Standing in front of the station gate again, several players felt as if a lifetime had passed, but after careful calculation, only one day had gone by.
The golden characters “Fengshan South Station” hung at the top of the station gate. The expansive space and clean gate made it seem as if the station had just been completed and opened to the public.
The same was true of the station, which was still lifeless and dead, not even the slightest sign of human activity.
They had left after lunch, and it was about one or two o’clock in the afternoon. Thick and heavy dark clouds shrouded the sky, like a heavy hammer was pressing heavily on everyone’s hearts, making them feel indescribably depressed and dull.
Shen Qingcheng looked at the gray sky in the distance. “On what day did you wake up?”
Lan Xiu’er said, “The seventh day.”
She was not embarrassed, and described the situation in her illusion truthfully, “I sat in the front row after the train arrived at the station on the seventh day. According to the rules, I should have been the first person to get off the train to clear customs, but you know my situation.”
She smiled shyly, “I have Doudou with me, so for fear of getting into trouble I have to keep a low profile if I could.”
“In all the copies I’ve been in, I just passed customs directly after other people passed. Although I also thought about whether I could be the first person to clear customs one day, when it really happened to me, I actually found it more ridiculous than joyful.”
Lan Xiu’er had suddenly been pulled into a horror game as she went to see her little nephew at her sister’s house. After her initial panic, she quickly calmed down upon understanding the rules of the game.
She was a strong person herself, and liked to fight for the first place in everything, but because of Doudou’s existence, she had always reminded herself to keep a low profile and never be too dominant.
After so many copies, she was used to riding other players' coattails to clear customs. Although there weren’t many rewards, in return it was much safer. This time, she suddenly found herself being the first to clear the copy–how could she not think more about it?
Lin Wen nodded and comforted her, “It’s right to be cautious.”
Lin Wen and Liu Shi’an’s situations were similar to Lan Xiu’er. They both yearned in their hearts but rationally knew that something so impossible wouldn’t happen to them. They weren’t blind; they could naturally tell that something was wrong.
Lin Wen and Liu Shi’an sobered to their situations on the sixth day and the fifth day respectively.
Shen Qingcheng: “…”
Shamelessly, he thought: I was the exact opposite of you, your reason told you that it was wrong, but my subconscious told me that it was abnormal.
After all, in Shen Qingcheng’s cognition, how could his blood fail!
He then looked at Lu Qi expectantly. “Lu Qi, what day was it for you?” With so many people showing off, Lu Qi should reveal something, right?
Lu Qi glanced at him and asked calmly, “Want to know?”
Shen Qingcheng answered confidently, “Ang.”
Lu Qi looked away and didn’t glance back.
He stepped onto the road to leave, his back tall and straight, his legs slender and strong, and a slightly cold tone came from his mouth.
“The first day.”
Not only Shen Qingcheng, but everyone else who heard this answer showed expressions of surprise and admiration.
They had experienced the reality of the illusion first-hand, and knew how difficult it was to wake up, but Lu Qi was able to wake up on the first day–the first day!
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Qtlif Vtfc Hlcumtfcu kjr rtbmxfv, tf jirb tjv rbwf vbeyar jybea tlr lwjuf lc Oe Hl’r tfjga.
Qtja vlv Oe Hl atlcx bo tlw? Pc Oe Hl’r tfjga, kjr tf rb rmjgs?
Qtja beagjufber atlcu vlv tf vb ab rmjgf rbwfbcf jkjxf bc atf olgra vjs!
Vtfc Hlcumtfcu kjr lcvlucjca, tf ofia atja la kjr cfmfrrjgs ab olcv jc bqqbgaeclas ab vlrmerr klat Oe Hl ktb tf gfjiis kjr.
They had to discuss in depth!
He chased after the man in front to empty his hands, and the suitcase that he had only been dragging for a short period of time returned to Lu Qi.
Shen Qingcheng walked side by side with him, and said in a serious tone, “Lu Qi, I think it’s necessary for us to talk about the fact that you woke up from the illusion because of me on the first day.”
Lu Qi retorted lukewarmly, his voice very low, “I wasn’t scared awake.”
The suitcase was being dragged on the concrete road, the wheels making a clattering sound.
Shen Qingcheng couldn’t hear clearly, “What?”
Lu Qi calmed his emotions and said lightly, “It’s nothing. We’ll talk about it later.”
Shen Qingcheng glanced at the three people who were following behind him, and secretly told himself that when the copy was over, he had to ask Lu Qi for clarification when he returned to the game space.
Also, he was going to Lu Qi’s personal game space!
…
When they had first entered the copy, there had been a station in front of the players, and only an endless wilderness behind them.
When they broke free from the illusion and exited the station, a concrete road appeared in the wilderness.
The road was narrow, just wide enough for a single-passenger car to pass. The weeds on both sides almost reached their midriffs, and the gray concrete under their feet curved into the distance, disappearing into the thick, concealing fog.
Shen Qingcheng and the others were now walking on the only road leading to the outside world.
While they walked, Shen Qingcheng suddenly stopped and said, “Hold on!”
Lin Wen and the others behind them were startled, the three of them secretly raising their guards. Lin Wen asked, “What’s wrong?”
Shen Qingcheng saw that they were on high alert and added, “Don’t be nervous, I haven’t seen anything dangerous.”
After they relaxed, he squatted down and brushed away the waist-length grass by the roadside, revealing a ridge that was slightly higher than the rest of the ground.
Shen Qingcheng: “This is abandoned farmland.”
Lu Qi: “Is there a problem?”
Shen Qingcheng emphasized,
“This is deserted farmland!”
After speaking, he suddenly realized that Lu Qi had woken on the first day, and he hadn’t seen the expanse of barren fields and scarecrows before he had arrived at the station.
He explained the situation to Lu Qi, who raised his gaze and peered into the distance. He said, “There aren’t any scarecrows here.”
The others couldn’t help but worry: reality and fantasy were differing, and they didn’t know what would happen next.
After thinking for a while, Lu Qi asked, “Did the train stop somewhere before arriving at the last station?”
Lan Xiu’er nodded, “Yes, we stopped. The intermediate station was called Zhonglou Station.”
Shen Qingcheng suddenly remembered, “But the electronic screen on the station wall showed that the next stop from Fengshan South Station is Tushan!”
The next stop from Fengshan South Station was the last station, Tushan. Where did Zhonglou Station come from?
At this time, Lu Qi said, “If I haven’t guessed incorrectly, at the end of the road should be the town you visited.”
Lu Qi was right: there was indeed a small town at the end of the road, but it was not called Zhonglou Town, but rather Fengshan Town.
At about 4 in the afternoon, a road sign became visible on the road that Shen Qingcheng and the others were following. It read, “Fengshan Town, 500m ahead”, in white letters on a blue background.
The outlines of the buildings were hidden by the thick fog in the distance, looming exactly like the Zhonglou Station of the illusion.
It turned out that there was no Zhonglou Station from the beginning to the end, only Fengshan South Station and Fengshan Town. They had thought they had taken the train to the next station, but they had actually been here from beginning to end.
Shen Qingcheng smelled the familiar smell of burning paper money. “I suspect those scarecrows are all in town, everyone be careful.”
Judging from the little contact they had had with the town’s residents, the town was very xenophobic, and it was better to be cautious.
Lan Xiu’er and Liu Shi’an didn’t get out of the car at the time because of her children and his health, both nodding to show their understanding.
They passed the road sign, stepping over the border into Fengshan Town.
Behind them, the road sign with white characters on a blue background suddenly bled red and shifted. One bend, two bends, three bends: two short and one long.
The eyes curved down and the corners of the mouth raised; it formed a big smile.
…
As they stepped deeper into town, they gradually began to hear a strange sound.
The sound was dragged out, floating through the air intermittently, faintly, and it sounded very odd.
Shen Qingcheng: “It’s mourning music.”
He looked up at the tallest building shrouded with fog. Although it was not Zhonglou Town, the bell tower was still there.
He wondered, were there still many townspeople holding funerals in front of the bell tower?
He asked Lu Qi, “Where are we going to find the key?”
Lu Qi: “The town hall should have information on the construction of the railway station.”
Shen Qingcheng thought about it carefully: he and Lu Qi in the illusion had followed the townspeople directly to the bell tower, and really hadn’t paid attention to where the town hall was.
He then inquiringly looked at Lin Wen, who was the only one present who had been to the town.
Lin Wen shook his head with a wry smile, “I didn’t pay attention then. As soon as I entered the town, I was found by the townspeople and kicked out.”
Then they had to slowly search for it.
The town wasn’t large, but it would generally speaking it should take at least an hour or two to find it.
Tap. Tap tap. Tap tap tap…
The vague sound of a bamboo pole hitting the ground interspersed with the mournful music caused Lin Wen and Lan Xiu’er, who were discussing what to do next, to startle for a moment.
Shen Qingcheng was all too familiar with that sound. The last time he had heard it was in the middle of the night when the two players in the illusory world had violated the rules.
He made a quick decision and said, “Hide first!” He pulled Lu Qi into the building with an open door behind them.
The building had two floors: the first floor was a small shop, and the second floor was the owner’s residence.
Five adults and a little brat on one of their backs went up to the second floor. Out of professional habit, Lu Qi locked the door and went to check the other rooms.
When Lu Qi came out of the bedroom, Shen Qingcheng was standing in front of the living room window, the curtains drawn, to carefully observe the situation downstairs.
The street downstairs was already crowded with “people”. Some of the “people” were holding braziers and burning paper money, some were holding white flags, some were holding wreaths, and some were throwing paper money into the air.
All of them were wearing blank white mourning clothes, and under their triangular white hats were all strange, uniform smiling faces.
These “people” jumped and danced across the street, making no noise except for the continuous “da-da-da” sound.
Shen Qingcheng saw Jin Da inside.
He moved away a bit so that Lu Qi, who was coming over, could see the silent, frightening scene downstairs, and asked in a low voice, “If this is a funeral, why can’t I see a coffin?”
Lu Qi: “Bell tower?”
Shen Qingcheng considered for a moment, “There wasn’t one in the illusion, but I don’t know if reality is the same.”
Lu Qi opened his lips, and was about to say that he could go to the bell tower after the town hall, when suddenly his expression froze, and a long black knife appeared in his hand.
None of them could even see his movements clearly. When Lan Xiu’er returned to her senses, a tall and thin figure in white mourning clothes had been split in half.
The figure’s body was sliced in two from the shoulders to the waist, but there was no trace of blood on the wound. Under their attention, it quickly transformed into withered yellow straw. Only the smile on its face remained bright.
It turned out that while they were concentrating on observing what was happening downstairs, this scarecrow had appeared quietly at some point, standing behind Lan Xiu’er, who was at the back of the group.
“Wa~” The little brat, who was frightened by the figure, began to cry loudly.
Shen Qingcheng found that the terrifyingly concentrated “da-da” sounds had stopped.
Oh no, baby
Thank you for your translation 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚
Omg they have been found 😭🙈 this is such a great arc! I cannot wait to see what happens next
Also I personally prefer the adapted onomatopoeia sounds (i.e., the tap, tap) since I understand the vibe better but at the end of the day whatever you decide to do, reflection, I will support 😋🙌
Spooky. I vote for adapting the onomatopoeia based on vibes
Thanks for the chapter!! I also vote for adapting the sounds, but whatever you decide, we’ll go with the flow.
ur so fr for this onomatopeia makes some stuff so much better with building up tension and mystery…
Thanks for the chapter!!! 🩷🩷
Personally, I prefer the adapted version of the onomatopoeia because it’s somehow easier for me to imagine the sound, but both are fine.
Thank you for the chapter!! Quite teasing us on how LQ woke up and just say it😭💜💜💜
oh no D: they’ve been caught
thank you for the chapter!
No, seriously, what happened in Lu Qi’s illusion??? 😭 I’m so curious as to what he imagined Shen Meiren to be like and what his feelings are!!! 😭😭😭
thank god this is a horror mixed comedy otherwise- bye bye sweet dreams welcome nightmare fuels 😈