Upon hearing Fu Yiran's words, Si Yu glanced at him indifferently. Without saying a word, he pulled open the blanket and patted the spot next to him, gesturing for Gu Xizhou to lie down.
Gu Xizhou stared at the two blurry figures by the window and frowned slightly. However, he still listened to Si Yu and lay down to sleep.
Seeing this, Fu Yiran turned over and lay down on his bed, facing the window.
Under the blanket, Gu Xizhou heard Si Yu whisper, "Listen to me. Don't look. Sleep well. Everything will be fine tonight."
Gu Xizhou nodded and said, "I know."
Perhaps to prevent Gu Xizhou from looking at the dark figures outside, Si Yu held onto the corner of Gu Xizhou's shirt as he slept. This time, he didn't have his back to Gu Xizhou. Soon, Gu Xizhou heard Si Yu's steady breathing.
In the darkness, Si Yu's eyes were closed. His eyelashes were curled like crow feathers, and his black hair was casually scattered.
Gu Xizhou glanced at the dark figures by the window. However, because Si Yu was holding onto his shirt, he had no choice but to give up on his curiosity.
"Don't you want to take a look?"
Si Yu seemed to have fallen asleep and didn't hear Fu Yiran's words.
In the darkness, Fu Yiran got out of bed again. There was a smile on his beautiful face as he winked at Gu Xizhou. "Do you want to take a look? I'll tear up the newspaper. "
"No." Gu Xizhou could feel Si Yu's breathing behind him. He frowned and said, "I'm going to sleep."
Gu Xizhou then closed his eyes and fell asleep. Not long after, the sound of his steady breathing could be heard.
Fu Yiran was stunned when he saw Gu Xizhou close his eyes. He stood by the bed and stared at Gu Xizhou and Si Yu for a moment before returning to his bed.
The next day.
When Gu Xizhou came out of the bathroom, he bumped into Fu Yiran, who had already put on women's clothes. Seeing the two dark circles under Fu Yiran's eyes, he asked, "Why didn't you sleep well last night?"
Fu Yiran waved his hand and said helplessly, "Don't mention it. Those two figures stood by our window for an entire night. I didn't dare to sleep at all."
Gu Xizhou looked at him in surprise. It wasn't until they had breakfast that Gu Xizhou realized that the other six people all had dark circles under their eyes.
"Did you see the figure last night?" At the dining table, Liu Kai suddenly looked around and found that the lady who had cooked for them had already walked out of the dining room. He lowered his voice and said, "That figure stood by the window all night. I was so scared that I didn't dare to move!"
"I saw it." Fu Yiran pointed at the dark circles under his eyes and said, "They didn't sleep the entire night, but they slept quite well."
The moment Fu Yiran finished speaking, everyone's gazes landed on Gu Xizhou and Si Yu. Their faces were filled with astonishment. It was obvious that they were asking, "How did you guys sleep?"
Si Yu didn't care about the gazes of the people around her. She ate her breakfast quietly and elegantly. Gu Xizhou also buried his head in his food.
"You're indeed a big shot." Fu Yiran stared at Si Yu and sighed.
Gu Xizhou and the others only saw the village chief after breakfast.
"It's been hard on you guys. I had no choice but to call you guys over these few days. The plaque in the ancestral hall is decaying. If it isn't repaired, I'm afraid it will fall down during the ancestral worship," the village chief said to Gu Xizhou and the others politely.
After listening for a long time, Gu Xizhou finally understood the situation. The village was going to worship their ancestors in five days. The plaque outside the ancestral hall could no longer be used because of the years of rain and the corrosion of termites. The village decided to pay someone to make a new plaque and hang it up. They were the carpenters hired by the village to make the plaque.
"Let's go. I'll bring you to the ancestral hall," the village chief said. "Every year before the Qingming Festival, our village holds an ancestral worship ceremony. Worshipping our ancestors is a big event for us. Bless us with good weather."
With that said, the village chief chuckled and said to everyone, "Oh right, the ancestral hall is an important place. The village has rules that outsiders are not allowed to enter."
Gu Xizhou frowned and asked, "What if we enter?"
The village chief smiled at Gu Xizhou. His old eyes looked like two chrysanthemums when he smiled, and they were full of wrinkles. "You can try."
After answering Gu Xizhou's question, the village chief repeated the time limit. "The new plaque must be finished in five days."
With that said, the village chief put his hands behind his back and walked outside as if to lead the way. The others immediately stood up and followed the village chief. Along the way, the village chief reminded them not to enter the ancestral hall many times. He kept repeating it over and over again, as if he didn't get tired of it.
The village chief led them along the main road until they reached the westernmost part of the village. There were only short shrubs around here without any shelter. There wasn't even a single tall tree. From afar, they could see the ancestral hall that the village chief was talking about.
The surroundings of the ancestral hall were bare. The plaque erected at the entrance had the words' Zheng Family Ancestral Hall 'written on it. There were countless tiny holes on the plaque, probably left behind by termites. The left foot was missing a piece, and the entire plaque was covered in black mold. The golden words on the black background were somewhat blurred.
On the wall beside the ancestral hall, there was a small wooden plaque that said, "Ancestral Hall is an important place. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed to enter. Violators will bear the consequences."
From the outside, the ancestral hall looked huge. Gu Xizhou looked inside, but it was pitch black and he couldn't see anything clearly.
The village chief pointed at the ancestral hall behind him and said, "It's here. Hurry up and finish the new plaque. It must be finished in five days before the ancestral worship."
Gu Xizhou heard the village chief repeatedly mention the time limit for the ancestral worship. He couldn't help but ask, "What will happen if it isn't finished in five days?"
"Ha." The village chief gave Gu Xizhou a strange smile. He didn't answer Gu Xizhou's question. Instead, he put his hands behind his back and asked the others, "Do you have any other questions?"
Si Yu asked, "Where's the wood?"
The village chief smiled and pointed at a mountain in front of them. "There's a lot of wood on that mountain."
"Chop it yourself?"
The village chief nodded. "Don't worry. You can chop any wood on that mountain. It was planted by the ancestors of the village."
It was Gu Xizhou's first time entering a world like this. There was obviously a quest in this world that required players to complete. If the quest wasn't completed, there would be a punishment. Of course, the punishment in this quest world was obvious — death.
"Are there any requirements for making the plaque?" Gu Xizhou thought of a question. They didn't know how to do carpentry.
"It's fine as long as it's done well."
Gu Xizhou frowned. "What's considered done well?"
"If there's a plaque and words, then it's considered done."
Not long after the village chief answered the question, the others whispered among themselves.
"Isn't this requirement too simple? If there's a plaque and words, then it's done. How can we just draw some random characters? "
While they were talking, they suddenly heard the sound of a woman crying. Gu Xizhou subconsciously looked at Fu Yiran beside him. However, Fu Yiran was frowning just like him. He seemed to be listening to the sound from afar.
It sounded like many women were crying together. It wasn't just one person. The sobbing tone was low, as if they were complaining. Everyone couldn't help but feel their scalps go numb when they heard the sobbing.
Fu Yiran wanted to say something but hesitated. He asked the village chief, "Is there a woman crying inside?"
The village chief revealed a blank expression. "No, there's no one crying inside. You must have heard wrongly!"
"There's indeed someone crying."
The village chief's face was blank. He was stunned for a moment before saying, "I'll go in and take a look."
After the village chief finished speaking, he stepped into the ancestral hall. Gu Xizhou heard the sobbing sound become louder. It was as if countless mouths were crying at the same time.
The village chief quickly came out after going in. He raised his eyebrows and said, "No one is crying. You must have heard wrongly. Are you feeling unwell because you came to our village in a rush?"
"Maybe," Si Yu said calmly.
"Hehe, you still need to rest more. There's no rush for the five-day construction period. You can rest for two days before making the plaque. It's fine as long as it doesn't delay the ancestral worship ceremony." The village chief chuckled and said considerately.
Although the village chief said that, the sobbing sound from the ancestral hall was still intermittent. It was as if many people were crying at the same time. The sound was getting louder and louder. Naturally, no one accepted his good intentions.
The sooner they finished making the plaque, the sooner they could leave this place.
After the village chief left, Gu Xizhou stuck his head out slightly to take a look inside. He wanted to find out what was going on.
"Don't go in first." Si Yu suddenly pulled Gu Xizhou back and whispered.
"Okay." Gu Xizhou nodded. At the same time, he took a look inside the ancestral hall. He could barely see the candles burning slowly inside.
After confirming the location of the ancestral hall, Gu Xizhou and the others went to the mountain that the village chief had mentioned to them to retrieve the wood. Unexpectedly, the wood was obtained very easily. There were no accidents during this period.
The wood was placed at the door of their house. The woman who had cooked for them the night before had already finished cooking. When she saw them return, she smiled as good-naturedly as yesterday.
"You're back. Let's eat." The woman placed the bowls and chopsticks on the table and said to them.
After speaking, the woman took off her apron and prepared to leave. At this moment, Si Yu asked casually, "What is the main purpose of your ancestral hall?"
When the woman heard this, she looked up at Si Yu and said, "It's used for ancestral worship. People only go there once a year during the ancestral worship ceremony."
"Does anyone from your village live there?"
The woman smiled and put down the apron in her hand. "Live there? Who lives there? Living with the ancestral tablets? That's scary! "
After speaking, the woman left immediately, leaving the nine of them at the table to continue eating.
"Today is so smooth … Let's use the tools to cut that piece of wood later." The only girl in the group said softly, "It's been a long time since I've seen a world like this. It's rare that no one died this morning."
After speaking, the girl's eyes turned into small crescents. She was clearly not as nervous as yesterday.
When Fu Yiran heard the girl's words, he said indifferently, "Don't be careless. You might be the first to die."
When the girl heard Fu Yiran's words, she immediately became angry and asked, "What are you saying? What do you mean by I'll be the first to die? Are you crazy? "
Fu Yiran looked at her indifferently and sneered, "I'm just reminding you out of kindness. Curiosity killed the cat."
"Hey, you neither man nor woman. Say that again! You … "The girl was very angry. After all, in a world like this, it was not a good thing for someone to say that you would die.
Fu Yiran rolled his eyes. "Remember my advice. Anyway, whether you live or die has nothing to do with me."
"Alright, stop talking." Gu Xizhou patted Fu Yiran's shoulder. This place was filled with death at any time, so it was not good to say something like that.
The people next to them also tried to persuade the girl. Fu Yiran did not say anything under Gu Xizhou's gaze. In the afternoon, two people in the group did not like each other, but they worked together to finish the plaque before it was dark.
"It's done? You guys are too fast. Can you put it on today? " The village chief didn't mind the crooked words on the new signboard that looked like second-hand handwriting. Instead, he revealed a happy expression.
Liu Kai looked at the dark sky and estimated that they had spent about an hour to get to the ancestral hall. If they went back now, it would be dark.
"We'll put it on tomorrow morning. It's too dark now, so it's not safe," Liu Kai said.
The village chief did not force them to put up the plaque today. Instead, he chuckled. "Alright then. Anyway, there's no rush. It'll be fine as long as it's done before the ancestral worship."
After dinner, Gu Xizhou looked at the time on his phone and said to everyone, "It's very late. Let's go to bed."
When everyone heard him, they nodded slightly and went back to their rooms.
The three of them washed up simply. Gu Xizhou sat on the bed and stared blankly at the window with newspapers pasted on it.
"What are you looking at?"
Si Yu patted Gu Xizhou's shoulder and asked.
Gu Xizhou looked up at him and said, "I'm thinking about the two figures from last night."
"Curiosity killed the cat," Si Yu suddenly said calmly.
Gu Xizhou was stunned when he heard this because this sentence was exactly the same as what Fu Yiran had said to the girl during the day.
In the middle of the night, Fu Yiran woke Gu Xizhou up again and pointed at the reflection on the window. "Gu Ran, aren't you curious about what's outside?"
Gu Xizhou was speechless.
Fu Yiran smiled at Gu Xizhou, as if inviting him to explore the mystery with him. His eyes were smiling, but Fu Yiran's expression quickly froze.
Gu Xizhou felt a chill on his back. He turned around and saw Si Yu get up from the bed. Si Yu's cold gaze landed on Fu Yiran as he whispered to him, "Remember what I said to you."
Gu Xizhou suppressed his curiosity and nodded. Actually, he was very anxious about the black figure outside and really wanted to take a look.
It was definitely a ghost outside, but it wasn't a big problem for him. He just needed to beat it up.
Si Yu saw him looking at the window and walked over helplessly. He gently knocked on the window.
"There's nothing here that you want. Let's go."
The thing outside seemed to understand his words. The black figure on the window became smaller and smaller until it disappeared.
The next day.
Before Gu Xizhou walked out of his room, he heard whispers at the door!
"Dead … It's not that simple. Two people died in one night!" Liu Kai pointed at the room in the corner and whispered to Wen Wen.
Gu Xizhou saw the floor covered in blood and knew that something had happened last night. Four feet were outside the room. Gu Xizhou walked over to take a look. The two corpses on the floor were unrecognizable. The blood on the floor came from their faces. Their faces were gone. Other than that, their clothes were intact. From their clothes, he could tell that one of them was the girl who quarreled with Fu Yiran yesterday.
Gu Xizhou instinctively looked at the situation in the room. He noticed that the window with the newspaper pasted on it was torn in an irregular shape. He could see the situation outside.
Curiosity killed the cat.
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