1TWITF[C Chapter 33

Chapter 33

NPC Awakening…

Chu Xiu’s mind was full of questions, but he didn’t make this matter public.

The task performers can’t see the future, can’t find hope, and are constantly walking on the edge of life and death. They’re just ordinary people. If nothing unexpected happened, they would have lived peacefully.

But unfortunately, they were dragged into the most terrifying and dark world. The scythe of the Grim Reaper is always hanging over their necks. This kind of psychological pressure is hard for ordinary people to imagine. Every month, the number of suicides from the website is as high as a dozen. One batch dies after another, but the number of registered users on the website only increases.

The other three in the car seem optimistic, laughing and joking, but isn’t it because they know they might die at any time, so they try their best to leave a smile at the last moment of their lives?

Having experienced life-and-death escapes, yet still needing to abide by the laws of modern society, is simply too much to ask of them. They have already tacitly accepted the executors venting their anger on the native residents of this world, and call them NPCs.

Killing people here is always better than killing people in the real world.

This is also the reason why Chu Xiu chose to conceal it.

If this matter is made public, it will inevitably cause the executors, whose minds are already hanging by a thread, to quickly lose their balance, bringing incalculable consequences. [He Lou] probably thought the same way, so he chose to tell himself this. However, although he said in the email that he only told himself, it can’t be guaranteed that what he said is the truth. It’s still unknown whether other people have received this information as well.

Compared to the unease vaguely revealed in He Lou’s words, Chu Xiu’s view was completely different.

All along, it’s not that no one has tried to find the secret behind the task, but all have returned without success. The awakened NPC that He Lou mentioned might be a turning point.

It’s a pity that the other party didn’t reveal more information. He doesn’t know who that NPC is, in this world… can he find it?

The vehicle continued to drive, and the four people in the car chatted happily. If you didn’t see the increasingly secluded and deeper section of the road they were heading to, they looked no different from ordinary people out for a trip.

It was like… words composed of blood.

After he finished speaking about the task, looking at the road sign, he only felt his heart heavy.

There seems to be an ominous existence in this place. It’s in the corner, staring at everyone!

“Coming to this kind of place to play this game…” The man in the back seat’s face had become extremely pale.

He’s still fearing that incident, including… this game.

The game is called Calling Shadows, or perhaps another name, which is—summoning ghosts! It requires participating players to stand alone by the side of the road after midnight, using moonlight or streetlights, face their own shadows and walk forward. With each step, they must call out their own name. After walking thirteen steps, they can leave.

Until later…

Ye Shengke finally learned his lesson.

At that time, Ye Shengke didn’t believe it. He played it once first, and nothing happened. His friend was originally a bit timid, but after seeing that nothing happened to him, he got out of the car and stood by the side of the road, facing his shadow and walking step by step. However, when he walked to the thirteenth step, it actually…

Ye Shengke closed his eyes, not daring to think back.

Now, he has to play this game again.

“Yezi, are you thinking about that again?” The woman sitting next to him comforted him.

Ye Shengke gave a wry smile: “Senior, don’t comfort me. If I hadn’t suggested playing this game, he wouldn’t have…”

Indeed, there’s nothing here, a desolate place. Even the scenery is scary, and it can be directly used as a ghost movie set.

Even if there are people, it’s hard to know if they’re really people, or…

But that’s how the task is stipulated, and they don’t dare to violate it. Otherwise, wouldn’t it be better to just grab two people from the downtown area?

After all, ordinary people aren’t brain-damaged. Who would play this kind of thing for no reason? Scaring themselves. Perhaps, they can only use some violent means.

Speaking of which, Chu Xiu, who rarely spoke, rarely opened his mouth: “Don’t worry about this problem.”

Nie Yunzhen doesn’t know what means Chu Xiu has, but since he’s so sure, he must have some method. He nodded: “Then I’ll trouble Brother Chu later.”

Next, the four people sat quietly in the car waiting, trying to wait for passersby.

*

“Qingqing, it’s so late now, do you really have to go over at night? It’s very dangerous.” On the other side of the road, two girls with schoolbags walked over, the taller girl worried.

She looked at the bag on the girl’s side, and there was some fear in her eyes.

“But, this place is really scary. How about we come during the day tomorrow? It’s going to get dark soon.”

Hearing this, Wen Qing’s eyes also hesitated. She squeezed the hand holding her schoolbag, but still shook her head: “It won’t work.” Her eyes were full of fear. Yun Qian had never seen such strong fear on Wen Qing’s face, who had always been bold.

“It won’t work, it has to be today… he said, it must be today…”

“He? Who is he? Did your grandma say that?”

But no matter how Yun Qian asked next, Wen Qing didn’t answer. She only comforted her good friend: “It’s okay, look, we’ve already arrived here, we just need to quickly find a tree to hang it on.”

In her schoolbag, there was a faint sweet fragrance, mixed with the smell of blood. Yun Qian accidentally smelled it, and immediately turned her head away to get some air. Wen Qing didn’t care, peeling off the plastic bags one by one.

“But, the trees here have all lost their leaves, where are there dense trees?” Yun Qian stopped persuading her, and just looked around with her.

Indeed, there were trees planted on both sides of the road, but in such a large forest, all the leaves had fallen, leaving only twisted, bare branches.

“Let’s look again.” Speaking of this, Wen Qing was also a little embarrassed. She grabbed Yun Qian’s hand, “It’s okay, I’ll protect you, we’ll go back soon.”

No one knew that she clenched the amulet in her pocket with her other hand.

It’s getting darker and darker. The two girls held hands tightly and walked step by step onto the dark road covered by the shadows of the trees.

I don’t know if it was Yun Qian’s illusion, but the sweet smell in her nose became stronger and stronger.

A little light vaguely came from ahead. Walking further, it was actually a car, and it seemed that the people in the car were chatting.

Yun Qian squeezed Wen Qing’s hand, and said in surprise: “Found it!”

The two of them ran over in a few steps, leaving the main road and arriving at the tree. Wen Qing compared it and found that she wasn’t tall enough and couldn’t reach the lowest branch, so she couldn’t help but look at Yun Qian for help.

Yun Qian is a little taller, so she should be able to.

“Qianqian, I, I can’t reach…”

“Okay then.” Wen Qing turned around, put down her schoolbag, and took out a plastic bag and a rope from the bag.

The plastic bag contained a ball of something unknown, bulging and wrapped into a ball, about the size of two palms put together. Wen Qing opened the outermost layer of the bag, and there was another layer inside. She peeled it off patiently layer by layer.

Wen Qing didn’t care, holding her kitten and shedding a tear.

This is her Xiaomi, how could she be afraid?

She was holding Xiaomi with both hands, and didn’t have time to care about the rope. Only then did she realize that her actions were a little inappropriate. She should have thrown the rope over first, how could she do it now?

Xiaomi can’t touch the ground.

Unexpectedly, a strange male voice came from behind her.

“Okay.”

“Ah—” Wen Qing was startled, and quickly turned around. Then, she saw her friend standing not far behind her, her eyes full of horror, but she didn’t dare to speak.

Because a gun was pointing at her head.

“Who are you? What do you want to do?!” Wen Qing was so scared that she took a step back, stepping on the plastic bag, making a little crackling sound. Her mind was full of various legal news.

Little did she know, the dead cat in her hands also scared Nie Yunzhen, who was approaching her, a little.

The four people exchanged glances with each other without leaving a trace, all feeling that this girl was strange. But there’s no other way, these are the only two passersby now.

Wen Qing was trembling all over.

If these men really want to… what should she do?

What should she and Qingqing do?

If it really comes to that, she’ll… put Xiaomi on the ground!

But those people told her an answer that she had never thought of, which was completely different from what she imagined.

“Calling Shadows?”

Her voice was very gentle, soft, but it sounded like the devil in the ears of the two. Wen Qing quickly said: “I understand, you… can you let her go first?”

Chu Xiu took back the gun pointing at Yun Qian’s head, and gave the person a gentle push. The girl immediately rushed to her friend, but hesitated because of the black cat corpse in her hands, and stood on the other side.

Will she be an awakened NPC?

No, he still needs to observe more.

“You keep your word.” Wen Qing’s voice was still trembling, but she didn’t show too much weakness, which surprised the four people.

“By the way, can you tell us now, what is that you’re holding in your hands?” Nie Yunzhen continued to ask with a smile.

Wen Qing pursed her lips: “My cat, called Xiaomi.”

“Then why did you bring it here? What were you going to do under the tree just now?” The woman among the four continued to ask softly.

Her name is Shi Yan. Looking at the way the two girls were relying on each other, she seemed to see herself and her best friend A Xin in the past.

It’s a pity that A Xin she…

Shi Yan’s eyes only dimmed for a moment, and quickly recovered.

There’s still a long time before midnight, they’re not in a hurry, they must first ask for information.

These two strange girls, this weird place, what secrets are behind it?

Wen Qing didn’t want to answer, but there was no way. She took a deep breath: “Xiaomi suddenly died, I brought it here to bury it.”

“Bury it? Why hang it on the tree?”

“Because, this is what my grandma told me. My grandma said…”

*

Speaking of which, the old woman slapped her head again: “Oh dear, that little girl must have written her name on it.”

Speaking of which, the old woman was also a little worried: “Not yet, I don’t know if she went to look for the cat again after school.”

Lu Yanli handed over the student ID, and casually comforted: “It’s okay, she’ll be back safely.”

After saying that, he waved his hand and left, ignoring the old woman’s retention.