Buddhist player

This beginner trial instance has exuded a strange eeriness from the very beginning.

It belongs to the kind that seems normal on the surface, but is actually quite terrifying when you think about it carefully.

Don't be fooled by the fact that they've found all five bodies and the bloodstained note. It seems like all they need to do is bury the family and wait for dawn in the villa. But if they actually do that, they could very well face utter ruin.

Bai Chen began to suspect this after discovering that the camping lights had not been restored after the bodies were found, and even the powerful flashlights had been completely turned off.

...If the source of the power that had been suppressing their illumination wasn't those five corpses, then what was it?

Perhaps they can find the answer to this question in those five marked villas.

"Um... are we really going to risk exploring the other villas?"

Looking at the torrential rain outside, Dao Ke Dao is not the eternal Dao, and there is obvious hesitation on his face.

The terrifying scene of seeing something strange about a nearby villa through lightning during a torrential downpour is still fresh in my memory.

In such a horrible place, they not only have to go inside to explore, but they also have to act alone... Just thinking about that scene is enough to make one despair.

"We're out of time."

Shaking his head, Bai Chen turned to look at the campfire.

"Didn't you notice? The environment is continuing to suppress the light. If this continues, it won't just be a powerful flashlight that goes out; the fire will go out too. When darkness completely falls, no one knows what will happen."

"A campfire... do we have one?"

Turning to look at the bonfire in front of him, he blew away a maple leaf and blinked.

"The brightness has decreased compared to when it first appeared."

Yuan Qing stepped aside to make way and spoke calmly.

"You can compare them yourselves."

"...It has indeed declined."

The bard glanced at the blazing fire, then at his own shadow, and nodded solemnly.

"I remember that before, the shadows cast by the firelight could only be projected onto the wall, but now, the shadows only reach the sofa."

"Um... is it possible that the fire isn't burning hot enough?"

After a moment's hesitation, a fallen maple leaf offered a hypothesis.

"Also, even if the fire is gradually getting dimmer, it doesn't really matter, does it? Although we can't tell how many hours until dawn because of the time constraints, we've already solved the problem with this villa. All that's left is to take the final step of burying this family. Even if the fire goes out completely, we can just drive to the town below and wait quietly for dawn, right? The light there isn't suppressed; it's still brightly lit."

"That's right!! It's your business if you want to explore, but we will absolutely not take any risks!!"

Perhaps because someone was on his side, which gave him some confidence, Tiger King stood up, his face fierce and his voice stern.

"So, you mean you're going to stay here?"

As Bai Chen looked the tiger king up and down, he seemed to be deep in thought.

"W-what are you doing?"

Seemingly feeling a little uneasy under his scrutiny, the Fierce Tiger King subconsciously took a step back.

"I already told you, it's your..."

"It's nothing. I just didn't expect that someone as tall and strong as you would be a masochistic submissive."

Bai Chen took out the box of incense from his backpack and casually lit one for himself.

"The first time, you were bewitched and driven mad by self-harm; the second time, you were trapped in endless nightmares. Despite these two lessons, you still want to stay..."

Looking up at the other person's slightly pale face, Bai Chen gave a kind smile.

"Want to guess what will happen to you the third time?"

Tiger King: "..."

................................................

Of the five villas marked in red, the four closest to them were the ones where the bards had previously discovered the problem.

The straight-line distance from their villa to that other side is only a few dozen meters, basically within easy reach.

In the pitch-black downpour, the four villas stood there silently, like a towering tomb.

"Are all the doors and windows closed properly...?"

Looking at the villa not far away, Bai Chen, standing under the eaves, narrowed his eyes slightly.

After thinking for a moment, Bai Chen handed the remaining four white threads and the map to Yuan Qing behind him.

"These are for your safekeeping for now. We'll discuss the details after I return from exploring the four villas."

"Don't talk to me with a cigarette in your mouth."

Taking the white candle and map, Yuan Qing frowned as he looked at the cigarette dangling from the mouth of the person in front of him.

"This isn't smoke, it's incense, and it doesn't smell like smoke at all."

Shrugging, Bai Chen turned around, took a black umbrella from his backpack, opened it, and stepped into the rain.

—Even though it's just a few steps away, the proper sense of ceremony is still necessary.

Watching the departing figure, after a brief silence, Yuan Qing lowered her eyes to look at her palm. When the other person handed her the white candle and the map, they had also added a small note to it.

"...Go upstairs?"

Inside the hall, listening to Yuan Qing's calm narration, the bard was slightly taken aback.

"Hmm, I'm still missing a set of clothes."

Looking at the five corpses lying quietly to the side, Yuan Qing's expression was indifferent.

"Then I'll go with you..."

Subconsciously, the bard thought of getting up.

"Need not."

Before the other person could finish speaking, Yuan Qing turned around and stepped onto the stairs decisively.

The bard: "..."

Although he knew the other person was difficult to get along with, he didn't expect them to be this difficult. Feeling a strange sense of frustration, the bard sat down again by the fire.

"Alright, let her go. Anyway, all five corpses are here, and there's no danger upstairs."

While offering words of comfort, Dao Ke Dao is not the eternal Dao, and handed over a skewer of freshly grilled meat.

"Here, it's freshly baked, eat it while it's hot."

Slightly amused and exasperated, the bard took the skewer from the other man's hand, but before he could even put it in his mouth, he suddenly froze.

……Danger?

Indeed, the only supernatural element in this villa is these five corpses. Given that the five corpses were discovered early on, there is no real danger upstairs.

So why... was the other party so wary?

Also, if it's just about finding clothes for that fifth corpse, the first floor is clearly closer and more convenient, right? After all, there are wardrobes in the rooms on the first floor...

Before the bard could think further, suddenly, Tiger King and Fallen Maple Leaf stood up one after the other from beside the fire.

"you……"

"Idiots!! You two can stay here, I'm not playing along!!"

As if it had been planned all along, after giving them a vicious middle finger, Tiger King strode toward the gate, and after bending down and giving them a somewhat apologetic smile, Fallen Maple Leaf followed closely behind.

"Wait, you guys..."

The bard quickly figured out what the other party wanted to do. He hurriedly got up, but before he could finish speaking, Tiger King opened the door and rushed towards the car on the side of the road in the rain.

The other side of the road wasn't far from the villa. By the time the bard and Dao Ke Dao Chang Fei Dao hurriedly arrived at the door, Tiger King had already gotten into the car, while Fallen Maple Leaf had gotten into the passenger seat.

After honking the horn a few times in a defiant manner, the car disappeared into the thick rain in the blink of an eye, accompanied by the roar of the engine.

"this……"

Because they never expected the Tiger King and the Fallen Maple Leaf to do this, and the whole process took less than a minute, by the time the bard and Dao He and Dao Fei Chang Dao reacted, it was too late to stop them. They could only watch helplessly as the Tiger King and the Fallen Maple Leaf drove the car down to the town at the foot of the mountain.

"That guy, from the moment he got the car keys, he was thinking about this moment."

Looking at the small town at the foot of the mountain in the distance, shrouded in torrential rain, the bard standing at the entrance looked rather grim.

"He didn't dare leave before because he was afraid of the danger of driving down the mountain, but after all the anomalies were marked and locked onto those five villas on the map, he... that bastard!!"

The bard slammed his fist hard against the door frame.

"It's not just him, it's also the falling maple leaves."

He was still holding a brush for applying seasonings, and he reached up to touch his glasses. He frowned deeply.

"Those two clearly conspired beforehand, otherwise they wouldn't have acted so quickly just now."

"...It was my carelessness."

The bard exhaled and lowered his hand.

"The decision was made by Blowing Maple Leaf; otherwise, Tiger King alone wouldn't have dared to drive down. I never expected her..."

Just then, the sound of them rushing downstairs came from the stairwell behind them. Clearly, Yuan Qing upstairs had also heard the horn that Tiger King had honked to show off when he left.

She had originally wanted to ask something, but after seeing that there were only two people left in the hall, she immediately understood something. After glancing at the note in her hand with a slightly complicated expression, she slowed down and came downstairs.

"……Feel sorry."

Taking a deep breath, the bard began to speak.

"Tiger King and Falling Maple Leaves drove away; I couldn't stop them."

"I know."

Yuan Qing glanced at the torrential rain outside, his face expressionless.

The bard opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he fell silent.

There won't be a useless gun hanging on the wall. Since they need to find the backpack and the key at the beginning, the car outside will likely play a crucial role in the later operations, such as the final desperate escape.

...But right now, the car has been driven away by Tiger King and Fallen Maple Leaf.

As he was blaming himself, at that moment, Yuan Qing suddenly turned to look at them and said something that made him and Dao Ke Dao Chang Chang almost stop breathing.

There are only five players participating in this instance.