Игра в убийство в Лиге плюща

Глава 10

Tao Rujiu answered through gritted teeth:

"This is extortion."

"If I were you, I wouldn't think that way." Watching the young man's retreating figure, Ling Li suddenly felt much better. "You can ignore me, but I haven't even thought about the consequences myself. Want to give it a try?"

Tao Rujiu remained silent for a while, then finally took out the slightly larger piece of clothing and threw it over. Then she grabbed her change of clothes and toiletries, and stormed out the door without looking back.

Only Ling Li remained in the room, laughing smugly.

When the young man finished washing up and returned to the courtyard, Ling Li was nowhere to be seen. Realizing that the man could have simply returned to the villa to change in his original clothes, Tao Rujiu quickly understood that everything Ling Li had done was merely to amuse him.

What could she do? After all, the other party was the master of this Hailing City, a promising young social elite. And she was just a junior reporter who needed his help, carefully cultivating an overly ambitious dream. It seemed obvious to everyone which side the god of fate would favor.

After finishing his singing practice in the back garden, Xiao Li came over with a smile to invite Tao Rujiu to breakfast. The young man quickly put the mess that had just happened out of his mind. After hanging the clothes to dry in the yard, Tao Rujiu and the others walked towards the back gate.

As he passed through the garden, he noticed his shoelaces were untied, so he bent down to tie them, just in time to run into Da Afu sneaking back from outside. Tao Rujiu looked up and was met with the large cat's head, momentarily stunned and frozen in place. In the end, Da Afu twitched its whiskers and deliberately walked around it.

At the same time, Tao Rujiu seemed to see the cat's mouth open and close, and coldly uttered a human word.

"Utterly foolish."

It's still an idiom.

For the rest of the day, Tao Rujiu was tormented by the double whammy of hangover dizziness and headache. Hua Kai kindly brought him painkillers, which Tao Rujiu swallowed after lunch. He had only planned to take a short nap, but when he opened his eyes again, the sky outside was already ablaze with the colors of sunset.

After eating the dinner that Xiao Li brought back, Tao Rujiu felt much better. Only then did she remember that she hadn't organized the recordings from last night's dinner party. Just as she was about to turn on her computer, the door was suddenly pushed open without any politeness.

The socialite I met this morning was standing at the door, wearing an old gray-black T-shirt that didn't suit her figure or status.

"Don't you remember? We agreed it was our turn to go to the melon patch today. What are you dawdling for?"

Tao Rujiu subconsciously felt that he was about to be in big trouble.

Although she was extremely unwilling, she couldn't find a suitable reason. Besides, she was already scheduled to be the last one in this round, and it would be unreasonable to find an excuse to postpone it. Thinking this way, Tao Rujiu had no choice but to bite the bullet and set off.

Judging from the cold smile behind those sharp sunglasses, this trip would definitely push his courage to the limit. Chapters 019-020

After leaving the misty Jiangnan region, the two walked for about a quarter of an hour before arriving at the entrance of the Netherworld Palace.

It was 6:50 p.m., and the sky was already getting dark. The last streak of fiery clouds in the distance resembled a pool of blood, gradually seeping into the horizon.

Ling Li and Tao Rujiu walked one after the other, each holding a flashlight. As they passed the gatehouse, Tao Rujiu stammered out the code he had learned from Xiao Li, his serious off-key singing eliciting a sneer from Ling Li.

After passing the gatehouse and walking a few more steps, the two saw a fork in the road behind the screen wall. Tao Rujiu naturally wanted to go left down to the underground palace, but Ling Li stopped and grabbed the young man's arm.

"So, if you've got the guts, come with me to the other side."

"That's a long way, and it will keep Master Lü and the others waiting. I won't go."

Tao Rujiu tried to shake off Ling Li's hand, but was forcibly dragged towards the path on the right.

“There are shortcuts on the ground too, they just don’t know it.”

Ling Li pointed sharply to a small grove of trees not far away on the ground and said,

"After passing Corpse Soul Town, we'll turn right at the first intersection on Ghost Road. After walking through a grassy area, we can bypass Reincarnation Street and Nine Coffins Forest and go directly to Soul Slope. The vegetable garden is to the west of Soul Slope."

Although he explained in detail, Tao Rujiu knew there must be a trap involved, so he still insisted on going through the underground palace. Seeing this, Ling Li didn't waste any more words and let Tao Rujiu shake off his hand, walking towards the underground palace on the right.

The young man arrived at the entrance to the underground palace first, but then stopped. By the dim light of his flashlight, Tao Rujiu saw that the vermilion palace gate, which was usually wide open, was now tightly closed and secured with a large padlock.

"I had someone lock the door. Although I'm not worried about theft, it would be troublesome if someone accidentally broke in at night and something happened."

Ling Li leaned against his smug skull wall and explained. Tao Rujiu then realized that Ling Li had meticulously planned everything, and that she probably really couldn't escape it tonight. She only regretted that the lingering effects of last night's alcohol had worn off, otherwise she could have simply rushed through it in one go.

He sighed and turned away without saying a word.

"where are you going?"

Ling Li followed behind with a cold laugh.

"Go ahead and let you scare me enough!"

Tao Rujiu replied in an annoyed tone.

"You just want to see me make a fool of myself, don't you? Wouldn't it be disappointing if I didn't take the right path!"

As they were talking, the two had already returned to the fork in the road. Tao Rujiu was about to stride into the woods on the right when Ling Li grabbed him and pulled him behind her.

"If you don't know the way, go to the back. Don't lead me astray."

"It's just a road, what's the big deal about getting lost!"

Tao Rujiu seemed to be losing control of his emotions. He had never shouted anything so loudly since arriving in Hailing City.

Ling Li held the flashlight and looked Tao Rujiu up and down before bursting into laughter.

"Stop yelling and screaming to bolster your courage, your legs are trembling, kid."

Corpse Town is the first stop in the above-ground scenic area, located behind the grove of trees at the fork in the road. As if to prove the truth of the saying "you'll get lost if you don't follow the trail," Ling Li didn't take the stone path used by tourists. However, it was indeed a shortcut; after climbing over a small hill, a cluster of about ten tiled houses appeared downwind.

This is Soul Town.

Tao Rujiu looked down the slope and saw about ten tiled houses running east to west, surrounding a rammed earth path about three meters wide. There were bamboo fences about a person's height at both ends of the path, and a bamboo watchtower at each end—it looked like a very ordinary old-fashioned town.

Because the melon patch was at the other end of the town, the two had to cross the entire Corpse Soul Town. A wooden sign was stuck askew in the weeds at the entrance to the bamboo fence. Ling Li ignored it, while Tao Rujiu glanced at it curiously.

Two lines of warnings were written on the decaying wooden sign, which was soaked in a dark brown liquid.

"Walkers have appeared; run away."

Even though she knew it was just a gimmick, Tao Rujiu still felt a chill run down her spine as she saw the wooden sign.

Two beams of yellowish-white light from flashlights illuminated a circular area about one meter square in front of them. The doors of the low, black wooden houses on both sides were tightly shut, without lights or any sign of life, seemingly no different from the other antique-style buildings in the park.

However, upon closer inspection, Tao Rujiu discovered that the doors and wooden walls were covered with deep scratches, mixed with patches of dark red blood, and were in a state of disrepair. In some places, the wall panels were even broken in half, revealing the dark interior.

Tao Rujiu couldn't see the furnishings in the room clearly, but he felt an indescribable foul smell coming towards him, which reminded him of the rotting mouth of a zombie.

“Ling…”

Tao Rujiu didn't actually have anything to ask; she simply felt the surroundings were too quiet and wanted to make some noise to bolster her courage. However, before she could speak, her mouth was suddenly covered by a sharp, stern hand.

"Don't speak loudly if you don't want to be scared."

The man's breath gently ruffled Tao Rujiu's hair as he spoke.

"To be honest, I specifically told them not to turn off the power today, and some of the facilities in this town are voice-activated. Like this..."

He pulled Tao Rujiu to a well by the roadside.

It was a strange old well with a pavilion-like structure built on top of it. The pavilion's roof was very high and completely hidden in the darkness.

Ling Li gave instructions to Tao Rujiu in a sharp, soft voice.

"Clap your hands and look at the top of the pavilion."

Tao shook his head.

"If you want to take the picture, take it yourself."

"Coward." A sharp sneer rang out. "Watch this."

After saying that, he patted the pavilion three times forcefully.

Smack! Smack! Smack!

The crisp sound of clapping was eerily loud in the deathly silence. Tao Rujiu stood beside Ling Li, warily watching the darkness above.

In just a few seconds, several images of ghosts flashed through the young man's mind: a blue-faced monster with fangs, a face as white as gold paper, disheveled hair, and blood flowing from its seven orifices... However, until he banished the last image from his mind, he did not see anything hanging down from the top of the pavilion.

What are you showing me?

A wave of doubt washed over him, and he even thought the machinery had malfunctioned. Tao Rujiu then realized that Ling Li had made a fool of himself, and he was even somewhat pleased and wanted to turn around and mock him. But he didn't expect Ling Li to be faster than him. Suddenly, Ling Li reached out and grabbed him by the back of the neck, pressing him down against the edge of the well.

Caught off guard and ambushed, Tao Rujiu developed the illusion that Ling Li was "enraged" and wanted to "kill him to silence him." He was forced to lie face down on the well ring, his face directly facing the dark well opening, and a pungent smell hit him in the face.

"Look at this..."

Ling Li laughed mischievously behind him.

Tao Rujiu then realized that the mechanism was actually inside the well. The reason there was a pavilion over the well was to concentrate the sound and activate the sound-activated switch inside. Ling Li had said the mechanism was above to distract him and then use the opportunity to push him down onto the well opening.

Tao Rujiu struggled through gritted teeth, trying to break free of the fierce restraints, but was instead overpowered and pinned down, with his hands tied behind his back.

"Ha, you know I'm just trying to scare you, right? So just wait patiently for the surprise, and remember not to blink."

The man pressing down on him said this in a harsh tone.

In the pitch-black night, Tao Rujiu, who was peering into the well, could not possibly see anything clearly. However, the pure darkness was more likely to stimulate the human imagination, conjuring up things that could never exist.

The young man tried to calm himself down. Since Ling Li had forcibly pressed him against the well's edge, there would likely be a mechanism to lift him out after a while. However, since it was clearly a prank, it was much safer than a sudden, unexpected fright, and its level of terror was, after all, limited.

Thinking this, the young man took a deep breath and made a silent decision: he would never let Ling Li laugh at him again.

So he simply gave up struggling, feeling the warmth of Ling Li, a living person, pressed against his back. After a few seconds, Tao Rujiu heard a faint "clattering" sound from the deep well, followed by a gentle breeze. In the pitch-black darkness, the young man could only sense something slowly rising from the deepest part of the well, and the mechanical "clattering" sound gradually became clearer.

Almost everyone has had this strange feeling: feeling like someone is watching you when it's late at night. Sometimes that gaze appears behind you, and sometimes it seems to be right next to your cheek. But whenever you turn around to check, you always find that there is no one beside you.

Tao Rujiu now has a very realistic feeling.

However, the object gazing at him now is an absolutely real existence, merely hidden in the darkness very close to his front.

After a while, the mechanical sound stopped.

In the deathly silence, the rhythmic clanging of the chimes ceased. Tao Rujiu held his breath, awaiting the next movement of the lower mechanism. However, all he could sense was another sound, coming from a distant place deep underground.

The sound of flowing water caused Tao Rujiu's thoughts to freeze.

The underground of Corpse Soul Town should be a dungeon; how could there be water sounds in a dry place? He began to guess that it was a sound effect synchronized with the mechanisms. However, he then thought, if the mechanisms were voice-activated, wouldn't the sound effect interfere with them?

So where did this sound come from?

He didn't understand the principles of voice control and was just making wild guesses, which naturally made him more and more terrified.

The sound of the flowing water didn't stop; instead, it grew louder as he pondered, and the cool breeze that had just hit his face didn't cease either.

Tao Rujiu could sense that the mechanism had stopped less than a meter away from him. There was no moving object in the well at the moment, so why was there a gust of wind blowing in his face?

An unease was stirring within him.

"Lingli..." he whispered, "I've seen everything you wanted me to see, please let me go!"

However, before he could finish speaking, he suddenly felt an extremely fine and soft touch on his cheek.

The silky substance resembled a spider web, but without the stickiness of a spider web; instead, it was resilient and smooth, even leaving faint marks on the face. At that moment, Tao Rujiu had not yet closed his lips, and the silky substance seemed to be trying to burrow into his mouth like a living creature.

The skin touched by this unidentified object involuntarily felt an icy chill.