Ch27 - Xiao Ming’s Daily Life

A simple timeline was drawn in Li Yinhang’s notebook, followed by simple text notes.

“They are movies.” Li Yinhang declared. “All the horror phenomena we have encountered so far are plots in movies.” 

Li Yinhang only thought of movies due to what happened to the thin monkey yesterday. As a child, she had watched an old Hong Kong movie on the movie channel. She had forgotten the specifics a long time ago but there was a plot that terrified the young Li Yinhang so much that she had to get into her mother’s bed.

A man stood in front of the TV and was captivated by the red lips of a woman that kept opening and closing. The red lips opened and swallowed the man into the TV. Finally, she stuck her tongue out and licked her lips in a satisfied manner. This resulted in Li Yinhang not daring to stay in front of electronic screens like the television for too long.

Unexpectedly, the experience of the thin monkey actually corresponded to this shadow from her childhood. Only then did she have a bit of basis for investigating.

“It is just that I was afraid to make up my mind based on this memory fragment.” Li Yinhang spoke bitterly, “Thus, I watched all the horror movies on the computer.” 

She opened her notebook and spread it out in front of Nan Zhou.

‘Human Form’ was a warm horror movie and the storyline was about a child who always felt that his home was haunted. No one believed him but in fact, it was his dead father who had come back. He would stand beside the bed watching his sleeping son, accompanying his son to school and playing basketball with his son, until he watched his son run to the temple to pray, hoping he would disappear.

‘Bathroom’ was a Korean movie. At just after 29 minutes, the heroine was washing her hair when she saw a pair of feet behind her.

‘Night Howling’ was an American movie where the werewolf hid under a child’s bed. When the child was playing, the remote-controlled car slid under the bed. He reached for it and was pulled under the bed by the werewolf. This plot was at the beginning of the movie, around the 3 minutes and 25 seconds time point.

The Hong Kong movie ‘The Invasion of Ghosts’ that Li Yinhang watched was also on the list.

Li Yinhang explained, “The situation that Lawyer Yu met today is also on the computer. It is called ‘The Choir’. It is a Canadian movie about a demon leading faceless children to sing in a church to lure devout believers, catching them and eating their souls.”

Nan Zhou was in a trance. In this way, everything made sense. Why was the appearance of the ghost irregular? Why appear randomly and attack a target even more random? Why was the ghost invisible, tangible and even had wolf claws? The triggered facial recognition, the feet in the bathroom, the man-eating red lips on the computer screen, the temptation in a dream…

The horror plots from movies, the continuously compressed and distorted house and the missing door… 

A timeline that was almost synchronized with the time of the murder but there were no signs of the killer and no bloody corpse…

All sorts of clues gathered together and pointed to a possibility that was a bit weird but could explain it.

Li Yinhang stated, “This is a movie world.”

Jiang Fang said, “This is Xiao Ming’s world.” 

Li Yinhang, “……”

Li Yinhang, “…Eh???”

She spent more than half a day reviewing over 20 horror movies at double the speed, trying to avoid other people’s eyes and ears so that the other groups wouldn’t find that she was doing something. She eventually came to the conclusion that it was a mixed world of several movies.

As a result, Jiang Fang listened to her analysis and took 20 seconds to give a completely different answer. She had a sense of anger and grief like she was confident after a test and discussed it with the top student, only for the top student to tell her that she hadn’t written one side properly. She froze for a few seconds before thinking about what Jiang Fang said. What did he mean by Xiao Ming’s world? 

Nan Zhou was on his knees on the ground. In front of him was the handicrafts work he made for Xiao Ming. This was completed by Nan Zhou today. He felt that if the time flow was accelerated again tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, it might be too late to finish the handicrafts work. Thus, he planned to build it ahead of time. He just needed to add a few more tomorrow and the task would be completed.

Now he already had a rudimentary idea of Xiao Ming’s family. The three match people of different heights held hands and stood in front of the house. The light made the matchstick exude a faint wooden glaze. If one didn’t look carefully, it was like a few miniature sculptures, delicate and warm.

Nan Zhou used a tweezer to hold the matchstick as thin as hair, placing it on the empty side of one of the small people. This was the matchstick Xiao Ming’s arm. His hands were very stable and he could even separate his mind to answer Li Yinhang’s question. “This Xiao Ming’s world refers to the fact that we are now in Xiao Ming’s mind.”

As Li Yinhang was feeling confused, Jiang Fang took over. “Yinhang, do you remember the phone call? The one where we asked about the water bill.” 

“The operator told us that today is July 3rd.”

“In June, this family was a normal family of three that used 12 tons of water. Yet three days after July, the water consumption sharply soared to 11 tons.”

Li Yinhang tried to keep up with the rhythm. “So the dismemberment happened on either the 1st or the 2nd?”

It was because the oil in the pressure cooker was very fresh. It was still shining. 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Jiang Fang said, “The specific time isn’t known. However, it is likely that the night we came here was when he had just sent away his daughter.”

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He thought about this and said, “Perhaps Xiao Ming’s father really came to Xiao Ming’s bedside after killing people, standing by the bed and staring at Xiao Ming.” 

After saying a few words that made Li Yinhang creeped out, Nan Zhou continued to lower his head and build Xiao Ming’s home.

“However, if this game is the reality that the character Xiao Ming is experiencing then it shouldn’t be designed this way.”

“Xiao Ming’s father should still be at home and we should have an intersection with Xiao Ming’s father, the NPC. Our task should be to find out that he killed someone and then try to escape while he chases us from behind with a handsaw. It shouldn’t involve throwing us in an empty house like this, letting some inexplicable ghosts appear and having us find a door in an unknown place.”

“From the beginning, all of us were playing the role of Xiao Ming. According to Xiao Ming’s habits, we lived, washed, did activities and did homework.” 

“At that time, I couldn’t figure it out. There is only one Xiao Ming. Why gather eight people to participate in this instance?”

“Now I probably know why. The number doesn’t matter. We can all be Xiao Ming.”

This instance was the world in Xiao Ming’s mind. Li Yinhang was inspired by the cooperation between Nan Zhou and Jiang Fang and finally opened her mind. If they were in Xiao Ming’s mind then the day when his sister was dismembered was just a normal day for Xiao Ming who just woke up from his sleep. From his point of view, he was unaware of everything. Thus, he woke up from a happy sleep. He didn’t smell blood or hear the sound of the corpse being dismembered. As players, they also didn’t hear anything.

By the time he woke up at 8 o’clock on July 3rd to start a new day, the ground had been cleared, the blood washed into the sewer and the fresh air system and detergent had covered up all the blood. He might’ve only smelled a trace of the meat left in the air. In reality, his father might be at home. He changed into new clothes and looked a bit haggard like he had been awake all night. 

Xiao Ming started his bland daily life in ignorance. On the first day, the players started the search in such a false peace.

At noon, Xiao Ming probably had a dream. Xiao Ming might not know what happened last night but his consciousness had received enough signals. Thus, he dreamed of the cutting sound of the handsaw. This was why Yu Tuisi dreamed it.

This dream might have caused Xiao Ming to be in a bad mood so when he was taking a shower at night, he thought of a plot of a horror movie on the computer. He was very afraid that a pair of women’s feet would appear behind him. Then Shen Jie saw the pale feet.

Before going to bed, Xiao Ming didn’t see his sister for a whole day and he questioned his father. “Where is my sister?” Or he might ask, “Dad, my sister?” 

Any father with a conscience would find it difficult to maintain his normal spirit after dismembering his own daughter. He would say that his sister had gone out to play or perhaps she went to find her mother? In short, it wouldn’t be a pleasant answer.

It was because every night, the world where Jiang Fang and the others were in would become distorted in a strange way. If this was Xiao Ming’s heart then he should be nervous. He found something strange. Perhaps his sister’s things disappeared overnight or perhaps like them, he saw a few bloody hairs. Even during his nap, he dreamed of the smell of meat.

Xiao Ming’s heart contracted violently as it protested. The normal part became smaller while the deformed part became larger. This was the third day. The clock was frantically turning and the craziness grew. The entire house took on a twisted appearance.

In the past, Xiao Ming was just lonely. He complained about why they didn’t accompany him to play. The only thing that could light up his sensitive heart were the lights that belonged to him. Now those lights were slowly going out. 

The key words to pass the instance were inserted in the name of the instance from the beginning. The task they needed to accomplish was ‘Xiao Ming’s daily life.’ It was his usual daily life where he gradually struggled and transformed from pain, uneasiness and fear.

“Therefore…” Nan Zhou concluded. “We are in Xiao Ming’s world.”

It was the evolution of the inner world of a child who accidentally encountered a murder. A world that was falling into darkness. There were the ghosts that children were afraid of, nightmares and unknown secrets. There wasn’t a single door to escape from. This was why they couldn’t find the door.

After experiencing momentary joy at discovering the truth, Li Yinhang suddenly became depressed again. Even if they found out the truth about this world, they still couldn’t find the door. Her discovery did have some value but it had nothing to do with the main plotline. This was why the reward notifications didn’t ring. For example, she found an opportunity to find the keyhole. However, it was useless without the key. 

Jiang Fang praised her, “You did a good job.”

Li Yinhang, “……”

Thank you for the encouragement, even though I went in the wrong direction after getting the clue.

Jiang Fang asked Nan Zhou instead, “What do you think?” 

Nan Zhou didn’t speak. He just pursed his thin lips and frowned. A moment later, he said, “Today is our third day here. If we can go out before midnight then won’t we get a lot of rewards?”

Jiang Fang moved his eyebrow slightly. “Have you thought of something?”

“It isn’t hard.”

Li Yinhang, “……” She felt like her IQ was being pushed down by these two bigshots in turn. One was symbolic gentleness while the other was simple and rough. 

Nan Zhou turned to Li Yinhang and confirmed it. “We will get more points right?”

Li Yinhang saw the hope of getting out of this ghostly place and turned red with excitement. “Yes yes.”

Thus, Nan Zhou swallowed what he wanted to say. He reached for Xiao Ming’s mathematics summer homework and opened the front cover. The thing that caught his eye was the big clock drawn by Xiao Ming on the front page of the exercise book.

Xiao Ming had written in the diary: I hope that when the clock is turned to the end, the math homework will be finished automatically. 

Nan Zhou’s finger touched the cold page of the book. In Xiao Ming’s heart, what was he longing for? Finding the door out was escaping from the pain of Xiao Ming’s hope that was falling downward day by day.

Nan Zhou gently placed his finger on the hour hand of the doodle clock. The house had been searched and it was unlikely that there would be any further clues. Looking at all their discoveries at present, only this virtual clock could express Xiao Ming’s wish. It didn’t belong to reality, it belonged to Xiao Ming’s heart.

He turned the pointer and moved it back. The hour hand that had been drawn in pen and stuck in place actually moved.

One circle, another circle. It was a simple loop operation. 

It was as Nan Zhou said. It wasn’t hard, it was very simple. Xiao Ming wanted to go back in time. Back to the day when the tragedy didn’t happen, back to when both his father and sister were still here.

Nan Zhou’s finger moved faster but his eyes were fixed on the three small figures standing in front of the small house. Time was rewound and flowed away from his fingertips, carrying them out of this prison of the heart. If time could be turned back, what wishes would people make?

Go back and see their parents and relatives when they were young and healthy? Buy a lottery ticket and fulfill their wish to get rich? Apologize to the person who they hurt when they were young and ignorant?

Nan Zhou didn’t know. He didn’t have anything special he wanted to do. If there must be something… 

There was a burst of pleasant music at this time, interrupting Nan Zhou’s reverie. After the music, everyone heard the same thing.

[Ding ding ding—]

[Congratulations to the ‘Cube Boat’ team for completing the instance ‘Xiao Ming’s Daily Life’!]

[Congratulations to the ‘Cube Boat’ team members Nan Zhou, Jiang Fang and Li Yinhang for finding the ‘escape door’ and earning 2,000 points respectively!] 

[Congratulations to the ‘Cube Boat’ team member Nan Zhou for obtaining the A-grade item ‘Counter-clockwise Hour Hand’!]

[Congratulations to the ‘Cube Boat’ team, ‘Shunfeng’ team and ‘Nanshan’ team for completing the basic tasks and getting the reward ‘Xiao Ming’s Daily Tasks Completed in Full’, earning 500 points respectively.]

[Congratulations to the three teams for finding the exit four days in advance in the seven day game, earning 800 points respectively!]

[The exploration degree of the main plotline has reached 98.7%. If the degree of completion is more than 95% then it can be judged as the perfect S-grade rating!] 

[Ding! The S-grade rewards are 1,000 points each and any random item. The items will be delivered to the players’ backpacks within three days~]

[Please leave the instance within three minutes—]

All of Nan Zhou’s superfluous thoughts were eliminated. The speed at which he put away the summer homework book with the clock was so fast that Li Yinhang couldn’t even blink. The three of them pushed open the door and found Shen Jie, who was about to take a shower, standing in the living room.

Shen Jie’s hands were slightly trembling as she asked the three of them in an ecstatic manner, “What’s going on?!” 

Nan Zhou and Li Yinhang briefly explained to them while looking around. The walls were still deformed. It was just that in the hallway where there should be a door, a door crookedly drawn in crayon appeared. As expected, Xiao Ming’s heart had become like this.

Nan Zhou originally thought that if there wasn’t a reward for the time they spent to clear it, he would want to stay here with Xiao Ming for the next four days. However, a broken heart wouldn’t be so easily healed.

Li Yinhang used her own ability to reluctantly describe their reasoning process. Shen Jie didn’t understand at all. She ignored the bit of jealousy and admiration of Cube Boat in her heart and directed the fitness trainer to hurry and carry the thin monkey on his back. It was good to go out and she didn’t care so much.

Chen Sufeng pushed Yu Tuisi, who had just taken sleeping pills, out of the master bedroom. The latter propped up his head in a drowsy manner. 

Shen Jie asked Li Yinhang, “Where will you go once you are out?”

Li Yinhang answered, “We came from Rust City.”

Shen Jie kindly invited them. “You should come to Paper Gold. We are from Paper Gold.”

Paper Gold City was another transmission point in the game Forces of Temptation. Unlike the highly mature post-modern Rust City, the Paper Gold City was magnificent and glorious. It was set in an area rich in gold mines and diamonds and had a high-end equipment market. 

Chen Sufeng was studying the strange door. Jiang Fang was watching the door from a distance. Nan Zhou went into Xiao Ming’s room to see if there were any hidden items. In the last three minutes, Shen Jie and Li Yinhang decided where to go after leaving.

In the hallway, Yu Tuisi looked at the few people who were hurriedly discussing where to go as well as the fitness trainer who was carrying the thin monkey in the direction of Shen Jie. He narrowed his eyes which were slightly fuzzy due to the medicine. “…Why is there one more person?”

His words were too late. Jiang Fang looked back. A monster had appeared out of nowhere behind the fitness trainer. It was a naked male zombie with liquid flowing down his chin! He used his half-rotten vocal cords to give a sharp and violent roar. His arm filled with remarkable muscles headed toward the back of the fitness trainer.

Who would’ve imagined that Xiao Ming’s horror thoughts would have refreshed the moment before they were about to leave?! 

Li Yinhang’s mind completely froze for a moment. A long list of words flashed quickly before her eyes. There was the American zombie movie, ‘Lost.’ Around 2 hours into the movie, everyone thought the zombies were completely wiped out but there was still one lurking in the home of the protagonist.

…It was a fucking open ending.

The living room was too narrow for everyone to hide.

Chen Sufeng’s reaction was the quickest. He grabbed Yu Tuisi’s wheelchair and crossed the painted door in thin air. Before the fitness trainer even turned his head, Shen Jie grabbed his arm and yelled, “Run!” 

The fitness trainer trusted Shen Jie 100% and didn’t dare look back. He ran quickly and in a few steps, jumped out the door.

Li Yinhang had been planning to run. She didn’t expect that just then, she would encounter the fitness trainer running away with the thin monkey on his back. Due to the fitness trainer holding the former’s knees, Li Yinhang was hit hard and staggered two steps. She repeatedly told herself ‘don’t fall’ but she still couldn’t resist gravity and fell to the ground.

Jiang Fang couldn’t run due to his height. Thus, he had no intention of running at all. He moved his wrists, his thumbs pressing the middle finger joints of both hands with a slight cracking sound.

The zombie was furious after losing the fitness coach. He cocked his head and rushed toward Jiang Fang frantically! Just as Li Yinhang was about to scream, she suddenly saw a figure walking swiftly and coming to the side of the zombie. 

…She had forgotten that there was Nan Zhou in the room. In the next instant, Nan Zhou’s left hand held the bottom of the corpse’s chin. His right hand was placed on the upper right side of the corpse’s head.

Li Yinhang hadn’t remembered why this action was so familiar when she saw him twisting both hands. Then crack—

There was a sharp sound as the zombie’s neck was directly disconnected from his cervical spine and his head spun 180 degrees.

The zombie, “……” 

He probably didn’t understand why he was facing the bathroom when he had been facing the door just now.

Li Yinhang, “……” She couldn’t scream. It was stuck in her throat.

The zombie naturally didn’t die. His head whirled around silently as if he wanted to know what was north, south, east and west.

Nan Zhou saw the unidentified mucus on his hands and quickly pulled a scarf off a hanger to wipe his hands a few times. As he wiped his hands, he looked up at Jiang Fang and said, “Next time, don’t be afraid and remember to run. You can’t beat it but I can.” 

Jiang Fang put his hands in his pockets, completely covering up his previous attack posture as he smiled. “Yes, Teacher Nan.”

Nan Zhou did a simple clean up and walked to Li Yinhang’s side. “Come on.”

Li Yinhang who received a double shock stared at the zombie who was still spinning around, her legs a bit weak. Nan Zhou saw that she was motionless and simply grabbed the clothes at the back of her neck, lifting her up from the ground like a chicken.

“Let’s go,” Nan Zhou said simply. “I want to wash my hands.” 

Rainbow Turtle: My sleeping schedule has been really out of whack lately for some reason (probably stress). No matter how hard I try, I’ve only been getting 2/3 hours of sleep before waking up and trying to fall back asleep again. Due to that I’ve honestly had no energy to do anything and I’ve been getting constant headaches.

In order to try and restore my sleep schedule, I’ve decided to stop updating as much for a month and try to relax more. After this chapter, I will update it at one chapter a week for a month.