Chapter 305 [(*^▽^*)]

Everyone's attention immediately focused on the altar in the center. To them, the altar was quite simple; after all, in the real world, they had seen countless altars in movies and TV shows, all ornate and mysterious. But this one…

They're like a low-budget knock-off; they have absolutely no respect for others.

"Why don't you give it a try?"

One player crouched down, intending to try lifting the altar directly.

As it turned out, the system did indeed notify him that he had obtained a quest item, but this quest item could not be put into his inventory and could only be carried with him.

"Are you kidding me? How can you carry something this big around? We're going to have a battle royale later on, who can escape if they're carrying this?"

"It seems... this instance doesn't intend for us to take this altar. In that case, let's just leave it at that and look elsewhere."

“I remember when we were brought here, there were a lot of things here, but now they’re all gone. They were probably taken away by the NPCs. Let’s catch a couple of NPCs and ask them. Maybe we can find out something.”

"I agree. Shall we go out first, or check the situation upstairs?"

To check the above situation, you must use a tool, but it absolutely cannot be a disposable tool, otherwise the loss will be too great.

“I have reconnaissance equipment, I’ll send it out and take a look.”

No one objected. In any case, they would remain united for the time being and make other plans after they were freed.

When the item silently detected that there were indeed NPCs waiting on the stairs, they were all quite excited. There were quite a few of them, enough for each of the players who hadn't gotten a kill earlier to have one.

"Hey! Look here..."

Everyone turned around and saw that the player who had planned to take the altar away had actually dismantled the top layer of the altar and was pointing inside while talking to everyone.

Everyone crowded around to take a look, and what they saw was a corpse.

"Holy crap! It's a female corpse... Could this be the body of that dead woman? How did she get here?"

"It must be for the sake of the plot. It seems that the village chief or someone close to the village chief killed her, and then a sacrificial ceremony was held to pray for her soul's soul to be released from suffering..."

"Is that so? I feel like there might be... another reason?"

"This shouldn't be the whole truth. Our first mission didn't show as completed, so there's probably something else involved. Let's put this aside for now and see if this corpse counts as a mission item?"

Someone went over and tried it, then threw the body back in. It wasn't as neat as before; it looked messy, with the hair and clothes all disheveled, but they didn't care.

"These aren't quest items, let's go."

Anyway, they already know all the secrets here. Now it's time to go out, capture a couple of NPCs, and interrogate them. We're sure we'll find out more.

"The outside has been burned down! This is the village chief's house!"

"It was burned?"

"Go out and see!"

They outnumbered the players, and even though they had a lot of NPCs outside, they were no match for so many players.

With ten players working together, the NPCs still above were quickly captured and taken underground. This place was originally where players were tied up and sacrificed, but now their roles had been reversed.

"What are you trying to do?! We're all from the village chief's family!"

They were quickly and mercilessly thrown to the ground by the players, and the NPCs soon discovered the three corpses lying on the ground. Two of them were their family members, and the other was the seriously injured master!

Upon seeing the corpse, their first reaction was not anger or sadness, but fear and dread, terrified that they too would become corpses on the ground in the next second.

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me! What do you want to do? You can have anything you want!"

Soon, players started asking, "Where did all those things that were placed here go?"

They answered eagerly, "It's in the old house outside! It's all there, we can take you to get it!"

The players looked at each other, but of course they agreed. They all needed the quest items, but they hadn't finished asking yet, so there was no rush.

"Look at that female corpse in the altar behind us. What's going on here? Tell me quickly, tell the truth, or I'll chop off one of their hands!"

One player, still resentful about being tied up and slated to be a sacrifice, reached out and slapped an NPC hard on the back of the head—a slap that was no joke.

The NPC was actually given a mild concussion from being hit.

Of course, players won't mind this, since once they've asked all the questions they need to, these NPCs will become their points.

"This woman is Ah Rong, the one who became a female ghost. She committed suicide!"

"Stop lying! You're the ones who killed him!"

"No, no!" He quickly shook his head. "We didn't kill her. She committed suicide. Years ago, the village chief of Yaoshan Village discovered an ancient book that said there was a way to live forever and even make the old return to youth. Then, somehow, he reached an agreement with Arong. We don't know the details of how things developed after that. In short, we've gradually come to where we are today."

"So, the reason your village chief invited so many... masters to the village to exorcise the ghost is actually because of our special status. Using us to appease this female ghost would be twice as effective?"

They nodded timidly; the village chief had indeed said that, but they only dared to nod and not speak.

Soon they all received a system notification that the first mission to uncover the truth was completed. Since the mission was finished, they didn't need to ask any more questions.

As for the deaths of A Rong's parents, they must also be related to the village chief and his group.

"Let's find the quest item first, and we can talk about the rest later."

No one had any objections.

At this moment, Lin Leyou and his group had also quietly returned to the vicinity and were secretly observing the players. They saw several inconspicuous dark figures emerging from underground in the distance.

They led several NPCs towards the village chief's old house, and soon found the quest item there, one for each person! Everyone was very satisfied.

It seems this is a case of misfortune turning into blessing. Of the six players who weren't caught before, one died and the remaining five escaped. We still don't know if they've found the quest item anywhere else in the village.

However, the ten players who were captured by the village chief and his men as sacrifices were lucky enough to complete the first or even the second mission, and now only the battle royale remains.

Xue Rui said, "Escaping Yaoshan Village doesn't necessarily mean being hunted down by the villagers. You can leave now."

Lin Leyou: "Are you leaving? My mission is complete. If Arui wants to leave, I'll see you off?"

Xue Rui said, "If you leave this Yaoshan village by taking the main road, it will take several hours, just like when you came, although I didn't take that road."

Lin Leyou smiled and said, "It's okay. I'm leaving now. Just follow me and I promise you won't get lost."

Xue Rui couldn't help but smile. Of course, it was impossible to get lost. There was only one road leading out of the village, so how could one possibly go astray?

Xue Rui: "Okay, then I'll follow Brother Lin. I hope Brother Lin doesn't get lost."

Just as Lin Leyou was about to say something, some shouts and screams came from afar.

Lin Leyou changed the subject, "They killed these NPCs and dumped their bodies all over the underground space. I wonder when the village chief will find out what happened in his village."

Xue Rui said, "The village chief will definitely be furious, after all, these are his family members and descendants!"

Lin Leyou, "But he'll probably have to wait until the daytime to find out about this..."

Xue Rui: "It's almost dawn."

Lin Leyou turned his gaze eastward, and indeed... although it was still very dark, some light had already appeared in the eastern sky, and it would be dawn soon.

Xue Rui, "Should we wait or leave now?"

Lin Leyou, "...Should we leave first?"

Xue Rui said, "I wonder if there are any hidden quests in this instance. I want to dig around and see."

Lin Leyou said, "Since that's the case, let's stay here for now. Anyway, if we want to run away, no NPC can catch us."

If they really can't escape, he can use his talent to hide the two of them, and then continue running when no one is around.

Xue Rui had obviously thought of this as well. "Then let's stay here for now."

As time passed, the morning glow appeared in the east, displaying magnificent colors, which the two of them thoroughly enjoyed.

However, while they enjoyed it immensely, some people in the village were very unhappy.

For example, the village chief was really worried about his family, so he took his men home early in the morning. But when he got home, he saw that there was no one around the charred ruins.

Those who stayed behind to guard the place knew what was underground and would never have left without permission, especially not all at once. The only possibility is that all his children and grandchildren were murdered!

Sure enough, upon finding the entrance, the village chief saw the various odds and ends that were somewhat useful and knew that someone had piled them up there to cover up the entrance.

But at this moment, the entrance door was wide open, and there was a faint smell of blood coming from inside. He trembled and wanted to go in to take a look, but he was quickly stopped by his children and grandchildren behind him.

"Dad, let me go in and take a look. You're not in good health, so don't get too excited."

The village chief was unable to utter a single word at this point, but he still nodded with difficulty in agreement.

After the person went down, he saw corpses all over the floor, including a female corpse that had been carelessly taken out and thrown back into the altar...

When he saw the casually placed female corpse, his heart skipped a beat. He didn't even have time to pay attention to his family members lying on the ground. He rushed over to put the body back in place and clean it up.