Editors: Kat & Alysia
Proofreader: Yuzu RSnoBv
The turbid-looking eye was only half a finger's distance away from the back of Wei Xun's head!
Wei Xun turned his head and found nothing behind him. The room was empty, and even the laughing sound had suddenly stopped. However, when he turned back to the front, an almost fully rotten face suddenly appeared in front of him, and its muddy eyes were staring at him, full of resentment!
Chrysanthemum Garden.
"Oh! You almost frightened me to death! I was really almost frightened to death!"
Wei Xun exaggeratedly covered his heart and gasped, and looked at the rotten corpse for three seconds—— wCXipM
His SAN value remained stable at 90, without any fluctuations. This was similar to his heartbeat, which was beating stably like before.
Disappointed, Wei Xun decided to give up fooling around with the corpse and said, "Sigh, what useless trash."
The corpse: ?
Wei Xun's hand slackened due to his lack of interest in the corpse, and he frowned and pinched his nose in a disgusted manner. "Ugly thing, is it necessary to make yourself so dirty and smelly? Why aren't you taking a shower even though you have maggots growing on you?"
pEceOj
"Next time, it's better to have the dish spirit or the pen spirit visit me instead. Those things are clean yet scary. I'm fine with both little spirit sisters and brothers."
Wei Xun kindly "suggested" as he walked past the illusion and said to himself anxiously, "Can I only rely on the Travel Services automatically deducting 10 from my SAN value every day for me to drop in SAN value?"
"In this way, even at the end of the tour, I won't be able to turn into a monster."
With a sigh of regret, Wei Xun walked out of the room with his hands behind his back before turning a corner and walking to the main room. The illusions he had to see and hear when his SAN value dropped to 90 points had no effect on him at all. In contrast, Miao Fangfei and the other's corpse preparation experience seemed more interesting to Wei Xun. 6AgB9d
Although he couldn't participate in the activity himself, he could go over to soak his eyes in a blissful view!
After all, they had to personally prepare the corpses. This made Wei Xun want to become a tourist!
* *
"There are 54 corpses in the yard, all of which are almost fully rotten." NfHV98
Two hours later, on the first floor of the inn, the tourists had collected their information and gathered together again to exchange information.
Miao Fangfei said, "They're all adult corpses. There are no child corpses."
"Their clothes are not completely rotten, and they look like ordinary villagers."
Zhao Hongtu added impatiently that he and Miao Fangfei were brave enough to look at the corpses one by one. Even if they were battered by rain, they still smelled a strong rotten scent from the corpses.
"With this sort of wind and rain, it's abnormal that the corpses in the yard haven't rotted to white bones."
Compared with Zhao Hongtu's observation, Miao Fangfei's observation was more detailed, "No unique rotten corpses have been found for the time being, but the group of rotten corpses stood too close to each other. Perhaps we will have new findings later."
When Miao Fangfei said this, Lin Xi raised his eyes and looked at her. Then he drooped his eyes and stood in a daze. No one knew what he was thinking about.
"We couldn't enter the main room." bnMJyB
Hou Feihu picked up the conversation, and his eyebrows were tightly knitted together. He was a tall and strong man, and regardless of what kind of predicament he was in, he was the type of person who would always keep his back straightened. His every move seemed to be as neat as though he had trained his posture. "How strange. Clearly, we could enter the main room yesterday, but now the wooden door to the main room is closed. No matter how we pull it, we can't open it."
It was reasonable that a rotten wooden door should be able to be easily kicked open with a single kick, but the wooden door to the main house was as hard as iron, which was obviously abnormal.
"There is a strong resentment behind the wooden door."
Xu Chen, who has the title of "Resentment Perception," added with a bit of fear, "The resentment is so thick that everything I see there is black." 4COoGz
"I was lucky to escape from a malicious ghost on my previous tour."
Xu Chen was worried. He rubbed his eyes as he said, "The resentment in the main room... Even with the door as a barrier, I can 'see' it clearly. It's several times stronger than the malicious ghost I saw previously."
"Yes, even without Brother Xu's title, I almost froze to death because of the resentment."
The fat man's face was bitter, and his chubby arm was covered with goosebumps. "Dude, that resentment was so thick. It was as though there was a ghost that had just come back from the battlefield!" 1dfDGu
"Battlefield?"
Miao Fangfei deliberated, "I remember that there were 12 coffins in the main room, but...only eight of them had wooden tablets in front of them."
Miao Fangfei, a veteran tourist, was very observant. Yesterday, she merely glanced at the main room, yet she could write down the general situation of the main room that she had a strong impression of.
There were eight corpses, matching the number of tourists. Coincidentally, this would ensure they would have one corpse each. UY jLu
The tourists exchanged glances.
"This may be related to a branch scenic spot."
Zhao Hongtu was in high spirits, and his eyes reflected his ambition. "In the Intoxicating Xiangxi series tours, there must be a branch scenic spot in Western Hunan...maybe there will be a special task issued to us!"
As soon as he said this, all the tourists present had a slight change in their expressions. However, not all of them were as eager to attempt the task as Zhao Hongtu. Xu Chen seemed to be in deep thought, Hou Feihu sighed helplessly, and Miao Fangfei and Shi Tao looked at each other and frowned slightly. 2hpzdJ
"Pft, with your meager abilities, how could you think of attempting a branch scenic spot on an Intoxicating Xiangxi series tour?"
In the silence, Lin Xi's merciless sarcasm rang out. Lin Xi raised his chin, and because he was taller, he looked down at Zhao Hongtu, scanning him from top to bottom. He enigmatically said, "We are not even done dealing with the main scenic spots. Some people are really proud. Even if you're not worried about being able to handle it, you still have to consider not implicating others."
Chrysanthemum Garden.
"You!"
Zhao Hongtu was very angry. With a sharp look in his eyes, he swiped his hand behind his back, drawing a longbow out of nowhere! The body of the bow was made of an unknown material. It was silvery white and shimmered with a sharp cold light at both tips, not appearing inferior to any blade. c4oOwn
"Useless trash, go and lick III-9's feet. There's no place for you to talk here!"
"Alright, alright, calm down, everyone calm down!"
Seeing that Zhao Hongtu couldn't stand the provocation and even took out his weapon, Miao Fangfei flashed in front of Lin Xi, and the spotted snake on her shoulder threateningly hissed at Zhao Hongtu. Hou Feihu's eyebrows jumped, and he pulled Zhao Hongtu behind him. Wang Pengpai's round body squeezed between both sides, who were about to have a showdown, and he laughed as he tried to deescalate the dispute.
"Brother Zhao's strength is sufficient to challenge the branch scenic spots. After all, if the branch scenic spots really have a title task, it's probably at least a dark blue title task! Us straightforward people should not resort to insinuations. Of course, the more titles we have, the better it is for us. Even a fatty like me would be greedy for more titles." JEdupy
Looking at Zhao Hongtu's expression, which was slowly easing, Wang Pengpai immediately changed his tune and said, "But what Lin Xi said is also reasonable. We don't have much time now, and we have to find and process corpses. We don't know how long it will take, so it wouldn't be wrong to be careful. A fatty like me is not afraid to offend others. With the strength of our elder brothers and sisters, it'll be hard for us even if we band together to survive on this tour. How can we argue at this time?"
"If I had to say, I feel that the branch scenic spots are good, but they are not something we should accomplish now. Even if we want to accomplish them, we have to do them together. We are grasshoppers on the same rope now, and it is taboo to act separately. Leader Miao, what do you think?"
Miao Fangfei took a deep look at Wang Pengpai and said, "Brother Wang is right. The difficulty of an Intoxicating Xiangxi series tour cannot be underestimated. Even I almost died on the way up the mountain."
Yes, even Miao Fangfei, who was the most powerful tourist and had the title of Novice Gu Witch, almost lost her life on the way up the mountain. How dare others say that they could survive in a branch scenic spot that would be more difficult than the main scenic spots? TAHFuh
"But it's true that we should take a look at the main room again."
When Miao Fangfei said this, many people present were surprised. Zhao Hongtu thought that Miao Fangfei was showing her goodwill, and his dark expression softened a lot. Under Miao Fangfei's leadership, the team went to the main room.
"Sister Miao, do we really have to head to the branch scenic spot?"
On the way to the main room, Shi Tao found an opportunity to whisper to Miao Fangfei. He looked worried and somewhat disagreed with the decision. "What about Guide III——" z9hCIb
The tourists would be rewarded if they experienced the attractions in the main scenic spots. However, if one wanted to receive more tasks with rewards, or even high-level title tasks, they could only receive them in branch scenic spots.
The branch scenic spots were outside the main scenic spots, and the scenic spots wouldn't be listed in the itinerary. If you wanted to explore the branch scenic spots, you not only had to take big risks but also had to hide it from the tour guide.
If the tourists successfully explore the branch scenic spots, the tour guide will be punished by the Travel Services. For example, it is akin to them having a bundle ticket with only two attractions, the carousel and the roller coaster. However, a tourist secretly evaded the ticketing personnel and went to the haunted house to play.
This would be judged as the tour guide not leading his tour group properly. The Travel Services would not punish the tourists, only the tour guide. The more rewards the tourists obtained in the branch scenic spots, the more seriously the tour guide would be punished. NLAvJR
This was not only a zero-sum game between tourists and tour guides, but the tourists would have to take great risks doing so. Once Zhao Hongtu's exploration of a branch scenic spot was discovered by III-9, the entire tour group would have to bear his anger!
"We'll see."
Chrysanthemum Garden.
Miao Fangfei gently shook her head. Recalling that it was Shi Tao who was beside her, she whispered a few words, "The main room is not necessarily a branch scenic spot."
"Think about how Little Dragon Farmstead was introduced." ojbLl1
When they arrived at the main room, they saw III-9 standing by the locked door with his arms folded, looking at the broken yellow amulet on the door with great interest. Seeing that III-9 was here, Miao Fangfei felt more reassured inwardly. She rushed to III-9 and bowed her head to indicate her goodwill before approaching the main room with the tourists.
The closer they got to the broken wooden door, the stronger the sense of coldness and pressure. As Miao Fangfei approached the main room, the spotted snake raised its head, issuing a warning hiss, and assumed a fighting posture on Miao Fangfei's shoulder. At an unknown time, Miao Fangfei's pupils had become as long as apricot seeds, appearing like a snake's pupils!
The cold feeling made the hair on the back of her neck stand as if there was a sea of blood in front of her. When she reached five steps away from the main room, Miao Fangfei halted.
It was not that she had willingly stopped, but the invisible terrorizing pressure was blocking her, and she couldn't go any further! 8viwS1
A bloody scent.
Miao Fangfei opened her mouth slightly, and the tip of her tongue was like a snake's forked tongue.
The strong and pungent smell was like a weapon soaked in blood, chock full of murderous intent! It was as though it was not the main room in front of them but a cruel battlefield that was emitting the scent of fresh blood and gunpowder!
"It's not the same." liF8s1
Zhao Hongtu subconsciously aimed his bow at the door, wary and fearful. "This feeling is different from before."
He had also felt resentment, but the resentment from the corpses in the courtyard felt cold and turbid, akin to pure and gloomy malice. Behind the door to the main room, although the resentment was also deep, it was more like the resentment of an evil spirit containing killing intent. It was like the resentment of a group of soldiers who had just come out of the bloody battlefield!
The resentment in the main room surged like it was looking for a victim, as though the tourists had woken up the resentment that was deep in slumber last night! It was these feelings of fear, hatred, and anger that made everyone's face turn pale!
Xu Chen was the one who sensed these emotions the deepest, and his face grew pale as a ghost. He stepped back quickly and said in a loud voice, "I'm sorry if we have offended you, elder. We're leaving now." KJNXoC
Ploop!
Miao Fangfei knelt decisively. Her face was also pale, but she immediately bowed down thrice. She carried out her actions sincerely until her face was covered with dust. She said in a loud voice, "Elder, we are the Xiangxi corpse drivers, and we are here to send our predecessors home!"
After that, Miao Fangfei kowtowed three times without restraining her strength. Her forehead was black and blue, but her eyes were firm.
"We are here to send our predecessors home!" uUaNOz
The author has something to say:
The inspiration of the martyrs returning home comes from the legend of charming Xiangxi~
Chrysanthemum Garden.
T/N: Xiangxi is famous for her legend of corpse drivers/corpse chasers. The practice was supposedly popular in Xiangxi, in China's southern Hunan province, where many original residents left home to find work in other areas. If you have watched some Hong Kong horror flicks filmed in the 1970s to 1990s, you will find that there are lots of flicks about driving/chasing corpses. Read more here.
(p.s. Corpse driving/chasing is also known as corpse walking or corpse herding. I just chose the more literal meaning to translate it.) DePKUW
I'm back! The release and update schedule will be the same as usual, and I'll try to cough up as many chapters as possible meanwhile to open bonus chapters soon. Thank you, everyone, for your kind understanding!