Chapter 43: Eating Meat (Part 15) - Doubts

Following Zhu Ling and Zhang Licai back to Granny Su’s courtyard, Qi Si found that Yang Yundong’s group had not yet arrived.

The pale sun hung distantly on the distant western horizon, almost swallowed by the mist. Before it completely vanished into the white fog, the boundless vapor looked like xuan paper wiped with a wet tissue, diluting, fading, and dispersing inch by inch.

The western boundary of the village was unsealed like an ancient relic, yet the substance forming the blockade did not vanish into thin air. Billows of clouds surged away like wild horses, weaving a maze of fog on the eastern road of the village as grayish-white dust rose slowly.

Qi Si lacked the benevolent heart to worry about the safety of his companions. He crossed the threshold, his gaze falling upon the corner where Lu Keliang’s corpse had originally lain.

The newly dead corpse was now nothing more than a bare skeleton, without a single shred of flesh remaining, as clean and pristine as if licked and sucked clean by a pack of carnivorous beasts.

The surface of the skull emitted a fresh, milky white, gleaming softly in the dusk’s twilight. Even Qi Si, who was well-accustomed to bone specimen art, could not help whispering in appreciation, "Truly beautiful."

He watched with a hint of obsession for a moment before walking closer.

Zhou Yilin was sitting beside the skeleton, silently wiping away tears. Hearing footsteps, she began to cry with muffled sobs, "I wanted to move Uncle Lu to another place... I don't know how it ended up like this..."

Qi Si let out an "oh," reined in his wandering thoughts, and walked unhurriedly across the dry earth deeper into the courtyard.

Granny Su happened to be coming out of the main room with a smiling welcome.

Even though he was certain this old woman had been dead for a long time, Qi Si’s expression remained unchanged as he politely asked, "Excuse me, is there a place to wash up here?"

Granny Su was stunned.

Then she heard the young man before her say word by word, "I want to take a bath."

Ten minutes later, Qi Si stood in the firewood room, finally having fulfilled his wish to strip off his mucus- and dust-stained shirt and trousers, immersing himself in a wooden tub filled with hot water.

He scooped up water and poured it over his head, his vision, blurred by droplets, alternating between clear and hazy.

In a trance, he caught sight of his film-veiled eyes and facial contours so soft their lines were indiscernible. A sense of utter unfamiliarity sprouted from the depths of his mind, and he subconsciously raised a hand to touch his face, the texture slightly cool.

"Chang Xu, you don't have a change of clothes, do you? I found some in the room..." Zhou Yilin’s timid voice came from outside the door. "I put them on the window frame for you."

His train of thought interrupted, Qi Si paused for a second, lowered his eyes, and smiled as he said, "Thank you for your hard work."

Hearing Zhou Yilin’s footsteps recede, he stood up from the wooden tub, reached out to pick up the seemingly neat white shirt and black trousers on the window frame, gave them a shake, and silently slipped them on.

Amidst his movements, his fingers seemed to brush against something. Frowning, Qi Si pulled out a slip of paper wedged inside the clothing.

That slip of paper was made of the same material as the tourist guidebook, marked with an extremely dark streak drawn in black ink, devoid of any discernible meaning.

Qi Si narrowed his eyes slightly, deep in thought.

The clamor of voices sounded outside the door; it must have been Yang Yundong and the others returning.

Qi Si pushed open the door of the firewood room, raising his eyes to see Yang Yundong right in the middle of the courtyard gate, carrying the tattooed woman on his back, accompanied by a gloomy expression.

On the way back to the courtyard, with no need for defense, Yang Yundong had taken over carrying the tattooed woman from Zhao Feng. He had not shown much fatigue along the way, save for a trace of clear sorrow in his eyes.

He said in a deep voice, "We couldn't get in. The ancestral hall door is closed; they said it only opens in the morning."

Zhao Feng, following close behind, nodded to indicate that what the former said was correct.

Compared to when they were at the village chief's house, the tattooed woman’s bodily mutation had deteriorated further. Her legs hung down limply, dangling against Yang Yundong’s waist like the tentacles of a mollusk, dripping flesh-colored mucus downwards.

She was already delirious, muttering incoherently about nonsense like "This old lady isn't afraid of you," unaware of what she was experiencing in the depths of her nightmare.

She was visibly beyond saving, yet the human species always loved to inflict ineffective, excessive rescue attempts on their companions for peace of mind.

Even knowing full well that the tattooed woman had previously caused the death of Lu Keliang, who shared a room with her, no one would laugh at her from head to toe with a chorus of "retribution" at this moment.

Yang Yundong dragged a stool from the dining table to the corner of the wall, propping her body against it.

The package containing the divine meat, carried back by Zhang Licai, was placed in the same corner. Yang Yundong used his machete to slice a piece of divine meat and brought it to the tattooed woman's mouth. The latter muttered "I'm not eating," turned her head away, and kept her teeth tightly clenched.

Qi Si noticed a faint black smoke lingering around the woman, which vanished again upon a second blink—though whether it was an illusion, he could not tell.

"Dinner is ready, come and eat!" Granny Su shouted at the top of her lungs, swaying her figure as she carried vegetarian dishes out from the small kitchen beside the firewood room.

The players gathered toward the dining table in silence. Having endured a day of twists and turns and witnessed the death of a companion with their own eyes, no one could remain indifferent.

After everyone took their seats, Qi Si looked at Granny Su and said casually, "A-Xi seems very eager to eat meat. This morning he even ate a piece of meat from my companion..."

He paused, his words suddenly turning sharp: "Could it be that you usually starve your grandson?"

Upon hearing this, Granny Su’s expression turned ugly.

She looked at the emaciated boy beside her, exchanging who knows what through silent glances, before raising her eyes to say with absolute certainty, "Our A-Xi does not eat meat."

The corners of Qi Si’s mouth curled up into a sarcastic smile, "Don't deny it. If he doesn't eat meat, what was he doing taking it?"

"I don't know. It's none of your business." Granny Su's tone was unkind as she pulled A-Xi and left the table.

Leaving a table of players staring at one another.

Qi Si rubbed his chin innocently, feeling somewhat disappointed.

He had laid out all the rhetorical groundwork, only for the NPC to refuse to take the bait. It seemed that getting key information from Granny Su was not going to be simple.

Bearing Yang Yundong’s scrutinizing gaze, Qi Si acted as though he didn't notice, casually picking up a mouthful of garland chrysanthemum with his chopsticks, burying it in fragrant rice, and eating.

Though this meal was, strictly speaking, cooked by a dead person, her culinary skills were simply too good to pass up.

Dead or alive made no difference to Qi Si; he was more than happy to seize the time within the instance to improve his meals.

After a momentary lull, Zhu Ling snapped back to her senses and clearly recounted the clues the three of them had found in the Village History Museum, casually mentioning her deductions about the worldview.

Without a doubt, most of the backstory and worldview were already clear, leaving only two mysteries:

First, the purpose of Su Village receiving travelers played by the players;

Second, of what use was the villagers' desire for the players' flesh?

Zhou Yilin hesitated and said softly, "After you left, I found something in the main room. I don't know if it will be of any use to you."

She felt in her bosom and placed a ledger-like booklet onto the table, gently opening it.

On the title page of the booklet, the two large characters "Atonement" were written in red ink, looking aggressive and exceptionally sinister. On the following pages, every single page was densely packed with names.

The names on the preceding pages all started with the surname "Su," most of which had been crossed out with red ink. Qi Si's eyes landed on the final eleven names.

——These were the names the eleven players had reported during their self-introductions.

Among them, the four names of Lu Keliang, Wu Heng, Zhu Dafang, and Allen each bore a fresh red scratch mark, evidently crossed off not long ago.

Zhang Licai craned his neck to look, and upon seeing his own name, his expression became extremely ugly. "That old hag Granny Su really didn't mean well. Is she trying to get all of us killed here?"

Qi Si did not pick up the thread.

He thought of the previous instance and the photograph found in Room 2 on the third floor.

It similarly marked the life and death of the players, equally fraught with the malicious intent to wipe out the players entirely.

In the last instance, Annie had made a deal with a god: as long as all the guests were kept in the manor, it would help her sister Anna restore her beauty.

So, what about this instance?

"The specific situation is only known to Granny Su, but she won't tell us." Yang Yundong let out a breath of stale air.

Irritated, he simply stood up, dragged the package of divine meat from the corner to the table, and carved it into roughly equal-sized pieces with his machete.

He placed four pieces of meat in front of each person, then wrapped up the remaining divine meat and tossed it back into the corner.

"If you need any more, take it yourselves. Remember, divine meat cannot be eaten in excess; eating too much will cause trouble." Yang Yundong swept his gaze over the crowd, his tone unquestionable. "Tomorrow morning, let's go check out the ancestral hall together."

No one responded; each person's eyes were more or less stained with exhaustion.

Most of them harbored doubts in their hearts: after just a day of exploration, two people were already dead; was there any need to continue exploring?

Yang Yundong sighed and said, "Everyone has seen our attrition rate. I suspect the minimum survival count for this instance is one. Without cracking the worldview, we will die until only the very last person is left to clear the game."

The worst guess happened to carry its own rationality, and whispers broke out at the dining table.

After a moment, players began to express their stances one after another.

"I'll listen to Brother Yang!"

"There's only the ancestral hall left; we have to go take a look no matter what!"

"Then it's settled!"

Qi Si had no intention of participating in the discussion. He silently collected the portion of divine meat in front of him, picked a smaller piece from the pile, popped it into his mouth, and swallowed it.

Though he still had a portion left behind by the deceased bespectacled man, this kind of life-saving necessity was always better to have in abundance. It would be foolish not to take it.

After the other players clamored for a while, they also carefully picked out the divine meat from their portions and ate it, as if afraid that eating too slowly would lead them to encounter the terrifying hunger of the previous night.

Three people had died on the first day, and theoretically, one or two others might have taken extra divine meat...

Qi Si swept his gaze across them; the players all wore calm expressions, revealing not a hint of a clue.

He merely smiled indifferently, said "I'll be heading off first," and left the table.

Returning to his room, he stopped beside the desk.

On the title page of the tourist guidebook placed on the desk, the original four lines of poetry had vanished, replaced by new sentences:

【Two people do not sit in the house, entering the ancestral hall, do not be alone】

【Do not mourn the newly dead ghost; when sins are erased, why weep and cry】