Li Yao claimed to be a supernatural novelist, and her role in this instance was clear: to provide the players with knowledge of the occult.
But what if she was lying?
She naturally held an information advantage, which wasn't fair to the other players. That was why the phone existed—as another source of knowledge.
But then, that made her presence seem rather redundant...
Qi Si's expression remained unchanged. "By the way, Li Yao, when was your last instance? I've noticed a lot of people wait until the seven-day countdown ends and are forced into the next matchmaking."
Li Yao blinked in confusion and was about to answer when an enthusiastic greeting interrupted her.
"Well now! Why are you all up so early? After such a long journey, you should be resting more on your first day!" Xu Sao emerged from the right side of the main gate, taking small, quick steps.
Qi Si glanced at her waist but saw no bell.
The soul-summoning bell, which could connect the worlds of the living and the dead, she only seemed to wear after dusk. He wondered what she was trying to avoid.
Qi Si asked, "Xu Sao, where's the bell from your waist? Did you misplace it, or is there a reason you're not wearing it?"
Xu Sao slapped her thigh and exclaimed, "Oh, dear me! This old woman's memory is failing. Thank you for reminding me, or I wouldn't have even known I'd lost it."
The words rang false. Qi Si feigned concern. "That's your family heirloom, isn't it? It's very important. Please don't worry about us. You should find the bell first; we can wait."
Xu Sao's smile didn't waver. "The heirloom is important, but not as important as our honored guests. This old woman has come to take you all to the feast!"
A feast? Qi Si raised an eyebrow slightly. "Did someone die last night?"
"Now, now, it's not good to talk of life and death. It's bad luck." Xu Sao's smile faded a little. "We're holding a wedding celebration for Xi'er. There will be chicken, duck, beef, and lamb, and all kinds of wine. The tables will stretch from one end of the street to the other. The whole town is coming to feast!"
"This old woman will take you there first. Later, I'll bring people back to help Xi'er get ready. Once the procession arrives, we'll send her off in the bridal sedan with music and fanfare, so she can have a grand wedding."
Her words were polite, but her intention was clearly to separate the players from Xi'er.
Qi Si lowered his gaze and requested gently, "I've never seen a traditional wedding before. Could I stay and watch the preparations?"
Though Li Yao didn't understand his motive, she chimed in, "Yes, we're folklore investigators who grew up in the city. There's so much we've never seen. It's a rare opportunity, and we're all very curious..."
"No." Xu Sao's tone turned harsh. "According to our customs, Xi'er is to become another family's wife. As honored as you are, you are still outsiders. If Miss Xi'er were to cause a scene and offend any of you, it would be most unpleasant."
She said "offend," but her eyes were as cold as if she were looking at corpses. If her words had been "cause your accidental deaths," it wouldn't have sounded out of place.
Qi Si knew he couldn't press the matter further. He pressed his lips together and stepped aside, signaling that he would not interfere. Li Yao, of course, said no more.
Seeing that the two had sensibly fallen silent, Xu Sao's expression gradually returned to normal, as if her earlier sinister ruthlessness had just been the players' imagination.
She moved her two inverted-cone-shaped legs, nimbly stepping over the threshold and heading deeper into the courtyard, presumably to fetch the other players.
As her footsteps faded into the distance, Qi Si gave a cool smile. "After we leave, the townsfolk will likely do something to Xi'er—something they don't want us to see."
It was known that the town's good fortune stemmed from the resentment of a girl who died on her wedding day. To gain more fortune, the resentment naturally needed to be as strong as possible. In other words, the girl had to die a horrible death, enduring inhuman torture beforehand.
"But Xu Sao said she'll bring people back here after she's taken us to the feast. That gives us plenty of opportunity to slip away and come back for a look..."
Qi Si didn't finish his thought, but Li Yao immediately agreed without hesitation. "I'll see if I can sneak back. I have a stealth-related skill..."
Footsteps sounded behind them again, cutting her off.
Xu Sao emerged with three other players and called out with a smile, "Everyone, keep up now. This old woman is taking you to the feast."
Just like the first day, she wobbled ahead, shuffling her feet as she led them on a winding path through the riverside town of white walls and black-tiled roofs. The players followed closely behind.
It was unclear how Double Happiness Town was laid out. They had taken a path from the left to reach the residence, but now they were taking a path to the right for the feast. Despite clearly not backtracking, they wound around for a long time and somehow ended up passing the Joy God Temple again, just as they had on the first day.
Behind the vermilion temple gates, the statue dressed in red seemed to have taken a small step forward. It was closer to the entrance than yesterday, as if about to step down from its shrine. They still couldn't see its full face, only a pale, soft jawline and crimson lips.
The man and woman kneeling below the statue had also turned slightly toward the gate, their heads twisted at an unnatural angle to watch the passing players.
The faint scent of burning paper money drifted out. Through the half-closed doors, they could see a thin layer of smoke inside, casting a pall of decay over the already dim interior.
"Someone's burning paper money in there? Does the Joy God also handle funerals?" Du Xiaoyu muttered under his breath.
Xu Sao chuckled. "After the feast, you should all come and pay your respects at the Joy God Temple. The Joy God Goddess doesn't just bless joyous occasions and newly-weds. Anyone who wishes for good fortune or wants to avoid disaster can make an offering to Her and receive luck and happiness."
Qi Si caught the keyword "good fortune" and raised an eyebrow slightly.
The Weird Game wouldn't place all the keys to understanding the world's lore on a single clue. If hiding one clue could lead to a total party wipe, the design would be too dependent on luck, too simple and brutal.
Clearly, another part of the puzzle lay within the Joy God Temple. Even if players missed the related images and text on the phone, they could still piece together the instance's lore if they dared to explore the temple. Qi Si spoke at the opportune moment. "Xu Sao, I've been meaning to ask since we arrived. 'Double happiness' refers to both joyous and somber events. Besides the Joy God, is there also a god who presides over funerals in your town?"
The players all pricked up their ears, waiting for Xu Sao's reply. After all, if there was a god of joy, there should be a god of sorrow. The assumption perfectly matched their common sense.
Xu Sao let out a dry laugh. "We only have one deity in our town, the Joy God Goddess. We only worship her. She was one of our own in life, and she became our town's god in death. Who else would we worship?"
Qi Si feigned hesitation. "So, the Joy God Goddess oversees everything? Things like life and death, wealth and fortune—does she handle those too?"
"Of course. Our Joy God Goddess handles everything, even hauntings," Xu Sao said.
A ghost talking about hauntings was certainly ironic. Du Xiaoyu chuckled. "Your town gets haunted? What kind of hauntings?"
Xu Sao answered patiently, "Our town has been troubled by spirits a few times. Everyone started having nightmares. We all went to the Goddess's temple to burn paper money and pray for her protection, and those spirits were all suppressed in the well."
The well.
In ghost stories, there's often a line like: "One day, the scholar Zhang slipped and fell into a well, where he saw skeletons laid out neatly, filling him with melancholy."
In the "People in the Well" clue, the bottom of the well was filled with bones that gathered resentment and accumulated good fortune.
Xu Sao had said the Joy God Goddess died by throwing herself into a well.
Li Yao asked, "What kind of spirits were they, exactly? And why suppress them in a well? Was it the same well where the Joy God Goddess's body is?"
Xu Sao grew annoyed. "Spirits are spirits. We don't have Ghost Eyes, so how would we know what kind they were? They were suppressed in the well because they were suppressed in the well. Why so many questions?"
Seeing Xu Sao get angry, the players, who had a basketful of questions ready, could only quiet down and follow her in silence.
After walking a little further, Xu Sao pointed ahead. "We're here. That's the place."
The fog on both sides of the road had dissipated considerably without them noticing. Looking up, they could see a dense crowd of people in colorful clothes in the distance, bustling back and forth, shoulder to shoulder. Some were carrying plates, others bowls and chopsticks.
The area was decorated festively. Red confetti littered the ground, and large, mahogany-colored round tables were arranged in rows, stretching into unseen corners. They could count at least twenty tables just within their line of sight.
The sight triggered the sound—a cacophony of human voices, lively and bustling. A few dog barks were mixed in, and Qi Si spotted a large black dog with a bone in its mouth, strolling contentedly on a red carpet.
Qi Si recalled Jin Yusheng telling him some basic facts about the supernatural. Black dogs were creatures of pure yang energy and, by rights, shouldn't be able to exist in a town filled with ghosts.
Was the town really "full of ghosts," as Xu Wen had said?
Two men saw the guests arriving and came over to greet them, one after the other. They exchanged pleasantries with Xu Sao. "Granny Xu, our town owes today to your hard work. You should just rest later. Let the others handle the small chores."
Both had the dark, weathered faces of farmers, with crow's feet fanning out from the corners of their eyes. They were plain-looking, but their smiles were cheerful.
They were quite respectful toward Xu Sao. Only after the woman waved a hand and left did they turn to the players, their expressions becoming more reserved. "Please, make yourselves comfortable. Sit anywhere, eat what you like, look around. Just call us if you need anything!"
The players exchanged glances, each seeing the same calculation in the others' eyes. They couldn't just sit down and eat. The main purpose of coming here was to look around and hopefully find some important clues.
Liu Bingding smiled at the two men. "No need to be so nervous. We don't know much about your customs and traditions, so we were hoping you could tell us about them."
Shang Qingbei, who had been silent the whole way, saw that Liu Bingding was about to launch into a stream of pointless adult pleasantries and quickly cut in, "Do you know where the groom is?"
Ever since he received the side quest "Ruin Xi'er's Wedding," he had been thinking about how to complete it.
Helping Xi'er escape was clearly unrealistic. The girl was a simpleton and couldn't be reasoned with. Was he supposed to knock her out and hide her somewhere?
The wedding was said to be a sacrifice, but it was still called a "wedding." There had to be a groom.
Shang Qingbei believed that every quest in the Weird Game had a solution. If he couldn't find a breakthrough with Xi'er, he would try his luck with the groom.
"Young man, why are you looking for the groom?" one of the men asked suspiciously.
"I..." Shang Qingbei was at a loss for words.
He was just about to invent a reason, but before he could stammer out a few words, a cold, electronic voice announced: [Side Quest Complete].
Staring at the text on the system interface, Shang Qingbei blinked, completely baffled.
What was going on?
He hadn't done anything yet. How could the side quest be complete?
[Due to your low participation, the performance points for this quest have been automatically transferred to the player with the highest participation.]
A new message popped up. After processing its meaning, Shang Qingbei's eyes widened, and he stood there, utterly dumbfounded.