Infinite Weird Game

On the first day of the "Ghost" copy, in the bamboo forest shrouded in darkness, Qis opened his eyes and saw his own figure in a red dress with long hair and a lantern in hand in the mirror that flashed before his eyes.

Below the identity card in the upper right corner of the line of sight, a small card with a blood-stained skull painted on it quietly solidified, embedded in the purple-black background, dark and eerie.

[Your identity: Ghost]

[Identity Effect: ① When you are in the same room with a single person and the distance between you and the person is no more than three meters, you can choose to kill the person;
②You can kill someone by touching their shoulder anywhere.
③You must kill one person every day, otherwise your soul will be scattered and you will turn into Xiyi;

④ If you mistakenly kill a player in the same "Ghost" camp, you will be killed by the mountain god. 】

A ghost is Qis’s identity in this copy, or in other words, his camp.

As an [Undead] walking in the game, it is reasonable in a sense that he is assigned to the ghost camp in the copy.

There are many mazes in the bamboo forest, and wandering ghosts can easily lose their way in it, wandering around in circles and unable to leave.

Qis simply found a clean place to squat down, controlling the cursed spirit to fly and circle around him.

I waited in boredom for half a minute, and suddenly a deafening roar sounded in the deep forest, shattering the mist lingering among the bamboos.

A path paved with white stones appeared in front of me, winding forward.

Qi Si put away the cursed pendulum, picked up the paper lantern, and strolled along the path for a while, and then he arrived at the archway outside Yanghua Town.

A man in a yellow Taoist robe was already standing there, holding a lantern in one hand and a tattered ancient book in the other.

[The main mission has been refreshed]

[Main Mission: Eliminate all humans among players]

Two lines of text refreshed, and Qi Si walked towards the man dressed as a Taoist priest with a smile.

Seeing Qi Si, the man came up to him quickly: "Are you a player too? This is a team dungeon, we..."

Qi Si smiled and reached out to pat his shoulder gently.

[You have used the identity effect once today and killed one person]

[Please kill the next person within twelve hours]

Amid the cold system prompt sound, fresh blood splashed onto the pages of the ancient book.

The player in the Taoist robe fell straight back, and gradually lost his body as he fell, leaving only an empty Taoist robe wrapped in an ancient book and a lantern, floating lightly onto the ground.

Qi Si reached out and took the deceased's belongings, stuffed the Taoist robe and lantern into his backpack, and began to study the ancient book that was obviously a prop brought by the copy character.

There was a letter inside the book, from which he learned that the dead player was a Taoist priest hired by Master Meng to deal with the evil spirits.

——This identity is good, it is his now.

The first page of the ancient book describes the ghost:

[As the old saying goes, "A leaf can block one's eyes." The evil spirit used bamboo leaves to block people's eyes and lured the traveler into the tiger's belly. ]

[Bamboo leaves are an illusion...]

Qi Sitong read it once, tore off the page, crumpled it up and stuffed it into his backpack.

Half a minute later, Qiu Xin, dressed in a purple skirt, came out of the bamboo forest and glanced at Qi Si's shoulder vaguely.

Qi Si closed the ancient book, tucked it under his arm, smiled and nodded at the girl: "Are you a player too? Let me introduce myself first.

"My name is Lin Wen. I am a specimen maker in real life, and a Taoist priest in this instance..."

……

"Lin Wen, a Taoist priest."

"The wandering man is called Tang Yu."

"My name is Lin Chen, and I'm a doctor."

The players briefly introduced themselves to Meng Fang so that he could match the names with the faces.

Meng Fang is the Master Meng who wrote the letter to invite the players to Yanghua Town. He is also the General Meng who ordered the fire after failing to defend the city in the background of the dungeon.

After a few brief greetings, he turned around and walked in front, leading the players to the back room.

Before meeting Meng Fang, players might have some complaints about his behavior of sending soldiers to expel the townspeople and set fire to the town.

But after meeting, no one expressed the slightest dissatisfaction with his past behavior.

After all, everyone is here to complete a mission, and the main mission is indirectly assigned by Meng Fang, so no one needs to offend the core NPC for no reason.

How the townspeople lived and died was of no concern to the players. Their extra kindness and sense of justice were worn out in one dungeon after another. It was extremely foolish for veteran players to speak eloquently for the destined victims.

What's more, in Qis's view, arson was not something he had not done before, and the move of clearing the countryside was quite in line with the rationalist principle of "harming others to benefit oneself" and was worthy of encouragement.

The three of them followed Master Meng side by side, silently passing through the corridors and aisles, while observing their surroundings with their peripheral vision inconspicuously.

It was clearly a large mansion with three courtyards, but there was not even a maid or servant on the street. It looked lonely and sloppy, like a shoddily made paper-made structure.

The popularity was as low as a grave, and it seemed that only Master Meng was present in the lifeless building.

——And perhaps his bedridden mother.

"I won't hide it from you all. The evil tiger outside the town is actually the mountain god that we worship every day in our town."

Meng Fang stood behind the screen wall in the backyard, turned around and faced the players, and began to speak:

“Back then, the foreign tribes in the north moved south, and the imperial court was defeated. I was just a small local official at the time, and all I could do was to wander with the people under my jurisdiction and come to Yanghua Town to escape the war.

"This area is not a place that is necessarily fought over by military strategists, and there is a powerful tiger demon lurking in the nearby mountains and forests. I happened to know some Taoist magic, so I negotiated with the tiger demon and asked it to protect us and not easily interfere with the lives of the people, and we would be responsible for supporting it.

"We have a lot of people. If we risk our lives, the tiger monster will not be able to survive. It can only agree to our conditions. The people then set about building Yanghua Town, where they can live and work in peace and contentment."

Meng Fang's expression was sincere and frank, his attitude was humble and polite, and he did not speak in official language. However, he did not mention the burning of the town at all, as if the fire that destroyed Yanghua Town had never existed in history.

Lin Chen frowned slightly, but he knew it was not a good idea to ask directly, so he silently chatted with Qi Si in his heart: "Brother Qi, does Master Meng not know that he is dead, and has forgotten what he did in the past?"

Qi Si did not answer, but looked up into Meng Fang's eyes: "Mr. Meng once said in a letter that he hopes we can get rid of the tiger for Yanghua Town. May I ask, did the tiger demon do anything to violate the agreement?"

"That's right." Meng Fang nodded solemnly, "According to the agreement, we will decide who will support the tiger demon every day and send them out of the town. But the tiger demon was greedy and sent many minions to sneak into the town to secretly harm people.

"Just half a month ago, a ghost sneaked into my house and attacked my mother. Although I arrived in time, my mother was still poisoned by the tiger and fell into a coma. That's why I thought of asking you to come and take a look."

Qi Si nodded slightly and asked, "Then may I ask Master Meng, where does the tiger demon usually appear?"

Meng Fang said: "Go out from the back door of the residence you live in and walk straight for thirty-three feet. You will see a bamboo forest. The tiger monster is in the bamboo forest. I hope you can get rid of it for us as soon as possible."

The players looked at each other in bewilderment. Lin Chen hesitated for a moment and said hesitantly, "If your mother was poisoned by tiger poison, I may not be able to provide any help. Medical books don't say how to treat such diseases, and I have never treated such a case."

Tang Yu also bowed to Meng Fang at the right time: "Master Meng, since it is useless for Doctor Lin to stay and it will only get in the way, why not let him leave first."

He originally wanted to ask how to leave Yanghua Town, but Meng Fang frowned and said apologetically, "After you enter the town, the tiger monster may have known my plan and will not let any travelers go easily... If you leave rashly, you may encounter unexpected events."

The meaning is very clear, players cannot leave without getting rid of the tiger monster.

The originally different main tasks all lead to the same end. Whether it is leaving Yanghua Town, curing Madam Meng, or dealing with the minions, they all cannot avoid the tiger monster.

[The main mission has been updated]

[Main Quest: Kill the Tiger Monster Outside Yanghua Town]

Two lines of silver-white text refreshed on Tang Yu and Lin Chen's system interface.

Qi Si saw the main mission of the human camp through Lin Chen's perspective, lowered his eyelids slightly, and said with a smile: "Master Meng, I have a question. Since you risked your lives in the past and were able to make the tiger monster afraid, then now——

"Why don't you fight for your lives together?"

Meng Fang sighed, "That tiger demon is no longer an ordinary tiger demon. It died in a war many years ago, but because its cultivation was too high, it could not enter the reincarnation cycle. It has become a demon that none of us can deal with. I can only ask for help from a few famous heroes."

Ordinary people cannot deal with demons and ghosts, so it makes sense to ask for help from martial arts masters and Taoist priests, but why involve Lin Chen, who can only cure diseases and save lives?
There's obviously a problem. Are you looking for a scapegoat?

Seeing the players' eyes flickering, Meng Fang quickly added: "If you are really helpless, that's fine. I will find a chance to send you away in five days at most."

The main quest has not changed and is still "kill the tiger monster" instead of "survive for five days." It is conceivable that there are many variables in Meng Fang's statement of sending players out of the town after five days.

"Five days" is probably the time limit of this copy to prevent players from slacking off. Players are required to complete the task within the specified time, otherwise the minimum death toll mechanism will be activated.

Meng Fang smiled and said, "Please stay in the town for a while and just have fun. If you have any requests, I will do my best to satisfy them. If you have any food or drinks, I will ask Li Yi to bring them to you. I happen to have a few jars of newly brewed good wine in my cellar, you can also try them."

The players are all in spirit form and do not need to eat, drink, or wash; as for enjoyment, they do not have the leisure time and they dare not create any complications.

As for the drinks...does this seem like Jingyang Ridge and the player is Wu Song?
In the silence, Qi Si casually said, "The scholar who took us yesterday was quite talkative. We had a very pleasant chat. But for some reason, he was replaced this morning. Can you please bring him back?"

"This..." Meng Fang's eyes were filled with confusion. "Yesterday, I knew that Li Yi had talked to you, so I arranged for him to continue to be responsible for guiding you. Could it be that he secretly changed people?"

His doubts did not seem false.

Qi Si sneered, "I overthink it. Exorcising ghosts too many times makes one suspicious. This morning, I saw that Brother Li treated us more warmly than yesterday, and I thought he had changed people. I didn't expect that it was Master Meng who had reminded us."

He paused, then asked, "I have one more question. Is there a mass grave in the town? I will be using a ritual to deal with the evil spirit tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, so I may need to borrow some Feng Shui from there."

Hearing this, Meng Fang's eyes flashed with a hint of strangeness: "To be honest, since we settled in Yanghua Town, all the corpses have been transported out of the town and handed over to the tiger demon for disposal..."

Are all the bodies handed over to the tiger demon? What about the pile of bodies behind the mansion?

Qi Si looked at Meng Fang's frank expression and narrowed his eyes.

……

When the players came out of Meng's house, it was almost dusk in Yanghua Town.

The vast white sky was painted with gray inch by inch, and the boundary between the white-walled and black-tiled houses in the distance became increasingly difficult to distinguish.

The faint shadows of the houses spread out in all directions on the ground, and when they became one, they were as vast and boundless as the sea.

The townspeople gradually dispersed into the streets, leaving only three players holding lanterns standing on the street.

"At least one problem has been solved." Tang Yu said calmly, "Just like a living tiger will eat living people, because the tiger demon has turned into a demon ghost, it has turned to eat the ghosts of the townspeople.

"That is to say, if we face the tiger monster, we will most likely die. At best, we will just be a snack in its mouth... Shit!"

He stopped talking and stared fixedly into the depths of an alley on the left.

Keith followed his gaze.

I saw an old man in black clothes walking out of the alley, holding a gong in his hand and chanting a vague song:

"My wife died of a tiger, and my son also died there. Why don't you leave? There is war in another place..."

The man was said to be an old man only because his hair was as white as snow and the beard around his mouth and nose was also snow-white.

But upon closer inspection, the man's face behind his beard and hair was surprisingly young, and particularly familiar.

It’s the scholar from the first day!
Lin Chen couldn't help but take a small step forward and pretend to strike up a conversation.

Qi Si pulled his sleeve and said softly, "There is something strange, don't alert the enemy."

The light was too dim to see clearly. When the scholar came closer, the players noticed with the help of the lantern that the scholar dressed as an old man had cloudy eyes, and he was moving forward with a stuttering step, and his consciousness was obviously not very clear.

He seemed to have no memory of the player at all. Even after hearing Qi Si's words, he merely tilted his head and continued on his previous direction.

He walked slowly into the circle of light formed by the lanterns, and loose shadows swayed behind him.

Unlike the tiger shadow shown on the first day, that one was a human shadow, with hands, feet and head clearly visible.

It was clear that he was a ghost mixed in the crowd yesterday, but today he changed his identity and outfit and turned into a human being.

What are the criteria for determining whether the townspeople in Yanghua Town are accomplices of the devil or not?

Are the ghosts that players previously understood really the ghosts referred to in the name of the copy?
Are there really ghosts among the townspeople?
Lin Chen's body stagnated slightly, and his hoarse voice was transmitted to Qi Si through the soul leaf: "Brother Qi, as spirits, the townspeople should not have shadows. It is because they possessed the scarecrow that they have shadows.

"Does this mean that the shadow we see is actually the shadow of a scarecrow? If the straw is made into a human, the shadow on the ground is the human's shadow; if the straw is made into a tiger, the shadow on the ground is the tiger's shadow...

"Why did Yanghua Town design this? To scare us? To intimidate the townspeople?"

Qi Si did not answer immediately, but just looked straight ahead with interest.

The scholar in front of him dragged his slender figure and walked quietly through the circle of light, stepping into the deepening twilight outside the circle of light.

The shadow behind him was immersed in the shadow of the house, like a drop of ink falling into the dirty water for washing an inkstone, blending into one and making it difficult to distinguish its outline.

The candle in the lantern jumped vigorously, emitting a light yellow light tirelessly in the dark night.

All sounds fell silent as the figure left. The traveler who was about to fall asleep did not dare to speak loudly for fear of disturbing the god of the night.

Qi Si withdrew his gaze and looked down at the fate pocket watch. It was already seven o'clock in the evening.

"Go back, there are still two hours until midnight."

He looked in the direction where the scholar left and smiled with an ambiguous smile: "Also, I have made some guesses about the worldview of this copy -

"It all depends on whether the person who died tonight is that person." (End of this chapter)