Wang Lei practically scrambled on all fours, crashing headfirst into a patch of wild grass. The sharp blades sliced countless tiny cuts across his face.
But he was simply too terrified, and his foot caught on something, sending him tumbling hard to the ground.
“Clang—”
“Clatter, clatter—”
Wang Lei had crashed into a hollow in the overgrown field. Only then did he notice a dozen or so round wine jars piled around him. From the jar he had just shattered, a brilliant, golden light suddenly burst forth.
“G-Gold?”
Wang Lei swallowed hard instinctively. He was nearly mesmerized by the dazzling color, completely forgetting his current predicament.
From the crack in the broken jar, round, plump gold ingots spilled out onto the ground.
These gold ingots were roughly the size of a baby's fist. Even in the gloomy night, they still gleamed with an alluring luster.
“Gold ingots? Gold? Is this real gold?”
Wang Lei's eyes lit up instantly. He scrambled forward, snatched one up, and stuffed it into his mouth. Biting down, he indeed saw a faint teeth mark.
It was real!
And it was a solid gold ingot!
A flash of greed crossed Wang Lei's eyes.
There were so many gold ingots, at least several dozen. If each one weighed about a pound, based on this month's gold prices, a single one could sell for over a hundred thousand yuan. Dozens of them meant millions of yuan! With this money, he could buy sports cars, a luxury mansion, and live the life of his dreams!
The ink-wash text drifted into view, seemingly prompting Wang Lei:
【Instance Participant Wang Lei, please accept the Side Quest: Burn Gold Ingots (Burn, burn, burn the gold ingots. The lonely souls and wild ghosts, who had no friends or family to weep at their funerals, no descendants to make offerings, and no graves or tombstones, wish for your help in burning these gold ingots. In return, they will help you wipe your tombstone clean.)】
At some point, a black clay basin had appeared in front of Wang Lei, a green flame burning inside it.
“Finders keepers. But all this gold... I have to burn it?”
Wang Lei's eyes widened in disbelief. Fortunately, the fear in his mind ultimately overrode his greed, and he began tossing the gold ingots into the fire, his heart aching with every piece.
Strangely enough, despite the flame being green, the moment the gold hit the fire, it dissolved like liquid gold and vanished. Along with it came the faint sounds of bickering and snatching:
【Mine! This is mine! Finally, I have money to buy meat!】
【Don't push! I'm an old ghost, you should show some respect!】
【Burn them faster! Faster!】
【Bullshit! Who cares if you're an old ghost or a new ghost? Finders keepers!】
Right, finders keepers.
Blinded by greed, as if possessed, Wang Lei decided to take a gamble and secretly slipped a gold ingot into his pocket.
With so many of them, surely those ghosts wouldn't notice if he quietly took just one or two?
As he continued burning them, Wang Lei suddenly felt an itch on his back, as if countless ants were crawling over him.
He reached back to scratch it, and suddenly, his entire body froze.
The skin on his right hand had turned into rough yellow paper, with the fibers clearly visible.
The muscle and bone had vanished, leaving only a thin layer of paper. The inside was hollow, and he could even see his raw flesh through the gaps.
“W-What's happening?” Wang Lei's voice began to tremble. Glee-filled laughter echoed in the air:
【Hehehehe, you think you can fool a ghost!】
【You took the dead's money, so we're buying half your body!】
【Hehehehe, I want this arm! You can have this leg!】
【I want the heart!】
The paper effigy rustled in the wind. Wang Lei's left side had completely turned into a paper effigy. His left arm, left shoulder, and even the left half of his face.
His left eye had become a black circle drawn on paper, and the left side of his mouth was now a plum-red line.
Yet, he was still alive.
It was as if he were half-human and half-paper effigy, an utterly grotesque and bizarre sight.
...
“Please don't take offense, please don't take offense.”
In the western graveyard, Su Ya searched from tombstone to tombstone, constantly whispering apologies:
“Pardon the intrusion, pardon the intrusion. Sorry for disturbing you, sorry for disturbing you.”
She had lived with her grandmother since childhood. Her grandmother was a devout Buddhist, so Su Ya had always held a bit more reverence and fear for the supernatural than most.
...
After walking for about half an hour, Su Ya finally spotted a somewhat dilapidated wooden tablet beneath an old locust tree.
The wooden tablet was heavily decayed, and she could only faintly make out the character “Su.”
Su Ya walked over to the wooden tablet, squatted down, and wiped away the dust and moss with her hand:
【Tomb of Su..., Born in 19..., Died in ...】
Was this her tombstone?
Why didn't the birth year quite match?
While Su Ya felt a bit of fear, she also let out a small sigh of relief.
But just as she was about to use her sleeve to wipe the tombstone, an elderly voice suddenly spoke behind her.
“Little girl, don't be in such a hurry to wipe it.”
Su Ya whipped around, raising the stone in her hand as she stared warily behind her.
Standing there was a wrinkled, white-haired old lady dressed in shroud clothes. The old lady wore a black woolen garment and leaned on a jujube wood cane. She wore no shoes, her tiny bare feet resting directly on the cold ground.
Her face was pale, completely devoid of blood, but her eyes were gentle and free of malice.
“...”
Su Ya pursed her lips, remaining on guard. “Grandma, who are you?”
“I am the gravekeeper here,” the old lady said with a smile. “This wooden tablet isn't yours. Your tombstone is over there.”
She pointed toward a small grave mound not far away.
Su Ya looked in the direction she pointed and indeed saw a small stone tablet standing in front of that grave mound.
“Thank you, Grandma.” Su Ya suddenly realized something, her face turning pale as she walked toward the grave mound. She recognized what the old lady was wearing. It was burial clothes. Locals called shrouds “burial clothes.” Could an old lady wearing burial clothes in a cemetery possibly be a living person? Su Ya wanted to cry.
...
“Wait.”
The old lady chuckled and stopped her. “Your tombstone is buried beneath my bones. If you want to wipe your tombstone clean, you must first help me retrieve all my bones, piece them together, and bury them in my grave.”
Su Ya's face turned even paler. She glanced at the countdown in the upper-right corner of her vision and tremblingly agreed:
“Okay.”
A dead person asking for help to find her bones—this was a bit too intense. But if she didn't agree, who knew if the ghost in front of her would suddenly turn hostile?
...
Having no tools, Su Ya had no choice but to take off her jacket. She knelt on the ground, picking out the pieces of the shattered skeleton from the mud bit by bit. The human bones covered in yellow mud felt bizarre to the touch. Not only were they heavy in her hands, but they also carried a bone-chilling cold. And that was not even mentioning the ghost supervising her from the side.
Though she was scared to death, she still forced down her terror, gathering the bones washed away by the rain piece by piece. Finally, she buried them in the grave along with her jacket.
Su Ya didn't dare to slack off at all, even picking out the tiny bone fragments wedged in the stone crevices.
“What a good girl. Here, take this.”
Having gathered all the bones, the old lady seemed highly satisfied. Her smile grew even warmer as she took off a silver earring, which had a small, exquisite silver bell hanging from it: “I've lived here for decades, and everyone gives me a bit of face. With this, those nasty things won't dare to come near you.”
The old lady earnestly and affectionately advised her like a caring relative: “Those friends of yours are no good. They cause trouble, are blinded by greed, and shirk responsibility... Don't associate with them in the future. Listen to the elders in your family... and spend more time with them.”
“I understand.”
Su Ya tremblingly took the silver bell. It was very small but carved with intricate patterns. When shaken, it made a soft ding-ding sound.
Glancing at the countdown, she didn't dare waste any time and quickly wiped the tombstone bearing her name completely clean.
Finally, just before the countdown ran out, Su Ya successfully completed the task.
The ink-wash text appeared once more, but this time, it brought good news:
【Congratulations to Instance Participant Su Ya for completing the mission.】
【Congratulations to Instance Participant Su Ya for completing the Hidden Side Quest: Piece the Bones together.】
【Rewards Obtained:
1. Route 404 Bus Ticket *1
2. Thousand-Mile Hunger-Free Pill *10
3. Bone-Grown Flower *1
4. Evil-Warding Silver Bell (Silver) *1】
As the text vanished, the items materialized out of thin air into Su Ya's hands.
A yellowed, old bus ticket printed with the words “Route 404: Taiping Cemetery — Furniture City.”
A small porcelain bottle containing black pills that emitted a medicinal fragrance. A red flower, but one blooming from a broken piece of human bone. Its petals were layered thick like a peony, yet it gave off a faint scent of paper ash. And finally, the silver bell the old lady had given her.
Although she didn't know why she had been chosen, Su Ya could tell these were definitely good items.
She turned around, wanting to thank the old lady.
But the old lady was already gone. Only a small dirt grave mound stood silently in her place.
The words on the tombstone had finally become clear: 【Tomb of Su Ningxiu, Born in 1916, Died in 2014.】
Su Ningxiu?
Wasn't that the name of her grandaunt, who had lived to be ninety-eight? She had even visited this very grave at Taiping Cemetery with her grandmother before!
Su Ya's face filled with astonishment. But in the next second, she was enveloped in a thick white fog, and she materialized once again at the entrance of the cemetery. Old Zhang and Old Zheng were already waiting there. Aside from looking a bit disheveled, neither of them was injured.
...
Seeing Su Ya return safely, the two middle-aged men let out a sigh of relief in unison, eagerly recounting their experiences.
When Old Zhang was wiping his tombstone, he ran into his father, who had been dead for many years. His father pointed at his nose and scolded him, telling him to quit drinking and work hard.
As for Old Zheng, he had encountered his former coworker Old Qian, who had drunk himself to death. Old Qian had persistently invited him to have a drink.
Fortunately, both of them had safely completed the task of wiping their tombstones and had received rewards.
“Uncle Zhang, Uncle Zheng,” Su Ya said, choosing not to mention her own encounter. Instead, she asked anxiously, “What about Lin Hao? And Wang Lei? Have they not come back yet?”
The three of them exchanged glances, all seeing the worry in each other's eyes.
“The young lad who ran off first hasn't returned either,” Old Zheng added.
Just then, a slow patter of footsteps echoed from the distance.
Everyone looked up.
They saw Lin Hao supporting Wang Lei, limping toward them.
Wrapped around his neck was something that resembled a hemp rope, but upon closer inspection, it looked like an intestine. Flesh-colored and constantly writhing, it seemed to be a living thing.
Wang Lei was even more bizarre; half of his entire body had completely turned into a paper effigy.
“Lin Hao! Wang Lei! What happened to you?!”
Su Ya cried out in shock and quickly ran over, tears of fear welling up in her eyes. “Did you find your tombstones?”
“We're fine... we wiped them clean,” Lin Hao's voice was raspy. Every time he spoke, the fleshy cord around his neck squirmed, looking exceptionally grotesque. “How are you guys completely fine...”
His expression was somewhat dark and gloomy, causing Su Ya to instinctively take a step back.
Old Zhang and Old Zheng stared at Wang Lei's half-paper body and the umbilical cord around Lin Hao's neck, too terrified to speak.
No one dared to ask what had happened.
“There are still ten minutes left on the countdown,” Su Ya said, glancing at the upper-right corner of her vision. “Zhang Chao isn't back yet. Should we go look for him...”
Everyone fell silent.
They all understood that Zhang Chao was likely never coming back.
Time ticked away second by second, the numbers on the countdown shrinking.
【00:00:10】
【00:00:09】
...
【00:00:01】
【Instance countdown ended.】
【All participants who have completed the Main Quest will be teleported out of the Instance.】
【Instance participants who have not completed the Main Quest will remain in the Instance permanently.】
【Instance closed.】
The moment the ink-wash style text blurred, everyone felt a wave of intense dizziness. The scenery before them began to twist and spin. The desolate graves, withered trees, wild grass, and mass grave—everything rapidly dissolved.
In their place, a slowly dispersing white fog appeared, along with the reassuring red and blue flashing lights of police cruisers cutting through the mist.
They were standing in the middle of a neat array of marble tombstones. Their surroundings were no longer a desolate mass grave, but the modern Taiping Cemetery. Rows of neat marble tombstones stood in orderly ranks. Clean paved roads, neatly trimmed hedges, and a parking lot and office building shrouded in the distant night.
In the distance, red and blue emergency lights flashed, and the sound of sirens drew closer, growing clearer. They were back. They had returned to the real world.
Sitting on the ground, they stared at the familiar surroundings. The relief of surviving the ordeal, intertwined with utter exhaustion, made them want to weep aloud.
“I've turned into a monster! I don't want to die!” Wang Lei was the first to break, collapsing onto the ground and sobbing hysterically.
Old Zhang and Old Zheng's eyes welled with tears as they clutched their reward items tightly, their bodies trembling uncontrollably. Lin Hao's eyes were hollow, staring blankly as if lost in thought.
Only Su Ya quickly glanced at the air, where ink-wash style text notifications that only she could see hovered:
【Instance Participant Su Ya, obtained item “Evil-Warding Silver Bell” (Su Ningxiu's funerary object), awakened class “Architect.”】
【Congratulations on your promotion to Game Player. Current Game Level: 1. The Game Inventory will unlock once the player reaches Level 15. Please keep up the good work.】
Rate on N.U.
