Chapter 32: Are You Playing Me?

“Please, I’m begging you.”

Hearing no response from inside the house, the person outside still refused to give up. “I know you’re in there. Don’t you believe I’m a player too?”

Of course not.

Yeda scoffed inwardly, but held his tongue, quietly adding a few more sticks to the campfire.

If only it were possible to fade quietly to the back, he’d do just like Han Li—slip away unnoticed.

“Please believe me, I really am a player. I’ll even kneel for you, I beg you, please save me! If you don’t believe me, I’ll send you a private message right now, and then you’ll believe me!”

Ding!

As soon as the woman finished speaking, Yeda’s light screen chimed with a notification.

But the more this happened, the more the terror in Yeda’s heart grew, spreading like an ink stain on a white shirt.

First, how did this woman know who the owner of the house was?

Second…

How did she find his private messages?

Just these two points were enough for Yeda to conclude that whatever was outside was not right. Maybe it was the old witch from “A Chinese Ghost Story,” or perhaps just a ghost.

One thing was certain: hell no, it couldn’t possibly be human.

Wanwan: “I really am a player, please help me!”

Yeda: “Who are you? Why are you looking for me? What do you want?”

He tried to feign ignorance, hoping whatever was outside would just leave.

But the thing outside seemed to have latched onto Yeda…

The moment he replied, a new message from her popped up instantly, as if it didn’t need to be typed at all.

Wanwan: “You can find nearby people by searching. The one inside the house is you, don’t lie! You still don’t believe me, do you?”

Yeda: “Namo Amitabha, Guanyin Bodhisattva, God, Jesus, Supreme Lord, I beg you for protection!”

Wanwan: “Are you messing with me?!”

Bang!!!

The wooden door shuddered under a violent blow.

The noise made Yeda’s heart skip a beat—he almost went into cardiac arrest.

Screeeeech!!!

Screeeeech… roar!

The creature outside, realizing the person inside had seen through its act and wouldn’t open the door, finally dropped the pretense.

It began hurling itself against the door, scraping it with something sharp, producing a screech like fingernails on a chalkboard—shrill and grating.

At first…

Yeda worried the wooden door wouldn’t hold. But he soon discovered that the monster seemed unable to force its way in.

Especially when he raised a burning log and approached the door…

The sounds outside abruptly stopped.

“So it really is afraid of fire.”

Hearing the silence, Yeda finally breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as something has a weakness, it can be dealt with. The only thing to fear is a creature that fears nothing—then you’d have to be afraid of yourself.

But…

What exactly was outside?

Yeda brought the flame closer to the door, pressing his eye to the crack, trying to catch a glimpse of the situation beyond.

“Is the crack blocked?”

All he saw was darkness. “Or is it just too dark outside to see?”

Whoosh!

Just as Yeda assumed the crack was blocked…

The darkness shifted, turning into a patch of white—streaked with blood-red veins!

Shit!!!

Yeda was so startled he fell hard onto the floor.

That blackness was a pupil. That white—a bloodshot eyeball!

No sound…

Not because it had left.

But because the thing was crouched at the door, peering in!

Damn, damn, damn!

At that moment…

Yeda could only curse under his breath to relieve the terror clawing at his heart.

Bang!!

The thing outside, upon seeing Yeda, slammed into the door again with tremendous force.

He watched as the crack in the door gaped for an instant—a thick black mist seeping into the treehouse.

Luckily, the moment the inky fog touched the firelight, it dispersed.

Just as Yeda was debating whether to upgrade the door again, the sounds outside faded once more.

He waited ten minutes.

Yeda listened intently for a long while, but heard nothing.

Gone?

He licked his dry lips.

He was still afraid, but until he was sure that thing had left, there was no way he could sleep—let alone relax enough for his gooseflesh to subside.

To spare himself a night of constant dread, Yeda decided…

To take another look!

He edged closer.

And closer.

Once more, he pressed his face to the crack, then—swift and precise—jabbed a thin bamboo skewer through it!

Pop!

It sounded like a water balloon bursting.

Then—

A bloodcurdling scream echoed from outside.

In all his years, Yeda had never heard anything so piercing—like a needle driven straight through his ear and into his brain.

It made his skin crawl and every hair stand on end.

Bang!

Bang, bang, bang!!!

The door shook and rattled under a furious assault. Even the latch wobbled, a nail popped free, and it looked like the monster might burst through at any moment.

I can’t let it in!

Yeda thought of using his body to brace the door, but was afraid the thing would slip something lethal through the crack.

So…

He abandoned that idea.

Stay calm!

He told himself to stay calm, racking his brain for the creature’s weakness.

Fire. Yes, the dark things always fear fire!

Yeda quickly held the torch to the door, scorching the crack. As flames licked the wood, the sounds outside finally died away.

Whew!

At last, it was gone.

Yeda exhaled in relief.

Though he didn’t dare look through the crack again, he could feel that whatever was outside had finally left.

Maybe it was the aura, or just his sixth sense.

Either way…

The moment the door caught fire, he felt that bone-chilling cold recede.

Even the goosebumps on his arm faded.

Hiss!

Sensing the monster’s departure, Yeda quickly doused the flames with mineral water.

With the fire out, the thing didn’t reappear.

Even so…

He didn’t dare linger by the door. Instead, he pulled his down jacket tighter and retreated back to the warmth of the fire.

Only the orange-red flames, crackling and popping as they devoured the wood, could offer Yeda a semblance of safety, a little warmth.

His head drooped, nodding off to sleep.

But just as he was about to drift away, the memory of that eye in the door crack jolted him awake!

Snore… snore…

As Yeda startled awake, he found himself lying by the fire, two wolf pups cuddled in his arms.

The little creatures, probably cold, were pressed tightly against him as they slept.

Could it be…

He sat up, thinking for a moment, and suddenly understood.

He hadn’t actually woken up earlier—the pounding on the door had just been a nightmare!

He glanced at the time: 4:20 a.m.

That nightmare left a chill in his heart.

He hurriedly grabbed his phone, activating every app or screen that might connect him to others—he needed the comfort of conversation to dispel the fear.

Humans are social creatures; alone, it’s all too easy to succumb to terror.

Signal…

“Full bars?!”

Seeing the 4G signal at full strength left Yeda momentarily stunned.

So the signal only appears in the dead of night?

He immediately dialed Dali’s number.

Beep, beep, beep…

But, as expected, the call wouldn’t connect.

Undeterred, he tried his father, and several others—none of the calls went through.

After a moment’s thought, he opened WeChat, QQ, and other apps.

All of them returned errors, refusing to open.

No luck.

He fell back on what had worked before—sending text messages.

Yeda: “Dali, I tried searching for your name, but it says you’re not in this area. Maybe the game has many zones? How are you? Are you injured? What level is your treehouse now?”

Sent!

So… even with full signal, only texts will go through.

Yeda: “Ning, as strange as it sounds, I’ve ended up in this bizarre world too, just like you. I hope we can get in touch!”

Sent!

After texting Dali and Ning Qingcheng, he hesitated, then sent a message to someone in the finance department.

He remembered that the first time he’d sent texts, the message to the finance person had also gone through—he wondered if they’d made it here too.

Yeda: “Sister He, just checking if you can receive my messages. Are you at home, or…?”

Sent!

Once he’d contacted everyone he knew, Yeda checked his battery.

Only 36% left.

He didn’t dare waste any more, so he quickly locked the screen to save power.

If no one replied soon, he’d have to turn it off and conserve what was left.

After shutting off the phone, Yeda turned his attention to the light screen. If only his phone’s battery were as inexhaustible as the screen—then he wouldn’t have to worry about running out.

[Chat Channel]

“That scared me to death!!!”

“I just had a super realistic nightmare—something kept knocking on my door. I tried to open it, but kicked the fire and got burned awake! The dream felt so real, I wondered if I was actually sleepwalking.”

“So it was just a dream. Even if you opened the door, nothing would’ve happened, right?”

“Heh, you’re too naive! In my dream, the monster outside the door tricked me into opening it.”

“And then what? You seem fine now, nothing happened.”

“I woke up to the crackling of the fire! Then I found myself standing by the door, hand on the latch—almost opened it!”

“Yikes! Stop, I’m hearing knocking at my door right now! Something is outside knocking!”

“Listen to me! Whatever you do, don’t answer, don’t answer, don’t answer!!!”

“What is this, Three-Body Problem? Don’t answer? What’s the worst that could happen? I answered earlier, and nothi—”