Author: ThisIsBanana

Everyone in the house was still dazed from their sleep and didn’t hear what Lou Fan said for a while. Only Wen Lang and Zhang Xue reacted quickly. They swiftly rolled up from the ground with weapons in their hands. Seeing that Lou Fan’s expression looked wrong, Wen Lang immediately walked out and lifted Gong Yi up from the ground by the way. Zhang Xue pursed her lips and went out quickly as well.

Lou Fan grabbed Chen Shuyang and lifted him up, “Shuyang, take your short sword.” Then he told Lin Man Man, “Be careful.”

When Wen Lang and Zhang Xue walked outside the house, they saw a dozen fish-head monsters with human bodies coming out of the water under the moonlight and they are crawling in their direction quickly. The sight makes their scalp turn numb, but it is hard to think too much about it. Wen Lang drew his poker from his pocket while Zhang Xue took out a doll in her bag and put it on the ground. In an instant, the doll became a girth wider and it is now half a person tall.

When Lou Fan came out of the house, he immediately ran towards Qin Tan. There are already 3 monsters around Qin Tan. Without hesitation, Lou Fan quickly drew his bow, and 3 arrows swiftly flew straight to the monsters. It’s a pity that the monsters have thick skin and thick flesh. The moment the arrows stabbed them, the monsters only let out a scream before rushing toward the two more violently.

Qin Tan and Lou Fan stood with their back to each other. But there are several times where Qin Tan stood in front of Lou Fan which Lou Fan shifted to another direction. Lou Fan couldn’t stand it anymore and said, “Qin Tan, kill the monsters properly. Why do you keep blocking in front of me?!”

Qin Tan: “…”

The 3 monsters were stabbed full of holes by Qin Tan’s sword and Lou Fan’s arrows but there are still a dozen of them closing in to them. The newcomer trio who just came out of the house turned pale and couldn’t stop shaking when they saw the scene in front of them. Xiao Yu looked at the sharp teeth in the fish’s mouth, which can be clearly seen under the moonlight, and let out a scream of horror.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Lin Man Man didn’t even think about it. She immediately covered Xiao Yu’s mouth and comforted in a trembling voice, “Xiao Yu, don’t cry! The sound will lead them over to us. There’s Brother Lou and the others here, don’t be afraid.”

Gong Yi resisted the urge to run back into the house and kept muttering to himself, “Get used to it. It’s nothing. They can do it too. Gong Yi, you are a man!”

Lin Man Man saw that Xiao Yu has stopped screaming, so she gave her(XY) a hug and let go. Taking her skipping rope out of the bag, Lin Man Man made a defensive posture. Gong Yi’s spirit weapon is not a weapon at all so he looked around and saw a rusty harpoon by the side of the cabin. He ran over and held the harpoon in his hand. With weapons in hand, he feels more secure in his heart.

Wen Lang, Zhang Xue, and Chen Shuyang stood together, and a monster rushed towards the three of them. They could even see the drools at the corner of the monster’s mouth. The short sword in Chen Shuyang’s hand is very sharp, but unfortunately, his hands are shaking so badly. Wen Lang gave a disappointed look at Chen Shuyang like the saying ‘hating iron for not being steel’, and threw a poker card. The seemingly ordinary poker card flashed with a gleam of cold light in the air and stabbed straight into the monster’s forehead like a piece of steel. The monster is in pain and struggled violently. Then, it opened its mouth again to bite at them. Zhang Xue’s doll immediately rushed up and slapped the monster non-stop. The seemingly soft fist slammed on the monster with the impact of a hammer. Chen Shuyang took a deep breath and rushed towards the monster. Next, he stabbed the sword into the monster’s head. The monster finally fell. The three of them looked at each other with joy in their eyes.

Before they can enjoy the happiness, the second monster struck and caught everyone off guard. When Chen Shuyang is about to be bitten, arrows with glowing lights hit straight into the monster’s eyes, and the monster howled. Immediately after, the second arrow is shot and the other eye is also blinded. The third arrow hits the throat where the monster’s fish head and the human body are connected. The next moment, the heavy monster fell down to the ground.

Wen Lang: “…too awesome.” Why is there such a big difference between people?

Seeing that Lou Fan didn’t hesitate, shooting arrows after another, Wen Lang couldn’t help but ask Chen Shuyang, “There are still so many monsters, does he have enough arrows?”

The monsters in front of the three are all attracted away and Lou Fan and Qin Tan seem to be able to handle it. Chen Shuyang felt relieved and replied, “It’s enough. Brother Lou doesn’t need arrows. He just needs to pull the bow and arrows will come out automatically.”

Wen Lang: “…” Ain’t that a cheat?!

Although the monster has thick skin and hard flesh, it can’t withstand the cooperation of Lou Fan and Qin Tan’s attack. The Tang sword in Qin Tan’s hand is extremely sharp. With a single cut, even the hard fish head will be inflicted with a deep wound while Lou Fan cooperatively shoots them blind. After a few attacks, a monster fell to the ground. There is no time to admire, Wen Lang, Zhang Xue, and Chen Shuyang also joined the battle. With the occasional support from Lou Fan, the three of them just took a little more time to deal with a monster.

Soon, from the dozen of monsters, there are 2 left. Seeing this, Gong Yi eagerly wanted to try his hand. He ran to Qin Tan and asked, “Brother Qin, can I try?”

On Wen Lang’s side, Lin Man Man gritted her teeth. Throwing a glance at Xiao Yu hiding behind her, she ran over to join the attack. Everyone appreciates the spirit of the newcomers and is willing to let them try. And so, Gong Yi and Lin Man Man took their weapons and attacked, stabbing at the left and whipping at the right. With the seniors guarding them, the support made the two bolder. But the next second, Xiao Yu screamed again. The group looked at the lake and the scene is making their scalp numb.

This time, not only did the monsters with fish heads come out again, but there are also monsters with a human head on the fish’s body. The whole head is wrapped in the fish head, and the fish body looked tough as it gleams in the moonlight.

Wen Lang cursed, “Are they going to let us live?! We are a lower-level team!”

The monsters don’t bother whether they are a lower-level team or not, they rushed to the shore one after another. Lou Fan had a feeling that something is wrong. Then, Zhang Xue said, “Let’s go to the village!”

That’s right! Their house is built on the outskirts of the village and is not connected to any houses inside. It stands to reason that these monsters should not attack the people in the village at night.

The group of 8 people immediately stepped back. Qin Tan still stood in the front, slashing at the fish monster with a single blow. However, this time the fish monster with a human head is obviously higher level than the fish head monster just now, and its skin is very hard. The slash just now only made a small cut on the body. Lou Fan shoots arrows even faster and his arrows can shoot into the flesh of the fish monsters. It’s just that though the fish monster is full of holes, it is still moving strongly towards them.

The moment the group stepped into the range of the village, it is as if there is an invisible barrier blocking between them and the monsters. The fish monsters no longer move forward, and growled at them, just not moving forward. The 8 people slumped on the ground, and Qin Tan is covered with sweat. His knives are covered with sticky blood, stank of a fishy smell. There are also blood stains not visible on his black clothes so Qin Tan looked like he just crawled out of the belly of the fish monster. Lou Fan felt fortunate that he is a long-range attacker, at least he won’t be stained by that disgusting smell.

The monsters gathered outside, staring intently at the 8 people. Even if they don’t have to face the monsters anymore, being stared at still makes them feel sick and scared. If they are still outside, will they be torn to pieces by these monsters and eaten into their stomachs piece by piece?

Lin Man Man couldn’t help shaking, and she edged nearer to everyone. And Xiao Yu has been hiding at the end of the group. Other than screaming, she doesn’t even dare to get close to the monster. She just buried her head down, curled up and shaking, not daring to look up at all.

“Take a rest.” Lou Fan hung the bow on his body. His voice sounded a little hoarse, and he raised his wrist to look at the time.

It is 12.46 am. These monsters won’t stay all night in front of them, right?! 4 minutes later, a long bell came from Lao Ye Temple not far away. Like a signal, the monsters retreated into the lake like a tide, not even one is left. 5 minutes later, after confirming that the monster is not coming back, the group got up and walked to the lake.

“The monster appeared at 12.00 am and will return when the bell sounded at 1.00 am. The monsters won’t enter the village.” Lou Fan murmured.

This is the clue they got tonight.

The lakeshore is full of fish monster’s corpses. Lou Fan got the harpoon from Gong Yi and looked through the corpse. Qin Tan changed his clothes and came out. The Tang sword in his hand has also been cleaned.

“The fish monster’s scales are very hard,” Qin Tan said as he poked down with a knife. Only after exerting some force that he could poke a hole on it. “It takes half of my strength.”

Lou Fan: “This is not good news.”

The fish monster is very smelly. Lou Fan doesn’t want to smell it, but still rummaging for something.

“What are you looking for?” Qin Tan helped to turn the fish monster.

Lou Fan squinted at Qin Tan and Qin Tan suddenly had a bad feeling, “What are you going to do?”

Lou Fan shrugged, “Nothing. At first, I wanted to open up its stomach, but…” This is a human body!

Qin Tan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, “Then, do you want to open up its head?”

Lou Fan nodded, “The head, then.”

So the other 6 people stood by the side as they watched these two men squatting next to the fish head monster, breaking the fish head apart, and spreading the contents on the ground. This scene almost caused them to vomit their dinner.

There is something in the fish head indeed. It’s a shiny bead, just like a pearl, but it is smaller and brighter than a pearl. Intuition tells Lou Fan that this is a good thing. Lou Fan blinked at Qin Tan, and quietly put the bead away. Qin Tan understood and immediately went to cut another monster.

Wen Lang walked over. He took a look at the mess, and asked, “Any findings?”

Lou Fan shook his head, “Nothing. Let’s look at the next one.”

Wen Lang thought to himself that if there is nothing found, why bother looking at the next one? But he couldn’t refute because he didn’t have any tools in his hand. Even if he had a knife, his strength is not as strong as Qin Tan’s. Earlier, Wen Lang tried to attack with a harpoon during a fight just now, but he couldn’t even injure the fish head. Although he doesn’t believe Qin Tan and Lou Fan’s words, Wen Lang knows that they are guarding from him. Hence, he didn’t insist to stick around with them. After all, these two’s strength is too terrifying. Without them, their group might end up inside the monster’s stomach today.

There are more than a dozen fish-head monsters’ corpses on the lakeshore. Lou Fan asked everyone else to rest and he and Qin Tan would change shift after checking the corpse. It took them nearly 3 hours before they cut all the fish heads open. Unfortunately, not all monsters have a small bead in their head. Only about half of them have it. Lou Fan has only 9 beads in his hand.

The pile of beads gleamed in the palm of his hand. Lou Fan stretched over to show Qin Tan and asked, “What do you think these beads are for?”

Qin Tan looked at the fish head for a long while before saying, “These monsters are not really a fish species. The corpse that I just opened up doesn’t have gills, so…”

Raw word count: 3029

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Grouping list:
Group 1: Lou Fan & Lin Man Man(newcomer)
Group 2: Qin Tan, Chen Shuyang & Gong Yi(newcomer)
Group 3: Wen Lang, Zhang Xue & Xiao Yu(newcomer)

Qin Tan’s group of 3 did not go far and they returned to the square. There are many people in the square so Qin Tan thinks it might have a better chance for them to find out some clues. The three of them haven’t even started to do anything when an old man who looked kind and carried an air of dignity came over.

“You are here to travel? I’m the village chief of this small fishing village.” Although the old man’s face looked kind, his smile felt weird. It’s like a plastic fake smile, which makes people feel creepy.

“In the past few years, many young people like you have visited our small fishing village. We welcome you very much.”

“I’m not sure how many of you are here?” the village chief asked earnestly.

A shiver ran through Chen Shuyang’s body and he took 2 steps back, hiding behind Qin Tan. Gong Yi has been standing behind, looking like he had a toothache, feeling uncomfortable all over his body.

Qin Tan: “Not sure when the ritual activities in the village will start? It looks really grand.”

The village chief stroked his beard, “It is grand, naturally. Every year we prepare for the sacrifice with a very pious heart, lest we are not thoughtful, and anger General Ju Yuan and…”

The chief stopped talking. His eyes swept across the three of them as if he is trying to pick something off of them.

Chen Shuyang hehe-ed a few times and plucked up the courage to ask, “Village chief, I am learning to make boats. Not sure if you know Shenzhou. I read the record that it has passed through this area before.”

“It’s a solid and beautiful boat.” Chen Shuyang looked fascinated, but it is all nonsense he randomly come up with.

An emotion flashed through the village chief’s eyes and he waved his hand, “I have never heard of this. You can participate in our sacrificial activities, and you won’t be disappointed.”

The village chief keeps avoiding the main point when he speaks. After saying so much, there is not a single sentence of useful information. Seeing that they can’t get any clues, Gong Yi said, “The village chief, we will stay in your village to participate in the sacrifice event. Is there a hotel in the village?”

“There is no hotel.” The village chief laughed. “Just tell me when you are ready and I will take your group to find a house.” After saying that, he smiled with his hands behind his back and walked away. The hehe sound from his mouth made the goosebumps on Chen Shuyang’s arms stand up and he rubbed his arms hard.

Gong Yi said to Qin Tan, “Brother Qin, we newcomers will stay in the village when the time comes. According to your words, I have thought about it. The three of us had better not leave the small fishing village. If the mission timer cuts off, we might not be able to return.”

The watch on their wrists started the countdown at the place where they camped last night. According to his inference, the farthest they could go should not exceed the distance of yesterday. For safety, it is best not to leave the village to avoid unforeseen circumstances.

When the 3 teams met, it is already half afternoon. They found a bit secluded area to sit down and rest. The group of 8 people all felt a little tired, and one after another took out their own food to replenish their energy. Qin Tan sat beside Lou Fan and took out a canned fruit from his bag. Lou Fan smiled and passed a food with meat to him.

“Brother Lou and Brother Qin have a very good relationship.” Lin Man Man smiled. Then she leaned into Xiao Yu’s ear and whispered, “Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, they are so compatible, I’m going to scream.”

Xiao Yu’s eyes flashed, a trace of disgust flashed in her eyes. Lowering her head, she stopped looking. Xiao Yu tore the pieces of bread vigorously in her hands and stuffed them into her mouth like chewing wax. Shameless, he must have seduced Qin Tan and asked Qin Tan to protect him! What he has is just a face, why can’t it be me? Xiao Yu thought viciously: If Lou Fan died, wouldn’t she be able to approach Qin Tan? Then she could live. Xiao Yu fiercely took a bite of the bread – she must.

Lin Man Man sensitively felt that something is wrong with her good friend. She tugged at Xiao Yu’s clothes and asked in a low voice, “Xiao Yu, what’s wrong? Let me tell you, Brother Lou told me a lot of experience. I’ll tell you later.”

Xiao Yu raised her eyes to look at Lin Man Man, her eyes looking cold. Lin Man Man retracted her hand, unable to say a word for a while.

Did something happen?

Wen Lang took a bite of his own compressed biscuits, then looked at other people’s cans, “Ah, the evil capitalist class.” ‘One shouldn’t simply compare with other people’, even Chen Shuyang’s food is much better than him.

“Let’s go fishing for a few fish tomorrow. I felt like ‘birds are going to come out of my mouth’ soon.” Wen Lang hasn’t eaten meat for a long time.

This proposal is highly approved by everyone.

After eating, the teams began to share the information they got. Sacrifice activities, Lao Ye Temple, sacrificial boat, and the panicked mother and daughter. With these information, it is not difficult to make up a story, but their focus is not on the story. They need to find Shenzhou, and at the moment, there is no news of it at all.

Gong Yi suddenly said, “That village chief had a strange look in his eyes when asked about Shenzhou.”

This is an important piece of information, and Chen Shuyang hastened to jot it down in a small notebook. The clues are combined and circulated for everyone. Qin Tan pondered for a moment and said, “Tomorrow the five of us will go to Lao Ye Temple. The three of you will continue to inquire in the village. Be careful.”

Gong Yi and Lin Man Man both nodded, but Xiao Yu remained silent.

Except for Lin Man Man, no one noticed the peculiar action of Xiao Yu. Lin Man Man looked at her friend worriedly and didn’t know how to deal with her. She must be too nervous and scared.

There is too little information at hand, but there is enough time for them so the group decided not to take too much risk, and to proceed step by step. So, after everyone discussed, they went to the village chief to arrange a place to live, and then get a good rest. Compared to the first newcomer world, Lou Fan feels that the mission this time is already very good. One needs to know, his first world couldn’t get any clues at all for several days.

Qin Tan found the village chief who is still in the square. The village head is very enthusiastic and called a woman in her forties to take them to find a house. Along the way, they could see that they are walking towards the outside, and the woman remained silent.

Lou Fan had never been to the lakeside so he asked the woman, “Aunty, about the house we are going to stay in, will we disturb other people? It’s fine to just give us a quieter place.”

The woman raised her eyes and glanced at them, her eyes remained unchanged, “It is intended for outsiders anyway. Clean it up by yourself and close the door at night.”

It is enough to have shelter from the wind and rain so they do not ask for more. If it is not for the cold temperature by the lake, they can actually continue to stay in tents. Soon after walking to the edge of the village, seeing that they are going to reach the lake soon, the woman stopped. She pushed open the doors of the 3 wooden houses. The wooden house looked new as if it had just been built. The door creaked open, and a damp smell of rotting wood burst out. Everyone couldn’t help covering their mouths and noses.

After the woman opened the door, she turned and left without looking at them at all.

“Frck, what kind of attitude is it? I want to report her!” Chen Shuyang yelled angrily.

The man in the flamboyant red hoodie(WL) made a face that deserve a beating and slanted his eyes before saying, “Be grateful that we have a room for you. Still asking for bicycles (what more do you want)?”

The people who were decorating the boat earlier have gone home. The lake is calm and there is no wind at the edge of the lake. The surroundings are deadly quiet. But everyone present felt an indescribable gloom coming from all directions. It seemed that in an instant, the sky darkened. These three houses are a bit incompatible with the village. They are not connected to the houses in the village but are arranged in separate rows with three connected as if deliberately dividing them out of the village.

“Man Man, is the timer still on your watch?” Lou Fan asked with a frown.

“Yeah.” Lin Man Man glanced, “What’s the matter, Brother Lou?”

Lou Fan waved his hand, “It’s probably because I think too much. It’s getting dark so let’s go into the house.”

The house is not small and it is more than enough to accommodate 8 people. For the sake of safety, everyone unanimously decided not to separate. In case something happened, they won’t have enough time to notify. At this moment, a girl’s detailness is shown. There are cleaning tools to use outside the house. The guys fetched water by the lake and used it to mop the floor and wipe the dust. Just within 20 minutes, the house became squeaky clean.

They still need people to watch the night, and the grouping is still based on the previous day. Although the sky has turned dark, it’s still early. Everyone doesn’t want to sleep, but they don’t have the energy to chat so they just do their own things. Wen Lang did not give up on suggesting to play cards, but no one paid any attention to him.

Before 12.00 am, Lou Fan and Qin Tan replaced Chen Shuyang and Gong Yi. Lou Fan, who had slept for 3 hours, stretched his waist. Then he turned his head to look at the group of people sleeping all over the place on the ground and walked to the door.

“Where are you going?”

Lou Fan looked back at Qin Tan and pointed to the door. “It’s a bit stuffy. I’m going out to get some air. It’s just outside the door.”

There are no windows in this room, only a door as the opening. With 8 people crowded together, it is really stuffy.

Qin Tan put on his clothes and casually picked up his Tang sword, “I will go with you.”

Lou Fan laughed, “I’m just going out for a breather, you are too cautious.”

Although Lou Fan said it like that, he also picked up his bow and hung it on his body. Then, the two went out the door.

The moonlight is cold but sprinkled on the calm lake, it looked beautiful. Lou Fan is preparing to say something to Qin Tan. Suddenly, as if a fire is burning under the water, the calm lake surface began to bubble, looking like it is about to boil.

Something is coming out!

This is Lou Fan’s first thought. Qin Tan pulled his arm, and the two of them took a few steps back.

“Be careful,” Qin Tan said in a deep voice, staring at the lake.

Lou Fan didn’t dare to be careless, grasping the bow tightly in his hand.

A water bubble popped in the moonlight. As if a switch is turned on, something in the lake jumped out. Then, countless heads emerged from the lake. The water on the edge of the lake revealed a fish head. When it came out of the water, Lou Fan could see what the monster looked like.

Fish head and human body. The fish head is huge, and its eyes bulged out. They turned around, a bit like the eyes of a lizard, while the human body is on all fours and moves quickly.

Qin Tan swiped his sword at it and said to Lou Fan, “Go and call them to get up!”

Needless to say, Lou Fan has already turned around and ran back, not forgetting to shoot a monster with an arrow first. Lou Fan kicked the door open and yelled, “Get up, there are monsters! Grab your weapon!”

Raw word count: 3000

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“Brother Lou, what are we looking for?” Lin Man Man asked as she followed behind Lou Fan. Lou Fan has long legs so 2 steps from him equal to 3 steps for Lin Man Man. Furthermore, he walks fast so Lin Man Man needs to trot to keep up.

Lou Fan’s eyes swept around as he replied, “Keep an eye for a pair of mother and daughter.”

Lin Man Man nodded, “Okay, Brother Lou. Go slower, please?”

Lou Fan slowed down. The mother and daughter are no longer at the place he saw them. Since they couldn’t catch up, they could only look around for them carefully. Lin Man Man is a well-behaved girl. Her long and black straight hair is tied into a neat ponytail for easier movement. Lou Fan looked at her and saw that she no longer looked panicked like yesterday, quickly adapted to the world. Lou Fan could not help but sigh that ‘the environment will make people grow’, but it still varies from person to person.

“Are you afraid, Man Man?” Lou Fan asked.

Lin Man Man, who was looking around carefully, became silent for a while when she heard the words. Pursing her lips, she replied, “I was still feeling scared yesterday or even this morning, but it’s better now. Brother Lou, can you tell me some experience?”

“Experience, huh? Let me think about it.” Lou Fan also fell into a silence. He didn’t seem to have any experience to talk about. After thinking for a long time, he said, “The first is to improve your own strength. This is the most important. Second, there are many useful items in the mission world, such as mission items or key items. You have to pay attention, if you can bring the items back to Lazuli, they can allow you to redeem a lot of good things.”

Lou Fan and Qin Tan have discussed before that the things they exchanged in Lazuli are of fine quality. For example, a normal compressed biscuit can keep one full for half a day, but the ones from Lazuli can last a day or even longer. By the same token, whether it is medicines or weapons, Lazuli’s products are regarded as high-quality goods.

The two chatted as they walked and Lin Man Man took notes one by one. These will be the basis for her survival afterward so she must take notes.

There are very few villagers around, as most of them have run off to the square. After walking for a long time, no one else can be seen. The layout of the houses in the village is also very strange. Lou Fan and Lin Man Man walk around, feeling that everything looked the same as if they are in a maze. Though not sure what’s going on, Lou Fan didn’t have any fear to see the weirdness here, probably because he is mentally prepared.

“What is your spirit weapon?” Lou Fan asked Lin Man Man, turning his head.

Lin Man Man got taken aback and didn’t realize what a spirit weapon is. 5 seconds later, she took out a rope from her pocket and smiled bitterly, “It’s a skipping rope.”

Skipping rope? It’s another strange spirit weapon.

“I don’t know how to use it.” Lin Man Man said, “I loved skipping rope when I was a kid, and I won an award before. Just that I didn’t expect that the weapon I brought over is a skipping rope. Anyway, Brother Lou’s weapon is better, your bow and arrow are cooler.”

Lin Man Man looked a little helpless while holding the skipping rope. She shook the rope loose with one hand and then retrieve it with another shook. The movements are very skilled.

Lou Fan praised, “This is not a skipping rope at all, you can use it as a whip.”

Lin Man Man grabbed the skipping rope and couldn’t believe what she heard, “Whip? Brother Lou, are you kidding me? The difference is more than a thousand miles away.”

Lou Fan laughed, “Man Man, you have to know that the only role of spirit weapon for us is to be a weapon, whether it is to attack or defend. So, no matter what form it is, it will end up being used the same way. You don’t need to consider its name. What it is called doesn’t matter, as long as it can keep you alive. That’s the ultimate goal.”

Lin Man Man looked at the rope in her hand, and her gaze slowly became firm. That’s right, as long as she can survive and return to her parents in the real world, who cares? As long as the rope can be used as a weapon to protect herself, isn’t it all right?

Looking at the smiling Lin Man Man, Lou Fan couldn’t help but tease, “But you have to practice your arm strength. Know what is King Kong Barbie? It’s best to practice like that.” Then, seeing Lin Man Man wrinkled her face, Lou Fan laughed unkindly.

The moment Lou Fan caught two figures flashing by at the corner of his eyes, Lou Fan immediately put away his smile, “There, hurry up.”

However, after a turn, the mother and daughter disappeared again. Lou Fan turned around but didn’t even see their shadow. Lin Man Man also looked around. Then she turned around and asked Lou Fan, “Brother Lou, will we trigger the death condition? It may be a key NPC, or it may be a death condition.”

Lou Fan’s intuition is the mother and daughter pair is the key NPC. As for the key to the main mission or side mission, it is hard to say. He has never thought about the conditions of death.

“It’s a 50-50 chance. No one knows whether it is a chance or a death. The fact that we are in the mission world is already not in accordance with common sense. In every mission, we desperately try to stay alive.” Lou Fan said firmly, “I only know that once we found the key NPC, there may be equipment or key clues that we can obtain.”

“Let’s go, keep looking.”

Lin Man Man couldn’t refute, she looked up at the side of Lou Fan’s face. This man looks handsome and gentle and has a very strong style of doing things. He is not at all sloppy, and his way of doing things can’t be linked in the slightest with his looks. That should be what it means by ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’.

The layout of the houses in the village is really strange, and there is no pattern at all. The two could only run around, and yet they didn’t even encounter anyone of the other two groups. Fragmented whispers passed into Lou Fan’s ears, and he walked around looking for the source. The voices sounded near but it actually took him almost 10 minutes to find the person.

In a seemingly crumbling house, a woman kept moving her hands while speaking quietly. Next to her sat a youthful young girl. She has a beautiful face, but with a sad expression. Her brows are furrowed and her face is pale. That’s them.

Lin Man Man looked at Lou Fan quietly, and Lou Fan gave her a calm look. Lin Man Man took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. It’s okay, Brother Lou is with her!

The room is dark, so Lou Fan’s appearance blocked most of the light shining in from the door, making the room even darker. The two people inside looked up and are stunned when they saw a strange man appear at the door. However, without saying a word, or even asking anything, the woman swiftly lowered her head again to do her own thing. Their expressions can be called numb and despondent. Even with the light blocked, it does not affect the speed in their hands. Lou Fan felt that their fingers are nimbly working even in the dark. They are weaving a fishing net.

“Do you have any difficulties?” Lou Fan asked tentatively.

The two didn’t even lift their eyes and ignored Lou Fan.

Lou Fan continued, “I heard that there are sacrificial activities in the village. We came from outside. I don’t know what the sacrificial offerings are.”

As soon as he uttered those words, the mother and daughter had a pause in their hands, and their faces turned as white as paper. The girl’s lips trembled and her whole body shrank into a ball. The woman yelled and pushed the two of them out, “You are all bad guys. Get out! Scram!”

Lou Fan and Lin Man Man got awkwardly driven out, and the bamboo door is closed with a BANG. The door shook a bit as if it is about to fall apart in the next moment. Lou Fan touched his nose and felt that this NPC is a little different from the old man in Luoyang Ancient Village.

“Let’s go. We’ll go back to the square first.” Lou Fan helplessly said.

Lin Man Man lowered her head and no one knows what she is thinking. After walking for a while, she said, “Brother Lou, I don’t think we can ask directly, we have to be a little more roundabout. Next time, let me do it. I will try to fish for clues.”

Lou Fan nodded. He is really not very good at dealing with little girls. Before this, the junior sisters in the arrow club always surrounded him. They didn’t need him to start a topic as they could keep talking. Now that he needs to start one, it is a bit embarrassing for him.

…

Wen Lang and Zhang Xue chose the other side. Like what Lou Fan’s side, there are no people around here. Since they didn’t have any specific target, they walked fast.

“Let’s walk around first.” Wen Lang said to Zhang Xue.

Zhang Xue pursed her lower lip and suggested, “Let’s go to the lake first.”

Wen Lang shrugged and agreed. They walked quickly to the lake. The surrounding terrain is curvy and has many twists and turns. It is not like any other village at all where there are large gaps between the houses. Instead, they are built close together here, with no gaps at all. Don’t they feel suffocated when living in houses like this?

After walking for a while, they found out that most houses’ door is open. Inside, the items in some of the houses are neatly arranged while some are completely empty and uninhabited. So why are there so many empty houses?

Soon, the three of them arrived at the lake. There are many people by the lake at the moment as they gathered around a boat to decorate it. The boat is decorated very festively. On the other side, there is a smoke-filled building on the mountain not far away, which looks like a temple.

Wen Lang: “That should be Lao Ye Temple.”

Zhang Xue looked at the newly decorated boat indifferently, and said, “They want to use the boat to offer sacrifice?”

Almost immediately, the image of the sacrificial process appeared in the hearts of their hearts. There were many such stories in reality. But what is being offered as sacrifices?

A thin boy passed by them and Wen Lang grabbed him. Smiling at the boy, Wen Lang took out a handful of colorful candies from his trouser pocket and handed it over, “Hello, we are here to travel. I didn’t expect to catch up with your activities. Can you tell me more?”

The young boy looked at the candy in Wen Lang’s hand hesitantly. Then his gaze swept over Wen Lang’s face a few times. After hesitating for a long time, the boy swallowed. He grabbed the candy in Wen Lang’s hand and held it in his hand.

“The sacrificial activities in our village every year are very grand. It is to sacrifice to the undead at the bottom of the sea, hoping that they won’t harass us. There is also the Ju Yuan (statue) in Lao Ye Temple which will protect the safety of our ships.” The boy stared at the candy in his hand, seemed to be thinking about whom to give it to.

“Do you know about Shenzhou?” Wen Lang asked again, “Also, how do you offer the sacrifice?”

“What is Shenzhou?” The boy opened his eyes wide and looked at Wen Lang with doubts written in his eyes, and replied the other question, “After dark, we’ll just drive the boat to the middle of the lake and wait until the midnight fog clears.”

Zhang Xue stared at the young boy with indifferent eyes and asked, “What is on the boat? What is the sacrifice?”

The boy replied as if it’s nothing, “People and livestock, as well as various things made by the villagers themselves.”

Wen Lang wanted to continue to ask but the young boy became a little impatient. He pointed over to a direction and said, “Why do you have so many questions? You will know when you come to participate during our sacrificial process. I’m leaving now, I need to help decorate the boat, otherwise, General Ju Yuan will be angry when he doesn’t like it.”

Sacrifice, people and livestock, in the middle of the lake, heavy fog… the combination of these words is not a good thing when you hear it. A pity that they couldn’t ask about the whereabouts of Shenzhou.

Zhang Xue glanced at Lao Ye Temple in the distance. She turned around and walked back first. Wen Lang also glanced at the crowd around the boat before following Zhang Xue to go back. Xiao Yu remained silent and followed the two closely.

Raw word count: 3096

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The words coming from the indifferent female voice also sounded cold and emotionless. Zhang Xue looked at Xiao Yu coldly, “What’s the use of crying? Who do you want to come and save you? Your friends or other people? No one can save you except for yourself. Don’t talk nonsense if you don’t want to die, and try your best to live.”

These are the longest words one ever heard Zhang Xue say.

Still crying, Xiao Yu shouted at Zhang Xue, “What do you know?! I have just started doing an internship. My life has just begun. I don’t even have a boyfriend yet! I miss my parents!”

Zhang Xue chuckled indifferently, “Who doesn’t have family or friends here? Who isn’t in their twilight years? Who wanted to stay in this gerdamned place? If you want to go out alive, you must strive to survive!”

The crying gradually diminished, and Lin Man Man comforted Xiao Yu in a low voice. Wen Lang shook his head and continued, “The mission world is also divided into 5 levels, from high to low are Level S, A, B, C, and D. Only the Level D world has newcomers[1].”

Wen Lang took a sip of water and continued, “There are actually many organizations in Lazuli, large and small. Black Scorpion is a medium-sized organization. They have about 60 people in it, and most ‘passengers’ are not happy with their cruel style.”

As for how cruel it is, Wen Lang didn’t elaborate, but said, “If you bumped into them, you must act soft. The harder you go against them, the more excited they are. They are a group of maniacs. They also like to pull people back as their ‘fall guy/scapegoat’.”

Wen Lang sounded irritable when he talked about the Black Scorpion, and he didn’t want to say it anymore. He smiled and said, “Isn’t there still 9 days left? Let’s talk about this slowly. How can I say it all at once?” Looking around, Wen Lang rubbed his knees and put his hood on. Next, he yawned, “I am getting a little sleepy. We will start to do the task tomorrow so let’s rest early today.”

“Wait.” Qin Tan said, his expression looked determined under the fire, “Let’s assign the vigil, and plans for tomorrow. You guys can say what you think about it.” After saying that, Qin Tan stopped and waited. No one spoke for a while. He nodded and continued, “Okay then, don’t waste time and just do as I arranged. Zhang Xue will be paired with Lin Man Man, Wen Lang with Xiao Yu, Chen Shuyang with Gong Yi, and I will be with Lou Fan. Now, let’s talk about the plan of tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow morning, we will enter the village. If we meet anyone from Black Scorpion, act like we don’t know them. Our main task is to investigate the situation of the ship, Shenzhou. At present, we only know that Shenzhou must be a sunken ship, but we don’t know the exact location and what exactly is the problem with this ship. We have to clarify these before we can go down and look for the ship. Also, everyone should be mentally prepared. This ship is definitely not an easy task. We may encounter unexpected things. The worst case is Shenzhou is a ghost ship. Apart from that, we don’t know whether it will appear during the day or at night. If we can inquire more about the situation, we have more assurance.”

Qin Tan says all this in advance, that even Lou Fan and Chen Shuyang, who had been discussing it a long time ago, are not confident in their hearts. Not to mention Wen Lang and Zhang Xue. Zhang Xue frowned and bit her lower lip unconsciously. Wen Lang took off his hood with a serious face.

The 3 newcomers did not dare to speak for a long time, and then asked for a while, “Then what shall we do?” Could it be we have to follow the group too to find the ghost ship?

Wen Lang sneered, “You guys? Just stay in the village and wait for us to come back. It’s best to pray that we will come back. Otherwise, I don’t think you know how to get back to the platform.”

The faces of the 3 newcomers turned pale in an instant – they really don’t know how to go back! In silence, everyone looked at Qin Tan, waiting for him to continue. Qin Tan simply uttered an ‘oh’, and then realized, “I have finished my words, let’s rest.”

Qin Tan speaks less, yet he said it calmly, confidently, and decisively. Wen Lang said with almost no hesitation, “I propose to let Qin Tan be the leader.”

Qin Tan is originally the leader of his 3-person team, Lou Fan is in charge of diplomacy, and Chen Shuyang is in charge of clerical work. Since Wen Lang’s proposal is not opposed by Zhang Xue, he happily decided, “Okay, then Qin Tan is our leader. Don’t worry, I will unconditionally obey the leader’s arrangement.”

The 3 people who are well prepared for this mission world each brought a portable tent. So, a tent is given to the girls, another for Qin Tan and Lou Fan, and the last one for the other three guys. Qin Tan is still writing things in his notebook. Lou Fan wiped his face briefly and laid down on the ground with his clothes as a pillow. He said goodnight to Qin Tan and fell asleep on his side. Qin Tan replied good night then put down the pen and notebook in his hand. He stood up and put his coat on Lou Fan.

The night turned darker, and it is Zhang Xue and Lin Man Man’s turn to keep vigil. Lin Man Man came out of the tent sleepily. The moment she got woken up, she suddenly didn’t know where she is at the moment. It’s as if she had a dream, dreaming that she had come to a terrible world. She thought it was a dream, but the moment she saw Zhang Xue, Lin Man Man became sober. What dream? It seems that the stable world in which she has been living is a dream instead.

Zhang Xue’s pale face seemed to be stained with a hint of crimson under the firelight, and her indifferent eyebrows are softened a lot. Lin Man Man felt a little cold, and the surroundings are so quiet that it made people panic. Right now, she is spending the night in the wild for the first time.

“Sister Zhang Xue, aren’t you afraid?” Lin Man Man’s voice trembled. Even though she tried to control it, Zhang Xue could hear it.

Zhang Xue looked at the fire without speaking and seemed to be distracted. After a long time, she muttered something. Her voice is so soft that one could hardly hear her, “What’s the use for fear?” As if to tell her herself that.

Lin Man Man didn’t receive Zhang Xue’s reply and could only hug herself tightly. The night is a bit cold. She is wearing a shirt and a small coat, so those couldn’t resist the wind at night, especially they are staying by the lake which makes it even colder.

When everyone got up early the next morning, Lou Fan had already finished his daily training while Chen Shuyang is doing push-ups, and Qin Tan is also looking sweaty. The other 5 people stared at them silently. Wen Lang, who was yawning, is taken aback for a moment and stood on the spot with his mouth open.

“Good morning. Go and clean up, we are ready to go.” Lou Fan greeted them friendlily as if they are very familiar with each other. Unexpectedly, no one said anything for a long time after Lou Fan spoke, which made him wonder if he said the wrong thing.

A group of 8 people packed everything up and brought everything they could. Wen Lang and Chen Shuyang saw that the 2 newcomer girls are so cold that their lips turned purple so they lent them the clothes they had brought. Qin Tan took the lead to walk towards the village. In fact, they are not far from the village. After walking for 10 minutes, the entrance of the village is right in front of them. The simple plaque reads three skewed characters: Little Fishing Village.

Simple and crude.

The village looked very simple and most of the houses are made of wooden structures. Occasionally, the people passing by can be seen dressed in a humble dress giving people a feeling like they are in the 70s and 80s. This weird feeling made everyone uncomfortable.

Soon after they entered the village, more people can be seen walking around. Lights and festoons are hanging everywhere. The atmosphere felt joyful, it should be some kind of event that is going to happen soon. The villagers also all have smiles on their faces, but their smiles are a little weird. Lou Fan looked very uncomfortable and got goosebumps all over his body. He turned his head and looked around. From a distance, a pair of mother and daughter are hugging each other, their faces full of sadness but it’s more to fear. The girl who is held in her mother’s arms raised her small face upwards, with a look of fear on her face.

Lou Fan felt that the two are the key, and nudged the person next to him with his elbow, “Qin Tan, there is something wrong with those two.”

Not hearing any answer, Lou Fan turned his head and almost scream out in surprise. The person beside him is not Qin Tan, but a 40 or 50-years-old woman with a weird smile on her face. Her face is wrinkly and dark, and she gave people an uncomfortable look. Seeing that Lou Fan is looking at her, she smiled even wider. The tone in her voice made Lou Fan’s scalp feel numb, “Hehehe, this little brother. Our small fishing village will hold a grand sacrificial event soon, and there will be unexpected surprises.”

Lou Fan swiftly moved a little farther away. The corner of his mouth twitched and he nodded under the woman’s piercing gaze. Then, he ran towards Qin Tan quickly. When Lou Fan got to Qin Tan’s side, he couldn’t help but look back. The woman is still standing there, with a smile plastered on her face. The smile startled him and he turned back quickly.

“What’s the matter?” Qin Tan wanted to look behind Lou Fan, but Lou Fan grabbed him.

“Don’t look! Fck, she scared me to death. Why didn’t you guys call me when you leave? That old woman is terrifying, she smiled strangely that I felt uncomfortable all over my body. The girls in our team looked far better.” After saying that, Lou Fan smiled at the two young ladies in the team.

Lin Man Man moved to Lou Fan’s side in small steps, “B, Brother Lou, I think there is something wrong with this village. I’m a little scared.”

“It’s not right indeed. Don’t be afraid, we are still here.” Lou Fan nodded, and then comforted, “But more terrible things are yet to come. If you don’t complete the task, you will only die. Thinking of this, are you still scared?”

Lin Man Man shook her head, but tears are swirling in her eyes. Lou Fan felt that this little girl might not be able to hold it anymore, but he could only sigh. They couldn’t even protect themselves, what more to protect others?

Qin Tan blocked the old woman’s gaze at them with his body and said, “Don’t be afraid, I’m here.”

Lou Fan: “…”

Lou Fan really wants to scream, ‘Oh my god, Qin Tan! Can’t you stop being so manly?! I can’t stand it!’ It’s a pity that Lou Fan didn’t dare to say that, so he could only curve up the corners of his mouth secretly. Emboldened by Qin Tan, Lou Fan took a glance to the back. The strange woman is gone, and so is the mother and daughter pair.

They don’t see the people from Black Scorpion, not sure where they had left. Their team continued to move forward, and soon they reached a place similar to a small square. A neat fence is circled around it and there is a round platform in the middle that is a bit higher than the ground. The square is full of people, and it looks joyous like when it is Chinese New Year time. Lou Fan remembered what the strange woman had just said, and whispered to everyone, “They are going to hold a sacrificial event soon. I think this should be the key.”

Everyone felt the same and Wen Lang suggested, “Why don’t we split up and ask around?”

Their target is quite big if they walked around in a big group. Lou Fan nodded in agreement, and discussed with Qin Tan, “How about splitting in a group of 2 or 3? I’ll take Lin Man Man, and you take Gong Yi and Chen Shuyang with you. Then, Wen Lang and Zhang Xue will take Xiao Yu. Any questions with this arrangement?”

After confirming the group, they separated in 3 directions and left the square. They agreed to gather here after half an hour regardless of whether there is new information or not. Lou Fan took Lin Man Man straight in the direction of the mother and daughter pair he saw just now. He must find them!

Raw word count: 3017

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[1] The author probably didn’t check his/her draft when writing this explanation. I recalled the other worlds that they will go still have newcomers in it. And the level of difficulty is definitely higher than Level D. So, just ignore this author’s explanation lol