The man with the square face didn’t show any signs of annoyance from their lack of cooperation and resumed chatting and laughing with the person next to him.
It was unclear if it was because of that remark about “who knows how long we’ll live,” but they didn’t discuss names or occupations further.
The smile on Zhou Qi’an’s face disappeared the moment the square-faced man turned around.
It was considered impolite to casually inquire about others’ skills in the instance, and the square-faced man, being an experienced player, was surely aware of this. This seemingly reckless behavior was likely a test to see if there were any inexperienced newcomers in the team, so that, in a critical moment, they could be pushed to take the hit.
Tsk, human nature is so insidious.
Numerous figures stood in the mist, waiting for the bus.
Zhou Qi’an finally spotted the female player. She looked almost the same as in the photo, but her aura was even more aloof and cold. However, it seemed like she didn’t intend to initiate any communication.
At this moment, Ying Yu handed over a large-capacity backpack, which was empty inside.
“If you come across any suitable materials, you can collect them in the backpack. It will automatically relieve pressure, and the storage space is much larger than you see. Afterward, if there are any valuable materials, you can exchange them for points or items.”
Ying Yu didn’t ask Shen Zhiyi to do anything. In a sense, their interactions were not deep. Moreover, there was an aura around Shen Zhiyi that was as cold as the monsters.
The small stones on the ground suddenly trembled slightly, and the group automatically stopped their discussion. In the distance, a rather elegant vehicle drove through the mist.
Yes, elegant.
Though it was strange to use this word for a vehicle, it seemed to be the common impression.
The bus had smooth curves, a retro design, and the paint was meticulously done, with not a single flaw visible.
A half-human, half-monkey driver sat in the driver’s seat, nodding gently to each passenger that boarded. The driver wore black leather gloves and appeared focused, as though he wasn’t holding a steering wheel but was engaged in a very delicate task.
The system prompt came urgently.
[Instance Entrance Closed]
[Instance: Fengshui Village
Instance Difficulty: Four Stars to Four and a Half Stars
Main Quest: Fengshui Village is surrounded by mountains on three sides, relying on the sky for food. Due to poor water quality, the annual grain output is limited. You are renowned experts from the city, invited by the village chief to research ways to improve the food yield.
Recently, another expert group came here, but they mysteriously disappeared. Your task is not only to help solve the water quality problem but also to investigate the disappearance of the experts.
Instance Duration: Seven Days
umber of Players: 10 (Ten grains, nine chaff, ten dead, one life)]
“Qi’an,” Shen Zhiyi said, “now I’m an expert.”
“…”
Stop gilding yourself with false titles, alright? The expert status granted by the instance—can that even be called an expert?
A thin sheet of paper suddenly appeared.
Zhou Qi’an lowered his head and, without thinking, wrote his evolution direction on the seemingly random train ticket: Thigh.
One step at a time, arms and legs would eventually become the drive!
After writing, he tried to sneak a glance at Shen Zhiyi, only to find that the other had completed his task even faster and covered it with his palm.
Zhou Qi’an didn’t ask again but curiously looked outside the window.
This time, the tunnel was different from the usual ones. Actually, they didn’t enter a tunnel at all. The vehicle was driving through dense fog. Initially, Zhou Qi’an mistook it for a tunnel because he saw strange, dense black dots surrounding them, appearing and disappearing in the mist.
Shen Zhiyi’s voice came again, and this time, he wasn’t joking: “This instance might have other troubles.”
“What?”
“Corpses don’t just disappear for no reason. There’s something wrong with this space. It’s possible that wandering souls and ghosts might slip in while we’re not looking.” Shen Zhiyi reminded lightly, “Although the chance is small, we still need to be cautious.”
Zhou Qi’an remained silent for a moment.
Well, this was truly professional advice, as if from an expert.
A few hours later, the bus drove into a remote village.
Both sides were eerily quiet, with not a soul in sight, like a dead, abandoned place.
The streets were desolate, and scattered around were torn cloths and dust-covered, leaf-laden small carts.
This scene suggested that no one had lived here for at least ten years.
The group held their breath, but the bus surprisingly drove straight through the streets without seeming like it was planning to stop.
The bus headed toward the mountain road, and some people clearly relaxed. It was fortunate that the map didn’t open in the lifeless town.
Zhou Qi’an’s gaze, however, grew heavier.
The tattered clothes on the streets were too much. A town abandoned due to migration wouldn’t look like this.
He suddenly thought of the evaporating ancient corpses and felt an ominous premonition.
There was almost no mist in the town. Zhou Qi’an, with his excellent eyesight, noticed deep claw marks on some of the wooden doors.
As the bus was about to leave the town, he boldly opened the window and stuck his head out to look at the ground. There were claw marks and some stains on the ground.
These were human-shaped stains, mixed with black, red, and white fragments.
Zhou Qi’an swallowed involuntarily. Some players noticed his actions and expressions, and they followed suit, opening the windows to take a look. Their faces quickly turned pale.
The bus finally stopped on a narrow path deep in the mountains.
The impassable mountain road was also the reason for Fengshui Village’s poverty and backwardness. The road ahead was blocked, and they could only continue on foot.
A player wearing white canvas shoes was the first to jump off, looking at the thick yellow soil with a resigned expression: “I should’ve worn boots if I knew the map was opening in the village.”
“Hello, everyone.”
According to the rules of time, this staff member should be referred to as Lady Shen or Miss Shen.
Judging from her body curves, the gender conclusion seemed clear.
Miss Shen wore a suit and was exceptionally graceful. She was the first staff member to bow to the players. “I am the leader of this expert team. My surname is Shen.”
Her overly polite demeanor made the players more cautious.
Zhou Qi’an stood among the crowd, expressionless, thinking.
The usual arrangement for staff identities was with NPCs, but this time, the staff formed a team with the players. This was definitely not a good sign.
It got dark early in the mountains. By now, the sun was already setting, and the man with the square face said, “Let’s hurry up, we must reach the village before dark.”
Miss Shen was interrupted and seemed displeased, but she didn’t interfere with the players’ progress and continued moving gracefully. Throughout the journey, her movements were fluid, her footsteps so light they made no sound.
The mountain path was rough, and no one spoke much along the way.
Zhou Qi’an occasionally looked up, watching out for falling rocks and other potential hazards. After a while, the person at the front of the group slowed down. Zhou Qi’an followed suit, stopping and squinting to look ahead.
At the end of the rugged path stood a man around sixty years old. The dim sky blurred the wrinkles on his face, and his seemingly kind eyes glinted with a strange light as he gazed at the approaching group of men and women.
Although elderly, his physical strength seemed fine. In just a few steps, he came forward, bending over with enthusiasm, saying, “Welcome, welcome, experts to Fengshui Village.”
The player at the front avoided shaking hands, but the village chief didn’t mind. “The village is hard to find. Let me lead you.”
Zhou Qi’an heard his female teammate scoff quietly, “Leading us to our deaths?”
“…” It seemed this teammate had quite the personality.
Until the village chief turned around, everyone hadn’t noticed that the old man had a huge protruding tumor on his back, so large that it seemed like it could explode at any moment.
The man with the square face walking behind instinctively distanced himself slightly, avoiding a potential bioweapon situation.
The village chief suddenly turned around.
The guilt of being caught made the square-faced man avert his gaze.
The village chief smiled, as if nothing had happened, and continued walking forward.
Zhou Qi’an, who had witnessed the whole scene, smiled and said to Shen Zhiyi, “The old man is so hospitable, coming to meet us personally, as if afraid we might run away.”
Shen Zhiyi nodded, “He’s very hospitable.”
While other players had various expressions, Zhou Qi’an took the initiative to walk over to the village chief and started a conversation, “Later, please show us around and introduce us to the local customs.”
The village chief responded warmly.
Zhou Qi’an continued, “But there’s no need for a welcome banquet, we’re here for work.”
The village chief was stunned. When did he ever mention a welcome banquet?
As a young man with strong limbs, Zhou Qi’an walked briskly, and the village chief followed him, subconsciously quickening his pace.
Zhou Qi’an walked faster and faster, soon becoming just a silhouette that could disappear around the next corner at any moment.
As he had expected, the village chief seemed afraid that these people might vanish, gritting his teeth as he chased after them, glancing back every now and then. Despite the cold mountain wind, he was already sweating.
“Phew…” The village chief gasped for breath. “Slow down, slow down.”
His voice was drowned out by Zhou Qi’an, who raised his voice and called back, “It’s getting dark, everyone, don’t wander off. Let’s do a headcount… One!”
The square-faced man at the back twitched his mouth. He was someone who preferred stability, and the flashy Zhou Qi’an didn’t impress him. Hearing him speak now, he shook his head, thinking no one would actually follow such a ridiculous action.
“Two.” Shen Zhiyi’s voice was calm and indifferent.
“Three.” Ying Yu said.
“Four.” The female team member added.
The square-faced man: “…”
People tend to follow the crowd, and after four people counted off, the fifth person subconsciously joined in.
Shen Zhiyi glanced at the square-faced man, “Aren’t you worried one of us might be missing, or…”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but everyone had already mentally added, or maybe there’s one more person.
“…Six.” The square-faced man swallowed and reluctantly joined in.
As the counting continued, it reached ten, and Miss Shen naturally didn’t participate.
Zhou Qi’an, striding ahead, continued, “One.”
The village chief’s eyelid twitched, feeling like the mountain rooster crowed earlier than usual.
“Two.”
“Three.”
…
The dark mountain echoed with the counting, strange and eerie.
It had to be said that this bizarre counting ritual did ease some of the anxiety among the group, even though it was a bit hard on the throat.
“One!”
Without warning, an even louder voice suddenly startled the village chief, causing his eardrum to ache. He covered his right ear and kept panting, saying, “Stop saying ‘one,’ we’re… we’re here.”
He’d almost been driven mad by the noise.
Zhou Qi’an finally stopped his incessant chatter, leaving the NPC in peace.
In the distance, the distinct sound of flowing water echoed from the mountain stream.
Ahead, a large oval-shaped stone stood at the village entrance. The dimming light of the sky illuminated the stone’s surface, and the hastily inscribed characters ‘Fengshui Village’ were barely visible.
The stone’s color was odd, a kind of clear, glassy blue. However, in the cracks of the inscription, numerous tiny pale white worms crawled back and forth, resembling maggots, with flies occasionally resting on them.
Many players felt uneasy, as normal stones wouldn’t be this color and certainly wouldn’t attract such creatures.
Zhou Qi’an, feeling the lightweight of his backpack, silently mouthed to Ying Yu, “Have you ever seen anything like this?”
The stone’s composition was exceptionally rare.
Ying Yu replied, “No.”
Zhou Qi’an nodded thoughtfully and, as they continued, he walked to the back of the group.
The mountain wilderness, full of unsettling vibes, made everyone hold their breath and listen as the village chief rambled on about the village’s history.
“Fengshui Village has been around for several hundred years, and the villagers are very attached to it. Very few people are willing to leave…” The village chief’s eyes were fixed, and his mouth barely moved, making his speech unclear.
Under the dimming sky, his mouth, nearly devoid of lines, exuded an indescribable sense of terror.
“The village’s medical conditions aren’t great, and your health is valuable. Be careful not to hurt yourselves.”
Bang!
A loud sound startled everyone.
While speaking, the village chief accidentally bit his own mouth.
The players almost reached for their weapons, but then realized the village chief seemed more frightened than they were. He trembled for a moment, and the tumor on his back shook as if it might burst.
“What was that noise?”
Zhou Qi’an quickly put away his hammer, startled by the sound, and shoved the shards into his bag.
The village chief looked around suspiciously but didn’t notice anything.
He wiped the blood from his mouth, turned, and said a few more words before another loud bang sounded.
Zhou Qi’an asked, “Is there a blacksmith shop in the village?”
Shen Zhiyi replied, “It seems like the sound came from farther back. They say the mountains are full of strange creatures. Could it be something… unclean?”
Before he could finish, the village chief quickened his pace and headed into the village, as if only the village could provide him with a sense of security.
After this incident, the village chief, with his ruined mouth, stopped talking and walked ahead with a sullen face.
Beyond the stone monument, there was still a stretch of desolate road leading into the village. One keen-eyed player noticed that Zhou Qi’an was holding a skull ring.
“Members of the Black Magic Society?”
This player was a recent recruit of the Little Red Riding Hood association, which had recently expanded, replacing the Black Magic Society. The two factions had clashed numerous times.
Seeing this, the player deliberately approached the square-faced man, who was easy to talk to.
“Hey, have you ever been part of an association? You seem to be quite meticulous. If not, you might want to consider joining Little Red Riding Hood.”
The player smiled and said, “I’m sure you’ve heard the recent rumors. We now have the support of the Hidden House’s master.”
NPCs couldn’t hear conversations about such things, and Miss Shen was walking ahead with the village chief. The others didn’t interrupt. The distant sound of flowing water had grown very uncomfortable, so chatting to pass the time was a welcome distraction.
“Nice to meet you, but I’m already in an organization.” The square-faced man was easy to converse with. When he heard the latter part of the sentence, he said, “Actually, our president was personally received by the Hidden House master.”
Other players immediately became interested and began asking about the Hidden House’s master.
“I heard he’s pretty young. As for his personality… well, aren’t all big shots the same? Aloof and proud, but he’s got the credentials for it.”
Someone jokingly said, “There’s a lot of chatter on the forums lately. If they ever faced off, do you think the firecrackers or the Hidden House master’s weird gadgets would win?”
Firecrackers?
Zhou Qi’an’s lips twitched. He glanced over to see Ying Yu frowning, likely because he’d lost track of a deformed rat.
He wondered if these people knew Ying Yu’s true identity, would their perception of him shatter?
After walking down an eerie stretch of road, they finally entered the village.
Fengshui Village was surrounded on three sides by mountains, with rows of densely packed mud houses rooted in the barren land. Water channels could be seen everywhere, and the water in the ditches was so clear you could see straight to the bottom.
If one ignored the poverty of its human landscape, it truly was a land of picturesque mountains and rivers.
However, the soil here was far from fertile.
Scattered vegetables grew sparsely in the fields—of all different types.
The village chief explained, “Vegetables are especially hard to grow here, so we plant many varieties, hoping that at least some will adapt to the land.”
But even the ones that managed to survive looked strange, as if injected with some kind of bizarre growth hormone—their skins were so thin they could barely contain the flesh inside.
At that moment, a player’s expression suddenly changed.
Clinging to the hem of her pants was a rat—no one knew when it had gotten there.
Rats weren’t usually frightening, but this one was almost hairless. Its skin had a strange, smooth sheen, and its pupils were white. It had silently appeared at her feet, baring sharp teeth.
Her body stiffened instinctively.
Just as she was about to react—too slowly—a flash of cold light streaked past. The strange, snow-white rat had its throat slit.
The one who struck was Ying Yu.
The player let out a shaky breath. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Ying Yu replied calmly, slipping the rat into his bag under cover of darkness.
Fengshui Village wasn’t just picturesque—it had impressive biodiversity too. Even a random specimen from here would be of immense research value.
No one knew when Zhou Qi’an had wandered back beside the village chief, but under his persistent pressure, the chief reluctantly led them on a rough tour of the village.
Midway through, Square-Face asked, “It’s already dark. Why don’t I see any lights?”
Only a few houses emitted a faint glow.
The village chief sighed. “We’re poor. Most families can’t afford to burn kerosene.”
He kept his head down as he spoke, hiding his expression. The group could only judge by what they saw—clotheslines outside mud houses, wells in the courtyards, and trash scattered in some areas. At least it all suggested that the villagers were alive.
This thought gave the players a bit of comfort.
The village was larger than expected and not entirely made of mud houses. A few brick houses—clearly owned by better-off families—had cured meat hanging outside.
The ground wasn’t muddy like outside the village either. The main road was paved with smooth bluestone tiles.
When Zhou Qi’an stepped on one loose, aged tile, he quickly dropped back from the group and pried it open with astonishing speed.
He moved like a gust of wind—from under a tree to the clothesline to back among the group—all in a few blinks.
His speed was used to its full advantage.
Since all the other players had their eyes on the village chief, no one noticed the whirlwind behind them.
The village chief kept glancing up at the sky, and his speech got faster and faster, until it was practically perfunctory.
“It’s getting late,” he said, his tone noticeably firmer now that they were in the village. “Let me take our esteemed guests to their lodging.”
The temperature difference between day and night in the mountains was unnaturally large.
The group began raising their collars or blowing warm air into their palms, all hoping to reach a warm house soon.
The village chief led them to a certain place and said with a cheerful tone, “This was specially cleaned out for our honored guests.”
Under the moonlight, the black bricks glinted with a strange sheen. The place they were led to wasn’t one of those drafty mud houses after all.
Zhou Qi’an clearly heard a female player let out a mocking laugh behind him.
He roughly understood what she was thinking—if they’d been placed in a flimsy mud house with zero soundproofing, then any little noise could be heard by everyone.
This excessively well-maintained brick house was a different story altogether. Zhou Qi’an stepped closer to inspect it.
Smooth, and with an oddly soft texture.
Nice touch on the bricks!
On the other side, Ying Yu casually brushed his palm against a brick, a hint of appreciation flashing in his eyes.
Shen Zhiyi, who had hardly spoken the entire time, glanced at their once-empty backpacks—now showing signs of bulging—and his eyelid twitched faintly.
A phrase popped into his mind:
“That day, a peaceful village suddenly welcomed two thieves.”
Author’s Note:
Zhou Qi’an: Nothing special—just experienced hands.
