Jiang Yan stood in the narrow stone-paved street, white as if he were a flower just washed in water. At his feet was the pitiful corpse of his middle-aged mother, who had been disemboweled, and in front and behind him were the townsfolk, their faces covered with red and white blotches, looking like ghostly figures. Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng stood in front of him, facing off with Yu Jia and his group.
He was like the "prize" in this massacre game—whoever killed him first would claim him and thus be the winner of this encirclement game.
However, surrounded by the crowd with death at his doorstep, his face showed no trace of fear.
663 was a bit confused by Jiang Yan, completely unable to understand.
"What exactly are you saying?"
Jiang Yan lightly chuckled and replied casually,
"Can't you see it yet? From the beginning, no one here has been playing this game seriously."
What is the purpose of this game?
To complete the mission.
What is the mission?
Main task: Leave the town after the wedding.
Side task: Find the mountain god and break the curse.
It was known that as the "bride," Jiang Yan was a man. The main task from the beginning was a deadlock. The only way to break the game was to complete the side task—find the mountain god and break the curse.
Based on the reactions of the people in the shrine last night, everyone suspected that he was the one who held the "Mountain God card." But as soon as they left the shrine today, no one seemed to care about the whereabouts of the "Mountain God."
Clearly, if they just followed the "key clues," they could go to the tomb of the Red Ghost Lady, brew medicine with flowers from the grave and the water from the Fushou Well, and the curse would be solved. Then, the player or NPC holding the "Mountain God card" could lift the curse, and the game would be over.
However, after leaving the shrine, no one cared about the "Mountain God card," and no one tried to find the Red Ghost Lady's tomb to lift the curse. In fact, even now, there was still a key clue from a real NPC that hadn't been triggered—Ding Wanyu.
Yu Jia's goal was to kill him, though Jiang Yan was curious why Puppet Workshop wanted him dead.
Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng’s purpose in this game was obviously to recruit him, so despite Jiang Yan not being interested in Dawn Guild, he thought the two kids were decent. As for Jian Hou, Fang Rui, and Ling Kang, they were just unlucky players randomly matched into this situation.
Overall, these players had their minds set on "triggering" the real NPCs to break the game, which made the entire story feel disjointed, with parts that couldn’t connect properly.
Jiang Yan sighed silently, realizing he, Jiang Yan, had now found himself actively steering the plot of the game. But he had had enough of this perverted game and was eager to escape.
Shopping during the day, parkour at night—it was driving him crazy!
Not to mention...
"...."
Thinking of this, Jiang Yan turned around and looked at the two people standing behind him—Yu Xiu and Yu Xiu. When they saw him looking, both of them waved at him.
Jiang Yan's eyes flickered, and a thought flashed in his mind about the "BUG" in the game last night. Now, he seemed to be the only one who truly wanted to finish the game honestly.
He thought to himself, looking at the leisurely Cang Rou and Ding Wanyu standing at the edge of the crowd, and couldn’t help but mutter under his breath!
This is the so-called karma, isn't it? Who would have thought he’d end up envying other NPCs one day!
Jiang Yan made a mistake. In reality, Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng were more than willing to follow the plan and complete this dungeon. They had even prepared the strategy the night before in the shrine. However, everything today happened so suddenly!
Jian Hou's sudden betrayal and Yu Jia's sudden attack—everything was too unexpected! Now, Jiang Yan was about to be thrown into the well for a sacrificial ritual! They had no time to consider anything else and could only choose to violently dismantle this dungeon!
The townspeople were closing in, their faces entirely consumed by red blotches. Their faces, like poorly applied makeup, looked like red-painted masks, their voices shifting from angry curses to sharp, mocking screams as they chanted repeatedly:
"Throw her into the well!"
"Throw her into the well!"
Yu Jia controlled Jian Hou and the others. The "Puppet Silk" enhanced the emotion of "jealousy" to its peak within them. As they stood in the crowd, staring at Jiang Yan, who was calmly standing in the center, their anger intensified.
Ding!
With the system's notification sound, Fang Rui and Ling Kang, controlled by the "Puppet Silk," pulled out their items, the "Puppet Silk" even overcoming their fear of Tao Shi and Cao Youfeng, two high-tier players.
"Jealousy?" Cao Youfeng tilted his head in confusion. "Why jealousy?"
"I’d like to know too," Jiang Yan silently walked over to his side, also confused.
"This isn't the point! The point is, the conflict is inevitable now! Hurry and take out your item!" Cao Youfeng urged him as the townspeople grew more agitated.
Worried that Jiang Yan might be nervous due to a lack of combat experience, Cao Youfeng kindly tried to comfort him:
"Don’t worry, these townspeople are just D-class NPCs. The three of us together have no problem dealing with them."
Jiang Yan blinked, his water-blue eyes looking innocent. "What item? I’m just an ordinary bride."
Cao Youfeng looked at him with disbelief. "Huh?"
The white medical bandage even froze in mid-air for a second.
[Hm? What is Jiang Yan saying?]
[Is he disconnected?]
[No way. What’s Jiang Yan doing?]
[Let’s check again!]
663 was on the verge of a breakdown. "Do you know what you’re doing, Jiang Yan?!"
Jiang Yan coldly and innocently replied, "Playing my role."
663: "…Look around you."
Jiang Yan glanced at the townspeople who had clearly lost their sanity. He could even hear his personal system glitching from the chaos: "You used to beg for help! And now you're about to be thrown into a well, and you’re acting like this?!"
Jiang Yan remained calm, "As an excellent NPC, I must always immerse myself in my character. This is what you taught me."
663: "…"
Seeing that Jiang Yan showed no reaction, and even seemed slightly innocent and frightened, Fang Rui excitedly said, "Looks like our bride has given up resisting? In that case, we won’t hold back!"
"Grab him!" Fang Rui shouted.
A crowd of townspeople immediately surged forward behind him.
The townspeople's faces were fully overtaken by the red blotches of the curse, turning them into a mob of red-skinned zombies.
Seeing this, Cao Youfeng and Tao Shi quickly took action!
While they couldn't be harmed by the townspeople individually, the sheer number of them posed a threat.
Unlike the "experiment gods" in the hospital before, these townspeople were humans who had retained their physical abilities, and now that they had lost their sanity, their biological instincts were heightened to the maximum.
Cao Youfeng swung his bandage like a whip, muttering in frustration, "Damn it! These uncles in qipao and high heels can run so fast?!"
"Focus!" Tao Shi, holding his divine staff, pushed back the incoming townspeople one by one.
Then, he turned to look at Jiang Yan, who was still standing motionless aside, and said, "Stop standing there watching! Where’s your weapon?"
Jiang Yan said indifferently "According to the customs of the town, I can only wear red and white flowers, not roses.”
[Great, what is he even doing?]
[Damn! I suddenly feel like punching him!]
[Could he possibly be bluffing?]
[Hiss... Suddenly, I thought of that rumor about his item allowing him to leave the dungeon for five minutes.]
Not only the players in the forum, but even Yu Jia, upon seeing Jiang Yan's calm demeanor, began to feel a little uncertain.
Could it really be true, like Jian said, that his item allows him to leave the dungeon for five minutes?
At that moment, a villager broke through the crowd and lunged at Jiang Yan like a maniac.
Everyone anxiously watched Jiang Yan, waiting for his reaction.
Jiang Yan turned slightly, easily dodging the attack from the villager. Everyone’s eyes lit up, expecting more.
But then, with a "thud," Jiang Yan suddenly fell to the ground.
Everyone: "..."
Yu Jia couldn’t help but laugh out loud. He said the nonexistent thing—how could Jiang Yan possibly have that? Most likely, Jiang Yan was just playing a trick on Jian, or maybe he made it up to calm his friend, who had just entered the game and might be scared.
But… he raised an eyebrow.
Previously, when Jiang Yan faced the game system NPCs, he had no ability to fight back. That was because he didn’t have any items.
But now, he clearly has an S-level item in his possession—why isn’t he using it?
663: "...."
“Are you really going to just throw your life away? I know Jian Hou’s betrayal hit you hard, but think back to the life-and-death situation you were in two days ago in the game, Jiang Yan. You have to pull yourself together…”
Jiang Yan climbed up from the ground, unable to stop himself from covering his ears.
“Shut up! You’re so annoying!”
663: "..."
“As your personal system, it’s my responsibility to help you finish the game. I can shut up, but you need to tell me, what exactly are you planning to do? Since entering the dungeon, your condition has been all over the place!”
“It’s not me who’s been all over the place. It’s this game.” Jiang Yan corrected.
“And what makes this game so inconsistent are the players who have no spirit for the game.”
663 wanted to complain, but instead, he just helplessly asked:
“What exactly are you doing?”
Jiang Yan gave a faint smile, a hint of slyness flashing in his usually indifferent blue eyes.
“As an excellent NPC, I naturally need to guide the players to complete the game seriously!”
---
The villagers’ attacks became more and more intense, their red blotches completely devouring every inch of their skin. Their angry shouts were now mixed with sharp, crazed laughter. These eerie laughs hinted that “throwing her into the well” wasn’t out of reverence for the ghostly creatures, but out of selfish desire.
At this point, Tao Shi holding his divine staff, continued to repel the crazed villagers while retreating to Jiang Yan’s side, asking:
“Are you okay?”
Jiang Yan shook off the dust on his body and put on a pitiful, delicate expression.
“I’m fine.”
Seeing this, Tao Shi couldn’t hold back and raised an eyebrow, asking,
“Jiang Yan, what exactly are you doing?”
He felt like he could never understand Jiang Yan, just like the previous dungeon, where he couldn’t see through Jiang Yan’s actions.
What does he want to do?
Last time, Jiang Yan suddenly produced an S-level item, surprising all the players!
And now, with his life on the line, he still hasn’t used it.
It was really hard to understand.
Jiang Yan smiled faintly and said,
“I’m waiting for my friend. My friend will come back and save me.”
“Friend?” Tao Shili was confused.
[Friend? Jiang Yan, wake up! Jian Hou already betrayed you!]
[No way! Jiang Yan won’t be this affected by his friend’s betrayal, right?]
Suddenly, a sharp female cry echoed through the air, piercing through the angry curses and manic laughter of the villagers, reaching everyone’s ears.
The crazed villagers suddenly stopped their attacks. In the next moment, a mournful, haunting female cry sounded from the other end of the stone path.
“Niu a—!”
Everyone turned to look, and saw a ghostly, red-haired woman crawling on the ground under the gray sky.
Her hands and feet were severely mangled, her fingers and toes twisted outward in unnatural angles, exposing a dead grayish-blue skin.
At that moment, she was twisting her grotesque, deformed body, slowly crawling towards the crowd, her mouth letting out a wailing, sorrowful cry.
“Niu a—!”
Seeing this, Jiang Yan smiled faintly at Tao Shi whose eyes were about to pop out from shock.
“Ah! She’s here.”
"Red Ghost Lady?! It's the Red Ghost Lady!"
"Why is she out during the day?!"
"Don't just stand there! Run!!!"
The townspeople suddenly seemed to regain their sanity and scattered like a tide!
Tao Shi: "Your friend is... the Red Ghost Lady?!"
Jiang Yan waved towards the red figure in the distance and smiled: "Is there a problem?"
But there is a problem!!
Which real NPC can be friends with the dungeon BOSS?!
[What's going on here?! How can a dungeon BOSS listen to a real NPC?!]
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