Chapter 556

However, even after returning here, the images and sounds in her head were still in a state of paradox. This made it difficult for her to clearly explain her purpose to others, and ultimately led to her solo walk in the third round. As for the result of that action, it is unknown, but Kaguya guessed that if arriving at the space where [Zhangjia Village] was located was a probabilistic event, judging from Li Xiaoxiao's actions of running alone in different spaces in the dark, it was unlikely to achieve the goal.

{What is that promise? }

Kaguya carefully observed Li Xiaoxiao and asked her.

{...The Zhang family lifted the curse set by the Li family for my ancestors, and after my ancestors ran out of the forest alive, they had to find a way to find someone who could save them, take them out of this deserted village, or get rid of the Li family}

Li Xiaoxiao stared at the broken statue, and after a moment of silence, he said in the temporary mental link.

This answer made Kaguya and Chika stunned.

According to the clues obtained from the previous investigation, they all knew that the people of Zhangjia Village had tried to stand aside and remain neutral in the confrontation between the Li family and the Liu family, and chose to believe in both the Xiaoheishan Mountain God and the Fox Goddess when faced with two beliefs, and even believed in an unknown third god, trying to please multiple parties in this way. As a result, their cleverness led to some terrible consequences, making it very likely that they would disappear before the Liu family, becoming the guy who "digs his own grave" in the eyes of the night watchmen.

So the Zhang family at the beginning was not only standing on both sides, but also secretly interfering with the actions of the Li family, and getting in touch with those Li family members who were driven out of the village and cursed, and destined to die a bad death, wanting to ask for returns from the other party by showing favors, and even turning this thing into some kind of blood curse?

Are the three villages in this copy really not simple? However, if the Zhang family can do such a thing, it proves that they should have also obtained some kind of extraordinary power. Is it the power of the Xiaoheishan Mountain God? Or did the Fox Goddess respond to them? Or... is it the unknown third god?

Kaguya vaguely realized that the things involved behind this problem might not be simple.

The next moment, the light disappeared quickly.

When the three realized the change in the sky, the sun above their heads was completely covered by dark clouds, and the whole village began to fall into darkness.

The breath of strange things was spreading.

The strong breath of strange things that filled the whole village, which was completely imperceptible just now, quickly became clear at this moment.

Kaguya and Qianhua, who were originally preparing to teleport away, stopped at this moment, looked at each other and decided to stay.

Although the perception was not very clear, the feeling just now must be the core obsession.

As previously speculated, there is a fourth core obsession in Zhangjia Village, a thing that disappeared with the Zhang family and is still unknown.

Since it is confirmed that it is in this place, it can no longer be easily left. Who knows if it can be triggered next time you come.

It can already feel that the sky is beginning to change.

Although it has not entered the night state yet, some bad conditions have begun to spread.

Without hesitation, the few of them quickly found a mud house and hid in it, closing the door. As for the villagers, they disappeared when it got dark. There was no trace of the phantom villagers at all. Even in the house where the few of them hid, there was no trace. I don't know if they disappeared directly or what happened.

The clone summoned by Goto Ichiri took the initiative to take the sentry at the window of the mud house. Kaguya took out the silent doll and hung it in the house. Li Xiaoxiao took out a few obsessions to purify the house and isolate the power of ghost stories. Qianhua carefully checked the house to make sure there was nothing hidden under the bed or in the closet.

{No problem for the time being, the house here seems to be no different from the house of the Li and Liu families}

After checking, Qianhua said in the mental link, and then reported to Gao Hai that she was safe.

{No problem, then, Miss Li, do you have any clues to fulfill your bloodline promise? Do you have any further clues? }

Hearing this, Kaguya nodded slightly, and then turned her eyes to Li Xiaoxiao on the side.

{…I don’t have any clues for now. I only know that my ancestors did promise the Zhang family that they would find a way to take them out. It seems that…the people of the Zhang family, regardless of gender, age or status, believe that there are people outside, people who can rescue them and change the situation in the village. This promise is to find those people…}

Li Xiaoxiao seemed to have not completely digested the gradually clearing memories. It took her a while to recover and speak.

{People who can rescue villagers trapped by the power of ghost stories, given the background of the times, I think those people the Zhang family refers to should be the people who suppress ghosts, right?}

Qianhua thought for a while and quickly connected Li Xiaoxiao’s words with the previous information.

{Although it is unclear when [Yingting Village] separated from the real world and truly became a dungeon, the Suppressing People are the last group of outsiders who entered the village that we know about now, and they are the strongest. It is also the most professional. Even according to Gao Jun, even if it is "that thing", they can still resist and contain it to a certain extent. So without considering the existence of gods, I think only the Suppressor can do something}

Kaguya agreed with Qianhua's words, and she was also thinking of the power of the Suppressing People.

Li Xiaoxiao was silent for a moment, showing an expression of thinking and recollection.

But then, before Li Xiaoxiao could say anything else, a chill blew into the house from outside the door of the hut.

Something is approaching the room.

I can’t tell if it’s a core obsession, but it’s definitely not something you can get along well with.

Boom——

There was a slight sound, like something falling on the ground far away.

Boom——

Then it became clearer, the sound of a heavy falling to the ground moving towards the cabin.

Kaguya looked at each other like the other two, and first spoke to Ichiri through the spiritual link. Then, after the clone came over, she approached the wooden door of the hut and peeked out from the crack in the door.

Boom——

Then, in the dull sound, she saw the figure of a villager, his whole body stiff and straight, bouncing straight over and standing firmly at the door.

The opponent's face turned purple, and he slowly stretched out his hands that were also tense and stiff, then jumped up again and crashed directly into the wooden door.

Boom——! ! !

Chapter 123: Unusual and Continuous Zombie Villagers

What is this?

Kaguya, who didn't expect to see this thing, couldn't help but be stunned.

Judging from the clothes he was wearing, he must be a villager from this village. But unlike the phantoms I saw before that were immersed in their own world, this villager looked like a corpse, and... didn't seem to feel any strong aura?

Kaguya closed her eyes and carefully let go of her senses. She could vaguely feel that the strong strange aura was still getting closer to the house, but the other party was still far away and had not really arrived here yet.

In other words, the thing outside the door is not the source of the strange aura that the players perceive. Not only that, even though the other party had already walked to the door and started banging on the door, several people still couldn't feel its breath. They could only feel the distant thing that hadn't come over yet. This meant that the corpse There is almost no aura of strange things, otherwise it would not have been discovered by the players until it was close enough to be directly detected by the sound.

So what is this? Scout of the Creature?

Because she grew up in a closed environment, Shinomiya Kaguya didn't understand the horror images in different cultures, so she just found this corpse that was stiff and could only jump forward very strange. However, after Qianhua heard Kaguya's description of the thing in the spiritual link, she relayed it to Gao Hai. As a result, he then complained in the spiritual link, "Are there any zombies in this copy?"

Boom! ! !

Amidst the violent impact, the bruised and stiff villager jumped up again and slammed the door panel hard.

It was already very fragile, but the door panel made of wood cracked at this moment, and it seemed that it would fall apart soon.

If nothing is done, that thing will probably smash the door panel and rush in right away, right? However, two consecutive impacts were unable to break a wooden door. This thing does not seem to be very powerful. Is it really a threat to players?

Because the people she could usually refer to were players such as Gao Hai and Zhenfei Qianhua, Kaguya didn't really think that the power of this stiff corpse was considered powerful. If it were her, even Kaguya, who hadn't received any strengthening during her time in Shirakawa's apartment, would have been confident enough to punch through this not-so-thick wooden door with one punch. In her opinion, it was very strange that something that could only threaten ordinary people who had not exercised much physical fitness appeared in such a copy, so strange that it was almost unbelievable.

However, although the other party does not exude the aura that a strange thing should have, it is not something normal at first glance. If it is cursed, it will be troublesome. Therefore, out of caution, Kaguya thought it was better not to have easy contact with the other party.

With this thought in mind, Kaguya took out a small bell through a deep link and hung it on the door handle of the door.

[Peace Bell], this is the last of the three dark night-level obsessions paid to Gao Hai by [Market]. It is a very simple functional obsession. The prop itself is a small, dirty silver bell with the word "Peace" engraved on it. To use this obsession, you need to tie the string attached to the door handle. The door tied with this bell will have a very powerful defense without untying the bell, and can easily It can withstand high-intensity attacks and has excellent resistance to the impact of strange monsters. It can be regarded as a convenient prop for creating a safe house.

It is worth mentioning that the conditions for this obsession to go out of control have not been explored by any player. Because no matter whether you forcefully destroy the door after tying the rope on the door, untie the rope, or try to bypass the door and enter the house, it will not have any triggering effect on this prop and will not cause any changes.

Because of this, many brave players deliberately tested this obsession to see how it would go out of control. As a result, when the market controlled the scale and means of the test, no player successfully tested the out-of-control conditions of this thing. In the end, it was necessary to rely on Jianzi to empathize with this item and then find out its key out-of-control conditions.

Dong——Dinglingling——

After another fierce collision, the wooden door that was about to break into pieces stubbornly persisted this time, and there was no damage at all under the impact of the corpse.

The protective effect of the obsession has begun to take effect.

And just as Kaguya suspected before, after the power of this dark night-level obsession began to protect the wooden door, the strange thing that hit the door could not knock the door open no matter what, and could not shake this small silver bell in the rule confrontation.

{I always feel that it is a little too weak. It was suppressed by the dark night-level obsession. Is there such a weak strange thing in this copy? }

Qianhua on the side was also very puzzled about this. The strange things that appeared before, such as the blood-colored wedding dress. Although Gao Hai easily suppressed it after the confrontation, Gao Hai had to use multiple Red Moon-level blessings to achieve this step, so the strength of the monster can still be seen in comparison. But this corpse that suddenly appeared was too weak. Qianhua estimated that the strength it showed was at most the strength of a regular monster in the Dark Night-level copy, or even weaker.

How could such a strong monster appear in such a copy? Isn't it too strange?

Qianhua and Huiye both saw the abnormality of the monster villager at this moment and began to think about the possible reasons.

In the corner of the house, Li Xiaoxiao, holding a broken black stone, had closed her bloodshot eyes and fell into the seemingly false memory and dream again.

Dong——

In the dull sound of collision after collision, the purple and stiff corpse continued to hit the door.

Kaguya stood silently by the door, but she remembered the condition for the bell to go out of control: killing a mother with a child under the age of five within five meters of the door where the bell was tied. As long as this condition is met, the obsession will immediately go out of control and cast a powerful curse on the living people around, causing them to fall into strong hysteria and despair.

Kaguya remembered that Gao Hai also said that when he first got this obsession and successfully cracked the out-of-control condition with the help of Yotsuya, he couldn't believe such a condition for a while. After all, a dark night-level obsession will not kill the player instantly after going out of control, but will impose a mental abnormality. Compared with other obsessions of the same level, this is really harmless to some people and animals, and it is hard to tell whether it is an obsession.

So, both the obsession and the weird are not normal. In Gao Jun's words, this seems to be called... a chicken pecking each other?

Dong-dong-

In the gap between thinking and recalling, the corpse was still repeating the action of hitting the door, as if tirelessly hitting the door continuously.

The real source of danger was much closer at this time.

Although they could not perceive it as clearly as Gao Hai, Kaguya and Chika could still vaguely sense that the gradually approaching thing was slowing down, and seemed to be gradually becoming hesitant and a little hesitant.

The two had no idea why this happened. For safety reasons, Kaguya did not intend to use the auditory blessing to try to directly observe the thing in this situation. So after a brief thought, she turned her head and looked at Li Xiaoxiao behind her.

{Miss Li, among the memories you felt, are there any parts related to the current situation? If there is any valuable information, I hope you can tell me as soon as possible}

Kuguya looked at the other party very seriously while saying this.

{... No, I should have said everything that is clear enough and can be described in words. There may be something else, but the pictures and sounds are too vague, and I can't express what it is}

Li Xiaoxiao, who seemed to be in a trance before waking up, opened his eyes, looked at Kaguya, and then shook his head and said in the temporary mental link.

Her mental state seemed to have deteriorated, and the confusion in her expression became more obvious.

After digging out the broken statue, something in Li Xiaoxiao's deep consciousness seemed to be triggered. Her consciousness was obviously under a considerable burden, so that it was difficult to maintain her awake state.

{... If I think of any useful clues... I will tell you immediately, I promise}

After taking several deep breaths, Li Xiaoxiao regained some clarity, spoke seriously to the two people, and stood up to prepare for the monsters.

Can she really do this?

Kaguya looked at the player's state and had some doubts in her heart. At this time, she couldn't help but miss Gao Jun's iron will. She believed that if he was affected and attacked by memory and cognition, he would definitely react quickly to realize where the problem was and overcome it by force through his will, and would not stay here in different switching states of confusion and wakefulness.

Kaguya complained in her heart with some unhappiness, and then turned her attention to Qianhua on the side.

The usually cheerful pink-haired girl was very focused at this time, and had been carefully observing the body that hit the door. She was so serious that she didn't even notice Kaguya's voice next to her. Her eyes fell on the bruised and purple skin all over the villager's body, wondering whether it was the corpse spots that appeared after death or something else.

{Clothed and neatly dressed}

Qianhua whispered in the spiritual link.

Although his clothes were very old-fashioned, shabby and contemporary, Qianhua still said this through the spiritual link after careful observation.

{There is basically not much splashed dust, mud or the like on the body, and the clothes look very clean, with a little bit of deliberateness. Did someone take care of the villagers for a period of time after they were in this state, or did this person know what his body would look like before he died, so he was prepared in advance? }

Thinking of some possibility, Qianhua suddenly raised her head and looked through the crack in the door into the darkness outside.

{However, no matter which possibility it is, it should... be more than just this example. It can't be the only one, right? }

Then, as if to confirm her words, something gradually emerged from the darkness.

Boom--boom--

One after another, the villagers, who were all stiff and could only jump forward, were so densely packed that they walked out of the darkness and approached the few people in the house at this time.

Each one of them had a blue face, no breathing or heartbeat, and they just jumped forward step by step, with their feet together.

In less than half a minute, there were crowds of people outside the hut, all of them villagers from Zhangjia Village.

{The number is more than 50, and there are more outside the line of sight. Maybe the total number must exceed 200? }

Kaguya closed her eyes and used her auditory blessing to sense the surrounding situation, but did not dare to spread the blessing power too far. But even so, she also heard an astonishing number of footsteps from her perception, and judging from the changes at the source of the sounds, the number of villagers was probably continuing to grow.

{So many villagers are troublesome even if they are not strong. Why are there so many... Could it be that they are all looking for you, Miss Li, to repay their kindness? }

After hearing this, Qianhua couldn't help but complain in the temporary mental link, and Li Xiaoxiao turned away slightly embarrassed and did not answer this sentence.

Chapter 124: The echo of despair remaining in the body and the path forward guided by the promise

More than two hundred zombie villagers came from all directions at this moment, completely surrounding the hut.

Although these villagers can hardly feel the aura of a monster, and may not be as threatening as a Twilight Core-level monster, the gathering of so many corpses is a disturbing signal in itself. Not to mention the unknown thing that is always approaching slowly and unhurriedly.

Considering that even when desperate, she and Qianhua beside her could be teleported directly to Gao Hai through Andres' blessing, Kaguya was not very nervous now. She was just confused about the current situation, silently thinking about why these incredibly weak corpses appeared in a cluster, and whether there was some special connection with the thing approaching behind them.

According to Gao Jun's investigation, the villagers of the Li family who believe in the mountain god have successfully gained eternal life, and can use the power of the mountain god to achieve various goals, and even control strange objects that would have been extremely harmful to them. In contrast, these villagers are also in conflict with the mountain god. He was highly bound and suffered backlash due to the changes in the mountain god. The Liu family villagers who believed in the Fox Queen were contaminated and transformed after the Fox Queen herself was polluted, turning into something neither human nor ghost. Then they somehow came into contact with the sealed "thing", and were completely destroyed. Devoured and assimilated, it is no longer possible to return to its original appearance.

It can be said that regardless of the Li family or the Liu family, the final fate is actually similar. It's just that because the gods they believe in have been contaminated by the Liu family, they have already reached the end before the players arrive. The mountain god that the Li family believed in could still last for a while longer due to its special condition, so it was not until Gao Hai arrived to speed up the process that they came to their end.

So, the Zhang family, which believed in the Mountain God and the Fox Empress, also tried to believe in a third unknown god. This family who tried to be a centrist was, according to the investigation, the first family to be destroyed among the three clans. How did they meet their end? What else was left behind?

Dong-dong-dong——

Amidst the collisions one after another, those monsters continued to hit the house relentlessly, even if their attacks were easily resisted and had no effect at all.