Hourglass Project - Chapter 5

Raising cups amid the clinking of glasses, the scene was full of enthusiasm. The village held a special welcome party that evening just for these travelers.

By the bonfire, villagers were dancing, sometimes pulling the players into the dance. The players drank the village’s homemade wine, and the food tasted even better.

Li Moyao scratched Shen Wenyu’s fuzzy short hair and smiled, “Is it too noisy?”

Shen Wenyu finished the last piece of pie, picked up a cup from the table, and took a sip. With a soft voice, he said, “A little.”

“Then let it be noisy~” Li Moyao said nonsense and yawned widely.

Shen Wenyu caught the yawn and also gave a big yawn, tears welling in his eyes, saying, “You’re human, yet you really aren’t.”

There was a deeper meaning behind those words. Truly, Chinese culture is profound and rich.

Li Moyao laughed, watching the dancers by the bonfire, spotting Huang Yuhan bouncing in the crowd. Her gaze lingered for a moment before shifting to the back mountain.

“Yao Yao.”

She looked down at her hand; Shen Wenyu’s small hand squeezed into her palm, the big and small difference was obvious.

His hand moved around in her palm; his face was drunk as he said, “I think something will happen tonight.”

She held his hand and smiled, “Don’t get sticky.”

The child had just finished eating pie, and his oily hand was all over hers.

Shen Wenyu couldn’t help but laugh at being seen through and took the tissue she handed him to wipe his hands: “Tonight I want to sleep with you.”

“I want to sleep with Luobao.” Li Moyao looked at him warmly.

“Then I’ll sleep with you guys!” Shen Wenyu lifted his little face.

Li Moyao still smiled, nodded, and said “Okay.”

The night deepened.

“Dear travelers, before sleeping tonight, be sure to close doors and windows tightly and pay attention to safety.”

A villager led them back to their rooms, carrying a lantern to light the way.

Li Moyao held Shen Wenyu and smiled softly, “Why? It’s so hot now, shouldn’t we open the windows?”

Huang Yuhan was also puzzled, “Yeah, wouldn’t closing the windows reduce oxygen inside?”

After walking a bit, other players noticed the villager didn’t answer and felt strange, some nervously looking around.

The atmosphere grew eerie; many players felt uneasy. Some even called out to the villager.

Only then did the villager seem to find his voice, and from the front came,

“It’s summer now; there are many mosquitoes, ants, and rats in the mountains. Closing doors and windows can better prevent them.”

Though true, their earlier silence had already made the players distrust him.

From beginning to end, probably only the “pay attention to safety” part was genuine.

Just as Lin Yi tried to close the door, it was pulled open, startling her to yell, “Holy sh*t!”

Li Moyao went in and closed the door. Seeing the three inside looking puzzled, she smiled, “Here’s some warmth for you~”

“What the hell?” Lin Yi was confused.

Li Moyao glanced at the room—doors and windows were already closed—and showed her left hand with the back up, then flipped it over, revealing two shining daggers in her palm.

“Holy sh*t!” Lin Yi was shocked and shouted in surprise.

She handed the daggers to her, smiling, “Here’s your warmth~”

Lin Yi tightly gripped the daggers, which felt scorching hot despite being cold weapons, and asked, “How did you conjure these?”

Li Moyao smirked, flipped her hand again, then flipped out another dagger, then flipped back and vanished the dagger, repeating for Huang Yuhan like magic.

Huang Yuhan accepted the weapons with a terrified, excited face, grabbing Li Moyao, “Yao Yao! Yao Yao!! Teach me!!”

Damn, this is so cool!!!

Li Moyao still smiled and leisurely said, “Then you gotta accept it~”

“What…?” Huang Yuhan was baffled.

Accept what?

She didn’t explain further, let them take the self-defense weapons, then opened the door and sent them out, thoughtfully closing the door behind them.

Returning to her own room, she saw Tao Luo already lying on the bed; Shen Wenyu occupied a small corner beside her and was half-asleep. She took off her shoes and got into bed.

Tao Luo turned to her and, seeing her casually turn off the light, raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Li Moyao saw her watching in the dark and smiled, “If anything happens tonight, follow me.”

The other remained silent, then slowly responded with, “Mm.”

This sudden protective instinct revealed by her made Tao Luo a bit uncomfortable, but there was no other choice. The four of them could only avoid trouble.

The clock struck midnight — 00:00.

On the mountain the girl had been longing for, the grave hidden in the woods concealed the lover in her heart.

The soul buried deep beneath the earth, suppressed by death during the day, now exploded with force. The earth loosened, and infinite grief and anger roared down the mountain.

At the village below—

Inside, Li Moyao and Shen Wenyu simultaneously opened their eyes, quickly got up, and after leaving the room, Tao Luo slowly woke up.

After Tao Luo went out, she saw Li Moyao and Shen Wenyu staring towards the back mountain. Turning her head, she froze as she saw it clearly.

Leading the charge were twisted, distorted souls screaming to the sky, leading the rest with overwhelming momentum, running so fast it was almost unbelievable!

At this speed, the five-kilometer distance would be shortened to less than five minutes by these unknown souls!

Fortunately, there was enough time to react.

“Ahhh—!”

A player woke up startled by the noise and screamed in terror, straining their voice.

More players rushed out and panicked upon seeing the scene.

For people who just a few days ago had been babies cradled warmly on Earth, just seeing this was enough to terrify them beyond understanding.

More timid females fainted, but now there were no “gentlemen” to help, as most players themselves needed a “gentleman”!

Li Moyao unusually showed no laziness, grabbed Tao Luo and Lin Yi, and headed back inside. Seeing this, Huang Jihun followed.

Huang Jihun noticed one missing and turned back. Shen Wenyu still stood with a solemn face.

“…”

That expression on a five-year-old’s face was really incongruous!

“小预!” (Little Yu!)

Shen Wenyu looked at Huang Jihun and, hearing her call him over, shook his head and laughed, “We can handle this!”

Huang Jijun was stunned.

“We?”

Li Moyao pushed everyone inside and then shoved Huang Jidan in too. But closing the door was not smooth.

Tao Luo stared at her, speaking clearly, “Let us follow you.”

Li Moyao looked at her and then back at the three behind her, smiling, “I’m not letting go now.”

After saying this, she stepped outside. Under the gaze of the four, she raised a hand glowing with red light and pulled.

“Bang!” 

The door slammed shut!

Outside, Li Moyao’s hand carried a red light and flicked toward the house, casting a protective charm over it before she walked away.

She stood by Shen Wenyu, glanced back at the village, where all doors and windows were tightly closed, and no figures were visible.

So, what the villagers said about closing doors and windows was true, but useless.

“Save me!” A girl rushed over, grabbing Li Moyao’s arm, crying and begging for help.

She had seen Li Moyao’s actions and decided she must be a powerful figure, now coming to seek refuge.

Li Moyao looked down at her, silently pulling her arm away and smiled, “Be obedient and stay in your room.” Her eyes swept the nearby area.

The girl looked at her tearfully and was speechless.

Other players wanted to seek help from Li Moyao, but her glance scared them off.

Be obedient, and you might survive.

The two of very different heights walked toward the mountain. Shen Wenyu asked, “Yao Yao, what’s the plan?”

Li Moyao pondered for a moment and smiled, “Adapt and act according to the situation.”

She raised her hand again with the red light. Shen Wenyu stopped and squatted, raising his left hand to strike the ground!

Boom!

The earth shook; a loud sound echoed through the village!

The protective charm hit the ground and exploded upward with red light spreading beautifully!

The approaching souls passed through the red aura descending from the sky. Their cyan translucent bodies were wrapped in a red, shining membrane.

They rushed into the village, ignoring the players and heading straight for the villagers’ houses.

Li Moyao and Shen Wenyu looked back.

Soon, they saw what they wanted.

The souls were both ethereal and tangible, pounding on doors and windows. Within moments, they broke through and barged in!

They dragged out those hiding inside. The battles between humans and ghosts began chaotically.

The cyan-clad souls had both males and females, angry and merciless. The villagers fought back with wooden sticks and hammers.

Li Moyao watched a child being grabbed by a soul. No matter how heart-wrenching the child’s screams, the souls showed no mercy.

“How big is this grudge…” Shen Wenyu murmured beside her.

She bent, scooped up the child, and walked into the village to observe.

Other players hurried to follow, fearing they’d be attacked if left alone.

Li Moyao ignored them, walking beside a soul wrestling with a child. She reached out and lifted the child.

The soul immediately turned its gaze toward her; she looked back lazily.

“Can you talk?” Shen Wenyu asked.

The soul glanced at him, then angrily turned away to seize other villagers.

Shen Wenyu smirk.

The child she rescued cried loudly, sitting by Li Moyao’s feet, bawling with tears and snot.

“They’re villagers too.”

Li Moyao looked at the man with a faint smile, waiting for him to continue.

He looked calm, watching the fighting sides, saying, “But they shouldn’t be from the same village.”

The proof was unfolding.

Hearing this, Li Moyao recalled something she couldn’t forget.

How many people are in the village?

The answer might be right before their eyes.

The battle lasted two hours. When the bell rang, the souls retreated back to the mountain.

The other villagers rushed into houses, ignoring the wandering players outside.

Li Moyao carried Shen Wenyu back, freed the protective charm, and opened the door.

Inside, Huang Yuhan, who just wanted to slam the table when she saw her enter, stopped abruptly upon seeing Shen Wenyu asleep in her arms and silently pointed at her, mouthing,

“You’re damn good.”

The next days.

“The village chief’s daughter is missing again!”

“What?! She ran off again?!”

“Yeah! Hurry and find her!”

The five-person group and Shen Wenyu heard villagers’ panicked conversations and saw them disperse, searching front and back mountains.

From their talks and assignments, it was clear the chief’s daughter had gone missing multiple times, yet the villagers were persistent in searching, showing deep affection…

It’s all bullsh*t! The chief’s daughter must be an important clue.

Just another lead.

Li Moyao sat in a chair, relaxed against its soft back, slowly turning a cup in her hand with ease.

Shen Wenyu stopped chewing, eyes turning toward the back mountain, saying, “Someone is singing.”

Upon hearing this, the other three looked instinctively, but saw and heard nothing in the mountains, puzzled, looking back at him and Li Moyao.

Neither of the latter responded, as they were lost in thought.

The girl’s singing voice was like the voice of heaven, every note filled with deep emotion.

Her song told a story crying, laughing, and lovingly.

She sang to the one who had long turned to dust, expressing all those feelings with rising and falling tones, finally becoming an apology.

Like a love story, beautiful in the beginning and middle, but ending in tragedy.

They parted, one lived above ground, the other died beneath it.

Knock knock.

The wooden table was struck twice.

Li Moyao lifted her eyelids and asked, looked at the person who came lazily, and said with a smile on her lips,”Go find Junjun~”

The man: “…”

Huang Jijun, who was called, remained calm, looked at the man and asked with a smile, “Is there anything I can help you with?”

The man turned to her and said, “Let’s cooperate.”

Huang Jijun glanced at the boy behind him, then looked back at him, and said with a smile, “One for one.”

He narrowed his eyes and agreed: “Okay.”

The information given by the man was the question of “how many people are there in the village”, and he felt that the “village” in the question was not the village they were in now.

Since he asked this question, it means he also thinks this is a mission. He exchanged with the six people because he believed that the five-person group had the same idea as him. As for why he believed in them, no one knew.

The information Huang Jijun exchanged with him was the singing of the village chief’s daughter.

She believed that the singing of the village chief’s daughter must be related to the ghosts of the dead last night, although she did not hear the content of the song.

“What song?” the man asked, indicating that he didn’t hear it either.

Huang Jijun smiled and said, “This is not part of the exchange.”

The man said nothing more, turned around and left with his companions.

After they walked away, the boy couldn’t help but ask, “Brother, do you think they are lying to us? And the singing of the village chief’s daughter?”

The man shook his head. “No, this information is only based on a certain foundation. We just need to dig deeper.” 

The boy frowned, his face wrinkled.

Suddenly, there was a gust of wind from above, and a scream fell to the ground,

“Ga–“

“What’s going on?” Huang Yuehan got up and walked out of the rest pavilion, and found a crow standing on a wooden house. She was immediately shocked, “When the hell did it appear?”

Tao Luo also came out, and seeing the crow flapping its wings, he said, “Follow me.”

All of them were action-oriented, and the six of them followed the flying crow without saying a word.

The walking range was within the village. The six people followed Crow to a room and saw a male player arguing with the messenger CG107 beside the room.

“I didn’t do anything wrong! I was just carrying out my mission normally!” the man shouted loudly, raised his hand and slapped away the messenger’s hand that was about to grab him.

CG107 shook his hand and said, “According to the regulations issued by the system, when playing in the micro-dimension named ‘Village and Villagers’, players are not allowed to harm NPCs in the micro-dimension without reason. If there are players who issue false orders, they will be punished by the messenger in charge of the micro-dimension.”

The man listened to a lot of nonsense he said, and didn’t stop at all. He waved his hands and cursed, “What bullshit!”

CG107 stared at his hand, and the next second he grabbed his arm at an extremely fast speed, and pressed the man to the ground with a twist! He said in a cold voice, “It is detected that the player disobeys the rules issued by the system and insults the system. The messenger CG107 will impose a higher punishment on the player.”

“Let me go!!” The man kept twisting and struggling, and his face pressed against the mud was deformed.

However, he didn’t struggle for long as his body disappeared into the blue mist.

Afterwards, CG107 stood up, without even glancing at the surrounding players, and headed towards the village gate.

When we were leaving the village, the villager who had gone to the front mountain to look for the village chief’s daughter happened to come back. Several men were carrying something in a sack that looked like a human figure. CG107 passed by them.

According to system regulations; When in micro-space, NPCs in the micro-space generally have no sense of the existence of the messenger. 

Li Moyao observed the men moving things with a relaxed smile on her face. Shen Wenyu put his arms around her neck and looked at her, blinking his big eyes.

A stranger’s whispered advice can also be a powerful weapon that kills people.