“You’re worried about them too, aren’t you?” Cheng Xin sighed, looking at him with a headache. “These two are really out of control…”
“No, I’m worried about the funeral NPCs,” Liao Guan said nervously. “They don’t look like they’re here to attend a funeral; it seems more like they’re here to silence someone.”
“…Instead of worrying about that, you should be more concerned about them kidnapping another NPC or bringing back a corpse as a prop,” Yan Chuchu glanced at the leading driver and quipped.
The two self-sacrificing protagonists were oblivious to the complaints behind their backs. Chu Tianshu followed the funeral procession, dodging behind cover while shielding Lin Huai: “Be careful, we’re on a stealth mission. Don’t let them spot us.”
Lin Huai looked at the thin utility pole Chu Tianshu was using as cover and sighed: “I think they’ve already noticed us.”
Chu Tianshu, however, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself. He added his own drama while leaving strange marks on the earthen walls with chalk. Lin Huai watched him curiously: “Are you really just going to hang around outside the graveyard and not go in?”
“Yeah, it’s too dangerous to go in now,” Chu Tianshu said. “I’m flirty, not stupid.”
Lin Huai squinted: “…So you do know you’re flirty.”
“…With so many people in the graveyard now, digging a grave would get us surrounded and beaten by the villagers,” Chu Tianshu explained. “So we’ll wait until midnight when no one’s around to tomb raid. If we’re lucky, besides a fresh corpse, we might even run into a few Nether Beings wandering around the graveyard.”
“…Huh? So you’re just afraid of being beaten by the villagers?”
“Of course,” Chu Tianshu chewed on a blade of grass. “Sometimes, human hearts are scarier than ghosts.”
“Are we already in tomb-raiding mode just because we’re about to rob a grave…”
As the two bantered, the coffin was finally carried to the burial area outside the village. The so-called burial area was just a patch of land dotted with small yellow mounds. Long wooden markers stood on the mounds, inscribed with the names and dates of the deceased. Among the neatly arranged markers, one more had been added.
They stood by, silently watching as the coffin was lowered into the ground. As the coffin was buried under the yellow earth, the widow and her child broke down in tears several times. Pile after pile of yellow soil was shoveled onto the coffin lid, officially consigning the deceased from the world of the living to the underworld.
“Amitabha,” Chu Tianshu drew a triangle over his chest. “May your soul rest in peace, under the watch of the Night Goddess.”
“Indeed,” Lin Huai drew a moon over his chest. “May the God of Steam and Machinery bless you to become a ghost before we interrogate… I mean, question you, and may you be reborn into a better life.”
The two crouched in the grass, waiting for the funeral party to leave. However, after crying at the graveside for a long time, the group started chatting, seemingly reluctant to leave.
Gradually, arguments broke out in the graveyard. The young widow seemed to remember something and turned red with anger. She rolled up her sleeves and stormed to the edge of the graveyard, with a few men following her in panic.
If the widow hadn’t moved, Lin Huai and Chu Tianshu wouldn’t have noticed the small grave mound at the far edge of the graveyard. Compared to the others, this mound was much smaller, pitifully situated at the outskirts, isolated from the rest.
“Spit!” From a distance, Lin Huai could hear the widow’s voice. “She was a fox spirit in life, and now she’s a monster in death… If you wanted to kill my husband, why not come after me! Come at me!”
After spitting, she kicked the wooden marker on the mound, tilting it. The men panicked, shouting as they grabbed the struggling woman and dragged her away: “Are you insane! How could you…”
“How could I not! I have no man! No husband!” The woman wailed. “That fox spirit seduced people in life, and even in death, she won’t let us go…”
Her words were quickly muffled as the men dragged her away from the graveside, along with her curses and kicks. Chu Tianshu and Lin Huai exchanged glances. Chu Tianshu mouthed: “Let’s check it out.”
Lin Huai nodded.
The two hid in the grass, slowly moving toward the small grave mound. After a while, the wailing woman was finally taken away, and the eerie graveyard returned to its usual silence.
Night finally fell.
In the vast twilight, the two finally stood up from the grass. Just as they were about to step out, they heard the system’s notification: “Step one of the ‘Jiang Village’ mission has been completed. Please return to the village chief’s house and select your rooms.”
“…That was fast…” Lin Huai heard Chu Tianshu mutter. Then, Chu Tianshu turned to him: “Since that’s the case, would you like to room with me?”
Lin Huai was taken aback by his sudden question: “What?”
“If you agree, we don’t need to go back and pick roommates now,” Chu Tianshu continued, patting Lin Huai’s shoulder. “Let’s go, we’ll check out that grave mound first.”
“Hey…” Lin Huai squinted. “You just decided I’m your roommate without asking…”
With that, Chu Tianshu pulled Lin Huai into the graveyard, stumbling through the soft, muddy ground.
The mud in the graveyard was wet and soft, making it difficult to walk. It took them some time to reach the grave mound. Upon seeing the small mound, Lin Huai inexplicably felt uneasy.
“Hmm…”
Chu Tianshu crouched to examine the wooden marker, oblivious to Lin Huai’s discomfort: “This marker is different from the others. It’s deep red with some strange patterns… Ren… Ren Chun?”
He read the name on the marker, then checked the dates: “2016… She died three years ago? Born in February, died in August… Huh, there are some strange patterns on this marker…”
As he spoke, he noticed Lin Huai, as if possessed, reach out to touch the marker.
“You…”
The next moment, he heard Lin Huai let out a faint cry, quickly pulling his hand back as if burned. Chu Tianshu was startled and quickly pushed Lin Huai away from the grave: “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Lin Huai retracted his hand, hiding it behind his back.
Chu Tianshu suspiciously looked him over, relieved to see Lin Huai’s calm expression: “You scared me. I thought you were possessed.”
“I’m fine,” Lin Huai said in an unusually cold tone. “Let’s go back.”
“Alright,” Chu Tianshu said, seemingly unaware. As he turned, he suddenly added: “Your hand…”
Lin Huai narrowed his eyes.
Before Lin Huai could react defensively, Chu Tianshu’s next words came: “…It looks like you got some paint on it. Remember to wash it when we get back. Why do you touch everything you see? What if it’s poison next time?”
Lin Huai: ?
The two walked back along the path they came. Night had fully fallen, and the endless graveyard seemed even more vast under the starless sky. In the darkness, tiny green lights flickered.
They were faint, glowing green dots, floating and shimmering in the swamp-like graveyard.
A breeze swept through the graveyard, carrying the faint cry of a fox.
“Woo woo—” it called.
Lin Huai followed closely behind Chu Tianshu, his right hand, burned by the peach wood, tucked into his pocket.
It hurt.
“I let my guard down and fell for that person’s trick…” He thought, nursing the injury. “It hurts… When I find the culprit, I’ll twist his head off.”
As they walked through the graveyard, neither spoke, only the wind whistling between them.
It should have been a dull and terrifying journey, but Lin Huai wasn’t alone. Fantasies of killing accompanied his loneliness, warming his heart.
When he finally snapped out of his reverie, they had reached the edge of the graveyard. Lin Huai looked up and saw Chu Tianshu’s back ahead.
He stopped.
Then, he slowly turned around.
“Lin Huai,” he heard Chu Tianshu’s voice. “Behind you… Look back.”
His tone was serious, his deep eyes fixed on the direction behind Lin Huai.
This was the first time Lin Huai had seen Chu Tianshu’s face up close. Before this, they had never faced each other so directly.
Only now did he notice… Chu Tianshu’s eyelashes were slightly upturned.
It took him a full half-minute to process Chu Tianshu’s words.
…Behind me?
My back?
My back… There’s a ghost?
At that moment, Lin Huai felt a surge of excitement. It had been a long time since he’d encountered such a reckless ghost, daring to challenge him…
He turned around and saw the vast graveyard, with its eerie, flickering green ghost lights.
“Look at all those ghost lights, don’t they look like fireflies?” Chu Tianshu’s admiring voice came from behind. “Or stars on the ground… So beautiful.”
Lin Huai: …
“My childhood dream was to walk through a forest full of fireflies with someone I love,” Chu Tianshu said. “Look, the purple sky, the green lights, the yellow earth… So beautiful…”
Lin Huai watched for two minutes.
Never before had he paid such attention to the little things in life. Since he could remember, he had been confined to the graveyard in Wen County. Among the countless graves, all he could see was the thick fog of blood and the dry well that bound him in its center.
He had seen too many graves and killings, too many withered trees and ghost lights. But now… he actually thought these ghost lights looked a bit like fireflies.
“Let’s go back,” Chu Tianshu’s voice broke his reverie. “If we don’t hurry, there won’t be any food left.”
With that, he reached out with his left hand and pulled Lin Huai out of the graveyard. His hand was warm, while Lin Huai’s was cold. But Chu Tianshu’s grip was firm.
“Why use your left hand?” Lin Huai asked softly.
“To avoid the paint on your right hand,” Chu Tianshu replied matter-of-factly.
Lin Huai smiled faintly: “Do you know what that marker was made of?”
“Peach wood,” he said. “Using peach wood as a grave marker can suppress the Fierce Ghost beneath and burn the limbs of Nether Beings… Maybe the burn on my hand came from that?”
He raised his smiling face, waiting to see Chu Tianshu’s reaction.
But Chu Tianshu only looked at him with something akin to pity: “It’s 2019, stop being so superstitious.”
Lin Huai: …
“I know you edgy college kids love to give yourselves weird traits, like Gundam pilots or the ‘God of the New World’…” Chu Tianshu said. “But if we don’t hurry back, the last piece of meat will be gone. Come on, follow me.”
With that, he pulled Lin Huai up from the graveyard. His hand was warm, Lin Huai’s cold. But Chu Tianshu held on tightly.
“Why use your left hand?” Lin Huai whispered.
“To avoid the paint on your right hand,” Chu Tianshu replied straightforwardly.
Lin Huai chuckled: “Do you know what that marker was made of?”
“Peach wood,” he said. “Using peach wood as a grave marker can suppress the Fierce Ghost beneath and burn the limbs of Nether Beings… Maybe the burn on my hand came from that?”
He raised his smiling face, looking at Chu Tianshu with anticipation.
But Chu Tianshu only looked at him with something akin to pity: “It’s 2019, stop being so superstitious.”
Lin Huai: …
“I know you edgy college kids love to give yourselves weird traits, like Gundam pilots or the ‘God of the New World’…” Chu Tianshu said. “But if we don’t hurry back, the last piece of meat will be gone. Come on, follow me.”
