Chapter 1 After Obtaining the Task Item

After obtaining the task item, Feng Bujue had to hold up the small bell every three minutes on average to reconfirm his direction. He led Si Yu like this for nearly half an hour, but still couldn't find any Hidden Bell Temple.

The mountain forest seemed endless, with treacherous and complex terrain. The temperature around them was constantly dropping. Judging by their sense of touch, it should already be below ten degrees Celsius. Feng Bujue's clothing provided decent cold protection, but Si Yu was only wearing a sleeveless cotton vest on her upper body, although her lower body was covered by mountaineering pants. In this environment, she would naturally feel cold, and her Stamina Value would be consumed more quickly than Feng Bujue's.

"It's a pity I can't take off my coat for you," Feng Bujue said, stopping again after walking for a while to retrieve the bell. As he held up the item, he continued, "Even my shirt and waistcoat would be better than your sleeveless clothes."

"Purple doesn't suit me anyway," Si Yu replied blandly.

"I see..." Feng Bujue responded. "But I still suggest you change into a set of clothing suitable for spring and autumn. That way, you can cope with extremely low or high temperatures." He steadied his arm, holding the bell up flat, and began to slowly turn in a circle. "Xiao Tan's assassin outfit is pretty good, but Bei Ling's is a bit too thick. I reckon when the temperature gets close to thirty degrees, she'll have to endure extra Stamina Value consumption."

"I'll think about it after this scenario is over," Si Yu said. "Before, I only considered whether the clothing would affect my fighting movements, so I randomly picked a piece of clothing that was near the top of the list when browsing the store. Looking at it now, that was too hasty." She thoughtfully continued, "If I buy another one, I'll have to choose carefully. Adapting to various ambient temperatures is a must, and it would be best if it also had some storage function and camouflage effect..." As she spoke, she noticed Feng Bujue staring at her with a strange expression.

"What's wrong?" Si Yu asked, meeting Feng Bujue's gaze with her usual cold eyes.

"I've noticed something," Feng Bujue said, having already put the bell away. He gestured for Si Yu to follow him, and then continued forward. "When it's just the two of us, you talk more..."

"You think I'm being long-winded?" Si Yu asked as she walked.

"It's not that..." Feng Bujue said. "Psychologically speaking, there are many explanations for this situation. Maybe you're trying to cover up some kind of unease, or maybe it's because you're less guarded around me... Watch your step." He reminded her as he stepped over a crack in a rock. "Like that bit you said just now, if someone you weren't very familiar with was present, you probably wouldn't have said it. Instead, you would have just thought about it in your head. Because there's a sense of trust between us, you're sharing your thoughts with me as you think."

"We're not very familiar with each other, are we?" Si Yu replied. She had a point; from a real-time perspective, they hadn't known each other for more than a week.

"I should say that I'm not very familiar with you," Feng Bujue said. "But you've read my books, so you feel like you have a certain understanding of me..."

"That's true," Si Yu said. "But you're very different from the 'Bujue' I imagined."

"Ha?" Feng Bujue laughed. "In what way? Let me guess... My appearance gave you a huge psychological letdown?"

"No, your appearance is actually higher than my expectations. I thought you would have an exceptionally mean and sarcastic face," Si Yu replied.

"What kind of logic is that... Face reflects the heart?"

"Yes," Si Yu didn't even deny it. "But after seeing you in person, I realized that my judgment of your character was completely wrong."

"Oh? Then what kind of person did you imagine the detective novelist Bujue to be?" Feng Bujue asked.

"First of all, his level of narcissism would probably be only one-tenth of yours."

"Hmm... That's indeed a flaw, but unfortunately, I can't change it."

"Secondly, he should be a person who is rational to the point of being almost cold-blooded."

"Am I not that kind of person?"

"You can be very rational, and you also have a cold-blooded side." Si Yu hesitated for a moment. "But more often than not... it's hard to say."

"Oh... Anything else that's vastly different from what you imagined?"

"Are you treating this as some kind of book signing event?"

"Haha... Do I look like the kind of person who would participate in that kind of activity?"

"I don't want to continue this conversation. If you have similar questions, I'll tell you when we're really familiar with each other," Si Yu said.

"How long will that take, roughly?" Feng Bujue asked.

"I don't know, maybe a few weeks, maybe a few months," Si Yu replied. "Maybe we'll never become familiar."

"Never become familiar? Is that possible?" Feng Bujue asked, puzzled.

"Yes, after this period of contact, I've discovered more and more personality traits in you that I dislike. If this situation continues, and those traits accumulate to a certain extent, I think... leaving each other's social circles would be a good choice for both of us."

There aren't many people in this world who would seriously say these words directly to someone's face, but Si Yu is that kind of person. From this, it can be seen that her personality is definitely not normal... In fact, she does have very serious problems in her social life in the real world.

And ninety-nine percent of the people in this world who hear someone say these words directly to their face would feel displeased, and would probably be angrily thinking: Who do you think you are?

But Feng Bujue, living up to his reputation as a weirdo, actually had a gleam in his eyes and replied with a happy face: "Wow! You're so reasonable! If everyone were like you, how wonderful my life would be, and how many meaningless social activities I could save myself from."

Ding-ling... Ding-ling...

The sudden sound of the bell interrupted their chat.

Feng Bujue had never put that task item into his knapsack. When he wasn't using it, he simply kept it in the inside pocket of his coat. The small bell wouldn't ring unless it was deliberately shaken, and it wouldn't even make a sound if he took a few small hops while walking. But at this moment, the bell was ringing on its own.

"Hmm... So we've finally arrived..." Feng Bujue immediately took the bell out of his pocket and held it in his hand. The bell seemed to come alive, constantly vibrating and making noise. If Feng Bujue didn't grip it tightly, the item would almost have jumped out of his palm.

Suddenly, a bone-chilling coldness struck, dropping the temperature to freezing point. At the same time, the surrounding scenery suddenly changed. The trees, grass, and rocks around them began to flicker in and out of existence. Some trees suddenly turned into small saplings, while others disappeared altogether. The grass and stones changed positions and shapes in a bizarre way.

To describe this scene vividly, it was as if they were watching a silent film, and suddenly, two sets of shots that had been edited together appeared repeatedly. Although both sets of shots were of the same location, they were taken at different times.

This situation was familiar to both Feng Bujue and Si Yu. They didn't need to communicate to know that they had encountered a ghost.

These days, ghosts without spatial or illusion abilities are too embarrassed to call themselves fierce ghosts.

"Waa... Waa..." The sound of a girl crying rang out.

Feng Bujue and Si Yu immediately turned around at the sound. The scene that appeared before their eyes would make anyone's heart sink.

There was a thick wooden stake stuck in the dirt, with firewood piled around the stake. A little girl of about ten years old was tied to the stake, and the thing binding her small body was actually a circle of heavy iron chains.

"Waa... Please... Let me go... Waa... It hurts so much... I want my mommy..." The little girl cried and repeatedly said pleading words.

"Kill her!" "Burn this fiend to death!" "It's all because of this jinx that the Dragon King won't send rain!" "My dad got consumption, it's all this little beast's fault!" "Jinx! She's the reason all the crops in my family died!" "Burn her to death!" "My child was born with a lame leg! It's all this fiend's doing!"

Many shouts of abuse immediately rang out in their ears, from men, women, old, and young alike, but they only heard the voices, not the people. From the content of the words, it could be heard that it was undoubtedly this group of people who had tied up the little girl. As for the identities of these people, according to the information provided by the tree demon earlier, it could basically be confirmed that they were the villagers of Cang Ling Town in the past.

"Waa... Ling'er didn't hurt anyone... Waa... Please... I want my mommy..." The little girl was still crying, but the surrounding curses didn't stop. Clearly, this group of people just wanted to vent their emotions, and they wouldn't listen to any explanation.

It wasn't until a torch was thrown into the woodpile, and the raging flames rose up, that these voices stopped. Replacing them was the heartbreaking cry of a little girl.

Until the very last moment, the little girl was still begging and crying, but soon... after a violent coughing fit, she was no longer able to make any sound.

"Death flashback."

"Death flashback?"

Feng Bujue and Si Yu turned to look at each other almost simultaneously, saying the same words in unison, except that one used a declarative tone, while the other still had some uncertainty.

They thought that this depressing performance would end soon, but they didn't expect that it had only just begun.

The scenery in front of them changed again. The burning flames suddenly shot up high, forming a wall of fire. After it dissipated, a small temple appeared before the two of them.

The temple gate was currently closed. From the outside, the building occupied an area of about two hundred square meters. It was estimated that there would only be a hall for offering Buddhist statues inside, and it wouldn't be divided into many rooms. A plaque hung in front of the small temple gate – Hidden Bell Temple.

Many voices of conversation once again came to the ears of the two players, but this time it wasn't loud curses. It sounded more like whispers after lowering one's voice.

"You say that the fiend is dead, so how come the troubles in the village are actually getting worse and worse..."

"Yeah... I heard that someone went up the mountain to collect firewood yesterday and didn't come back..."

"That's the fifth one already, isn't it?"

"Who says it isn't? Also, the hunter Old Chen and his wife both died together at home last night. There was blood all over the house..."

"Could it be... that the fiend's ghost has come to seek revenge?"

"But that day, everyone buried the remaining ashes under the Hidden Bell Temple. With a temple suppressing her, what fiend can still cause trouble?"

"What use is that small temple? I think that fiend has powerful magic, so we have to... have to invite a high-ranking monk to perform a ritual, otherwise none of the people in our village will be able to escape..."

These voices drifted around, not knowing where they came from, but Feng Bujue and Si Yu heard every sentence very clearly.

After this passage ended, many figures emerged from behind them. Some of those people were monks wearing kasayas, some were Taoists wearing Taoist robes, and some looked like down-on-their-luck martial artists. Some were holding prayer beads and wooden fish, some were carrying fly-whisks and precious swords, and a few were carrying a basket of strange equipment on their backs, with a circle of peach wood swords stuck behind them, making them look like they were performing opera.

However, this group of people all had one thing in common, which was that they were pale and deathly, and each of their pale faces wore a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

They all appeared from behind Feng Bujue and Si Yu, and then swayed towards the gate of "Hidden Bell Temple." Before long, they brushed past the two players. When passing by them, each of them would turn their heads to take a look, as if they knew that something existed here. This situation was indeed rare in death flashbacks.

At this moment, Si Yu already had Holy Seal in hand, adopting a defensive posture. She was obviously a little nervous, and even the hand holding her sword was trembling slightly. Without realizing it, she had been infected by the surrounding atmosphere of terror, so it was normal for her to have this reaction.

Just then, a steady hand gently pressed down on Si Yu's hand. Feng Bujue turned his head, his face showing no fear, with a calm and composed expression. "Take a deep breath, slow down your heartbeat, open the menu to check your Fear Points, and get rid of the distracting images in your head." His instructions were simple, and everyone understood them, but not everyone could immediately think to do so when they were afraid.

After hearing this, Si Yu quickly calmed down, and her Fear Points also dropped from a high of 70%.

"What a reliable man..." These words weren't said by Si Yu, but by Feng Bujue himself. After he said this, he even smiled. "That's what you must be thinking in your heart right now, right?"

"A little bit," Si Yu replied, but her eyes immediately revealed a hint of disdain.

"Does that mean we're a little bit closer to becoming 'familiar'?"

"Perhaps it would be if you hadn't said that sentence yourself..." Si Yu replied. "Now... it's turned into the feeling of 'he seems reliable at critical moments, but his being too clever is annoying.'"

"Alright..." Feng Bujue shrugged, as if he didn't really care.

While the two were talking, those figures had successively "passed through" the gate of Hidden Bell Temple. This scene clearly suggested that no matter how different these fellows who had come to perform the ritual were in terms of their religious beliefs, the tools they used, or the methods they employed... in the end, they all arrived at the same destination, being killed by this vengeful ghost.

This death flashback ended here.

The surrounding environment returned to its original appearance, and the players no longer felt the discomfort of watching a film with dropped frames when looking at things. However, the temperature didn't rise, and it was still close to zero degrees. The two of them could see their breath in the air.

The Hidden Bell Temple in front of them didn't disappear along with the other illusions, but turned into a real object. The bell in Feng Bujue's hand also stopped being active and no longer made any noise.

"If you can't stand the cold..." Feng Bujue didn't even finish half of this sentence.

Si Yu directly interrupted, "Keep dreaming."

"How do you know what I wanted to say?" Feng Bujue continued. "Maybe I wanted to ask you... um... if you wanted to start a fire?"

Si Yu turned her head and glanced at him. "Do you think this clumsy attempt to cover up your intentions will increase my good feelings towards you?"

"Hmm..." Feng Bujue pursed his lips, and his eyes seemed to reveal a hint of hope, but Si Yu continued to respond to him with that assassin-like gaze.

Two seconds later, Feng Bujue turned his head, as if nothing had happened. "Okay, we've finally found the key location for advancing the plot. I'll go in first." As he walked, he said, "Although it's daytime, from what I've observed, this ghost isn't affected by time. We should still be careful."

Si Yu sighed softly, said nothing, and followed him towards the temple gate.

…………

"Hey, hey, hey... this setting is too cunning, isn't it? It's just a waste of bullets," Xiao Tan said, looking at the corpse of the giant crocodile monster. "If you had listened to me and just ran away, wouldn't it have been the same result when we got here... Ouch!"

Bei Ling knocked Xiao Tan on the head and said with a spoiled tone, "Hindsight."

Minutes ago, after the monster got stuck, the difficulty of killing it was reduced to a negligible level. Although the monster was still constantly opening its bloody mouth and violently shaking its head, as a target that couldn't move, and with the players firing at a fixed point, without having to shoot while moving, it was still easy to take it down.

The two of them had exhausted a lot of Stamina Value by killing this giant crocodile, and they had also spent extra ammunition on the way back. The monsters in Thriller Paradise didn't drop equipment, so killing them didn't yield any rewards. It could be said that from the time they fell into the pool until now, they hadn't gained any benefits at all, but had lost a lot. All of these were undoubtedly factors that affected morale.

However, Bei Ling had always been a person who refused to admit defeat, and Xiao Tan was more easygoing and didn't care too much about gains and losses. So, this combination of theirs wasn't affected too much in terms of mentality and emotions.

"It's stuck in this position, so we definitely can't push it away," Bei Ling said, looking at the giant crocodile's corpse. "We can only climb over its back."

This section of the tunnel had been completely blocked by the monster's corpse horizontally, but the giant crocodile's body was flat, and there was still a certain gap between its back and the top of the tunnel, which should allow the players to crawl through.

"Then you climb over first," Xiao Tan said.

"Why should I go first?"

"In case your there... or there... gets stuck... I can push from behind... Ah! Ah! Okay! I was wrong! I'll go first!"

While begging for mercy, Xiao Tan ran towards the giant crocodile's corpse with his head in his hands. Although the crocodile skin looked slippery, the monster's back was full of ridges and bumps, and it also had many fragments of shrapnel embedded in it, so Xiao Tan felt quite uncomfortable when he crawled over it.

After he crawled over, he turned his head and shouted, "It's okay, you... um... should be fine."

"I'll strangle you when I get over there." From Bei Ling's side, came such a reply.