Chapter 15: You're Too Kind

A sudden silence fell; Su Tingting, who had just awakened, heard a buzzing in her mind, and her heartbeat seemed to stop. The scene that appeared out of nowhere stunned everyone.

A minute, perhaps even less, before the sound of water was heard again, just outside the window. But this time, the sound moved farther and farther away, quickly disappearing in the direction of the lake.

No one dared to move until the sound had completely vanished and some time had passed. Kuang Hongyi cautiously approached the door and peered through the crack, realizing that the fog outside had dissipated and the candle in the room not far away had been lit. Kuang Hongyi let out a long sigh of relief.

It was as if this was a signal, and only at this moment did everyone finally dare to breathe normally again.

Xu Su was the first to stand up, slowly moving her somewhat numb joints; she had been in the same position for quite a long time.

"Uh... Uh..."

Yang Xiao also exhaled in relief, only then noticing Su Tingting looking at him with a resentful gaze. He quickly released his grip.

"What's wrong with you?" Kuang Hongyi stared down at Su Tingting with an air of accusation, "If it hadn't been for Chu, you'd be in trouble by now. Aren't you going to thank him?"

Clutching the place where she had been stabbed, tears welling in her eyes, Su Tingting saw the Ominous Instrument—the candlestick—lying on the floor, "Thank you."

Yang Xiao waved his hand, "You're being too polite."

Su Tingting watched as Yang Xiao casually reinserted the broken piece of candle back into the candlestick with practiced ease; it seemed he was very accustomed to doing such things.

The group relit the candles, and the light dispelled the darkness as if they had returned to the world of the living, "Don't worry too much, that thing has already passed by, and it's only the first night; there shouldn't be any more problems," Kuang Hongyi consoled everyone with the tone of someone who had been through it all.

"Everyone tidy up and get ready to rest," said Xu Su, taking the candlestick that Yang Xiao passed to her and relighting the candle before placing it on the table, "Old rules, we must have people keeping watch at night in this kind of place, two per shift. Who will take the first watch?"

Xu Su was looking at Kuang Hongyi as she spoke; after all, it was only the two of them here who were the experienced players.

Kuang Hongyi flexed his wrist and grunted deeply, "Let's do it this way: each of us leads a shift. I'll go first, Chu will follow me. Su Tingting has been frightened, so you take her to rest first."

Xu Su had no objections, but Su Tingting, clutching her wounded area and limping as she walked, looked rather pitiful.

Xu Su searched the room and eventually found some ointment wrapped in oiled paper under a wooden box beneath the bed. After roughly identifying it, she took Su Tingting behind a bookcase to apply the medication for her.

After the ordeal, Xu Su went to a bed intending to rest. Noticing that Su Tingting was still pitifully following behind, Xu Su frowned, "Go to the other bed and sleep by yourself!"

Not daring to offend Xu Su, Su Tingting could only timidly make her way to the other bed. Because of her injury, she could only lie face down on the bed. Still, Yang Xiao knew that the recent events had greatly shaken her, and sleeping peacefully that night was out of the question.

Yang Xiao sat at the table with Kuang Hongyi, faithfully performing the night watch duty. As time ticked by, he noticed that Xu Su, lying on the bed, had steady breathing as if she had truly fallen asleep.

"Chu, I must apologize for any offense at the flour factory earlier. I didn't realize you were also a player in this game—I thought you were simply a young thrill-seeker," Kuang Hongyi said with an unexpectedly amiable attitude, pouring a cup of tea for Yang Xiao as if they were old friends catching up.

"I understand, Big Brother Kuang is just looking out for me," Yang Xiao quickly picked up the cue.

Upon hearing Yang Xiao change his address, Kuang Hongyi's mouth spread into a visible smile of pleasure, "Chu really is a sensible man. Our meeting here must be fate. If you don't mind, from now on you can call me Big Brother Kuang, and I'll call you Chu. Let's look out for each other as brothers going forward."

After saying this, Kuang Hongyi glanced at Xu Su's bed and then leaned in closer, lowering his voice secretively, "Being new here, Chu, there are some tricks in the script that you might not understand. It's not just that kind of thing that can take lives here; people can too. In this world, never trust anyone too easily, be it an NPC or a teammate."

Feigning surprise, Yang Xiao asked, "What do you mean by that, Big Brother Kuang?"

"Ah, thinking you can get out of this place unscathed is impossible. Someone always has to stay behind forever. There are no laws to restrain us here. To survive, people will do anything," Kuang Hongyi said, shifting the direction of the conversation, "Of course, the best method is to find like-minded friends to cooperate with. This greatly increases the chances of survival."

"Chu, I'm not lying to you—my real identity is that of a police officer," Kuang Hongyi said, sitting up straight with a sudden surge of righteousness filling his being, "This is my third time entering the script world—I have some experience. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask me. I'll share everything I know. By the way, Chu, what do you do for a living?"

Yang Xiao gave a wry smile, "I really do work at a bubble tea shop. I thought what you all said at first was true."

With a laugh, Kuang Hongyi's polite demeanor remained, but his eyes changed, "Chu, you must be joking. A bubble tea shop worker who knows about the Paper Groom, and in such detail?"

"I like to read when I'm free—books on folk feng shui secrets and bizarre customs. The Paper Groom is nothing; I also know a bit about other things," Yang Xiao kept his sincere expression, making it hard for anyone to fault him.

Kuang Hongyi obviously didn't believe this explanation, but it was not suitable to confront Yang Xiao directly, so he simply forced a smile and said, "Then it's my oversight. I didn't expect a mere bubble tea shop to hide a dragon among men. Well then, I trust that our cooperation will definitely pave a way out of this."

"I'll be counting on you, Big Brother Kuang," Yang Xiao said gratefully extending his hand, and the two clasped hands tightly together.

"How do you see the situation we're in today, Big Brother Kuang?" Yang Xiao hoped to dig up some useful information from Kuang Hongyi, the experienced player.

"Judging from the current situation, the Feng Family must have done something heinous to have caused the death of the fellow from earlier. His resentment, unable to dissipate, turned into a fierce ghost seeking revenge," Kuang Hongyi continued, "Also, while I was at the flour factory, I recorded a video. It didn't capture anything useful, but when I played it back later that night, I could faintly hear a haunting singing in the background noise, very similar to the opera singing we heard earlier."

"The name of this script is 'Ghost Play of Fengmen'," Yang Xiao reminded him.

Kuang Hongyi nodded, "Right, so without any surprises, it's this opera-singing ghost we'll have to confront. Once day breaks, we'll split into groups and try to figure out the identity of this ghost and what exactly the Feng Family did to provoke such a calamitous fate before the sun sets."

"By the way, Chu, be wary of that Shi Dali—he's not quite right," Kuang Hongyi said sternly.

"What makes you say that?"

"I suspect that he has blood on his hands, more than just one life."