sacrificial attire.] [Sacrificial attire completeness: insufficient.]
The hands gripping her paused briefly.
[Checking for ancestral spirit mark.] [No ancestral spirit mark found.] [Confirming sacrifice's identity...]
Shen Niannian held her breath.
Three seconds.
Five seconds.
The hand touching her neck inside the coffin.
Slowly tightened.
Just as Shen Niannian was ready to force the coffin lid open-
[Confirmation failed.]
All the ice-cold hands stopped at once.
Then.
They all withdrew beneath the red cloth like a receding tide.
Shen Niannian's eyes flew open.
It worked!
[The current target qualifies as the "plot sacrifice."] [The target does not meet the conditions for an "official sacrifice."] [Unable to accept the sacrifice.]
Boom!
The sacrificial coffin shook violently.
Angry voices rang out from all seven spirit tablets in the ancestral hall at once.
"Incomplete!"
"The sacrifice is incomplete!"
"Who let her dress like this?!"
Shen Niannian lay in the coffin.
The corners of her mouth slowly curled upward.
(✧ω✧)
All her earlier deductions.
Paid off at this moment!
If she had obediently put on the complete red bridal gown just now.
She would most likely have been stone-cold dead by now.
But she had only put on the outer robe.
The plot recognized her as the sacrifice.
But the ancestral spirits couldn't!
The livestream lit up again.
The first thing all the viewers saw.
Was the coffin lid flying open.
A little silver-white head slowly sat up.
Her black-and-red Lolita outfit was completely intact.
And so was she.
Shen Niannian braced herself against the edge of the coffin.
And let out a long breath.
"That scared me to death..."
(╥﹏╥)
The next second.
Golden notifications appeared.
[The sacrifice has completed the plot event of entering the coffin.] [The Chen family's ancestral spirits failed to accept the sacrifice.] [Act one, "Delivering the Sacrifice," complete!] [Actor Shen Niannian survived!]
The livestream chat paused for half a second.
Then it exploded.
"Holy shit!!!"
"She survived!"
"She deliberately didn't put on the complete bridal gown earlier. So this was what she was waiting for?!"
"The plot required her to be the sacrifice, so she got into the coffin to complete it; the ancestral spirits had to recognize her as the official sacrifice to kill her, but she wasn't wearing the complete sacrificial attire!"
"That was so satisfying!"
"Changing the plot earlier wasn't about buying time. She dismantled the final killing move in advance!"
Outside the ancestral hall.
Ye Qinglan heard the notification that the first act was complete.
Her tense expression finally relaxed.
She said softly:
"Nicely done."
Meanwhile, inside the ancestral hall.
Shen Niannian had just gotten ready to climb out of the sacrificial coffin.
But the seven spirit tablets suddenly turned at once.
The names on the tablets.
Vanished one after another.
Then.
Even louder applause rang out in the theater.
Clap!
Clap!
Clap!
It was as if the invisible audience below the stage.
Had finally taken an interest in the first act.
[Act one has ended.] [Act two will begin in three minutes.] [All surviving actors, please reconfirm your roles.]
The theater ticket in Shen Niannian's hand suddenly grew hot.
The original text began to change.
[Actor: Shen Niannian] [Role: youngest daughter] [Act one identity: sacrifice]
The final line.
Slowly faded away.
A new identity appeared in its place.
[Act two identity: dead person]
Shen Niannian: "..."
(°ー°〃)
She looked down at herself.
Then touched her still-beating heart.
She fell silent for two seconds.
"Wait."
"Aren't I still alive and well?"