With a "puff," the longevity candle to the southwest extinguished, the intervals between the snuffing out of the candles growing increasingly shorter. Indeed, upon standing again, Yang Xiao noted that the Ancestor’s posture had indeed changed, and this ti, it had stood up.
Without daring to look directly, Yang Xiao used his peripheral vision to probe. Now, of the four candles, three had been extinguished, and the Longevity Hall was almost shrouded in darkness. At this mont, with the light from the last candle, he could barely make out a dark shadow standing behind the curtain on the wooden bed.
The shadow had a bloated body with a strangely shaped head. Yang Xiao didn’t get the chance to observe closely before the last longevity candle also went out, and with that, the Longevity Hall was enveloped in complete darkness.
Anxiety fernted in the air, but he couldn’t forget the necessary etiquette. Yang Xiao knelt and kowtowed ticulously, following the ritual to the letter as demanded by the host family. What ca next was the wait—for the sound of the watchman’s wooden clapper signaling the end of the night, indicating that they could leave the Longevity Hall.
But, as expected, the unexpected occurred. In the near silence of the darkness, suddenly there ca a light "clatter, clatter" sound.
The sound was faint, yet very clear. What was bizarre was that Yang Xiao, listening attentively, couldn’t determine from which direction within the darkness the sound was emanating.
But he was certain the sound must be related to the Ancestor, that Ancestor he... had gotten out of bed.
This was no longer about "bestowing" longevity; they were borrowing it, if anything. These several bows of theirs had roused the Ancestor to wakefulness.
"Clatter..."
"Clatter..."
The sound of chains echoed through the Longevity Hall. At this point, everyone felt endangered. This was the mont when the quality of seasoned players beca apparent. Had they been new players, they might have already turned tail and fled. But for veterans, fleeing now would an certain death.
Even if they were to die, they would die in the Longevity Hall.
Everyone knelt on the ground, motionless. Yang Xiao lowered his head, facing downwards, steadying his mind to avoid gazing around.
At this ti, Tang Zerun undoubtedly felt the greatest pressure among them. In addition to the sound of chains, he heard a steady "drip, drip" sound.
The sound of water dripping.
It was right behind him!
And behind him was Yuan Ruoci’s spot. But she was already dead, drowned during her bath. Everyone had seen the body, which then disappeared.
"Drip, drip."
"Drip, drip."
The dripping was steady, each drop stabbing at Tang Zerun’s heart, for he realized sothing—the previously indistinct sound of chains was growing clearer, and getting closer to him.
It was the dripping sound!
The dripping sound was luring that thing towards him!
Tang Zerun, with his head down, kneeling on the ground, attempted to use his peripheral vision to check the positions of his fellow team mbers, to no avail. The darkness engulfed everything nearby.
"Sothing’s not right..." Tang Zerun fell into an unprecedented panic. Even in this darkness, it was impossible not to see a single silhouette; the problem was with him. He was the target of the Ghost—it had to be!
Now, it was aningless to discuss why. He needed to think about how to escape. It was impossible to get out unscathed. His only chance at survival was to divert the Ghost’s focus to another teammate.
He had to be fast!
The Iron Chain Ghost was approaching. It would be too late if he delayed any longer!
But before that, there was one thing he had to confirm. Despite so risk, he considered it worthwhile. Forcing himself to calm down, he slowly bent his body lower, his head even more so. Spreading his knees apart while kneeling and standing up, in an extrely awkward posture, Tang Zerun peered through the gap between his legs towards the rear.
"Sss—"
One glance, just one glance, was enough to make him involuntarily take in a sharp breath of cold air. He saw a pair of wet legs standing right behind him, with water incessantly dripping down from them.
"Drip-drop."
"Drip-drop."
Indeed, it was "Yuan Ruoci" who had co! She was the one who led the Iron Chain Ghost over, acting like a beacon, anchoring the ghost’s target.
Within just a few breaths, Tang Zerun had roughly figured out a plan. For now, how to deal with the Dishui Ghost, which was "Yuan Ruoci," was the top priority. As long as he could get "Yuan Ruoci" to shift her target, he would have a chance to escape.
And the most suitable scapegoat was naturally soone close to "Yuan Ruoci," other than himself, there stood Jiang Qingluan right behind Yuan Ruoci.
Ti was running out for him, and he noticed that the water beneath "Yuan Ruoci" had started to gather and eerily flow towards his position. It was worth noting that the ground he stood on was slightly elevated, and water flowing uphill was very abnormal.
He had a premonition that the mont the water touched him, it would be the signal for the Iron Chain Ghost to strike him down.
He had to act now, and at this mont, Tang Zerun had no other choice. He tried to make as little movent as possible as he pulled out the waistband from his inner garnt, balled it up, and then very carefully touched a bit of the flowing water with the balled-up waistband. Following that, he flicked his wrist, flinging the water-laden waistband in an arc toward Jiang Qingluan’s position.
He dared not look back. Instead, he silently prayed in his heart and waited. From that mont, the sound of water dropping behind him... vanished.
After taking several deep breaths, he bent down once more, observing from between his thighs to the back, elated by the result he obtained. The pair of wet legs, along with the pooled water on the floor, had all disappeared!
"Success!" Tang Zerun silently celebrated, realizing his judgnt had been correct; those waters were problematic, and whoever touched them would be unlucky.
To divert disaster elsewhere was a crucial skill for veteran players in these nightmare tasks, and Tang Zerun was one of the top players.
He was no longer anxious now. All he had to do was wait until the night watchman’s wooden clapper sounded, then he could take the opportunity to leave.
However, there was still one thing he needed to be careful about. After leaving, he had to retrieve the waistband without anyone noticing, before they could discover it. These teammates were all cunning, and once they found the waistband, they would inevitably all strip for inspection. If his little trick was discovered, it would put him in a very precarious situation, so he needed to act flawlessly.
Fortunately, as required, they were to exit the hall one by one with their backs turned, which ant that the first person to pass by Jiang Qingluan’s body would be himself. If he moved swiftly, he could pick up the waistband while pretending to find the body, and there would be no problem.
"Hurry up, hurry up with the clapper..." The place was filled with strangeness, and Tang Zerun didn’t want to stay a second longer.
Soon, after what felt like an endless and difficult wait, a dull clapper sound finally ca from outside. Yang Xiao for a mont could hardly believe it, not until the second, then the third sound, which also ant that their task for the night had ended.
Seeing the silhouette kneeling not far ahead, which was Nalan Shuo, stand up first, Yang Xiao then stood up and followed, each of them leaning forward with heads down, slowly backing away. There was no communication during the whole process, and almost no sound was made.
Only when they had exited seven or eight ters outside the Longevity Hall and regrouped did they realize sothing was amiss.
"Where is Tang Zerun?" Lou Huixiang looked around in alarm.
"I didn’t see him; I thought he had left first when I passed by his position." Xiang Fengchen, who was positioned just in front of Tang Zerun, also furrowed his brow.
"I... I didn’t see him either, just like Mr. Xiang." Zhang Songde, the first person on the right column, quickly added.
Everyone’s attention naturally shifted to Jiang Qingluan, as she was the person behind Tang Zerun and might have seen so clues. But at that mont, Jiang Qingluan was also bewildered. She recalled that the last ti she saw the back of Tang Zerun was just before the fourth bow, and after that, all the candles in the Longevity Hall were extinguished. She was kneeling on the ground and never dared to lift her head.
"Did you notice anything strange happening around you?" Nalan Shuo pressed.
After a mont of recollection, Jiang Qingluan slowly shook her head, "No, it was very quiet by , nothing happened."
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