Chapter 22: Tombstones

Everyone froze.

“What are you doing?”

Piss Black Granny off??

“Yes, I’ve definitely seen them before.” The male villager suddenly grabbed Qi Yang’s hand.

His palm was rough as sandpaper, scraping painfully against the skin—hard and ice-cold.

Qi Yang pulled his hand back immediately, his expression darkening.

“Where did you see us?” he asked while flexing his wrist.

The villager stood there blankly, thinking for two seconds. Then, as if he hadn’t heard the question at all, he repeated:

“I’ve definitely seen you… I really have.”

“Oh, here we go again.” The woman breaking ice set down her tool and sighed. “Please don’t mind him. He’s always like this.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s something wrong with his head.” She pointed at her own temple and explained, “It comes and goes. Whenever he has an episode, he grabs people and says things like, ‘You look familiar. Haven’t I seen you somewhere before?’ Or he asks, ‘Do you know me? Do you remember me?’”

No sooner had she finished speaking than the man suddenly grabbed Qin Jiu too and asked in a low voice:

“You know me, don’t you? You remember me?”

Qin Jiu: “……”

“See?” the woman said. “Just like that.”

“How did he go crazy?” Qin Jiu asked.

The woman thought for a moment, then shook her head softly.

“He’s always been this way.”

She called out to the other two villagers collecting water nearby. They walked over and each grabbed one of the man’s arms.

“Take him back first. He’ll probably stay crazy for a while,” the woman said.

The two villagers nodded and dragged the man toward a nearby house.

While being pulled away, the man suddenly grabbed Yu Wen, who happened to be closest to him, and struggled desperately.

“I’ve seen you before. I really have.”

His skin was gray and weathered. Deep wrinkles covered his face, especially around the corners of his eyes and mouth. A few strands of white hair mixed into his temples, making him look prematurely aged.

Yu Wen jumped in fright, but then felt a little sorry for him.

“Don’t drag him like that,” he said. “Need help?”

The villagers shook their heads.

“It’s fine. We’re used to it. When he loses it, he gets insanely strong. You wouldn’t be able to hold him down.”

“So we can only drag him like this.”

“And besides…” one of them said bluntly, “You’re Black Granny’s guests. We… don’t really welcome strangers into our homes.”

Soon, the male villager was dragged into a red-roofed house. Once the door closed, everything went silent again.

The whole incident left everyone staring awkwardly at one another.

But these villagers were basically NPCs in a game.

Things happening between NPCs could easily just be scripted daily events. Before understanding the cause, interfering rashly would be foolish.

So everyone merely watched without acting.

Qi Yang memorized the location of the house before finally withdrawing his gaze.

After talking for so long, the relationship still hadn’t become any friendlier. The big shot had lost patience.

Skipping the small talk entirely, he asked directly:

“Do any of you understand Gypsy?”

The woman resumed breaking ice.

She lifted the tool high overhead and slammed it down heavily, scattering shards everywhere.

Again and again.

Each strike carried a vicious force.

Watching her made people inexplicably uneasy, as though if a person were lying there instead of ice, she’d smash them just as hard.

After several strikes, she shook her head.

“No. Nobody understands it.”

“But the village chief said Black Granny works with the dead,” Old Yu couldn’t help asking. “If nobody understands Gypsy, then how do people communicate with her when they want her services?”

The woman replied:

“Guests are the ones who go looking for her. We villagers don’t.”

“And she wasn’t alone before. There were Russians. And several children. She didn’t always speak Gypsy.”

Russians? Children?

Everyone instantly sensed they’d hit something important and became excited.

“Were they Black Granny’s family?”

The woman nodded. “Probably.”

“Where are they now? Where did they go?”

The woman shook her head again.

“They left. Nobody knows where. Maybe they went home? Anyway, one day they just disappeared.”

“Does anyone know more?”

Again she shook her head.

“Who would dare ask Black Granny about her business?”

Everyone became discouraged once more.

Qi Yang glanced at the sinking sunset in the distance and asked:

“Are there graves here?”

The woman’s hand froze mid-swing.

She stayed silent for a long while.

Then suddenly she looked up at everyone and smiled.

The smile made her face seem more alive—

Which somehow made it even more terrifying.

She awkwardly raised a hand and pointed vaguely around them.

“See these woods?”

Everyone turned to look.

Dense forests surrounded the entire village in an airtight ring.

The woman smiled and said:

“The forest is the graveyard.”

“This whole ring of woods…”

“…they’re all graves.”

…

The sun completely sank behind the forest.

The final trace of light vanished.

Without anyone noticing, night had fallen.

The woman glanced upward and hurriedly grabbed her iron bucket.

“Wait.” Qi Yang caught her arm.

The woman struggled frantically.

“What are you doing?! It’s dark already—don’t touch me! I need to go home!”

Her strength far exceeded Qi Yang’s expectations. Caught off guard, he actually let her break free.

Clutching her bucket, she staggered back several steps and urged them anxiously:

“You should all hurry back inside too. It’s dark!”

“What happens when it gets dark? The village chief said the same thing earlier. Why don’t you come outside at night?”

The woman trembled.

Wrapping her scarf tighter around herself, she glanced nervously in every direction before whispering:

“When it’s dark, ghosts come out. They’re everywhere.”

“They knock on your doors. Open your windows. Stand beside your bed… or crawl underneath it.”

“You need to be careful…”

After speaking, she pressed a finger to her lips and softly whispered:

“Shhh.”

“……”

Everyone got goosebumps from that single shush.

The woman hurried away carrying her bucket.

Under the night sky, she moved incredibly fast. Within moments, she’d already reached a distant house.

She opened the door, looked cautiously left and right, then slipped inside and tightly shut all doors and windows.

Silence descended instantly.

A few dim lights glowed faintly from scattered houses, but they were so weak—and occasionally flickered—that they only made the atmosphere more unsettling.

Chen Bin rubbed his arms nervously.

“What do we do now? We’ve gotten nowhere with the listening exam…”

“How about we go back and study the recording some more?”

Even saying it sounded hopeless.

No translator.

The villagers didn’t understand Gypsy.

Supposedly ghosts roamed around at night knocking on doors…

How were they supposed to solve this listening exam?

…

“I’m going into the woods.”

Qi Yang suddenly said.

“You’re going WHERE???” Old Yu nearly jumped out of his skin.

But before he could finish asking, Qi Yang’s footsteps were already crunching away into the distance.

“Damn it.” Old Yu didn’t dare curse directly at his nephew, so he spat angrily at the ground instead and shouted:

“Wait! At least take a light!”

Qi Yang never even turned around. He merely waved a hand dismissively.

Everyone: “……”

Old Yu hurriedly yelled:

“Who’s got a flashlight?! Anyone?! A phone works too! Mine died this afternoon.”

“Damn it… I can’t just watch him walk into a graveyard alone!”

Everyone looked at one another and shook their heads.

The endless replaying of the recording earlier had drained all their phone batteries.

The tiny bit remaining couldn’t be wasted on light, otherwise the phones would die completely within minutes.

“What about you veterans?” Old Yu turned desperately toward Chen Bin and Liang Yuanhao. “Did either of you buy flashlights?”

Liang Yuanhao: “No.”

Chen Bin awkwardly waved a hand.

“They sold them at the rest stop, but… our scores are too pathetic. We didn’t dare spend points.”

“Uh…” Yu Wen suddenly spoke up and held out a long thin object.

“I boldly… spent 0.5 points on a glow stick. Can that work?”

Old Yu smacked him immediately.

“If you were gonna buy something anyway, why the hell did you buy a glow stick?! A box of matches would’ve been better!”

Yu Wen protested:

“I’ve read too many novels… some places don’t let you use open flames.”

Holding the glow stick, he dragged Old Yu after Qi Yang.

Yu Yao spoke softly.

“I… I’ll go too.”

One after another, everyone followed Qi Yang into the forest, leaving only Liang Yuanhao and Chen Bin standing there dumbfounded.

“They… take exams this recklessly???” Chen Bin muttered. “So are we going or not?”

Liang Yuanhao’s expression darkened.

“They already said the whole place is graves. If you want to go, go yourself. I’m going back.”

…

The forest was deathly silent.

Not even a single bird could be heard.

Qi Yang snapped several branches underfoot and casually kicked them behind him.

Qin Jiu let out an indifferent laugh.

“Could you have at least a little public decency? There are people behind you.”

Without a word, Qi Yang kicked several more broken branches backward.

Qin Jiu clicked his tongue.

With his hands in his pockets, Qi Yang wandered through the graveyard as casually as if he were strolling through a park.

The darkness didn’t seem to hinder him in the slightest.

“You sure you don’t want a light?” Qin Jiu asked. “I could lend you one.”

“My night vision is excellent. No need to worry.” Qi Yang replied. “Can you shut up and stay quiet for a while?”

“Not particularly willing to.”

Qi Yang ignored him.

After walking through the woods for a while, Qin Jiu suddenly stopped.

“Who’s out there wailing like they’re summoning souls?”

Qi Yang listened carefully for a moment and heard Yu Wen’s trembling voice echoing through the forest:

“Brooo— Bro, where are youuu—”

He could even vaguely see a glowing green object illuminating several terrified faces.

Qi Yang bent down, snapped several branches, then pulled out a lighter and lit them.

“There! Over there! I see him!” Yu Wen screamed like he’d seen a ghost and rushed over.

Old Yu leaned against a tree, panting heavily.

“Hey… you little… ancestor of mine… what exactly are you looking for?”

“Just looking around,” Qi Yang answered.

Everyone’s faces turned green.

“…I-if you haven’t found anything, maybe we should head back first?” Old Yu suggested carefully.

Qi Yang swept the burning branches toward the ground.

“Look. A row of graves.”

Everyone jumped and looked where the firelight illuminated.

A row of tombstones stood lined neatly across the ground beneath Qi Yang’s feet.

Strange symbols were carved into the stones—part letters, part twisting worm-like loops.

The writing resembled the strange characters carved on the boundary stone near the village entrance.

Clearly, Black Granny had carved these too.

Yu Wen looked utterly bewildered.

“How the hell did you even find this place?”

“Black Granny entered these woods this afternoon.”

Qi Yang crouched down and suddenly beckoned toward Yu Wen.

“Your phone still has battery?”

“A tiny bit.”

“Take photos of these. Copy them onto Black Granny’s door.”

Everyone froze again.

“Why?”

Piss Black Granny off??

Qi Yang asked flatly:

“What’s written on tombstones?”

Old Yu answered instinctively:

“Dead people’s names. Photos. Birth and death years.”

Qi Yang stared expressionlessly.

Old Yu’s survival instinct kicked in immediately and he hurriedly added:

“And the deceased’s relatives. Who erected the stone.”

Everyone: “……”

Right.

Black Granny carved these tombstones.

That meant—

Black Granny’s name had to be somewhere in the inscriptions.