Chapter 17
by GideonChapter 17: Snow Mountain Town 17 — Life’s Little Lock-Picking Trick
After a heart-pounding little interlude, the van finally pulled away from the Shadow Ghost-infested town center and headed for the outskirts.
[ You have unlocked the Achievement: [Greasing the Soles]. Reward Item: [Banana Peel] ]
[ Banana Peel Rank: D Description: A single-use item. When activated, it appears under the Player’s feet, teleporting them to a random location within range. Note: Sea Bull! ]
Isn’t there a more dignified way to use this? Jiang Qibai thought silently.
Beside her, A Hai muttered, “It’s so damn cold. We’re bundled up in all these clothes and still freezing, so how come those Shadow Ghosts aren’t? They’re running around naked without turning into popsicles. How does that even work?”
“We’ve already seen that the drop in temperature has no effect on the Shadow Ghosts,” Yu Xian said, introducing a new topic. “Another Player brought up a question earlier: Why do Mutated Shadow Ghosts exist?”
“So what if they do?” A Hai clearly didn’t see the point. To him, the fact that Snow Mountain Town had both regular and Mutated Shadow Ghosts was as natural as grass growing from the dirt or water flowing in a river.
“The player is curious,” Yu Xian said, “whether these monsters are born as either Shadow Ghosts or Mutated Shadow Ghosts. Or if they all start as ordinary Shadow Ghosts and then evolve into Mutated ones through some specific means.”
Jiang Qibai’s mind raced. If there’s something all Shadow Ghosts are desperate to get their hands on, could that be the secret to their mutation?
A Hai’s brain was a complete blank. “What’s that got to do with us?”
Yu Xian interjected, “This player has proposed several theories on what might trigger the evolution. One of them is the weather. As it gets colder, will the Shadow Ghosts be weakened, stay the same, or even grow stronger?”
The thought of every Shadow Ghost in Snow Mountain Town mutating as winter set in sent a cold shiver down A Hai’s spine. “Don’t even joke about that!”
“…What do Mutated Shadow Ghosts look like?” Yan Nanfei suddenly asked.
“You’ve never seen one?” Jiang Qibai asked, surprised. She had encountered a Mutated Shadow Ghost on her second or third day in the dungeon; even her first daily quest to pay off her mortgage involved killing one.
Yan Nanfei clearly wasn’t a newbie, yet she still didn’t know what a Mutated Shadow Ghost looked like.
Yan Nanfei thought for a moment before saying, “I only entered this dungeon yesterday.”
Both Jiang Qibai and A Hai were stunned.
A Hai blinked. “You really picked the worst time to arrive. It’s so cold now, and the days are getting shorter. Scavenging for supplies is way harder.”
Thank god Yan Nanfei isn’t a newbie, Jiang Qibai thought. She imagined what would have happened if she had entered the dungeon at the same time as Yan Nanfei. First, a new player’s flimsy wooden safehouse wouldn’t have withstood the temperature drop. Getting sick would be the best-case scenario; freezing to death while unable to find fuel wouldn’t be surprising at all.
Second, the time available to stockpile supplies would have been drastically cut. Without enough food stored for winter, she would have been forced to venture out in the worst possible weather. Starving and freezing in the cold—even an iron man couldn’t endure that.
The fact that Yan Nanfei had managed to contact Mr. Tree on her first day in Snow Mountain Town clearly meant she had her own resources. As a player who had survived other dungeons, she also had her own stockpile of goods in her safehouse. This meant her most immediate problem was securing fuel.
Still, isn’t this a bit unfair? Jiang Qibai wondered. Luan Qi Ba Jiao had arrived in Snow Mountain Town two days before her, which she didn’t mind. But Yan Nanfei had arrived a full eight days after her. Those eight days were the golden window for players to scavenge and explore—and Yan Nanfei had missed them all.
Yan Nanfei hesitated before speaking. “You’ve got it all wrong. The Snow Mountain Town I entered was a C-rank Dungeon.”
“That explains it!” A Hai slapped his thigh. Seeing the others’ looks, he quickly corrected himself. “…I mean, that makes sense.”
So the same Dungeon scene could be divided into different ranks based on when you entered? On second thought, it wasn’t without logic. The survival difficulty between the two was indeed vastly different.
Jiang Qibai hadn’t forgotten the question Yan Nanfei had asked earlier. She explained, “Mutated Shadow Ghosts look identical to ordinary ones, but their stats are much higher.”
Yan Nanfei nodded. “I see.”
The terrible traffic in the town had cost them some time, but their progress was much smoother once they left. As noon approached, Yu Xian found an open spot on the roadside to pull over, giving everyone a break to stretch, use the restroom, and eat lunch.
When Jiang Qibai returned from the restroom, she saw Yu Xian standing by the road, munching on a sandwich. The weather was so cold that water froze as it dripped, yet he didn’t seem to feel the chill at all, refusing to stay inside the car.
“How much longer until we reach the Forestry Station?” Jiang Qibai asked.
“Less than an hour,” he replied, finishing his sandwich in a few bites before taking out another one. Jiang Qibai saw the steam still rising from it.
Jiang Qibai’s appetite was poor. She’d only managed a single piece of bread and a protein energy bar. Though her stomach felt full, she still had the nagging sensation that she hadn’t actually eaten.
She pulled out her thermos, but the hot coffee she’d filled this morning was already gone. Jiang Qibai tore open a packet of Type I Functional Granules, poured them in, added a splash of bottled water, and shook it all up.
These granules were a System Reward—a supplement of vitamins and minerals. They didn’t just provide energy; more importantly, they replenished the body with essential nutrients. In the harsh conditions of the apocalypse, it was impossible to maintain a balanced diet through food alone, which was why Jiang Qibai had bought vitamin tablets from Sister Huang.
The taste of the functional granules was… indescribable. It wasn’t just bitter; it was a complex kind of foul. It tasted like rotting apples blended with soy sauce, pureed into a sludge that now sat in her thermos.
Jiang Qibai pinched her nose and drank it all in one go.
After everyone had finished their lunch, the four of them set off again.
Tall, straight beech forests began to line the road, and handmade signs started appearing at intervals. “Buy Firewood Ahead,” they read, with arrows pointing the way.
After traveling a bit further, the silhouette of a small farm appeared on the distant horizon.
The farm was small, consisting of just three or four buildings. Each had a deep red roof, slightly peeling walls, and white-painted window frames.
After stepping over the low fence, the group saw two rattan chairs in the yard. A decoration made of some bird’s tail feathers was tucked into the back of one of them. Scattered logs and tools lay nearby. Everything felt so peaceful and serene, as if time itself had frozen in this instant.
Behind the small farm, a fenced-off open area served as the wood processing and storage site. That was where the fuel Jiang Qibai and her group desperately needed was located.
Just in case, everyone drew their weapons before slowly approaching the farm.
They had all seen Yu Xian’s weapon before. A Hai held a hammer, Yan Nanfei wielded a machete, and Jiang Qibai, naturally, brought out the Fishbone Sword she had just acquired.
A Hai glanced at Jiang Qibai’s Fishbone Sword several times, but at such a critical moment, he refrained from saying anything inappropriate, his expression merely filled with admiration.
Once they entered the yard, Yu Xian deliberately made some noise. Still, no Shadow Ghosts leaped out to attack them. They figured this forestry station was so remote that at most only the Station Master’s family lived here. Even if they had all turned into Shadow Ghosts, there would only be a few scattered ones.
The Forestry Station Master’s yard contained a very large tool shed, housing the machinery for felling and cutting timber. The shed also held a considerable amount of spare diesel. Yu Xian suggested they could take the diesel to Mr. Tree in exchange for other supplies.
Jiang Qibai didn’t have any machinery that used diesel, so she agreed to Yu Xian’s proposal. A Hai agreed as well. Yan Nanfei, however, said she could use the diesel and wasn’t short on other supplies for the time being.
They were still just scouting the area to eliminate threats, not dividing loot yet, so they simply made a verbal agreement before leaving the tool shed.
Just then, A Hai came rushing out of another small warehouse, excitedly holding a massive pumpkin. He gestured to the others, saying, “Fresh pumpkins! There are so many of them! I always heard pumpkins could be stored for months without spoiling—turns out it’s true.”
Before anyone else could speak, the creak of a door opening echoed through the yard. A man with a weathered, square-jawed face stepped out of the house and locked eyes with A Hai, who was still clutching the pumpkin.
A Hai froze instantly, his expression turning incredibly awkward. To be caught red-handed looting someone’s home—a modern person whose moral compass hadn’t completely disintegrated—was simply too shameful to bear.
Unlike A Hai, Yu Xian was on high alert, as if facing a formidable enemy.
He dashed toward a nearby low fence and vaulted over it with a clean leap, only to find himself miraculously back where he had started. When he tried to leave through the main gate, pushing it open only led him right back into the farmstead.
They were trapped.
“We’ve entered a Blood Terracotta’s ‘Dream,'” Yu Xian said, his expression grim.
“A Dream?” Jiang Qibai repeated.
“What’s a Blood Terracotta?” Yan Nanfei asked.
The different questions yielded different clues. Yu Xian turned to Jiang Qibai. “You’ve encountered a Blood Terracotta before?”
Jiang Qibai replied, “I’ve seen the body.”
On the other side, A Hai finally snapped out of his daze. There were no living people left in Snow Mountain Town—the man before them had to be some kind of monster. Without a word, he raised his hammer and smashed it directly into the Forestry Station Master’s head.
The blow landed with considerable force. With a sickening crunch, a large chunk of the Station Master’s head caved in. Soft, pulpy tissue mixed with dark blood sprayed from the wound.
Yet the Station Master seemed completely oblivious. With his face a mangled mess of flesh and bone, he forced a smile. “Are you guests here to stay at the forestry station? Please, come right in.”
A Hai froze, his gaze darting to the others as if pleading for help. Yan Nanfei pulled out a hand mirror inlaid with a large gemstone on its back, angled it to reflect her own image, and then said, “It didn’t alert me to any illusions.”
“The Blood Terracotta’s ‘Dream’ isn’t an illusion,” Yu Xian explained. “Though it’s a semi-virtual, semi-real scene, my judgment is that it leans more toward reality. If you want to confirm you’re in a dream, try sending a message to a friend. You’ll get a ‘failed to send’ notification.”
Jiang Qibai immediately tried it, sending a “Good morning” to Luan Qi Ba Jiao. Sure enough, it failed to send.
A Hai, unwilling to face the disfigured Forestry Station Master, hurried to stand with the rest of the group and asked, “What’s going on? What Blood Terracotta? What Dream?”
According to Yu Xian, Blood Terracottas were another type of monster in Snow Mountain Town. They were rare but powerful. While their appearances could vary, they all shared one common trait: they would weave a scenario called a “Dream” within a familiar setting.
In a Blood Terracotta’s Dream, nothing could kill it. The only way to see the true Blood Terracotta was to break the Dream.
Jiang Qibai had not only witnessed the corpse of the Blood Terracotta at the inn, but she had also killed one on the way to the canning factory. However, she had never entered that Blood Terracotta’s dream. When it appeared, a thick, impenetrable fog simply had materialized nearby.
Perhaps it was because it was an Incomplete Body? she wondered. Or maybe the roadside wasn’t within that Blood Terracotta’s dream’s range.
Jiang Qibai and her three companions had been unknowingly dragged into this dream only after stepping into the forestry station.
The Forestry Station Master spoke again, mechanically repeating his earlier words: “Are you guests staying at the forestry station? Please, come inside.”
“How do we break this monster’s dream?” Yan Nanfei asked.
Since different monsters wove different dreams, the method to break them was bound to vary. Yu Xian could only say, “Perhaps the solution is hidden right here among us.”
As they spoke, the wounds on the Forestry Station Master’s body were rapidly healing, soon returning to their original state. If not for the blood splatters on his clothes and the ground, everyone would have thought the previous scene had been an illusion.
After a moment’s thought, A Hai turned and grabbed another pumpkin from the warehouse. He stored it into his Spatio-Temporal Bracelet right in front of the Forestry Station Master, taunting, “Look closely. Your pumpkin—oops, it’s mine now. Are you angry? Do you want to hit me?”
The Forestry Station Master remained completely unfazed, simply repeating his invitation for them to come inside.
“Are you a robot?” A Hai snapped, his frustration mounting. “Is that all you can say? Listen up—we’re not here as guests. We’re here to rob you!”
Seeing this, Yan Nanfei speculated, “Maybe we have to go inside to trigger the Station Master’s next move?”
“The more he tries to get us inside, the less we should go,” A Hai argued. “Who knows what will happen? It could be a trap.”
Jiang Qibai looked at the others, sensing something was off.
“Why are you all sweating so much?”
At her words, they all reached up to touch their faces simultaneously, feeling a damp warmth. It was as if their suppressed senses had suddenly returned, enveloping them in a soft, cozy heat.
This wasn’t artificial heating. It was pure, unceasing warmth from every direction—the heat of spring.
And since they were still dressed for the dead of winter, they were naturally drenched in sweat.
“I’m so hot, but can we really take our clothes off?” A Hai asked, unsure. “If we strip down because it’s hot, will our bodies still be in that original environment where it’s negative ten-something degrees? We’d freeze to death without even realizing it.”
Yan Nanfei took out the Jeweled Hand Mirror again to confirm. “We are right here. This is no illusion.”
“This is exactly why I said the Blood Terracotta’s dream is actually real,” Yu Xian added.
With that, he was the first to shed his coat. Seeing Yu Xian do so, A Hai also took off his thick down jacket, instantly feeling his breathing become much easier.
At this moment, Jiang Qibai’s mind wandered back to the spotless lobby of the inn. Even if no players had ever entered the inn, the disaster in Snow Mountain Town had happened so long ago that the place shouldn’t have been that clean.
Yet it was impossibly tidy, as if time had forever stopped on a certain day.
Did the Forestry Station Master’s dream also stop on this spring day?
With this line of thought, they quickly found more evidence. For example, the pumpkin A Hai found could never have been preserved from the previous autumn until now. The grass in the yard had just been weeded, and new sprouts were still poking out from an inconspicuous corner.
“Could this day be,” A Hai asked tentatively, “the day everyone turned into Shadow Ghosts?”
There was nothing else in the yard that could provide information. Yu Xian glanced at the Forestry Station Master, who was standing by like a wooden statue, and said, “Lead the way.”
The Forestry Station Master’s dull eyes suddenly lit up, as if a dormant program had been activated. He turned and started walking toward the small cabin. “Follow me.”
Yu Xian led the way, with A Hai bringing up the rear as the four of them stepped inside.
There were no grotesque monsters or hidden traps waiting for them. Instead, the cabin was surprisingly cozy. A dark gray stone fireplace served as the focal point of the living room, its mantel holding two earthenware jars filled with miscellaneous items. The fabric sofa was worn white in patches, and a vase of dried lavender sat on the small coffee table.
In another corner of the living room stood a large dining table. A nearby open door revealed the kitchen, its countertops overflowing with ingredients—mostly fresh fruits and vegetables.
A Hai’s eyes widened at the sight. He paused, then asked Yu Xian uncertainly, “Are you sure those vegetables are real?”
Yu Xian didn’t answer. The Forestry Station Master was already pushing open the door to another room. “This is your room.”
Jiang Qibai glanced around. The room was a large communal sleeping area with a shared floor. On a table against one wall sat a few water glasses, a stack of tissues, and some disposable toiletries. Given the Station Master’s earlier comments, it seemed he occasionally hosted guests here.
The Forestry Station Master turned and left immediately after showing them to their room.
Yu Xian said to the other three, “I’ll follow the Station Master. You guys search here for any clues.”
From their position, they could see the Station Master already in the courtyard, crossing the tool shed, his figure about to vanish.
Yu Xian hurried after him.
Jiang Qibai and the other two quickly began searching the room. Their guest room had very little furniture and nothing of value. Yan Nanfei soon went to the living room, while A Hai stared longingly at the pile of fruits and vegetables in the kitchen.
Outside the guest room, on a shelf, sat a small brown leather suitcase. It was placed horizontally on the bottom shelf, nothing special about it, but the words on it caught Jiang Qibai’s attention.
[ Tuoxin Mining ]
After a moment’s hesitation, Jiang Qibai stepped forward and lifted the suitcase.
It was unexpectedly light. Jiang Qibai gave it a gentle shake but heard no sound from inside. Turning it over, she saw a hole about two fingers wide, gnawed into one corner.
Peering through the hole, she saw nothing but emptiness.
What was supposed to be inside the suitcase? Could it have been a box of money—the legendary compensation the mining company promised the townspeople?
She returned the box to its original spot and continued searching for anything of value. Soon, she found a new room, but when she tried to push the door open, it wouldn’t budge. Only then did she realize it was locked.
“The Forestry Station Master lives alone,” Yan Nanfei said, walking over to share her findings. “All the daily necessities are for a single person. But the scenery around here is nice, so he often hosts visitors. There’s a photo album full of pictures of him with tourists.”
“This looks like the Station Master’s room,” Jiang Qibai said, looking at the door. “But it’s locked.”
Yan Nanfei reached for a tool. “Break it down?”
“Too much noise. I’m afraid we’ll alert him.” Jiang Qibai examined the lock. It was an old-fashioned padlock—a large lock body connecting the door panel to the hasp.
“Do you have any wire?” Jiang Qibai asked.
Yan Nanfei paused, then turned back to the living room and returned with something. “Will a paperclip work?”
Jiang Qibai straightened the paperclip, then used the small oil hole at the bottom of the padlock to bend one end into a ninety-degree hook. She inserted the paperclip into the lock, slowly rotating it until she felt it catch on something. With a slight tug, the lock clicked open.
Yan Nanfei hadn’t expected Jiang Qibai to have a trick like that up her sleeve. She opened her mouth to offer a few words of praise, but then hesitated, unable to find the right words. She eventually gave up.
In truth, Jiang Qibai had just learned the art of lock-picking from Sweet and Sour Fish. Sweet and Sour Fish could even open the doors to the cannery staff dorms, a much more advanced skill. There were also many locked cabinets in the dorms, all secured with the same kind of padlocks. Finding it too tedious to open them one by one, Sweet and Sour Fish had simply taught Jiang Qibai the technique.
[ You have unlocked the Achievement: [Life’s Little Lock-Picking Trick]. You have received the Item: [Rose Gold Handcuffs]. ]
[ Rose Gold Handcuffs Rank: C-rank Description: After a Player successfully links with another Player using these handcuffs, 50% of the damage received will be borne by the other Player. Duration: 2 hours. Note: Very criminal, very handcuff-able. ]
Time was of the essence. They had no idea when the Forestry Station Master would return. The two quickly slipped into the room.
A thick, cloying scent of blood hit them instantly.
The heavy curtains were drawn tight, plunging the room into darkness. Yet, it didn’t stop Jiang Qibai from clearly seeing the large bloodstains splattered across the bedsheets and the carpet.
The carnage seemed to start on the messy single bed. The pale sheets looked as if a brush soaked in red paint had been dragged across them. Splatters of blood trailed several steps away onto the carpet, marking a clear struggle. The bedside table had been knocked askew, and a water glass lay overturned on the floor.
A Hai rushed in, drawn by the spreading stench of blood. He stopped dead, his face a mask of horror. “This is the Forestry Station Master’s room? Whose blood is all this?”
Could this all be from one person? he wondered. Anyone who bled this much would be a shriveled husk.
The scene was less a bedroom and more a slaughterhouse. A Hai’s mind immediately flashed to a common trope from horror novels and movies: a sinister inn disguised as a regular guesthouse, drugging travelers in the dead of night to turn them into human meat buns for the next batch of guests. The new victims would eat the buns, only to be slaughtered themselves, becoming the fresh ingredients in an endless, gruesome cycle.
Images of the sausages and ham he’d seen in the kitchen flashed through his mind. He remembered leaning in to take a deep, appreciative sniff. His face turned ashen, and he nearly retched.
Following the trail of blood, Yan Nanfei pulled back the blanket covering a corner of the room, revealing a clean, humanoid skeleton that still retained its basic shape.
“I knew it!” A Hai pointed tremblingly at the skull. “This must be the last guest. The Forestry Station Master murdered them.”
Yan Nanfei crouched down, her expression growing more serious as she examined the remains. “There are so many marks on these bones.”
She looked up, her gaze uncertain as she met the eyes of Jiang Qibai and A Hai. “They look like bite marks.”
A Hai muttered, “Eating them raw… that’s way beyond my expectations.”
What happened to the part about the most important thing when preparing a person being the heat control?
Jiang Qibai also crouched down. “These are strange bite marks. They don’t look human.” Could human teeth be hard enough to leave such dense marks on bone? Besides, the shape is all wrong.
Suddenly, Yan Nanfei’s expression shifted. She pointed to the beast fang necklace hanging from the skeleton’s neck. “I saw this necklace in the Forestry Station Master’s photo.”
“—If this is the Forestry Station Master, then who is that person outside?”
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