I Became a God in a Horror Game

“During the first seven days after a person dies, people from Yinshan Village are required to guard it,” said He Daniu. He walked up a mountain road as he spoke, then rested on his knees and muttered, “If outsiders like us guard it, something strange will happen sooner or later.”

Bai Liu stepped forward to support He Daniu: “What strange thing will happen?”

He Daniu was silent again, and after a long while, he waved his hand and said, “Forget it. Now that everyone is dead, you are the only remaining few in Yinshan Village. It doesn’t matter if I tell you – there’s nothing to hide.”

“This Yinshan Village is not only xenophobic but also has many strange customs. I am not from here, but I have heard a lot about them because they are so bizarre.”

He Daniu looked at the mountain road covered with paper money and fell into memories:

“No one in Yinshan Village has a good end. They died in many strange ways, such as being hit by falling bricks and tiles, choking on bones while eating, and so on. But the most common was drowning – several people have drowned in ponds outside every year.”

“That’s not even the most bizarre thing. The most bizarre thing is the burial customs of Yinshan Village.”

“When someone drowns, Yinshan Village will bury and shroud them in a coffin like normal. If the person is not drowned and is an unmarried woman, Yinshan Village will dress the dead woman in a wedding gown and bury her in a wedding sedan chair with great fanfare – beating gongs and blowing suonas.”

“They also like to bury people together as husband and wife, that is, people who died together around the same time will be buried on the same day. If someone drowned and an unmarried girl also died around the same period, then the wedding sedan and coffin will be sent out together, and both red and white events [1] will be held together.”

“How could they do that…” He Daniu shook his head repeatedly, “When a newlywed is buried, the Five Reds are present: red face, red clothes, red sedan chair, red shoes, and red rouge. When a person is buried by drowning, the Five Whites are present: white water, white clothes, white pants, white shoes, and white paper money. [2] When these two things collide, it will become evil, and the buried people will never be reborn.”

He Daniu sighed, “This is how the ancestors of Yinshan Village have been buried. I wonder how many resentful souls have been buried in this land.”

“But that’s just my superstition.” He Daniu turned his head and looked at Bai Liu, “You young people shouldn’t believe in this, right?”

He Daniu didn’t wait for Bai Liu to answer and continued: “It’s okay if you don’t believe it. If you don’t, you won’t be able to communicate with ghosts and gods nor be able to see it.”

“But if you believe in it, don’t be afraid when you see these things. Just don’t offend them. They won’t easily take the initiative to hurt people.”

He Daniu looked at Bai Liu deeply and said, “If you harbor evil intentions and insist on offending them, then you will never be able to escape from Yinshan Village even if you go to heaven or hell.”

“This land is filled with evil spirits that have been trapped for hundreds of years. I advise young people like you who don’t know your place to be careful.”

After saying that, He Daniu didn’t even look at Bai Liu’s expression. He pushed away Bai Liu’s hand that was supporting him and continued to limp up the mountain with his hands behind his back.

“Come with me.” He Daniu said without turning his head, “We are about to reach the place where your ancestors left their bodies.”

Bai Liu looked into the distance along the mountain road that He Daniu was walking on and saw a temple covered with white cloth not far away. When he got closer, he realized it was a Taoist temple.

There were seven or eight wreaths placed at the temple’s entrance, with two long funeral couplets hanging on both sides of the wreaths. Walking further in, there was a statue of Sanqing Yuanshi Tianzun enshrined in the center of the temple. The statue looked very old, but there was no dust or paint peeling off from it, and there were many signs of restoration showing that it was well cared for.

At that moment, the statue was holding a dustpan and had its eyes slightly narrowed, as if it was looking at Bai Liu and his group who were walking in.

The temple was filled with the pungent scent of incense oil as the burning of candles and incense sticks wafted into the air. Seven coffins were lined up outside the incense stand in front of the statue, each supported by two wooden benches.

As soon as He Daniu came in, he lit three incense sticks, bowed three times respectfully to the statue, and then set them on the censer.

“Gods three, ghosts four.” After lighting the incense, He Daniu turned around and looked at Bai Liu, “Remember this, don’t burn the incense wrong when you burn it for the Taoist master. Otherwise, if something happens, the Taoist master will not bless nor protect you little bastards who have forgotten your ancestors.”

Mu Sicheng leaned close to Bai Liu’s ear and whispered, “What does gods three, ghost four mean?”

Bai Liu explained softly, “It’s a common setting in Chinese horror games. Burn three incense sticks to the gods and kowtow three times. Burn four incense sticks to the ghosts and kowtow four times.”

Mu Sicheng asked solemnly, “What if I burn it incorrectly?”

Bai Liu’s eyes flickered across the seven coffins, “I guess it’s time to wake up the things in these coffins and start a chase.”

Mu Sicheng had a horrified look on his face, and he quickly muttered a few words in a low voice, “Gods three, ghosts four.”

“Come here.” He Daniu waved to Bai Liu.

Bai Liu pulled Mu Sicheng, who was saying in horror, “Fuck, my name has a four in it, what do I do??” and walked over.

He Daniu saw Bai Liu coming over and patted the coffin, “Look at this.”

Bai Liu lowered his head and looked at the surface of the coffin. There were four bells tied to the four corners of the black lacquered coffin. The four bells were strung together by several thin red lines, one horizontally and one vertically across the surface of the coffin.

A talisman was pasted at the place where the red lines crossed with patterns drawn on it in a flamboyant manner using cinnabar, three large characters were written in wild handwriting at the top – [Ansha Curse].

He Daniu raised his head and looked at Bai Liu, “Do you see the yellow talisman on the cross red line? This is the [Ansha Curse] drawn by a Taoist priest with profound Taoism nearby. It is used to suppress the water corpse in the coffin. Under no circumstances should you take it off.”

Bai Liu glanced at the talisman and asked, “What will happen if I take it off?”

He Daniu looked at Bai Liu steadily and said, “The people in these coffins are all your ancestors. They all died at a ripe old age. Logically, this is a happy funeral. Even if there is an evil spirit, they’re still related to you by blood – they shouldn’t make things difficult for you.”

“But the bad thing is that they fell into the water and died while worshipping their ancestors during the Qingming Festival.”

He Daniu looked at the coffin and said, “There are resentful souls trapped in Yinshan Village for who knows how many years. The Qingming Festival is when they come out to roam. Your ancestors were stained with a lot of resentment from the previous resentful souls, and they died by drowning. Water is associated with Yin, and water ghosts like to find substitutes.”

“What do you think will happen if you remove this tailsman?”

He Daniu’s pale face revealed a creepy smile, “Of course, you would be dragged by your dear grandfathers and grandmothers to be a substitute.”

Mu Sicheng shuddered at the laughter and subconsciously took half a step back.

Bai Liu was as steady as a rock, and asked calmly, “Do you have more of these [Ansha Curses]?”

He Daniu turned around and bowed to the statues of the Three Pure Ones in the temple. Without even turning his head, he replied to Bai Liu, “No.”

“Now, apart from our older generation, who still believes in this? Few are willing to pay for a Taoist priest. Only the people of Yinshan Village still believed in this. Before, temples were popular and incense burned strongly; there were even several small shops selling yellow talismans and cinnabar.”

“But later, the number of people in Yinshan Village decreased, and these small shops closed down a long time ago. These talismans were left in the village by the Taoist priest before he left.”

He Daniu turned around tremblingly and said faintly:

“That Taoist said Yinshan Village would be in chaos in the coming years, so he left these [Ansha Curses], saying that although they cannot resolve the chaos, they can at least delay it for a while. He also came to our village and told us not to get close to Yinshan Village in the near future, as it is easy to cause trouble.”

“Not long after that Taoist left, something happened to your grandparents, and these [Ansha Curses] came in handy.”

He Daniu stared at Bai Liu intently, “The talismans left by the Taoist priest are exactly seven, not one more, not one less. And the number of your dead ancestors is also exactly seven, not one more nor less.”

“Seven talismans, seven coffins, the first seven souls to return after the seventh day…”

“In Taoism, seven represents the extreme of yin and yang, and the number of repetitions. It means that the yin and yang energies of things converge at this number and allow past events to return.” He Daniu looked at the statue of the Three Pure Ones with a gloomy expression and shook his head. “What happened in the past will happen again, and human power cannot stop it.”

“If you hear the bells on the four corners of the coffin ringing, don’t run around. It’s more dangerous outside. If you stay here, the Taoist may be able to save your life.”

As he spoke, He Daniu looked up at the sky outside, then walked outside with a flashlight in hand, “It’s getting late, I have to go. If it gets any later, I won’t be able to leave.”

Mu Sicheng wanted to reach out and grab He Daniu, the NPC who looked very useful, to stop him from leaving, but he only grabbed the fluttering corner of He Daniu’s clothes.

“Don’t keep people who shouldn’t stay, they can’t be kept, just like people who shouldn’t leave, can’t leave…” He Daniu said in a vague voice as he walked out with a staggering step. His movements seemed slow, but his back figure quickly disappeared in the mist and ashes.

“If you have any problems, please ask the Taoist for help. It’s dark now. Don’t go through the dam. It’s not safe…”

As soon as He Daniu left, the bright lights in the temple flickered, a cold breeze blew through, and the brightness was reduced by several degrees.

Mu Sicheng asked quietly, “Bai Liu, how credible do you think what He Daniu said is?”

Bai Liu lowered his eyes and looked at the talisman on the coffin, “You can trust it completely.”

Mu Sicheng was startled, “Why? What is the identity of this He Daniu?”

“He should be that Taoist priest.” Bai Liu said flatly, “This is a very obvious Chinese horror instance that uses Taoism to fight against ghosts and Gods. The NPC given at the beginning is so familiar with Taoist information and also gives a lot of friendly hints in the directions — which is typically indicative of a character designed as a reclusive expert.”

“The only reclusive master we know of so far is the one he calls the Taoist Master, so my biggest guess is that He Daniu is that Taoist Master.”

Mu Sicheng stood beside the statue, far away from the coffin, and asked, “I feel like this He Daniu wants to help us, and he’s a Taoist master, so why did he leave?”

Bai Liu raised his eyes to look at the statue behind Mu Sicheng: “Because he can’t handle the upcoming situation.”

“Animals will run away when they encounter dangerous situations, let alone humans.”

Mu Sicheng felt a chill on the back of his neck after hearing what Bai Liu said, and he moved away from the coffin cautiously.

“But there isn’t completely no way.” Bai Liu retracted his gaze and looked at Mu Sicheng, “He gave us a hint. See if there is anything hidden behind the statue.”

Mu Sicheng agreed, and his human turned into a monkey’s paw. He took a deep breath and reached behind the statue to dig.

Kong Xuyang and Yang Zhi, who had been hiding behind the statue, heard Bai Liu have Mu Sicheng come over, and they both smiled smugly at the same time.

Because they had played this game before, they took a shortcut down the back mountain and did not go through the main gate to trigger the NPC He Daniu to follow the plot. Therefore, they arrived at the temple earlier than Bai Liu and the others and hid behind the statue earlier.

Yang Zhi gave Kong Xuyang a thumbs up and sincerely mouthed praises to Kong Xuyang for his incredible foresight.

Kong Xuyang looked at the “Maoshan Talisman” in his hand and raised one corner of his mouth insidiously.

Bai Liu was quite smart. His guesses about the game setting and the plot weren’t off at all, all were completely right.

That He Daniu was indeed an old Taoist priest. He stayed here to guard the coffin because he was afraid that the people returning here would be harmed by the vengeful spirits, so he stayed around specifically to warn them.

However, since He Daniu himself was also under the surveillance of the vengeful spirits, he dared not give tips openly. He could only rely on the protection of the temple to covertly provide players with some self-defense items.

Among the self-defense items that He Daniu left for the players, the most valuable one is the book “Maoshan Talismans” hidden under the statue.

With this book, even if a player has no skills or props, they can survive safely in this high-difficulty puzzle game.

But sorry, he already got the book.

This book was one of the important supports for Kong Xuyang to carry out his next plan because after he activates the skill [Silence], neither Bai Liu nor he will be able to open the system panel.

Without this book, he wouldn’t be able to survive and complete this instance.

Kong Xuyang turned his head, glanced at Yang Zhi again, and mouthed, “Are you clear on what to do next? You use your skills first, and then I’ll use mine. Got it?”

Yang Zhi nodded solemnly.

Kong Xuyang’s eyes were fixed, and he made a one-handed gesture and mouthed, “One, two-”

“Three! Go!” Kong Xuyang shouted, they both jumped out from behind the statue at the same time and appeared in front of Bai Liu and Mu Sicheng.

[System Alert: Player Silent Lamb uses his personal skill (Memory-Eating Lamb) on Players Bai Liu and Mu Sicheng, which allows (Silent Lamb) to eat all of Player Bai Liu and Player Mu Sicheng’s memories in this game, making the other party forget who they are, their memory will be restored after leaving the game.]

[System Alert: Player Kong Xuyang uses his personal skill (Silent), the system panels of all players are frozen and cannot be used.]

A wave of white light radiated, the system panel floating in front of Mu Sicheng quickly turned gray and froze, then shattered and disappeared. The game controller in front of him became gray, like an ordinary coin.

The moment Mu Sicheng noticed two people jumping out from behind the statue, he turned around and wanted to run towards Bai Liu almost as a conditioned reflex.

But before he could run over, the wave-like white light swept across the back of Mu Sicheng’s head. His eyes involuntarily became blank and his movements suddenly stopped.

The white light flashed across Mu Sicheng and Bai Liu’s brains, then turned into a ring-shaped halo and was sucked back into Yang Zhi’s mouth. Yang Zhi’s belly instantly swelled up, and he burped with his bloated belly.

Mu Sicheng stared at his hands blankly, frowned and touched the back of his head before raising it to look around in confusion, “Where… is this place?”

“Why am I here…?”

Kong Xuyang and Yang Zhi looked at each other and smiled knowingly, stepping forward to support Mu Sicheng, who was staggering in place due to dizziness caused by the use of skills, “You’re an outdoor live streamer, specializing in shooting supernatural videos of seeing ghosts!”

Mu Sicheng looked over blankly,”What the hell?”

Kong Xuyang pretended to be angry and patted the bag on Mu Sicheng’s shoulder, “Hey! How come you forgot who you are after drinking? Open the bag yourself and take a look.”

Mu Sicheng opened his backpack dizzily and took a look.

There were several cameras, a foldable tripod, two microphones, and two professional-grade cameras neatly placed in the backpack. In the small pocket was Mu Sicheng’s work ID, which clearly read [Supernatural Live Streamer signed by xx Livestreaming Platform].

Mu Sicheng was startled. He raised his work ID in disbelief, looked at the photo of himself at work, frowned and asked, “Am I really a… supernatural livestreamer?”

Kong Xuyang beside him smiled diabolically: “Yes, this is your [identity].”

The most sinister thing about the game “Yinshan Village” is that it gives every player who comes in a particularly suicidal [identity] setting. Players must play this identity setting in the game. If they act contrary to this identity setting, the difficulty of the game will rise sharply, making it easy to encounter resentful ghosts and be killed during their actions.

The last time Kong Xuyang entered this game instance, there were six people. One of the identities was set as a [supernatural live streamer who came to Yinshan Village]. The side quest of this identity was to [take pictures of the most terrifying ghosts].

As soon as Kong Xuyang saw Mu Sicheng carrying a big bag, he knew that Mu Sicheng had obtained this identity setting.

But the most difficult identity setting was still…

Kong Xuyang turned his head with ill intent and looked at Bai Liu who was lying next to the coffin.

Bai Liu, Bai Liu, you are worthy of having a luck value of 0. You immediately drew the most difficult character identity in this instance that I have completed before.

Mu Sicheng seemed to have noticed that there was an unconscious person lying there. He stood up suddenly and subconsciously rushed over to help Bai Liu up. He shook him anxiously twice, “Hey! Hey! What’s wrong?!”

After shaking, Mu Sicheng paused strangely.

What’s going on… Why is he so worried about this person he doesn’t even know? He didn’t seem to be the type of person who becomes very close with strangers, so why did he feel like this towards this person…

It’s as if they’ve already known each other for a long time?

But before Mu Sicheng could figure it out, Bai Liu had already woken up.

Bai Liu stood up naturally, as if he had never fainted, supporting himself with Mu Sicheng’s shoulder. Mu Sicheng also naturally reached out to help Bai Liu up, and put a small stool for Bai Liu to sit on and rest.

After helping him, Mu Sicheng paused again, and he slowly realized that something was wrong.

Why is he so used to doing this kind of servant-like actions towards this person…

After Bai Liu woke up, Kong Xuyang didn’t get the chance to give him any deliberate reminders. He took the initiative to open his backpack and look for something, then nodded in understanding.

This overly normal behavior made Kong Xuyang look at Yang Zhi in doubt, questioning with his eyes, Are you sure you ate Bai Liu’s memory?

Upon seeing Bai Liu’s normal, relaxed movements, Yang Zhi was also utterly stunned.

Yang Zhi patted his belly in confusion. After confirming that the memory he was digesting in his belly was indeed Bai Liu’s, he opened his eyes wide and raised three fingers to assure Kong Xuyang, I really ate Bai Liu’s memory.

The memories that Yang Zhi ate entered his stomach and intestines in the form of [meat] and were digested. If the digestion was fast, Yang Zhi could still see something from the memory after digestion. This was also the reason why Yang Zhi had often confused memories before.

But if all of a person’s memories are devoured, it would be like eating a whole cow for Yang Zhi. A game is far from enough time for Yang Zhi to digest it.

Therefore, Kong Xuyang only uses Yang Zhi’s skill to confuse the opponent and cannot be used as a skill to pry for information.

But Yang Zhi was aware of the memories he had eaten. He said that he was digesting Bai Liu’s memories, which proved that Bai Liu’s memories were indeed eaten and he was a blank person with no memories.

Kong Xuyang retracted his gaze and took two tentative steps towards Bai Liu: “Bai Liu? Are you okay? Did you drink too much just now?”

Bai Liu looked up at Kong Xuyang, “I’m fine.”

Kong Xuyang sat next to Bai Liu and comforted him with a look of pity, “Our grandparents are both dead. We are all returning to our hometown to pay respects to our ancestors. We are in the same boat. Don’t be sad.”

“I’m not sad.” Bai Liu took a book out of his bag, held it up and smiled, “Because I seem to have come back to do bad things.”

There were seven sloppy brush-written characters on the book that Bai Liu took out, which clearly read “Maoshan Sorcery Manuscript”.

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The author has something to say:

The content about evil spirits, burial, corpses, and Maoshan techniques in this article is partly referenced from “Maoshan Scriptures”, “Maoshan Introduction to Good and Evil Talismans”, “Maoshan Secret Techniques for Expelling Evil”, “The Mystical Book of Maoshan”, etc.

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[1] Red events 红事 refer to joyful events such as weddings where the bride and groom wear red while white events 白事 refer to solemn or gloomy events like funerals since people in chinese culture wear white to funerals.

[2] The Five Reds refer to the red face (a blushing face), red clothes (red wedding clothes in chinese customs), red sedan chair (to carry the bride), red shoes, and red rouge (lip makeup). On the other hand, the Five Whites refer to white water (pure, clean water), white clothes, white pants (in chinese culture, the dead wear white), white shoes, and white paper money (money burned for the dead).

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