CH 102

(Cursed)

Shen Dongqing: “What?” 

He tilted his head and looked at Zhou Wenyan, not quite understanding the current situation.

Zhou Wenyan didn’t say anything, but his arms tightened aggressively, securely enclosing the desired person within the crook of his arms.

AD

Shen Dongqing twisted uncomfortably and complained, “It’s too tight…”

Zhou Wenyan’s actions ceased, and he gradually let go. His eyes appeared to be suffocating all manner of furious emotions, but he crushed them down one by one and transformed them into a tranquil sea. Only there were violent waves lurking beneath the serenity. 

“I can’t help myself,” he admitted.

Shen Dongqing: “The game simply said that you are paranoid about something or someone. Is it me?”

Zhou Wenyan fixed his gaze on him: “Yes. I’m not sure what I’ll do if you leave my sight.”

“Then I just won’t leave,” Shen Dongqing responded. “Aren’t we always together?” he said, grabbing Zhou Wenyan’s hand and pressing it against his own face.

After a long time, Zhou Wenyan just said “mm” dumbly, feeling a little depressed.

Shen Dongqing drew Zhou Wenyan close and examined him intently, but he still felt his mood was off. He considered it and concluded that Zhou Wenyan typically coaxed him, but today it was his turn to coax the man. So he stepped in close, stood on his tiptoes, and loudly stamped “muah” on Zhou Wenyan’s face.

“All right.” Shen Dongqing stated with a smile, “Be good, this is a reward.”

AD

[With the comfort of his partner, Zhou Wenyan’s Sanity recovered by 1 point.] 

When Shen Dongqing heard this prompt, he wondered if another seven or eight kisses would be enough to restore his Sanity completely.

Zhou Wenyan was given an inch and wanted a mile: “More.”

Shen Dongqing marked Zhou Wenyan once more with the idea of testing it out.

He waited for a while this time, but did not hear the game’s prompt. 

“Oh, it can only be used once,” Shen Dongqing was dismayed.

Zhou Wenyan didn’t really care if he could return to his senses and hugged and kissed him twice more firmly.

Even his behavior seemed out of control after entering a state of dementia, and Zhou Wenyan plainly conveyed what he desired. If it weren’t for the wrong setting, it may be more than just kissing.

The detective squatting in a corner in response to this situation: I am a mushroom, I am a mushroom, I am not a human… 

At this point, the game, too, had had enough and began broadcasting: [Detective, check successful.]

[As you peer down into the dark abyss, you notice a cliff with a bright light shining on top that flickers numerous times. You know this is a survival signal in the wild—help me—there is someone asking for help.]

The detective blurted out: “There is someone there!”

The Investigation Check was successful, and the dense fog beneath lifted. They could see a lamp hanging on the cliff’s edge, and behind it was an elevated platform with a figure lying weakly. 

A name flashed through the detective’s mind: “Su Xiaoying!”

Who else would be here besides Su Xiaoying, who had been missing for 18 years?

The detective wanted to descend and bring the person up, but the platform was a little far away from where he was standing, and he probably couldn’t rescue the person alone.

He turned to face Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan. 

Shen Dongqing had yet to deal with Zhou Wenyan, who was in an abnormal state. He wanted to be with Shen Dongqing all the time after being struck by the paranoid debuff, and he couldn’t take being separated for even a few seconds.

Shen Dongqing was forced to let him hold hands.

The detective first raised his hand and apologized before pointing below and saying, “There is a person down there.”

Shen Dongqing peered down. 

“It should be Su Xiaoying,” the detective explained.

Shen Dongqing: “She is still alive after all of this time? Her shelf life is too long.”

Despite the fact that this adjective was not quite right, the detective answered his question: “I rolled for Anthropology, but I failed because I don’t have this skill. Why don’t you give it a shot?”

Shen Dongqing: “No need. That isn’t a ghost.” 

The detective breathed a sigh of relief: “Then let’s hurry up and save the person.”

This game instance would be over as soon as Su Xiaoying was found and brought back.

“Can you fly?” Shen Dongqing inquired solemnly.

“Uh…no,” the detective said after a little pause. 

Shen Dongqing: “Then how are we supposed to rescue the person?”

It was impossible to save the individual on the platform below under these conditions.

“Hey—do you still have the strength?” the detective yelled at the figure below, putting his fists to his mouth and making a horn.

That person weakly touched the sole light source, indicating that they still had some strength. 

If the victim was conscious, rescue would be much easier.

The detective searched the cave and discovered a roll of strong hemp rope. He tossed it into the pit so that the person trapped below might wrap the rope around themselves before being pulled up.

Detective: “Once you’re ready, pull the rope three times and we’ll pull you up.”

There was no way of knowing if the individual below got it. The detective waited a long time before feeling the hemp rope in his hand being lightly tugged three times by the person. 

“Let’s go!” The detective seized the hemp rope and pulled it up as hard as he could.

The detective’s strength was insufficient, and his face flushed after pulling up mere inches of the rope. He was distracted for a split second, and the individual fell again. He turned to seek assistance, only to see two men holding hands, bowing their heads, and saying something. They even smiled at each other after speaking happily.

Detective: …

Hey, isn’t this a poor ambiance for billing and cooing? 

Fortunately, the two eventually found their conscience and assisted in the rescue of the victim below.

It was indeed a woman who was pulled up. Her black hair had fallen down, hiding most of her face as she lay on the ground weakly. If it hadn’t been for her weak breathing, they would have thought she was dead.

Ktf vfafmalnf qgbyfv: “Ve Wljbslcu?”

Ktf qfgrbc gfrqbcvfv: “Tfr, la’r wf.” 

Gfafmalnf: “Qts kfgf sbe vbkc atfgf?”

Ve Wljbslcu gfwjlcfv rlifca lc gfrqbcrf.

Only then did the detective realize that this person had been down there for 18 years, and she wasn’t a little dragon girl, thus she was obviously weak and near death. He promptly helped Su Xiaoying sit up and gave her some water and food.

Ve Wljbslcu’r qtsrlmji ragfcuat gfmbnfgfv j ilaaif, jcv rtf rqbxf lcafgwlaafcais jybea ktja tjv tjqqfcfv flutaffc sfjgr jub. 

Vtf jcv tfg qjir qjrrfv ys atf jcmlfca abkc flutaffc sfjgr jub. Ktfs ilxfv atf ijcvrmjqf tfgf, rb atfs lcafcvfv ab rajs obg j ofk wbgf vjsr. Vtf tjv cb lvfj atja atlr vfmlrlbc kbeiv mjerf tfg rb wemt uglfo.

She met a friend in the ancient town during those days, and the two of them talked rather happily. They even became sworn sisters after discovering that they were born on the same day, month, and year.

“However, I wasn’t expecting…” Su Xiaoying’s voice was hoarse, “I had been deceived. She got so close to me simply to use me as an offering sacrificed to the gods!”

It was a custom in the ancient town. They believed in mountain gods and believed that mountain gods could provide them with excellent weather and keep them safe. 

Every 18 years, the natives prepared the best food and the most beautiful girl for the mountain god. The mountain god chose Zhou Ah Ying at that occasion.

According to tradition, Zhou Ah Ying would be taken into the cave as the mountain god’s bride, and the villagers would block the cave and let her slowly starve to death inside.

Nobody could be willing to die!

Zhou Ah Ying couldn’t bear the thought of herself fading and dying like a flower. As she despaired, Su Xiaoying appeared in her sight. 

After learning that the two were born on the same day and month in the same year, Zhou Ah Ying came up with the idea of ​​letting Su Xiaoying die instead of her.

This notion was eventually executed.

Su Xiaoying panted in rage at the memories and said unwillingly: “She lied to me and left me to suffer in this place! I want to get out of here! I want to go out!”

When the detective noticed Su Xiaoying’s poor mental state, he stated quickly: “Your family asked me to come and find you. Don’t worry, I’ll certainly take you out.” 

Su Xiaoying gradually calmed down with the detective’s reassurance.

“You have to take me out of this hellhole,” she pleaded.

Shen Dongqing mused: “But how did you live down there for 18 years?”

The detective gave Shen Dongqing a look and mouthed, “It’s just the game setting, don’t worry about it—” 

Su Xiaoying raised her eyes to look at Shen Dongqing, then she lowered her eyes again: “Mountain God, sometimes the Mountain God will throw me some food, and I’ve lived on this food until now.”

The detective’s response was: “Roll for Psychology.”

[Check successful.]

[You notice Su Xiaoying’s eyes are evasive as she speaks, as if she doesn’t dare to look you in the eyes. She’s lying.] 

Su Xiaoying was lying.

So…

The detective remembered the old lady who had vanished from the thin coffin, who had been rolled up by a tentacle and dragged into the cave, and might be hanging below to air-dry right now.

Su Xiaoying only lied about one thing: “food.” That was not “food,” but rather… corpses. 

She wasn’t a little dragon girl, and she didn’t have honey either. She could only survive to this day by feeding on the remains of the corpses devoured by the tentacle.

The detective felt sick and almost puked.

Su Xiaoying either didn’t see it at all or didn’t dare to say anything about it when she did.

“We need to get out of here as soon as possible. We won’t be able to escape if that creature underneath awakens.” Su Xiaoying insisted. 

She was rather anxious.

However, one must judge people by oneself. If you’ve been confined in a place like this for 18 years, you’re probably wishing you could sprout wings on your shoulders and fly out.

The detective was sickened by the “food” Su Xiaoying had eaten, but in order to complete the objective, he suffered in silence and half-squatted down, motioning Su Xiaoying to climb up and gave her a piggyback ride as he walked out.

Su Xiaoying’s looks caught everyone’s attention after seeing the sky again. 

Perhaps that was a game setup. Even after eighteen years in that hellhole, they could see that her facial features were delicate and lovely, and she was a little beauty.

Outside at last, Su Xiaoying climbed down from the detective’s back and stepped onto the ground.

She swept her hair and smiled shyly as she noticed the detective’s gaze: “I really want to thank you. How did you discover this cave?”

Detective: “Oh that…” 

He was ready to respond when he heard the game say: [Su Xiaoying used Charm on you.]

Wait a minute… Charm?

Ding—

The dice rolled. 

[Charm successful.]

The detective suddenly felt a burst of dazzlement. He forgot his disgust for Su Xiaoying just now, and he also forgot that this was an auntie who was 18 years his senior.

He was willing to tell her anything for the sake of seeing her smile.

“We went to a funeral,” the detective explained. “His grandmother died, but the body was stolen by a tentacle monster, so we came here to find it.” 

Su Xiaoying assessed the two people in front of her, who were identical to conjoined twins: “So that’s how it is… What is their relationship?”

Detective: “Boyfriends.”

Su Xiaoying: ?

She didn’t exactly comprehend the meaning of this word, possibly since she was an antique who had lived underground for 18 years. 

“Two men?” She was a little taken aback.

“Love transcends gender and age, just like me and you,” the detective remarked tenderly to Su Xiaoying.

“I don’t think so,” Su Xiaoying remarked coldly, looking at the detective’s face that was approaching closer.

The Charm effect ended. 

For a brief moment, the detective was confused, unsure of what he was doing. When he noticed that the two persons in front of him had vanished from his sight, he quickly chased after them with Su Xiaoying.

After leaving the weed-infested wasteland, the path ahead was slightly easier.

Su Xiaoying’s physical strength had fully recovered, and she approached Zhou Wenyan. On the way, she braided her black hair, displaying a beautiful profile.

“You…” 

[Su Xiaoying used the Charm skill.]

[Charm, a huge success…]

Zhou Wenyan didn’t even look at Su Xiaoying. He pulled Shen Dongqing along and walked ahead.

The game regrettably announced: [Player Zhou Wenyan is befuddled. Charm is unsustainable.] 

Su Xiaoying was not a player and had not heard the game’s announcement, but she could tell that her charm had failed. She looked at the backs of the two men, and shifted her target.

Su Xiaoying approached Shen Dongqing’s side and asked with a smile, “Are you a local as well? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before.”

[Su Xiaoying used… ]

Su Xiaoying was grabbed by the throat this time before the game could make its statement. 

Zhou Wenyan’s eyes were dark and icy. He didn’t say anything, but lifted Su Xiaoying off the ground, ready to throw her somewhere away from Shen Dongqing.

He’d kill anyone who dared to look at Shen Dongqing!

Su Xiaoying was lifted off her feet and her face turned red in the absence of oxygen, looking exactly like a flopping fish.

The detective chasing them had no idea what had transpired, so when he saw this scene, he could only plead anxiously: “This is an important NPC! Please spare her life!” 

Zhou Wenyan remained unmoved.

“Forget it,” Shen Dongqing shook his arm, “she’s merely been underground for too long, and her brain isn’t working properly.”

She was a vital NPC after all, and it would be disastrous if she died all of a sudden.

Zhou Wenyan, on the other hand, appeared to be taciturn most of the time, yet he moved his hands faster than Shen Dongqing. After all, he only liked to beat NPCs twice, and he’d never taken the initiative to annihilate weird ghosts. 

Brain-not-working-properly Su Xiaoying promptly nodded: “Uh-uh-”

Then Zhou Wenyan let go of his hand.

Su Xiaoying collapsed to the ground, gripping her throat and coughing hard.

Zhou Wenyan warned coldly: “Next time, it won’t be so simple.” 

Su Xiaoying had tears in her eyes as she said aggrievedly: “I just want to ask a question…”

What a shame these two people didn’t understand the phrase “to have tender, protective feelings for the fairer sex” and weren’t at all softhearted.

Su Xiaoying had to wipe away her tears and stand up with the detective’s assistance.

Detective: “What did you do?” 

Su Xiaoying wanted to get the detective’s support, so she pretended to be a small white flower: “I didn’t do anything! I just wanted to ask a question. I wasn’t expecting that person to choke me like crazy. My neck still hurts.”

After the detective heard the ins and outs of the embellished version, he silently said, “Damned fool.”

Su Xiaoying: ?

Detective: “Oh no, I mean, you kinda deserve it.” 

Zhou Wenyan’s possessiveness was obvious to the players. As an NPC, what was she meddling for? Wasn’t it good to be a tool man honestly?

Serves her right!

Su Xiaoying didn’t get these people’s logic, so she could only temporarily suppress her own true thoughts.

The group returned the same route and arrived at the location where the photographer had fainted earlier. 

The doctor had previously volunteered to stay and care for the photographer, but now the spot was deserted, with not a single person in sight.

Detective: “Could it be that they went back first?”

They spent a significant amount of time in the cave. Perhaps because they didn’t return after quite a while, the two girls decided to return first.

Thereupon, the trio returned with Su Xiaoying. 

They found the doctor, as expected, at the inn.

The doctor’s state was not quite right. She seemed to be frightened. When she saw the other players come back, she rushed up with a look of fear.

Zhou Wenyan shifted his weight and seamlessly took Shen Dongqing with him.

The doctor’s movements came to a halt, and she turned to the detective to complain tearfully. 

After the others had gone, the photographer awoke. They planned to wait for the others to return.

But instead of waiting for their companions, they waited for a group of locals who came in a hurry.

They ducked to the side when they detected something was fishy.

The photographer, however, failed the Luck Test and was spotted by the natives. She intended to flee, but she wasn’t as familiar with the mountain forest as the natives, so she was apprehended after a short run. 

“They took the photographer and left. I hid in the woods for half an hour, and didn’t dare to come back until everything was fine.” When the doctor finished explaining, she noticed the addition to the party, Su Xiaoying. “This is…”

She had a flash of inspiration: “Su Xiaoying?”

Su Xiaoying gave a nod.

Knowing that the mission’s objective had been found, the doctor felt overjoyed and even forgot about the captured photographer, exclaiming, “Then we can get out of here?” 

Detective: “That’s right, but…”

But then there’s the photographer.

The doctor interrupted him: “But what? Let’s go, I’m sick of this shithole!”

The detective hesitated. 

In theory, they were all companions, and he should have gone to save the photographer, but he could clear the instance now. Furthermore, if he delayed, unforeseen difficulties may arise.

After all, dying here was a real death, not a game in which they could be resurrected.

Shen Dongqing: “We must save her.”

“Then let’s save people first,” the detective said, relieved. 

Zhou Wenyan had no objection. He stated that he would be wherever Shen Dongqing was.

When the doctor saw that the two were out of their minds, she said sharply: “Are you crazy?! You want to die here instead of clearing the instance? I’m not going to stay in this shithole any longer!”

She stomped about there, but Shen Dongqing did not react in the least. He even yawned: “Go upstairs to rest first.”

Detective: “Hold on… Aren’t we saving her?” 

Shen Dongqing: “Don’t worry, especially now…” He gestured with his eyes to Zhou Wenyan, who was clinging to his back like the reincarnation of a large dog, and added, “It’s not easy to act either.”

Hearing this, Zhou Wenyan raised his eyes and scanned over coldly, as though the detective would be doomed if he uttered anything unpleasant.

What else could the detective possibly do? All he could do was nod.

Shen Dongqing: “Isn’t the sacrifice ceremony going to be held tomorrow? She’ll be fine until then.” 

Su Xiaoying, who was standing in the hall, heard the words “sacrifice ceremony” and her eyes changed slightly, but she quickly covered it up.

Originally, the doctor and the photographer shared the same room, but the photographer’s whereabouts were unknown, leaving the doctor sitting blankly at the end of the bed by herself.

She bent her head and rolled up her right cuff, her fingers quivering. She could see a red spot on her fair wrist. The red patch was not large, but the thin layer of skin was covered in scarlet red liquid.

She had no idea when it had developed. 

The doctor hesitated for a while before slamming the red spot.

The doctor felt as though a piece of flesh had been dug out alive in the split second when the red speck was cut off, and the pain caused her to cry.

Pop—

The thin layer of skin split open, and the juice inside burst out, which splashed on the skin next to it. 

The doctor gasped and reached for a tissue to wipe away the stinky fluid. However, after wiping away the liquid, the doctor noticed that red spots formed one after the other on the skin that had been sprayed by the liquid.

What was really scarier was that the red dot appeared to enlarge. With the sound of breathing, the red specks gradually swelled into a slew of fresh “little grapes.”

“Ah—”

The doctor screamed and collapsed on the ground. 

“Use Healing skill!” she fell apart.

[Check successful.]

[You utilize Healing, but the sarcomas on your hand don’t disappear. Maybe it’s not a disease or infection, but… a curse.]

“Curse…” 

The doctor paused and took out the gold bracelet she had picked up from her pocket.

The gold bracelet was hefty, with lotus veined patterns and a massive ruby inlay in the center that shone in the incandescent light.

Curse.

Was it cursed by the deceased old lady? 

For a time, the doctor was possessed and took the gold bracelet, but she forgot it was the old lady’s funerary object.

“I’ll return it back straight away, I will!” The doctor stood up and wrapped a towel around her right wrist to prevent the sarcomas from bursting open and contaminating adjacent skin.

She reasoned that as long as she returned the gold bracelet, everything would be fine.

It would break the curse. 

The doctor proceeded down the steps carefully, her unsightly right hand behind her. She noticed Aunt Innkeeper sitting behind the counter at the corner of the stairs.

Aunt Innkeeper raised her head and stared at the TV on the wall, humming something, but her voice was drowned out by the sound of the TV due to the distance.

The doctor didn’t see anything amiss at first sight, but when she looked again, she discovered that the innkeeper aunt was gone, and there was a lump of decaying meat sitting there. It heaped up on the chair and resembled a human figure, the body bubbling all over following the undulations of respiration.

Perhaps it was something amusing on the TV show that caused the rotten flesh to shake; layer upon layer of meat continued to trickle down. 

Plop—

A bubble burst open, releasing a gas with a fishy odor.

The doctor sobered with a start, and when she looked again, the aunt was still sitting there, earnestly watching TV.

[Performing Sanity Check.] 

[Check failed, Sanity deducted by 3 points.]

The doctor was already close to insanity after losing so much Sanity from the beginning of the instance till now. She was on the verge of becoming a walking corpse, losing consciousness, and wandering the game world indefinitely.

“I must have seen wrong, I must have!”

The doctor broke down. There was such an aunt on the first floor, whether a human or a ghost unknown. She was afraid to go out. She turned around and rushed upstairs, desperate to get back inside her room. She bumped into someone before she could take more than a couple of steps. 

“What’s the matter?” Su Xiaoying asked as she stood on the steps, a gentle smile on her lips, looking down at the doctor below. “Don’t worry; is there anything I can do for you?”

[Su Xiaoying used the Charm skill on you.]

[Charm successful.]

[While in a state of panic and collapse, you think Su Xiaoying radiating light all over her body. Can she help you? Definitely! You think so firmly.] 

“Save me!” The doctor’s legs softened and she almost knelt in front of Su Xiaoying, tears flowing down her cheeks.

Su Xiaoying held the doctor and murmured sweetly, “It’s alright. Come with me and tell me everything slowly. I will help you.”