Infinite weird games

Each player holds a lantern and is led by the scholar out of the boundary of Zhenxi Dishe.

The footsteps of "pat, pat" sounded rhythmically, and the wooden house with black crows drifted away behind them.

The shadows of the large buildings shrank quietly like dark clouds blown away by the wind, and the white skylight poured down from above, reflecting the ground.

Yanghua Town is very lively during the day. The wooden buildings on both sides of the road are filled with various shops, selling clothes, rouge, literature, and pawning things. There is a dazzling array of everything.

The air is filled with light incense, reminiscent of the smell of bamboo leaves or wild flowers, and it infects the player's clothes when blown by the wind.

Townsfolk wearing various colors of clothing walked among the shops. They were blue, green, white, yellow and gray, all colorful.

Lin Chen remembered Qisi's previous assertion that "different professions dress differently", and at this moment he deliberately used his peripheral vision to observe the clothes and faces of every town citizen.

The person in blue is a noble son from an extraordinary family, followed by a group of men and women in yellow and gray; the person in blue is a scholar, and the person in white is a beggar...

Sure enough, people with different identities or genders dress differently, while people in the same "business" dress generally similarly.

It's as if... people are deliberately divided into different categories.

Lin Chen recalled for no reason that in third-rate games on the market, because he was too lazy to re-model the NPC, he directly copied and pasted the original model to create an NPC.

The staff arrangement in Yanghua Town also has a deliberately shoddy feel. The atmosphere of human fireworks suddenly becomes distorted and false, just like looking at the flowers hidden behind through thick fog. When you get closer, you find that they are the poisonous sores of a rotting corpse. .

"Brother Qi, it seems that the dress of the townspeople is indeed what you said, determined by their status and occupation. Many of them have faces that do not seem to match their status. It is possible that there is indeed a swap of occupations and that the memory follows the occupation. Case……"

Lin Chen silently contacted Qis through the soul contract.

After realizing that there might be a group of invisible and intangible "Xi Yi" around him, he always felt like he was like fish on a chopping board, being watched with malicious intent by countless pairs of eyes.

When it comes to conveying information and exchanging clues, it's better not to put it into words, lest the NPCs listen to it.

After describing his observations, Lin Chen pondered the question in his mind: "Why is the weird game designed like this? Is it to facilitate management and rule? Changing identities will obviously make things more confusing..."

"Who knows?" Qisila said in a long voice, "After we meet Mr. Meng, we may be able to ask him the reason. Maybe he will tell us when he is in a better mood."

...Why do you ask NPCs about everything? This kind of mechanism looks very weird. Is it true that nothing will happen if I ask directly?

Lin Chen was speechless, his eyes wandering among the crowd, and he saw a middle-aged man in blue choosing among the art shops, looking at items that were obviously not cheap to the naked eye.

The middle-aged man has a weather-beaten face and dark skin with ridges and grooves. He looks like a farmer who has worked in the fields for most of his life. He is incompatible with the clothes that symbolize his identity, but he is still happy with himself.

This person is obviously the same as the scholar who came this morning. He is a person who has changed his profession, but the difference in appearance is more obvious than that of the scholar.

Lin Chen saw this in his eyes and sighed from the bottom of his heart: "If all the identities in Yanghua Town, whether rich or poor, high or low, could be randomly exchanged, then it would indeed be fair to these townspeople, haha."

He also passed these words to Qisi, and then he heard the young man's voice sound coldly: "Lin Chen, do you really think this is for fairness? Or - do you really think this means fairness? "

Lin Chen just said it casually and didn't know how to answer for a while.

Ziss continued in a calm tone: "The wealth accumulated over generations is wasted in one go. Those who are lucky but lack the ability get something for nothing, they only enjoy rights without taking on obligations, or they work hard but do not receive the corresponding benefits." The remuneration itself is an injustice.

"I don't think the core NPC who controls Yanghua Town will be a naive utopian. His attitude towards foreigners is enough to prove that he has a utilitarian thinking. Otherwise, he would not lock us up just because we are under suspicion." The house will live and die on its own.

"I tend to believe that this exchange of identities is random and disorderly, or that only a small part of the exchange is intentional for a certain purpose, and the rest is just natural."

Lin Chen seemed to understand: "But... isn't it troublesome to change identities? Let nature take its course and let them live with one identity until death..."

"This is for normal humans. But who knows what the citizens of Yanghua Town are like?"

"Oh! I understand..."

While Qisi and Lin Chen were chatting privately, Tang Yu suddenly pointed to a group of people in the distance and asked the scholar: "What happened to them?"

The location Tang Yu pointed to was the end of the street where the players were.

Because there are roads on all sides and there are no wooden buildings blocking it, the place is wider than the surrounding area, forming a small square, which is now filled with people like a rally.

Not only that, the originally mixed flow of people gradually took on a new direction, giving full play to the gathering effect of the sheep, and poured into the already crowded crowds, forming a black circle at the intersection, blocking the road.

The scholar stopped and turned to look at Tang Yu: "It should be a death. They all went there to watch. People die every day, every day."

Birth, aging, illness and death are human nature. In a city, people die every day for various reasons. To some extent, it is normal.

But in a weird game, players cannot help but be cautious when it comes to life and death.

Tang Yu held the hilt of the knife at his waist and asked coldly: "Isn't your town very strict in managing outsiders and catching ghosts? Why are there still people dying every day? How did those people die?"

The black eyes on the scholar's pale face rotated a circle, staring at Tang Yu's eyes: "The mountain god must eat one person every day, this is the rule. Someone must beat the night watch every day, this is also the rule. All of us who live in the town know these rules."

Rules again.

The players thought of what the scholar said yesterday.

'The newly dead ghost must harm one person every night, otherwise his soul will be scattered. Wait until tomorrow to see if anyone dies, and you will know if there are ghosts among you. ’

‘When the time comes, we will ask Mr. Meng to come forward and deal with the ghosts who sneak into the town without following the rules. ’

Originally, the players thought that the expression of "not following the rules" was quite strange, but now it seems that it is not just a random remark.

The townspeople and the mountain god, that is, the tiger, have probably reached some kind of agreement. Both the townspeople and the "ghosts" under the tiger must act according to the rules.

Tang Yu frowned and said, "So your rule is that if one person dies every day for the tiger to eat, the tiger cannot send ghosts into the town to hurt others?"

The scholar nodded again and again, and said word by word, "Yes, rules are rules. Whoever breaks the rules first will be punished."

Of course, the premise is that the person who violates the rules is caught. The players silently added in their hearts.

After all, as far as the three of them know, there is already a ghost like Qiu Xin who sneaks into the town.

Lin Chen thought of a question and asked it immediately: "No, you already have such rules, why do you still invite people to fight tigers? Isn't this considered breaking the agreement?"

The scholar turned his face to Lin Chen, and a strange smile appeared at the corner of his lips: "It was Master Meng who invited you here. If you have any questions, maybe you can ask Master Meng."

Okay, ask Master Meng again...

Lin Chen complained, but he also had some guesses about the hidden story behind it.

In the final analysis, rules are the toys of the strong, and the wishful thinking of the weak can be broken by absolute violence at any time.

If humans want to continue for a long time, they should be prepared for danger in times of peace.

No one has to sacrifice for others as a matter of course. Using one person's life in exchange for the safety of others is definitely not a long-term solution.

Even with rules, there are often accomplices who sneak into the town to harm people. Who knows if the tiger will become ferocious one day.

Rather than letting this unstable factor hang over your head like the sword of Damocles, it is better to make plans early and try to solve the trouble once and for all.

"They all went to watch. Do you want to go and see it together?" The scholar looked at every player and asked with an indifferent attitude.

"Well, let's go and see it." Qi Si nodded and walked in the direction of the crowd.

He added with a compassionate tone: "If it is true as you said, the deceased knew that he would die, but still insisted on beating the night watch at midnight. I think he is a righteous man who would rather sacrifice himself to save everyone. We should go and see him off."

Qi Si's words were high-sounding and righteous, but Lin Chen and Tang Yu didn't like it at all. They felt that the words were weird and sarcastic.

Fortunately, the scholar did not notice anything wrong, and smiled and said, "Well, we'll wait for a while. When the funeral procession comes, there will be fewer people watching, and you can follow them to have a look.

"According to the rules, we Yanghua people are not allowed to watch the deceased being carried out of Yanghua Town. You are outsiders, so maybe it's okay."

Lin Chen blinked and asked, "Really? Then can we follow the funeral procession out of town today?"

The scholar said, "Yes. But we can't get too close, we must stand ten feet away."

"Yeah! Then... isn't Mr. Meng in a hurry?"

The scholar twisted his neck, making a "rustling" sound, and said something meaningful: "If you want to watch the funeral, I can make an exception for you and take you there later."

As he spoke, several townspeople had already left from the cracks on both sides of the road, sticking to the wall.

As they walked, they talked loudly:

"Uncle Li died, alas, it was all for us. He was the only one who died last night. ”

“He passed away peacefully, without pain, just like sleeping…”

“That’s good too. The old people dying one after another is no different from dying of old age.”

Tang Yu cast an inquiring look at the scholar. Before he could speak, the scholar said, “The night watchman is selected by everyone, and everyone knows it.”

When it comes to things related to the dead, the scholar seems to be particularly talkative: “Generally speaking, the selected night watchman will be the oldest person in the town. They have lived enough at this age and are about to die. They are willing to exchange their lives for the safety of their children and grandchildren.”

Lin Chen muttered to Qi Si in his heart: “No wonder the tiger sent its minions into the town to eat the elderly every day. It probably doesn’t want to…”

Qis did not comment, looked at the scholar, and asked out of the blue: “How old is Mr. Meng? How old is the old lady of the Meng family?”

The scholar's face showed a moment of confusion.

He stared at the void in front of him with his eyes blankly, muttering: "How old are you? ... How old are you?"

He seemed to be possessed, repeating the same words, his hands randomly grabbing in the air, as if countless invisible figures were wandering around him.

Tang Yu's face was slightly condensed, and he flipped his right hand and drew the sword from his waist and held it horizontally in front of him.

Qi Si also pulled Lin Chen back a step, keeping a safe distance from the obviously unconscious scholar.

"The funeral procession has arrived! Everyone make way!" A shout sounded in the distance, blown by the wind.

The scholar's muttering was interrupted, and his expression immediately returned to normal.

He looked at the players and repeated what he had said before: "If you go to see the funeral, I can take you to see Master Meng later."

"Everyone dies once, and rest in peace in the ground--" The shouting sounded again, closer than before.

"Rest in peace..."

"Make way for the dead..."

The fragmented responses gradually overlapped, and were spread in all directions by the townspeople, like the spell of an ancient witch, pulling the crowd to retreat to both sides like a tide.

Soon, the townspeople retreated into the alleys and disappeared, just like the sea flowing into hundreds of rivers.

Only three players and the scholar who led the players were left on the street.

Qi Si looked in the direction where the sound first came from.

I saw four people in white riding on four equally white donkeys, swaying and walking slowly.

The people were paper figures, only the thickness of a thin layer of paper, and were cut out of a human figure without a face, just a white expanse.

The donkey was a paper donkey, but it had a face painted on it, with eyes, blush and a smiling mouth painted in a blood-red color, looking like a human being, which made people feel uncomfortable.

Qi Si's eyes fell on the body lying on the ground again.

It was a little old man wearing a bamboo hat and a black robe, with his eyes closed, as if he was asleep.

He had a face familiar to all players, with wrinkled skin and yellow teeth. He was the one who was in charge of the residence yesterday and disappeared again this morning.

All the players present knew clearly that he was killed by hatred.

The time of death was before midnight.

The cause of death was that the ghost had to kill one person every night.

The reason why he was chosen was because he had exposed the shadow of a human figure, and it could be confirmed that he was a real living person.

It was obviously killed by the players, and the choice was made from the players' standpoint from beginning to end. How could it be related to the inherent rules of Yanghua Town and the agreement between the "Mountain God" and the townspeople?

Four paper people riding donkeys had already walked to the side of the body.

They didn't even prepare a roll of straw mat. Two of them raised their hands and two of them raised their feet, shaking and holding the old man's body, and walked along the direction of the long street.

The players looked at each other and followed. (End of this chapter)