Chapter 2: Changshou Village
She felt like someone was watching her.
This was the third mission that Qi Huan and Li Xiaoqing participated in.
The lunatic Zhang Jinlong and the slightly chubby middle-aged man Zhao Che were on their second mission. They were all what they commonly referred to as "veterans," with the obligation to familiarize newcomers with the background of the missions.
Zhao Che spoke up, "Why don't you all introduce yourselves first, and then I'll explain what the Hidden World and Hidden Cards are."
The college student who seemed out of place scratched his head and said cluelessly, "Um, I'm Zhang Yichi, a junior from the School of Media. I don't know why I'm here."
The girl looked at Zhang Yichi suspiciously and slowly said, "I-I'm He Wanwan, studying directing at the School of Media, 22 years old, from Xiping. I-I just came out of 7-Eleven and then... then..."
As Li Xiaoqing listened to He Wanwan's introduction, she glanced sideways at Meng Lan.
This woman was too calm, appearing out of place and eerie.
She had been terrified the first time she participated in a mission, just like He Wanwan now. However, this woman had fair skin, eyes like a deep pool, and seemed devoid of fear, resembling a doll displayed in a showcase, devoid of any signs of distress.
Could she be the murderer?
Meng Lan met Li Xiaoqing's gaze calmly and said without any emotion in her voice, "Meng Lan, 22 years old, senior at North University majoring in Finance."
Zhang Jinlong locked his gaze on her. "You don't look scared at all."
Meng Lan's mother had always told her that fear was a powerless emotion. When faced with problems, one should think about how to solve them, not let emotions replace reason.
Qi Huan and Zhao Che also found Meng Lan's behavior too calm, somewhat strange. They observed her up and down, making her feel uncomfortable all over, which also made Meng Lan sense a hint of danger targeted at herself.
The hint wouldn't be wrong; the color of her clothes would make others suspect her of being the murderer. Although no one currently believed the nonsense of the lunatic, it didn't mean she wouldn't be suspected again.
"I drank fake alcohol and haven't sobered up yet," Meng Lan explained expressionlessly. "If you drank fake alcohol and then licked the rim of a cocktail glass, you might have the same symptoms as me."
She raised her wrist, showing the sticker from the bar event.
A cute little smiley face.
Completely incongruent with her indifferent expression!
"Haha!" Zhang Yichi suddenly burst into laughter.
Zhao Che looked at Zhang Yichi sternly. "Looks like you really don't know what's going on. Let me remind you, dying here means really dying. This isn't a game; it's another world."
The laughter abruptly stopped.
It took Meng Lan ten minutes to understand her current situation. This place was like a parallel world to the real world, with no laws or deities, only terrifying ghosts and missions. It was a life-and-death mission; they needed to complete the task indicated by the red letters, either completing the mission or facing annihilation.
If they died during the mission, they would disappear from reality as if evaporating into thin air. Because during the mission, they vanished from the mortal realm, the world in the mist where the mission participants were was jokingly referred to as the "Hidden Carnival."
Hidden—mysterious and elusive, completely disappearing.
Everyone held a white wooden card called the "Hidden Card," with only themselves able to see the words and patterns on it. The Hidden Card represented some kind of special ability, requiring the accumulation of mission experience to unlock.
Mission prompts would appear on the Hidden Card, the same for everyone.
Meng Lan rubbed the wooden texture.
Were the prompts really the same for everyone?
After Zhao Che finished explaining, the mist dissipated, leaving behind a dead silence.
"So, you mean we have to kill the murderer to leave?" Meng Lan pondered.
Zhang Jinlong sneered, "First, you have to make sure you don't get killed by ghosts or the murderer."
The red moonlight tinged the edges of the clouds crimson.
The chilly wind howled, and paper money fell like snowflakes, fluttering down. They stood in an open space, with dense forests behind them. In front, they could vaguely see several white two-story buildings, their ice-cold white walls reminiscent of haunted mansions from horror movies.
Desolate.
Barren.
Yellow soil.
Hills.
They stood on wasteland, surrounded by mountains on three sides, with a small village visible in the distance. As the mist dispersed, it brought a palpable sense of oppression. There was only one road ahead of them, and behind them lay boundless darkness.
Zhao Che stood at the forefront of the group. "Don't be too nervous, act cautiously, and we can all get out of here."
Zhang Jinlong stepped forward beside Zhao Che, with Meng Lan and He Wanwan supporting each other at the rear of the group.
"Let's stay away from him," He Wanwan said, feeling despair like never before in her twenty-two years.
The wind whispered in her ears, sounding like a baby's cry. She covered her ears with one hand and held onto Meng Lan's arm with the other, asking, "Lanlan, do you think what they said is true or not? How could something like this happen! They... they must be lying to us!"
"We'll see."
Meng Lan's pupils reflected the endless night sky.
He Wanwan whispered again, "Will people really die here?"
Zhang Jinlong heard He Wanwan's murmuring and grinned, "Of course people will die. Want to bet on who will die first?"
Li Xiaoqing walked over to Meng Lan and He Wanwan and reassured them in a low voice, "Don't listen to his nonsense. If you have any questions, you can ask me."
Meng Lan whispered, "Why can't we see each other's Hidden Cards?"
Li Xiaoqing hesitated for a moment before suddenly smiling, "I can't answer the first question, but the pattern on each person's Hidden Card is different, representing something maybe. Mine has black texture, and yours should be blank."
He Wanwan nodded, "Mine is blank."
"Stay alive, and your Hidden Card will change in the future."
Under the moonlight, they could see the appearance of the village.
There were about twenty self-built houses in the village, not very large in scale. Warm yellow lights emanated from the windows, giving off a sense of liveliness. The mist hung low, and the birds were silent. At the quiet village entrance stood a wooden sign: "Changshou Village."
He Wanwan was the type of girl who easily relied on others. She pressed her face against Meng Lan's arm, and her hands reached out to hold Meng Lan's hand.
The two seemed like close friends, but Meng Lan wasn't used to such intimacy.
After walking for a while, the night grew darker.
He Wanwan's hand kept sweating, and she embarrassedly said to Meng Lan, "I'm just nervous and sweating. Can I still hold your hand after wiping it?"
She had developed a liking for both Li Xiaoqing and Meng Lan. She was someone who trusted her instincts and didn't believe Meng Lan could be a red-handed murderer. However, she couldn't accept everything Zhao Che had explained so far—things like Hidden Carnival, missions, and people really dying. But she could only follow the majority for now.
"Okay," Meng Lan replied in a deep voice.
When they were about two hundred meters from the village entrance, a stooped and elderly figure emerged from the shadow of the earthen wall. An old-fashioned kerosene lamp illuminated his deeply wrinkled face, and a pair of eyes, clouded by cataracts, stared straight at the seven strangers who had come from afar.
As they approached, the old man examined the unfamiliar visitors. He waved the kerosene lamp in front of each person's face, lifting his heavy eyelids to peer closely with his cloudy pupils, unable to see clearly due to cataracts. A yellow brass bell hung from his waist, emitting a crisp sound.
"We haven't had guests in our village for a long time," the old man sighed.
Li Xiaoqing said, "We're passing travelers and would like to stay for a few nights. We can pay you a fee. How much do you think is appropriate?"
The old man snorted through his nose. Turning around, he rang the bell, "I won't take your money, nor will I let you stay! Go somewhere else!"
Zhao Che became anxious, "How can you refuse us like this? We'll pay you more! Please be kind!"
If no one took them in, they would have to sleep in caves.
The old man glanced at Zhao Che and said, "It's very dangerous here, not a place for you to visit."
Li Xiaoqing calmly changed her approach, "We're not here for leisure, but for artistic inspiration. Please be kind and give us a place to stay for the night. It's late, and we have nowhere else to go."
After some thought, the old man felt it wasn't reasonable to make people stay in the mountains. "Fine, follow me, but it's not safe after dark."
"Could you tell us where we'll be staying?" Li Xiaoqing asked again.
"Stay at my house. We built a new house a while ago but haven't moved in yet. It's quite spacious. My grandson said it could be used as a guesthouse. Who would come here for tourism? It's wishful thinking!" The old man led the way, shuffling along.
There were no streetlights in the village, just pitch-black darkness.
Meng Lan vaguely saw motionless figures behind the windows of the buildings as they passed by.
They were watching, observing.
This feeling made Meng Lan very uncomfortable.
The three-story building to the west of the village entrance was the new house the village chief mentioned. The white paint splashed on the bluestone floor of the courtyard showed that it had recently been renovated. The old man pushed open the security door, and the smell of fresh paint from the new house wafted out.
The empty living room had a few scattered pieces of furniture. Three sticks of incense burned in the shrine, and a golden-edged white porcelain statue was neatly placed inside, with small words underneath: Three Mountain Goddesses.
The interior of the building was brightly lit, with white walls.
"You can arrange yourselves. Don't go out at night." The old man spoke.
He Wanwan asked, "Why can't we go out at night? I just want to understand more about this world. If what Zhao Che said is true, understanding here will help us complete the mission better."
The old man glanced at her and said, "There are wolves near the village at night. It's not safe. You tourists don't have any weapons on you. If something happens, I can't bear the responsibility."
He Wanwan nodded like a scolded primary school student.
The three-story building was quickly allocated. One bedroom on each floor, three on the second floor, and three on the third floor. Each room was not large, clearly decorated as a guesthouse, equipped with a bed and a table. There were no private bathrooms in the rooms; the toilets and showers were at the end of each floor's corridor.
There were exactly seven guest rooms: one on the first floor and three on each of the upper floors.
Originally, Zhao Che was going to stay on the first floor. Zhang Jinlong, Zhang Yichi, and Qi Huan were going to stay on the second floor. He Wanwan, Meng Lan, and Li Xiaoqing were going to stay on the top floor.
But Zhang Yichi, as a newcomer, was a bit afraid to sleep alone, so he pleaded with the kind-hearted Zhao Che.
Zhao Che agreed and went to the second floor with him.
He Wanwan also didn't want to sleep alone, so she begged to share a room with Li Xiaoqing.
Zhang Jinlong heard the two women's whispered conversation and turned around to mock, "You actually want to stay with that old lady. Don't you know? She killed her own sister in the last mission. But if you're afraid, you can come to me, big brother. I will protect you. Look at these two people you're asking for help. How could they survive here!"
After provoking trouble, he bumped into Meng Lan's shoulder and went upstairs. Zhang Yichi and Qi Huan also left the living room on the first floor.
He Wanwan's face turned pale. She didn't believe that the woman who had just protected Meng Lan could do such a thing. However, when she hesitated, Li Xiaoqing said nothing and went upstairs to the third floor.
Meng Lan patted He Wanwan's shoulder. "Our three rooms are next to each other. If anything happens, we can hear each other."
She took a few steps up the stairs, then suddenly heard a faint and soft laughter.
"Hehe."
Meng Lan quickly turned around, but there was no one behind her. Everyone had already returned to their rooms.
"What's wrong?" He Wanwan turned back, startled.
Meng Lan looked towards the blind spot behind the wall on the second floor. She had a vague feeling that there was someone standing behind the wall, someone who hadn't immediately returned to their room, someone who was secretly observing her.
A chill ran down her spine.