The fifth copy
Xiaokan Village, as its name suggests, is full of ridges and gullies, creating a small world. There are a few scattered crops growing in the fields, and the weeds are taller than them.
The wind blew, raising dust and smoke.
Li Gao couldn't help but murmur, "This is too desolate."
Just when they were at a loss, an old man came over. He was carrying a hoe and had a weather-beaten face. When he saw them, he smiled with a mouthful of yellow teeth and asked, "Where are you from, kid?"
"From the center of Hucheng." Shao Feizhu is the team leader, so it is natural for him to handle such matters.
Du Ming stood behind and observed the old man.
"So you're from Hucheng." The old man narrowed his eyes. "The way there and back isn't that short. What are you doing here?"
Shao Feizhu was about to speak, but was stopped by Du Ming. He had a sunny and pleasing smile and said, "We just heard that there are some strange things here, so we came here to take a look."
"A strange thing?" The old man looked puzzled.
Du Ming: "Have you heard anything strange or any rumors?"
The old man shifted his hoe to the side, stroking his chin and saying, "I've lived here for a hundred and fifty years, and I've never heard of anything strange."
As soon as these words were spoken, Li Gao and the other two felt a chill on their backs in broad daylight. The wrinkles on the old man's face looked like evil shadows cast by the sunlight.
Shao Feizhu subconsciously prepared to draw his gun, but Du Ming held him down. He heard someone reply with a smile, "You've lived a long life, then."
The old man smiled and touched his head, "Who am I? There are a lot of people like me in the village." Then he waved and left.
After everyone left, they breathed a sigh of relief. Li Gao then realized that his entire back was wet.
He rubbed his face and said, "You are really brave." He dared to take the lead on his first mission. This newcomer is quite capable.
The scars on Shao Feizhu's face gathered together, making him look even more hideous. "This situation is not right. This kind of character should not appear in a D-level strange rumor elimination mission."
Normal D-level missions are divided into two types.
The first is to do the finishing work for the large team and clear out the residual energy left by the strange news.
The second type is to conduct on-site investigations and resolve unusual events, but generally, there will be specialized personnel conducting energy surveys in advance to classify the unusual events into five levels: A, B, C, and D.
E-level is the worst. In most cases, the anomaly has not yet formed, but is merely an energy fluctuation, which can basically be eliminated by simply sweeping it with an instrument. D-level is a bit higher, but it is also very useless. These are small anomalies that can be eliminated with a single shot. Of course, when eliminating an anomaly, different measures will be taken based on its controllability.
However, no matter which of the above is the case, there should not be anyone who is still alive for more than a hundred years.
Shao Feizhu sighed, "This is not something we can solve." Then he opened the communicator and called the alliance.
There is nothing wrong with this approach. When encountering a task that is obviously not of the same level, preserving life is the primary goal.
But…
You discovered a strange place and chose to stay.
Du Ming sighed, "You guys go back first, I'll stay and guard."
"Why is it so important to guard this place?" Li Gao was puzzled. "It's not like they're going to run away from here."
Du Ming thought, yes, this place won’t run away, and staying to guard it will only cost him his life.
But his face was full of righteousness. "No, we were still D-level when we received the information just now, and now we have suddenly encountered such a strange thing. I strongly suspect that there is a strange energy spreading. It is better to leave someone here to watch."
"I'm not going to go into details anyway. I'll just sit here and leave when the big guys come."
Now that things have come to this, the others can't say anything.
Most newcomers are ignorant and fearless. They have to go through some things before they can understand the truth, but the price they pay is often their life.
Li Gao wanted to stop him, but Shao Feizhu signaled him with his eyes and he stopped automatically. He pretended to say, "Okay, you stay here by yourself." After that, the three of them prepared to leave.
Du Ming was lowering his head when he suddenly felt a strong wind coming from behind him. He subconsciously dodged and took out his gun and pointed it at the other side.
Shao Feizhu, who was behind him, had no time to react when a gun was pressed against his head.
A drop of sweat ran down his forehead.
Li Gao and the other man had not expected Du Ming to be so skilled, and they stood there in a daze for a moment.
It was Du Ming who put away his gun first and said, "Captain, what are you going to do?"
Shao Feizhu was utterly embarrassed. Could he say that he had originally intended to knock the man out and take him back, only to be pointed at with a gun instead? Of course not! Otherwise, how could he maintain his dignity as captain?
I could only laugh it off and say, "Nothing, I just saw there was a lot of dust behind you, so I wanted to help you dust it off, hehe."
"Oh, so that's how it is." Du Ming accepted the explanation and watched everyone walk away.
After making sure that they had left Xiaokan Village, he put away the smile on his face and turned to walk deeper into the village.
The entire Xiaokan Village is in a state of ruin and desolation, with very few people living there.
Du Ming thought about it and decided to go find the old man he had just met.
The old man was easy to find. When Du Ming arrived, he was sitting at the door of his house smoking a pipe.
Du Ming was about to say hello when he heard someone say, "Hey, young man, where are you from?"
“…”
Someone with a strange look on his face replied, "I'm from the center of Hu City."
"Oh, so you're from the city center." The old man puffed on his pipe and said slowly, "It's quite a distance from here. What made you decide to come to our little place?"
Du Ming smiled and asked tentatively: "Uncle, didn't you ask me this question just now?"
Hearing this, the old man's brow furrowed like a mountain, and after a moment's delay, he said, "But I haven't seen you before."
"Oh, you just saw my twin brother, didn't you?" The old man said cheerfully, "That's my brother, Li Dalong, and I'm Li Dahu. We look very similar, most people really can't tell us apart. It's not your fault."
"Is that so?" Du Ming showed a look of realization and slowly approached. "Then I just heard from Grandpa Dalong that you have lived here for 150 years. Is that true?"
This sentence was like a switch, starting the game of Squeaky Wooden Man. Li Dahu's face was frozen, and his head suddenly turned 90 degrees. He looked at Du Ming and said, "Oh, my brother is really getting old and confused. He has clearly only lived for 145 years. Do you think I'm right, young man?"
"How about you help me calculate it?"
"Is that okay?"
...
Li Dahu seemed like a question-answering machine. With every sentence he spoke, he moved closer to Du Ming. The pipe in his hand also grew larger invisibly. The dark luster of the copper metal revealed the danger of the pipe.
If one hit is made, I’m afraid the brain will be smashed out.
Du Ming lowered his head and counted the ants on the ground, seemingly unaware of the danger.
Seeing that the pipe was about to fall, he suddenly said: "Uncle, how about I tell you a story?"
"Oh?" Li Dahu's eyes widened a little, and a smile flashed across his eyes.
He thought this person was very interesting. He had been an NPC for many years and had rarely seen such an interesting young man.
So, he decided to give the other person some time to tell his story.
"You tell me."
Du Ming poked the dirt with his gun and said slowly, "A man wanted to enter a city, but unfortunately there were two guards at the gate. They said he had to answer questions correctly before they could let him in."
"So, that person caused problems for the guards."
"The first guard said that only one of us could tell a lie."
"The second guard said the other one only tells the truth."
"Then the question is, who is telling the truth?" Du Ming said this, looking up at Li Dahu, "Uncle, do you know what the correct answer is?"
Li Dahu looked confused.
What a mixture of truth and lies, truth and lies, this is a mind-boggling question!
He couldn't wait to ask, "So what's the correct answer?"
Du Ming smiled and said, "The correct answer is of course..."
He quickly pulled out his gun and pointed it at the other man: "Kill one of them, then ask the other one."
Li Dahu laughed, "You don't think you can kill me with just this broken gun."
"How could that be? I'm underestimating you." Du Ming smiled even brighter than him, and took out another gun from the player space.
This weapon is obviously different from the previous one. It has a dark texture and a layer of black air. It is a weapon with extremely high space points for players.
Du Ming had scored very high in each of the previous copies after completing the mission, and he had accumulated quite a lot of points. In addition, he didn't like to use points to exchange for unnecessary auxiliary tools, so he saved up the points and exchanged them for the current gun.
Originally, Cassia wanted to add some additional damage to the gun, but after the two discussed it, they finally decided not to do so.
But looking at Li Dahu's appearance, it is obvious that the damage is not small.
Li Dahu: “…” Damn, young people have no martial ethics.
Humph~ I won’t bother with them.
He silently put away his pipe and praised with sweat dripping down his face, "You tell a good story. So, what are you here for?"
Du Ming put away his gun and turned back into his good boy self. "Oh, I just heard that people in the village always heard crackling sounds in the middle of the night, so I came to see if there was anything strange going on."
"Young people just have too much free time."
"Have you ever heard of the sound of crackling?"
Li Dahu thought for a moment and said, "I didn't hear the crackling sound, but you can ask the village old woman Wang about this matter. This old woman is very gossipy and may have some information."
You've been hearing rumors and heard that Wang Po might know something, so you're planning to stay here tonight.
The narration of the plot arrived as expected. Du Ming knew that Li Dahu had not deceived him, so he tried hard to stay.
Originally, the other party didn't want him to stay, but in the end, he couldn't resist the 'temptation' of the gun and let him stay.
For dinner, they had the mixed grain rice prepared by Li Dahu. Originally, the other party only wanted to give a bowl of vegetables, but Du Ming had a sharp nose and directly took out a bowl of twice-cooked pork from the pot.
The other party could only follow suit and do it all with a frown.
In the evening, Du Ming was lying in the yard to enjoy the cool air, with Li Dahu next to him, who looked like he had lost all hope in life.
He asked people in the breeze, "Uncle Li, why did you ask that question during the day?"
Li Dahu rolled over, looking indifferent, but fearing he might turn around and shoot at him, he could only hold his breath and answer, "I'm just plain bored."
"So, you just made it up?" Du Ming was a little unconvinced.
Li Dahu replied vaguely, "Just joking... just joking."
As soon as he finished speaking, the ground, which had been bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun, suddenly changed color. The rising sun, with a slight chill, shone above the two of them.
Li Dahu: “!”
Feeling the cold gaze behind him, he turned around and smiled awkwardly: "Actually, the person who just spoke was my ignorant brother. I am Li Dalong. You can ask me any questions you have."
Du Ming didn't say anything, he just stood up and stared at the red sun without saying a word.
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