Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 3 There is a ghost
"Lost City? What is this? Isn't this a forest? Where is the village?"

Xiao Ran looked at the blood-red words in front of him and his heartbeat began to speed up. This was completely different from the training he had imagined, and it was also far beyond his understanding.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

At this time, the sound of the night watchman sounded again, clearer and closer.

In the distance, a light gradually became clear in the fog.

As the lights got closer, the originally hazy white mist seemed to retreat in the rain, revealing the surrounding earth-yellow walls and gray-green bricks and tiles.

Xiao Ran looked at the unfamiliar surroundings in amazement, and couldn't help wondering in his heart: "Is there really a village here?"

"who!!!"

Under the light, a skinny, sallow face poked its head out and looked at Xiao Ran in surprise: "Who is it?"

Xiao Ran was also startled by the sudden voice. She calmed herself down and looked at the man carefully in the light in front of her.

He was wearing a blue-gray coarse cloth shirt with a crooked blue patch on the cloth button on the chest.

Looking at the man's clothes and attire, he didn't look like a modern man, but more like someone from the last century. Although Xiao Ran was suspicious, he quickly calmed down.

Xiao Ran smiled and explained to the man, "Brother, I'm a traveler passing by. The rain is getting heavier and heavier. I saw that there seemed to be a house here, so I wanted to take shelter from the rain."

Hearing Xiao Ran's words, the man looked at Xiao Ran carefully, then shook his head with a distressed look, as if he was talking to himself: "Unlucky guy, why did you come here?"

Xiao Ran heard it clearly and thought to himself, "I don't want to come either."

The man complained a lot, then looked up at the sky: "It's going to thunder soon!"

After that, he turned to look at Xiao Ran and said, "Come on, I'll take you to find a place to hide from the rain. It's a little dirty, but if you don't mind, come with me."

The man motioned Xiao Ran to follow him, and they walked through the rain and along a cobblestone road.

Along the way, Xiao Ran looked at the village houses scattered around him, and his doubts grew stronger and stronger.

The sound of raindrops dripping on the bluestone slabs echoed throughout the village.

Xiao Ran walked behind, looking at the back of the man in front of him, and his eyes occasionally glanced at the man's feet.

When they reached the entrance of the village, the man raised the oil lamp in his hand and shone it forward: "This is it, you just have to make do with it."

Xiao Ran raised his head and saw a dilapidated old house in front of him. Judging from the condition of the house, it was clear that this place had been abandoned for some time. There were only window bars on the windows. If anyone passed by here and stood at the window and looked inside, they would be able to see everything clearly.

"Om~"

The man pushed the door open. With the help of the light, Xiao Ran stood at the door and squinted to look inside.

I saw a pitch-black coffin in the house.

"This coffin is empty. Don't be afraid. There is a bed inside. Just sleep there for one night."

The man put the oil lamp in his hand on the table and pointed to the bed next to him and said.

"It's okay. It's good to have a place to rest."

Xiao Ran nodded. Not to mention that it was an empty coffin, even if there was really someone lying in it, it would not affect him.

The man seemed satisfied with Xiao Ran's cooperation and nodded: "You should rest tonight and talk after the rain stops."

The man stood up and prepared to leave. Before leaving, he suddenly turned to Xiao Ran and said, "By the way, I forgot to remind you that it's not very peaceful here at night. You must lock the door later. If you hear someone knocking on the door, don't open it."

Xiao Ran's heart moved, and he quickly asked, "Brother, what is your name?"

"Li Ji!"

Li Ji walked out the door while talking.

After Li Ji left, Xiao Ran closed the door and changed his wet clothes. Fortunately, there was a set of clean clothes in his backpack.

Taking out his cell phone, he saw that there was no signal. Thinking about what the man had just said, Xiao Ran began to ponder.

Obviously, he was dragged into a special place. According to the prompts, if he wanted to leave, he had to complete the main task.

But what is the main task?
Do I have to explore on my own just like in the game?

Or is this a test?

Just when Xiao Ran was feeling heavy-hearted.

The door that was originally tightly closed suddenly made a grinding sound, as if someone had pushed it hard from the outside. "Bang!!!"

The sudden sound made Xiao Ran's heart skip a beat and he held his breath involuntarily.

"Crash..."

The sound of rain outside was getting louder and louder. The whole room was so quiet that only the sound of Xiao Ran's own heartbeat could be heard. After a while, when there was no other movement outside the door, Xiao Ran let out a long breath.

"Am I too sensitive?"

Xiao Ran frowned, walked to the door, pushed it tight again, and put the chair against the door.

Just as he was about to go back to bed to rest, his body suddenly stiffened and he glanced toward the window.

In front of the dilapidated window, a woman with disheveled hair was standing there at some point in time, her face almost pressed against the crack of the window, her bloodshot eyes staring straight at him.

It was pitch dark, and even though Xiao Ran dealt with corpses a lot on a daily basis, he was still startled by this sudden scene.

The woman stared at Xiao Ran for a while, then turned her gaze to the coffin in the room, and then looked at Xiao Ran again.

The expression on the gray face became more complicated, and he actually waved at Xiao Ran, motioning him to come over.

Xiao Ran took two steps forward and was about to ask the woman what she was going to do, but she made a gesture to silence him.
Then she pointed at the coffin and gestured to Xiao Ran to keep quiet:
"There's...a ghost in the coffin!"

A flash of lightning tore through the daylight for a moment in the night sky. The lightning shone on Xiao Ran's face, but there was no fluctuation in the eyes under his eyebrows.

What followed was the soul-stirring thunder.

"Boom!!!"

There was a deafening sound, and a cool breeze rushed in through the window, wet and cold, and penetrated into my collar.

"Is there a ghost?"

Xiao Ran looked back at the coffin suspiciously, but when he looked back again, the woman was gone.

He hurried to the window and looked out, only to see a woman in white running barefoot in the rainy night, and she disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"The woman in white?"

Xiao Ran looked at the woman's disappearing back. The woman didn't seem to have any ill will towards him.

With doubts, Xiao Ran turned his head to look at the coffin behind him. After thinking for a moment, Xiao Ran simply walked to the coffin and put his hands on the coffin lid.

Whether it is true or not, you will know it by yourself.

"Bang! Bang bang bang!"

Xiao Ran knocked on the coffin, three times, then four times, and then he shouted, "Are you home?"

"The takeaway is here."

"Would you like an extra meal?"

"No one's home. Should I put it in for you?"

"Bang bang bang bang..."

Xiao An knocked for a long time, but there was still no response from the coffin. After making sure there was no response, he pushed hard. With a "click" sound, the coffin was pushed open with little effort.

Unexpectedly, the coffin did not smell as foul as imagined, but instead had a faint musty smell.

Xiao Ran squinted his eyes and looked into the coffin, only to see that it was empty. There was only a set of gray clothes inside, but no body.

Seeing this, Xiao Ran's face was not happy at all, but rather a little disappointed.

A cenotaph is usually built when the body has not been found, and people’s clothes and belongings are used as a substitute.

Just as Xiao Ran was about to close the coffin again, he suddenly felt that the clothes in the coffin looked a little familiar.
Looking at the big green pudding on the clothes, Xiao Ran frowned, bent down, reached into the coffin, lifted the corner of the clothes and took a look.

I saw bangzi and gong under the clothes.

"It's him!!"

The skinny and sallow face just now appeared in Xiao Ran's mind, and he hurriedly continued to search in the coffin. Sure enough, he found a little wooden man under the clothes, with the two words "Li Ji" engraved crookedly on it.

(End of this chapter)