TEFSCBSS Chapter 64

Chapter 64: Zhao Si Turns Out to Be the Master of Strange Tales

Wan Niang was a bit worried those people might open the coffin to inspect the “corpse,” but thankfully, someone objected.

“Are you getting cold feet? Tsk tsk tsk.”

“Exactly! Let’s get moving; we don’t want to waste more time. Who knows how much longer we’ll be stuck in this godforsaken place?”

“We’ve been running around for ages, and we still haven’t caught anyone. I’m exhausted and starving…”

The voices faded into the distance as Zhao Wen and Wan Niang cautiously poked their heads out of the dirt pit, watching as the group “floated” away.

Zhao Wen was stunned. How was that even possible? If he hadn’t constantly reminded himself that he was in a script store, where there were supposedly no actual ghosts, he might have fainted on the spot. They were floating—without even moving their legs, they just whooshed away! How did Boss Zhao (Su Li) pull that off?

Wan Niang was also surprised, but since she hadn’t experienced as much weirdness in this script as Zhao Wen, she didn’t immediately assume anything supernatural.

“So, where do we go now?”

Zhao Wen replied, “My mission is to attend the ritual. Since they’re carrying that haunted coffin, they must be heading to the ritual site. We should follow them.”

Seeing Wan Niang’s hesitation, Zhao Wen continued to persuade her. “No matter what our missions are, every player in the village is heading to the ritual. There’s no point in staying behind. Besides, your goal is to find that unfaithful man, right? Just ask around when we get there. He’s a villager, so he’s bound to show up.”

Wan Niang was convinced. The two of them trailed behind the eerily floating group, completely forgetting about Li Tiechui, who was still inside the ancestral hall. Unbeknownst to them, he had quietly followed them the moment they passed by the entrance.

Meanwhile, in another part of the village, Zhao Si stared at Gu Qing. “Have you made up your mind yet? If you want to inherit the Pedlar’s legacy, you have to lie down in this coffin.”

Gu Qing: …If he and Zhao Wen hadn’t already seen the desperate scratch marks on the coffin lid, he might have fallen for that nonsense.

The coffin had a message scratched into it: Never get inside. Once you do, you’ll never escape.

Having read countless stories about exorcist priests and their demon-slaying exploits, Gu Qing scoffed. This had all the makings of a substitution resurrection ritual—where wrongful spirits sought replacements to take their place. It was a classic trick.

Though he didn’t know why this whole group seemed so desperate to find a replacement using coffins, he had no intention of falling for it.

Taking a step back, Gu Qing held up a stack of yellow talismans and said in a grave tone, “Don’t come any closer! These are Nine Heavens Thunder Talismans! If I activate them, your soul will be destroyed!”

Zhao Si: …Oh no, I’m so scared.

Completely unfazed, Zhao Si stepped forward, ready to grab Gu Qing and shove him into the coffin by force.

Bang!

Just as he was about to succeed, the tightly shut door was kicked open.

“Don’t be afraid, little priest! I’m here to save you!”

The newcomer was none other than Wang Bokao. He darted inside, yanked Gu Qing to his side, and the two of them formed a triangle against Zhao Si. Now outnumbered, Zhao Si hesitated.

“A bodyguard?” Zhao Si narrowed his eyes, fully embracing his role as the villain. “I was just about to pass down my exclusive secret techniques to my disciple so he could take on the duty of a Pedlar. Isn’t it a little rude of you to barge in like this?”

Wang Bokao sneered. “You? You’re not even the real Zhao Si!”

Both Gu Qing and Zhao Si were stunned. Zhao Si, however, only faltered for a moment before quickly regaining his composure, furrowing his brows as if he were deeply offended. “What are you saying, bodyguard? I was the one who brought you here. Why would you doubt me?”

“Heh, if you’re Zhao Si, then explain this!”

Wang Bokao untied the large bundle slung across his back. It was bulky, its contents stuffed to the brim. When he unraveled the cloth, a pile of human bones tumbled out in front of them.

“Gu Qing, take a good look! This is the real Zhao Si—the one who guided us here! And as for the one standing in front of us… Well, who knows what the hell he is?”

Gu Qing immediately jumped back.

Wait… You were carrying a sack full of human bones this whole time?!

Hold on—when the hell did you get so gutsy? Since when do you have the nerve to haul around a bunch of corpses?!

His mind was in chaos. Was this the same Wang Bokao he knew? The one who was all bark and no bite, who was terrified of ghosts but still insisted on playing horror scenarios, who threw tantrums but still insisted on exploring haunted graveyards?

Wang Bokao, completely oblivious to Gu Qing’s inner turmoil, assumed his friend was simply in awe of his bravery.

Grinning smugly, he pointed an accusing finger at Zhao Si, waving a small notebook in his other hand.

“You won’t believe it, but I found Zhao the Pedlar’s journal. He recorded everything he went through over the years!”

With a flourish, he opened the journal and began reading it aloud as if relishing his moment of triumph.

It turns out that the so-called Zhao the Pedlar was the original master of Zhiguai. He had been deceived by his friend, Cui Yixue, and tricked into coming to Shanshi Village. There, he was granted immortality—but at an unimaginable cost.

Zhao had no prior connection to Shanshi Village, yet he was forced to eat a chunk of foul-smelling dirt and swallow a decayed pinky bone. Only then did Cui Yixue congratulate him on attaining eternal life.

At first, he thought Cui Yixue was simply toying with him. But as decades, even centuries passed, he remained alive.

However, he soon realized the price he had paid. He could never leave this mountain range. The only places he could roam were those shrouded in mist.

He knew he was trapped. Immortal, yet never free.

Desperate to uncover the village’s origins, Zhao tried asking the villagers, but they barely acknowledged him. To them, he was nothing more than a servant, forced to travel between villages to trade goods on their behalf. Though the villagers themselves could not leave, they still yearned for a life of luxury. Even though they did not need to eat, they were obsessed with fine fabrics, elegant furniture, and otherworldly treasures.

Yes, none of them could leave Shanshi Village. This was something that puzzled Zhao Si for years. No matter how he pried, he could never learn the reason why.

But what baffled him even more was why Cui Yixue could leave.

Eventually, he found out.

The “people” of Shanshi Village had given him a task—to bring outsiders into the village. And Zhao Si had seen it with his own eyes: the moment those outsiders arrived, they were locked inside coffins, where the Soul Exchange Ritual was performed.

The original souls of the victims would be devoured, while the “people” of Shanshi Village would take over their bodies, allowing them to leave the village and live as those people instead.

But even this method had its limits. Each body could only last for a few years. And the ritual itself could only be performed on a limited number of people—no more than ten per year.

Zhao Si had no desire to make innocent people suffer such a terrible fate, nor did he wish to commit such monstrous acts. But the villagers held his spinal bone—his very lifeline—in their hands.

If he ever dared to disobey them, they would grind his spinal bone, subjecting him to unbearable agony, worse than death itself.

He had no choice but to pretend to submit. He haggled, bargained, and convinced them that bringing in too many outsiders at once would arouse suspicion and risk exposing the existence of Shanshi Village. Only then did the monsters agree to a compromise: each year, only two outsiders would be taken.

Yet Zhao Si still refused to harm innocent people. To avoid the torment of having his soul burned and shredded, he sought out only the wicked—rapists, tyrants, thieves, and ruthless bandits.

At the same time, he never lost hope. He sent word to find his descendants, instructing them to come to Shanshi Village and retrieve his stolen spinal bone. Without it, the monsters would no longer have control over him. Even if retrieving it meant his eventual demise, at least he would finally be free.

As Wang Bokao narrated Zhao the Pedlar’s tragic story, Gu Qing was left utterly bewildered.

What the hell?! How could there be such a convoluted and bizarre mess behind all this?

But before he could process it all, Zhao Si let out a cold laugh.

“So what?” he sneered. “Now that you know the story of the Pedlar—what can you do?”

“You’ve set foot in Shanshi Village.

You’re never leaving.“