The escape room themed “Funeral” is located on a commercial street in the new district of Xiluo South Village.
Originally, South Village was a rural area in the southern outskirts of Xiluo.
Later, as the city expanded, development reached here, turning it into a new district.
A real estate developer built a street with an antique-style theme here, but it never really took off, and the foot traffic has always been poor.
As a result, the rent for the shops is quite low.
The owner of “Funeral” is said to be surnamed Du.
Despite being young, he has a lot of ambition.
He rented out a row of connected shops in one go, including the second floor, and combined them into one large space.
The sheer size of the place far exceeds most escape rooms on the market.
Shi Pengpeng and Xiao Lingshu waited at the front desk for a while until Yan Jing and Cao Fanzhen arrived.
The two groups exchanged brief introductions.
Yan Jing didn’t mention that Cao Fanzhen was a blind date arranged by his family, only vaguely saying that they were friends who had lunch together.
Shi Pengpeng had initially thought that, given Yan Jing’s young master temperament, the friend he brought along must be someone he was very close to.
However, it was clear that the two were quite distant, which left her puzzled, but she didn’t pry further.
Xiao Lingshu, already excited, had signed them up at the front desk, and a staff member came over to explain the rules.
“Hello everyone, welcome to the large-scale immersive horror escape room ‘Funeral’. Our story revolves around a pair of parents, their child, and a relative returning to their rural hometown to attend the funeral of an elderly family member. During this event, strange occurrences begin to unfold.”
“Based on the background setting, each of you will need to choose a role to play, corresponding to the child, the parents, or the mother’s sister in the story.”
Before the staff could finish, Xiao Lingshu eagerly raised his hand: “I want to be the dad.”
Yan Jing’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, suspecting that Xiao Lingshu’s next move would be to ask Shi Pengpeng to play the “mom.”
Just as he was about to object, Xiao Lingshu indeed turned to Shi Pengpeng and said, “Senior sister, you can be my daughter. Let’s do a father-son duo.”
Yan Jing: “…..”
“No way!” Shi Pengpeng protested.
“I want to be the dad too. You can be my son.”
Xiao Lingshu straightened up: “I’m taller than you.”
Shi Pengpeng waved her fist: “I’m stronger than you.”
“Senior sister, you can’t always do this, always using your strength to overpower me. I admit I can’t beat you, but I’m mentally resilient. Just let me be the dad for once, okay? I swear I’ll shoulder the responsibilities of a wild dad, no, I mean a father…”
Once Xiao Lingshu started talking, there was no stopping him.
His endless stream of words left the others twitching at the corners of their mouths.
Cao Fanzhen, who had been silently observing, couldn’t hold back any longer and interrupted, “Xiao, could you stop talking and let the staff finish explaining, please?”
“Fine,” Xiao Lingshu reluctantly agreed, “but I still want to reiterate my stance…”
Shi Pengpeng punched him on the head: “Shut up.”
Xiao Lingshu obediently complied: “Alright, I have no stance.”
Cao Fanzhen: “…”
The staff member, now with a black line on his forehead, continued, “Funeral’ is designed with dual storylines. The person playing the child will need to enter a separate branch midway, so please choose your roles carefully.”
Hearing this, Yan Jing couldn’t stay calm anymore and asked with a tense face, “Solo action?”
“Yes,” the staff member kindly reminded, “the side quests are quite terrifying too. It’s recommended that friends with a bit more courage take them on.”
Yan Jing: “!”
He was starting to regret his impulsive decision to come here.
Seeing this, Shi Pengpeng found it amusing but didn’t expose him.
Instead, she looked at Xiao Lingshu: “You’re brave, so it’s your turn.”
Xiao Lingshu: “Aren’t you even braver?”
Shi Pengpeng blew on her fist and said, “I have something even bigger than courage.”
“Ha, stop trying to scare me. I’m not afraid,” Xiao Lingshu said with a tough expression.
“But I do like playing the role of the son.”
Shi Pengpeng nodded approvingly: “Good, a real man isn’t afraid to be the son!”
Yan Jing and Cao Fanzhen: “……”
It was hard to say which of the two was more shameless.
The remaining three drew lots to decide their roles.
In the end, Yan Jing and Shi Pengpeng played the parents, while Cao Fanzhen played Shi Pengpeng’s younger sister, the child’s aunt.
After their roles were decided, they were led to a heavy fireproof door with a red banner hanging on it, bearing the slogan: “Believe in science, dispel superstition.”
The staff handed Shi Pengpeng a kraft paper envelope, instructing her to open it only when prompted by the NPC.
Then, they collected their phones, had them line up, put on blindfolds, and hold onto the hem of the person in front of them.
“Now, I will lead everyone into the escape room. The path ahead is flat and poses no danger. Please do not remove your blindfolds until you receive further instructions.”
With their eyes covered, their sense of balance was affected.
The four of them didn’t dare to take big steps and moved forward slowly.
At first, the ground beneath their feet was hard concrete, but gradually it softened, feeling like sand, as if they were walking on mud.
Finally, the staff stopped, followed by the sound of a door closing.
“Welcome back to Liangjia Village. Please remove your blindfolds now.”
The four of them took off their blindfolds and were greeted by deep darkness.
A few dim lights on the ceiling, mimicking stars, faintly illuminated a narrow country path ahead.
The path was only a meter wide, flanked by waist-high wild grass.
The sandy road stretched forward, leading to a tall wooden archway at the end.
The archway was grand but clearly aged, with its surface paint peeling off, giving it a desolate appearance.
White lanterns hung on both sides, bearing the black character “mourning”.
The faint, flickering light revealed a worn-out plaque in the center: “Liangjia Village.”
Behind the archway was a tightly locked gate.
A pre-recorded female voice echoed softly:
“I am a white-collar worker in a big city, with a happy and loving family.”
“My husband is from a place called Liangjia Village, a small-town scholar who has always been very affectionate with me. Together, we have a lovely child who just turned five this year, and we both adore him.”
“I also have a younger sister who lives in the same city. She often visits us during holidays, and we have a very close relationship.”
“A few days ago, my husband received a call from his cousin Liang Renxin, saying that the respected Elder Yishi of the village had passed away, and he invited my husband to bring the family back to the village for the funeral.”
“Master Yi was a capable man in the village, having studied feng shui and mystical arts. In his early years, he made a living by helping people with grave relocations and land excavations in neighboring villages.”
“Later, he ventured out to make his fortune, amassing a considerable estate and becoming a well-known wealthy figure in the area. He even donated money to build an impressive ceremonial archway for the village.”
“Busy with his career in his youth, Master Yi never married or had children. In his later years, he returned alone to Liangjia Village and adopted Liang Renxin, a fellow clansman, as his foster son. Liang Renxin was extremely filial to Master Yi.”
“Although they were not biologically related, their bond was even stronger than that of natural father and son, becoming a heartwarming tale in the village.”
“Now that Master Yi has passed away, Liang Renxin inherited his estate and decided to organize a grand funeral for him. Even our family, who had been working far away, received the notice.”
“My husband hadn’t returned to Liangjia Village for several years since his parents passed away. Now that our child is five years old, he thought it was time to take me and our child back to his hometown for a visit.”
“As a supportive wife, I naturally backed his decision. However, our child had been acting up these past few days, insisting on having Xiao Na accompany us. Fortunately, my sister-in-law was on vacation, so she decided to come along.”
“After a long journey, we finally arrived at the entrance of Liangjia Village, only to find the village gate locked, requiring a key to open…”
The background noise abruptly stopped, and silence enveloped the surroundings.
The four of us exchanged puzzled glances.
Xiao Lingshu: “Does this mean we have to find the key?”
Shi Pengpeng nodded: “Probably.”
Cao Fanzhen, feeling uneasy in the pitch-black surroundings, asked, “How are we supposed to find it?”
“There are usually clues,” Shi Pengpeng said.
Although it was her first time playing in an escape room, she understood the basic rules. “Let’s check the archway first…”
The group proceeded along the path.
Xiao Lingshu took the lead, walking ahead while whispering, “Don’t you guys feel like this place is eerily cold? I’m getting goosebumps…”
His comment didn’t help.
Cao Fanzhen also felt a chill and instinctively rubbed her arms. “Yeah, it does feel a bit…”
“Don’t listen to him,” Shi Pengpeng rolled her eyes.
“It’s just the air conditioning set too low.”
Xiao Lingshu protested innocently, “Hey, I was just trying to lighten the mood since things felt tense.”
Cao Fanzhen thought to herself: Redefining “lightening the mood.”
Just as she was mentally complaining, the nearby bushes rustled, and a dark figure suddenly leaped out, blocking their path.
The “starlight” from the dome above flickered at the right moment, illuminating an extremely terrifying face.
It was a tall man dressed in tattered, mismatched clothes, with tangled, matted hair forming clumps of balls.
The exposed parts of his body, from his arms to his shoulders and half of his face, were covered in burn scars.
His face, in particular, was almost unrecognizable, with scar tissue stretching from his forehead to behind his ears.
But the most horrifying part was his eye.
The eyelid and surrounding tissue seemed to have been either burned away or gouged out, leaving a rough, pink crater with a bulging eyeball protruding unnaturally from it.
“Ah-a ghost!!!” Cao Fanzhen, unprepared to face such a sight, nearly lost her breath and stumbled backward in shock.
She, instinctively, wanted to hide behind Yan Jing, the only person at the scene she had some connection with and who seemed the most reliable.
Then, she saw Yan Jing move even faster, stepping behind Shi Pengpeng.
Not only that, but he also lightly poked Shi Pengpeng’s shoulder with his finger, nudging her forward.
Cao Fanzhen: “???!”
She didn’t dare open her eyes, hoping it was just her imagination.
Cao Fanzhen closed her eyes and opened them again, confirming that she hadn’t misseen.
She silently played a mental song for Yan Jing: “What Kind of Man Are You?”
So dumbfounded, she momentarily forgot her fear of the man who had suddenly appeared.
Shi Pengpeng, however, remained calm and skillfully shielded Yan Jing.
Xiao Lingshu went even further, leaning in to examine the NPC: “Wow, this special effects makeup is really well done. It’s so realistic, no wonder so many people online got scared.”
NPC: “?”
The NPC, probably encountering players who completely disregarded him for the first time, seemed momentarily confused.
After a pause, he remembered his role and grinned at the group, revealing a row of yellowed teeth: “Hehehehe—”
His laughter was low and hoarse, like gravel, especially noticeable in the quiet environment, making him appear even more terrifying.
While laughing, he waved his arms, covered in burn makeup, and charged toward Yan Jing: “Yiya yiya—”
Yan Jing’s eyebrows twitched, and he instinctively took a step back.
Shi Pengpeng timely sidestepped, blocking the NPC’s path.
The NPC stopped but didn’t turn away.
Instead, he continued waving at Yan Jing from behind Shi Pengpeng, his smile growing more twisted: “Hehehehe “
Xiao Lingshu was puzzled: “What’s his deal? Targeting my dad?”
Yan Jing suddenly thought of something and said coldly, “Does he know me?”
In the story background they had just heard, only “my” husband was a villager from Liangjia Village.
“I” and “my sister” had accompanied him back for the funeral and weren’t locals.
The “child” was also visiting the village for the first time.
So, theoretically, this NPC should only recognize “my” husband.
Sure enough, as soon as Yan Jing finished speaking, the NPC immediately stopped waving, his expression returning to calmness as he nodded approvingly.
At the same time, the background narration resumed
“My husband recognized the madman before him. He was Liang Yu, the village guardian of Liangjia Village. When Liang Yu was young, a fire broke out in his home, killing his entire family and leaving him as the sole survivor.”
“Due to the aftermath of the fire, he became mute and mentally unstable, somewhat deranged, wandering around the village all day. The villagers, afraid of his appearance, avoided him, and only the naive children were willing to play with him.”
“But Liang Yu was a warm-hearted person. Whenever there were weddings or funerals in the village, he would actively help out, as long as he was given some food.”
“This time, during the funeral of Master Yi, Liang Yu also came to help. He could lead us into the village, but it seemed he had encountered a problem…”
Xiao Lingshu realized: “So he’s the village guardian.”
Cao Fanzhen, having grown up in the city, had never heard of a village guardian and curiously asked what it meant.
Shi Pengpeng explained : “The “village guardians” are those in rural areas who are not quite mentally sound but have good hearts. “
“They wander around all day, knowing a bit about everything, and are often referred to as “simpletons.” “
“In folklore, it’s said that these “village guardians” are here on earth to endure hardships, taking on the misfortunes of the village to secure blessings for their next life.”
“As a result, they often suffer from the “five misfortunes and three lacks.” ”
“The five misfortunes are “widower, widow, orphan, solitude, and disability,” and the three lacks are “wealth, life, and power.” “
Cao Fanzhen: “I see.”
Shi Pengpeng: “Well, of course, that’s just a story…”
Cao Fanzhen:”……”
This kind of legend is actually just a story people made up out of sympathy for the hardships of the village guardians in this life, hoping they would enjoy happiness in the next.
In reality, the existence of village guardians is mainly due to the backward conditions in rural areas in the past.
In ancient times, medical conditions in the countryside were poor, and children often didn’t receive timely treatment when they fell ill, leaving them with lasting health issues.
Or, marriages between close relatives led to problems in their descendants.
Or, due to ignorant beliefs and a preference for boys over girls, infants were abandoned, and these abandoned children often grew up with many issues.
All these situations led to the frequent presence of “village guardians” in villages.
However, with the improvement of rural environments and various support policies, village guardians are now rarely seen.
Cao Fanzhen: “…Oh.”
Looking at Liang Yu, there was a bit less fear.
After being “recognized,” Liang Yu became much friendlier, gesturing and babbling, pointing first to the gate and then to himself.
Xiao Lingshu was puzzled: “What does this mean?”
Shi Pengpeng pondered: “He’s probably saying the clue is on him.”
“Oh, I see.” Xiao Lingshu said as he reached out, first flipping through Liang Yu’s patched-up coat, then grabbing his arms and pulling them apart like chicken wings, carefully inspecting them.
“??” Liang Yu’s eyes widened, almost speaking out, but his professionalism made him hold back, just pulling his arms back and crossing them over his chest, “Eee—”
“Why won’t you let me look?” Xiao Lingshu said with a straight face, “Don’t worry, buddy, I have boundaries, I won’t defile you!”
Liang Yu anxiously patted his feet: “Eee-“
Yan Jing suddenly spoke up: “Does he want his shoes?”
The other three instinctively looked down and realized Liang Yu was barefoot.
Background narration began-
“You noticed Liang Yu wasn’t wearing shoes. It turns out he found a shoe in the pond and wants you to help him retrieve it…”
Accompanied by eerie music, a dark “pond” slowly lit up from the depths of the darkness behind the bushes on the right.
The pond shimmered with a deep, eerie glow.
A vaguely outlined shoe floated right in the middle.
Xiao Lingshu raised his thumb in admiration: “Buddy, you’re amazing, you should be my dad!”
Shi Pengpeng was also surprised: “Bro, your eyes are still sharp.”
Originally, they thought Yan Jing would just be making up the numbers in this horror escape room, but unexpectedly, he was the first to crack the first two clues.
Yan Jing modestly said: “Just a coincidence.”
The truth was, to avoid looking directly at Liang Yu’s face, he had been looking down and just happened to notice Liang Yu’s feet.
Of course, such a thing could never be spoken aloud.