CH 5

Xu RenDong said, “Now that we have a compass, it means…” ‘

Lian Qiao: “The main mission is encouraging us to explore new areas on the map.”

When people heard what they were saying, they looked surprised and probably thought that the way they expressed things was strange. But Yuan XueMing nodded: “I know what you mean. I was going to go outside and see what was out there anyway but now it’s better to have a compass.”

In the real world, how many dolls are in a set of matryoshka was not set. Usually it would be not less than five and no more than a dozen. At present, they only had two and it was clear the task was still far from being completed. They all agreed with Yuan XueMing’s decision. Not wanting to waste anymore time, they wrapped themselves up in thick winter clothes and followed Yuan XueMing out to explore.

Xu RenDong handed a thick coat to Lian Qiao however Lian Qiao waved his hand, saying he wanted to search the house again. Xu RenDong asked: “Haven’t we already done that?”

Lian Qiao said: “They’re not experienced so I’m scared they might have missed something. So I want to search again just in case.”

After saying that, he began to rummage through the house again. Xu RenDong noticed that he paid a lot of attention even to obscure places such as the back of the refrigerator, under the cabinet and even examined the bottom of the table to see if there was anything hidden under the table board. Anyway, he moved any furniture that could be moved and didn’t let go of any hole or crevice.

As Lian Qiao searched, he also talked about what he was doing. He said things like; “Why is this table so light, it must not be solid wood”, or “This cabinet is so dirty, there might be cockroaches inside”. His mouth talked non-stop. Xu RenDong answered a few times at first but then discovered that Lian Qiao was talking to himself and not to him at all.

Probably this is an occupational disease, as a game anchor he can not let the live broadcast room go silent. However it was also good under the current circumstances. Right now in this big hunter’s cabin, there were only the two of them. Outside the snow fell and the wind howled. Even though all the doors and windows were closed, the atmosphere was still quite depressing. However Lian Qiao’s running commentary helped Xu RenDong’s mood relax quite a lot.

In his careful search, Lian Qiao really found a third doll. It was hidden behind a curtain in a corner so hadn’t been discovered previously.

“We really missed one.” Xu RenDong was very surprised. But thinking about it, this position was very hidden. No matter if the curtains were open or closed, it would still block the view of it, so not finding it was also normal.

Lian Qiao gave a happy smile. “Usually props are hidden in these kinds of hard-to-see places. Once you’re familiar with how it works, you can almost predict where they’ll be.”

Xu RenDong nodded. He picked up the new doll. Lian Qiao said, “Brother RenDong, I’ll open this one.”

Xu RenDong: “You are not afraid to trigger a death condition?”

Lian Qiao said, “It’s not fair for you to do it all on your own.”

Lian Qiao’s three views were very positive, which was very pleasing. Xu RenDong felt he was right to save him.

Lian Qiao unscrewed the doll and found it contained a key.

The only locked room in the house is the basement. Lian Qiao and Xu RenDong looked at each other, and both laughed.

The two men successfully opened the basement and found it was a dark storage

room. The dust flew and the two people coughed madly. The debris on the ground was in a mess; there were light bulbs, a crowbar, beer bottles… There was a bit of everything, but nothing that seemed useful for the time being. Lian Qiao was ecstatic. He wanted to pick up and examine everything. He also kept commenting, muttering, “Aiya, if I’d known this was going to happen, I would have brought a backpack. I really made a loss….”

Xu RenDong helpless: “Are you broken?”

What’s the use of these things?

Lian Qiao picked up the crowbar and showed his faith in it: “How can you say it’s useless! This is the Holy Sword of Physics!

Xu RenDong: “The what of physics?”

“It’s half…” Lian Qiao didn’t know how to explain it and changed his words. {Author’s note says this is a reference to the game Half-Life, where a scientist character wielded a crowbar as his weapon.}

“For example, if you encounter a box that can’t be opened, you can use the crowbar to pry it open. You can even use it to attack people, the attack power is not light but high! It’s really a godly weapon!”

Xu RenDong really hadn’t considered these features. As a white-collar office worker, he’d never really even seen a crowbar, much less considered it’s 100 uses. However Lian Qiao’s fine skin also didn’t make him look like someone who often does rough work with crowbars.

Xu RenDong thought for a moment then asked: “You got this knowledge also from playing games?”

“En!”

Lian Qiao smiled and curved his eyebrows, looking rather proud. He fell into a state of fan excitement, wanting to touch everything. He looked like a child who had run into a supermarket, looking at the shelves full of goods, wanting to stuff everything into his shopping cart.

Xu RenDong thought these odds and ends might be really useful and so did not question him anymore, and even used his mobile phone as a flashlight to help Lian Qiao see better.

Soon, Lian Qiao made another major discovery.

“Here’s a ladder!” He bent over to pick up a ladder from the ground but his fingers were still hooked around the crowbar and he looked a bit off balance.

Xu RenDong can’t watch anymore. He reached out and said, “Let me take the crowbar.”

“Okay!”

Lian Qiao smiled and happily carried the ladder upstairs. Xu RenDong looked at his eagerness to try and felt puzzled: “Where are you going?”

Lian Qiao said: “Last night I saw a bird’s nest outside the house, there may be hidden dolls in there. I’ll climb up and have a look.”

Xu RenDong followed Lian Qiao outside and, sure enough, there was a bird’s nest in a big tree outside in the yard.

Last night they were chased by Brother Sledgehammer for such a long time, they ran so much he felt like his lungs were about to seize up but Lian Qiao still paid enough attention to notice the bird’s nest? That meant his observation skills must have been really detailed and powerful.

It was like he’d read the script before….

Also this morning, when he peeked at him, Lian Qiao woke up straight away. Was he  simply sensitive or could he have been pretending to sleep?

A feeling of discomfort gushed inside Xu RenDong’s heart. He couldn’t help looking around, wanting to find some evidence to deny his guess. He was relieved when he found that the room where they’d stayed last night was facing this tree. Anyone looking out of the window could see the bird’s nest at a glance.

Discovering this, Xu RenDong inexplicably felt more at ease. By this time Lian Qiao had set up a ladder and climbed up the tree. As soon as he got to the top of the tree, he shouted excitedly, “Brother RenDong, Brother RenDong there’s really one here! A fourth doll!” He removed the doll from the bird’s nest and shook it happily.

He shook it so hard the entire ladder shook. Xu RenDong hastened to hold the ladder, helpless: “You come down first, be careful.”

“Oh.”

Lian Qiao laughed and carefully returned to the ground step by step.

This time there are two wrapped candies inside the doll.

It looked just like regular candy and the sugar paper reflected a dreamy glow. It was difficult to see if it was edible.

“The first two dolls of things have pointed us in the direction of the next doll, ” Lian Qiao fell into contemplation, “I wonder what this candy is suggesting?”

Xu RenDong thought about it and asked, “In your game, what is this kind of thing generally used for?”

Lian Qiao looked at him. He didn’t reveal his thoughts but his clear eyes curved into crescents.

“It’s usually HP, ” he said. “Or it could be a gift used to give to others to increase relationship points.”

Xu RenDong thought for a moment but couldn’t draw any conclusions from it. Lian Qiao said: “It’s just two candies, let’s keep one each on us and maybe it will be useful down the track.”

Xu RenDong agreed.

The interior of the house has been pretty much all explored. There was still time and the snow had stopped so the two decided to follow the footprints to find their  other companions.

They walked in the snow for god knows how long and just as Xu RenDong was getting tired of the unchanging snowy white scenery, a rundown church finally appeared before his eyes. The church’s architectural style was unique. It was not a Gothic spire, not a Byzantine dome, but had a round bottom, a sharp upper body and threaded roofs.

It looked like a chocolate from the “Kisses” brand.

Lian Qiao recalled reading “The History of Western Architecture” in college: “This should be a Russian church, I remember it was called an ‘onion dome’.”

“Russia again?”

Lian Qiao touched his chin and said thoughtfully, “What do you think it means? All the details that suggest Russia?”

Xu RenDong shook his head: “I can’t guess. Let’s just wait and see.”

The two men walked into the church and immediately discovered a huge cross of Jesus. Jesus on the cross hung above their heads, his hands and feet nailed. On closer inspection there seemed to be dried blood around the nails. The church was very big and there seemed to be another room at the back. Yuan XueMing, along with a few other people, came out and saw them. They looked a bit surprised.

Xu RenDong told them what they’d found at the house. Yuan XueMing was even more surprised and complimented Lian Qiao profusely. The group that broke off to explore the surrounding area had also come back. Yue XueMing said, “We’ve also found another doll here, so that’s five right?”

“What’s in it?”

“Open it up and see?” The man with the impatient nature began to rush them again. Xu RenDong remembers this man’s name was Zhao Lin. Zhao Lin’s face was anxious but neither he, nor anyone else, made a move. They all just looked at Xu RenDong.

It seems that even if someone has already set an example, people are still not willing to do anything to risk themselves.

This is also human nature. Xu RenDong didn’t think much about it. He took the set and unscrewed it. There were two more wrapped candies inside. .

The crowd was surprised: “What?”

“Candy again? “

“How come it’s the same as the fourth one?”

Xu RenDong noticed that Lian Qiao’s face slightly changed. So he pressed close to him and whispered: “What’s the matter?”

Lian Qiao sighed: “Now we’re going to get it. Before a big battle, the game will always load you up with supplies…”

Xu RenDong: “?”

Lian Qiao said, “I feel like something’s going to happen soon…” He sighed again, “Hopefully I’m thinking too much. Anyway, be careful.”

People were still studying the candy. Lian Qiao walked to Yuan XueMing’s side and said he wanted to go back. Yuan XueMing looked at the sky which was gradually darkening and nodded in agreement. He turned to announce the return trip to everyone. At this point he was already the leader of the team so there was no objection to his decision.

But everyone’s expressions sank as soon as they opened the door. It was snowing heavily outside. It was still sunny when they came in but now the wind was whistling and the snow was blowing.

The large snow particles caused pain when they hit the face and it seemed unsuitable for travelling in.

Lian Qiao looked at the heavy snow and was depressed.

Xu RenDong whispered, “Is that what you’re worried about?”

Lian Qiao nodded.

Xu RenDong asked again: “What will happen if there’s a snowstorm?”

Lian Qiao whispered, “I don’t know.” But there’s certainly nothing good waiting for them in the snow.

Xu Hong wrapped her arms around herself, her voice slightly trembling: “Why don’t we wait for the snow to die down, then go…” She was a woman and wasn’t wearing as much, she naturally did not want to brave such a big snowstorm.

Yuan XueMing mused: “If we don’t go now, it’s going to get dark. We won’t be able to get back tonight.”

Someone suggested: “Let’s just stay here for the night then. It’s a church, maybe it’s safer than our Hunter Lodge…” But he hadn’t even finished his sentence before a girl screamed, “Look! Jesus is bleeding a lot, it’s a bloodbath!”

The crowd turned back in unison, only to see that the nails on Jesus’ limbs began to bleed. Blood flowed down the cross and it was very disturbing to see a dark red pool of blood converging underneath the statue.

Lian Qiao said: “It’s over. Even Jesus can’t hold it down. It seems that the ghost here is more powerful than a god.”

Everyone’s faces were very ugly. Yuan XueMing said firmly, “Let’s go.”

This time everyone stopped arguing. They just wrapped up their coats and followed Yuan XueMing silently.

Before leaving, Lian Qiao looked back and took a deep look at the church. Xu RenDong asked: “What’s the matter?” Lian Qiao: “Unfortunately, I didn’t bring the beer bottles from the basement to collect the blood. It might be useful. ‘The Blood of Jesus’ – just the sound of it makes it seem like an important prop!”

Xu RenDong: “…”

Lian Qiao added, “But since even Jesus himself was angered enough to start bleeding, probably the blood won’t be that useful. Come on, let’s go.”

Xu RenDong: “……”

Outside the gray, snow particles flew inside a fog. Yuan XueMing held the compass in his hands and walked at the very front. The crowd was nervous in the bitter cold. No one spoke and all that was left to hear was the whistling of the wind and snow.

The atmosphere became very grim. Lian Qiao came to Xu RenDong’s side, rubbed his eyes and said: “Brother RenDong, I can’t see the way.”

Xu RenDong didn’t speak. He also felt the fog in front of him, gray and white everywhere. Even the forms of his companions near him seemed vague. Thinking about it, he grabbed Lian Qiao’s arm and said, “Stay close to me.”

Lian Qiao looked grateful. As if he were clutching a life-saving straw, he immediately hugged his hand. Xu RenDong only felt a warm hand – he wasn’t not wearing gloves so he really felt a lot warmer with Lian Qiao’s hug.

At the same time, he suddenly noticed that although Lian Qiao looked thin, he had strong muscles in his arms. He was not as skinny as Xu RenDong had imagined.

He exuded a warm and strong feeling, like a big golden retriever.

Perhaps because it was too cold, both of them felt very stiff and couldn’t take large steps. Seeing their companions in front get farther and farther away, Lian Qiao shouted, “Wait for us!” The other people ignored them and walked forward without saying a word.

Lian Qiao panicked and tried his best to catch up with them. Clearly his speed has accelerated but the distance between them did not narrow. Xu RenDong immediately reacted: “There is a problem with the snow, don’t waste your efforts.”

Lian Qiao panted and watched their companion disappear from view. Lian Qiao then hugged his arm and uneasily said: “Brother RenDong, I am a little afraid.”

Xu RenDong has been frozen to death once. So he knew very clearly what the end would be if you became lost in the snow. His own heart was feeling very heavy,but as the older person he felt like he needed to comfort Lian Qiao. “Don’t be afraid, you can hold onto me.”

“En.”

Lian Qiao pressed closer to him. The corners of his mouth slightly up and couldn’t hide the smile that went all the way up to his eyes.