Chapter 45 The Old Woman's Funeral

Xie Liang rested at home for a week and recovered quite well. It should be because of the source stone he had eaten before. His physical fitness has improved a lot. He is no longer the person who took three steps to pant after running one step.

At noon that day, Xie Liang received a call from Li Dong.

The voice on the other end of the phone choked: "Xiao Ha had an accident and died in the dungeon."

Li Dong said that when he and Xiao Ha were passing through a swamp in the dungeon, Xiao Ha was careless for a moment and was swallowed by the swamp and died there.

At that time, only three people, including Li Dong, survived that instance. Xie Liang didn't know what to say, so he just listened quietly.

After Li Dong cried and vented his emotions, he hung up the phone.

Xu He noticed that Xie Liang's face looked strange. After he placed the cooked dishes on the table, he walked straight towards Xie Liang and asked, "What happened?"

Xie Liang sighed and told him everything.

Xu He looked at the dazed Xie Liang and whispered, "You have me."

Xie Liang looked at the bond symbol on his wrist and said with some worry: "The next dungeon is still my number. I'm afraid I will bring trouble to you."

Xu He was a little depressed when he heard Xie Liang say this: "Don't always say this."

Xu He walked to the dining table and served the food, then returned to the sofa and pulled Xie Liang over to sit at the table.

Although the food Xu He cooked was delicious, Xie Liang's mind was full of Xiao Ha's death. He had no taste for the food and chewed mechanically.

After dinner, Xie Liang took the initiative to clear the dishes on the table, but Xu He stopped him: "You don't look well, let me do it."

Xu He took over the work in his hands and cleaned it up on his own.

Before I knew it, more than a month had passed.

That day, when Xie Liang was considering whether to submit a resume to find a job, that familiar feeling of dizziness came again.

At this moment, there was a sudden knock on the door. Xie Liang endured the dizziness and staggered to open the door.

As soon as he opened the door, a huge feeling of dizziness suddenly hit Xie Liang's head. He only had time to see clearly that it was Xu He standing outside the door before he fainted.

Xu He hurriedly hugged Xie Liang the moment he fell to the ground. He supported Xie Liang and walked towards the bedroom with difficulty.

Like Xie Liang just now, Xu He's mind was now suffering from a continuous and severe dizziness. In order to resist this dizziness, he bit his lips.

After helping Xie Liang onto the bed and covering him with a thin quilt, Xu He let himself lie beside Xie Liang and passed out.

Xie Liang woke up in Xu He's arms. Xu He was sitting on the ground, and his head was resting on Xu He's legs.

Xie Liang quickly got up from Xu He.

The temporary stay was overgrown with weeds and looked desolate.

Scattered on the ground were scattered pieces of paper money and some unburned white candles. The light outside the wind wall was dim, with the faint shadows of some trees visible, making one feel as if they were in the deep mountains and ancient forests.

There were about ten people standing on the ground. No one in the crowd showed any panic, and it seemed that these people were not newcomers.

Suddenly, Xie Liang saw two familiar faces in the crowd.

It was Shi Xiaoyin and Lu Bubu, and they also saw Xie Liang at this time.

Lu Bubu raised his hand and excitedly shouted to Xie Liang, "Brother!"

The two of them walked towards Xie Liang.

After approaching, Shi Xiaoyin smiled and said, "Xie Liang, do you think we are destined to be together?"

Lu Bubu excitedly put his arm around Xie Liang's shoulders and said, "If we're to talk about fate, my little brother and I must be first!"

Xu He unnoticedly pushed away Lu Bubu's arm around Xie Liang and said, "It's a matter of probability."

"What did you say, brother?" asked Lu Bubu.

Xu He was too lazy to explain and stopped talking.

Shi Xiaoyin: "Small worlds are closing down in large numbers, and the Vortex Gate has long since stopped accepting new players, so the chances of us appearing in the same instance have increased."

Lu Bubu looked bewildered. "How come I have no idea when this happened? Could it be that harvesting corn has made me stupid?"

Shi Xiaoyin punched him on the shoulder and complained, "Come on! You idiot! Don't try to form a bond with me next time. I don't want to form a bond with a fool."

Lu Bubu scratched his head sheepishly. "Oh, no! This is just too much work. It's harvest time right now, and we can't let the crops rot in the fields. I'll send you a few bags of high-quality corn someday, Sister Shi. Hahaha!"

Shi Xiaoyin was amused by his "Sister Shi" and said, "Who wants your corn?"

The vortex gate has not yet opened, and there are still several people lying on the ground who have not woken up.

Seeing that the door was not open yet, Xie Liang started chatting with them. From the conversation, Xie Liang learned that Lu Bubu and Shi Xiaoyin actually had a good relationship in private.

When the last Adventer woke up, the vortex gate finally began to surge.

"The door is open, let's go in." Xie Liang said.

The descenders were entering the door one after another, and the four of them did not delay and lined up behind the crowd to enter the vortex gate.

When Xie Liang opened his eyes again, he found himself alone. He clearly remembered that Xu He had held his hand when he entered the vortex gate, but it seemed that no matter how tightly he held on, he would still be randomly transported to a different place.

Xie Liang walked forward along the weed-covered path. Not long after, his vision gradually widened and a village appeared in front of him. Several people were standing on the cement ground at the entrance of the village. He quickened his pace and walked towards that direction.

There are many paths on the road leading to the village entrance, which connect to the jungle in the mountains, where several descenders have walked out one after another.

Xie Liang looked around as he walked along the path, searching for Xu He.

After a while, he saw Xu He from a distance, raised his hand and shouted to Xu He, "Brother He!"

When the two of them reached the village entrance, Lu Bubu and Shi Xiaoyin were already waiting there.

Seeing them, Lu Bubu, who was leaning against the gatehouse pillar, said, "Why are you walking so slowly? It's not like you two!"

Shi Xiaoyin, who was standing next to him, rolled his eyes at Lu Bubu and said, "Didn't you just get here too?"

"We probably have to wait a while, as there are still two Adventers who haven't arrived yet." Xie Liang said.

At the entrance to the village stood an intricately crafted white stone gatehouse, with a black lacquer and gold-painted plaque in the middle that read "Zhaojia Village." Two dark-skinned villagers were leaning against a boulder beneath a pillar on the other side.

They each held a gong in their hands, and judging from their expressions, they seemed to be in a good mood, whispering to each other.

Shi Xiaoyin was a little depressed. "There are no more prompts for the temporary stay now, and the NPC's hints are vague. Should we go over and listen to what they are talking about?"

"The younger brother has already dragged the older brother over there to eavesdrop," Lu Bubu said, "Look over there!" He pointed at the huge rock and motioned her to look over there.

Xie Liang pulled Xu He to squat behind the huge rock that the two villagers were leaning against, eavesdropping on their conversation.

From the conversation between the two villagers, Xie Liang learned that an 88-year-old woman had passed away in the village that morning. She was quite famous in the village, and died at an auspicious age, so her family decided to hold a grand funeral.

One of the two villagers seemed to be suspicious of the old woman's cause of death. He lowered his voice and said to the other villager, "She seemed quite healthy a few days ago. How come she died just a few days after her eldest son returned to the village..."

"That's right. Could it be that her eldest son gave her away because of the money in her pocket..."

Another villager retorted: "I think you are stupid. The patient was taken back from the health center. Why would she be discharged if she had money?"

"You don't know this. It's said that she was only in critical condition at the time, and there was a high chance she could be cured. Her eldest son went to the clinic and forcibly carried her back. Tsk tsk tsk tsk..."

"You're right. I seem to have heard from the villagers that her eldest son carried her home and then starved her for three days. Did she die of starvation?"

"Who knows?"

"Forget it, let's not talk about other people's affairs."

"Yes, anyway, we are paid to do the job, so we just need to get it done well."

The next two villagers said some meaningless things, such as which wife was unreasonable or which brothel in the town was having fun.