Chapter 29 The Ancient Town Wanderer - The Guide
Just as Bai Xiao turned to get off the bus, she caught a glimpse of the driver's chest seemingly moving slightly out of the corner of her eye.
As if suddenly coming back to life, his hand gripping the steering wheel naturally relaxed, and then he turned to open the driver's side door.
He was coming out!
Even though she had already participated in one game, seeing someone whose breathing had stopped for several seconds suddenly move made Bai Xiao jump in fright.
She hurriedly got off the bus, deciding to keep her distance first.
As soon as the others stepped out of the bus, they began looking around. Some were also startled to see the driver follow Bai Xiao out.
After getting off, the driver stood still in front of the car door and spoke: "Everyone, my surname is Zhang. I am the manager of the Qingshi Town Guesthouse. You can call me Manager Zhang. At the request of the town, I have specifically invited your Parade God Team from the provincial capital to hold the Parade God ceremony in our town. Everyone, please follow me to stay at the guesthouse first."
The driver had transformed into a manager?
He took the lead and walked forward two steps, making a gesturing motion to invite everyone.
Unfortunately, no one was buying it. The middle-aged man who had directed everyone to pry the door open on the bus took the lead and asked: "What Parade God Team are you talking about? We don't do this at all. Have you found the wrong people?"
"Someone died on the bus, aren't we calling the police? Where is the town's police station? We need to report this!" another woman wearing a knitted cardigan added.
The man, who was originally the driver and was now Manager Zhang, acted as if he hadn't heard their questions. Seeing that they weren't entering the guesthouse, he wasn't in a hurry. With a polite smile on his face, he continued his introduction.
"Our Qingshi Town is remote, and few people come throughout the year. The guesthouse only has me and a waiter, Xiao Liu. If you need anything for your daily life, just look for him."
At this point, he paused slightly, as if remembering something important, and continued: "Everyone, the morning is about to pass. Today, we still need to find Offerings for the Mountain God. If no Offerings can be presented at tonight's Offering Ceremony, the Mountain God will be angry."
"What on earth are you talking about?!"
Several people were completely confused. From start to finish, they had no idea what he was talking about. Finding Offerings? What Offering Ceremony?
Only Bai Xiao knew that this Manager Zhang in front of them was most likely the Guide mentioned by the game—the NPC commonly seen in real-life games. He was announcing today's task.
"I don't care about any Offerings or ceremonies! I'm leaving this place right now." A young girl wearing a white T-shirt and loose denim overalls couldn't take it anymore. Shaking her head in refusal, she shouted and ran toward the Gate Tower at the entrance of the town.
It was the young girl who had witnessed the man being strangled earlier. Hearing her shout, Bai Xiao hurriedly tried to stop her: "Don't go!"
Unfortunately, it was too late. After the bus entered through the Gate Tower, it only turned the front of the vehicle to the right and pulled over. The guesthouse was only about ten meters away from the Gate Tower.
The girl had already run halfway when she shouted. When the others heard her voice and looked back, they only saw her running away.
Three meters, two meters, one meter... The girl looked on, both crying and laughing, as if she were about to escape her cage.
"Watch out!"
Watch out for what? The girl looked back in confusion. There was nothing behind her, but her neck felt as if it were being pulled by something, and her whole body was hoisted up uncontrollably.
Everyone covered their mouths in shock. Just as the girl stepped out of the Gate Tower, a noose fell from the sky and accurately looped around her neck. There was clearly no one on the Gate Tower, yet the rope tightened automatically, firmly gripping the girl's neck. She was caught and hung up like that, pulled higher and higher...
The girl's legs gradually stopped moving, and her hands slipped from her neck, finally drooping down powerlessly.
Another fresh life had vanished. Everyone present was horrified to the extreme.
Only Manager Zhang acted as if he hadn't seen it, continuing amiably: "Everyone, please come in. There is still much to do today."
Hearing his voice, they turned back. Seeing him still smiling at this moment, they felt their scalps go numb.
Finally, someone was crushed into accepting reality. He said resignedly: "Let's... go in. This place doesn't seem like a normal world."
If someone were killed in a normal way, people would only feel afraid. But now, the deaths of these two people were not in a form that a normal person could comprehend.
One was hanged by a rope pulled by no one, and the other was strangled by a locked seatbelt. Add to that the broadcast voice appearing out of nowhere and the strange subtitle screen.
Everyone finally believed that they had truly entered an inconceivable killing game.
They couldn't refuse, and they couldn't leave.
Walking into the guesthouse, Manager Zhang pointed to the key cards on the counter and said: "There are only four standard rooms left. Discuss amongst yourselves how to allocate them. If you need anything, press the call button on the counter."
After finishing his instructions, he walked toward the backyard. When he reached the door, he seemed to remember something and turned back: "By the way, the divine statue for the Parade God is temporarily stored on the Offering Platform in the center of town. Every year, the Parade God ceremony starts from the town entrance. After tonight's Offering Ceremony, if the Offerings are accepted, you may invite the divine statue back."
After saying that, he left without looking back, leaving eight stunned people staring at each other.
...
Seeing that no one was moving, Bai Xiao, not wanting to waste time, was the first to speak: "There are eight of us left, exactly four men and four women. Why don't we assign the rooms first?"
"I agree. Let's also introduce ourselves. We'll have to cooperate later, so we should know how to address each other. I'm Chen Sheng, the owner of a Bookstore." The speaker was the calm middle-aged man who had been giving directions earlier. He wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses and looked quite refined.
The middle-aged woman in the knitted cardigan spoke next: "I'm Feng Huilin. I run a clothing store."
"Huang Xinxin. I used to work at a bank." The woman's voice was gentle and soft, giving off a quiet impression.
Standing next to her was a man in his thirties. He was dressed casually, and his tone was even more casual: "I'm Wang Yongqiang. I'm in the seafood business."
"I'm Zheng Wen. I work at the airport." This was a man in casual clothes. He was very introverted. Seeing so many people looking at him, he felt a bit embarrassed.
"I'm Wei Yun. I'm a middle school teacher." The woman also wore a pair of glasses, and she scanned everyone's faces with a stern expression.
Next was a man dressed quite elegantly in a shirt and trousers. His tone was slow: "I'm Han Yadong. I'm in the foreign trade business."
Everyone introduced themselves in a clockwise direction, and Bai Xiao happened to be the last one.
Prompted by the clown mask in the Game Mall, she thought it would be better not to foolishly reveal all her information.
So when it was her turn, she said: "I'm Qin Xiao. I work in planning."
Qin was her grandmother's surname. To be honest, she had really wanted to change her name when she was young, but changing it would involve some procedures and academic records. Her grandmother was old and didn't understand how to do it, so the matter was eventually dropped.
After listening to everyone's introductions, Chen Sheng, the Bookstore owner who had first introduced himself, suggested: "None of us know each other. Let's assign rooms by age for now. How about those close in age stay together?"
No one had a better plan, so they all nodded in agreement.
With this division, Bai Xiao shared a room with the young bank teller Huang Xinxin, while clothing store owner Feng Huilin and middle school teacher Wei Yun shared another. The two groups lived in rooms 201 and 202, respectively.
Room 203 was assigned to Bookstore owner Chen Sheng and airport ground staff Zheng Wen. The last vacant room, 204, was occupied by foreign trade owner Han Yadong and seafood store owner Wang Yongqiang.
After the rooms were decided, everyone planned to go upstairs to their rooms to rest and reorganize.
Only Bai Xiao remained standing where she was. She turned to look out the door; she seemed to hear the voice of a child.