I, the screenwriter, have experienced a resurgence of inspiration.

People are different individuals, and even when faced with the threat of death, everyone will have their own thoughts.

In the second mirror instance, the number of survivors barely reached the threshold, and most players felt there was no need to do the quest—even with Lin Hao's threats and inducements.

Zhou Hui and Ouyang Qiu also agreed to do the quest, since completing the main quest early would allow them to leave the instance sooner.

But seeing the reactions of others, they chose to follow the crowd and remain silent.

"If you don't do it, then you can all just wait to die. Anyway, I'm confident I'll make it back alive."

In the end, he simply made a tough statement and chose to do the side quests himself.

……

In the third mirror instance, Jiang Chen, the backbone of the three-and-a-half-person team, was suddenly injured. After discussing with Kang Xiaojia, Zhou Chang still decided to enter the village.

Although paper cars don't need gasoline, people are made of flesh and blood and need to eat, drink, and relieve themselves.

……

……

First mirror copy.

The morning mist outside the mourning hall dissipated somewhat, and pale sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtains.

The inner room where the body was kept was actually an old mud-brick house in the backyard of the Huang family.

Unlike the magnificent Huang family compound, the houses in the backyard were much more dilapidated, and you could even tell they were made of mud.

Despite his curiosity, Yang Hexuan didn't ask the Huang family why they had built multi-story houses but still kept this mud house in the backyard.

Lin Jianguo, however, felt that the Huang brothers' filial piety was probably just an act.

How can someone hold a funeral for their own mother in the old house that might collapse at any moment instead of in the new house?

The two looked at each other but remained silent.

The plaster on the back wall was peeling badly, revealing the yellow adobe bricks underneath. The windows were covered tightly with black cloth, so not a single ray of sunlight could get in.

A white curtain hangs by the door. When the wind blows, the curtain sways, as if someone is hiding behind it.

Huang Facai stood outside watching, preventing Su Ya and the others from going in.

Yang Hexuan and Lin Jianguo could only exchange a glance before silently entering the house.

As soon as I stuck my head in, a mixed smell hit me.

The musty smell, the stale smell of an old person, and the burnt smell of incense and paper money mixed together, wafting into one's nose—not exactly unpleasant, but definitely not pleasant either.

Yang Hexuan subconsciously held his breath.

Lin Jianguo paused for half a second.

Behind the curtain was a dimly lit room.

Two white candles were lit in the corner, their small flames casting a hazy blue glow over the room.

In the center of the room stood an old elmwood bed, bulging and covered with a blackened white quilt.

Two children, one older and one younger, a boy and a girl, knelt by the bed, dressed in mourning clothes, weeping without lifting their heads.

"Waaaaahh ...

"Waaaaah, old lady..."

Although the two children didn't look up, they cried until their voices were hoarse and kept kowtowing, appearing much more filial than the Huang brothers.

Hearing footsteps, the two children did not turn around and remained in the posture of burning paper money.

One of them spoke up in a hoarse, high-pitched voice: "You must be the uncles from the film crew. Thank you for your help... to carry the old lady out so that she can be placed in the coffin after the burial."

Another whispered, "The yellow paper for warding off evil spirits... is under the rice jar in the inner room, seven sheets, don't take the wrong one."

Both of them spoke in a flat, monotone voice, like robots reciting lines.

Yang Hexuan felt a chill run down his spine. He secretly tugged at Lin Jianguo's sleeve and whispered, "Uncle Lin, why aren't these two kids turning around?"

Moreover, the Huang family really does exude strangeness in every way.

Xiao Lian, the mother herself, lets an outsider take over.

It's such a big event as mourning that it's been decided to have two children preside over it.

"Don't ask any more questions," Lin Jianguo said in a deep voice. "Take the yellow paper, carry the body, and leave as soon as you're done. Don't cause any trouble."

He sensed something was wrong, but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

—Why do these two children call their own grandmother "old lady"?

"Hmm." Yang Hexuan clenched his fists and boldly walked into the inner room.

……

The inner room was darker and colder than the outer room; it was like an icebox.

In the corner of the room, there was a clay rice jar about half a person's height, with a crack in the rim and a broken wooden lid on top.

It looks like it's been around for a while.

Yang Hexuan walked to the rice jar and lifted the wooden lid.

A musty smell mixed with a sweet, fishy odor hit him, almost making him vomit.

The rice container was empty, with only a few grains of rice scattered at the bottom, covered with a layer of dust.

On the gray ground, a fat rat the size of a palm lay.

The rat was covered in shiny black fur, its belly was round and swollen, and it lay on its back with its four legs in the air, completely still.

It looks like it's completely dead; the body is stiff.

"That damn rat...ate that old lady's rice and got so fat."

Yang Hexuan frowned and muttered something under his breath.

He suppressed his nausea and reached out to touch the yellow paper at the bottom of the jar.

But the moment his finger touched the yellow paper, the "dead rat" suddenly moved.

First, its tiny paws twitched, and then it slowly rolled over.

Yang Hexuan froze instantly.

The blood seemed to rush to the top of my head, then instantly cool down.

He had never seen such a disgusting scene in his life.

Its body is that of a rat, with black fur, sharp claws, and a slender tail, but its head is that of a human.

The woman's head was only the size of a thumb, with an oval face, short hair, and a slight smile at the corners of her mouth.

"hiss--!"

Yang Hexuan gasped, his hair standing on end, goosebumps radiating from the back of his neck all the way to his heels.

He jerked his hand back, but he was too slow.

The human-headed rat squeaked once.

The sound was high-pitched and thin, like a baby crying and an old woman laughing—and the mouse crawled up his wrist.

Cold, slimy claws gripped his skin, slippery like a piece of bloody flesh stuck to it.

"Holy crap!!!!"

Yang Hexuan was so frightened that his soul almost left his body. He frantically shook his arms, trying to shake the thing off:

"What is this thing?! It's disgusting!!"

But the human-headed rat climbed very fast, darting up his arm and reaching his shoulder in the blink of an eye.

The small head turned around, its oval face staring directly at his face, making soft "giggle" sounds, as if it were laughing.

"Fuck!"

Yang Hexuan was so frightened that his legs went weak. He staggered back two steps and his back slammed against the wall with a "thud".

In desperation, he grabbed a broken ceramic bowl from the side and smashed it on his shoulder.

The broken bowl shattered on the ground with a "clang," and the human-headed rat squeaked and jumped down, scurrying into the rat hole at the base of the wall.

Just before disappearing, the woman's face on the rat's head turned back with a mournful expression, her eyes brimming with tears as if pleading for help.

You must have misread it.

How could a rat with a human head be calling for help?

Yang Hexuan shook his head violently, kicking this terrifying thought out of his mind.

……

……

The room returned to silence.

Only the candle flame flickered, casting erratic light and shadow.

Yang Hexuan leaned against the wall, panting heavily.

"What's wrong?" Lin Jianguo, who was in the outer room, heard the commotion and quickly came in, looking a little nervous. "What happened?"

"Rat, rat..." Yang Hexuan's voice trembled as he raised his arm to show Lin Jianguo, where several faint claw marks remained.

"A rat grew a human head... and looked just like a human..."

He swore that if that thing had spoken, he could have brokendanced and jumped for two miles.

Lin Jianguo frowned even more, looking at the small rat hole at the base of the wall, and felt a little disgusted.

Human-headed rat.

Are they at odds with rats?

"Are you alright?"

"N-nothing..." Yang Hexuan wiped the sweat from his face, bent down and pulled out a stack of yellow papers from the bottom of the rice bin. He counted them; there were ten in total. "Got the yellow papers? Hey, why are there three extra?"

[Yellow Talisman Paper (Quest Item): A yellow talisman drawn by a geomancer using cinnabar, watermark, tiger urine, and peach wood ash; it has miraculous effects.]

"Quest items?"

He subconsciously glanced at Lin Jianguo, who pondered for a moment and whispered a word of advice:

"Shh, the mission only requires seven yellow talismans. As for these three... who knows when they might be needed? Since you found them, you can keep them to yourself. I won't tell anyone else."

"This... I'm so sorry."

Yang Hexuan's fingers were still trembling as he reluctantly pulled out a bill and handed it to Lin Jianguo:

"Uncle, I'll give you one. I saw in the movies that even ghosts are afraid of yellow talismans."

Lin Jianguo's eyes were full of the cunning he had expected, but he only grunted in response and accepted the yellow talisman.

"It's good that you're alright."

He patted Yang Hexuan on the shoulder, his tone becoming more serious:

"When you're carrying the body, concentrate. Don't look around or think about anything else. Lift it steadily and don't let the old lady fall."

The mission notification is still in view.

[Carrying the Corpse (Two-Player Mission): Move Old Lady Huang's body from the mortuary in the inner room to the old door panel bed in the mourning hall. You must first find seven pieces of yellow paper for warding off evil spirits and place them under the bed.]

Lin Jianguo wasn't sure if throwing the corpse would trigger any taboos.