Late at night on the first day after Lin Zhengying's arrival, Chen Hai had not yet rested. The supernatural forum's main god space, the supernatural research center, and Chen Dachui who raised ghosts, everything he experienced today made it difficult for him to fall asleep.
A few minutes later, Chen Hai's cell phone rang. It was the first draft sent by those suspense authors. Ten authors and four editors worked together in several hours to write a supernatural legend that met the most basic requirements.
After receiving the manuscript, Chen Hai climbed out of bed and prepared to go next door to ask Lin Zhengying to take a look at the manuscript and give some suggestions for revision. After all, this top Taoist priest is the main force in dealing with ghosts and monsters.
Originally, Chen Hai wanted to live with Lin Zhengying. It was not only safe but also convenient for discussing things. However, there seemed to be some inconveniences on Lin Zhengying's side, so he booked two rooms.
Opening the door of the room, the pale yellow light at the entrance illuminated the entire empty corridor. This corridor, which was no different from usual, now seemed full of danger to Chen Hai. Perhaps this was the sequelae of knowing that there were ghosts in this world.
After shaking his head to clear out some of his messy thoughts, Chen Hai held the talisman given by Lin Zhengying and walked forward a few steps. While walking, he kept looking left and right to guard against possible accidents.
The 'Do Not Disturb' sign at Lin Zhengying's door was not on, so it seemed that he probably did not sleep.
"Master, are you asleep?" Chen Hai asked after knocking on the door twice.
"No." Lin Zhengying said as he walked to the door and opened it directly. "Have you finished writing the story?"
Chen Hai nodded, handed the phone to Lin Zhengying, and followed him into the room. It must be said that the moment he saw Lin Zhengying, the sense of security that filled his heart was really good.
In Lin Zhengying's room, all the lights were on, making the area bright. The seat by the window was moved to face the window, and there was a book on the small tea table, which seemed unopened.
"Please sit down. Let me take a look first." Lin Zhengying pointed to the chair opposite him.
After sitting down, from Chen Hai's perspective, the book was upside down, but this did not bother him. As a person who was able to get into a top university, Chen Hai's spatial thinking and spatial imagination were both good.
Stare at the words on the cover and reorganize them in your mind.
Dadong Zhenjing? Chen Hai blinked. He had seen these four words before. It was an introductory book of Taoism.
Why is a Taoist master like Lin Zhengying reading this kind of introductory book now
Chen Hai had nothing to do, so he began to daydream.
'Could it be that the most basic ones are the most important? Just like the Huangting Sutra, which is also an introductory chapter, if you understand it thoroughly, you will directly attain enlightenment?'
"No, no, it's more likely that the Taoist's book is not the same as the one on the Internet. Maybe it's some secret version with a lot of secrets."
Lin Zhengying looked at the dazed Chen Hai and wanted to laugh. He knocked on the table lightly and said, "Wake up."
"Oh." Chen Hai was stunned for a moment as if he had just woken up from a dream, and then he quickly reacted, "Have you finished reading it?"
"Well, I have written the revision suggestions directly next to the manuscript. Just revise it and avoid any major logical errors." Lin Zhengying handed the phone back to Chen Haidao.
"Okay, I'll ask them to revise it right away." Chen Hai took the phone, stood up and prepared to contact the authors and editors directly.
After Chen Hai left, Lin Zhengying sat on the chair, looking at the curtains in front of the window, without moving.
He could recite the Big Hole Sutra on the table by heart before he entered the divine space. Now it is just there for decoration. His problems and confusions cannot be solved by other things but by himself.
Because of this confusion, Lin Zhengying hasn't had a good rest for a long time. Fortunately, after entering the third level, the necessary rest time every day has become much shorter and the recovery speed has become much faster, so there will be no problem if he sleeps less.
"Eh." Lin Zhengying sighed, unwilling to close his eyes. As long as he closed his eyes, he could see the crowded and prosperous ghost market. What happened next was a nightmare to him.
After sending the revision suggestions to the editor, Chen Hai opened the copy and prepared to take a look at the story and the revision suggestions attached to it.
There are no surprises in the story. Due to time constraints and Chen Hai's requirements, the author and editor chose the most stable and old-fashioned story template. To put it bluntly, someone turned into a ghost after dying unjustly, and all kinds of supernatural events began to occur around the ghost, and many people died.
They already have a draft of the promotional plan, and when promoting it, they only use the mysterious parts at the beginning of the story to attract the attention of some rumors. Relying on these and all the netizens who like to watch the show, it is very easy to make this thing popular for a few days.
And there will be no hidden dangers. The memory of the Internet is very short. It is not easy for a hot spot to last for a few days. Without the promoters, things will naturally disappear from everyone's sight.
In addition, what makes this story different from other similar stories is that the various details in this story are described very realistically, and a lot of effort has been put into it. If people don’t know the truth, many people may think that this is a ghost story adapted from real circumstances.
Chen Hai was a little stunned when he came to the revision suggestions given by Lin Zhengying. Lin Zhengying directly rejected the overly detailed description and asked them to blur some settings of the story, especially the origin and history of ghosts, and not to write them as if they were real. However, if this were the case, wouldn't it be a waste of so many authors' time
That’s fine, but what’s more important is the subsequent changes to the rules regarding survival and killing.
The way out hidden in the original killing rules is very simple, but it is hard to think of. This is in line with the requirements originally given by Chen Hai and others, and is in line with the internal logic of ghost stories - the harder the way out is to find, the simpler it is to use. As for the difficulty of finding the way out, they are cheating, which is equivalent to taking the answers to the exam, so there is no need to worry about difficult questions.
Lin Zhengying's requirement for this part in his revision suggestions was to reduce the difficulty of discovery, while keeping the way out as simple as possible. Perhaps Lin Zhengying also knew that a ghost story made up in this way would not sound like a ghost story, so he added two words after this part of his suggestions - try his best.
From Chen Hai's first view, it seemed that Lin Zhengying did not intend to copy the answers after getting them, but intended to do the questions directly. Otherwise, why would he emphasize that the questions should be simple.
In addition to these, Lin Zhengying also proposed to revise the ending. The original ending was that after the trapped person escaped and destroyed several key nodes, the ghost would dissipate in the air due to the disappearance of the dependent objects, which could be regarded as a relief. Lin Zhengying directly crossed out the second half without any other comments, and it seemed that the modification suggestion was to delete it.
After being stunned, Chen Hai touched his chin and began to think. There was no doubt that Lin Zhengying was an expert in this kind of thing, and during the half day they had been together, the other party's professionalism was also obvious. So maybe there were some problems with the plots themselves.
Just as Chen Hai continued to think along the lines of Lin Zhengying's grading suggestions, somewhere in this world, Zheng Yimin and Ji Jie were sitting together with worried expressions.
"Old Zheng, according to the rules, the reminder should be given out tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, and then it will be the next mission." Ji Jie said to Zheng Yimin beside her.
Hiss~Hu~ Zheng Yimin blew out a smoke ring, "I know, but didn't we receive a gift from that Taoist priest? Maybe the danger this time won't be that exaggerated."
Ji Jie waved her right hand twice to disperse the secondhand smoke at the tip of her nose. She herself was a non-smoker and hated secondhand smoke, but being dragged into this hellish place, she could completely understand other people using tobacco to soothe their nerves.
"I hope so. Actually, Lao Zheng, I have an idea." Ji Jie hesitated.
"I have had the same idea as you, but it's not appropriate. Don't forget, we are carrying out the mission, not taking a break." Zheng Yimin put out the cigarette in his hand, and within a few seconds, his hand couldn't help but reach for the cigarette box again.
Ji Jie remained silent. What she was thinking was naturally to ask Lin Zhengying and Chen Hai for help. She didn't do so before because she knew it was useless, but it was different now.
After the mission prompt comes out, they will have some time to go to the mission site. If they can use this time to contact Lin Zhengying, perhaps the horror film can be turned into a kung fu film in an instant, and the degree of danger will be greatly reduced.
However, involving non-mission personnel in this way can easily lead to additional casualties. Even if there are no casualties, these people may be the next newcomers.
"Besides, their role will obviously be greater if they are not here. If we contact them rashly, it might disrupt the overall situation. Then you and I will be sinners." Zheng Yimin went on, as if he was talking to Ji Jie, but also as if he was talking to himself.
"You're right. If this shabby house lasts one more day because of us, I won't be able to rest in peace even when I die." Ji Jie rubbed his face and said.
"Okay, stop saying such unlucky things." Zheng Yimin nodded toward the window and said, "Look outside, this shabby place feels like it's going to be developed into a real estate project."
Ji Jie looked out the window. She had noticed a long time ago that about half a month ago, in the fog outside the window, the color of an area seemed to become darker. As time passed, the fog in that area became thinner and thinner, and now the outline could be vaguely seen. It seemed to be an apartment.
"Other people who develop real estate can only make money, but here it's life-threatening." Ji Jie muttered to herself as she looked at the vaguely visible apartment.
Zheng Yimin did not respond, but just counted the floors of the apartment. Currently, there are seven or eight floors in total, and each floor seems to have four or five rooms. So if there are two people in each room like they do, then at least fifty-six people can be accommodated there.
"Officer Zheng, Officer Ji, the head of the village wants everyone to go to the first floor for a meeting. Are you going?" A voice came from outside the door.
"Go, we'll be there soon." Zheng Yimin responded loudly.
The full name of this house manager is Zhuang Ming. He is the person who has experienced the most missions in the small villa. So far, he has experienced a total of seven missions. Because he has the most experience and a quick mind, he is deeply trusted by everyone and was elected as the house manager.
As for Zheng Yimin and Ji Jie's identities as police officers, when they entered this place, they were both wearing formal police uniforms. In addition, the way they spoke when they first woke up was full of police flavor, so their identities were confirmed.
This identity also brings them a lot of convenience, because many of the people trapped here have families and official personnel around. They can also rely on official personnel and their families outside for limited contact and help, especially financial help.
Moreover, because of the presence of official personnel, the atmosphere in the entire small villa has improved a lot. Everyone in Yanhuang knows that if you need anything, find the police. Although they can't help after they came in, they have successfully stabilized the morale of the troops.
"Old Zheng, do you want to take this with you?" Ji Jie gently tapped the peach wood sword on the table.
"..." Zheng Yimin thought for a while, "Take it with you."
Every time you go through a mission, there is a chance of getting some cursed items. This kind of thing can provide certain help in other tasks. This is also well known to everyone here. However, there is a price to pay every time you use it. The most serious one is that the ghost of the cursed object awakens, causing the difficulty of the entire mission to increase by more than one level.
Despite this, each cursed object can still be regarded as a trump card. Most people will hide these things tightly. Currently, there are only three cursed objects in the villa. One is in the hands of Zhuang Ming, one is in the hands of Lu Yi, a woman who has experienced four missions, and one is in the hands of Nie Yu, a newcomer who has just come in.
When the two of them arrived at the large living room on the first floor, it was already full of people.
Of course, it is impossible for all of these people to participate in the next mission, but it never hurts to get more involved in the preparatory activities, so almost everyone will be there for the discussion time before each mission.
When Ji Jie appeared, everyone's eyes slowly focused on the peach wood sword she was holding upside down.
"Officer Ji, what are you holding..." Zhuang Ming said with some anticipation.
Ji Jie nodded, "This is a cursed object."
Although the peach wood sword was not brought out during the mission and is not a cursed object, it is easier for others to understand and accept it this way.
"That's great. We were just discussing whether to rent a cursed object to you. Otherwise, it would be too dangerous to not have any cursed object during the mission." Zhuang Ming said happily.
"Have the people involved in the mission been determined?" Zheng Yimin asked after sitting down.
"Well, if nothing unexpected happens and we calculate the time, this should be a four-person mission, you, Officer Ji, Liu Xingyu, and Chen Mo." Zhuang Ming said.
Although the rule at the small villa is that there are four tasks a month, with a week between each task, this one week does not include the task time. The time is calculated from the complete completion of the task to the start of preparations for the next task. Therefore, in most cases, the participants of the next task can be calculated in advance based on the time division.
And this time, there are only four of them facing each other.