According to Zhang Yuanqing's experience, the most terrifying aspect of a 24-hour survival instance like this is wandering around aimlessly, only to have a crisis descend and be forced back to The Way of the Extraordinary.
Unlike those instances with clear objectives, directly telling you what to do and what to find.
So, Zhang Yuanqing's priority now is to understand the dangers within the instance. Once he knows these, everything becomes simpler.
No rush to find Wang Xiaoer. Let's ask Cat King what he knows... Zhang Yuanqing, standing outside the distant door, pulled the small and exquisite Cat King speaker from his pocket.
"You've been here before, right? Is there anything you want to tell me, like information about the instance?" Zhang Yuanqing asked.
He was met with silence.
This guy won't behave without a beating... Zhang Yuanqing raised his hand and slapped two big smacks across it: "Think hard!"
The beaten Cat King speaker emitted a "zzzt" of static. The next second, 3D surround sound echoed around:
"Ah, ah, ah... Lord Demon King, be gentle..."
"Slap, slap, slap..."
Zhang Yuanqing's lips twitched. He silently placed the Cat King speaker at his feet, took out the Bloodthirsty Blade with a chipped edge, and pressed the tip against the Cat King speaker's surface, his face expressionless:
"So, these are your last words? Very well, I'll send you to see your ex right now!
His palm exerted force silently, and the blade tip pierced a small mark into the Cat King speaker's black metal casing.
The decadent sounds were immediately replaced by a "zzzt" of static.
The Cat King speaker compromised, preparing for the next audio clip.
Zhang Yuanqing maintained a threatening pose, feeling relieved inside. *I actually kind of want to know who the female lead is this time... Also, judging by the sound, Demon King, you're a sugar daddy again...*, Zhang Yuanqing thought to himself, gleaning from experience.
Just then, a child's tender, ethereal voice rang out from the Cat King speaker:
"Clap once, I clap once, let's play games before dark."
"Clap twice, I clap twice, touch your tongue, touch your ears."
"Clap thrice, I clap thrice, add a shadow and there are three."
The song was sung in a monotonous rhythm, becoming more and more chilling the more you listened. The most innocent is also the most terrifying.
*What kind of ghostly nursery rhyme is this...* Zhang Yuanqing listened quietly to the end, confirmed the audio was finished with no sequel, and tucked the Cat King speaker into his pocket, chewing over the nursery rhyme.
"Play games before dark, a clear hint that there will be danger after dark. Playing games is a way to avoid the crisis, but what game to play... Uh, if I remember correctly, this song is about a game, like Drop the Handkerchief."
"So, the game to play is Clap Once, I Clap Once? The second line, touch your tongue, touch your ears, is easy to understand..."
"The third line, add a shadow and there are three, three probably represents the number of people playing the game."
Hiss~
Zhang Yuanqing suddenly felt something was wrong. The phrase "add a shadow and there are three" was chilling. How can a shadow play games? If the shadow really joins in, then it's a horror game.
Based on his personal understanding, he believed the third line should be a warning: if you don't gather three people, then the shadow will join the game.
The shadow is likely the crisis itself.
"Myself plus the Yin corpse can count as two people. Little Doubi is a spirit body, unable to speak, so it shouldn't be eligible to play the game. Then I need to find one more person to play with me."
Got it!
Zhang Yuanqing looked towards the rammed earth house, thinking that there was an old grandpa readily available.
But... Zhang Yuanqing's heart stirred. He controlled the Yin corpse to re-enter the rammed earth house and pried open the old man's mouth, ignoring his resistance.
The old man's mouth had no tongue. It had been cut off. "As expected, it's not that simple. The second line, touch your tongue, touch your ears, directly blocks this path... No, it should be telling me what to do next."
Find the tongue!
Or rather, restore the old man's tongue.
"Let's start by verifying this idea. This kind of instance without clear hints relies on repeated exploration, summarization, to find a way out."
"I have no choice. If the idea is wrong, then I can only face the village's horrors head-on."
He raised his eyes and looked at the sky.
Thin clouds shrouded the dilapidated mountain village, with no sun, making it easy to lose track of time.
"There will be danger after dark. The time I have left isn't much. The village's abnormality started with Wang Xiaoer. If I want to find the tongue, Wang Xiaoer should be the breakthrough point," Zhang Yuanqing's thoughts were incredibly clear.
The village wasn't that big, but it wasn't small either. Finding Wang Xiaoer's house wouldn't be easy. Clearly, this was a step to delay time and increase difficulty.
If he wasted too much time in this step, he wouldn't be able to find the tongue before dark. Then he would have to face the crisis directly.
How to find Wang Xiaoer as quickly as possible? After a moment of contemplation, Zhang Yuanqing came up with an idea.
"Clatter!"
Undead One leaped over the rammed earth wall, carrying the struggling old man on his shoulder, returning to his master's side.
"Ah, ah, ah..."
The old man shouted angrily, punching Undead One forcefully. He seemed very angry, having clearly said goodbye.
"Old man, you have to take us to see Wang Xiaoer," Zhang Yuanqing said. The old man ignored him, struggling incessantly.
Zhang Yuanqing had already figured out the correct way to interact with the old man from their previous exchange, putting the Bloodthirsty Blade against his neck.
As expected, the old man stopped shouting. The two people and one corpse reached an agreement, heading towards the west of the village.
Walking through the desolate mountain village, there were no dog barks, no birdsong, everywhere permeated with oppression and eeriness.
Zhang Yuanqing secretly summoned Little Doubi, letting it randomly enter the houses along the way to scout out the situation. He discovered that there were villagers in every house, hiding inside, their expressions terrified, constantly looking towards the windows and doors, as if afraid of something.
*A bit strange, the people in this village are actually still alive?*
*Although this means Wang Xiaoer is probably also alive, which is a good thing, it's a bit eerie... What are they afraid of? Sigh, it's a pity I can't communicate with them, can't speak, destined to not be able to ask anything... Also, where is the female ghost? I don't sense any vengeful spirit's aura.*
After walking for about ten minutes, the old man on Undead One's shoulder suddenly "Ah, ah"
twice.
At this moment, they stopped outside a small courtyard in the west of the village. The courtyard wall was built with irregular stones.
The courtyard door wasn't closed, half-ajar.
"Is it here?" Zhang Yuanqing raised the Bloodthirsty Blade. The old man nodded fearfully.
Zhang Yuanqing immediately split his will in two, leaving one part in his main body and the other entering the Yin corpse. Then, he controlled Undead One to put down the old man, walked alone to the courtyard door, and pushed it open with a "creak."
As soon as Undead One entered the courtyard, he heard a cough coming from the stone house, followed by the sound of thick phlegm catching in the throat:
"Who's there?"
*He can speak...* Undead One raised his eyebrows, also making a sound of thick phlegm catching in his throat. "Are you Wang Xiaoer? I'm an outsider. I heard about what happened in the village, so I came to take a look."
He spoke cautiously, afraid of saying a single word wrong and triggering a hidden crisis, so he avoided words like ancient tomb and female ghost, and didn't even mention what exactly happened in the village.
After hearing the person inside the house speak, Zhang Yuanqing knew his idea was right.
This Wang Xiaoer was an important character in the instance. The other villagers couldn't be communicated with, but Wang Xiaoer could. The person inside the house was silent for a few seconds before asking, "What do you want to know?"
Zhang Yuanqing probed, "Why can't the folks in the village speak?"
"......... Some time ago, I met a wandering Taoist. He said that the back mountain was a treasure land for feng shui, and there must be a large tomb in the mountain. He was right. I've heard the old people in the village talk about it since I was little, that there's a tomb in the back mountain, said to be from the Ming Dynasty."
"A highly noble princess is buried in the tomb, with many funerary objects, but no one has ever been able to find the tomb's location. That Taoist gave me a string of coins, saying he needed someone familiar with the mountain roads to lead the way, so I agreed."
"We entered the mountain at noon and wandered around for a whole day. When it got dark, that Taoist actually found the tomb."
*That Taoist also knows how to locate graves? Which school does he belong to...* Zhang Yuanqing thought in his mind.
Wang Xiaoer continued, "That Taoist told me that he didn't want any of the funerary objects in the tomb, they were all mine, he only wanted the ancient books in the tomb, if there were any."
loubiqu.
"So, the next day, I prepared tools, food, and water, and spent a day and a night digging open the ancient tomb with the Taoist."
Hearing this, Zhang Yuanqing interrupted, "Ancient books? What ancient books was he looking for?"
The voice with thick phlegm in its throat replied:
"The Taoist said that the princess was a cultivator in life, lived for two Jiazi, and collected secret methods from all over the world, including many ancient books. There must be secret methods among the princess's funerary objects. His lifespan was coming to an end, and he wanted to risk entering the tomb... What a fool, if the princess knew the methods of longevity, would she have died?
"What ancient books and secret methods, there's nothing more real than gold and silver treasures."
*Another one who wants to live forever, the cultivators of the Ming Dynasty, they all seem to want to live forever,* Zhang Yuanqing asked:
"What happened after that! What do these have to do with the people in the village being unable to speak?" "Of course there's a connection..." Wang Xiaoer inside the stone house said, "I'm not feeling well, it's a bit tiring to talk from so far away, come in, come in and I'll tell you."
Colosseum. Yin Ji, her face covered with black纱, frowned as she heard the conversation of the disciples beside her: "Aphonia Village........."
She thought the name of this village sounded familiar.
A few seconds later, she recalled where she had heard the name. Yin Ji looked at Fu Qingyang, who was dressed in snow-white, her voice soft and gentle: "Aphonia Village is very dangerous."
Fu Qingyang turned to look at her, his gaze deep and calm: "How do you know?
Yin Ji said: "I remember the Demon King said that Aphonia Village was the only instance in the transcendent stage where he almost died, and was severely injured. And before Aphonia Village, even S-level instances that the Demon King had entered didn't make him so embarrassed."
When she spoke of the Demon King, her tone was natural and her demeanor generous, as if that ill-fated relationship was not something shady, but a bright and upright past that could be spoken of publicly.
Hearing this, a group of elders turned around to look.
Dog Elder's beady eyes widened, and he asked loudly, "What makes you say that?"
ps: I'll update the wrong words first and then fix them.