On stage, Grandma performed with great enthusiasm, while Chao Musheng busied himself taking photos and videos with his phone, thoroughly enjoying himself. The person sitting next to him cheerfully gave up a better spot for capturing pictures.
A TV cameraman noticed an exceptionally handsome young man in the audience and couldn’t resist lingering on him for several extra seconds. Seeing him continuously snapping pictures of the stage, the reporter approached him after the performance ended.
"Excuse me, may I interrupt for a moment? You’ve been taking photos nonstop—did you really enjoy the performance?"
Chao Musheng nodded and enthusiastically praised not only the show and performers but also the various leaders and departments involved. His compliments were so sincere, and his looks so striking, that the TV crew found themselves nodding along.
This enthusiastic audience member was quite the charmer—handsome, eloquent, though he didn’t quite look like an ordinary villager.
After interviewing him, the reporter found other interviewees somewhat dull in comparison. Her gaze wandered until it landed on a little girl in a pretty princess dress.
"Hello there, little one."
"Hello, reporter sister!" The girl was both curious and shy under the camera’s gaze.
"May I ask you a few questions?" The reporter crouched down, offering the microphone.
The girl tilted her head. "Sister, if I answer your questions, will my teacher see me on TV?"
"Of course," the reporter laughed at her innocent remark. "Everyone will see you."
"Then go ahead and ask!" The girl tugged at her braids, standing primly with her hands behind her back, determined to appear well-behaved on television.
The reporter asked her a few questions about the Dragon Boat Festival. Some answers were spot-on, while others were delightfully imaginative, but all were charmingly childlike.
"One last question—what do you want to be when you grow up?"
"I want to be like Brother Musheng!" The girl waved her arms excitedly. "Brother Musheng is amazing—he can do anything!"
Though the reporter had no idea who "Brother Musheng" was, she didn’t want to dampen the girl’s spirits. "I hope your wish comes true."
"Mm-hmm!" The girl nodded vigorously, flashing a grin of tiny teeth. "Thank you, sister!"
When she grew up, she’d definitely be as tall and incredible as Brother Musheng!
"Grandma." Chao Musheng found his grandmother backstage, posing for photos with her dance partners. The moment the elderly ladies spotted him, they thrust their phones at him, demanding he take their pictures.
The nearby grandpas sighed in relief—at least they wouldn’t be scolded for their poor photography skills anymore.
Young people had the stamina to endure complaints.
After snapping countless photos and earning endless praise from the delighted ladies—
"You take such good pictures, just what you’d expect from a top student!"
"Oh my, Musheng made me look ten years younger!"
—Chao Musheng charmed them further with smooth words: "It’s because you’re already youthful, Grandma."
Amid the envious gazes of others, Grandma Bihua lifted her chin proudly.
"Grandma, I’ll get you some water." Chao Musheng unscrewed her thermos, found it empty, and headed to the supply area for a refill.
"Sister Bihua, your grandson is so filial," one of the dance partners remarked wistfully. "My own grandkids vanish the moment vacation starts—no sign of them at all."
"Musheng’s parents are always busy with work, so he grew up with Bihua. Naturally, he’s closer to her than most grandkids would be," another added. "Even though Bihua and her husband refused to move to the capital with their daughter, Musheng makes sure to visit them every long holiday."
"Hey, Bihua, didn’t you say Musheng was going on a trip with friends this Dragon Boat Festival? Why’s he back?"
"Oh, you know how young people are—whimsical! He suddenly craved his grandpa’s braised chicken and rushed home, lugging a pile of gifts too. Such a hassle."
Grandma Bihua’s eyes crinkled with joy. "When the kids come home, we grandparents can only be happy."
The others listened, equal parts touched and jealous, wishing Chao Musheng were their own grandson.
The village committee’s old water dispenser was energy-efficient but slow to boil. Chao Musheng waited patiently until the water was ready.
Nearby, a few elderly villagers were whispering about "thieves," "ghosts," and "something sinister."
"The footsteps were light, but with my years of experience as a scout, I’m certain someone sneaked in and did something shady."
"Are you sure it wasn’t a ghost?"
"Nonsense! Ghosts don’t exist."
"It’s just strange. Even if it were a thief, why target the village committee? The most valuable things here are those two ancient computers that take three minutes to boot up..."
"Then it must be ghosts! I saw one of the computers turn on by itself earlier."
"I told you, there’s no such thing as ghosts."
Chao Musheng filled the thermos and glanced at the three men: a retired soldier who loved patrolling the village, a former teacher who spent his days practicing calligraphy at the community center, and the local feng shui master who dabbled in fortune-telling.
"Right before the event started, I felt someone bump into me inside the committee building," the feng shui master argued. "If it wasn’t a ghost, who was it?"
As the two began bickering, the retired teacher tried to mediate—with little success.
Listening to their debate, Chao Musheng’s gaze drifted to the back door. Earlier, when he’d brought tourists through it, he’d also felt something brush past him.
He handed the thermos to Grandma, but she was too engrossed in chatting with her friends to pay him any attention. Taking the hint, he slipped away.
"Musheng, perfect timing!" Sister Ling called out, shoving a large crate of water bottles into his arms. "Come help me distribute these to the staff on duty."
Resigned, Chao Musheng trailed after her, making trip after trip under the scorching sun.
"Let’s take a break." Sister Ling’s face was flushed from the heat. She tossed him a bottle and gulped down half of hers in one go. "Thank goodness last night’s rain didn’t get heavier—all our preparations would’ve been wasted."
"I’ve been uneasy these past few days. Just two nights ago, I dreamed the mountains behind us collapsed right before the event started." She fanned herself vigorously. "Next year, no more large-scale events. Too exhausting."
Chao Musheng plucked two leaves and fanned them at her. "Maybe you’re just stressed. That’s why you had such a nightmare."
"What nightmare?" Little Lin and his colleague, returning from patrol, joined them under the shade.
"Sister Ling dreamed the mountains collapsed," Chao Musheng explained, handing them each a water bottle.
"Wow, Kunlun Enterprise bottled water?" Little Lin’s colleague marveled. "Your event’s budget must be huge."
"This is the agricultural assistance department of Kunlun Enterprise's branch office. They sponsored our village's cultural performance for free," Sister Ling explained with a smile. "We originally reached out to them just to try our luck, but surprisingly, they agreed to sponsor us the very next day."
"Setting up a dedicated agricultural assistance department—that’s a company with a conscience," Little Lin's colleague remarked in admiration. "No wonder their business has grown so large."
Little Lin wasn’t paying attention to the conversation between his colleague and Sister Ling. Instead, he was staring blankly at the two mountains in the distance before finally pointing at them. "The mountains that collapsed in my dream… are these the ones?"
Sister Ling nodded. "These are the closest to our village, so it’s probably them."
Little Lin clutched his head, a throbbing pain pulsing through his temples.
"Little Lin, what’s wrong?!" His colleague quickly reached out to steady him.
Little Lin shook his head and forcefully knocked on his skull.
Something vague flickered in his mind. When he looked up and saw Chao Musheng, he felt as though he had forgotten something important.
"Brother Lin, are you suffering from heatstroke?" Chao Musheng rummaged through a cardboard box, pulled out a bottle of Huoxiang Zhengqi liquid, inserted a straw, and handed it to him. "Drink this first."
The pungent medicinal smell jolted Little Lin awake instantly. He grimaced at the foul taste. "I’m fine. Earlier, when we passed the village committee office, some elderly men were arguing. They said the place is haunted—that the computers turn on by themselves."
"The village computers are old and often flicker when idle," Sister Ling said with a chuckle. "Ghosts in broad daylight? And in the village committee office, no less, where people come and go all the time? What would a ghost even do there—play games on those broken computers?"
Those ancient machines in the office were frustrating to use. Even ghosts wouldn’t spare them a glance, let alone thieves.
After the cultural performance ended, the players returned to the homestay. Before they could even speak, the lone male player rushed into the bathroom and coughed up several mouthfuls of blood.
The others, including the chubby guy, were shocked. "Dude, how did you get so badly injured?"
The lone male gulped down a health potion and glared darkly at Xiaoyou standing outside the door. "You should ask your ‘good teammate’ here."
He never expected that an NPC’s simple act of opening a door could injure him so severely.
"Xiaoyou?" The chubby guy stared at her in disbelief. "Did you ambush him?"
"Had nothing to do with me," Xiaoyou denied.
"We agreed to gather intel together. Why did you come back early?" the male half of the couple asked, shuddering as he recalled the eerie stares the villagers had given him when he returned.
"I ran into Chao Musheng on the way. He escorted me back," Xiaoyou replied, exhaustion creeping into her voice under the players’ suspicious gazes. "This dungeon is different from all the others. Haven’t you noticed? They have their own culture and history—like… like living people, like a real world."
"You’ve lost your mind over some pretty boy in this dungeon," the lone male sneered at her naive words. "Ever since we entered, we’ve been at a disadvantage. Our phones can’t connect to the internet, calls are disabled, and every possible channel for gathering information is cut off. Does this seem like a normal world to you?"
"We know nothing about their world, yet all of them can keep an eye on us." The lone male clutched his chest and spat out more blood. "This dungeon is trying to trap us here. In the remaining three days, whether by force, deception, or killing, we have to find a way to clear it."
"So what exactly does the system want us to find?" the female companion asked, eyeing the blood on the floor. "No clues, no hints—how are we supposed to strategize? Does the village really have some kind of ‘big treasure’?"
"My dear grandson, these photos are way better than what your grandpa could ever take!"
"Yes, yes, Musheng is your ‘big treasure,’ and I’m just the grass by the front ditch."
The players: "…"
Not that kind of "big treasure."
The lone male walked to the windowsill and saw Chao Musheng sandwiched between an elderly couple, the three of them chatting and laughing merrily.
Their eyes met, and Chao Musheng gave him a friendly smile.
Clutching his aching chest, the lone male resentfully yanked the curtains shut.
"Hey, why are you coughing up blood again?!"
"Wait." The grandmother suddenly stopped, her gaze fixed on the abruptly closed curtains. "This room is usually reserved for single female guests. Why was there a man standing at the windowsill just now?!"
"I need to gather some people and check this out." The grandmother pulled out her phone with a fierce expression. "Musheng, grab a weapon!"
She was going to teach that little creep sneaking into girls’ rooms a lesson!
Grandma means war!
