Vol. 2 Chapter 22 – Deep Sea Sacrificial Town. (1)

Weeds overran the ground, and the soil was sticky and soft. Every step left a deep footprint, as if the earth might swallow someone whole at any moment.

Only a single stone-paved path led into the depths of the dark forest.

By the time Yin Liuming found the worm-eaten wooden sign, seven or eight people were already waiting there.

Chi Xi spotted Yin Liuming and waved happily. “Brother Yin! Over here!”

Yin Liuming smiled. “Am I the last one again?”

“There are still more coming.”

A few more players arrived one after another until there were over a dozen in total.

Once the last player had arrived, a man carrying a lantern emerged from between the trees.

His face was covered in wrinkles; his skin was weathered and tough. He had sharp eyes like an eagle, a hooked nose, and sunken eye sockets. It was impossible to tell where he was from, as he wore only a tattered set of coarse linen clothing.

He slowly looked each of the players over, then squeezed out a faint smile. “So many this time?”

He sounded like someone sighing over a pile of livestock at a slaughterhouse, which made everyone shiver with dread.

“Come with me, young ones.” The man said kindly, shaking the lantern in his hand. “It gets dark early here, and there are wild beasts in the forest. Be careful.”

And he was right — though it was still afternoon, the sky was already a deep, inky black, like dusk had fallen early or a heavy rainstorm was about to hit.

The forest was dark and deep. Faint sounds echoed around them, maybe wild animals, maybe the wind rustling through the leaves, enough to send goosebumps crawling up their skin.

Chi Xi rubbed his arms and whispered to Yin Liuming, “Brother Yin, it’s really cold here.”

Yin Liuming nodded. Even with his thick coat on, the cold still pierced to the bone.

—If it stayed this cold once they entered the dream, he’d have to stick heat packs inside his pajamas to sleep at night.

A tall young man up ahead turned around and joined in like they were old friends. “You guys feel it too? Damn, I didn’t bring anything warm. Are we in the Arctic or the Antarctic? Brother, that backpack of yours is huge. Do you have any warm clothes in there? Can I borrow some to wear?”

Yin Liuming declined politely and gently. “No, I don’t.”

The young man looked a bit disappointed. “Well, I hope there’s a place in the village that sells clothes… Uncle, do you guys take RMB? Or dollars? Can I use Alipay?”

The person leading the way twitched his face, his voice low, “No loud talking — you’ll disturb the Fish God.”

Fish God? The players immediately perked up.

However, the man said nothing more. He only told them to keep quiet and follow him. They’d talk more once they reached the town.

They walked along the path for over half an hour before they finally saw some lights up ahead.

It was a small town surrounded by mountains on three sides and facing the sea on the other. Every house was a stilted wooden building with fenced yards around them.

Because the sky was so dark, every house had soft yellow lights glowing inside, adding a bit of warmth to the peaceful coastal town.

“As per our village rules, all returning young people have to greet the Madame first.” The man with the lantern smiled as he spoke. “Luckily, she hasn’t gone to bed yet. Come with me.”

That same young man couldn’t help blurting out again, “It’s not even midnight yet — don’t tell me someone actually goes to sleep before twelve? Hahahaha!”

Yin Liuming: “……”

The other players were also getting annoyed with the young man. Someone muttered, “Shut up.”

The man with the lantern pretended not to hear and simply picked up his pace.

They turned down a few winding paths before finally stopping in front of a mansion.

It was the only Western-style building in town made of brick and tile. The courtyard had an artificial rock garden and a small pond — far more extravagant than the modest yards elsewhere.

Once inside, Yin Liuming realized that compared to this, the outside looked like a barren wasteland.

The living room was dazzling with gold and light. Massive oil paintings hung all around, gold-foil decorations lined the walls, and thick wool carpets covered the solid wood floor. The fireplace opposite the front door was burning generously with charcoal, filling the room with warmth — a stark contrast to the cold outside.

The lantern bearer had barely taken two steps when a sharp voice sounded. “Enough, Kaf! Don’t you dare let your filthy feet touch the Madame’s carpet!”

A young butler in a crisp tailcoat descended the staircase, glancing at the mud-stained shoes of the players with clear distaste. He fanned the air dramatically. “Oh God! The floor will need cleaning again.”

The lantern man bowed humbly with a wrinkled smile. “My apologies, Mr. Butler… It’s the rules — they have to be presented to the Madame…”

“I understand.” The butler grumbled and turned to head upstairs. “I’ll go get the Madame.”

After he left, someone couldn’t help asking the lantern man, “Who is the Madame?”

The lantern man shushed him. “Show respect for the Madame! …Madame Solari is the leader of our Solari Town. If you want to settle here, you’ll have to follow her rules.”

His face twitched, and suddenly he looked a bit terrifying. “The Madame… is dangerous…”

Clack, clack, clack. The sound of high heels hitting wood came from the staircase.

Yin Liuming looked up at the so-called dangerous Madame.

Madame Solari appeared unexpectedly young, with a dazzling face. Her silver-white hair was coiled into a tall bun, showing off her slender and elegant neck. Her rose-pink gown made her look even more seductive and striking.

She walked unhurriedly toward the players, her beautiful face graced with a refined smile.

“My dear children, thank you for being willing to return to our town and offer your wisdom to our shared home. Even if the sky is cloaked in darkness, your passionate hearts make me feel as though I stand beneath the blazing sun.”

The players exchanged uncertain glances.

The same chatty young man from before mustered his courage and asked, “M-Madame, what do you need us to do? We don’t know anything yet.”

Madame Solari clasped her hands together, her smile still flawless. “Oh, brave young ones, your return is already the greatest help to us — allow me to explain the great panic Solari Town is currently facing. You saw it yourselves as you arrived — it’s barely past noon, yet the sun has already vanished from the sky. Without the sun, flowers and trees cannot flourish, and our townspeople fear venturing out to sea for fishing. The strange part is that when you leave Solari Town, the sun returns to its normal state. Over time, the young people all left. Only those of us who are nostalgic for our homeland chose to stay behind and try to uncover the mystery of the sun’s disappearance.”

“According to my research, Solari Town has always worshipped the Sunfish God. But perhaps it was the loss of our faith that angered the deity, and now the Sunfish God, who once granted us life and warmth, has turned away from us.”

“So we’ve decided to hold a grand sacrificial ritual to express our reverence and devotion to the Sunfish God.”

“My children, the sacrificial ritual is complex and tedious — we need your help to carry it out.”

After Madame Solari finished speaking, the radio on the wall shelf crackled twice, and then the familiar mechanical system voice spoke.

[Twenty players have now entered the dream.]

[Dream Name: Deep Sea Sacrificial Town.]

[Main Mission: Help the townspeople of Solari Town bask in sunlight once more. Difficulty: ★★.]

[Players may choose to leave the dream after completing the main mission. Rewards will be settled after leaving.]

[First Main Mission Phase: Survive for three days.]

[No reward for completing this step.]

The announcement caused a commotion among the players. Yin Liuming raised his brows slightly.

This dream seemed much harder than the last — the first mission was simply to survive.

Similar to the previous dream, Madame Solari didn’t seem to hear the voice from the radio at all. She simply smiled and said,

“The sacrificial ritual will take another two or three days to prepare. You probably don’t have a place to stay yet, but don’t worry — we won’t mistreat any young person willing to return. Ralph! Get the guest rooms ready for these young ones!”

She gave the players another look, then suddenly covered her mouth and chuckled. “The number of you is perfect; if there were more of you, my mansion wouldn’t have enough guest rooms.”

The butler stepped forward, eyeing the players’ muddy shoes with disgust. Still, he respectfully said, “Please follow me.”

……

The guest rooms in Madame Solari’s mansion were much better than the school dormitory from the last dream.

Yin Liuming was assigned to Room 5. He tested out the soft down bed with satisfaction, then unpacked all his stuff.

When Shen Lou drifted out from the illustration book, he happened to catch Yin Liuming hanging a second set of pajamas in the closet.

“You actually brought two sets this time?”

Yin Liuming closed the closet door and replied calmly, “I was worried someone might try to mess up my pajamas again.”

Shen Lou ohed. “So you’re ready to clear the level in pajamas again.”

Yin Liuming: “……”

“Why’d you rush into a second dream so fast?”

Cradling a plump orange cat in his arms, Shen Lou floated down gently onto the bed.

“The time between dreams is basically a free vacation from the system. Most players enjoy it in their personal rest spaces. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.”

After all, being able to create anything — items, scenes — it was like living in a dream.

Yin Liuming didn’t want to recall Shen Lou’s eye-searing aesthetic choices, so he smiled and said, “Naturally, I’m eager to help Mr. Shen collect more illustrations.”

Shen Lou tilted his head and gave Yin Liuming a cryptic look, then chuckled. “You’re cursing me in your mind again.”

Of course Yin Liuming wouldn’t admit it. “You’re overthinking it, Mr. Shen.”

Suddenly, Shen Lou flicked his wrist and tossed the orange cat straight into Yin Liuming’s arms.

Yin Liuming held the ‘orange cat’ with a helpless expression.

Up close, the cat was entirely orange-yellow. Its eyes, mouth, and paws were vague outlines — because it was actually the Flames of Rage and Regret mimicking a cat’s form.

In the Fresh Flowers Scorched Earth Campus, the Flames of Rage and Regret had taken the shape of a rose. However, in Shen Lou’s hands, it was forced to become a cat.

The ‘orange cat’ rubbed up against Yin Liuming in a friendly way but lost control of its form — a burst of fire suddenly bulged out from its belly, leaving a scorched mark on his clothes.

Yin Liuming’s mouth twitched slightly. He set the cat down.

Shen Lou floated over in front of Yin Liuming and made a beckoning gesture. The pajama set that had just hung up flew into his hands.

Shen Lou held the pajamas up to Yin Liuming and raised a brow. “You really like animal-themed pajamas that much?”

This set was a fluffy gray bunny outfit — even cuter than the previous light yellow bear one.

Yin Liuming slowly let out a breath and forced a stiff smile. “That has nothing to do with you, Mr. Shen.”

Right then, the door burst open and a young man stepped inside. “Hey! Neighbor next door, I thought I’d come by and say hello—”

He walked in and saw Shen Lou and Yin Liuming sitting close together, with a pair of fluffy bunny pajamas in Shen Lou’s hands. He was stunned.

Yin Liuming rubbed the bridge of his nose in exasperation, trying to explain. “This is—”

“Sorry, sorry, sorry! Didn’t mean to interrupt!” The young man came back to his senses and backed away, thoughtfully closing the door behind him. “You two carry on!”

Yin Liuming: “……”

A moment later, the same guy rushed back in, holding a stick. “No, wait — there’s a ghost here!”

He swung the wooden stick at the semi-transparent Shen Lou. “Hang in there, brother, I’ll save you right now!”

With a loud shout, the young man raised the stick and brought it crashing down toward Shen Lou’s head!