Chapter 686: Eye Offering
The group of players were momentarily stunned. Yes, so many players had gone missing before, and no bodies had been found—who could say for sure they were dead?
Players forcibly teleported to a random instance needed three months. If the missing players were being controlled by the instance boss, even if they survived the seven-day limit, they might not wake up. That meant they could still be in this instance for over two months. Players were different from ordinary people—who knew what they could do?
"No way." The hoodie player was no longer as insistent, hesitating. "If the missing players are still alive, then where did the eyes in the wooden cabinet come from?"
"There aren't many young adults in the county town," Xu Huo said. "It's not just players dying in the instance."
Wei Xian swallowed hard. "So you're saying we might have to face not only the instance boss but also a considerable number of missing players?"
"That makes a lot more sense." Fang Penghui said. "To make all players fail the instance at once, relying solely on the instance rules sounds a bit difficult, especially since many players haven't been here long enough and their auditory hallucinations aren't severe."
"This is good news." The black-shirted player also said. "If it's just players, we can handle them. At least it's better than the instance suddenly changing."
"But the rules revealed by this instance are already very few." Tian Kunwen took over. "With such a high death rate, the instance shouldn't be like this. I wouldn't be surprised by anything that happens next."
The worst outcome was exactly what Xu Huo had said—the bodies were alive.
"Anyway, we can't kill people." The hoodie player shook his hand. "I hope you won't regret it later."
The night passed like that. As dawn broke, the residents of the county town woke from their slumber. Unlike the lifelessness of previous days, every household had their courtyard gates wide open, cleaning and repairing their yards, setting out offerings and incense candles, as if preparing for a grand sacrificial ceremony.
They didn't seem to care much about the houses burned down the previous night, only carrying away the injured and covering the charred, ugly spots with some cloth.
"What are they doing?" Xu Huo asked the little girl who was washing rice. "Is there a festival today?"
"Yes!" The little girl beamed. "Today is the Eye Offering Festival!"
"Eye Offering?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow.
"Offering eyes." The little girl said it as if it were the most natural thing, completely without the fear she had shown toward the locked rooms two days ago. "At night, the whole city will carry the deity statue out for a procession. Today, everyone's family members will come back—it's the liveliest day!"
"Will your parents come back too?" Xu Huo added some water for her.
"Yes." The little girl's face was full of longing. "I haven't seen my mom and dad in a long time."
She said this excitedly, running back to grab a photo. "Look, these are my mom and dad!"
Comparing the photo's date with the instance time, this photo was at least fifteen years old.
"They come back to see you every festival?" Xu Huo returned the photo to her.
"Of course." The little girl smiled. "As long as you're from Square Palace City, everyone comes back on the Eye Offering Festival."
She happily went about her business. Xu Huo walked out of the courtyard, and everywhere he looked, there were ribbons and lanterns hanging. Groups of children ran around. He stopped the kid who had taken him to the pond two days ago. The child seemed to have forgotten what he said before, cheerfully asking, "My mom and dad—they're definitely coming back today. Uncle, do you know them?"
Xu Huo gave him some food and let him go. He then went alone to Xiao Yun's house near the station.
Xiao Yun was also preparing sacrificial items, while her brother sat in the yard as usual, carving wood. Seeing Xu Huo, he said expressionlessly, "I took your money, so I'll deliver on time."
Xu Huo sat down across from him. "I still have two days before the deadline. No need to rush."
Xiao Yun's brother looked up at him. "It'll be done by tonight."
"After walking through half the city, you seem to be the only one who's clear-headed. Why don't you leave Square Palace City?" Xu Huo asked.
Xiao Yun's brother carved the wood stroke by stroke. "Everyone who tried to leave died. Even if they become corpses, they come back..."
"Brother!" Xiao Yun shouted to stop him, anger on her face. "What nonsense are you talking! Today is the Eye Offering Festival—saying these things is disrespectful to the deity!"
Xiao Yun's brother was unmoved by his sister's anger and retorted, "Deity? Do you even know what deity you're worshiping?"
Xiao Yun's expression showed a moment of confusion before she said, "A deity is a deity. Talking about the deity is also disrespectful."
Xiao Yun's brother visibly grew irritable. He threw down the wooden mirror in his hand, rushed into the room, grabbed the wooden cabinet used for worshiping the deity, lifted it, and smashed it to the ground!
"Brother!" Xiao Yun's face twisted in an instant. She let out a piercing scream and, with the kitchen knife in her hand, stabbed at her own brother!
Xu Huo grabbed her wrist and said to Xiao Yun's brother, "Smashing the deity statue won't help. Give it back to her."
Xiao Yun's brother had veins bulging on his forehead. In the end, he relented. Watching Xiao Yun happily carry the wooden cabinet away, he looked up in despair and helplessness.
"The young adults who went missing in the county town—are they in the same situation as you?" Xu Huo asked. "Where are their bodies? This shouldn't be the original Square Palace City, right?"
Xiao Yun's brother sat back down to continue carving wood, saying, "What's the rush? You'll find out tonight."
Xu Huo frowned and asked a few more questions, but the other party only repeated that sentence.
"You think I'm a dead man walking."
"So what if I die? So what if I live? You people leave and never come back." Xiao Yun's brother said with a sneer.
It seemed that he, or the people of Square Palace City, had once sought help from players. Even if they survived, the players couldn't change the current state of the instance.
Report it to the game base? Not only did the game itself have no concept of right or wrong, but even if it did, it wouldn't apply to a low-level instance.
This instance had no fixed opening time, so the city had been stuck in instance time. Some people were in a daze, while those who were clear-headed and trying to save themselves couldn't leave Square Palace City, turning it into a dead city.
"So you've seen the real Square Palace City, on the other side of that pond?" Xu Huo said. "You can stay clear-headed. Can you draw a map of Square Palace City?"
Only then did Xiao Yun's brother look at him seriously. "No one can stay clear-headed inside Square Palace City."
After saying that, he shut his mouth.
Xu Huo couldn't smell anything, so he had to leave first. Outside, he ran into Yi Pei and the black-shirted player, who had also just finished checking the surroundings. They were holding grass rings and flower rings given by children, as well as fruit from adults.
If you didn't know the reason behind it, today's Square Palace City really looked like a paradise on earth.
Soon, a few parade floats appeared on the street. The locals offered flowers and fruit, decorated them, and hung cloth banners with eye patterns in the middle. The moment they saw the eyes, Xu Huo and the other two changed expression and instinctively looked away!