Chapter 20

The entrance to the town is like a door, enveloping the neon lights on the various signs within the town.

As soon as we walked out of the town, the sky and the earth were pitch black.

The cart stopped, and the farmer who came to the city to buy supplies struck a few matches and finally lit the lantern hanging in front of the cart.

In the dim light, a figure suddenly stood up from the roadside, frightening him so much that his hand trembled. The unburned match fell into the car and set fire to the new clothes he bought for his daughter.

The farmer, not fearing anything, rushed to put out the fire, but the fabric was dry and the fire quickly spread to the entire truck, igniting the old newspapers underneath that were wrapping the seeds.

Chi Qianyiming glanced at it indifferently, then withdrew his gaze and turned towards the dark east.

The minister said that the clues to the SS-level mission were most likely related to train T21. T21 departs every night at 8:00 PM, and there's still half an hour until now.

He pulled up the game map and followed the T21's route. Coincidentally, shortly after departure, it would pass through the area outside the walls of Zhongsu Town.

Half an hour...

A ruler was used to estimate the time.

He naturally wouldn't abandon his original mission. Of course, he could complete the minister's instructions first and then return to the investigation. But he wasn't guaranteed to escape unscathed from an SS-level mission. Waiting to reincarnate and then return online would inevitably waste considerable time, and the clues he had worked so hard to find would likely be lost.

Half an hour.

Chi Qianyiming made a decision, and a figure flashed, stirring up a gust of wind in the night.

He appeared a few hundred meters away and didn't see it. The air turbulence caused by the movement skill caught the flames and hit the helpless and crying farmer.

Heart-wrenching cries of pain pierced the night, then abruptly stopped. Only the cart remained, burning alone.

*

The braised duck is crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with fine bones, making it perfect for drinking.

The group of people simply gave up the two vegetarian dishes, gathered around the iron pot, and drank heartily.

Fistfuls of gold coins were thrown in, and the duck in the pot rose and fell, but there was always more to eat. The wine in the bowl also rose and fell, but there was always more to drink.

On the contrary, Liu Qingsong, who had just come back from the toilet, didn't eat a single bite of meat or drink a sip of wine.

Someone finally noticed his silence.

Wu Shisheng touched the bowl in front of him and said, "Old Liu, are you tired from the cool breeze outside? It's so quiet."

As he said this, he patted him on the back.

Liu Qingsong's back was stiff, and after a long while he managed to force a smile: "I'm too full, I need to digest the food."

After drinking two bottles of life potion, his front teeth had grown out, but they were not intact and were still a little shorter than the teeth next to them. Wu Shisheng found it interesting and while he was talking, he suddenly put his fingers into his mouth and flicked his front teeth twice.

Unexpectedly, Liu Qingsong bit him without hesitation and almost bit off half of his finger.

Wu Shisheng cried out in pain and held his finger that was bleeding.

"Fuck you!"

Everyone fell silent and looked over.

Liu Qingsong licked the corner of his bloody lips, his eyes flickering with fire: "You asked for it."

If An Rou and Bao Fu had not used their consciousness to stop him, he would have taken the opportunity to eat Wu Shisheng's soul.

Even a bite would be enough. He was so hungry.

Wu Shisheng, drunk as he was, could not hold back and immediately drew his weapon. Liu Qingsong was also fearless and produced a long sword.

Four Ouli and eight wild guests, the two groups of people gathered together for only one day. They got along well because of a few drinks, but in the blink of an eye, the situation became tense again.

The result was not a conflict between the guild and the wilders, but an internal conflict among the wilders.

The members of Ouli were indifferent to the situation and just found it entertaining. Seeing that the boss had no intention of stopping them, they just relaxed and watched the show.

One was standing, the other was sitting, and both of their weapons were emitting light of skills.

Qin Wudi clenched the bowl in his hand, but remained silent. Tomorrow's mission was difficult, so taking this opportunity to get rid of Liu Qingsong, the troublemaker, might be a good idea.

"Everything is fine, what's going on?"

Finally someone broke the silence.

Paopao stood up, but he was only at the lower bronze level, the lowest level present, and he didn't dare to stand between the two of them. He had no choice but to look to Qin Wudi for help.

"Brother Qin?"

The other three Ouli members chuckled inwardly. They were Qin Wudi's team members, and by this point, they had already guessed their boss's intentions. Could a single Bronze-level Wild Guest really change his mind?

However, Qin Wudi really spoke.

He threw a bottle of life potion at Wu Shisheng and frowned, "Why are you taking it so seriously when a low-level potion can solve the problem? If you don't want to do the mission, I can send you offline and put you to bed right away."

It was impossible to tell who was right or wrong in the conflict between the two sides. Moreover, although both of them were at the silver level, Liu Qingsong was three levels higher than Wu Shisheng.

Wu Shisheng snorted, put away his weapon, switched seats with Paopao, sat down and drank a bowl of wine in one gulp.

Let’s just take care of this matter.

Liu Qingsong was as ferocious as a hungry tiger and he was unwilling to give up, but when he saw An Rou peeking out of the door, he had to suppress his violent impulse. He glanced at Paopao who was sitting next to him and curled his lips.

In terms of soul fragrance, this guy is far inferior to Wu Shisheng.

Paopao picked up a bowl of wine without much consideration and advised him, "Brother Qingsong, calm down."

Liu Qingsong ignored him, and he didn't mind, and just finished his drink.

"Brother Qin," Paopao said to Qin Wudi again, "It's getting late. I'm going to log off first. I'll be back on time at 7 o'clock tomorrow morning."

Qin Wudi looked around and pointed to a clean corner without any clutter: "Go sleep there, and don't forget to put away the element card."

"Hehe, I feel relieved with my brothers around. Elemental cards are so expensive, so I'll save money, haha."

Paopao walked to the corner, and his sight happened to cross with Anrou outside the door. He smiled at Anrou in a friendly way.

An Rou retreated behind the door expressionlessly. When she looked inside again, the corner was empty. Where was the sign of Paopao?

An Rou was surprised to find out about the game mechanism - when players are offline, they are also invisible!

When a player dies temporarily, other NPCs can't see the body, but she can. But when the player is offline, even she can't see it?

After a few spins in her brain, An Rou managed to digest this mechanic. It made perfect sense. In a game where players competed with ghouls, players weren't dead when they went offline; their souls still existed. If they were unprotected while offline, any ghoul with even a modicum of intelligence could easily devour their souls.

This would unbalance the game.

While thinking, the players in the thatched house had already started talking about the issue of offline rest.

"...I need to log off. I've been soaking in the neurotransmitter for too long and my body is wrinkled."

"Me too. My wife got off work late and is waiting for me for a midnight snack."

"How can you have a midnight snack when you have a full stomach?"

"Well, no matter how delicious the food in the game is, it's fake..."

The final count showed that 8 of the remaining 11 players had chosen to log off and rest. Of course, Qin Wudi, the team leader, was not among them.

An Rou thought to herself that this was not good.

Players went offline and became invisible. Who knew they were just invisible, or truly untouchable? This way, although their forces were dispersed, they would still have to face a fierce battle tomorrow morning.

The most important thing is that Qin Wudi requires everyone to be online on time at 7 o'clock in the morning, and An Rou cannot handle it one by one.

As he was speaking, an Oli player named Huang Cancan stood up and said, "I'll go get some water too. I'll rest when I come back. Brothers, eat and drink well."

He walked out with frivolous steps.

An Rou nodded to Liu Qingsong.

Liu Qingsong also stood up: "I'll go too."

Huang Cancan walked to the door, turned around and laughed at him: "Brother, do you have frequent urination?"

An Rou retracted her head, walked around the thatched house for the second time, and walked quickly towards the main gate.

Wang Er received the order and walked towards the two people under the straw hut in the darkness.

"Who?" Huang Cancan, despite having drunk a lot, was still alert. She tilted her head to look at Liu Qingsong beside her. "Did you hear that? There's a noise up ahead?"

But he was met with the sharp flash of a knife.

An Rou stood silently behind the two men and breathed a sigh of relief. True to his ghoul form, Liu Qingsong showed no mercy.

A few minutes later, Liu Qingsong returned to the thatched house as if nothing had happened. When he passed by an Oli player, he suddenly took out a long knife and stabbed it straight into the other person's head.

The player, nibbling on half a duckling, suddenly vomited a large mouthful of blood. The crimson blood enveloped the duck's body, resembling a string of strangely shaped candied haws.

Everyone froze for half a second before dispersing. Liu Qingsong wiped the dead man's face with his bloodied hand, drew his long sword, and leaped onto the table with a fluid motion, dodging Qin Wudi's axe.

"Liu Qingsong! What the hell are you crazy about? Where's Ah Huang?!"

His teammates died right before him, a horrific sight, but Qin Wudi remained calm. While losing half his Life Points was a serious loss, it was ultimately just a loss of a chance to revive. Even if Huang Cancan, who had just left, died, she wouldn't lose a level.

Liu Qingsong's face was grim: "Damn, you still have the nerve to ask, he f--- touched me down there!"

The atmosphere was extremely tense the moment he killed someone, and turned into shock when he said this.

A player asked in astonishment: "What...what do you mean, next?"

Liu Qingsong had no idea what "below" meant. This was just what An Rou had taught him. Besides this, there was another one.

"Fuck you, I'm going to fight you, Ouli!"

He kicked his legs and pounced towards the other two Oli players.

Among this group, Liu Qingsong was considered mid-level. Normally, few would be afraid of him in a one-on-one fight, especially now that he was being parasitized by Wang Da, which had reduced his strength. However, Liu Qingsong's reckless, murderous demeanor caught everyone off guard, forcing them to scramble to avoid him.

Except Qin Wudi.

Qin Wudi wielded a dark red giant axe, seemingly heavy and powerful, but his weapon's more powerful skill was actually the long-range axe throwing. He swung the axe at Liu Qingsong, unleashing two attacks in a row. Liu Qingsong dodged awkwardly, his calf bleeding profusely.

Similarly, the space in the thatched house was limited and there were many people in the house. The giant axe accidentally injured two wild guests at the same time, and angry curses broke out all at once.

Considering that he still had to rely on them to complete the mission tomorrow, Qin Wudi had to give up the AOE skill and wait until he aimed at Liu Qingsong before taking action.

But Liu Qingsong specifically rushed to crowded places.

The other players finally realized that if they didn’t kill Liu Qingsong today, no one would be able to escape unscathed.

"Damn it, chop him off!" a wild man yelled.

The remaining players stood still with him, staring at Liu Qingsong who was rushing towards them again, and activated their weapon skills one after another.

But at this moment, one of the players' hands shook, and something greasy stuck to the back of his neck.

Then there was a sharp pain!

He screamed, but the sound stopped abruptly. A mass of bloody veins had wrapped around his neck, densely packed like leeches.

It wasn't just him; two nearby players also suffered the same fate. All three of them let out a short cry of pain before their faces froze in grimace.

No more sound could be made.

Others couldn't hear it, but they did. Deep in their brains, in some mysterious place, a faint, hollow, and distant song began to play.

——The soul-inducing song.

"Ghoul!!!" A player finally discovered the monster lurking behind them and yelled.