Chapter 40

The Hanged Ghost drifted upward. "To ensure we can enjoy our meal later, we need to clear the area around Daguang Village. If we're lucky, we might even run into some humans."
The Hanged Ghost drifted away from the center of Daguang Village, patrolling the outskirts.
Heading in the opposite direction were the seven players who had reached the village entrance.
A stone tablet stood at the village entrance. The seven players approached it and examined it under the faint moonlight.
"Daguang Village."
Someone remarked, "Could it be that this village's terrain resembles a coffin?"
"Maybe it's just a name passed down through generations," another player suggested.
They continued inward.
The village was quiet and serene, with roads paved in stone bricks. Every house was lit, the warm orange lights offering some comfort to the players.
But the overall feeling of the village was peculiar.
Gu Yi'an looked around and noticed many weeds growing from the cracks between the bricks, some as high as a person's knee, as if no one had stepped on them.
After a moment's thought, she realized what felt off.
The village lacked any human presence, as if it had been uninhabited for a long time.
If no one lived here, why were the lights on?
The seven players' first target was the nearest single-story house.
The door of the house was slightly ajar.
The stern-faced man took the lead and knocked.
There was no response from inside.
He simply peeked through the crack in the door.
At that glance, he froze.
"What's wrong? What's inside?"
"What is it?"
The other players clamored with questions.
Seeing that the man hadn't stepped back, everyone knew it couldn't be too dangerous inside, so they all crowded in to look.
Gu Yi'an observed the situation and didn't join them. Instead, she took a step back to let them pass.
The five players surged forward, and the door was pushed open in an instant.
The scene behind the door unfolded before everyone's eyes.
A coffin was placed right in the middle of the room.
There were no chairs or stools in the room. Apart from the coffin, there was only a door and a dim yellow lightbulb hanging from the ceiling.
Among the six experienced players present, the only newbie male player was also quite sharp.
Everyone's expressions turned grim the moment they saw the coffin.
It reminded them of the four-word newbie hint: "No One Survives."
Combining the coffin with the phrase "No One Survives," they all knew this round of the game was going to be a tough battle.
Gu Yi'an was the only player who remained the most composed.
She glanced at the coffin in the room and then touched the small coffin in her pocket. She couldn't help but feel that the two gave off the same vibe.
Everyone exchanged looks.
Gu Yi'an remained calm and didn't speak.
Finally, the stern-faced man said, "Let's check out the other houses first."
On this point, all seven players agreed, they would explore a few more houses before checking what was inside the coffin.
The seven players exited the room and closed the door behind them.
Next, they went to investigate the nearest single-story house.
This time, they didn't knock, knowing there would be no one inside.
The seven players pushed the door open, and the coffin behind it came into view.
No one wanted to linger in a house with a coffin.
The seven players went along the village path, pushing doors open one by one, only to find that every household had a coffin. Some had more than one, with the most in one house being seven.
"Could it be that all the villagers here died here?"
One of the players spoke up.
The others were thinking along the same lines.
At this point, they intended to discuss further, but they hesitated over one thing.
They still didn't know each other's names.
The newbie male player who had earlier mentioned the four-word newbie hint said, "It's better if we don't share our real names. I have a suggestion. There are seven of us. The four male players, starting with this big brother here, can be called First Brother, Second Brother, Third Brother, and I'll be Fourth Brother. As for you three female players, you can be Fifth Sister, Sixth Sister, and Seventh Sister."
The novice male player spoke while looking at the corresponding person.
The one he called "big brother" was the man with a stern face, a tendency to frown, and a serious expression, the one who had initially pressed for the beginner's prompt.
The one dubbed "second brother" was a lecherous man whose gaze always drifted involuntarily toward the female players' faces and upper bodies.
"Third brother" was a male player who appeared honest and simple, and didn't speak much.
The young man himself was "fourth brother."
As for the three female players, "fifth sister" had a sharp, unyielding face and was quick to argue. "Sixth sister" had a calm, easygoing personality, quite laid-back.
And "seventh sister" referred to Gu Yi'an.
Among the seven players, she looked the youngest.
Fifth sister glanced at Gu Yi'an, snorted coldly, and said to the young male player who had just made the suggestion, "How do you know she's younger than me?"
The young male player replied, "It's just a form of address. If I called you 'little sister,' would you accuse me of disrespecting my elders?"
Tension flared instantly.
Big brother, with his stern face, stepped in to mediate. "Still arguing at a time like this? You're an experienced player, don't you know what we should be doing now? Put your props away."
The last part was directed at fifth sister, who had been about to take action.
Fifth sister, her arm restrained by big brother, reluctantly withdrew her props.
After stopping fifth sister, big brother glanced at Gu Yi'an, who was still fiddling with her paper phone, and realized she wouldn't step up to lead.
He suggested, "I see an ancestral hall up ahead. Shall we go check it out?"
At the far end of the village path stood a building unlike the other single-story houses. Most of the village's homes seemed to be made of mud bricks, small in size with overgrown vegetable gardens beside them. But this one was different. It resembled a temple, with neat, refined eaves and a unique style. A plaque hung above its door, and lanterns on either side illuminated the characters: "Ancestral Hall."
The novice male player said, "It looks pretty dangerous, but there might be clues there. We could go."
Honest and simple third brother and calm sixth sister didn't voice any opinions, tacitly agreeing with big brother's suggestion. They also felt it was risky, but the potential rewards might be greater.
Fifth sister wasn't unreasonable; she had her own judgment and merely snorted without objecting.
Second brother's gaze was fixed on sixth sister's upper body, but she noticed and glared at him angrily, making him quickly look away. The other players saw this but naturally ignored his opinion.
Now, only Gu Yi'an hadn't expressed her stance.
She fiddled with the paper phone in her hand and looked up at the ancestral hall.
That place blatantly hinted that it held clues, luring players to hurry over and search.
If they went, they'd likely find new clues, but they might also encounter greater danger.
If Gu Yi'an hadn't noticed the similarity between the small coffin in her hand and the coffins in the villagers' homes, her first instinct would have been to search for clues in the ancestral hall too.
But now, thinking of the small coffin, she had a different idea.
Gu Yi'an said, "Let's head back. Find any villager's house to rest in and discuss things. It's too quiet outside, it's not safe. I think the key to this round of the game lies in the paper phones we're holding. Otherwise, the gods wouldn't have given us this tool right at the start. The ancestral hall might have clues, but it could also bring greater danger."
When Gu Yi'an mentioned the paper phone, the other players turned their attention to it.
They had also been fiddling with their own paper phones while walking earlier, but hadn’t managed to figure out its purpose.
Gu Yi’an had led them to find the paper phones, which made the others place a certain degree of trust in her judgment.
Deep down, they couldn’t help but wonder if Gu Yi’an might be one of those experienced players who deliberately set up their teammates. However, judging by her demeanor, it was clear she wasn’t that kind of person.
The saying "one’s inner nature is reflected in their appearance" held true here.
Moreover, experienced players had all survived life-and-death trials and had their own ways of reading people. They were willing to listen to what Gu Yi’an had to say.
The stern-faced older brother looked hesitant and somewhat anxious, knowing full well they couldn’t linger on the village road for long.
The young male novice spoke bluntly, "Let’s listen to Seventh Sister. If she dares suggest going to a villager’s house, she must have her reasons. The risk isn’t as high as going to the ancestral hall. Heading there would be like stepping into a dragon’s den or a tiger’s lair. We might find clues, but whether we’d survive is another matter."
His words resonated with most of the players.
Most experienced players had sharp judgment, they could tell the ancestral hall represented both danger and opportunity, high risk and high reward.
Every villager’s house had a coffin placed inside. It wasn’t that there were no clues to be found there, but rather that the clues were too sparse. On the flip side, the danger in the villagers’ homes was lower than in the ancestral hall.
They would definitely have to venture into the ancestral hall eventually, but the villagers’ houses were optional.
Weighing the options, the experienced players hesitated.
Gu Yi’an said, "Don’t overthink it. Are you really prepared to go to the ancestral hall right now? What if we have to face a tough fight? Without proper preparation, let’s rest for a while in a villager’s house first."
Hearing this, the older brother, who had been wavering, said to the others, "Forget it. Let’s take it slow. The ancestral hall isn’t going anywhere. Let’s find a house to rest first. It’s way too quiet here, something’s definitely wrong. We should figure out the use of these paper phones before deciding what to do next."
The village was eerily silent, as if foreshadowing impending danger.
The older brother was eager to find a safe place to stay.
The sharp-tongued Fifth Sister was almost ready to raise both hands in agreement with the older brother’s suggestion. She clearly seemed like the type who wanted to avoid direct confrontation with supernatural entities.
Second Brother’s eyes roamed over Fifth Sister’s upper body, seemingly admiring her figure.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t glanced at Gu Yi’an, but every time he did, she would look back at him with that penetrating gaze that seemed to see right through him, making him uneasy.
As for Sixth Sister and Third Brother, one was laid-back and the other tight-lipped, they simply followed the group without voicing their own opinions.
Finally, everyone followed Gu Yi'an's suggestion and backtracked a short distance, choosing a villager's house that contained only a single coffin.
The seven players closed the door of the villager's house and, disregarding the dirt on the floor, sat down right where they were. After walking for so long, they were exhausted.
The eldest brother spoke first, saying, "I feel like we might need more than just a place to rest, we might also need to keep our noise to a minimum. All this time, I’ve only heard the sounds we’ve made. Other noises, like insects or the wind, are almost nonexistent."
As he spoke, the second brother’s blatant staring at the fifth sister was finally noticed by her. Without a word, she raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face.
The sound of the slap drew the attention of the other players.
But the fifth sister wasn’t finished with just one slap.
She stood up and aimed a kick at the second brother’s stomach.
The second brother quickly stepped back.
Unfortunately, right behind him was a coffin.
The other players inwardly groaned, sensing trouble.
The third brother, who had been watching the scene, reached out to pull the second brother back, but he retreated too quickly and bumped into the coffin.
The lid of the coffin seemed to have been loosely placed on top, and with the impact, it slid open.
The other players immediately stood up. Those with tools pulled them out, while those without hid behind the more experienced players.
The novice male player quickly moved and concealed himself behind the eldest brother.
The eldest brother didn’t say anything and let him be.
The fifth sister, gripping her tool, stopped chasing the second brother and cautiously looked into the coffin.
The second brother, clutching his stomach, stood up and glanced inside the coffin.
He cursed under his breath and then remarked, "What a beauty."
With one hand holding his tool, he reached into the coffin with the other.
Gu Yi'an and the other players watched his reckless behavior with silent exasperation.
Was he really this lust-driven?
The eldest brother frowned deeply and shouted, "Don’t disrespect the dead!"
But his warning came too late.
Suddenly, the second brother was yanked into the coffin, falling inside headfirst. He barely had time to utter a curse before he disappeared.
The coffin lid snapped shut, sealing off any sound from within.
It all happened so quickly that the players could only watch helplessly as the second brother vanished.
The six remaining players stared at the silent coffin and then exchanged glances.
It was likely that the second brother was beyond saving, doomed to die.
The fifth sister swallowed hard and asked, "Will it come after us next?"
Gu Yi'an had wanted to save the second brother but hadn’t had time. She simply sat back down.
Gu Yi'an said, "Not for now. We’re safe here."
If they had been worried earlier about the coffin placed in the center of the room causing trouble, they didn’t need to worry anymore.
After the second brother’s fatal mistake, the coffin was now securely closed. The ghost would need time to digest the male player, so for the moment, the players were safe in this room.
Hearing this, everyone agreed with Gu Yi'an’s reasoning. Except for the novice male player, the others sat down again without much hesitation.
The novice male player stared at the utterly silent coffin for a while, as if finally grasping the brutal reality of The Game of the Gods.
He averted his gaze and was the last to sit down.
The light from the electric bulb cast a yellowish glow, dim but enough for the players to see each other’s faces clearly.
Everyone sat in a circle, unsure of which topic to broach first after what had just happened.
Gu Yi'an examined the paper phone in her hand and said to the group, "Earlier, you mentioned that this phone is meant for ghosts. I think that’s exactly right. We humans probably can’t turn it on."
The eldest brother immediately grasped Gu Yi'an's meaning, his brow furrowing deeply. "Are you thinking of finding a ghost to open it?"
The other four players turned their gazes toward Gu Yi'an, astonished by her bold idea.
Gu Yi'an glanced at the coffin beside them and readily admitted that she did indeed have such a thought.
She said, "I wonder if this sister is easy to talk to."
She was somewhat inclined to ask the one in the coffin to open it for them, but the problem was they didn’t know the temperament of the entity inside. What if it had already killed the male player and wasn’t satisfied, wanting to continue killing them? That would be disastrous.
The other players shared Gu Yi'an’s concern.
What if the ghost in the coffin wasn’t content with just one kill? Wouldn’t recklessly seeking its help be like sending a lamb into a tiger’s den?
The sixth sister, who had been quiet and hadn’t spoken much, voiced her worry, "It’s too risky. We don’t even know if this item is meant to be opened by a ghost."
Gu Yi’an looked at the others and recalled an incident from the real world when she and her counselor went to buy a protective talisman, only to be questioned by someone who suspected she had too much ghostly aura and asked if she was raising a spirit.
She asked, "Does anyone here raise ghosts?"
The players exchanged glances and shook their heads.
Gu Yi’an had only asked out of curiosity, not expecting a positive response.
The novice male player said, "In that case, it seems our only option is to go to the ancestral hall. There should be clues there about how to use this phone."
Gu Yi’an replied, "The problem now is, can you be sure there’s no danger outside?"
The village was eerily quiet, and Gu Yi’an had a strong feeling that staying outside would lead to trouble.
Most of the players felt the same way, otherwise, they wouldn’t have remained in this room.
The ghost in the coffin had just killed a player; at least they knew where the danger was coming from. As for the dangers outside, they had never seen them, only an inexplicable intuition warning them that staying outside was perilous.
The novice male player suggested, "How about we take a look through the window or the crack in the door?"
Gu Yi’an was also keen on monitoring the situation outside. She said, "From now on, let’s speak in whispers or use body language. We’ll take turns keeping watch at the door, one person for about ten to fifteen minutes, and switch when tired."
Her suggestion was met with agreement from everyone.
The veteran players all felt that the outside was growing increasingly dangerous as time passed.
Now, even if they were told to go out, they wouldn't dare.
The newbie male player, seeing how cautious these veterans were, wasn't foolish either. Naturally, he decided to stay put inside the house for the time being.
He couldn't help but remark, "So we're just relying on hiding out here."
First, they sacrificed one person to secure a safe spot, then observed the outside world, waiting for the next safe point to appear.
Upon hearing this, the veteran players in the room showed no trace of embarrassment.
As long as they could clear the game, it didn't matter how they did it, whether by hiding or otherwise.
Inside the house, the players stopped making loud noises and began taking turns monitoring the outside.
Meanwhile, outside, the long-necked, white-eyed hanged ghost drifted to the village entrance.
It spoke to the paper phone floating in the air, facing it: "Fellow ghost friends, we've swept the area outside the village. Unfortunately, we were unlucky and didn't find a single person. But don't worry, as I said when I started the livestream, I've caught the scent of humans. I wasn't lying. Right here at the village entrance, I've smelled them again. They definitely came this way and headed into the village."
"Come on, let's search one by one. Once we find someone, we'll... hehe, eat them!"
The hanged ghost followed the scent into the village.
The paper phone flew alongside it, recording the places it passed.
"This is the first house at the village entrance. Oh, I see the comments, it's the home of one of our regular livestream viewers, an old ghost friend. Old ghost friend, are you there? Are those people in your house? If they are, let's split them fifty-fifty. No reply? I'm going in directly."
The hanged ghost pushed open the door of the first house at the village entrance, no one was inside.
It said, "You regular viewers are something else, watching the livestream but not even replying to me. Let me tell you, today I will definitely get to eat a human."
"My nose might not be the sharpest, but I can still smell such a strong human scent."
The hanged ghost continued along the road, pushing open the doors of various villagers' houses.
"Another old ghost friend's house. I'll push... oh, not here."
"Old ghost friend, I see you've joined the livestream. Don't stay silent, send me a comment. I'm pushing the door open... hmm, not here."
"This old ghost friend's house... sigh, I'm not going to push them open one by one. I smell traces of humans up ahead."
As the hanged ghost kept pushing doors open without finding anyone, it grew increasingly agitated, and its neck stretched longer and longer.
Watching the livestream comments where its ghost friends mocked it for failing to find anyone, it held back its anger again and again. Finally, it chose to float back above the village road and fly along it toward the ancestral hall.
"Ghost friends, watch closely, the ancestral hall up ahead is the residence of our handsome and invincible Ghost King. The Ghost King's tomb is behind the ancestral hall. Ghost King, are you still in the livestream? I mean no disrespect, I'm just telling our ghost friends where to pay their respects to you... Huh? The human scent stops here?"
The hanged ghost circled in mid-air and realized the human scent didn't continue forward, meaning those people must have turned back.
Hovering in place, it pondered whether to backtrack. Then, it noticed the comments in the livestream on the phone.
The hanged ghost was so angry its nose twisted.
"What do you mean my nose got messed up when I hanged myself? That's baseless slander! There are humans! I told you there are humans! I'll search every single house to prove it!"
The hanged ghost was bickering with the audience in its livestream while floating in midair, and the players hiding in the room witnessed the ghost drifting past, faintly hearing the argument.
The player who spotted the hanged ghost was a male player nicknamed Third Brother.
Through the door crack, Third Brother noticed a long-necked man floating past and immediately gestured to the other players in the room, signaling them to come look through the crack.
One by one, they peered through the gap.
They all saw the long-necked figure hovering in the air.
Besides spotting the figure, Gu Yi'an also noticed a phone floating in front of the long-necked entity.
She strained her ears to make out what the long-necked man was saying, but unfortunately, the door was shut, and the presumed ghost was quite far from their location, making it impossible for her to discern his words.
Eldest Brother whispered, "This place isn't safe anymore."
Fifth Sister retorted, "What are you talking about? Isn't this the safest spot? There's a ghost outside; we're safer inside."
Fifth Sister's reasoning made sense, with a ghost outside, leaving the room would only invite trouble.
For the moment, Gu Yi'an wasn't concerned about whether to stay or leave; her focus was on how to use the paper phone.
The entity floating outside was clearly a ghost, and since it was using a paper phone, it meant the ghost knew how to operate it.
Gu Yi'an turned and walked toward the coffin placed in the room.
The novice male player noticed her movement and guessed her intention, exclaiming in disbelief, "Are you really that reckless?"
Undeterred, Gu Yi'an gripped her small coffin prop with one hand and gently tapped the coffin lid with the other.
There was no response from inside the coffin.
Gu Yi'an tapped again.
Still, the coffin remained silent.
The ghost inside had no desire to communicate with them.
Returning to the group of players, Gu Yi'an said softly, "It knows what we want, but it doesn't want to talk to us."
The ghost in the coffin was unwilling to reveal how to use the paper phone.
Gu Yi'an stated, "We must figure out how to use this phone."
Her gaze swept over and landed on the novice male player's palm, where he had accidentally crushed a corner of his paper phone. She added, "This will be a crucial item; take good care of it."
The novice male player pinched the crumpled corner of his paper phone, trying to reshape it.
The male player called Third Brother withdrew his gaze from the door crack and said gravely, "That ghost has descended. It's entered another room, as if searching for something, and it's heading our way soon."
The emergence of this message meant the room was extremely unsafe.
Third Brother didn’t lower his voice, and all the players in the room heard him clearly.
As soon as Fifth Sister heard that a ghost was coming, she opened her mouth to speak.
But First Brother raised his hand and forcibly covered her mouth.
“Speak less. We need to escape quietly now.”
The players had already noticed that these single-story houses had no back doors, but there were windows on the side without any railings, allowing people to climb directly out.
Everyone quickly and quietly climbed out of the windows one by one.
The last one to climb out was the novice male player. Just as he was climbing through the window, a sound of the door being pushed open suddenly came from the entrance.
The novice male player stiffened, scrambled through the window, and closed it behind him. He mouthed to the other players, “It’s here.”
The ghost is here!
This single sentence instantly shattered the unity of the player group.
Fifth Sister was the first to flee.
She turned away from the village road and ran toward the back of the house.
The seemingly honest and simple Third Brother vanished in the blink of an eye, disappearing even faster than Fifth Sister, with no one knowing where he went.
Sixth Sister, being kind-hearted, gave a meaningful look and reminded them.
“Run, quickly.”
As she spoke, she leaped nimbly onto the roof of the neighboring single-story house and disappeared as well.
First Brother glanced at Gu Yi’an and the novice male player.
Gu Yi’an said, “You two go first. I can’t run.”
She had a hunch and decided to take a gamble.
Hearing this, First Brother understood that Gu Yi’an must have a trump card. Without consulting the novice male player, he grabbed the back of the novice’s collar and leaped away in a direction different from the others.
Though the novice male player was carried into the air, his gaze remained fixed on Gu Yi’an. He actually wanted to stay by her side.
He felt that Gu Yi’an was far more reliable than the other players.
Gu Yi’an watched as the other players disappeared from her sight one after another.
At the same time, she heard the sound of violent impact coming from the side door.
The ghost had entered the house.
Gu Yi’an tightened her grip on the small coffin prop in her hand. Moving along the wall, she quietly made her way toward the village road.
Faintly, Gu Yi’an heard a voice coming from inside the house.
A grating, unpleasant voice, like the sound of a saw cutting through metal, was angrily cursing, “I smell it! The room is filled with this scent. There are people here! My nose is sharp! Who said a hanged ghost has no sense of smell? I’ll come find you tonight!”
Who was the ghost talking to?
Gu Yi’an paused her steps, trying to hear more clearly.
Suddenly, the voice vanished.
“Creak, ”
The sound of a window opening came from behind Gu Yi’an.
An unpleasant voice sounded behind her, “Look what I found.”