"Grandma!"
Grandma picked up a wooden stick from the ground and stormed into the guesthouse with an imposing air. Chao Musheng immediately chased after her.
The building had been constructed by Aunt Xiufang, an elder in the village, for her three children. Later, all of them bought homes in the city, leaving the countryside house vacant.
Chao Musheng heard chaotic footsteps and shouting from upstairs.
He quickly intercepted Grandma, trying to get her to stay behind him. The old woman shoved him aside and rushed up to the second floor in a few strides. "What's going on here?"
Several unopened bottles of water lay scattered in the hallway. A chubby and a tall young man were wrestling near a doorway, while a few others stood by, trying to break them apart.
"No idea what happened. We just came out and saw them arguing," said a man leaning against the opposite doorframe, his arm around his girlfriend, watching the scene with amusement. "Why fight? We're all here to have fun. Don’t ruin the peace for the whole floor."
Chao Musheng bent down to pick up a bottle of water near his feet. The door of a nearby room cracked open slightly, revealing a pair of curious eyes peeking out.
"Who's fighting? Who's fighting?!"
Aunt Xiufang’s shrill voice echoed from downstairs, followed by rapid footsteps. She barged up the stairs, pushed through the crowd, and stormed into the room to inspect the damage.
"You broke this!" She pointed at a chipped corner of the table. "You’ll have to pay for it."
The players: "..."
Seriously, auntie? They were just pretending to fight to avoid suspicion. How did you manage to extort them for real?
"You don’t want to pay?" Aunt Xiufang’s eyes bore into the chubby man and the lone traveler, as if daring them to refuse so she could claw at them.
"We’ll pay, we’ll pay." The chubby man released the lone traveler and pulled out a bill, placing it in Aunt Xiufang’s hand.
Satisfied, Aunt Xiufang turned to the lone traveler. "And you?"
The man stiffened, rummaged through his pockets, and handed her a hundred-yuan note.
"Don’t let this happen again." Aunt Xiufang stuffed the money into her pocket and smiled at Xiaoyou, who stood quietly in the corner. "Next time they cause trouble in your room, tell me."
A dusty curtain, a scratched bedpost—none of it was beyond compensation.
Xiaoyou nodded silently. Seeing Chao Musheng gathering the fallen water bottles in the hallway, she bent down to pick up the remaining two and handed them to him.
"Thanks." Chao Musheng placed the Kunlun bottled water on the hallway table and sent a couple of messages on his phone.
"Hey, man, really sorry about this." The chubby man scratched his head, his face full of remorse. "We were just chatting in the room when he walked past and accused us of talking behind his back. He demanded an apology, and I lost my temper."
No matter what, they couldn’t let the NPCs suspect their true identities.
A staged fight was the only way to explain why the lone traveler had been in Xiaoyou’s room. To the villagers, they were just unrelated tourists, not teammates who should be sharing a room.
"He’s just heartbroken. Men like him get extra sensitive." The male half of the couple wrapped an arm around his girlfriend, showing her off. "Why bother arguing with him?"
Chao Musheng found a plastic bag and packed the unopened water bottles inside. He turned to Xiaoyou. "Do you want to move somewhere else? I checked—there’s a guesthouse in the village where all the guests are women."
Xiaoyou froze. She stared at Chao Musheng for a moment before quickly looking away. "That’s… too much trouble for you."
"It’s no trouble." Chao Musheng carried the bag toward Xiaoyou’s room. The lone traveler and the chubby man stepped aside to let him pass.
Chao Musheng glanced inside but didn’t enter. "Do you have a lot of luggage?"
The players hadn’t expected this turn of events. They all watched Xiaoyou silently.
Any player with half a brain wouldn’t leave the group to stay somewhere alone.
Lone players died the fastest.
"Not much." Xiaoyou gritted her teeth and pulled out a travel bag. "Thank you, Chao Musheng."
"Xiaoyou, you—"
Are you trying to get yourself killed?!
The chubby man glared at her, baffled by her recklessness.
The girlfriend studied Xiaoyou and the chubby man thoughtfully. So, these three players weren’t as tight-knit as they seemed.
The chubby man, though appearing simple, was clearly the leader. The other teammate was forgettable, easily overlooked.
Xiaoyou, however, seemed to attract the attention of child NPCs—hence why, on the bus, the kid had ignored everyone else and only wanted to play with her.
An affinity-based ability?
Her gaze shifted to Chao Musheng. Quietly, she pulled out an S-grade item—the Peeping Lens—and activated it.
The Peeping Lens could assess an NPC’s danger level in a dungeon. It could only be used once per dungeon and cost ten life points.
The lens flickered erratically, displaying garbled code. The flashing lights made her heart race.
[Item activated. Target has no value. Please use the item correctly.]
No value?!
Her eyes widened in disbelief. Even the weakest NPC had at least five danger points. Chao Musheng wasn’t a rock—how could he have no value?!
Chao Musheng felt someone’s gaze on him. He glanced around at the doors. Who was staring? How rude!
"Ah!"
The girlfriend suddenly cried out in pain. When everyone turned to look, she forced a smile that looked more like a grimace. "Bit my tongue."
Her Peeping Lens!
Just now, its rating had dropped from S-grade to A-grade, with severely reduced functionality.
Her heart ached. She had no more energy to spectate the other players’ drama and retreated into her room.
They were right—this dungeon was seriously cursed.
Xiaoyou followed Chao Musheng out of the guesthouse. In the distance, children’s laughter rang out.
"Back so soon?" Grandpa, who had borrowed a carrying pole from someone, hid it behind his back when he saw Grandma, Chao Musheng, and the girl. He whispered to Grandma, "No more beating people?"
Grandma shot him a glare before turning to Chao Musheng. "Musheng, take the girl to her new place. Grandpa and I will go home and cook your favorite dishes."
Xiaoyou stared blankly at the three of them, only snapping out of it after Grandma and Grandpa had walked away.
"Whenever I went back home, my grandma would also make my favorite dishes."
She felt exhausted. Home was too far away. In this strange, treacherous dungeon, she saw no hope of success.
Not knowing how to comfort her, Chao Musheng glanced at the water bottles in the bag and handed her one. "Want some water?"
"Thanks." Xiaoyou took it and drank several gulps without hesitation.
If she had to die, maybe this lively, mundane dungeon wouldn’t be the worst place for it.
[Ding. Life points: 20.]
Xiaoyou stared at the bottle of water in her hand, overwhelmed by a sense of absurdity and irony.
How ironic—the food and water they dared not touch turned out to be the greatest kindness this game world had offered its players.
"It's delicious. Thank you."
"The best-selling purified water in the country." Chao Musheng raised an eyebrow with a light chuckle. "Of course it tastes good."
"We're here." He stopped and turned to Xiaoyou. "This is Sister Ling’s place—she’s the village women’s director. Someone just checked out today, and since you’re a girl, staying here will be more convenient."
"Chao Musheng." Xiaoyou looked up at him with a smile. "Thank you."
"Don’t mention it. Making visitors feel at home is the service philosophy of Chaojiawan Village." Chao Musheng led her through the courtyard gate. The little yellow dog inside, spotting him, scampered over on its short legs, wagging its tail furiously.
"Da Huang, you’ve gotten chubbier again." Chao Musheng ruffled the dog’s head, and its tail wagged even faster.
Xiaoyou watched the boy playing with the dog before turning to head inside.
Night fell once more. The rain, which had paused in the morning, began drizzling again, enveloping the entire village in a curtain of mist.
The curtains in the guesthouse fluttered wildly in the wind. A faint rustling came from next door, then silence.
"Fatty, that show-off guy’s making his move."
The fat man sat up in the darkness, lifting a corner of the curtain.
The village’s solar-powered lamps cast a faint glow, twisting the shadows of trees in the dim light.
"The fog’s rolling in!" His companion frowned as the night mist thickened. "Fatty, do you think that guy’ll make it back tonight?"
"Why do you think he’s risking going out in the middle of the night?" Fatty let the curtain drop, his voice icy. "He must’ve found some crucial clue and doesn’t want us to know."
The companion grew anxious. "What if he gets his hands on the clearance hint?"
Fatty didn’t answer. Originally, he’d planned to rely on Xiaoyou’s charm skill to gather intel from the villagers, but he hadn’t expected her to move out.
He suspected Chao Musheng was deliberately keeping them apart. This mysterious figure made him uneasy.
"Two men fighting in a girl’s room proves they don’t care about her safety at all. It’s only right to relocate her for her own protection."
Grandma stepped out of the house and saw Chao Musheng changing into rain boots. "It’s raining outside. Where are you going?"
"Grandpa left his water bottle in the activity room. I’m fetching it for him."
"That new one you bought him?" Grandma scolded Grandpa’s forgetfulness. "You can get it tomorrow. It’s still raining."
"It’s just a light drizzle—won’t take long." Chao Musheng teased, "If I don’t bring it back tonight, Grandpa might not sleep well."
No one knew better than him how much Grandpa treasured his gifts.
With the rain tonight, he wasn’t sure if the village activity room would still be open. If no one was there, he’d have to wait until morning.
As Chao Musheng reached the entrance, he heard the Village Party Secretary’s booming voice: "Folks, these loquats are guaranteed sweet!"
"Rest assured, they’re all homegrown by our villagers."
The livestream had only a handful of viewers. Despite the Village Party Secretary and Village Chief’s singing and dancing, barely any orders came in. Just as they were about to end the stream, the dead chat suddenly exploded.
[Uncle, call that guy who just walked by back on screen!]
[I won’t just watch—I’ll get more people here.]
[Uncle, I’ll help spread the word too.]
Soon, the viewer count jumped from single digits to double digits—and kept climbing.
The Village Party Secretary and Village Chief looked up in unison, locking eyes with a bewildered Chao Musheng.
Outside the activity room, the lone man crouched in a corner, his gaze fixed intently on the bookshelves.
They held this world’s books and newspapers. Once the people inside left, he could scour them for the answers he needed.
[Fog exposure: -2 HP per hour.]
No matter.
The lone man tightened his invisibility cloak around him. With 38 HP left, Chao Musheng and the other NPCs would leave soon.
He could hold out!
Livestream viewers: These loquats are so handsome… I mean, so fresh! We’ll buy them all night!
