Chapter 174
Chapter 174
Butler Yang’s smile returned. “The Yang family has many household rules, all carved inside the ancestral hall. I will not explain each one here. I believe these are the only few you must observe. After all, you are honored guests and know how to conduct yourselves.”
With that, Butler Yang left the small courtyard.
Only then did the players dare to speak.
“Did you notice the Main Mission?”
*Stay alive and find the missing man.*
A woman with short golden curls and shorts spoke gravely.
Jiang Wenmei glanced at her. “Staying alive came first. There might be something here that eats people.”
Staying alive meant survival.
What here threatened the players’ lives?
Her gaze settled on the wells in the courtyard.
There were an unnatural number of them.
No matter what kind of residence this was, there should never have been so many wells in a single courtyard.
The guest courtyard contained eight in all.
Each well was covered with a sandalwood lid.
“Right. And what does ‘the missing man’ mean? If he’s already disappeared, finding him will probably be difficult. Does anyone have any ideas?” the blonde woman asked.
Chen Chong yawned. “Shouldn’t we first learn why we came here? Third Uncle said we’re honored guests, didn’t he? What did we come for, and what does *Mandarin Ducks* on the invitation mean?”
Chen Chong might have looked foolish, but he was certainly no fool.
He and Jiang Wenmei had bickered from the moment the game began. The more they behaved that way, the more obvious it became that neither was ordinary.
Xiao Huai paid no attention to their discussion and opened a room at random.
Lu Yuanshi did not follow him. He seemed to have his own business after reaching the courtyard and had vanished while Butler Yang was still explaining the household rules.
The wooden door creaked open, instantly attracting the attention of several players.
They all looked toward Xiao Huai. When they saw the room’s decorations, they froze.
Chen Chong said, “…What the hell is this? Is someone getting married?”
He immediately opened another door. The next room was exactly the same.
They all looked toward Xiao Huai. When they saw the room’s decorations, they froze.
Everything before them was vivid red. The room was covered in Double Happiness symbols, while red quilts and pillows lay on the bed facing the door.
A heap of jujubes and longans had even been scattered across the pillows.
But inside a horror game, these festive decorations took on an inexplicable air of dread.
It was not only these two rooms. Every guest room had been prepared as a bridal chamber.
Zhong Jiangyuan frowned. The sight made him deeply uncomfortable. He opened several other doors, only to find identical decorations in every room.
“What exactly is going on?” someone whispered.
“Can anyone really stay here tonight? Butler Yang didn’t forbid us from leaving the Yang Residence, did he? This is a whole town. There must be an inn somewhere,” suggested a bald man in a suit.
Before the bald man’s words had even faded, they suddenly heard a strange sound.
It echoed around them, now near and now far, as if something were suspended high above.
The sound was… crying.
“Waaah…”
The cry slowly changed from that of an infant to a young girl, then a grown woman, then an old woman.
“Who’s there?” Chen Chong shouted.
No one answered. Only that eerie sobbing continued to drift around them.
Every player’s heartbeat quickened in unison.
“This place really is cursed. Meimei, can I sleep with you tonight?” Goose bumps covered Chen Chong’s back as he huddled daintily beside Jiang Wenmei.
Jiang Wenmei’s features twisted, not because the uncanny scene frightened her but because Chen Chong’s tone disgusted her.
“Scram.” One word rejected him without mercy.
Chen Chong looked ready to cry. “Aaaah, I hate horror games most!”
Even as he complained, he obediently chose the room beside Jiang Wenmei’s.
Zhong Jiangyuan said, “Let’s see what happens tomorrow. Shen Yun, be careful tonight. Tell me immediately if anything seems wrong.”
“Mm. All right.” Shen Yun showed no expression. Indifferent to the rooms’ decorations, he selected one at random.
A candle and a stacked food box had been set out on the round table in every room.
When the middle compartment of the food box was pulled open, it unfurled like flower petals, each section holding a different dish.
The rain had stopped, and the moon rose over the treetops. Insects flew high overhead, yet not a single one descended into the courtyard.
It was as if some invisible barrier kept them out.
Xiao Huai entered his room and flicked the quilt. The jujubes and longans rolled across the floor, some disappearing beneath the bed.
As he prepared to close the door, a hand slipped through the narrowing gap.
“Going to sleep so soon?” Lu Yuanshi’s voice sounded beside him.
Xiao Huai opened the door. “No. I was worried about mosquitoes.”
“Is that so?” Lu Yuanshi raised an eyebrow.
There was not a single mosquito or insect in the courtyard. The insects remained trapped high above, unable to enter.
His gaze settled on the round table. Xiao Huai had already opened the food box but had not touched the chopsticks.
“Not to your taste?”
Xiao Huai glanced at the food. The dishes prepared by the Yang Residence looked ornate, but in truth, they smelled unpleasant.
His sense of smell was sharp. The instant he opened the box, he caught a fishy odor.
Like raw fish.
Lu Yuanshi picked up the chopsticks and pierced a mung bean cake.
A pungent fishy stench filled the room. Xiao Huai looked over and saw countless fish eyes packed inside the cake.
So that was the source of the smell.
Several players began retching outside the door.
It seemed some of them had already started eating.
Pastries stuffed with fish eyes.
Before Xiao Huai could speak, Lu Yuanshi gestured outside. “Want to eat in town?”
“Mm.” Xiao Huai agreed wholeheartedly.
From its very title, *Town of the Blind* had told the players that their range of activity would not be limited to the Yang Residence.
They would certainly have to visit the town. How they went, when they went, and where they chose to go were all up to the players.
But if they stepped into a trap, they might die without ever understanding how they had fallen.
According to the information they currently possessed, Butler Yang had mentioned a place called the Red Mansion.
He claimed it was a restaurant. But judging by the food he had prepared for the players,
Who knew what sort of dishes the place might serve?
Before entering town, however, they had to watch the time.
Butler Yang had said not to wander after midnight.
The traditional midnight hour ran from eleven at night to one in the morning. To be safe, they had to return before eleven.
They checked the clock in the room. It was only seven in the evening. They had plenty of time.
Just as they prepared to leave, Xiao Huai suddenly heard a strange noise beneath the bed.
He frowned and looked at Lu Yuanshi.
“Did you hear that?”