Chapter 17: The Pig
The three of them opened the door, and from the storage room beside the house came loud banging sounds—the boar was roaring fiercely.
Liang Dan picked up a pair of scissors and slammed them against the lock on the door with all her might, but it wouldn’t budge.
Yang Liuqing handed her an axe, and Liang Dan took it, startled by its weight.
Raising the axe high, Liang Dan warned, “Step back, everyone. They seem to have lost their minds.”
With a sharp crack, the axe shattered, and Liang Dan quickly dodged aside.
Three large, fat pigs charged out, their heads bleeding from banging against the door. They ran wildly forward. Liang Dan hurriedly turned away, unwilling to see where they were heading.
She quickly said, “She said a few pigs are locked up in the neighbor’s storage room on the right too. Let’s go check.”
With that, Liang Dan headed right. The storage room there was the same; pigs were roaring and ramming the door.
Liang Dan chopped the lock open. The pigs screamed as they rushed out, charging toward a nearby house.
“Oh no,” Liang Dan handed the axe back to Yang Liuqing, then slapped her forehead. “That woman was injured by your strike and is bleeding. I need to get back to take care of her!”
Suddenly, a tremendous crash echoed—the boar had rammed down that house, blood dripping from its head, and charged out again toward the next house.
Ignoring the chaos, the three leisurely returned to the woman’s home. The woman was resting against the wall, and the little boy lay beside her.
“Oh dear,” Liang Shan crouched down. “Your injury is so severe. Let me stay and care for you tonight.”
The woman lifted her eyes and said, “No need.”
“How can that be? You’re bleeding so much. If no one’s by your side, what if you lose too much blood?”
Tilting her head in thought, the woman asked, “If you stay by me, will that really stop the bleeding?”
“That way, I can immediately help you if anything happens.”
Saying this, Liang Dan walked toward the bedroom. “If I’m too close, the air might be stagnant. How about I watch over you in your bedroom?”
After speaking, she lay down on the bed.
Yang Liuqing smiled and approached, snatching the sheet from beneath Liang Dan, then turned to the woman. “I’m going to tie up the captives I caught—I won’t let you escape.”
Liang Dan protested, “How can you tie someone up? That’s not right!”
“You righteous Liang Dan, morally blackmailing others—you’re doomed!”
*
Liang Dan wore an expression of utter despair as she got off the comfortable bed. “Why are you doing this... I’m trying to stop you from tying them up!”
Shen Si grabbed her. “I’m stopping you from stopping others!”
“No! Let go of me!”
“I won’t let you go!”
Yang Liuqing stood up. “Enough.”
Shen Si cautiously released Liang Dan, who closed her eyes in anticipation.
Nothing happened.
Great.
Another loophole found.
The three of them happily lay down on the bedroom bed.
Shen Si stared at the ceiling. “What if those pigs break in? We’d be trapped in the rubble like Old Deng.”
*
“That makes sense, but it’s so rare to see such a big bed—I can’t help but lie down for a bit,” Liang Dan said.
Yang Liuqing replied, “It’s fine; I’m strong now. If we’re buried in rubble, I’ll just crawl out.”
Liang Dan was drowsy. “Yeah, the bed is really comfortable.”
“No!” Liang Dan suddenly sat up, her vision darkening. She shook Yang Liuqing beside her. “Wake up!”
Shen Si groggily opened her eyes. “What’s the matter? I still want to sleep.”
“Sleep my foot!”
Liang Dan stared in horror.
Shen Si looked the same as before, except now two hard ram’s horns protruded from her head.
“Roar!”
A fat boar howled and charged into the bedroom, crashing into a load-bearing wall. The ceiling began to collapse before Liang Dan’s eyes.
Liang Dan shouted, “Damn you!”
“You righteous Liang Dan, insulting the boar—you’re doomed!”
*
Liang Dan woke up and pushed Yang Liuqing hard. “Wake up!”
Shen Si said, “What’s wrong? I want to sleep more.”
“This house is collapsing!”
The boar rushed in and charged straight at the wall.
Liang Dan shouted, “Damn you!”
“You righteous Liang Dan, insulting the boar—you’re doomed!”
*
Liang Dan was drenched in sweat, frustrated that this had to happen now.
The timing was too tight to wake them in time.
Yang Liuqing was sleeping more deeply than Liang Dan imagined. This time, Liang Dan woke up first and hurriedly shook Shen Si.
“What are you doing? I still want to—”
“This house is collapsing!”
Shen Si opened her eyes. “What did you—”
“I said the house is collapsing—”
Liang Dan caught sight of the boar charging in with her peripheral vision and yelled, “Damn you!”
“You righteous Liang Dan, insulting other players—you’re doomed!”
*
Liang Dan jumped off the bed, grabbed the axe Yang Liuqing had dropped, and stood at the bedroom door, raising the axe high.
The boar roared and charged in. Liang Dan took a wide step forward, shouting, “Ahhh, I’ll fight you—”
“Whoosh!”
*
Liang Dan was flung through the air.
Hit and thrown by the boar.
Midair, she felt helpless and cried out, “Damn you!”
“You righteous Liang Dan, insulting the air—you’re doomed!”
*
Liang Shan took a deep breath. “Ahhh! Run! This house is collapsing!”
Shen Si sat up abruptly. “What’s going on?”
“You righteous Liang Dan, making noise at night—you’re doomed!”
*
Liang Dan jumped off the bed, axe in hand, charging into the living room. “Damn it!”
“You righteous Liang Dan, insulting the air—you’re doomed!”
*
Liang Dan slapped Yang Liuqing hard across the face. Yang Liuqing’s eyes opened.
“You righteous Liang Dan, intentionally harming others—you’re doomed!”
*
Liang Dan rested her chin on her hand, pondering.
Yang Liuqing’s body was clearly stronger than theirs—why did she sleep so soundly?
When had they unknowingly been cursed?
Was it the woman, or the little boy? How had they done it?
Why did the boar always ram that same wall? What was special about it?
“Damn you!”
*
Liang Dan rushed off the bed, axe in hand, and stood before the wall.
She struck the wall fiercely with the axe. The wall shattered instantly, and the ceiling rapidly fell.
Inside the wall, bare before her eyes, were bones—stripped skeletons wrapped in circles of bright red firecrackers.
“Damn you!”
*
Seeing the bones, Liang Dan instinctively thought they were human, but recalling their shape, they seemed more like animal bones.
They killed animals, buried their bones and firecrackers in the house, then lured people inside, turning them into animals.
Perhaps this was what the villagers called “suppression.”
Liang Dan raised her hand to touch her head. The sharp ram’s horns rubbed against her palm.