Raindrops in the night sky slipped down his collar, and
He stood alone at the edge of the peach grove, eyes locked on the information displayed on his phone screen.
Under the optional trial mission column, a new option had appeared — Living
"A three-star trial mission is already pushing my limits. The Third Building is also a three-star scenario, and without
A jump in trial difficulty to three stars signaled that the scenario likely contained red-robed ghosts — possibly more than one.
And based on what Chen Ge currently knew, the only thing that could threaten a red-robed ghost was another red-robed ghost.
"The trials posted by the black phone aren't just simple missions. I have to consider the variables they set off afterward, as well as other real-world factors. I can't rush in blindly."
Chen Ge hesitated for a while, thinking it over carefully. "I have a whole week to decide anyway. Maybe if I stall for a few days, Zhang Ya will wake up, and then I'll have the confidence to face the danger head-on."
He made up his mind, glanced at his own shadow, and slipped the black phone into his pocket. "I'll wait until the fifth night before deciding. I'm no reckless fool."
The three-star Living Coffin Village trial was a new option for him, but it was only that — an option.
After what had happened with Zhu Xinrou's sister, Chen Ge was certain that the danger level of this three-star mission would be no less than the Third Building.
More importantly, the village at the foot of the mountain was called Linguan Village, yet the mission on the black phone was named Living Coffin Village.
Knowing how the black phone worked, the true location of this mission was very likely the original site of the coffin village deep in the mountains!
Such a scenario, once unlocked for the horror house, would be absolutely thrilling — and it would be a rare, desolate-village themed attraction that the current market had almost nothing like. If he pulled it off, it would draw in every seasoned horror-house enthusiast.
Honestly, Chen Ge was tempted.
But thinking about it from another angle — Living Coffin Village lay deep in the mountains, desolate and uninhabited, without even a cell signal.
In that kind of situation, if he encountered something truly terrifying, escape would be next to impossible.
"The people in Living Coffin Village all looked grotesquely deformed, and every household kept a living coffin. I have a feeling the number of monsters hidden in that village is enormous."
"The refugees who fled to the Bai family village had intact, non-deformed bodies, yet their attitude toward the deformed was hard to fathom — as if they wanted to kill every last one of them."
"Why did these people flee from the depths of the mountains? Was there really a plague in Living Coffin Village?"
Chen Ge couldn't quite figure it out, but one thing he was sure of: before attempting the Living Coffin Village mission, he needed to build a good relationship with Jiang Ling. That little girl was far from the innocent, guileless child she appeared to be.
"Yin Xiaoxiao and
The branches and leaves of the peach trees rubbed against each other, producing an eerie rustling sound.
The old man took a hoe and carefully dug open the hole beneath the peach tree, his movements gentle, a trace of guilt on his face.
Chen Ge offered to help, but the old man refused. Chen Ge took off his jacket and spread it over a fork in the branches, seemingly to keep the body from getting wet.
Watching the old man slowly clear away the surrounding soil, the female corpse — buried vertically — began to tilt. When Chen Ge caught sight of the small, deformed hands protruding beneath both of her arms, his heart sank with a bittersweet ache.
Born looking like this — why should those around her have pinned the blame on her?
He could imagine what Zhu Xinrou's childhood must have been like. No matter how hot the weather, she had to be bundled in thick layers of clothing. The one time someone accidentally discovered her deformity and met her with those disgusted, cold rebukes, she would have to bow her head and apologize meekly.
"She must have loved winter when she was little." Seeing Zhu Xinrou's corpse with his own eyes brought an indescribable shock. And compared to ordinary people's revulsion and avoidance, what Chen Ge showed was sympathy.