Volume 2: The Days of Playing with Monkeys in the Village
Inner World
Welcome to the Inner World!
A word startles the dreamer awake.
Shen Maomao finally found where the sense of incongruity that had existed since just now came from. In Lingyuan Village, where every household worshipped the “Monkey God,” a small shop without a deity statue displayed at home appeared very out of place.
Moreover, before they left, the old grandmother ambiguously said, “Don’t blindly believe in gods,” feeling as if she knew some inside information.
Lou Jingmo said: “We can go back and take a look, maybe it’s important plot.”
Last time, with Zhang Aiguo’s daughter-in-law present, they couldn’t talk much with the old grandmother. Now, the Zhang family was mysteriously discussing sacrifice-related matters, with no time to pay attention to them, it was a good opportunity to search for clues.
The two returned the same way, but found the shop door locked from the outside. The old grandmother had gone somewhere unknown, so the matter of inquiring about the plot had to be set aside for now.
They searched inside and outside the village all afternoon, until the sun gradually set in the west, but they still couldn’t find Wei Yu and Wang Xiaoming.
These two people were either up on the back mountain or had disappeared like Wu Menghan.
The villagers of Lingyuan Village were as leisurely and carefree as ever. The evening wind was neither cold nor hot, the air floating with the scent of soil and grass, willow catkins flying about. In such an environment, their lives were infinitely extended, repeating meaningless, idle living every day. Most people had no expression, not knowing if it was because their edges had been worn smooth by a passionless life, or if the game was too lazy to set personalities for passersby.
By the time they returned to the Zhang family, the Zhang family’s meeting had already ended.
Zhang Aiguo sat at the doorway of his home, stood up as soon as he saw them, with an indescribably strange expression: “The village chief wants to invite you to his house, saying he has something to discuss with you.”
Why did they suddenly want to talk to them? What did it have to do with the plot?
Lou Jingmo asked concisely: “Now?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“Just the two of us?”
Zhang Aiguo: “No, it’s all of you.”
With the sacrifice approaching, the village chief suddenly wanting to gather all the players, could it be he’s afraid the players will cause trouble?
Shen Maomao nodded: “Alright, we understand.”
Dinner time arrived, the Zhang family started their meal punctually as usual. After finishing dinner, the two girls went to their room to do homework. The little boy stayed by his mother’s side, unusually not going to scare Shen Maomao. No one cared why Wei Yu and Wang Xiaoming hadn’t returned, as if they had never existed.
After dark, the entire village was pitch black as usual. Shen Maomao felt unusually at a loss. Compared to Yun Shengjin, veteran players like Wei Yu and Wang Xiaoming were quite nice people. She didn’t know what their crimes were, and didn’t even know their real names. They were clearly strangers she had only known for a few days, but she still felt sad about their disappearance.
She curled up in the blanket, looking at Lou Jingmo beside her, a question that had been swirling in her heart for a long time couldn’t be held back under these circumstances: “Goddess… what’s your crime?”
Lou Jingmo fell into silence, for a moment the air was so quiet that the faint sound of wind outside the window could be heard.
Shen Maomao felt a bit regretful, thinking she shouldn’t have asked such a boundary-crossing question. She was about to quickly change the subject when she heard Lou Jingmo suddenly say: “Murder.” Her tone was very flat, as if she wasn’t saying “murder,” but “chopping vegetables” with the same flatness.
This time Shen Maomao was truly surprised: “Murder?” Isn’t murder punishable by imprisonment?! And how could a murderer become a famous detective novelist, publishing new books and holding book signings?
Lou Jingmo also lay down in the blanket: “I’m joking.”
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Shen Maomao: “…” Your expression doesn’t look like you’re joking.
She had a belly full of questions, but felt that given their relationship, it wasn’t enough to be completely honest with each other. She could only let these questions rot in her heart as she slowly closed her eyes.
It felt like… Lou Jingmo wasn’t a female classmate without a story.
Shen Maomao rarely had a dream.
She couldn’t describe that feeling. She knew she was dreaming, yet couldn’t wake up from the dream. In the dream, she was running in a first-person perspective through a thicket of trees taller than her. Her movements were light and agile, leaping over protruding tree roots like flying, as agile as…
A monkey?
This realization terrified her. But she couldn’t control her limbs, could only passively move forward, watching the scenery on both sides rapidly recede, running faster and faster, farther and farther…
As she ran, a reflection suddenly appeared on a tree in front of her. The shadow had only one hand, an enormous human hand, making her seem exceptionally tiny in comparison.
That hand reached out towards her, overwhelming fear engulfed her, and her mouth let out an extremely terrified scream: “Squeak—!”
At that moment, she finally understood what she was.
It turned out she had really turned into a monkey.
That giant hand didn’t succeed; she rolled on the ground, her body covered in grass clippings, and continued running in panic without choosing a path.
As she ran, the surrounding scenery became familiar. She saw the huge gate of Lingyuan Village, and the enormous locust tree at the village entrance that blocked out the sky.
Clusters of jade-white locust flowers adorned the branches. As a gentle breeze blew, white petals were blown off, fluttering like snow. Even from afar, one could smell the refreshing fragrance.
Something seemed not quite right.
Yet everything also seemed right.
A shadowy figure stood under the locust tree. She ran quickly closer, finally seeing clearly the appearance of the person under the tree.
It was Wu Menghan wearing a white dress.
Who was Wu Menghan again? The name sounded familiar, yet she couldn’t recall.
The large hand behind her reached for her again. She screamed and lunged towards the tree, inexplicably having a thought in her heart—
If only she could touch the tree trunk, if only she could reach under the tree, she would be able to escape from the thing behind her, and never have to worry again…
Just a little more, when she was about to run in front of Wu Menghan, the hand behind suddenly grabbed her tail, almost lifting her entire body up.
She howled and screamed, her limbs wildly kicking and scratching at the person who grabbed her, anxious and scared, trying to break free.
“Shen Maomao?! What the hell are you doing?”
A familiar voice exploded next to her ear. Shen Maomao startled, suddenly waking up.
She opened her eyes in bewilderment, seeing the tree trunk right in front of her, and Lou Jingmo’s furious face.
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“I… wasn’t I dreaming?” She retreated repeatedly, cold sweat instantly streaming down her forehead, “This… this is…”
A crimson moon hung in the sky, casting everything around in a red glow. The white flowers on the locust tree seemed to be stained with fresh blood, flickering with an eerie red light. Lou Jingmo’s face was also covered with a layer of blood color, looking like a bloodthirsty demon.
No, that’s not right…
When they came, it was clearly spring. The locust tree couldn’t possibly bloom so early, and what’s with this moon? Wasn’t everything supposed to be invisible after the lights went out every night?!
Could it be that she was still in the dream and hadn’t woken up? Was this Lou Jingmo real?
Lou Jingmo let go of her and said: “Welcome to the inner world.”
Shen Maomao: “What?!” She just took a nap! Why did she suddenly enter the inner world?!
“In the middle of the night, you suddenly got up, opened the door and left. I called you twice but you didn’t respond. When I followed you, you started running.” Lou Jingmo didn’t really want to recall the specific details of chasing after the frolicking Shen Maomao in the middle of the night.
Shen Maomao retreated two more steps, trying to stay as far away as possible from this strange old locust tree: “I thought I was dreaming. In the dream, I seemed to have turned into a monkey… I also saw that missing girl under this tree, the one called Wu Menghan!!”
Lou Jingmo pondered: “I think I know where she is.”
They both looked at the big locust tree. The cool night wind blew through the branches, reddened petals falling one by one.
Shen Maomao’s legs felt weak: “Is the sky always like this when you come out?”
Lou Jingmo affirmed: “Yes.”
Shen Maomao looked around and saw the Lingyuan Village gate, completely different from reality. The gate, once full of nouveau riche atmosphere, had become dilapidated. Even with the red moonlight shining on it, it looked very dim, yet seemed more fitting for this small village surrounded by mountains.
The original “Lingyuan Village” (Rising Origin Village) had become “Ling Yuan Village” (Spiritual Monkey Village). Looking from the outside in, there seemed to be several pedestrians with indistinct faces wandering on the village paths.
She felt a sense of suffocation and couldn’t help but grab Lou Jingmo’s hand: “Is this… a zombie siege?”
Lou Jingmo: “These things weren’t here when I came out. Do you want to go in?”
Shen Maomao trembled: “Do you want to?”
“Yes.”
If the goddess said so, she had to brave even the dragon’s pool and tiger’s den!
She puffed out her chest, raised her head, and walked forward boldly and spiritedly: “Sister Lou, don’t call my name later. After turning back, the fire will go out, making it easy to encounter ghosts.”
Lou Jingmo: “…”
The two quickly moved forward, heading straight for the nearest shadow.
The shadow appeared to be a very small child, not yet able to walk, only crawling back and forth on the ground, leaving clear black marks wherever it crawled.
Lou Jingmo said in a deep voice: “Go around it.”
“What’s wrong?!” Her body reacted faster than her brain, Shen Maomao responded immediately, quickly turning left, intending to go around it.
Lou Jingmo: “It’s covered in blood.”
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When looking at red in the dark, one can only see black. This wasn’t just some shadow, but a small child completely soaked in fresh blood!
The two walked faster and faster, eventually simply breaking into a run.
The shadows in the village were of various sizes. The smallest was the one crawling on the ground at first, while the larger ones were hunched over, walking with a limp. But they were very fast. As soon as they saw the two, they immediately gave chase, pursuing so closely that Shen Maomao wanted to cry.
Finally, a vast procession followed behind them, relentlessly pursuing, like starving people who had seen delicious food and refused to let go.
“I don’t even have any cough syrup! Why the f*ck are you chasing me!” Shen Maomao ran while looking back, glanced behind once and immediately turned back, “Wah QAQ so scary!”
Lou Jingmo: “…” She couldn’t quite see how this was scary.
They ran from the village entrance to the back, their retreat completely blocked. The end of the village was the entrance to the back mountain. The back mountain was also dangerous, but compared to these things behind them, it was a minor threat. Without hesitation, the two headed straight for the path to the back mountain.
Just as they were about to rush into the back mountain, the child at the front suddenly began to wail miserably. The chilling cry echoed far into the quiet night sky, startling Shen Maomao’s heart into wild palpitations.
“Hoo hoo—”
Red-eyed owls spread their wings and flew high, circling endlessly under the red moon. A gray feather gently floated down, like a swaying little boat, at the mercy of wild winds and storms, ready to sink at any moment, just like their fate.