Chapter 20: Misguidance

Yang Liuqing frowned. “It’s not just Zhang Wei who’s misleading us.”

“The mission requires us to survive for seven days,” he continued, “and including the day we arrived—the day we were locked in the cage—the boy said it was the first day of the ritual.”

Shen Si said, “Is it possible that the ritual has actually been going on for many days, but since the boy knows we’re outsiders, he keeps telling us each time that it’s the first day?”

Yang Liuqing nodded. “That’s possible. If that’s the case, players might be entering the scenario from day one and continuing all the way to the final day.”

Shen Si sighed. “Unfortunately, when we interrogated that woman earlier, we didn’t press her for more information.”

Liang Dan said, “Even if we had, it wouldn’t have helped. She kept lying to us. She said the way they suppressed people was too mysterious to explain, but really, it was just putting animal bones into the walls.”

Shen Si asked, “Those were animal bones?”

“Yes, I saw them twice. I’m sure they weren’t human.”

Shen Si exhaled in relief. “That’s somewhat reassuring.”

“More terrifying, actually,” Liang Dan said. “They didn’t sacrifice humans first, but instead turned people into animals. They must have done this to avoid the moral burden, but in truth, they were clearly killing people!”

Shen Si sighed, and the three fell into silence.

Suddenly, Shen Si looked up. “If those people entered the village a long time ago, how have they survived all this time?”

“After coming here, we don’t need to use the bathroom, but we still need to eat and sleep,” she added.

Liang Dan said, “In a rural village during the summer, it’s hard to starve to death.”

“What do you mean? Are you talking about the corn outside?”

“Not just that,” Liang Dan said. “There’s a lot of goosefoot growing near the cornfields—”

Shen Si’s eyes widened. “Goosefoot?”

“It’s not the pear you’re thinking of,” Liang Dan clarified. “Goosefoot is a kind of wild vegetable.”

He continued, “In the corners of the temple, many dandelions grow; behind the villagers’ houses, there’s plenty of purslane; even in the cracks between the bricks on the road, many wild onions sprout.”

“And that’s just what you can see at a glance. If you pay attention and look carefully, it’s absolutely impossible to starve here.”

“As for places to hide,” Liang Dan looked at Yang Liuqing and asked, “Are the scenes that players have already found accessible to all players?”

“Yes,” Yang Liuqing replied. “Other players cannot hide in scenes we can’t see.”

—

Shen Si rubbed her hair. “Why is this so brain-burning? I wasn’t good at studying to begin with! They said high school students are the smartest, right?”

Yang Liuqing asked, “Are you really a student?”

“Yes,” Shen Si said. “I was in class, scrolling on my phone, when a classmate shared a link with me. I opened it and took a test for fun, and who would’ve thought I’d get transported here!”

“Oh, God,” Shen Si wailed. “If Heaven gave me a second chance, I’d never scroll my phone during class again!”

Yang Liuqing smiled. “This isn’t just about using your phone in class. As long as your classmate exists, sooner or later, you’d get pulled in.”

Liang Dan asked, “Those people who shared the links—are they all players who’ve entered the scenarios?”

“Basically, yes,” Yang Liuqing said.

Shen Si said, “I have no grudge against him. Why would he do this to me?”

“There’s a function in the game that’s almost like pulling others in. If you share the test link with someone, whoever takes the test can enter a scenario on your behalf.”

“Damn it!” Shen Si cursed. “I’m suffering for someone else’s fault! If I survive this, I swear I won’t let him off!”

Liang Dan thought of the junior who had shared the link with her. The last time they met was back in university.

She remembered the junior always wore big round glasses and seemed very gentle, always smiling at everyone.

Liang Dan figured the junior must have had such a hard time in the scenarios that she shared the link out of desperation.

Surviving even a level-one scenario was already so difficult—she wondered how many arduous scenarios the junior had endured.

In her heart, Liang Dan vowed that no matter what she experienced in the scenarios, she would never share the link with anyone else.

Yang Liuqing said, “You might be angry now, but as time goes on, you might end up doing the same.”

Shen Si asked, “You’ve done it too, haven’t you?”

Yang Liuqing was frank. “Yes.”

Shen Si asked, “Aren’t you afraid that the person you pulled in might come back to settle the score?”

Yang Liuqing grinned. “They never made it out.”

Shen Si gasped.

Yang Liuqing continued, “But sharing the link has a limit: it only lets someone else enter a level-one or lower scenario on your behalf, and the other person must be a complete newbie.”

“So,” she concluded, “you don’t have to worry about someone posing as a rookie in a high-level scenario and getting beaten to a pulp.”

Shen Si asked, “But for you veterans, isn’t a level-one scenario easy? Does it matter if you have someone take your place or not?”

“No,” Yang Liuqing said. “Any scenario can be difficult and lethal. Anyone who is too complacent simply won’t become a veteran.”

Yang Liuqing closed her eyes. “Go to sleep quickly. I don’t want to answer your new-player questions anymore. After you’ve been through a few more scenarios, you’ll understand everything.”

Seeing Yang Liuqing unwilling to continue, Liang Dan and Shen Si closed their eyes as well.

Liang Dan had expected to suffer insomnia after such a chaotic day, but to her surprise, she fell asleep the moment she closed her eyes.

* * *

When Liang Dan opened her eyes, Shen Si was lying beside her, but Yang Liuqing was nowhere to be seen.

Liang Dan shook Shen Si awake. The two sat up, dazed, just as Yang Liuqing pushed open the temple door.

Liang Dan asked, “Where have you been?”

“Out hunting,” Yang Liuqing said, waving the plants in her hand. “You said there were plenty of dandelions nearby, right?”

Liang Dan and Shen Si stood up, and Yang Liuqing tossed the dandelions to them. Liang Dan barely caught them, feeling the water droplets on the leaves.

Shen Si glanced at them. “You even washed them.”

Yang Liuqing said, “Eating the village’s food doesn’t turn you into an animal, but there’s a risk of being assimilated. If I hadn’t eaten a few of their steamed buns, I wouldn’t have slept so deeply at her house last time.”

Yang Liuqing stuffed a large handful of dandelions into her mouth and chewed hard, her face scrunching up.

Liang Dan chewed vigorously as well. The dandelions were fresh, not yet flowering, with a slight bitterness.

Shen Si made a bleating sound. “Eating grass with horns like a sheep—now I really have become a sheep. Hey, do you think those kids survive by eating grass too? Where do they hide during the day?”

Liang Dan said, “Those kids are probably natives. They must be hiding in scenes we haven’t found yet.”