Chapter 77: Mission Map - Brave Adventure Game.

Before Xia Zhu could even step out of the car, a flame-colored projectile slammed into her arms with irresistible speed.

"Ah Zhu! I missed you so much! I knew you would come back!"

She sniffed, able to smell the warm, grassy scent that belonged to Feng Feng. Holding that dark red, fluffy head in her hands, Xia Zhu responded softly but firmly, "I missed you too."

Although they had only been apart for half a month, it felt like they hadn't seen each other for many years. Feng Feng had brought a group of people to wait by the edge of the field early in the morning, including his brother Xiao Chou and Ying Ya.

Ji Wuchou placed a small, dark wooden bowl in front of Xia Zhu, which contained a light purple liquid with floating flower petals.

"Welcome back. This was made by Fengmian. He told you to drink it."

Xia Zhu took the wooden bowl and brought it close to her nose to smell it. A sweet tea fragrance entered her brain through her nostrils, and she immediately felt all the fatigue from traveling for several days disappear.

"This is a dust-free fruit tea made from twelve different seasonal fruits. The Taihao tribe always welcomes returning travelers with a bowl of this fruit tea. Xiaofeng and Xiaochou picked all the fruits together, so you have to drink it all in one go." Feng Mian stood behind Feng Feng, his eyes narrowed, his position cleverly keeping out a certain little bird that was following his sister. He glanced discreetly at Ying Huo, who was leaning against the car door, seemingly unconcerned, and sighed softly.

So many years have passed, and this is the first time the Feng family has received so many guests from foreign tribes. What happened to their saying, "They knew nothing of the Han Dynasty, let alone the Wei and Jin Dynasties"?

Xia Zhu held the wooden bowl and gulped down the water, not forgetting to peek at Ying Huo, who was standing on the outskirts of the crowd, through the edge of the bowl.

Feng Feng took the empty bowl from her hand and handed it to Feng Mian behind him. His playful expression changed, and he pressed her shoulder with a serious look.

"Now that you're back, Azhu, and won't be leaving anytime soon, our Unnamed Team 1 must regroup and get moving!"

"An operation? Has something happened?" She had been away from the Divine Blood World for half a month and had no news of it.

Xiao Feng suddenly looked at Ying behind her and said fiercely, "The culprit is over there. How about we drag him out together!"

Xia Zhu followed her gaze and glanced at Ying Huo, whose face was full of disdain. He crossed his arms and coldly met everyone's gaze.

"Why are you looking at me? I haven't gone anywhere for the past two weeks, I've just stayed here..."

Xia Zhu quickly turned Xiao Feng's head around, "Is it the Demon God? Has the prophecy come true?"

Her grip was extremely strong, shaking Feng Feng so much that he was dizzy and nodded blankly.

“Let me explain.” Feng Mian toyed with the empty bowl in his hand. “The Nine Heavens Assembly has announced to all families that the demon gods are causing chaos. The prophecy has been updated, indicating that these unrestrained and uncontrolled demon gods will eventually lead to a natural disaster, at which time humanity may be on the verge of extinction.”

"Therefore, the conference issued a mission to capture demons, hoping that non-disabled and unknown officials could take the time to form teams and go to various places to kill the evil demon gods on the spot."

Xia Zhu listened attentively to Feng Mian's words. She really didn't expect that the prophecies would come true so quickly, and that the Nine Heavens Assembly would personally order and appoint an unknown official to kill the demon god. The truth was probably more serious than it appeared on the surface.

“There are reports of demons appearing and harming humans in various places; they are no longer hiding,” Ji Wuchou said.

“That’s right.” Feng Mian nodded. “No one knows exactly how many demon gods the main god created, but what is certain is that only a very small number of them submitted to the divine bloodline families. In the past, there may have been some neutral demon gods, but now that the prophecy has been made, there are only more enemies on the other side of this dividing line.”

He paused, then met Xia Zhu's gaze.

"As far as I know, some unidentified officials have already sacrificed themselves on the road to slaying the demon gods. And the valuable information they sent back indicates that the reason why the demon gods have risen up in unison is to seize the Heavenly Stone."

Xia Zhu was taken aback. She had long suspected that the demon god, who had been able to coexist peacefully with humans for millions of years, could suddenly descend into chaos. It turned out that it was all for the sake of fighting for the Heavenly Manifestation.

She had a vague feeling that something was amiss. The prophecy's appearance was too coincidental; was God's guidance a warning or instigation? In every uprising or rebellion in history, there must first be someone draped in yellow silk and shouting slogans.

Who could that person be?

She couldn't help but look at Ying Huo.

The car body separated him from the crowd, like a clear dividing line.

"Azhu," Feng Mian suddenly called her name, "I'm telling you all this to hear your thoughts. This matter is far more complicated than it seems, and it's far more dangerous than exorcising spirits in dreams. You should know that the number of unidentified officials who have died in dreams in the last hundred years is extremely small. Have you thought about getting involved in this mess? Don't forget your original purpose."

Of course, she hadn't forgotten why she decided to join the Unknown Officials—it was to find out about her origins. But after meeting Ying Huo, she was almost one step away from another part of herself, perhaps within reach, but suddenly she didn't want to pursue it anymore. Call it retreat or escape, she told herself that Xia Zhu had found something more important in her life.

She looked at the people standing in front of her.

"And you? Have you figured out what to do next?"

Ji Wuchou nodded first, "We had already discussed this matter before you came back."

“Then I have no reason to hesitate. I’ve already dropped out of school.” She patted her suitcase. “I can’t lose both my diploma and my job.”

Feng Feng cheered and pounced on Xia Zhu, clinging to her neck like a wild monkey.

"I knew it! Azhu wouldn't abandon Unnamed Team 1!"

"By the way, the unnamed team has a new member joining," Xia Zhu said.

"It's him! No need for introductions, I'm already about to vomit from the stench of evil emanating from him!" Xiao Feng glanced sideways at Ying Huo.

Xia Zhu shook her head. "It's not just him, there's also Ji Yinxiu." She felt it was necessary to invite Ji Yinxiu to the action meeting.

Several slaps rang out, and Ying Huo clapped his hands and walked around to the other side of the car to stand next to Xia Zhu.

"It's very touching. But I have to remind everyone, if we keep chatting like this, it'll be dark by the time we get back to our homes. Do we really want to be discussing such important matters right in front of our own homes?"

“That’s right, it’s getting late, let’s talk about it in detail when we get back.” Feng Mian reached out and pulled his sister off Xia Zhu.

As Feng Feng passed by Ying Huo, he couldn't help but make an extremely ugly face at him.

"Is this your home? Then go back!"

Ying Huo merely raised an eyebrow, catching Xia Zhu's gaze in the gradually dimming light, as if to tell her that he strictly adhered to the agreement and would never do anything to "harm" Feng Feng and the others.

Including talking back.

The group walked along the familiar path home, and the only compromise Feng Feng made for Ying Huo, an annoying character, was to let him enter the Feng family territory blindfolded.

So she pulled out a vine from somewhere, rubbed it in her palm until it became a wide section, and happily tied it around Ying Huo's neck, making a tight knot behind his head for absolute safety.

Then Xia Zhu automatically became the one who supervised and led the way, handing him another vine and leading him silently to the back of the group.

As soon as Xia Zhu climbed out of the pit, she was once again surrounded by a warm embrace. Feng Ye acted swiftly and decisively, waving his hand to instruct the young boys in the clan to prepare an empty house next door for Ying Ya, Ying Huo, and Ji Yinxiu, who were still on their way, to stay temporarily.

After removing his blindfold, Ying Huo maintained a dark expression, standing a few meters away and ignoring everyone, though he cooperated with Feng Ye's arrangements. Feng Ye didn't say much about Ying Huo's appearance, but simply stared at his face with a smile and asked a question that made Ying Huo break out in a cold sweat.

"This young man looks familiar. Have I seen you somewhere before?"

In the end, Feng Feng pulled her away, repeatedly telling her, "Mom, don't talk to him!"

Everyone huddled together at Feng Feng's house, laughing and chatting, enjoying a sumptuous dinner prepared by Old Jiang. Xia Zhu, holding a mountain of rice bowls, grinned foolishly, pondering why returning home and leaving always happened at the fragrant dinner table, while the sunset greeted travelers returning from afar, and the sunrise usually bid them farewell.

After dinner, Feng Ye, using the excuse that young people should have their own places, sent them to the house next door. Feng Mian and Ying Ya arrived late, having been washing dishes and cleaning, carrying a giant roll of parchment.

As for why Ying Huo appeared in the next hall so early, it was because he declared that he would never do housework. While the other two were still diligently cleaning, he had already been bombarded by Feng Feng like a cannonball for a long time, belittling his character and morality to the point of being unrecognizable.

Ying Huo didn't care about Feng Feng's insults at all. He sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, closing his eyes to rest in a cheeky manner.

Xia Zhu couldn't bear it any longer, so he stood up from the other sofa and walked over to Ying Huo. He felt an invisible pressure enveloping him, and opened his eyes in a daze, meeting Xia Zhu's extremely serious expression.

"Wh...what?" he stammered, then immediately regretted it, unable to understand why he always had to be subservient to this woman.

"You shouldn't do this," Xia Zhuyi said sternly.

"What did I do?"

"Aunt Fengye treated you so warmly, and Uncle Jiang cooked so many delicious dishes, but you not only didn't thank her, you also refused to help with the housework. No one here should do these things for you, this is wrong, Yinghuo."

This was the first time Xia Zhu had called him by his name. Ying Huo felt he should say something in response, but he couldn't bring himself to speak. He simply stood up, walked to the window alone, and stared intently at Feng Feng, who was beaming with pride beside Xia Zhu, with gloomy eyes.

Feng Mian spread the parchment on the carpet in the hall, while Ying Ya, holding a laptop in his arms, sat down on the floor behind him.

"Look, look, we've finally caught up with modern society," Feng Feng commented.

Several people sat around the parchment scroll.

It looked like a map, but when fully unfolded, two colors of light floated in various corners of the map, like countless fireflies trembling and hovering on it.

“After the Nine Heavens Assembly issued the mission to slay the demon god, each family received a mission map like this,” Feng Mian explained. He reached out and touched a yellow dot. “The yellow dot represents the presence of demons that pose a risk of breaking dreams. Going here might allow you to enter the dream without going through the tapir.” He then pointed to the purple dot on the other side. “And the purple dot represents the location where the demon god appears.”

"Unknown officials can use this mission map to intentionally go to exorcise demons or capture monsters. Isn't it just like a game?" Feng Feng flicked the flashing mission markers with his finger.

“In addition, we also developed a forum.” Feng Mian gestured to Ying Ya, who was standing next to him, to turn on the computer. “Before, apart from the Nine Heavens Conference, the connections between the various families were not close. To be honest, if it weren’t for the prophecy of the natural disaster, I guess no one would want to bother each other.”

The house was being temporarily repurposed, with only a dim wall lamp and the glare from the computer screen providing light. Ying Ya's knuckles tapped on the keyboard, producing a soporific sound. He typed a URL into a search engine, and to be honest, there was a certain unspoken understanding between the two of them.

Perhaps Ying Ya had suddenly matured and realized that to truly benefit from proximity, one must first utilize the existing advantages. Ji Wuchou had once kindly advised him that someone of Feng Mian's status in the human world was generally called "brother-in-law," and that he should try to curry favor with him. Now it seemed he had taken it to heart, and Ji Wuchou felt very gratified.

"This forum is a convenient place for unidentified officials on missions to communicate and share information. They can see the situation in different places and it is also convenient for everyone to ask for help and support in a timely manner. I get a lot of information from here."

It seems that in order to prevent the arrival of the day of natural disasters, the very traditional Nine Heavens Assembly has made great changes. However, they may need to improve the website's navigation system, as the dense layout is making people dizzy.

Even some irrelevant posts were mixed in, and one post titled "Shocking! The proud and disabled princess Yin Xiu, in private, actually!" was pushed to the top of the list.

This is undoubtedly interfering with the official's proper work, and surprisingly, no administrators or anything like that are deleting posts or controlling comments. However, the title itself made Xia Zhu want to click in and take a look.

"So, we can now use the map and the forum to decide whether to enter the dream first or catch the demon." After explaining the basic situation, Feng Mian leaned back on the sofa.

"Catch the demon! Catch the demon!" Feng Feng excitedly clenched her fists and pounded the air. Since she had spoken first... Ying Ya glanced at her and also clenched his fists, echoing, "Catch the demon."

"Where's Xiaochou?" Fengmian looked at the girl sitting on the carpet who hadn't said a word from beginning to end.

Ji Wuchou seemed a little embarrassed when she was suddenly mentioned. She gently clenched her fingers and spoke in a soft and slow voice.

"I think it might be better to enter the dream realm first. None of us have experience dealing with demon gods before, and we've added a lot of new members to the team. Maybe we can practice our teamwork a bit before..."

Feng Mian nodded. "That's what I was thinking too, but..." He pointed to a purple dot on the map to the east, "There seem to be reports of plague demons appearing near Tree Mountain recently. What I mean is, since it's so close, why don't we..."

"Oh dear! To be fair, let's roll the dice!" Feng Feng pulled out a die from somewhere. "How about this, odd numbers go into the dream, even numbers catch the plague demon!"

As she spoke, she tossed the small cube in her hand into the air. The crowd followed the object's trajectory, watching it fall onto the parchment and continue spinning wildly. After an unexpected extreme swing, it finally left a red heart that stabilized in their field of vision.

"One dot, singular."

Feng Feng grumbled in disappointment, but since it was her idea to roll the dice, she couldn't argue and could only accept the situation.

Xia Zhu straightened up and, taking advantage of the dim light, glanced towards the window behind her. Ying Huo leaned against the windowsill with her arms crossed, not looking this way but facing out the window, as if unwilling to participate in the discussion.

She shifted her gaze from his expressionless face to the ruby ​​ring, noticing that he was unconsciously fiddling with it.

Xia Zhu turned around and examined the purple dot on the east side of the map.

A plague demon?