Volume 2: The Days of Playing with Monkeys in the Village
Lingyuan Village
A locust tree without a heart becomes a ghost
Time quickly reached 7:13.
This was Shen Maomao’s first time entering the game while fully awake.
She saw the clock’s second hand motionless, pointing at 12, and the surrounding environment became blurry. Lou Jingmo, beside her, glanced at her and grabbed her hand.
Shen Maomao suddenly felt at ease.
A dizzying sensation of the sky spinning and the earth turning came over her. She tried hard to keep her eyes open, but in the end, she could only see a burst of blinding white light and had to helplessly close her eyes.
When she opened her eyes again, she was already on a small blue path. The path was paved with bluestone slabs, winding with nine curves and eighteen bends, with a slight upward slope. On both sides of the path were towering peaks, covered with golden rapeseed flowers, indicating that the game’s season was probably spring.
She was wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans, with canvas shoes on her feet, carrying a backpack, and a single-lens reflex camera hanging around her neck?
Lou Jingmo, who had been holding her hand, was now behind her. She patted Shen Maomao’s shoulder, and Shen Maomao widened her eyes, turning around to look at her…
“It’s your own face,” she said.
Lou Jingmo did not have her own face.
She turned back into the plain appearance she had in the first round of the game, wearing a white T-shirt almost identical to Shen Maomao’s, with a camera hanging around her neck, and apart from having a slightly good figure, very ordinary…
No… ordinary my fart.
Shen Maomao lowered her head, tears falling that could still see her shoes.
Lou Jingmo said, “Let’s continue walking forward; maybe we’ll see other players up ahead.”
The path was relatively narrow, and two people walking side by side would have to step into the mud, so they could only continue one in front of the other.
Shen Maomao was afraid that if she turned her head, Lou Jingmo would disappear, so she could only confirm her presence by continuously talking to her.
The sky was as blue as if washed, and it seemed like it had just rained here, with some water glistening on the bluestone slabs, and the soil on both sides of the road was very moist, with crystal droplets still clinging to the rapeseed flowers.
After turning a bend, her view suddenly opened up.
Houses with green tiles and white walls were nestled in the mountain hollow, neatly and orderly arranged like scales and comb teeth. Cooking smoke rose softly, swallows with wide-open wings swept quickly over their heads, chirping lightly, making this small village appear quiet and harmonious.
Shen Maomao felt a bit panicked.
This is the game world; under such a harmonious appearance, who knows how many spirits are hidden.
They stood at a high place, with a slanted path in front, capturing the entire view of the village below.
Lou Jingmo lifted the camera from her neck and took a shot aimed at the village.
The shutter clicked, startling Shen Maomao into a shiver. She turned back in panic to look at her: “Sister Lou! What are you doing?!”
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“Don’t be too nervous.” Lou Jingmo found the photo she had just taken and carefully observed it, not noticing anything inappropriate for the moment.
After speaking, she pointed the camera at Shen Maomao: “Want to take a picture?”
Shen Maomao shook her head like a rattle drum: “No, no, if this is some soul-sucking camera and everyone photographed has to die, that won’t be funny.”
“Why are you so timid?”
Shen Maomao: “How about I take a picture of you?”
Lou Jingmo calmly replied: “Sure.”
Shen Maomao: “Take a picture, my fart, if it really could kill someone, it’d be me who dies.”
While the two were speaking, three men and two women appeared on the small path behind them, quickly walking towards them. The girl at the front had a beautiful face, delicate features, and a petite figure, like a happy little bird.
The girl loudly said, “Hey! You two over there!”
Shen Maomao and Lou Jingmo automatically ignored her and continued walking down the slope along the path.
The girl called again, “Hey! Are you deaf?! Can’t you hear me calling you two?!”
Shen Maomao rolled her eyes to the sky.
A boy behind called to her, “Shao Mei, come back first.”
“What kind of people are they, so rude,” the girl named Shao Mei muttered, returning to the crowd, and complained to the boy, “Where exactly is this? I’m so hungry…”
The boy soothed her, saying, “Let’s follow them first and see what they do.”
Walking down the small path for a while, you can see the grand gate of the village.
The gate is entirely vermilion red, topped with a layer of expensive-looking imitation ancient glazed tiles. On the eaves rest four golden dragon sculptures, shining “bling bling” in the sunlight, with two big red lanterns hanging underneath. The entire gate’s colors are a dazzling gold and bright red, giving Shen Maomao a “I’m very rich” feeling.
As she walked to the base of the gate, she looked up. In the center of the gate were the three flamboyant characters “Lingyuan Village.” The person who wrote them showed remarkable penmanship, making these characters deeply carved, with great momentum; on the left and right of the door, there are also four vertically written words—on the left, “Heaven rewards diligence,” and on the right, “Great virtue carries all,” with such elegant penmanship that even this gate, full of nouveau riche aura, appeared elegant.
The most eye-catching thing isn’t the golden shiny gate, but rather a large tree beside the gate with a trunk so thick it would take almost two people to embrace it.
At the village entrance, the path is blooming with rapeseed flowers, and the slightly cool air at this time all indicate that it’s still spring in the game, but this big tree’s branches and leaves are unusually lush, stretching out several meters, covering the sky and blocking the sun.
The breeze blew through, and the tree leaves rustled, as if someone was whispering in the tree.
“It’s an old locust tree,” Lou Jingmo said faintly.
“I heard people say…” Shen Maomao swallowed, “Locust trees are yin and also called ghost trees…”
Lou Jingmo: “Yes, you’re standing so close, maybe the ghosts above can hear you talking about them.”
Shen Maomao: “What grudge or resentment makes you want to scare me like this?!”
“Isn’t it just that you’re too timid?”
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“I’m not timid! Haven’t you heard?” Shen Maomao said very seriously, “Locust wood without a heart becomes a ghost… If a locust tree’s heart is empty yet it’s still alive, then it’s already become a ghost…”
As she said this, they happened to walk beside the locust tree, and she took a glance inside, immediately feeling a chill all over her body.
—The trunk of this locust tree, several people wide, had a large split, and from the outside, you could easily see its empty heart.
Lou Jingmo glanced at her: “Because inside plants’ bodies, there are two types of transport lines, one is the vessels in the xylem, and the other is the sieve tubes in the phloem…”
Shen Maomao, unable to endure any longer, interrupted her: “Big sister! Can we not have high school biology knowledge in a ghost world? It’s too scientific, and I can’t help but break character; the scary atmosphere is gone!”
Lou Jingmo laughed: “Isn’t that just right?”
Because they weren’t certain of their identity, the two stopped at the entrance and did not advance further, waiting for the guide to appear after everyone gathered.
They didn’t wait a few minutes before they saw the group of three men and two women walking over.
Lou Jingmo said in a low voice to Shen Maomao: “They’re all newcomers.”
It’s very easy to distinguish newcomers from veteran players. Newcomers are mostly confused, curious, and angry about the current situation, while veteran players are filled with fear, indifference, and numbness.
These newcomers look quite young, and they have no guard up against the two of them, likely still university students who haven’t left campus.
The five people seemed to be led by the boy who called out to Shao Mei at the exit.
The boy initiated the conversation with them, his attitude much better than that of Shao Mei: “Excuse me, you two. Could you tell us where this is? Why are we here?”
Lou Jingmo wasn’t interested in leading newcomers at all, so it was left to the follower, little sister Shen Maomao, to answer his question: “This is a game world. I don’t know if you’ve ever played horror games?” The boy was stunned for a moment and frowned: “Please don’t joke…”
Where does Yun Shengjin get so much patience to explain the game to newcomers?! She only said one sentence and was already a bit impatient.
But after all, they were five fresh lives, so Shen Maomao still explained: “I have no need to deceive you. In real life, if you do too many bad things, you’ll be pulled into the game.”
Hearing this, the five people had different expressions, as if recalling something. Another girl among them showed a scared silly expression: “It’s her! She’s the one retaliating against us!”
Shao Mei poked her with a jab: “What are you talking about blindly?!”
The girl’s expression turned timid as she hugged her shoulders and said no more.
Lou Jingmo let out a cold snort.
Shen Maomao ignored the undercurrents between them and continued, “In the game, there will be all kinds of demons and ghosts. These ghosts cannot be killed, so don’t court death for no reason. There are many taboos in the game, and those who break them will surely die. I don’t know what the taboos are right now, so don’t ask. Injuries received in the game won’t carry over to reality, but if you die in the game, it’s game over in reality too.”
After listening to her words, the five newcomers had different expressions. The leading boy had his brow tightly furrowed; one of the other two boys looked fearful, and the other seemed thoughtful; as for the other girl, she was already lowering her head, wiping her tears.
Shao Mei, who looked delicate, was actually the boldest among them. She gave a delicate snort and said, “I’m not afraid of people, so why would I be afraid of ghosts?”
Lou Jingmo couldn’t help but look at her with new respect.
Shen Maomao also felt a lot.
Her first world was like this, where the foreman from the human faction was more fearsome and hateful than the ghost couple.
The leading boy first introduced himself: “I’m Ye Tingnan, a student at Wencheng University.”
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The two girls are Shao Mei and Wu Menghan, and the three boys are the leader Ye Tingnan, the timid Shan Xiao, and the remaining Wang Sheng.
After introducing their group of five, Ye Tingnan asked the two of them: “May I know what the two beauties’ names are?”
Shen Maomao answered, “I’m called Rabbit, and she’s called Xiaolou. She doesn’t like to talk, so if you have questions, just ask me.”
Shao Mei said, “Why don’t you use your real names?”
Such a lack of perception immediately lost all of Shen Maomao’s slight good impression of her. She replied with a forced smile, “I like to use my online name when playing games.”
Shao Mei widened her eyes and glared at her.
Ye Tingnan quickly pulled her behind and asked again, “So what should we do next?”
“Wait,” Shen Maomao said. “Wait until everyone’s here, and an NPC will lead us inside.”
The author has something to say:
Welcome, little cuties!