Chapter 224: Wang Xiaoer

Chapter 224: Wang Xia'er

Based on Zhang Yuanqing's experience, for a dungeon instance like this one that lasted twenty-four hours, the thing to fear most was acting like a headless fly—wandering east, wandering west—until the crisis descended, forcing a return to the Spirit Realm.

Unlike those instances with clear objectives, which told you directly and simply what to do, what to find.

So right now, Zhang Yuanqing first needed to know what dangers lurked inside the instance. Once he understood those, everything would become simple.

No rush to find Wang Xia'er yet; he'd ask the Cat King what he knew... Standing at the courtyard gate, Zhang Yuanqing fished the small, exquisite Cat King speaker from his trouser pocket.

"You've been here before, right? Anything you want to tell me? Like information about the instance." Zhang Yuanqing asked.

The response was silence.

This guy just doesn't feel right unless he's beaten... Zhang Yuanqing raised his hand, two resounding slaps flying over: "You think carefully!"

The beaten Cat King speaker emitted a "zzzt" of static. The next second, 3D surround stereo sound blasted through the surroundings:

"Ah ah ah ah... My Lord Demon, be gentle..."

"Slap slap slap slap..."

The corner of Zhang Yuanqing's mouth twitched. He silently placed the Cat King speaker at his feet, drew the Bloodthirsty Blade, its edge nicked, and pressed the tip against the speaker, his expression blank:

"Is that your last word? Good. I'll send you to meet your predecessor right now!"

His palm exerted force silently; the blade tip gouged a tiny mark into the black metal casing of the Cat King speaker.

The licentious sounds were instantly replaced by the "zzzt" of electric current.

The Cat King speaker capitulated, preparing the next audio clip.

Zhang Yuanqing maintained the threatening posture, letting out a breath of relief in his heart, muttering: I actually kind of want to know who the female lead is this time...

Also, judging by the voice, Demon Lord, you're the man behind the mistress again... Zhang Yuanqing, hearing the experience in the voice, thought silently.

At this moment, a young girl's childish, ethereal singing voice rang from the Cat King speaker's horn:

"You clap one, I clap one, play a game before the sky turns dark."

"You clap two, I clap two, touch your tongue, touch your ear."

"You clap three, I clap three, add the shadow and there are three."

The song was sung in a monotonous rhythm; the more one listened, the more one's bones chilled.

The most innocent, yet the most terrifying.

What kind of netherworld nursery rhyme is this... Zhang Yuanqing listened quietly to the end, confirmed the audio had finished with no sequel, then stuffed the Cat King speaker back into his pocket, chewing over the nursery rhyme.

"Play a game before the sky turns dark—a clear hint. Danger comes after dark; playing a game is the method to evade the crisis. But what game to play... Huh, if I recall correctly, this song sings of a game, just like 'Drop the Handkerchief'."

"So the game is 'You clap one, I clap one'? The second line, 'touch your tongue, touch your ear,' is easy enough to understand..."

"The third line, 'add the shadow and there are three'—three should represent the number of players."

Hiss~

Zhang Yuanqing suddenly felt something was wrong. The phrase "add the shadow and there are three" was terrifying.

How does a shadow play a game? If a shadow truly joined in, it would become a horror game.

Based on his personal understanding, he believed the third line was a warning: if they failed to gather three people, the shadow would enter the game.

The shadow was most likely the crisis itself.

"Me plus the Yin Corpse counts as two. Little Bean is a spirit form, can't speak, so he probably can't be a player. That means I need to find one more person to play with me."

Got it!

Zhang Yuanqing looked at the rammed-earth house, thinking, isn't there a ready-made old grandpa right there?

But... a thought struck Zhang Yuanqing. He manipulated the Yin Corpse to re-enter the rammed-earth house, prying open the old man's mouth despite his resistance.

There was no tongue in the old man's mouth; it had been cut out.

"As expected, it's not that simple. The second line, 'touch the tongue, touch the ear,' directly blocked this path... no, it's telling me what to do next."

Find the tongue!

Or rather, restore the old grandpa's tongue.

"Let's test this line of thinking first. In a dungeon with no obvious clues, you have to grope your way forward, summing up experience bit by bit, to find a single path to survival."

"I have no choice either. If my thinking is wrong, I'll just have to clash head-on with the anomalies in the village."

He looked up at the sky.

A thin layer of clouds shrouded the dilapidated mountain village; there was no sun, making it easy to lose track of time.

"Danger comes after dark. I don't have much time left. The village's anomaly originated from Wang Xiaosi; if I'm to find a tongue, Wang Xiaosi should be the breakthrough." Zhang Yuanqing's thoughts were exceptionally clear.

The village wasn't huge, but it wasn't tiny either. Finding Wang Xiaosi's residence wouldn't be easy. Obviously, this was a segment designed to waste time and increase difficulty.

If he wasted too much time on this link, he wouldn't find the tongue before nightfall.

Then he would have to face the crisis head-on.

How to find Wang Xiaosi as fast as possible? Zhang Yuanqing pondered briefly, and a method came to mind.

*Thud!*

Dead Man No. 1 vaulted over the rammed-earth wall, returning to his master's side with the struggling old grandpa hoisted over his shoulder.

"Ah... ah..."

The old grandpa cried out in fury, pounding uselessly against Dead Man No. 1.

He seemed utterly enraged. They had clearly said goodbye.

"Old Grandpa, you have to take us to see Wang Xiaosi," Zhang Yuanqing said.

The old grandpa ignored him, simply struggling with all his might.

Zhang Yuanqing had already figured out the correct way to interact with the old grandpa from their exchange just now. He pressed the Bloodthirsty Blade against the old man's neck.

The old grandpa indeed fell silent.

Two men and one corpse reached a tacit agreement and headed west into the village.

Walking through the lonely, desolate mountain village, there was no barking of dogs, no singing of birds; everywhere permeated a sense of oppression and eeriness.

Zhang Yuanqing secretly summoned Little Rascal, having him randomly enter the houses by the road to scout the situation, only to discover villagers in every single house; they hid inside, faces stricken with panic, constantly glancing toward the windows and doors, as if terrified of something.

It was a bit strange—these villagers were actually all still alive?

Although this implied Wang Xiaosi was most likely alive too, which was a good thing, it was nonetheless uncanny… what were they afraid of? Alas, communication was impossible; they could not speak, destined to yield no answers…

Besides, where was the female ghost? He hadn't sensed the aura of a vengeful spirit at all.

After walking for about ten minutes, the old grandpa on Corpse One's shoulder suddenly let out two "ah-ah" sounds.

And at this moment, they stopped outside a small courtyard in the west of the village; the courtyard wall was built from irregular blocks of stone.

The courtyard gate wasn't shut, standing half-ajar.

"Is it here?" Zhang Yuanqing raised the Bloodthirsty Blade.

The old grandpa nodded fearfully.

Zhang Yuanqing immediately split his will in two; one part remained in his main body, the other possessed the Yin Corpse, then he manipulated Corpse One to set the old grandpa down and walked alone to the courtyard gate, pushing it open with a creak.

The moment Corpse One entered the courtyard, a bout of coughing came from the stone house, followed by a voice thick with phlegm:

"Who?"

He can speak… Corpse One raised a brow, and also replied in a voice thick with phlegm:

"Are you Wang Xiaosi? I'm an outsider; I heard what happened in the village, so I came to take a look."

He spoke with great caution, terrified that a single misspoken word might trigger a hidden crisis; thus he avoided terms like ancient tomb, female ghost, and didn't even mention what exactly had happened in the village.

Upon hearing the person in the house speak, Zhang Yuanqing knew his train of thought was correct.

This Wang Xiaosi was a key figure in the instance; the other villagers couldn't communicate, but Wang Xiaosi could.

The person inside fell silent for a few seconds, then asked:

"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 Daoist. He said the back mountain was a feng shui treasure land, and there was definitely a grand tomb inside. He wasn't wrong; since childhood I'd heard the village elders say there was a tomb in the back mountain, supposedly from the Ming Dynasty.

"A noble Commandery Princess was buried inside, with many burial goods, only no one had ever been able to find the tomb's location. That Daoist gave me a string of cash, saying he needed someone familiar with the mountain paths to guide him, so I agreed.

"We entered the mountain at noon, wandered all day, and when night fell, that Daoist actually found the tomb entrance."

That Daoist even knows how to site a tomb by dividing gold? Which sect is he from… Zhang Yuanqing grumbled inwardly.

Wang Xiaosi continued: "The Daoist told me the burial goods in the tomb—he wouldn't take a single coin; they were all mine. He only wanted the ancient texts inside the tomb, if there were any.

"So the next day, I prepared tools, food, and water, and spent a day and a night digging open the ancient tomb with the Daoist."

Hearing this, Zhang Yuanqing interrupted:

"Ancient texts? What ancient texts was he looking for?"

The voice thick with phlegm responded:

"The Daoist said that the Commandery Princess was a cultivator in life, who lived two full cycles of sixty years. The imperial house scoured the world for secret arts, among which were no few ancient scriptures. There must be secret methods among her burial goods. His lifespan draws near its end; he wishes to enter the tomb and gamble on a chance... Truly a fool. If the Commandery Princess knew the art of immortality, how could she have died?"

"What ancient scriptures, what secret methods—how do they compare to the solid reality of gold, silver, and jewels?"

Yet another one seeking immortality. A Ming Dynasty cultivator. One by one, they all seem to crave eternal life. Zhang Yuanqing asked:

"Then what happened! What does any of this have to do with the villagers' inability to speak?"

"Of course there is a connection..." Wang Er, inside the stone house, said, "My health is poor; speaking across this distance is taxing. You come in. Come in, and I will tell you."

...

The Arena.

Yin Ji, her face veiled in black gauze, overheard the conversation of the disciples beside her. Her brows furrowed slightly: "Mute Village..."

She felt the village's name rang a bell.

A few seconds later, she recalled where she had heard it.

Yin Ji looked toward Fu Qingyang, clad in snowy white, her voice soft:

"Mute Village is very dangerous."

Fu Qingyang turned to look, his gaze deep and calm: "How do you know?"

Yin Ji said: "I remember the Demon Lord once said that Mute Village was the only instance during his Transcendent phase where he nearly died inside, suffering grievous wounds. Before Mute Village, none of the S-rank instances he had entered had ever left him in such a sorry state."

Speaking of the Demon Lord, her tone was natural, her bearing generous, as if that karmic entanglement was not something unfit for the light, but a tale of clear skies and bright moons, a past that could be told openly and uprightly.

Upon hearing this, the assembled Elders all turned their heads back.

The Dog Elder's button-eyes widened slightly, and he demanded in a loud voice: "What is the basis for these words?"