Over there, You Yi did not encounter the dangers he had imagined. Just as Xin Meng had speculated earlier, this game would not force people into a dead end. Those who died from a single mistake often did so because they were careless and failed to find the hidden path amidst the dangers. As long as one remained calm and observed carefully, grasping that subtle clue, they could avoid danger to a certain extent and even escape with their lives. However, very few people could achieve this. Xin Meng had managed to escape from the reservoir largely due to luck, while You Yi was precisely not lacking in calmness and wisdom.
Every time the Split-Mouth Ghost was cleaved open, it took a moment for it to close again. This moment was enough for the battle-hardened You Yi to maneuver among the many ghosts. Although he would occasionally get bitten on the arm by a Split-Mouth Ghost, it did not hinder his movements. The bloodstains on his arm increased, but You Yi did not even flinch. The military knife in his hand was incredibly agile, sometimes fluttering like a butterfly, sometimes striking like a tiger. Moreover, his form and footwork were extraordinary; even though Xin Meng’s gaze was fixed on him out of worry, he would occasionally lose track of his movements.
If it were a normal situation, Xin Meng would definitely have questioned whether this was a level that an ordinary special forces soldier could reach.
But now, Xin Meng had no time to think about such things. He clenched his hands tightly, praying that You Yi would be alright!
You Yi, however, remained calm throughout. Even when he noticed that the Split-Mouth Ghost had drawn blood from him, he still had the presence of mind to observe closely.
With each surge of blood, those greedy Split-Mouth Ghosts would become slightly fainter. Although this was not very noticeable among the many ghosts, once discovered, the difference could be seen. You Yi made a decisive move, retracting his military knife. Amidst Xin Meng’s exclamations, he swiftly slashed at his own arm, and the blood that gushed forth instantly stained the blade of the knife. The encircling Split-Mouth Ghosts, catching the scent of blood, became even more excited and lunged at him. You Yi countered with a swift strike, the bloodied blade cleaving through the body of the Split-Mouth Ghost, which let out a tragic shriek before vanishing.
It worked!
Xin Meng felt a pang of heartache but was also filled with excitement; they had found a way to eliminate them!
You Yi moved quickly. After discovering the correct method, he became even more formidable. In just over ten minutes, all twenty to thirty Split-Mouth Ghosts had disappeared under his blade.
Xin Meng’s legs went weak, nearly causing him to kneel on the ground.
He watched as You Yi stood the last stone upright, and the weight in his heart finally lifted. He leaned against a nearby tree trunk to stand up, just about to speak to You Yi when he suddenly noticed that the Split-Mouth Ghosts had reappeared beside the small grove!
They stood huddled together in a row at the edge of the grove, surrounding the two people inside. The sheer number of them was enough to make one’s scalp tingle. Some were the ones that You Yi had just cut down, while others were the ones that had attacked Xin Meng at the reservoir, and there were even some that had never shown themselves before—men and women, old and young, with five or six infants crawling on the ground, their pitch-black eyes staring directly at them.
Is it not over yet?!
Xin Meng was suddenly overwhelmed with a sense of helplessness. Even propping up the stone was useless. Did they really have to use a bloodied knife to kill them all? With such a massive number, they would probably bleed to death before being bitten by the Split-Mouth Ghosts…
However, those Split-Mouth Ghosts did not move; they merely stood there watching them. Although their eyeless eyes were terrifying, they no longer exhibited the same greed and malice as before. Xin Meng calmed down and even felt that they seemed to want to say something to him.
But without any body language to assist, Xin Meng could not understand their intentions. After a moment of stalemate, the skin of those Split-Mouth Ghosts suddenly began to peel away in chunks, revealing pale skin marked with bite marks, as if they had been gnawed to the bone. In just a few minutes, all the ghosts vanished again.
The small grove suddenly brightened, the eerie feeling replaced by warmth, and the sounds of chirping insects and birds filled the air. It was as if they had fallen back from hell into the human world.
This time… they had truly escaped danger.
Looking back, it was no wonder that the ancestors of Xiuse Village had suddenly moved the graves away from this grove and forbade future generations from entering. With so many terrifying monsters appearing, it was fortunate that the village had moved!
Xin Meng sat down on the ground, exhausted, and when You Yi walked over to him, he quickly got up, rummaging through the bag that You Yi had thrown on the ground to find clean water to wash away the bloodstains on his arm, and he did a simple cleaning of the wound.
“Does it hurt?” Xin Meng felt an inexplicable discomfort in his heart.
“It’s fine.” You Yi patted his head. “We haven’t left the game yet.”
Only then did Xin Meng remember that they had stood the stone upright, causing the Split-Mouth Ghosts to disappear, but they were still in this game?
Was the stone not the condition for clearing the level?
He took out the card that Qi Xiaokui had given him earlier and examined it closely, but he found nothing new. The place where it all began was this small grove, right? The behavior of those Split-Mouth Ghosts just now also proved that this place was indeed special; it should also be the place to end the game, right?
Could it be that they had overlooked something?
He circled the small grove twice but found no suspicious places. Here, apart from the stone, there were only trees and fallen leaves; there was nothing else.
With no other options, he decided to take You Yi down the mountain first, find a way to bandage him, and then meet up with Xiong Jiabao to discuss the next course of action.
When the two returned to the village, they heard a shocking piece of news: Wu Deli had almost been quietly dragged away and eaten by a Split-Mouth Ghost, but for some reason, just as the ghost was about to bite him, it suddenly vanished. The terrified Wu Deli had cried out for help, and the villagers rescued him by the reservoir. He was now being carried to the village chief’s house to rest, with Wu Xuehua taking care of him.
Village Chief Wu Dacheng, upon seeing the bite marks on You Yi’s arm, was almost speechless: “This, this is…”
Xin Meng explained, “It was those ghosts that bit him. Don’t worry, Village Chief, he has already made those ghosts disappear. No one in the village will die again.”
Wu Dacheng’s face was filled with surprise and disbelief as he trembled, “Really, really? Young man, you’re not lying to me, are you?”
As he spoke, Wu Dacheng’s eyes filled with tears as he remembered the tragic deaths of his brother’s family and those villagers. Unable to hold back, he wept bitterly, which made Xin Meng feel a pang of sadness. “It’s true, it’s all over.”
“You young man… you are the benefactor of Xiuse Village!” The village chief initially wanted to shake You Yi’s hand but was intimidated by his cold demeanor and instead turned to grasp Xin Meng’s hand, repeatedly expressing his gratitude, which made Xin Meng feel both embarrassed and amused.
Wu Deli, lying on the bed, quickly sat up and thanked the two of them, “I was wondering why that ghost suddenly left! If it weren’t for you, I probably wouldn’t have escaped death!”
Looking at the surrounding villagers who were cheering and crying, Xin Meng felt a surge of emotion, but he had not forgotten about Xiong Jiabao. He was worried about whether his wound had become infected. He asked Wu Dacheng, who was wiping his tears, “Village Chief, what about my friend?”
“He’s still lying in the house, running a bit of a fever. Do you want to go see him?”
“Okay.” Xin Meng and You Yi went to check on Xiong Jiabao first. Xiong Jiabao was lying on the bed, covered with a large floral quilt from the village. His face was very red, indicating a high fever, but he was still somewhat conscious.
“You guys are back?” Xiong Jiabao’s speech was unclear due to the fever, but his emotions were very agitated. “Why haven’t you cleared the level yet?”
Xin Meng comforted him, “Don’t worry, we have completed the conditions for clearing the level as stated on the card, but we don’t know why it hasn’t cleared yet. We came back to discuss it, but the danger is gone now. Those ghosts shouldn’t appear again.”
“I don’t care about any ghosts!” Xiong Jiabao groaned in pain, repeatedly slapping the quilt with his hand. “I just want to clear the level! Why haven’t you found a way yet? It hurts so much… my leg hurts so much…”
Seeing him like this, Xin Meng felt bad too, but they had encountered danger in the small grove, and You Yi had been injured. It was one thing for Xiong Jiabao not to ask about it, but to blame them for not clearing the level in such a questioning tone made Xin Meng a bit angry. However, remembering that Xiong Jiabao was currently suffering from pain, he couldn’t demand that he also care about others, so he held back his frustration.
But looking at You Yi’s arm, which was wrapped in bandages, he still felt a knot in his heart. Finally, he simply abandoned the plan to check on Xiong Jiabao and pulled You Yi out.
“Looking at him like this, he probably won’t be able to analyze anything. Let’s do it ourselves!” Xin Meng said stubbornly, not even realizing that his lips had pouted enough to hang an oil bottle.
You Yi chuckled, playfully scratching his lips with his index finger. Xin Meng’s face flushed, feeling that the gesture was a bit too intimate, but he didn’t mind it at all. What was going on… QAQ
They found a quiet room, and Xin Meng took out the six cards, placing them on the table to study one by one.
These six cards were:
[This is not a paradise for vegetarians. But it must be a hell for carnivores.]
[Stop looking, there is no exit. You can only leave the valley by triggering specific conditions.]
[Pitiful people must have their hateful aspects.]
[Pay attention to details.]
[There is a reason you must reach the forbidden place. Ignore it, or push it down, it’s your choice.]
[The place where it begins is often also the place where it ends.]
Looking back, Xin Meng realized that many things had already been hinted at by the cards, but although they had claimed to pay attention, they had not truly taken it to heart for various reasons. The conditions for clearing the level were laid out in plain sight.
“Only by triggering specific conditions can we leave the valley,” Xin Meng said, holding this card. “In fact, the key to clearing the level is not in ‘triggering specific conditions,’ but in ‘leaving the valley.’ This is the true condition for clearing the level. In other words, because we are still in the valley now, the game has not cleared. If I’m not mistaken, if we follow the mountain path out now, we should be able to leave.”
You Yi casually sat on the windowsill, one leg bent, his wrist resting on his knee, gazing at the faintly visible green mountains outside with a distant look. He simply responded with an “mm.”
Xin Meng shifted closer to him, sitting beside him to continue examining the cards. “The others are also quite interesting. ‘Pay attention to details’ led us to Qi Xiaokui, helped us discover the escape method, and revealed the problem with the necklace on Xiong Jiabao.”
“Then there’s my card, ‘the hell for carnivores,'” Xin Meng said. “At the time, I didn’t understand what it meant, but looking back now, I can see that most of the people who died were those who ate the most meat on the first day we arrived. In our team, Li Yougen was the first to die. Knowing his character, even if I didn’t see it, I could tell he must have gorged himself. Dong Xiu also ate quite a bit. Then there was Xiong Jiabao, who probably ate less, and since we arrived in time, he barely survived. I even suspect that apart from the time we were thrown into the reservoir, whenever we encountered those ghosts, they prioritized attacking others and spared us because we hadn’t eaten meat.”
You Yi turned his head to look at Xin Meng, who was analyzing things clearly, his eyes filled with admiration. However, Xin Meng missed it because he was looking down at the cards… By the time Xin Meng looked up, You Yi had already turned back to gaze out the window.
“As for Qi Xiaokui’s card, it’s even clearer. But there are still two cards I’m not quite sure about.” Xin Meng pulled out two of the six cards. “‘Ignore it, or push it down, it’s your choice.’ These are clearly two different options. Xiong Jiabao recklessly chose to push it down, resulting in many deaths, even leading to the deaths of Dong Xiu and Li Yougen. But it also allowed us to find the conditions for clearing the level. But is this really what the card meant by ‘triggering specific conditions’? I feel like there’s a logical problem. If pushing down the stone is what triggers the condition, then why does the card give us another option? What if we had chosen not to push it down? Would we have avoided these dangers? But after all, this is a horror game. I don’t think they would give us such an obvious shortcut from the start…”
“However, we have already chosen to push down the stone. Perhaps something will happen on another main line that we will never know about…”
“And then, the last card, ‘pitiful people must have their hateful aspects.’ What does this mean?”
