The Instance: 《Old Lady Huang's Birthday Celebration》 (10)

“Waaah...”

“Waaah...”

The candles in the room where the corpse lay burned steadily.

When Su Ya and Yang Asha left the room, their faces were only slightly pale.

【Sub-quest 2: "Dressing in the Shroud" completed. Completion rating: Excellent.】

【Obtained Clue Fragment: "The village has a severe rat infestation, with rat holes in every household. Old Lady Huang seemed to have kept a large black cat when she was alive."】

【Truth-Solving Progress +15%】

...

As soon as the two stepped out, the eight players waiting outside immediately gathered around, eagerly asking about the situation.

Seeing that they were safe and sound, without even a single crease out of place on their clothes, everyone's racing hearts finally settled back into their chests.

“I told you nothing would happen in broad daylight!”

Holding her makeup bag tightly, Xiao Ding patted her chest and finally loosened her grip. “It's just dressing a dead person, what could possibly go wrong?”

“Exactly. I was scared half to death earlier, but it turns out it's nothing special.”

Xiao Zhuang also laughed along, a hint of forced ease in his tone.

Lin Jianguo frowned and did not join the conversation; he felt that the quest was going too smoothly.

But in front of so many people, he didn't want to rain on their parade, so he only asked in a deep voice, “Who is next for the solo quest? Xiao Ding, you're doing the 'Pressing the Mouth Coin' quest, right?”

“Ah... yes, it's me.”

The color instantly drained from Xiao Ding's face.

Seeing the others go in and come out perfectly fine earlier had made her breathe a sigh of relief, but now that it was actually her turn, that suffocating feeling of anxiety surged up from her stomach once more.

Clutching her quest item, the Five Emperor Coins, she lingered hesitantly at the entrance of the mud brick house.

“Don't be afraid. Just follow the quest prompts,” Su Ya patted her arm, kindly comforting her. “We're all right outside. If anything happens, just shout. Besides, there are still two kids inside.”

“I-I know.”

Xiao Ding took a deep breath, lifted the door curtain, and slipped inside as if heading to an execution ground.

...

The moment the curtain fell, the noise from outside faded away.

The two children were still kneeling before the altar, sobbing and wailing miserably.

“Stop crying...”

The sound of their crying made Xiao Ding's skin crawl, but she didn't dare speak carelessly. Forcing herself to swallow her words, she put on a smiling face:

“Kids, don't cry anymore. Your grandmother wouldn't want you to be this sad—”

She had a sudden brainwave, her mind working rapidly. Jingling the copper coins in her hand, she cast a cautious glance outside before lowering her voice to speak to the little girl kneeling on the right:

“Little sister, could you do me a favor? Can you help big sister press this copper coin under your grandmother's tongue? Big sister is a bit too scared to do it.”

The little girl kneeling before the altar didn't move at all, merely keeping her head lowered as she covered her face and sobbed, “Waaah...”

“So dense, completely inflexible.”

Seeing that the two children were unwilling to help, Xiao Ding muttered a curse in frustration.

But she had no other choice and could only steel herself to walk over to the corpse.

Su Ya and Yang Asha had already dressed the corpse in its shroud. The exquisite shroud hung on the old lady, actually giving her a somewhat noble air.

Xiao Ding swallowed hard, staring intently at the corpse on the door plank.

The corpse's face was exposed, eyes tightly shut, and skin a grayish-blue.

Xiao Ding feared that if she looked even a second longer, she would have nightmares tonight.

“I'm sorry, Old Lady. I'm just an employee here. I'll leave as soon as I finish the quest. Please be generous and forgive me...”

She mumbled to bolster her courage as she shuffled step by step to the head of the bed.

The quest requirements were very simple: place the Five Emperor Coins under the deceased's tongue, with the tip of the tongue pressing down on the coins, without any tilt.

Logically, it was something that could be done just by reaching out, but to Xiao Ding, it felt as though she were separated from it by ten thousand mountains.

Staring at the old lady's dark purple lips, she didn't dare reach out to pry them open.

Humans were strange creatures.

To put it bluntly, a living person was just a piece of moving raw meat.

A dead person was simply a piece of quiet raw meat.

Yet, humans could calmly touch pork, mutton, beef, chicken, and fish—but could not face the corpse of their own kind.

This was a fear engraved in their very genes.

Xiao Ding gritted her teeth and suddenly shut her eyes.

Trembling, she reached out her left hand, attempting to pry open the corpse's mouth.

Deprived of sight, her sense of touch was instantly magnified countless times:

Her fingertips first brushed against the skin of the chin. It was ice-cold and stiff, feeling like dead pork.

The corpse's lips were tightly sealed. Applying a bit of force with her thumb, Xiao Ding managed to pry open a small gap with some effort.

Immediately after came the touch of the tongue.

Hard and tough, its surface dry with a slightly sandy roughness, it felt like a braised pig's tongue bought from the market and left out for several days.

Xiao Ding felt like crying but had no tears, and she felt a strong urge to vomit.

She was never eating braised pig's tongue again!

Her stomach churned violently, and she almost threw up, but fortunately, she suppressed her disgust and stuffed the copper coins under the tongue.

Because her hand was shaking so violently, the sharp edge of a copper coin slipped, scraping directly across the right corner of the deceased's mouth.

She felt a slight tearing sensation.

Xiao Ding's heart skipped a beat. Opening her eyes to look, she was instantly scared out of her wits.

She had cut the corner of the corpse's mouth!

A small cut had been sliced into the right corner of the old lady's mouth by the copper coin, but no blood flowed out.

The scratch left on the grayish-black skin made it look as if the deceased were grinning and smiling at her, bizarre and spine-chilling.

Xiao Ding's mind went completely blank, buzzing loudly.

The corpse was going to awake!!

The quest had failed!

Her legs went weak with fear, and she almost burst into tears on the spot. “Why am I so unlucky—why did I have to draw this quest!”

Just then, out of the corner of her eye, Xiao Ding caught sight of the makeup bag slung over her shoulder.

A sudden spark of inspiration flashed through her mind, and she almost cried out in excitement.

Her identity was the makeup artist of the camera crew, so there should be a powder compact in her bag!

Like grabbing onto a final lifeline, Xiao Ding scrambled to unzip her makeup bag and indeed found a powder compact.

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry...”

Apologizing in a low whisper, she dabbed a thick layer of powder onto the puff, held her breath, and carefully applied it over the cut at the corner of the old lady's mouth.

The shade of the powder was on the paler side, which was surprisingly close to the grayish-blue color of the corpse.

As layers of powder were patted on, the mark grew fainter and fainter.

In the end, unless someone leaned in and looked closely, it was completely unnoticeable.

Xiao Ding double-checked three times to ensure there were no flaws before letting out a long sigh of relief.

The clothes on her back had long been soaked through with cold sweat, sticking to her skin with a chilly dampness.

Only then did she hurriedly tuck the copper coins properly under the tongue, gently close the deceased's mouth, and adjust the collar of the shroud. After confirming there were no other flaws, she turned to leave.

Just as she turned around, she saw a gap pried open in the white cloth curtain.

Huang Facai had his neck craned, peering inside.

His neck was stretched incredibly long, to the point where one would doubt whether a living human could actually perform such a movement. He still wore that same smile, his eyes squinting as his gaze fell directly onto the corpse's face.

The corners of his mouth were stretched extremely wide. There was no telling how long he had been watching.

Xiao Ding's heart instantly leaped into her throat, her breathing halting for half a beat.

...

“Beautiful, are you done?”

Huang Facai shifted his gaze from the corpse's face to Xiao Ding, letting out a sinister chuckle. “Are you finished? If you're finished, come on out. Don't stay inside too long, you'll disturb my mother.”

Though he said this, his feet remained firmly planted outside the room, refusing to take a single step inside.

His tone was perfectly normal, with not a hint of abnormality.

Yet Xiao Ding felt certain that he had seen everything.

But she didn't dare ask, let alone linger. Giving a vague hum of agreement, she quickly lifted the curtain and walked out.

A line of ink-brushed text popped up before her eyes:

【Sub-quest 1: "Pressing the Mouth Coin" completed. Completion rating: Poor.】

【Obtained Clue Fragment: "In the main hall of the ancestral hall, there is a Clay Sculpture Ghost covered in red cloth..."】

【Truth-Solving Progress +5%】

Perhaps because she had made a mistake, the quest clue she obtained was only half a sentence.

...

The moment she stepped out of the room where the corpse lay, a gust of wind blew in her face, making her legs go soft. She nearly collapsed to the ground.

“What's wrong? Why are you so terrified?”

Xiao Zhuang approached with a look of fear. “Are you okay?”

Xiao Ding shook her head, choosing not to mention that she had cut the corner of the corpse's mouth.

“Alright, who is next? Hurry up and do your quest. The rest of us will compile the quest clues.”

Lin Jianguo turned to look at Xiao Ding, wanting to ask about the quest clue she had obtained. Feeling guilty like a thief, her eyes darted around.

She pursed her lips and steeling herself, she spoke the half-sentence clue: “There is a clay statue covered in red cloth in the ancestral hall—”

For some reason, as if possessed, Xiao Ding added another sentence, trying to make her clue look comparable to those obtained by Su Ya, Lin Jianguo, and the others:

“...The Clay Sculpture Ghost is very dangerous. Do not enter the main hall of the ancestral hall.”

Fortunately, Su Ya and the others did not notice anything unusual, nor did they realize that Xiao Ding had only obtained half a clue.

Xiao Ding rejoiced inwardly and quietly let out a breath.

...

Next were the quests for offering the funeral rice and covering the corpse.

Xiao Zhuang first carried three large bowls of white rice inside. Ten minutes later, he came out dejectedly, stating that he had received no quest prompt.

Xiao Qian went in with the white cloth and came out trembling. She cried, saying that the corpse's eyes were wide open, and the deceased in the portrait was also staring, refusing to let her cover it.

Her quest, naturally, had also failed.

Out of the five quests, only three were completed.

Everyone looked at each other, the relaxed atmosphere from moments ago vanishing without a trace.

“How could two fail...” complained a player who hadn't been assigned a quest. “Isn't it just setting out rice and draping a cloth?”

“Easy for you to say, why didn't you go then?”

Xiao Ding was already feeling guilty, so this accusation sounded exceptionally grating to her ears. “It's not like we work at a funeral parlor and see dead people all the time—ask around, who here touches corpses on a daily basis?!”

Seeing that the players were about to start arguing.

“Enough!”

Su Ya pursed her lips and interrupted them. “What's failed is failed. Pointing fingers now won't help. Let's look at the clues we got first.”

Only then did the group call a truce and compile the clues they had gathered.

...

Clue 1: Old Lady Huang died of a wrongful death. During her lifetime, she kept a massive, pure black old cat that was highly intelligent.

Clue 2: Every household in Huangshan Village has hidden rat holes. The rat infestation is long-standing, yet the villagers refuse to speak of it.

Clue 3: There is a Clay Sculpture Ghost in the main hall of the Huang family ancestral hall... The main hall of the ancestral hall is dangerous; do not approach.

...

Three clues, three matters.

The old lady died a wrongful death, and she kept a cat before she died.

The village was infested with rats.

There was a ghost in the main hall of the ancestral hall.

The three clues had absolutely nothing to do with each other, leaving everyone completely baffled.

“What on earth is all this?”

Yang Hexuan scratched his head. “What kind of clues are these? Are we playing a lateral thinking puzzle? It makes absolutely no sense. What do cats and rats have to do with the old lady's final wish?”

“Exactly. I thought completing the quests would give us something useful, but this is it?”

“This is basically telling us nothing.”

“The old lady's wish couldn't possibly be to keep petting her cat in the afterlife, right? Or do we have to catch that cat and burn it for her?”

“That doesn't make sense either. Aren't there plenty of stray cats in this village? How is there still a rat infestation... wasn't doing these quests a complete waste of time?”

Everyone chimed in, mostly with complaints.

They had thought completing the quests would yield key clues, but they ended up with three seemingly unrelated pieces of information, leaving them more confused the more they looked at them.