TEFSCBSS Chapter 58

Chapter 58: Finding Wang Bokao

“They might not necessarily be dead. What if… what if the bodies in the coffin are their relatives or friends?” Zhao Si whispered in defense.

“But they clearly said that this coffin is their bed, that they sleep in it. So tell me, do you still think these bones aren’t theirs?”

“What if… what if they just have some peculiar hobby? Either way, we shouldn’t go. If they get upset, they might slice us up too! Then there’ll be one more corpse in that coffin!”

“So, what do you suggest?” Gu Qing frowned. “Just sit here and wait?”

Zhao Si looked around the room. “No rush. While the owner of the house hasn’t reacted yet, let’s search the place and see if we can find any clues.”

With that, the two began rummaging through the room. However, aside from dust, there was nothing but more dust.

Zhao Wen was undeterred. His eyes locked onto the coffin, and suddenly, he noticed what seemed to be scratch marks on its lid.

“Gu Qing, quick, help me turn this coffin lid over.”

As they flipped it open, both of them exhaled sharply.

On the right half of the coffin lid, there were deep, claw-like scratches and dark brown stains that had seeped into the wood. Zhao Wen took a closer look—some of the scratches looked like strokes of written characters.

Hurriedly, he took out a small cloth bundle, placed a sheet of paper over the marks, and lightly rubbed a layer of charcoal over it. Gradually, twisted, distorted words began to emerge:

“All outsiders, leave at once. This place is cursed. Once you enter the coffin, escape is near impossible. Seek the traveling peddler. Go to the Earth Temple… (two characters are illegible).”

Zhao Wen read aloud, his voice trembling. “G-Gu Qing… what do we do now?”

“Should we leave this place immediately?”

Instead of answering, Gu Qing asked, “What is your objective?”

“Huh? My objective? The mission said I need to participate in the ritual and witness the deity,” Zhao Wen stammered. He was starting to feel lightheaded. If not for the fact that he reminded himself this was just a role-playing game, he would’ve been convinced he had ended up in some eerie, cursed village.

“A gentleman does not stand under a crumbling wall.” His father’s words echoed in his mind. Running away from such an unsettling place was the obvious choice! But then again, his father also told him to enjoy the game properly… Zhao Wen’s face twisted in indecision.

Gu Qing, however, remained composed. “That means we can’t leave yet—or at least, not for now.”

“You have a mission to complete. Once it’s done, you can leave. But don’t forget, I’m the next traveling peddler. My objective is to inherit Zhao Si’s role, meet the village chief, gain his approval, and become a recognized peddler who can freely enter and exit the village.”

Zhao Wen was utterly lost. “Then… what do we do next?”

“First, let’s figure out how to get out of this house, find the other players, and exchange information. Or better yet, help me locate Zhao Si so I can clear my objective as soon as possible.”

“Alright!”

With their plan set, the two attempted to open the front door—only to find it wouldn’t budge. Left with no other choice, they moved to the windows.

The window led to the backyard. Though it was also locked, breaking through it was preferable to forcing open the front door and immediately alerting the eerie couple. The two quickly searched for tools, broke the window latch, and climbed out.

The backyard was overgrown with weeds, facing a tall, blackened wall. Zhao Wen ran his fingers over its surface and felt a sense of relief.

Good. Good. Thankfully, he had been meticulous enough to examine the walls of the script venue before entering. The texture of the wood here was identical—just painted black. This reminded him that they were inside a script venue, not the cursed village of Shan Shi.

Scanning the surroundings and confirming that no one was around, they crept along the corner of the courtyard.

The houses in this village were packed closely together, almost touching each other. Just ahead was another house’s courtyard.

They carefully climbed over the fence and entered—only to find the place completely deserted. Even the main door was left slightly ajar.

The layout was nearly identical to the previous house, with one striking difference—inside the room, there was only a single, tightly shut black wooden coffin.

The two continued exploring multiple homes, only to find the same eerie pattern—every house was empty, but each contained a coffin.

“This is weird. Where did everyone go? And why does every household have a coffin? Don’t tell me… they all live in coffins?” Are they all dead? Zhao Wen’s lips turned pale as he subconsciously started reciting Buddhist scriptures in his mind, grateful that Wang Bokao had advised him to prepare for situations like this.

And then—right as he was thinking about Wang Bokao, a faint noise came from a nearby rice vat.

“Zhao Wen? Gu Qing?”

The two instantly froze and huddled together, eyes locked onto the rice vat that had just made a sound.

“W-Wang Bokao?! How did you turn into a rice vat?!” Zhao Wen’s eyes widened in disbelief. Could it be that Su Li knows some dark sorcery, and we’re all just offerings for her ritual?

For a moment, the rice vat fell silent. Then suddenly—its lid was tossed aside, and Wang Bokao emerged from inside, whispering angrily, “Turn into a rice vat? Your whole family are rice vats!”

Seeing that Wang Bokao was alive and well, the two sighed in relief. But their expressions quickly turned odd as they looked at him. “Wait, bro… weren’t you supposed to be sleeping in a coffin? Why the special treatment?”

Wang Bokao rolled his eyes, clearly unwilling to explain. “Why are you two even here? Were you looking for me?”

They shook their heads, then nodded, quickly recounting everything that had happened.

Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Wang Bokao plopped down between them, finally feeling safe surrounded by the warmth of living people. Then, he started cursing under his breath.

“Damn it. It’s all that lunatic Jiang Liang’s fault.”

“After we got assigned to different houses, Li Tiezui and Wan Niang were each taken to stay with a villager. Jiang Liang and I were placed in this house.”

“As soon as the door shut, Zhao Si left. That’s when the couple in the house started acting weird. First, they insisted we sleep in the coffin. Then they started saying Jiang Liang looked familiar—asking if he had ever left the village. Just going on and on about it. Jiang Liang got fed up.”

“Turns out, the guy knows martial arts. He dodged them and bolted. No idea where he ran off to.”

“The couple immediately chased after him, completely ignoring me.”

“I originally planned to leave and find you guys, at least to meet up. But the moment I stepped outside, I heard singing—it sounded like it was right next to my ear. So I panicked and found a hiding spot.”

“They say rice wards off evil spirits, so I hid in the rice vat.”

Gu Qing… “Have you ever considered the possibility that rice could be possessed too?”

“Uh…” Wang Bokao was momentarily dumbfounded.

Gu Qing chuckled. “Relax. There are no actual ghosts here. This is just a script venue.”

Wang Bokao clenched his jaw, barely holding back his urge to punch Gu Qing. Calm down. He’s a teammate. He might be useful later. Don’t punch him.

Zhao Wen cautiously raised his hand. “Uh, should we try to gather the rest of the players first? Then we can share information.”

“Agreed.”

Using Wang Bokao’s memory as a guide, the trio quickly located Li Tiezui. When they found him, he was lying peacefully in a brand-new coffin, looking as if he were sleeping soundly.