The Pied Piper of Hamelin.

This is a famous fairy tale, telling a story about a small German town that was plagued by rats. Then a clown with a flute came and said he could drive away the rats, but he needed a reward. The residents of the town said that as long as he could drive away the rats, they would give him a generous reward.

So the clown blew his flute and drove all the mice into the river to drown them, which made the residents very happy. However, when the clown asked for payment, the residents said they were unwilling to pay.

So the clown left the town silently. Then that night, the sound of the flute was heard again in the town. After hearing the flute, the children in the town ran out of bed, followed the clown, disappeared into the night, and never came back.

Of course, purely from the story itself, there is not much to say... There are many similar stories in Chinese mythology and legends. For example, a family is haunted, and then a Taoist priest comes out to exorcise the ghost. After the exorcism, the ghost turns hostile, so the Taoist priest leaves, and then the family gets retribution, either being childless, suffering from many illnesses and disasters, and finally the whole family is ruined... It's basically the same routine.

There are many such stories in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, such as a scholar who went to Beijing to take an imperial examination and met a monster on the way. The monster said, "I can help you, but you must burn incense and worship me afterwards." The scholar really passed the imperial examination after he promised, but he forgot his promise to the monster in his drunkenness. Then one day, while he was sailing on a flower boat on the lake, he was suddenly swallowed by a big fish that jumped out of the lake...

These are all basic operations, nothing to worry about.

But for other girls, this is not the case. They all remember that the community that the elf sleeping soundly in Fei Niao's hand belongs to is also "Rat Catchers". Could it be that... this elf is also a member of the Demon King's subordinates?

"Oh, that's not necessarily the case."

In response to the girls' worried inquiries, Fang Zheng simply glanced at the elf in Fei Niao's hand and gave an answer.

"You should know that this world is the core of countless parallel worlds, so even if they are all 'rat catchers', it doesn't mean they are all the same person. After all, the origins and interpretations of fairy tales in each world are different, and the results will naturally be different. For example, Snow White, you must have heard of this fairy tale, but even if the content is the same, it does not mean that the truth in each world is the same."

"What does this mean?"

Hearing this, Maple asked curiously, and Shokuhou Misaki explained beside her.

"It's very simple. Although from the story itself, Snow White is just a poor child who is bullied by her stepmother and even tried to be killed. But there is another saying, that is, Snow White is actually a cunning woman. Her mother wants to destroy her in order to protect the country. The reason is the ending of the queen. No matter what, it is impossible for an innocent girl to torture someone who used to be her mother. There is also a saying that Snow White actually has an unspeakable relationship with her father, which was discovered by the queen, and then Snow White was exiled to the forest... In addition, there is also a saying that the prince is actually a pervert who likes corpses, which is very consistent with the sadistic Snow White..."

"Why does it feel like the story of Snow White is becoming more and more different from what I imagined..."

Hearing this, Sally wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and felt that her childhood had been humanely destroyed.

"In short, if it is just one world, then even if 'Snow White' is summoned, it may just be the one in the fairy tale that everyone knows. But in this place where multiple parallel worlds intersect, even if they are all 'Snow White', there may be all kinds of different individuals, such as a good child bullied by his stepmother, a sadist with a black heart, a daughter with an Oedipus complex..."

Fang Zheng shrugged.

"So even if they are both 'rat catchers', it doesn't mean that this little girl must be the 'rat catcher' under the Demon King. Because even for 'The Pied Piper of Hamelin', there are multiple versions of the story. Some say that the clown killed all the children in the city in the end, while others say that the clown took the innocent and kind children away in order to protect them from the selfish parents in the city. Different interpretations bring different endings and different opinions. I don't feel any negative energy from this elf, so it's unlikely that she is a member of the Demon King's army."

"I see... That's good."

Hearing this, Asuka and the girls all breathed a sigh of relief. After all, after going around in circles, they all liked this innocent and simple elf. If she was a minion of the devil, they really didn't know what to do.

After putting their minds at ease, the girls went to rest. As for the Demon King's attack, Fang Zheng only reminded them to be careful. After all, even if the Demon King really dared to come and die, he and Bai Yasha were there. These little guys just had to protect themselves. Fang Zheng didn't expect them to really be able to fight the Demon King.

Soon, the next day, it was time for the finals.

As special guests, Fang Zheng and others sat on the rostrum, waiting for the next game to begin. At the recommendation of Bai Yasha, Black Rabbit took the stage as a referee as a member of the "Moon Rabbit Clan".

The only pity was that originally Shiroyasha wanted Black Rabbit to appear in a lace transparent bra, while Fang Zheng said she wanted her to wear a bruma...but Black Rabbit firmly opposed it. Even though the two of them bid ten times against each other like they were bidding at an auction, they still couldn't get Black Rabbit to agree.

It's really a pity.

I should not have given Black Rabbit so much money. Hey, once he has money, he wants to save face...

The first match was between Kasukabe Yō and the "wisp of the devil" Aisha Ignifatus, a girl with twin ponytails, blue hair, pale skin, and who looked like a ghost... well, she was actually a ghost!

But in a place like the Little Garden World, it’s not surprising to have a ghost.

According to the rules of the finals, contestants can bring an assistant. Aisha brought a pumpkin-lantern monster. Jiuyuan Feiniao was very excited about this pumpkin monster. He grabbed his companion next to him and jumped and screamed, as if he liked that thing very much.

However, Kasukabe Yao did not bring anyone with him. He entered the game board space alone and started the game.

"Mr. Fang Zheng, do you think Yao can win?"

Fei Niao looked at Yao with some concern and asked in a low voice. This game was hosted by Bai Yasha. She sent the two of them to a complicated tree hole maze. The rules of the game were that whoever found the exit first or defeated the other party would win.

Although Kasukabe Yōya has grown up and is a contestant with considerable strength, the opponent is a contestant from the upper community, so it is natural for Asuka to be worried about Yōya.

"I don't think it's possible."

Facing Fei Niao's question, Fang Zheng shook his head.

"Actually, if you ask me, I'd rather she lose this game."

"Hey? Why?!"

Fei Niao was also stunned to hear Fang Zheng talking about surrendering to the enemy at the very beginning.

"Because it's not good for Yao's growth."

"……growing up?"

"She relies too much on herself instead of her friends."

At this point, Fang Zheng narrowed his eyes. He had been with Kasukabe Yōya for a while now and had a good idea of ​​what this girl was thinking.

Kasukabe Yō cherishes his friends very much.

She also likes the friends she has now and is willing to go through fire and water for them, but there is a problem.

That is, Yao is not willing for his friends to go through fire and water for him.

In fact, in this game, if Yao had chosen a partner, Fang Zheng would not have said this.

Because friends, as the saying goes, are the four irons who have carried guns together, studied together, shared the spoils together, and visited prostitutes together.

It's a bit vulgar, but that's what it means.

True brothers are those who share weal and woe.

But Kasukabe Yao would rather share the good times than the bad times. Fang Zheng somewhat understood why she couldn't make friends in her original world.

She is willing to sacrifice for her friends, but not for her friends to sacrifice for her. However, there is no trust between the two parties. Without trust, there is no friendship.

But Yao obviously didn't understand this.

In fact, there are many people willing to help her. Asuka may not have the ability to do so, and Shokuhou Misaki... can be ignored in terms of combat power, but Maple, Sally, and Kuroyukihime also go to dungeons with her every day, so there is some comradeship between them. If Yao invites them, they will definitely not refuse.

As a result, Yao would rather go up by himself than call for help.

This in itself is very telling.

So Fang Zheng hoped that she would calm down and figure out her situation instead of just rushing forward.

Fortunately, the ending was as Fang Zheng expected.

Facing Aisha and Pumpkin Jack who could control will-o'-the-wisp, Yao was even unwilling to summon his own pet, and was eventually slapped away by Pumpkin Jack, who then directly created a wall of fire to surround him. Yao did not hesitate too much and chose to surrender directly to end the game.

Although this disappointed the other girls, Fang Zheng nodded in satisfaction. He could see that Yao had communicated a lot with the pumpkin-head. Although he didn't know what the two talked about, at least for now, there shouldn't be any big problems - next, it would depend on whether Yao could break through his own obstacles.

"Hey, look, what is that?"

Just as Fang Zheng was thinking, suddenly, the sound of a flying bird came from beside her. She looked up at the sky in surprise and stretched out her hand. Fang Zheng also raised his head and looked in the direction of the bird's gaze. Then he saw countless black letters falling from the sky like snowflakes, drifting towards the entire North District.

What is this? The small advertisement of the small garden is so stylish?

Fang Zheng picked up a black letter and opened the parchment inside. Then, a line of information appeared in front of Fang Zheng.

[Gift game name: The pied piper of hamelin]

[List of contestants: All contestants currently in the 3999999 outer gate, 4000000 outer gate, and the boundary wall stage area, the community of the organizers.]

[Participants: The organizer designates the game leader: The Sun's Runner, Star Spirit - White Night Demon]

[Winning conditions for the organizer: Conquer and kill all contestants]

[Conditions for the contestant to win: Defeat the game leader of the organizer, break the false inheritance, and establish the true inheritance.]

[Swearing: Respect the above content, hold the Gift Game based on honor, flag and organizer authority]

[The Pied Piper of Hamelin]

“…”

For a moment, there was dead silence all around. After an unknown amount of time, screams suddenly broke out.

“The Demon King… The Demon King has appeared aaaaaaaaaah!!!”

Along with screams, something strange happened.

A circle of fierce black wind suddenly erupted around Bai Yasha who was sitting on the rostrum, whistling and spreading in all directions.

"Master Shiroyasha!!"

Seeing this, Sandra hurriedly screamed and tried to reach out to grab Bai Yasha, but the next moment she screamed and was blown away. Not only Sandra, in fact, except Bai Yasha, everyone else was pushed off the podium by this strange gust of wind.

Fang Zheng also took advantage of the situation and jumped, grabbing both Kuon Asuka and Shokuhou Misaki, two guys with no physical abilities, and put them on the ground.

"What's going on, Mr. Fang Zheng?"

After falling to the ground, the frightened bird looked at Fang Zheng in surprise, and then asked. Fang Zheng narrowed his eyes, glanced at Bai Yasha who was completely wrapped and imprisoned in the black wind, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

"As I expected, Baiyasha was tricked. So... leave the rest to me."

Having said this, Fang Zheng turned his head and looked up at the top of the boundary wall, then he smiled.

"I want to see how powerful the so-called Demon King is!"