You made all the streamers on the internet kneel before you when you were asked to make a game.

Lancet looked at the village, his brows furrowing once more.

Too quiet, too "normal".

Compared to the eerie and sinister places we had passed through before, this village was like a paradise.

Two large red lanterns hung at the entrance of every household, swaying gently in the wind.

Smoke was rising from the chimneys on some rooftops.

It looked as if the villagers were starting a fire to cook.

But this is Yinshan.

It was that forbidden place, whose very name carried an ominous connotation.

Here, the more normal a place is, the more abnormal it becomes.

After hesitating for a moment, Liu Yedao stepped into the village.

The village roads are paved with bluestone slabs and are very clean; not a single fallen leaf can be seen.

On both sides of the road are well-preserved old houses.

The wooden door was ajar, and the windows were tightly shut.

She could smell the faint aroma of food wafting in the air.

But there was no human voice, no crowing of roosters or barking of dogs, not even the chirping of insects.

The entire village was like a painting that had been paused.

An eerie silence enveloped everything.

The lancet arrived at the door of the first house at the entrance of the village.

She stopped and listened intently.

Inside, there was a deathly silence.

She reached out and gently pushed open the slightly ajar wooden door.

"Squeak—"

The door hinges made a dry, rattling sound.

The scene inside the house came into view.

It was a very ordinary main room, with an eight-immortal table placed in the center.

On the table, there were four dishes and a soup, still steaming hot.

Beside it, there were two sets of bowls and chopsticks, with white rice in the bowls.

All signs indicate that the owner of this house was just having a meal here.

I just don't know why, but they suddenly left.

Liu Yedao slowly walked over.

She stretched out her finger and gently touched a bowl of food on the table.

Icy.

Bone-chilling cold.

The food was cold.

But the rising "heat" still remains.

The lancet's gaze fell on the so-called "heat."

That wasn't water vapor at all, but a kind of yin energy that was constantly changing form.

This is clearly food made for ghosts.

Liu Ye Dao withdrew his hand and began to scan the room quickly.

Finally, her gaze settled on an old calendar hanging on the wall.

The calendar had turned yellow and was so fragile that it seemed it would shatter at the slightest touch.

The dates above are circled in red.

July 15th, 1936.

Ghost Festival (Zhongyuan Festival)

Ghost Festival.

Lancet's heart sank suddenly.

These traditional calendars and solar terms were abolished long ago during the "Great Integration" period three hundred years ago.

But this village seems to have been frozen in time forever on this day. What exactly happened?

Just as Liu Yedao was pondering, the signature loud voice of the Berserker Dragon Brother came from the entrance of the village.

"Holy crap! There's a village deep in these mountains?"

"It looks pretty impressive. Could this be a starting village?"

Upon hearing the sound, Liu Yedao immediately turned around and walked out of the house.

She saw Brother Long, Professor Chen, and the old driver, as well as the ghost bride in fiery red floating in front of them.

"Hey! Forensic pathologist girl!"

When Brother Rampage saw Willow Leaf Knife, his eyes lit up and he greeted him warmly.

"You run fast! We rushed as fast as we could to finally catch up with you."

With the ghost bride protecting them, Brother Long and his group were much faster than Willow Leaf when they traversed the canyon.

Liu Yedao nodded slightly to the group, as a response.

She's not one to waste time talking nonsense.

"What do you think of this village?" Lancet asked bluntly.

The experienced driver, toothpick in his mouth, looked around and pursed his lips.

"What else can you call it? It's weird."

"Red lanterns hanging, fake smoke rising from chimneys, and not a single living creature in the entire village—isn't this the standard opening of a classic horror movie?"

Brother Long nodded in deep agreement, with an expression that said, "I saw through everything long ago."

"I know it! I know this plot inside and out!"

Brother Long started analyzing, counting on his fingers.

"Next, we'll definitely be trapped in this village and won't be able to get out. Then, as soon as it gets dark, the 'villagers' will have to come out to work."

"Then comes the classic death sequence, where one by one people die, until the protagonist is left, discovers the truth, defeats the boss, and completes the game."

"It's all a trick, a complete trick!"

Seeing Brother Long's serious analysis, the viewers in the live stream were laughing hysterically.

[Brother Long, you truly are a master of horror game theory!]

Hearing your words is like hearing a profound conversation.

We all understand the logic, but the question is, who is the protagonist, and who is the extra who dies first?

Just as Brother Long and the veteran driver were joking around, Professor Chen's expression grew increasingly serious.

He didn't participate in the discussion. Instead, he walked to the village entrance alone, looked up to observe the surrounding mountains, then squatted down, grabbed a handful of mud from the dry riverbed, and examined it carefully.

After a long while, he slowly stood up, his face already somewhat pale.

"No..." Professor Chen muttered to himself.

"The feng shui of this village... is not right."

"Something's not just wrong, this is practically... a scheme to wipe out the entire family!"

Professor Chen's voice silenced everyone.

"Professor Chen, what is a 'extinction scheme'?" Liu Yedao stepped forward and asked softly.

Professor Chen pointed to the surrounding mountains, his voice hoarse.

"Look, this village is surrounded by mountains on three sides, with steep slopes, like a winnowing basket, trapping the village firmly within."

"The only exit is the direction we came in from, but the exit is blocked by a river."

"Although the river is now dry, the earth's energy from the riverbed is still there."

"Mountains represent yin, and water represents yang; this should be a blessed land where yin and yang are in harmony."

"But!" Professor Chen's tone suddenly became more serious, "The people who built this village are utterly ruthless!"

"He rotated the entire village ninety degrees!"

"The village faces directly towards the main peak behind it, the one with the heaviest yin energy, like a cage that's always open, ready to devour its offerings!"

"Three mountains lock the soul, one river cuts off the path—this is a classic trap for a dragon!"

"No, it's even more ruthless than the 'Dragon Trapping Trap,' this is... a corpse-raising ground!"

Professor Chen pointed to the large red lanterns hanging at the door of every household.

"These are not for celebration or lighting at all."

"Look closely at the material of that lantern; it's human skin!"

"What's burning in the lantern isn't candles, but corpse oil!"

"These are soul-guiding lamps! Their purpose is to attract all the wandering ghosts and spirits in the mountains to this village at specific times!"

Professor Chen's words sent chills down the spines of everyone present.

Human skin lanterns, corpse oil used as candles...

The truth hidden behind this seemingly peaceful village is so vicious and terrifying.

"Then... then why are they attracting all these ghosts?" Brother Long's voice trembled slightly.