Chapter 2: Invitation

The address was very unfamiliar; Yang Xiao hadn't even heard of this place. Carrying his doubts, he opened the box, and two leather pouches, one large and one small, lay quietly inside.

Opening the slightly larger pouch, a small booklet resembling a memorial to the throne fell out, instantly capturing Yang Xiao's attention.

On the cover of the booklet was an old mansion gate painted a dark red. Hanging on either side of the gate was a White Lantern. The dimly visible "Funeral" character on the lanterns revealed an indescribable, eerie feeling, as if pushing open this door would lead to another world.

Opening the booklet, inside were several paragraphs written with a fine brush in classical Chinese. However, Yang Xiao's literary foundation was quite good, and by half-reading and half-guessing, he understood the gist: this was actually an Invitation.

The host issuing the Invitation had the surname Feng. The family was going to hold a prayer ceremony and invited the recipient of the Invitation to attend. No specific details were mentioned, but it promised a generous reward upon completion.

Turning the page, a card the size of a bookmark fell out, on which a human figure was drawn with rough strokes.

Yang Xiao knew this must be the Character Card representing the player's identity in the game, but this was merely a prototype; it would certainly need to be redrawn and refined before the official release.

The feeling of the card in his hand was strange; it wasn't the common type of hard paper, but rather resembled some kind of treated leather. It had a certain toughness, and on the back of the card, in the upper right corner, there was a strange, triangle-like pattern.

On the last page of the Invitation, six human figures were abruptly drawn in the blank space. The figures were as rough as the one on the Character Card, making it impossible to distinguish their gender. Yang Xiao could roughly guess that this implied that besides the person who received this Invitation, there were 6 other players in the entire Script murder mystery, meaning this was a 7-player scenario.

"Hmm?"

After reaching into the larger pouch full of anticipation, Yang Xiao was surprised to find that the pouch was already empty.

What was going on? Did the other party only send this much?

Yang Xiao was a bit unhappy. Aside from a filler Character Card and a vague Invitation, the box didn't even contain the most basic story outline or character introduction booklet. Moreover, the other party hadn't even sent a greeting before sending it; this was a bit too disrespectful.

Judging from the exquisite construction of the box and the production of the Invitation, the other party didn't seem like a small workshop. This might be a good cooperation opportunity, but Yang Xiao liked to work with people who had sincerity; this wasn't about the money.

There was one small envelope left in the box, only about the size of half a palm. Yang Xiao thought for a moment and picked it up. The second after he opened the envelope, Yang Xiao felt his entire being stirred.

Inside was actually a stack of folded money.

Red ones!

Tremblingly pulling the money out, Yang Xiao gasped. He counted it carefully: exactly three thousand yuan.

Taking a deep breath to calm down for a moment, Yang Xiao lowered his head and counted it again, gasping once more. That's right, it really was three thousand yuan.

Three thousand yuan! Three thousand yuan!

Clutching this money, the way Yang Xiao looked at the Script Box became gentle. What kind of divine script studio was this? They were so sincere! They sent money without a second word; who could resist this?

At this moment, his thoughts were unlocked. Countless novel and interesting ideas rushed into Yang Xiao's brain like a torrent, breaking through his Ren and Du meridians. It is no exaggeration to say that within a few seconds, he had already conceived at least 3 scenes and 7 storylines for this Script.

Why worry about not having a story outline or basic character settings? I'll just write one. If the boss isn't satisfied with the box, I can even redraw it. On this point, Yang Xiao had always been known as the conscience of the industry, with a reputation that preceded him.

This money solved his urgent need; his rent and living expenses for next month were finally covered.

Finally, besides the boss's sincerity and respect, the envelope contained a few more cards. These cards were different from the previous Character Card; the workmanship was quite exquisite. They were tied into a stack with thin hemp rope, and only the top one could be seen. A bell was tied to the thin hemp rope.

Yang Xiao noticed the knot on the thin hemp rope. There was red on the knot; touching it with his hand, it was actually cinnabar powder, and the bell inside was sealed with wax.

This Script had some depth. This detail design surprised Yang Xiao somewhat. Cinnabar wards off evil, while the wax-sealed bell is said to suppress ghosts. What was even more brilliant was the method of the knot; if he wasn't mistaken, it was a Raising Funeral Knot used for tying up coffins.

Exquisite design helps players immerse themselves in their character identity and the plot more quickly. On this point, this Script did quite well.

Untying the rope, the first card showed an ancient old street. The background was dim, and the whole street was empty. Not far away was a large mansion. The gate looked familiar; it was the same as the one on the cover of the Invitation. It should be the Feng family, the host mentioned in the Invitation.

The second card depicted a few scattered houses. The background was even darker than the first card, and in the pitch-black courtyard in front of the houses, a full moon hung suspended.

The moon couldn't possibly fall into the courtyard. Yang Xiao guessed that if this didn't represent some kind of imagery, then there must be water in the courtyard—a pond or a small lake—and this full moon was the reflection of the moon in the sky.

Compared to this full moon, what made Yang Xiao more curious were those few houses. The houses were quite ancient in style, presenting a weird grayish-white texture in such a background. Even more chilling was that two large red lanterns hung outside every door. The bright red lanterns contrasted sharply with the silent, dim atmosphere, like two blood-red eyes, staring at him from another world through the card.

Inadvertently, Yang Xiao was startled by his own rich imagination. Filled with anticipation, he flipped to the last card.

Darkness, a piece of darkness. This was an almost pure black card. Yang Xiao was a bit surprised; even with his imagination, he couldn't judge what the author of this Script wanted to express.

Was it intentional blank space? Or just a clumsy gimmick? Yang Xiao felt by intuition that it was neither. This black card must represent some special meaning.

Staring at this card, Yang Xiao slowly calmed his mind. Little by little, he seemed to see something. The black on this card was a bit special; it was a black with layers, or more accurately, it leaned toward being murky, and something was hidden in the shadows behind the murkiness.

"Bang!"

Yang Xiao shuddered. The sudden sound instantly interrupted his thoughts. He followed the sound to the bathroom and opened the door. The shampoo that had been sitting properly on the shelf had fallen to the floor for some reason.

Having regained his senses, Yang Xiao felt hungry; it was time to eat. He put on his coat, took his umbrella, and walked out the door. He had been eating plain noodles for several days in a row; tonight he had to improve his meal.

The light wasn't turned off. If he turned off the light, the landlady would know he was home. Not opening the door just now was to avoid her.

Arriving at a small eatery by the road, Yang Xiao ordered a chicken leg rice. Watching the boss first pick up a large chicken leg and then scoop a spoonful of thick soup over the white rice, Yang Xiao suddenly felt that life had something to look forward to. "Boss, please add another chicken leg!"

Holding his umbrella, the well-fed Yang Xiao walked back slowly. The room he rented was in a relatively remote location even in this old residential area. The facilities were severely aged, there weren't many residents, and the streetlights in the compound emitted a half-dead light.

He wasn't far away now. Stopping his steps, he looked through the rain curtain at the old residential building dozens of meters away. After a long while, he sighed softly. Behind that window on the right on the second floor where the light was on, he had spent his most difficult period of time.

Before he could even finish his reflection, slowly, the light behind that window dimmed bit by bit at a speed visible to the naked eye, and finally, it actually went out.

What was going on?

It couldn't be a power outage; after all, the light on the 5th floor was still on. Was it a poor connection due to aging wiring?

Yang Xiao didn't know much about these things, but he still had to work overtime tonight to perfect the Script, and he couldn't do it without light. He hurried back. Just as he stepped onto the stairs at the corner of the second floor, he heard a "swish-swish" sound of water.

The sound of water was coming from his room. It sounded like the shower head in the bathroom had been turned on. What made Yang Xiao even more vigilant was that his door wasn't locked; it was currently ajar, leaving a shallow gap.

Through the gap, he could see the room was dark. Suddenly, the sound of water in the bathroom stopped abruptly. Before Yang Xiao could react, accompanied by the sound of splashing water, a blurry black figure flashed out from the bathroom.