The instant they saw the pattern, the three of them realized that this so-called "Eye Sacrifice" was actually a way to enhance the instance’s power. Without seeing real eyes, the mere image was enough to cause a stinging pain in their own, while their bodies instinctively urged them to flee, yet there was a strange compulsion drawing them to look.
"How are you doing?" Xu Huo asked Yi Pei.
Yi Pei shook her head, her poor vision granting her no advantage under the current circumstances, and she felt an urge to move closer for a better look!
The trio quickly moved away from the side of the flower car, and not far off, they encountered other players who had also avoided the area. After the flower car came out, other residents began to hang various paintings in their yards. The objects didn’t look unusual but exuded an oppressive feeling that seemed inescapable.
Some players tried to destroy the paintings but would instantly feel a dizzying shock without even touching the actual image.
"I think I heard a bell..." Smiley Face tried twice and then dared not touch the paintings anymore.
The players skirted around the paintings, but now there was not a single spot in town without the eye pattern. They wanted to flee the town and hide in the forest, but as if sensing their plans, the residents came towards them, carrying the paintings with broad smiles, eager to hand them over.
The closer they got, the sounds the players heard were no longer the chattering of the residents but a distant, overlapping voice that clearly exceeded the number of people present.
"I can’t take this anymore!" Smiley Face leaped onto the courtyard wall and ran swiftly towards the forest.
The other players also broke free from the encirclement, and as Xu Huo looked back, he noticed people standing on various streets turning their heads in the direction they were leaving. Their eyeballs seemed to be squeezing out of their sockets, paired with exaggerated smiles, their forms unnatural and eerie.
However, retreating to the forest didn’t much improve the situation. The clamor still penetrated the players’ ears from afar, involuntarily arousing a surge of rage. The more their emotions fluctuated, the louder the sounds became, no longer coming from the direction of the town but enveloping them in a 360-degree surround sound.
To block out the hypnotic-like sounds, the players all wore earphones, a common piece of equipment that nearly every player possessed. However, the effect was far from satisfactory, as their expressions were anything but relaxed.
The players kept a certain distance from each other, not too far apart yet still wary of one another. Over twenty pairs of eyes swept around in the eerie atmosphere, and for a short time, no one wanted to speak, until lights began to illuminate the town.
Red and green lights were hung unevenly, casting the entire town in a spooky glow, and a few minutes later, footsteps of varying heaviness approached from the distance.
"Someone’s coming!" The players quickly got to their feet, peering towards the source of the sound with binoculars or props, and immediately gasped in shock.
"Corpses! They’re all corpses!"
An incalculable number of corpses approached from all directions, moving in an orderly fashion towards the town, their clothes ranging from new to old, but all were hollow-eyed, their torsos empty, and their bodies at varying stages of decay—even oozing putrid fluids and emitting foul stench!
"What the hell is this? Zombies?" Many of the players couldn’t help but exclaim.
Xu Huo and the others climbed a tree to get a better view of the horde of corpses. The player in the black shirt said, "The positions are even, there’s no particular side that has more or less."
"There’s no gap either, it’s unclear from where the corpses are coming."
"Fog is rising around the outskirts of the town," Xu Huo surveyed the surroundings and then looked towards the direction of the pond. There was nothing special there, just rows of corpses walking towards them.
Players all went into hiding, but these corpses were not after them. They staggered into the county town, and moments later a macabre scene unfolded where both the living and the dead celebrated together. The original inhabitants of the town seemed completely oblivious to the fact that they were interacting with corpses, hugging and kissing them without a care, even when the stench of decay and rotted flesh smeared their faces.
"What kind of human tragedy is this, it’s making my skin crawl!" Hat Hoodie remarked upon seeing an elderly couple "deeply kissing."
The man’s upper body was nothing but a sheet of skin, which after a couple of kisses, hung limply from the woman’s arm, who seemed utterly unaware. After the corpse fell to the ground, she went in search of another one, treating it as if it were her own family member.
And the couple that the grandparent and grandchild were crowding around didn’t match the people in the photo either.
Xu Huo felt slightly relieved—if these corpses could accurately find their own family members, he’d have a real headache.
"These corpses don’t seem to be conscious." Yi Pei unconsciously looked at Xu Huo.
"The ones blocking us might not be corpses," Xu Huo pointed to the ground, "They left traces where they walked." There were none yesterday.
"So what’s the point of bringing so many corpses here?" Fang Penghui frowned.
"Maybe it’s just to scare... or disgust people," Wei Xian removed his telescope.
Suddenly, the sound of a drum echoed.
The players quieted down, and Liu Shiyen said, "It seems to be coming from the direction of the pond."
"It’s not just drumming; there’s the sound of water as well." Xu Huo turned his head to look towards the pond, and just then, Fu Danhong suddenly shouted, "They’re all looking this way!"
The town’s family recognition event had come to a temporary halt. At the same moment, every living and dead person turned their heads and faced the direction where the players were hiding. In the next second, as if responding, the town began beating drums, and all the floats, ritual lanterns, and people began to move. One by one, cabinets were carried out, and when the cabinet doors were opened, the procession was suddenly bathed in a red glow!
"Don’t look at it, no matter what!" Fang Penghui shouted.
"That was close!" Tian Kunwen quickly lowered his head, but caught sight of Cao Dong beside him, his eyes bloodshot as he stared towards the town, dropping the prop in his hands and walking forwards.
"Stripper!" Fu Danhong waved at Cao Dong, whose pants promptly fell to the ground, tripping him up. The player in the hat hoodie quickly followed up, plunging a knife into his heart!
"What are you doing!" Fang Penghui kicked out, and Hat Hoodie stepped back, his expression grave as he said, "He was clearly out of his mind. What if, like the other living people, he was controlled and turned against us?"
Regardless of his intentions or the validity of his argument, now was not the time for debate, because the sacrificial procession had emerged from the town. Those eyes emitting a red glow were staring directly at the woods, and as the light changed, all the players present began to feel disoriented.
"Puff! Puff!" A series of soft noises followed, and a fire erupted amongst the procession, shattering several wooden eyes on the spot. Xu Huo leapt down from the tree, "Destroy those wooden eyes!"
The others quickly followed, closing the distance and using their props to smash the revered eyes. However, as the eyes at the forefront were destroyed, the procession at the back created a human wall to protect the wooden eyes. The corpses in the procession then began to run madly towards them!