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

As soon as the announcement was made, all players who obtained the Soul-Capturing Bell received a teleportation invitation to enter the new map.

Lancet was naturally one of the first explorers and clicked confirm without hesitation.

The scene of the funeral hall in front of me suddenly distorted.

The next second, the lancet was already on a winding mountain road.

Unlike the damp and sticky atmosphere of Haiwu Town.

The air here is dry, cold, and thin; when you breathe it in, it smells of decaying vegetation and earth.

The sky was overcast and the sun was not visible.

The surrounding area is filled with towering mountains and jagged rocks.

The withered, crooked trees swayed in the mountain wind, like menacing ghosts.

The wind howled through the valley, sometimes like the howl of a wild beast, sometimes like the weeping of a woman.

Repressed.

Dead silence.

This is the first impression Yinshan gives to everyone.

The lancet surveyed its surroundings.

The Soul-Capturing Bell in her hand was slightly warm, as if it were guiding her in a certain direction.

She did not act rashly, but first observed the mountain path beneath her feet.

The mountain path was very narrow, allowing only one person to pass at a time. On one side was a steep mountain wall, and on the other side was a bottomless cliff.

A few black coffins hang sparsely on the cliff face.

Hanging coffins.

This is an extremely mysterious ancient burial custom.

Liu Yedao's gaze lingered on the hanging coffins for a few seconds.

The coffin is made of sapwood, which is believed to slow down the decomposition of a corpse... However, if it is hung too high and exposed to wind and sun, the body inside is highly likely to undergo mutilation.

On the public screen, she combined the more folk customs information she learned with her own judgment.

The number of viewers in the live stream increased, with countless people coming out of curiosity to see how this "forensic genius" would conquer the new horror map.

After all, the cult leader and Brother Long were recuperating in the Village of the Unjustly Dead at the moment.

Holding the Soul-Capturing Bell, Liu Yedao began to move forward along the mountain path.

It took about ten minutes to walk.

A group of "people" appeared at the bend in the mountain road ahead.

There were about seven or eight of them, all dressed in matching blue long gowns, with a yellow talisman pasted on their foreheads.

They lined up in a row, arms outstretched, legs stiff, and hopped forward.

With each jump, he landed precisely on the same spot.

At the very front of the procession, a short, elderly man dressed in a Taoist robe, carrying a gong and a soul-summoning banner, was leading the way.

"bite--"

He struck a gong with each step he took.

The sound was crisp and clear, yet it also carried an indescribable sinister quality.

The lancet immediately stopped, and a system notification appeared.

[Ahead is a "corpse-driving team from western Hunan". Living people, please evacuate.]

Rule 1: Do not make eye contact.

Rule 2: Do not block the way.

Rule 3: Do not make a sound.

Lancet immediately held his breath.

Then, with his head down, he focused on his nose and his mind, minimizing his presence.

The corpse-driving team was getting closer and closer to her.

She could smell the strong odor of embalming agents mixed with the smell of corpses emanating from those "corpses".

And you can hear the "creaking" sound of their stiff joints as they move.

A viewer stared curiously at the face of one of the "corpses" through the live stream camera.

It was the face of a young woman, pale and bluish, with her eyes closed.

Just three seconds after the camera focused on her face.

The woman's tightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open.

Those were eyes without pupils, only a grayish-white expanse.

She turned her head stiffly, and through the screen, it seemed as if she made eye contact with the viewer.

"what!"

The audience member let out a scream, so frightened that he immediately took off his VR headset.

In the game, the air temperature around the scalpel suddenly drops.

A cold gaze fell upon her.

She was noticed.

The Taoist priest leading the way stopped in his tracks.

The sound of the gong also stopped.

The entire team stopped less than five meters away from the lancet.

Liu Yedao, who was used to seeing corpses and was always calm, suddenly heard his own heartbeat.

The rare tension made her hold her breath even more, and she dared not look up at all.

The corpse-driving Taoist stared at the willow-leaf knife for a few seconds, then simply turned his head and struck the gong again.

"bite--"

The stiff corpse continued to hop and skip forward.

Lancet breathed a sigh of relief.

But just as the female corpse with her eyes open jumped past her.

A handkerchief floated out from the woman's sleeve.

It landed lightly at the feet of the lancet.

It was a white handkerchief embroidered with azaleas.

The handkerchief still carried a faint fragrance.

Lancet's pupils contracted slightly, but he dared not move and could only pretend not to see it.

As the corpse-driving team gradually moved away and disappeared around the next bend in the mountain path, the scene unfolded.

Liu Yedao finally breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at the handkerchief at his feet.

Is this a trap? Or a distress signal?

Liu Yedao frowned slightly and did not pick it up.

Professor Chen once said that in folk tales, ghosts and monsters should not be touched carelessly.

Getting involved in karma will get you into big trouble.

She walked past the handkerchief and continued forward.

The sky gradually darkened.

Thick mountain fog rose from below the cliff and quickly enveloped the entire mountain path.

The temperature dropped even lower.

It was at this moment that the Soul-Capturing Bell in her hand began to vibrate even more violently.

In the thick fog ahead, a dim yellow light could be seen faintly.

Lancet perked up and quickened his pace.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be an inn built on the edge of a cliff.

The inn is a wooden structure that looks precarious, as if it could be blown off the cliff by the mountain wind at any moment.

At the entrance, two white lanterns hung, with a large character "奠" (meaning "offering sacrifice") written on them in black ink.

The inn's signboard bears four characters written in a flamboyant and elegant style.

The Corpse Inn

As the name suggests, this place was specifically for the corpse-driving teams and the "goods" they transported to rest.

The inn's door was only half open.

The other half is locked up tightly.

Liu Yedao stood at the door, hesitated for a moment, and then went inside.

Humans go through the "life gate," and corpses go through the "death gate," so there shouldn't be any problem with that, right?

The inn was dimly lit.

Behind the counter sat a hunchbacked old man.

The old man was looking down, doing calculations with an abacus, seemingly unaware that someone had come in.

"Checking in at a hotel."

The sound of a scalpel broke the silence in the shop.

The hunchbacked old man slowly raised his head.

His face was covered with age spots, and his eyes were cloudy and devoid of any emotion.

"Top-tier room".

He pulled a rusty key from under the counter and tossed it to Liu Yedao.

"Remember," he said hoarsely, "at night, no matter what noise you hear, don't go out."

"Especially the sound of bells."

"Those are guests, they're in a hurry."

"And another thing." He paused, his eyes unreadable.

"Whatever you do, don't go to the backyard."