Chapter: 36 Trespassing?

Source: https://www.gongzicp.com/novel-1388844.html

Facing the worried look of the inn owner, Shu Yushuang still stepped on the road to Zhoujia Village with resolve.  

From Z City to Zhoujia Village, there was a very wide road. Shu Yushuang just rented a car, that way it was more convenient.  

In less than half an hour, Shu Yushuang drove to Zhoujia Village.  

Different from what she imagined, the village didn't look gloomy. Under a big tree at the entrance, a group of women sat together chatting. When they saw Shu Yushuang driving the car, they only lifted their heads and glanced a few times, then kept on chatting.  

Shu Yushuang got out and walked toward the women. But when they saw her coming, they suddenly scattered and ran into the village, soon all disappearing.  

Seeing this, Shu Yushuang stood there stunned for a long time, then drove the car into the village.  

On both sides of the road were rows of mud-brick houses packed tightly together. It was clear the villagers' living standard wasn't very high.  

In the fields far away, all the ones working were men.  

Shu Yushuang parked the car in an empty space by the fields.

Worried the same thing might happen again, she didn't rush to get out and ask around. Instead, she sat in the car and watched first.  

There was no farm machinery in the fields, all the work relied on manpower.  

This village wasn't too far from town, so by reason it shouldn't be this poor. Shu Yushuang couldn't help but feel puzzled.  

Not long after, she saw a woman run into the fields.  

The woman went up to one of the men working and said something, but Shu Yushuang couldn't hear. Still, she could tell the two seemed to argue, because the woman was tugging hard at the hoe in the man's hands.  

The man didn't move, letting her pull. But he held the hoe tightly, so the woman couldn't pull it away.  

The woman shoved him hard. The man lost his balance, stumbled, and fell to the ground. The hoe in his hand dropped too, and the woman quickly picked it up.  

Since the woman had her back to Shu Yushuang, she couldn't see her face. But she could clearly see the man's face turn full of terror.

The man stood up and lunged at the woman, but before he could touch her, his whole body froze on the spot.  

The woman saw this and quickly stepped back a few paces to get away from him.  

Then, under Shu Yushuang's shocked gaze, the man's body suddenly burst apart, turning into countless chunks of flesh.  

Shu Yushuang looked at the woman again and saw her already turning to leave, the corners of her mouth carrying a strange smile.  

This woman clearly wasn't scared by what just happened, nor did she find it odd.  

For some reason, after seeing that smile on her face, Shu Yushuang suddenly felt dizzy.  

The woman's face in her eyes grew twisted and blurry, until everything went black and she fainted.  

When she woke up again, she was still sitting in the car. The chunks of flesh in the field were completely gone, but her phone was ringing non-stop.  

Other than Tang Yin, no one would call Shu Yushuang. Hearing the ringtone, she was almost overjoyed.  

The huge joy made her forget, this wasn't a call ringtone, it was a message alert.

Shu Yushuang pulled out her phone. The messages that came one after another were all from "Hell Online."  

She didn't even have time to feel disappointed before she was shocked speechless by what the messages said.  

"Notice: Since the Executor entered the dungeon 'Faint' without permission, the forced dungeon is opened ahead of time."  

"Forced Dungeon: Faint.  

After your friend passed away, you quit your job and planned to drive around to relax.  

One day, you happened to hear about a haunted village. Since you always liked chasing thrills, you decided to go check it out. But when you asked the residents in the nearby city, they all kept quiet about it.  

Only a kind breakfast shop owner warned you that the village was dangerous and told you not to go.  

Yet stubborn as you are, you didn’t take her words to heart. You followed your plan and came to the village.  

But in this village, you really did experience a series of strange and eerie events. At last, fear crept in. But it was already too late."

Mission 1: Find the truth.  

Mission 2: Stay alive.  

Mission 2: Escape.  

Participants: 15.  

Mission time: 30 days.  

Note: Once you uncover the secret behind this village and find out the truth, you may drive away on your own."  

After leaving the last dungeon, Shu Yushuang had rested less than two months before being dragged into a forced dungeon again.  

But that wasn’t what scared her most. What made her scalp go numb was that this dungeon’s details were almost the same as what she had gone through these days.  

Except for the reason she came to the village—Shu Yushuang did come because of the haunting, but her real reason was to search for Tang Yin, not to mourn her death.  

Even so, the part written in the dungeon planted unease in Shu Yushuang’s heart.  

After all, the rest was exactly her real experience. So what it said about Tang Yin’s fate might also be true. Maybe Tang Yin really was already…  

But now wasn’t the time to think about that. What Shu Yushuang had to focus on first was completing the dungeon.  

She didn’t know how long she had been unconscious, but it was still bright outside. In the distance, there were still people working in the fields, as if nothing had changed from before she fainted.

But Shu Yushuang knew this might no longer be the same world.  

She tried to start the car, but it didn’t respond at all. Ten minutes later, she understood. Until she found the truth, the car wouldn’t work.  

She had no choice but to get out and walk. But as soon as she stepped down, she saw a large group of people coming from the village entrance.  

Shu Yushuang counted them. Fourteen exactly.  

Source: https://www.gongzicp.com/novel-1388844.html

It seemed they were the other Executors in this dungeon.  

They saw Shu Yushuang too and stopped right there to talk among themselves.  

Shu Yushuang didn’t feel like dealing with them. She planned to hurry and look for clues. This time, the dungeon didn’t ask her to stay in the village for thirty days. As long as she found the truth, she could leave early.  

Just as she was about to go, one of the Executors called out behind her.  

“Miss up front, are you a villager here?”  

The speaker was a cute girl with a ponytail. She ran up to Shu Yushuang in a few steps.  

Shu Yushuang was ready to tell her she was an Executor too. But thinking of how she came here differently from them, if she told her real identity, it would surely cause suspicion.  

Yet if she hid it, and they found out later, it would bring even more suspicion.  

While Shu Yushuang was still hesitating, the ponytail girl spotted the car nearby. She suddenly said, “Oh, you came here for adventure, right?”  

The girl thought she guessed Shu Yushuang’s identity, and she smiled gently at her.

Shu Yushuang sighed. Since it was already like this, she could only admit that identity first.  

“Yeah, I heard this place was haunted. I’ve always been interested in that, so I came.”  

The girl nodded. “Us too. Let’s go together. I’m Sun Tingting. What’s your name?”  

“Shu Yushuang.”  

Shu Yushuang wasn’t too keen on teaming up.  

She knew well that in the eyes of those Executors, her current identity was nothing more than cannon fodder that could be abandoned anytime.  

But she could also turn it around and use them, of course, only if they really did something they shouldn’t.  

Shu Yushuang followed behind the group, keeping a distance that was neither too close nor too far.  

The ones in front whispered to each other, but Shu Yushuang didn’t catch it. They were clearly cautious. She just didn’t know if they suspected her identity yet.  

Their destination was the village head’s house.  

If one wanted to know the whole situation of a village, it was best to go to the village head first.  

Back when Shu Yushuang was observing the fields, those women had already returned to the entrance to chat again. When they saw the Executors, they warmly gave them directions, completely different from how they treated Shu Yushuang.  

Maybe it was because when Shu Yushuang entered the village earlier, she still wasn’t an Executor of this Dungeon. “Easier to get information” might also be some kind of convenience the Dungeon gave to Executors.

The village wasn’t very big, so the group soon found the village head’s house.  

To their slight surprise, the head of Zhoujia Village was a woman.  

Her name was Zhou Xiaolian. Toward these outsiders, her manner was different from the women at the entrance. She had a polite but distant air.  

She seemed used to this kind of scene. To every question from the Executors, she gave flawless answers but revealed nothing useful.  

The Executors talked with her for an entire afternoon, yet still knew nothing about the village.  

At last, Sun Tingting asked helplessly, “Is there an inn here? We need to stay for a while.”  

Hearing this, the head’s attitude suddenly changed. She smiled brightly and said to the Executors, “You can all stay at my house for now. I have two houses. One has always been empty. But with so many of you, it might be a little crowded.”  

“That’s fine, as long as there’s a place to stay. We’ll pay rent.”  

“What rent? You’re all guests.”  

With that, not letting anyone refuse, the head led them to her other house.  

Inside the courtyard of the big house, weeds grew wild. It looked abandoned for a long time, and everywhere carried a gloomy air.  

Seeing this, every Executor felt a chill in their hearts.

Inside the courtyard was a three-story house. It covered quite a big area. The village head opened the door with a key, and a damp moldy smell came out. Almost all the Executors choked and backed away again and again, only Shu Yushuang and Sun Tingting stayed calm. This made Shu Yushuang look at Sun Tingting a few more times.  

But at the same time, Shu Yushuang found Sun Tingting was also looking at her, so she quickly looked away.  

The village head said with some guilt, "Sorry, no one has lived here for many years. The smell’s strong, but if you clean it, it’ll be fine."  

She held her nose and went in first, leaving the Executors outside staring at each other.  

Shu Yushuang was the second to hold her nose and go in, and Sun Tingting followed behind her.  

Inside wasn’t as messy as Shu Yushuang thought. The furniture was neat, and there was almost no dust.  

The village head had already opened all the windows on the first floor, and the strange smell had faded a lot.  

Seeing Shu Yushuang and Sun Tingting come in, the village head said, "There are ten rooms on the second and third floor. You can assign them yourselves. The rooms are clean. Stay here tonight first, I’ll find someone to clean tomorrow."  

Sun Tingting answered at once, "It’s fine, don’t trouble yourself. We can clean it ourselves."  

"Then I’ll go first. You all have a good rest. There’s a restaurant across the street, you can eat there, or you can come to my house. Or if you want to cook here, that’s fine too."  

The village head wrote the restaurant and market address and gave it to Shu Yushuang.

Right now she was completely different from before, warm to an unbelievable degree.  

Shu Yushuang took the note and watched the village head leave.  

There is surely something wrong with this woman, but Shu Yushuang couldn’t pinpoint what it was.