Nightmare Assault Chapter 321: Tap Shoulder

There were only seven travellers left, but there were eight wood segments.

“How could this be?” You Qi stretched out his hands, hoping someone would claim the extreme segment. He asked timidly, “Whose… is this?” Of course, no one claimed it. Everyone looked at him with pity. Chen Qiang glanced at the painting. This caused a chain reaction because the rest did the same. If there were an extra ‘person’ in the room, that would be the woman in the painting. Could this extra segment belong to her?

You Qi’s face paled like his blood was drained. Even though he was scared, he didn’t dare to toss the wood segment. Plus, he didn’t know which one of the two he could abandon. There was another play that night.

“Did you notice that?” An Xuan began. “She said it was Elder Huang who ordered her to come inform us.” Before this, she would say it was Young Master Huang’s order. Xia Meng nodded. “It looks like they know we’ve seen through Young Master Huang’s real identity and have given up on the disguise.”

…

The sky soon darkened. After dinner, they gathered in Jiang Cheng’s room and waited for the mission to start. An Xuan helped everyone go over the details of the mission. “Based on the rules this time, we might have to roleplay as some characters and lure the others to speak.” He looked at everyone. When he glanced at Jiang Cheng, he realised the man was looking back at him. An Xuan looked away. “Therefore, I suggest, no matter what we see and hear, we do not say anything.” He opened his palm to reveal the wood segment, “And this thing. Put it in your mouth, and don’t take it out until the mission is over.” At the mention of the segment, everyone turned to the pale You Qi in the corner.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

The drumbeats were dull.

Everyone narrowed their pupils. It was time for the mission. They hurried to the lake. The lake was still misty. Strangely enough, the mist was thicker. The visibility was lower. A lonely boat cut through the mist and stopped by the shore.

No one was surprised. The mission had been using this method to split up the travellers. However, something was different this time. The boat was not empty. Instead, it carried a paper doll head… and a bright red costume. The costume was propped up in a wooden rack. It stood at the front of the boat. The head was clipped to the collar. It looked like a person was standing there with his arms outstretched. It was creepy.

The rules said that they were supposed to put the wood segment in their mouths once they arrived at the location. You Qi couldn’t hold it in. He asked, “Is this for… us to wear? But the rules didn’t…” At that moment, You Qi’s throat became parched. This was because he saw more boats slithering through the mist.

It was silent. Every boat had a bright red costume on it. The long sleeves fluttered in the wind like they were dancing. Xia Meng made a quick count. There were seven boats. An Xuan took a deep breath and was the first to jump on the boat. The situation was clear. They were required to change into the costume and put on the paper head. However, everyone was cautious. They didn’t remove their original costumes, but they wore the red costumes over them. It made everyone look bulkier.

After everyone was done changing, the seven boats set off in different directions.

Fatty looked around. It was too foggy to see anything. The waves sound disorientated him. Fatty had the urge to look under the boat but it was silenced by his rationality. He was afraid that he might see something he couldn’t handle, like a bloated face or a dead body.

In a few seconds, he had come up with hundred of ways the ghost could have killed them. This made him to curl up into a large ball. His neck spun around. He was like a human radar. This continued until he reached the shore.

Based on the rules, he only needed to wait patiently until someone came to find him and hand the bride over to him. Then, he was to get the bride over to the next traveller. The process was simple. In a way, it was a mutated pat the shoulder game.

Pat the shoulder game required four people. They would stand in an empty square room at midnight. All the lights would be extinguished, and one person would take up a corner. They would face the wall. As the game started, one person would move to the person in the next corner and pat their shoulder. Then, this process would be repeated until everyone had done it. The premise was that everyone had to go in the same direction, either clockwise or counter-clockwise.

When a person reached an unoccupied corner, they would cough and move to the next corner. Eventually, the coughing would stop because every corner had been taken. However, based on the rules, there should always be an empty corner and always someone who is moving. This meant that there was an additional person who joined…

However, this play was bigger, and they moved around this eerie lake. The seven travellers were spaced widely apart. They couldn’t hear any coughing. They were asked to put on paper doll heads and red costumes so that they couldn’t tell each other apart.

The reason was obvious. The ghost would join them in the game.

After the boat reached the shore, Fatty saw a paper doll. The paper doll stood under the tree about seven metres away. The face was smothered by strange makeup. He wore a green hat. A long braid hung beside him. Under the pale moonlight, the paper doll assumed a strange pose. His waist was slightly bent, and he pointed to his left.

Fatty’s breathing raced. He quickly followed the instructions and turned to face the left. He didn’t say anything.

It was hard to tell how long he stayed that way until a rustling sound came from behind him. It sounded like someone was dragging their feet on the ground.