100: Chapter 100 A Ghost!

In Xiao Huang Village, it was roughly four or five in the morning. The sky was still dim, and there was hardly anyone out and about.

The moon had already set, and the sun hadn't risen yet, so the entire village was still shrouded in darkness.

While they were in the smithy, the furnace fire had been burning bright red, so neither Hu Gualing nor Xiao Niao had realized it.

But now that they had left the smithy and walked for a while, having moved beyond the reach of the furnace's light, the surroundings suddenly grew dark. The houses and trees of the village appeared as shadowy, indistinct shapes in the gloom, making both Hu Gualing and Xiao Niao feel a bit uneasy.

Hu Gualing: "Xiao Niao… hold tight to my sleeve… It's pitch black and I can't see a thing, don't get lost!"

Xiao Niao tightened his grip and asked: "Gualing… why is your… why is your voice shaking?"

Hu Gualing: "Is… is it? The wind… the wind is strong!"

Xiao Niao: "Is there wind? How come I don't feel it…"

Xiao Niao lived up to his name; it was understandable that he was a bit timid.

But Hu Gualing had always been bold, and having worked as a night shift security guard for a time, he shouldn't have been afraid of the dark.

However, thinking of the person he was about to meet—someone colloquially known as a "living dead" in reality—even he couldn't help but feel apprehensive. He and Xiao Niao clutched each other's sleeves and crept forward in the darkness, trembling.

After walking a few steps, Hu Gualing felt the atmosphere was truly eerie. Thinking to make some noise to bolster his courage, he deliberately spoke up loudly: "Xiao Niao, what do you think is going on with Tang Yao? Could it be that she became a vegetable because she played this game…?"

Just after asking, he realized this question might have been inappropriate, because he clearly felt Xiao Niao shiver upon hearing it…

Xiao Niao: "Don't you go spouting nonsense with that jinxed mouth of yours… She had her accident and was hospitalized over half a year ago, but she doesn't seem to have been playing this game for that long!" Xiao Niao's voice was quite loud, but his tone wasn't very certain, sounding somewhat like someone trying to act tough to hide his fear.

Hu Gualing: "Ah… is that so? Then did she only start playing this game after she became a vegetable? But how can a vegetable enter a game?"

Xiao Niao thought about it seriously and shook his head: "Who am I supposed to ask? She probably doesn't even know what's going on herself. The only ones who know the truth are likely the game's development team."

The situation with Tang Yao was truly bizarre, so after discussing it for a while, the two couldn't come to any conclusion.

Fortunately, because they had focused on thinking about the problem, their attention had shifted, and neither was as terrified as before. Xiao Niao quietly let go of the sleeve he was holding, and Hu Gualing pulled his hand back to rub his cheek: "The development team… I'm sure we'll have a chance to meet them in the future, but let's not think so far ahead. Instead, right now, what form do you think Tang Yao exists in? Is she a person or a ghost?"

Xiao Niao: "Hmm? She should still count as a person, right? After all, where would you find a ghost playing a game?"

Hu Gualing nodded in deep agreement: "What you say makes a lot of sense. Anyone who can play a game definitely isn't a ghost. Thinking about it that way, I'm not as scared anymore. How about you, are you still scared?"

Xiao Niao asked, puzzled: "Scared of what?"

While talking, the two had already passed through the residential area and arrived at an open area on the south side of the village.

Tang Yao's house was built right here.

Hu Gualing and Xiao Niao had been here before when they came to borrow money from Tang Yao, so they were familiar with the way and found the courtyard gate easily.

The two had walked for so long that although it wasn't quite dawn yet, the few scattered stars in the sky were beginning to pale. It was clearly past the dead of night, and it wasn't far from morning.

By the faint light of dawn, they could see that the courtyard gate wasn't closed; it was merely left ajar.

Seeing this, Hu Gualing and Xiao Niao turned their heads and exchanged glances, looking at each other in bewilderment.

Along the way, every villager's house was still asleep, and their front doors were all closed. Why was the door open here at Tang Yao's?

Hu Gualing said nervously: "Xiao Niao, do you think she knew we were coming, so she left the door open?"

Xiao Niao: "I doubt it. She probably just forgot to close the door. Let's go over and knock to check."

Hu Gualing: "Okay."

The two arrived at the courtyard gate and, peeking through the crack, discovered that a faint firelight was actually glowing inside.

Someone? Is Tang Yao waiting inside?

How did she know we were coming? Is she a person or a ghost?

Hu Gualing panicked, and a desire to retreat immediately sprouted in his heart.

Xiao Niao was also a little scared, but since they had already reached the door, there was no reason not to go in.

He swallowed hard. Because he was afraid, he kept a distance from the door, leaning forward with his rear end stuck out. As he braced himself to knock on the wooden door and was just about to call out, he suddenly heard a high-pitched, shrill "cock-a-doodle-doo." He was so startled that he lost his composure and, unable to control his balance, his already forward-leaning body suddenly toppled forward.

Only then did he realize that the high-pitched, shrill sound seemed to be a rooster crowing?

In Xiao Huang Village, many people raised chickens and ducks, and roosters crowing was a perfectly normal occurrence.

It was just that in his real life, he lived in an international metropolis like Shengang and rarely heard roosters crowing, so hearing it suddenly had given him a fright.

Xiao Niao quickly figured it out, and his heart settled down, but he couldn't control his body, and he sprawled entirely onto the wooden door.

Fortunately, Hu Gualing hadn't been scared by the rooster's crow. Seeing Xiao Niao falling forward, he reached out to steady him.

At this moment, the wooden door, already pressed by Xiao Niao's body, creaked open.

While steadying Xiao Niao, Hu Gualing also saw the scene in the courtyard.

He saw a ball of ghostly fire burning dimly in the courtyard, emitting a faint light.

This was the firelight they had seen through the crack in the door earlier.

Hu Gualing instantly held his breath, not daring to move.

At this moment, that ball of ghost fire actually began to move, floating and drifting closer and closer to the gate.

Hu Gualing's heart jumped into his throat.

If his legs hadn't already gone weak with fear, he would have turned around and bolted.

When the ghost fire floated closer, Hu Gualing finally saw clearly: this wasn't moving without wind at all; it was clearly a white figure walking over carrying an oil lamp!

Hu Gualing forced himself to suppress his fear and, bracing himself, looked at the face of the white-clad figure. By the dim light of the oil lamp, he saw that the face was covered in dirt, as if she had just crawled out of the ground.

"Ahhh, ghost!!"

Hu Gualing's last line of psychological defense was broken. After letting out this cry, his whole body went limp, his hands lost their strength, and he was carried forward by the momentum of Xiao Niao's fall.

Thump! Thump!

The two of them sprawled together in front of the threshold, orz, orz.

"What are you two doing?" Tang Yao walked to the door with the oil lamp and was somewhat surprised to see the two uninvited guests sprawled on the ground.

Fortunately, while she had been busy in the courtyard, she had heard the sound of the two whispering from far away, so she was mentally prepared and wasn't frightened.