Chapter 308 [(*^▽^*)]

Xue Rui then asked, "How many villagers were in the second wave?"

Lin Leyou said, "The second wave had more than a hundred people in total, and there was a third wave with several dozen more. All of them were young and strong, and they were carrying all kinds of weapons. It is unlikely that all of these players will escape successfully. I estimate that about half of them will be left behind by the villagers."

Xue Rui: "That's about right... I think so too."

Lin Leyou sighed, "These players don't seem to know how to play. I guess they were tied up and kneeling there for so long that they were too angry and felt that they were unlikely to be able to pass the level, so they killed the NPCs to make up for some points."

Xue Rui said, "This is the only explanation that makes sense."

Suddenly, he grabbed Lin Leyou's wrist on the side closest to him, naturally through her clothes. Lin Leyou looked at him strangely and gently shook her hand.

He didn't say anything, but his actions seemed to be asking him what he was doing, and whether he was being affectionate again.

Xue Rui didn't speak, and didn't even see it. His eyes were fixed straight ahead, as if something very important was happening.

Lin Leyou blinked. Although she felt a little strange, she didn't think much of it. She figured the child was probably thinking that they would be separated from her again soon, so she was reluctant to part with her.

Since that's the case, let him hold your hand. We're all grown men, what's the big deal?

Anyway, we'll see each other again soon, wait a minute!

Thinking about this, Lin Leyou suddenly remembered something: wasn't it too much of a coincidence that he and Xue Rui always appeared in the same instance? Unless it was truly a matter of timing...

Lin Leyou couldn't help but think of what happened before her rebirth. Could it be because, in her previous life, when she died, she grabbed the one that belonged to Xue Rui...?

It's because of things related to the system that after returning to the past, they gained the identities of the system and residents. Although they seem unrelated, the relationship between them is the deepest.

Because of this, the two of them are connected in some mysterious way, so even when they are randomly assigned, they are often placed in the same instance.

Apart from a very few opposing tasks, the other tasks are either unrelated or similar, which is quite a coincidence for them.

He secretly observed Xue Rui, not knowing whether Xue Rui was aware of this.

That doesn't make sense either. Xue Rui doesn't know he's been reborn, so how could he possibly make that connection? He probably just thinks he and Xue Rui are really good brothers, which is why they've always been separated.

The two walked slowly forward. At this pace, they estimated it would take until nightfall to reach the end of the road.

But it doesn't matter, they're not in a hurry anyway. When the villagers return, they can find a place to hide, and once they're gone, they can continue on their way. There shouldn't be any problem.

They walked quietly for more than two hours before Lin Leyou spoke up, "All the villagers have engaged the players. Two players have successfully escaped, and the remaining eight are being surrounded by the villagers."

Xue Rui: "What about the five players who escaped before? They seemed to have been injured. Where could they have escaped to?"

Lin Leyou said, "I haven't seen them along the way. Could it be that they left the instance early? Or maybe they're still hiding in the village. There are only some old, weak, sick, and disabled people left in the village now. If those five were still in the village, they could definitely sweep through Yaoshan Village."

Xue Rui blinked. "You're right. They're definitely still hiding in the village. They probably saw what happened in the village before, but they haven't shown up because they were injured."

Lin Leyou stroked his chin. "Actually, there's another possibility."

Xue Rui suddenly seemed to realize something and said, "Could it be that some of the less seriously injured killed the more seriously injured ones? Now there are less than five people left?"

Lin Leyou and Xue Rui both asked the system how many players were still in the dungeon, and the answer was twelve.

There were ten players ahead of them. Although two players escaped the villagers' encirclement, they hadn't left the instance yet, so there were still ten players ahead.

If we include Xue Rui, then there's only one left.

Both of them were slightly surprised when they came across this concept.

Lin Leyou said, "Unexpectedly, only one of the five players survived. They don't know the specifics of what happened, but they do know that a player with only one player left cannot attack Yaoshan Village, which seems weak now. After all, no matter how powerful he is, he is only one person."

Xue Rui couldn't help but sigh, "This player must be desperate. The village's defenses are so weak, it's a perfect opportunity, but unfortunately there's only one left, so there's no way to do anything."

Lin Leyou said helplessly, "Alright, let's not talk about that player anymore. No matter what, he still needs to try his best to clear the game. Maybe he's thinking of a way later."

Investigate the truth, search for items, and then escape from Yaoshan Village. The other party might spend time in the current village, and by the time the villagers return, it will be extremely difficult for him to escape.

Lin Leyou, "One player died; he was beaten to death by a group of people."

As the name suggests, this player wasn't stabbed to death or strangled; he was beaten to death by the villagers using simple farm tools and long wooden sticks.

Xue Rui couldn't see it; his mechanical spiders had long been put away. Only Lin Leyou's were still outside, though not ten in total. He had taken five back, and now five were still active outside.

"Another one died. It's impossible to win a great victory when you're outnumbered. After all, many ants can kill an elephant."

Xue Rui, "How many villagers died?"

Lin Leyou, "Wait a minute, let me see, let me count..."

He was somewhat surprised when the count came out. "Five people died. Surprised?"

Xue Rui nodded, "It is indeed quite surprising. This number is a bit low. Players have a lot of items to use. I thought that if the villagers killed two players, at least a dozen or twenty villagers should have died. But now it's only five deaths."

Lin Leyou said, "It's because the villagers have no strategy. They all rush in headfirst. This kind of chaotic fighting is what players who already have a system for dealing with enemies can't withstand the most."

"Another reason is that it's too crowded. Because it's too crowded, players often can't unleash their full potential. Ah! The third one died too."

Xue Rui: "They were all killed by the villagers."

Lin Leyou: "Why don't you capture them alive and take them back?"

Xue Rui, "Really?"

Lin Leyou: "There really are some. Some were knocked unconscious, and some players had wet towels smeared directly on their faces. These are definitely not ordinary wet towels."

"Yes, two players were knocked unconscious and pinned down, and they're tied up now."

None of the remaining five players survived, but one still died. In the end, four died and four were captured alive, making a total of eight. The remaining two successfully escaped and, at their current speed, are probably already close to the location where they entered the instance.

"They packed their things and prepared to return."

Xue Rui, "Main road or side road?"

Lin Leyou said, "Is there any need to say more? Carrying four living people and four corpses, how can we take the back roads? We must take the main roads. After all, we were chasing people and in a hurry, so we took the back roads."

“Although they are used to taking the side roads, it’s more comfortable to take the main roads! They’ve caught someone and now they need to come back quickly, so they’ll definitely take the main roads. We can just take the side roads.”

And so they left the main road and took a side path, a path not used by the villagers, but one that his mechanical spider had discovered and that no one had ever walked on before.

As they walked along this road, they climbed up a cave on a relatively low hill and, through the dense foliage, saw the villagers on the main road in the distance.

"They carried the bodies of five dead fellow villagers, four player corpses, and four surviving players back home. Although they had won, there were no smiles on their faces."

Xue Rui: "Is it because a companion died?"

However, Xue Rui quickly refuted his own claim, because after careful observation, they discovered that although the villagers were not laughing, their serious expressions were not due to the villagers' corpses.

After all, the villagers carried the bodies on their backs, but they showed no respect for these bodies. Sometimes when they got tired, they would take over carrying the bodies, and they would just throw the bodies heavily on the ground and let the next person carry them back.

Lin Leyou thought, "Something feels off. Wait, could their unhappiness be because of the two players who escaped earlier?"

Xue Rui's eyes lit up. "This must be it!"

Lin Leyou shook his head, "Forget it, let's go, it has nothing to do with us anymore."

Xue Rui didn't intend to linger here, so he quickly followed Lin Leyou forward. Before long, the two of them bypassed so many villagers and strolled leisurely forward.

And at this moment... perhaps Xue Rui hadn't hit them hard enough, because the couple who had been left in the basement miraculously woke up so quickly.

The first thing they did upon waking was to leave the place as quickly as possible. After looking at their familiar home, the two of them exchanged a shocked glance. Then they discovered that in the entire village, only the village chief's house still had a few people left, along with Fan Yu, who was ostracized by the whole village. They could see Fan Yu working from afar.

However, it was impossible for this couple to get involved with Fan Yu. Without thinking for long, they quickly ran to the village chief, crying and wiping away tears, and told him everything that had happened before.

The village chief inwardly cried out in alarm, "I forgot about these two strongest ones. If we chase them now, can we still catch up?"

The messenger who returned with the news didn't say anything. It was obvious that they couldn't catch up. It would be strange if they could. No matter how unwilling the village chief was, he still didn't send anyone to chase after them.