I Raise My Wife in a Supernatural Story (Infinite) - Chapter 21.2

Both of them were guides who had led people in. Qi Yan understood their meaning, the guides were all fake, their real purpose being to lure outsiders here to be killed!

“Enough! Silence!” an elderly man barked. “This is the fate of us descendants of Bai Shui Town’s tomb guardians! To survive, we must do this! No one can defy destiny. From the moment our ancestors escaped the Emperor’s Tomb and settled here, our fate was sealed!”

The old man’s cane struck the ground heavily. “Bound forever to the Emperor’s Tomb of Zhong Mountain! Offering the lives of our descendants in exchange for mere survival! Our Lu clan of Bai Shui Town has been tormented by this curse for generations. But now, at last, we’ve found a new way sacrificing forty-nine outsiders in exchange for sparing our descendants! Let them leave Bai Shui Town far behind! Never to return!”

The elder’s voice grew louder and more impassioned with each word. Perhaps overcome by emotion, his voice cracked toward the end, dissolving into a fit of coughing.

“Great Elder!”

“Elder!”

Several younger villagers rushed to support him, but Sister Hong remained on the sidelines, her gaze flickering occasionally toward Qi Yan and Bai Qing.

Right, Qi Yan remembered. In this scripted world, apart from Sister Hong, the NPC who guided them in, everyone else was a character designed around the story’s plot. Like clockwork parts in a game, they repeated their roles day after day.

This novice script probably wasn’t their first batch of players. These NPCs were likely just endlessly repeating their roles, completely devoid of self-awareness, oblivious to being stagnant NPCs with no future.

Except for Sister Hong. As the guide NPC, she knew exactly what kind of world this was.

She watched everything with cold detachment, fully aware of how things worked, but she wouldn’t intervene until the final node that was the rule set for her by the script.

Qi Yan boldly speculated that Sister Hong currently posed no threat to the players. She couldn’t act now. If not for the rules restraining her, given the predatory way she eyed them daily, she could have struck at any moment. The fact that she hadn’t made a move yet proved the time restrictions imposed on her were strict.

Thinking this, Qi Yan subtly lifted her gaze, locking eyes with Sister Hong as she swept her glance over them.

Their eyes met. Sister Hong raised a brow slightly, offering a knowing smile. This little newcomer was quite interesting. She had been a guide NPC in this world for over a century, leading countless players, but it had been a long time since she encountered someone so bold and sharp.

Newcomers, fresh to this place, were usually like Baldy or the couple utterly clueless. Often, the NPCs didn’t even need to lift a finger before these players stumbled into traps and died horribly. Even if they survived, they’d end up like Song Yu their reason eroded by fear, reduced to empty shells for the NPCs to devour at will.

Sister Hong loved that feeling. That was why she stayed in the novice script here, she could endlessly savor the most genuine, visceral fear humans had to offer.

Ah, how delicious fear tasted! Excitement flickered in Sister Hong’s eyes. If only this little one before her could show that kind of terror, it would be even more delectable!

Too bad she couldn’t act against the players yet. But no matter there were other ways to meddle with the script’s progression. Following the routine was too dull. This little one was clearly awake now, so why not give her a grand gift?

Meanwhile, Qi Yan urged Bai Qing to wake Huo Zheng and Tang Shanshan.

She watched as a wisp of white mist condensed into a hammer before ruthlessly bonking Huo Zheng and Tang Shanshan on the head.

“Ah!”

Tang Shanshan gasped in pain, instinctively reaching to clutch her head, only for an invisible force to pin her arms down.

Huo Zheng was slightly more composed. Jolted awake from hypnosis, he broke into a cold sweat the moment he saw their surroundings. Before Qi Yan could speak, his right hand flashed with a blinding light. When it faded, a short, sharp dagger was clenched in his grip.

“…”

Damn. Huo Zheng had been so startled he’d immediately summoned the weapon he drew from the novice lot.

At this point, it seemed she was the only one among the three still hiding the true nature of her lot.

Wait, no. Tang Shanshan’s crow-feather wings and Huo Zheng’s dagger were just surface-level manifestations neither of them knew the full extent of their abilities yet.

Now wasn’t the time to dwell on that. Qi Yan pressed down on Huo Zheng’s arm, signaling him to stay calm. With one hand gripping Tang Shanshan and the other steadying Huo Zheng, the three of them continued toward the cave entrance.

The person at the front had already disappeared into the cave entrance. Qi Yan frowned, the opening was too deep, and the reflected light made it impossible to see inside from where they stood. There was no telling what would happen once they entered.

Tang Shanshan lowered her voice urgently, “What if it’s a sheer cliff? We’ll fall to our deaths if we go in! If we just stand here doing nothing, aren’t we waiting to die?”

Qi Yan glanced at her lightly, a single look carrying a thousand unspoken meanings.

Tang Shanshan jolted abruptly, her mind clearing from the haze of panic brought by sudden awakening. That’s right, the divination slip she’d drawn was “Crow’s Feather,” so why should she fear cliffs and precipices? Even if stepping out of the cave meant free-falling, she wouldn’t be afraid! Not only unafraid, she could even fly away with Brother Huo and Sister Qi!

Tang Shanshan instantly straightened her back.

Sister Hong noticed the subtle movements of Qi Yan and the other two. She chuckled softly, then glanced at Song Yu, who looked like a walking corpse, suddenly intrigued by what might unfold next.

Tang Shanshan walked ahead of Qi Yan, resolved that no matter what lay beyond the cave entrance, she would immediately flee with Brother Huo and Sister Qi.

Just as Tang Shanshan stepped one foot out of the cave, Qi Yan suddenly heard Bai Qing’s warning: “After leaving, find a way to get to the ancestral hall. There’s something strange there.”

“What do you mean?”

Before Qi Yan could get an answer, her footing gave way, her entire weight tilting forward as she plunged headfirst into the void.

“Ah!” The sudden weightlessness made Qi Yan scream instinctively. The next moment, she was lifted into the air, the expected fall never came. She assumed Tang Shanshan had acted.

But when she opened her eyes to confirm, she saw Tang Shanshan only carrying Huo Zheng.

Then, me? Qi Yan turned her head in shock. A wisp of white smoke had condensed into a giant hand, gripping her like a tiny rabbit and hauling her up the cliff.

Qi Yan was speechless. “Couldn’t you have chosen a gentler, more elegant method? Look at little Tang she even knows to carry Brother Huo properly!”

Her complaint earned a cold snort from Bai Qing. “Hmph, so you were looking forward to being held by her?”

“What kind of nonsense is that? I just wanted to be rescued! Preferably in a gentler way!” This fox’s possessiveness was truly overwhelming. Qi Yan felt that, in Bai Qing’s mind, she was a possession not only was no one allowed to harm her, but no one else could even touch her.

It was suffocating. Being treated as a belonging by such a powerful demon was unbearable. Qi Yan thought to herself sooner or later, she’d find a way to escape this scripted world entirely and shake off this monster for good!

The three of them stood firmly on the cliff, looking down at the bottomless ravine below. Those who fell would likely be reduced to nothing.

“What about Song Yu?” Tang Shanshan suddenly remembered her.

Qi Yan fell silent for a moment before replying, “I don’t know. If she fell chances are slim.”

The difference was, the others were just NPCs in this scripted world, but Song Yu like the three of them was a living person who had accidentally stumbled into this place from the real world. Even in death, she wouldn’t find peace.

Tang Shanshan felt a pang of sorrow. “What is this place, really? What are we supposed to do now?”

Their understanding of this scripted world was still too shallow. They hadn’t even cleared the beginner’s stage yet, and the “Introduction” hadn’t spoken up in days. They knew too little about the deeper rules of this world.

“The most important thing right now is to clear this script and survive.”

Qi Yan dusted herself off and said, “Let’s go check out the ancestral hall.”

“Go to the ancestral hall?” Huo Zheng sounded surprised.

“Mm, those villagers from the Lu family were just discussing tonight’s ancestral hall ceremony,” Qi Yan relayed the information Bai Qing had eavesdropped. “‘At midnight tonight, the sealing ritual will proceed as usual. With so many outsiders dead, it should be enough to appease the Emperor’s wrath. Then Whitewater Town will have three years of peace, and our descendants will prosper wherever they go.'”

When those villagers had been arguing about the sacrifices earlier, Huo Zheng and Tang Shanshan hadn’t woken up yet. By the time they came to, the villagers had lowered their voices to normal inaudible levels. It was only because Bai Qing transformed into smoke to eavesdrop that they heard anything at all.

Now thoroughly confused, it wasn’t until Qi Yan gave them a brief explanation that they understood.

“So, the Lu family of Whitewater Town are actually descendants of some emperor’s tomb guardians?” Huo Zheng adjusted his glasses.

Qi Yan, thinking deeper, suddenly shook her head. “I don’t think they’re tomb guardians more like the original tomb builders.”

“You mean the people who constructed the mausoleum?”

“Exactly. And not just one family, but all the surviving tomb builders of that time gathered here, changed their surnames to Lu, and have been living here generation after generation,” Qi Yan explained. “Tomb guardians and tomb builders differ by just one character, but their meanings are worlds apart. If they were guardians, there’d be no need for human sacrifices to suppress the emperor’s wrath. Only tomb builders those who were supposed to die but defied orders to escape would go to such lengths across generations, even sacrificing their own descendants, to keep the emperor’s wrath buried in these mountains.”

Qi Yan’s theory made logical sense. Tang Shanshan, hearing this, fumed, “What kind of unreasonable emperor is this? He makes people build his tomb and then expects them to die afterward!”

“Ancient emperors often had burial sacrifice systems. Just look at the mass grave beneath the altar. Not only that, but almost none of those who built imperial tombs could escape alive. To prevent tomb robbery, anyone who knew the tomb’s design and structure would be silenced killed once their usefulness ended.”

Tang Shanshan angrily asked, “Then which emperor is buried in these mountains? How utterly unreasonable.”

Huo Zheng chuckled. “This is probably all fictional storytelling, no need to get too hung up on logic. We’ll likely never know which emperor this was.”

Qi Yan secretly asked Bai Qing to help scout the path, but the fox was as lazy as ever, acting like some spoiled noble. It took Qi Yan immense effort to persuade her, finally offering half of her rewards from clearing this dungeon as payment to get her to agree.

Half her rewards! Even though Qi Yan didn’t yet know what clearing a dungeon would give her, that didn’t stop her from feeling the sting in advance.

With Qi Yan’s promise secured, Bai Qing condensed a wisp of white smoke from the ring, forming a tangible thread in the air that shaped itself into an arrow pointing the way.

This solid white smoke caught Huo Zheng and Tang Shanshan’s attention. Tang Shanshan gasped and leaned in. “Sister Qi, does your ring also give directions?”

Unsure how to explain that this wasn’t the ring’s function and to protect Bai Qing from being coveted Qi Yan could only offer an awkward smile and nod.

“So cool!”

Perhaps due to her childish curiosity, Tang Shanshan was fascinated by the ring and even instinctively reached out to touch it.

Before her hand could touch Qi Yan, the white smoke abruptly changed direction, morphing into the shape of a stick and wildly swinging at Tang Shanshan. Though it didn’t actually hit her, the menacing display was fierce and full of threat.

“Wow!” Tang Shanshan, a simple-minded and innocent child, grew even more excited seeing the white smoke from the ring shift forms at will. She found it incredibly fun. “What else can you turn into? Can you become a cute doll?”

The smoke-formed stick paused mid-air, then twisted and curled into a large “?”

“Pfft!” Qi Yan couldn’t help but laugh. From that question mark, she could practically sense Bai Qing’s exasperation.

“You can even make a question mark! Now show me an exclamation point!”

In response, the white smoke transformed into six dots: “…”

The journey down from Zhongshan Mountain was far from boring with Tang Shanshan’s constant chatter. Her childlike curiosity kept her entertained for ages just watching the shape-shifting smoke.

Eventually, the white smoke stopped before a dense fog. The three of them halted, staring at the thick mist ahead.

Bai Qing’s voice echoed: “The fog is covering the suspension bridge. You must cross it to reach the ancestral hall.”

No one could say what dangers lurked on that bridge, but it was the only path forward.

Tang Shanshan volunteered eagerly, “How about I fly us across again?”

It wasn’t a bad idea, but Qi Yan shook her head. “If there’s danger, the air won’t be safe either.”

Huo Zheng agreed, “The suspension bridge is already hanging in mid-air. If there’s a threat here, flying through the fog won’t be any easier. Worse, we’d have less room to react if something happens up there.”

At this stage of the dungeon, the main storyline was already clear. For the bridge to still be shrouded in fog now, no one would believe it was harmless.

“A beginner dungeon shouldn’t have an unwinnable scenario. Even if we have to fight head-on, it won’t be beyond our capabilities.” Huo Zheng tightened his grip on his dagger. “I’ll go first. If there’s danger, I’ll hold it off.”

Tang Shanshan quickly interjected, “The three of us should figure it out together! What if you can’t handle it alone, Brother Huo?”

Even if the monsters in a beginner dungeon were weak, they wouldn’t be so feeble that an ordinary person could easily deal with them. Having made it this far as a temporary trio, their chances of clearing the dungeon together were much higher!

Qi Yan didn’t think playing the lone hero was the right choice. She stepped forward. “My ring can also act as a weapon. If danger arises, both of us can hold the line. As for Little Tang, her ability is best suited for evading threats, she’ll be our lifeline at critical moments.”

She looked at Tang Shanshan solemnly. “So your role is crucial. Once we’re on the bridge, no matter what happens, Brother Huo and I will handle the resistance. You focus on assessing the situation and, at the perfect moment, fly him to safety!”

Tang Shanshan gasped. “What about you?”

Huo Zheng also frowned. “She should take you first.”

Qi Yan shook her head firmly. “Have you forgotten? The white smoke in my ring can carry me away.” She raised her hand, shaking the ring. “She’s powerful at the very least, she can keep me alive.”

She firmly believed that Bai Qing would protect her at the critical moment, but she could only guarantee her own safety, not the other two. Protecting her was something Bai Qing would do willingly, but when it came to the other two, begging him would likely be useless. She had already paid half the reward just to have him guide them. Any more, and she truly couldn’t afford it.

The three of them reached an agreement, and then, with Huo Zheng taking the lead while Qi Yan and Tang Shanshan brought up the rear, they stepped cautiously onto the suspension bridge shrouded in thick fog.

Standing on the bridge, the dense mist around them seemed to envelop them in another world, and everything around became eerily silent.

Huo Zheng gripped his dagger tightly as he moved forward, each step taken with extreme caution.

The ring on Qi Yan’s finger flickered incessantly, as though Bai Qing had sensed something.

Before she could even voice her question, a deafening roar suddenly erupted from beneath the bridge!

BOOM!

Like an explosion, the cliffs of Zhong Mountain trembled violently as if on the verge of collapse. The suspension bridge swayed uncontrollably, completely destabilizing the trio.

The three clung tightly to the bridge’s ropes, not daring to loosen their grip for even a second.

The next moment, a massive green shadow shot out from the valley, its crimson maw and gleaming fangs lunging straight for them.

Qi Yan’s heart pounded in terror as she looked up at the enormous apparition that had appeared out of nowhere. It continued to trigger even more violent tremors not just the bridge, but all the surrounding rocks shook violently.

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