Should be able to trigger a conversation, right?

Based on past gaming experience, Ice Cola realized that the figures under the distant tree were likely key NPCs for triggering the second-stage task, so he decided to go over and interact.

But as he got closer and saw the true forms of those figures by the flickering candlelight, he broke into a cold sweat in an instant.

Damn!

Who the hell is so evil, placing paper figures here to scare people? And with several white candles lit, the table laid out with various offerings?

Dream Building Engine is just too impressive.

The light and shadow are rendered just right. Whether the main character Hu Xi was scared or not is unknown, but Ice Cola in front of the screen was definitely spooked by this eerie scene, nearly dropping his wireless mouse.

"Almost forgot, this is a horror game!"

Taking a deep breath, Ice Cola finally remembered the genre of "Mountain Village Memories" and felt a surge of tension.

If not for being startled by the paper figures and candlelight, he might have really forgotten that this is a horror game. Now remembering, he felt a bit anxious and fearful.

This village seems a bit off, doesn’t it?

Will he be facing those so-called demons and ghosts? Can any of the creepy entities in this game be half as good-looking as Jiahui?

"Let’s go, the villagers here are mostly elderly and sleep early. Let’s go back and check the house first!"

The voice of the main character Hu Xi temporarily gave Ice Cola some courage, so he raised his flashlight and slowly walked towards a wooden cabin not far away.

Due to inconvenient transportation, Hu Xi hadn’t returned for many years.

So, his home was usually inhabited by Old Hu alone, with a very simple setup, and the furniture was all handmade, with no modern industrial products in sight.

The main character Hu Xi, upon returning home, quickly triggered the first task, and the first puzzle—Old Hu’s relics!

Old Hu had died; Hu Xi only knew he died of illness, but the specific illness was unknown, so Ice Cola needs to search for clues in the house to see if he can find anything left behind by Old Hu.

This is simple!

Rolling up his sleeves, Ice Cola, who frequently tackled escape rooms, found such puzzle-solving to be a piece of cake.

First, rummage through all the boxes and cabinets...

It’s obvious; useful clues or items are likely hidden in various boxes or cabinets, not carelessly tossed on the ground.

However, items on the ground or in corners shouldn’t be ignored; after all, what if this game takes an unusual route and the crucial clue is just lying around to be stepped on?

"Clue obtained: Mysterious Copper Coins!"

When Ice Cola found several strange copper coins in the cabinet next to Old Hu’s bed, the system prompted him that the Divination System had been unlocked, allowing him to use copper coins and a compass for fortune-telling.

"Oh? There’s such a feature?"

The moment the new feature was unlocked, Ice Cola clicked on the details for a look.

Based on his experience, this feature wasn’t randomly added and would surely be of great use in subsequent gameplay.

But what’s the use of divination?

Just to be idle and cast a fortune for oneself? Amused by this thought, Ice Cola clicked "Start Divination" with his mouse.

He tossed the copper coins into the air, and they landed stably on the Ba Gua-like compass, showing a minor misfortune, predicting he’d encounter danger.

Ice Cola tried a few more times.

It was clear that the trigram was fixed, showing the same minor misfortune each time without variation.

"This trigram interpretation..."

Honestly, as a top 100 UP owner, Ice Cola’s knowledge base is definitely above the passing line, but he’s completely clueless about interpreting divination trigrams.

Don’t get it twisted!

He recognizes every word, can even read them together, but deciphering trigrams is really beyond him.

He hasn’t studied this stuff, so he definitely doesn’t get what this trigram means or the point of divination.

Forget it, never mind for now!

Getting nowhere after several tries, Ice Cola decided to focus on the task at hand, trying to find more of Old Hu’s relics to figure out the cause of his death.

There’s a packet of Chinese medicine in the drawer.

After opening it, Ice Cola was alerted by the system that these herbs were all "supplements" meant for replenishing the body.

These probably have nothing to do with Old Hu’s death, especially given the thick layer of dust on the box, indicating that the herbs had been there for a long time, not recently acquired.

But Old Hu was always healthy, so why did he need all these supplements?

Did he find himself a partner?

As a player, Ice Cola wasn’t very respectful towards Old Hu and thought Old Hu might have a kidney deficiency the moment he saw these potent medicinal herbs.

Why get all those supplements without a kidney deficiency? A single man with a kidney deficiency must be fooling around with some widow.

"Keep looking!"

"This is Old Hu’s private stash, he even had two large gold bars, that’s impressive. Where did he get them?"

The so-called large gold bars refer to roughly processed, unrefined gold bars.

Ice Cola pocketed them.

Old Hu was dead, naturally unable to take these riches with him. They ought to stay with his adopted son Hu Xi; not taking them would be a waste.

Rummaging through the various boxes and cabinets, Ice Cola’s headphones suddenly transmitted sounds of breathing and footsteps.

"Who’s there?"

"Huh, no one?"

When he turned his view around, he saw no one behind him. The footsteps and breathing seemed to be auditory hallucinations.

But he was sure this wasn’t an auditory hallucination!

Seriously, he can tell the difference while gaming; the breathing and footsteps were definitely real, and close by, he just couldn’t see anything.

"There’s something strange coming!"

After a bit of thinking, Ice Cola realized he might have encountered something odd in the game, and exploration needed to pause. He had to find a closet or curtain to hide behind for now.

Why hide in a closet?

This comes from Ice Cola’s personal experience with horror games. No matter what oddity you encounter in the game, hiding in a wardrobe or storage cabinet always seemed to work; the strange things naturally just pass by.

No doubt about it, it was true!

The golden rule in horror games is those strange and filthy things never, ever open closets!

No matter how terrifying they look, how they could kill with a bite or shred with a claw, they simply don’t open closets or see people hiding within.

This is quite remarkable!

Even in playing a certain horror game, Ice Cola once hid in a closet right in front of a monstrous thing, and it just didn’t bother with him.

Maybe they’re blind!

Even though players dive into closets right before their eyes, these monstrous entities seem unable to see, avoiding the closets miraculously and letting players escape.

With this experience, of course, Ice Cola did the same this time.

Right in front of him was a wooden cabinet big enough for him to interact with, enter, and hide inside.

"Safe, let’s move quickly!"

Ice Cola snorted, "You guys, besides making scary noises to spook players, what else can you do? Can’t even open a cabinet... huh?"

A favorite line of "Mountain Village Memories" players: Huh? You can open the cabinet?

No way!

Why can you, a creature from a horror and thriller game, open cabinets to find people while others can’t?

[You died!]

Staring at the text on the screen, a frightened Ice Cola took a deep breath and fell into contemplation.

Wasn’t that thing just terrifying?

That face, bloody and mangled, even had maggots crawling on it, and the eyes were bulging out. Just one glance, and you’d have nightmares for sure.

That’s not the issue; the issue is why it could open cabinets? Where did it come from?

Then Ice Cola suddenly thought of something.

That trigram!

Could that trigram have been foretelling this situation, which is why it predicted "minor misfortune"?

"No way!"

"Just saying fortune or misfortune isn’t helpful, give a hint on how to clear this level! Without a hint, I can hardly... huh?"

Ice Cola suddenly woke up.

Can’t fight it? Why not run away? The door’s not locked, it’s not like the closet is the only way!