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

Huang Facai is also a rat with a human head.

The thought lingered in the minds of the three, but no one dared to move; they even slowed their breathing.

The head paused for a few seconds, seemingly unaware of anything amiss, before slowly retracting.

Then, his whole body slowly emerged from the hole.

It was an enormous human-faced rat.

A human head, a rat's body.

Its entire body is covered with fine gray-black hairs, which are shiny and smooth, making it look like it's coated with a layer of mucus.

The limbs are sharp rat claws with long, black nails.

He, or rather "it," skillfully gripped the blue bricks at the entrance of the hole and nimbly jumped down.

It landed without making a sound, like a ball of cotton.

Despite its plump body, it moved with the agility of a feather.

Ouyang Qiu didn't know why she could still find it funny in this situation.

A thin layer of transparent, slimy mucus covered Huang Facai's body, dripping straight down his fur.

A fishy, ​​sweet, and nauseating smell instantly filled the air.

Zhou Hui felt inexplicably that the taste was somewhat familiar.

After the first human-faced rat landed, it listened intently but made no move.

Then, a second, a third, a fourth... emerged from the hole.

Like a tide, they kept emerging from the big and small mouse holes.

There were old and young, men and women.

Every face is different.

Some were villagers I'd seen in the village during the day, some were unfamiliar faces, and two... vaguely resembled the two players who disappeared the day before yesterday.

What they had in common was that everyone wore the same eager smile.

They had their eyes closed and were grinning.

The smiles were perfectly round, as if they were masks made from the same mold.

A dozen or so human-faced rats were crammed together in the corner of the open space, forming a dark, swarming mass.

The sound of sticky fluid dripping from Huang Facai's body was continuous, making a "drip-drip" sound that sent chills down one's spine.

The three of them didn't even dare to think of resisting.

That's so weird.

There are just too many.

Fortunately, the human-faced rats did not seem to intend to attack them.

They huddled together in the open space, as if waiting for some instruction.

Then, the largest human-faced rat at the very front—the one that was the first to emerge, Huang Facai—suddenly rolled on the ground.

"Click...click click..."

The crisp yet eerie sound of bones dislocating was exceptionally clear in the deathly still night.

It's like bones being forcibly broken and reshaped, or joints being forcibly dislocated and put back in place, one sound after another that makes your teeth ache.

As it rolls, the mouse's body begins to change.

The grayish-black mouse fur visibly receded into the skin, slowly revealing a pale, paper-white human skin.

The wrinkles gradually smooth out, becoming normal skin texture.

Its head also grew larger, the rat-like snout retracted, and its facial features slowly relaxed, returning to normal human proportions.

The rat skin was transformed into a white mourning garment made of coarse linen, with a texture reminiscent of paper.

With a soft "poof" sound.

It stopped rolling for the last time and stood up.

Huang Facai was dressed in white mourning clothes and a white mourning hat, and was holding a copper suona in his hand.

The whole process was bizarre, smooth, and indescribably disgusting.

Like a snake shedding its skin, or an insect breaking free of its cocoon.

The process was reversed—from the appearance of an animal, it was forcibly "stretched" into the shape of a human.

Once there's a first, there's bound to be a second.

The cracking sound of bones dislocating, the rustling of fur contracting, the soft rustling of clothing... all these sounds intertwine and, when listened to in the dead of night, send chills down one's spine.

The clicking sounds rose and fell, forming a continuous chorus, like countless needles pricking the nerves of the three people.

One by one, the rats with human faces shed their rat bodies, put on human skin, and became villagers dressed in mourning clothes.

Some carried gongs, some carried drums, some held mourning sticks, and some carried white paper banners.

Finally, the four largest human-faced rats, after transforming, worked together to lift a pitch-black coffin.

The coffin was covered with black paper, painted with golden longevity patterns, and the edges of the paper were slightly curled up.

It looked heavy, but it was carried steadily by four people, as if it were light and weightless.

A dozen or so villagers stood in neat rows, forming a funeral procession.

Then, Huang Facai glanced at them casually, played his suona, and rammed open the door of the east wing room.

……

……

"What...what are they going to do?"

Ouyang Qiu asked in a breathy voice, his voice trembling uncontrollably:

"Did they not see us, or... or did they spare us because they know we'll also turn into human-faced rats?"

Lin Hao didn't speak, but made a shushing gesture.

He tiptoed to the door and peered through the crack.

Zhou Hui and Ouyang Qiu also carefully moved over, each pressing their faces against the window cracks on either side, holding their breath and looking out.

The door to the west wing room opened silently at some point.

Following the sound of the suona, terrified screams came from inside.

"What the hell is that?!"

"Village chief? What do you want?!"

"Let go, let go of me! Don't touch me!"

"Help! Help! My dad's a thief! If you dare touch me, he'll never let you get away with it—please, I don't want to die, I don't want to die!"

"My family is rich, I can give you money, don't touch me, get out, get out!!"

The three of them were on tenterhooks.

What are those villagers doing capturing players?

Should we kill everyone inside?

About a minute later, the funeral procession came out of the house.

The person at the front was playing the suona and banging drums, the rhythm slow and leisurely, carrying a hint of indescribable sorrow, yet also a strange sense of celebration.

The four men in the middle are carrying the coffin, and the coffin lid is already closed.

The coffin was much heavier than before, and it was falling straight down. The sound of fingernails scratching the door panel could be heard from inside.

Through the coffin, faint whimpering sounds could be heard, as if someone was desperately struggling and calling for help.

The sound was loud, but it was mixed in with the suona horns and could be easily overlooked if you weren't paying attention.

Where are they going to take the players?

no one knows.

Just then, a series of mournful cat meows suddenly came from afar.

"Meow—!!"

"Meow! Awooo!"

"Meow meow meow!"

It was sharp and loud, filled with anger, like a demonstration, yet also like excitement.

Then came the second, third, and fourth meows, one after another, coming from all directions.

Lin Hao and the other two had no choice but to cover their ears.

Cats are adorable creatures.

Big, round eyes, soft paws, and a fluffy belly.

But when countless sharp cat meows are mixed together, it only makes people feel dizzy.

"What? How come there are so many cats?"

Ouyang Qiu gritted his teeth, the force so strong that he could taste a metallic rust in his mouth: "Too much—"

……

The funeral procession paused for a moment.

The next second, the suona horn suddenly rose in pitch, and the rhythm of gongs and drums quickened, becoming somewhat hurried and chaotic.

They quickened their pace, carrying the coffin, and hurried towards the gate of the ancestral hall.

The cat's meows grew closer and more urgent, mixed with the squeaks of mice.

The group walked quickly, and in the blink of an eye, they were out of the gate, turned onto the village road, and disappeared into the night.

The sounds of suona horns, gongs, drums, cries for help, and cat meows grew fainter and fainter until they were no longer audible.

It felt like stepping into another dimension.

The courtyard of the ancestral hall fell silent once more.

The door to the west wing was still wide open, and it was quiet inside.

The three people behind the crack in the door remained motionless for a long time.

My whole body was soaked in cold sweat, and my clothes clung to my back, feeling chilly.

What I just witnessed was so shocking, like an absurd and terrifying nightmare.

Human-faced rats turn into villagers, a funeral procession takes place in the middle of the night, sleeping players are carried away, and a pack of cats hunts them down...

Everything was subverting their understanding.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhou Hui finally let out a long breath, still tinged with fear, and stammered out two sentences:

"When we arrived, Old Mrs. Huang had been dead for three days, so according to custom, today is the seventh day after her death."

"What Huang Facai was wearing was amniotic fluid."

The ethereal ink-colored characters reappeared, as if confirming her words:

[Congratulations to players Zhou Hui, Lin Hao, and Ouyang Qiu for successfully solving the puzzle "The Origin of the Human-Faced Rat".]

[Story progress +10%, players Zhou Hui, Lin Hao, and Ouyang Qiu gain 10 points.]

[Clues obtained: Old Mrs. Huang cursed the entire Wenshan Village, cursing the cowardly villagers and turning them into real rats.]

[Congratulations to player Zhou Hui for successfully solving the mysteries of "The Seventh Day After Death" and "The Mystery of Amniotic Fluid"! Story progress +20%]

Player "Zhou Hui" has earned an additional 60 points.

[Second Clue Obtained: The day Old Mrs. Huang died was the Winter Solstice. She was very hungry, and so was her cat.]

[Key clue fragment obtained: Huang Facai cursed his mother before his death: "Why did you give birth to me if you're so incompetent? You shouldn't have given birth to me at all. If you're so capable, then put me back in your belly."]

……

"It can't be what I'm thinking, can it?"

Ouyang Qiu shivered violently, and her voice involuntarily rose several decibels:

"So the old woman was abused to death by her son, then eaten by a cat, and cursed the entire village to turn into rats after her death? Then where did the corpse we see come from?"

……

……