Chapter 52 Night Fishing
Jin Sheng continued his previous luck and it was not difficult to retrieve the special items. Except for the last branch quest of Jiang Huai Que, which was a little difficult, the rest were not major problems.
At almost four o'clock, the sky was turning pale, and the remaining two people also completed Task 4.
Xu Zhiyan saw that after reading the main task prompt, Jiang Huaique's expression was a little unnatural and puzzled.
"Any problems with the mission?"
Just a common tip.
Jiang Huai Que used his sickle as a walking stick to stand up, his face solemn, and gritted his teeth as he said, "The next mission can only be received at the village at dawn... But will those guides really cooperate with us?"
When talking about the guide, Jin Sheng's expression was not very good.
He scooped up Xiaoyi and rubbed him twice, his expression slightly painful. He shook his head and said, "If you eat the bugs given by the guide, you will be controlled and become a petri dish. If you don't eat them, you will encounter 'them'."
Only then did Xu Zhiyan realize that not all players seemed to be friendly towards the guide.
But it seems so?
At first he was a little worried about what to do with the insects, but later he realized that one could actually get to the reservoir without eating the insects. This old man was actually lying, wow.
Jiang Huaique was lost in bad memories, cursing.
"That stupid old man said that if I didn't eat the bugs I would die. I had no choice but to roast the bugs and eat them. The next day the old man almost got into a fight with me. Damn, if the system hadn't arranged for him to be an NPC, I would have twisted his head off!"
After listening to this, Jin Sheng nodded and said that he didn't have a very good impression of the guide either, and that not having a fight was already a last resort of decency.
"Xiaoyi ate all my worms. After eating them, Xiaoyi's mental state was obviously a bit problematic. He never ate mud before..."
It turns out that although most players would not confront the guide head-on for the sake of the mission, after being tricked, almost everyone gave the guide a bad look.
Xu Zhiyan looked at the few live fish that were specially left in the bucket and couldn't help but feel that he was a really good person.
When you go to the old guide’s village, don’t forget to bring gifts for him!
However, after learning that most players would be worried about Baishan Village, Xu Zhiyan touched his chin, made a prompt decision, changed his strategy, and asked Jinsheng to bring back as many live fish as possible.
Jin Sheng didn't ask any questions and immediately set out to fish in the center of the lake.
Seeing the helicopter dog flying farther and farther away, Jiang Huai looked at Jin Sheng's back and asked in confusion: "It's going to be foggy soon, why do we need so many fish?"
Yesterday, when Xu Zhiyan was instructing Jin Sheng to catch live fish, he was a little confused.
There was no way the three of them could eat so much fish.
Xu Zhiyan answered as he searched for other fish barrels that could hold fish: "Yesterday I asked Jinsheng to catch some live fish. I was planning to give them as a gift to the guide."
A man who receives favors from others should be grateful; a man who eats from others should be grateful.
The old guide had drunk his hot cocoa and had been nice to him before. After the ash water incident, he was very cooperative and never tried to plot against him again.
Thinking that those insects only eat living things, he planned to send some over.
It is both a stepping stone and a token of my appreciation.
"But now that I hear what you say, I think these fish might have other uses." He narrowed his eyes and took out three folding fish buckets from the fishing bag.
According to the currently known information, the villagers of Baishan Village are most likely not living people. It is possible that there are a small number of living people in the village, but definitely not many.
These villagers have a large number of insects in their bodies, and the insects need to eat fresh food. Based on the old guide's method of raising insects, it can also be judged that the villagers may also need to replenish new insects regularly.
Different from his previous efficiency of fishing while completing tasks, this time Jinsheng had a clear goal and fished very quickly, and he had become a qualified fisherman.
He fished until the fog spread to the surface of the water. After going back and forth several times, he finally filled the fishing bucket that Xu Zhiyan had turned over.
It's already morning.
The fog will begin to dissipate after a while.
There are still some players on the water who have not completed the side quests and are seizing the time to make their final struggle.
Otherwise, when the next round of tasks begins, even if they can get information from others and follow them into Baishan Village, they will not be able to successfully obtain the next stage of the tasks and can only wait for death.
"The fog is about to dissipate. Except for the players who haven't completed the side quests, everyone else has left." Jin Sheng said nervously.
There are pros and cons to leaving late.
The advantage is that you don't have to work hard to find the way by yourself, and you can follow the footprints of the players in front of you and go directly into the village, but the disadvantages are also serious.
The earlier you arrive at the mission location, the more information you can get in advance.
Jiang Huai Que had nothing to do, so he prepared new accessories for Xiaoyi's dog vest, which can hold four fish buckets on each side.
After the fish barrels were hung up, Xu Zhiyan made sure that all four barrels were full. He then checked the oxygenation equipment inside and made sure that the fish were alive and kicking before he zipped up the fish barrels and told the two to set off.
The fog in the mountains was not as thick as when we came.
The location of Amber Mountain is very clear.
Maybe because the sun was about to rise in the morning, the footprints left by the players ahead were particularly easy to find.
The three of them walked for less than fifteen minutes before they saw a gray little village at the foot of the mountain. From a distance, it looked like there were only a dozen households.
Before I got close, I could hear the sound of an argument coming from the village entrance.
In addition to the players' shouts, there were also the sounds of insects and the hoarse curses of the old people.
Xu Zhiyan glanced at Jin Sheng, quickened his pace, and told Jiang Huaique and Xiaoyi to follow slowly behind and not to rush.
Jinsheng took a fish bucket off Xiaoyi and picked it up in his hand.
By the time the two arrived, the scene in Baishan Village was already extremely chaotic.
There were eight players who arrived before them.
Seven were standing and one was lying.
Among the seven of them, except Zhuo Yong and his two teammates and the black hooded duo, the remaining three should be lone wolf players.
The one lying on the ground looks familiar.
Xu Zhiyan remembered that the other party had also participated in the activity of besieging and killing Jianghuai partridges.
On the other side, an old man in a gray short suit fell to the ground with several cuts on his body. He must have been injured in an attack by a player.
Small insects kept flying out of the wound. They were white in color, with round bodies, and somewhat looked like an evolved version of the white treasure insect.
The player who accidentally attacked the villagers was now wrapped in bugs. He was lying on the ground, rolling and twitching. He opened his mouth and gasped, seeming to be in great pain.
When Xu Zhiyan and Jin Sheng approached, the player kicked his legs a few times and was completely dead.
In the live broadcast room, comments kept asking what happened.
[Damn, this is so exciting. I just stood aside and watched Xiao Baiwan fishing! ]
[Fuck! Me too! I feel like Xiao Baiwan has turned this into a daze mode, standing by the lake, watching the male mother sew a dog vest, and looking at the fisherman Jinsheng's return. ]
[Oh my god, I even went to the dog trainer to watch the pure enjoyment version of the fishing experience. ]
[You guys upstairs are too lax! There has been a commotion at the entrance to the village for a long time. ]
【I am an impulsive player! 】
[Ah, I saw this. The villagers wouldn't let him in, and then someone tried to rush in, but accidentally injured the old man, and then was killed by the bugs.]
[I see Zhuo Yong wants to save him, but he has no props. How pitiful. ]
At the entrance of Baishan Village, the atmosphere was tense.
Zhuo Yong nodded slightly when he saw Xu Zhiyan.
He didn't look very good and it looked like he had been trapped here for some time.
A short younger brother with a scar on his face was glanced at by his eldest brother, and he understood what he meant. He came to Xu Zhiyan and Jin Sheng and explained what had just happened at the village entrance.
It’s not that Zhuo Yong is kind, but this village directly refuses players from entering and is very xenophobic.
It turned out that after the players arrived, they followed the prompts and said they would solve the problem for them. As a result, the old man at the entrance of the village changed his expression, and he knocked on the broken gong at the entrance of the village, and in the blink of an eye he called out more villagers.
Some of these villagers were guides who led the players into the reservoir. After seeing the players, their faces turned grim and they all told them to get out.
In short, no matter how the players negotiated, the other party was unwilling to let them in.
During this period, everyone also thought of using things to bribe the villagers, but who knew that the villagers were not interested in the fishing equipment looted by the players.
In order to make it easier to carry food, players cleaned up most of the fish they caught by the lake. Some players with excellent cooking skills even made fish floss.
The nine people searched all the bags, but for some reason, the only live fish in the buckets all turned upside down after being baptized by the mist.
The players who arrived earlier didn't even find a single live fish.
Zhuo Yong's teammates saw that the fog was about to dissipate and could not wait to force their way in, with a miserable end. Another tried to take a longer route, but was greeted by a system pop-up window saying that they had to obtain permission from the villagers.
After hearing the whole story, Jin Sheng turned his head away, remembering how someone had killed the guide before entering the reservoir.
Xu Zhiyan touched his chin and nodded, but his expression was expressionless.
The fog has begun to thin.
He didn't take the time to greet Zhuo Yong, but instead looked at the villagers.
The entrance to the village is not big, it can even be said to be very small.
Twenty or thirty skinny old men stood there, wearing tattered clothes. They were as gray as the village and stared outside without blinking.
Even though it was morning and the sun was about to come out, it was still extremely scary to watch.
Xu Zhiyan looked at the heads of the people one by one, but couldn't find the old guide. Just as he was wondering, a villager who was about to sneak away from the crowd was discovered.
"Old Yang, why are you running?"
Xu Zhiyan looked in the direction of the voice and found that this Old Yang was the good old guide he had appointed!
He immediately asked Jinsheng to open the fish barrel and shouted to the old guide, "Brother Yang! I brought you some fish! They are all alive. Did you forget?"
This familiar tone made the other villagers freeze in place. They looked at each other, and no one spoke.
The only one who was discovered was Old Yang. He shrank his neck, turned around with a sad face, and was still as angry as a broken bellows.
"Forget what! When did I ask you to deliver the fish?!" As soon as he finished speaking, he realized something was wrong.
Now that he has responded, what do other villagers think of him?
Xu Zhiyan didn't care about that. Seeing Lao Yang's response, he took the fish bucket, made sure the fish inside were swimming happily under the action of the oxygen pump, zipped up the fish bucket, carried it through the villagers, and came to Lao Yang's side.
The moment he entered the village and was not driven away by other villagers, a new task popped up on the game panel.
[Main Quest [Part 2]: The Secret of Baishan Village]
【Task 5: Stay here. 】
[Progress: Not yet achieved]
[Note: The villagers seem to have some secrets, but they are very cautious. It will not be easy for you to stay. ]
[Tip: The villagers cannot be killed. Acting rashly will only make them more repulsive.]
Xu Zhiyan's eyes darkened and he couldn't help but curse the rubbish game in his heart.
This kind of difficult NPC cannot be beaten, scolded or killed. The little white worm will have a serious backlash. If he had enough firepower, he would not have to think of other ways.
The most disgusting thing is that such an important clue was not given to the players in advance?
The game system is clearly trying to make things difficult for the players, wanting to watch the players fight with this group of undead NPCs.
But what he thought in his heart was different from what he showed on his face.
Xu Zhiyan rushed to Lao Yang, stuffed the bucket into his hand, looked at him sincerely and spoke with gratitude.
"You took good care of me on the way here. I've caught a lot of fish, so I wanted to send some to you. These fish are delicious! If you don't believe me, try them."
Old Yang snorted coldly and waved his hand: "I don't eat dead fish."
"They are alive, not a single one is dead." Xu Zhiyan argued, but in his heart he didn't believe what the other party said.
The old guide had eaten a lot of grilled fish when they were dining in the camp before. What he said now might be a taboo in the village, or he might be deceiving the players.
After hearing what the young man said, Old Yang looked at the fish barrel doubtfully, and said in defense: "The fish can't get through the fog. There is a curse in the fog. The fish will die... huh?"
He stared at the fish barrel with his cloudy eyes.
Amidst some faint gurgling sounds, these tasty fish are still alive and well.
Xu Zhiyan picked up the oxygen pump inside, scratched his hair and said, "A high-tech product, maybe it can break the curse?"
He also didn't expect that the fog could kill fish.
However, as soon as he lifted the oxygen pump out of the water, the fish in the bucket looked like they were about to die. Scared Xu Zhiyan so much that he quickly stuffed the oxygen pump back.
Old Yang looked at the fish in his hand, then glanced at Xu Zhiyan, and couldn't help swallowing.
However, he knew that the man in front of him was not a good person, so he asked in a low voice: "What do you want to do?" It was not right to give gifts for no reason.
"You guessed it." Xu Zhiyan patted his forehead and showed an embarrassed expression.
"It's like this, my friends and I are tired of living in tents, so we want to stay in the village for one night."
Although Lao Yang was a little afraid of Xu Zhiyan, he felt that the other party was nice to him after all. After thinking about it, he nodded and marked the price.
"Three fish and one person."
"make a deal!"
Back at the village entrance, as the only player who had a good relationship with the guide, Xu Zhiyan used gifts to clear the way for other players.
The atmosphere became more tense after Jiang Huaique and Zhuo Yong met, but both of them were normal players with their brains online, and did not add any difficulty by making a big fuss because of previous festivals.
Xu Zhiyan asked Jin Sheng to tie the fish bucket and clapped his hands to attract everyone's attention.
Someone saw him using live fish to exchange for the chance to enter the village, and seeing so many fish barrels, he was already prepared to spend his points to buy fish.
Xu Zhiyan was not polite either. He was not as straightforward as Lao Yang. He liked this kind of part where he could raise the price at will the most!
"There are still about ten minutes left. The possibility of you grabbing the fish from me is relatively small. And even if you do, you may be targeted by that person after you leave the dungeon, so I think it's better for us to trade fairly!"
This is already a blatant threat.
After hearing this, Jin Sheng and Jiang Huaique also tensed up, and everyone was ready to attack.
Only Xu Zhiyan looked relaxed and asked the next question.
"Fish has a price, but life is priceless."
“How much do you think your life is worth?”
In the live broadcast room, the audience called him a profiteer.
[I thought that he was already very expensive if he offered one thousand points for one fish! I underestimated his ambition! ]
[Hahahahahahaha, will the profiteer trait be awakened after this instance ends?]
[Lighting candles for other players. Tsk tsk tsk, Jiang Huai Que, the only one who dared to fight him in this dungeon, has been won over by him and turned into a running dog! ]
[It's so funny! I guess Zhuo Yong doesn't even dare to do it. ]
[After all, it seems that the big boss behind him and the one behind Xiao Baiwan know each other...]
[If these 50,000 points are not recovered, Xiao Baiwan will probably be so angry that he can't sleep at night! ]
Xu Zhiyan doesn't care what the live broadcast room thinks.
Although his words were directed to everyone, his greedy eyes were only fixed on Zhuo Yong.
This person did not show that he cared about the lives of his teammates. Although everyone believed that the player who just died deserved it because he could not control himself, Xu Zhiyan just thought it was ridiculous.
Zhuo Yong has absolute dominance in his team. If it weren't for his tacit approval, that player would never have rushed forward. This is clearly a case of taking advantage of his teammates.
Forget it, it’s not a good thing.
Since we've determined that there's no need to make friends with Zhuo Yong, let's find a way to squeeze out more profits!
Xu Zhiyan raised the corners of his mouth and put on a gentle and harmless smile, his mind was calculating loudly, and the audience in the live broadcast room could hear it outside the screen.
Zhuo Yong offered 50,000 for Jiang Huaique's life. How much would he offer for his own life?
Zhuo Yong also felt uncomfortable being stared at.
He finally came to his senses. It turned out that the other party had no intention of paying for Jiang Huaique's life when he took it from him. He really lived up to the name of the bandit Xu Baiwan...
But I offered Jiang Huaique 50,000 points before. If I return these 50,000 now, wouldn’t it mean that I am the same as Jiang Huaique?
Is this to find a place for Jiang Huaique?
He had to choose between fame and heavy bleeding...
But thinking of his own and the other party's identities, he couldn't turn against him like the others did.
There was little time left and Zhuo Yong had no time to think more.
"One hundred thousand." He shouted out the price.
"Thank you for your patronage." Xu Zhiyan readily agreed.
The most expensive deal is done.
The remaining players are relatively 'cheap'.
Having achieved their goal, Xu Zhiyan was very easy to talk to. Each player only had to hand in some low- and mid-level items in exchange for enough fish to allow them to enter the village and stay overnight.
Finally, before the fog completely dissipated, all players successfully completed Mission 5.
[Main Quest [Part 2]: The Secret of Baishan Village]
【Task 5: Stay here. 】
[Progress: Achieved]
[Task 6: Find out the secret of the village and help the villagers solve it.]
[Tip: Don't ask the villagers directly, the search will be more effective at night. ]
As for the remarks, the previous remarks remain the same, and should be carried out under the same background.
Players pay for live fish in the village.
Villagers willing to take them in can get fish.
Xu Zhiyan led Jin Sheng and Jiang Huaique to find Lao Yang and gave the remaining dozen or so to him.
Old Yang was very touched. He didn't expect this young man to be so generous.
"You gave me so much, how can I be so embarrassed..."
"It's okay, the four of us will eat together and we'll finish it quickly, don't worry." Xu Zhiyan took over the conversation.
After hearing this, Old Yang's face instantly drooped.
He knew that this young man was not a good person! He would be a fool to impress him again!
However, at this point, Lao Yang still led the three players back to his home.
"My house is quite big, so it should be able to accommodate you."
When Lao Yang opened the door, the first thing that came into view was a courtyard with a well, surrounded by bungalows, with a total of seven or eight rooms.
Well, big and broken.
Xu Zhiyan thought.
"Except for the room in the backyard, you can choose any other room here. The well water can only be drunk during the day, and it is best not to go out at night..."
Old Yang, who was still closing the door, muttered about the village rules.
But when he turned around, he found that Xu Zhiyan had already led two other people into the only open house, which was Lao Yang's residence.
That posture! He looks more like the owner of the house than he does!
By the time the rooms were assigned and chores like cleaning and making the beds were completed, it was already afternoon and they hurried to cook and eat.
Lunch was made by Lao Yang.
Charcoal grilled plant stems, stewed plant stems, and plant stem stews.
The meal of unknown plant stems tasted like wax, and the three players smacked their lips and made do with it.
During lunch, Jiang Huaique used a straw mat he had woven to extract information from Lao Yang, saying that there was something in the village that could heal a leg injury.
Xu Zhiyan was worried about him as a disabled person, so he asked Jin Sheng to go with him.
He took some straw gadgets produced by Jiang Huai Que and planned to try to exchange them for some information in the village.
After leaving Old Yang's house, Xu Zhiyan looked around the village carefully.
Every household had mud walls and mud houses covered with straw. He had seen the rooms and said that even a bare-walled house was a sign of wealth.
The village is in the shape of a straight line, from left to right.
Old Yang’s house is about in the middle, and the village entrance is on the far right.
I remembered what Lao Yang said during dinner, that the houses on the far left were abandoned. Since we couldn't break into private houses to look for clues, these abandoned houses became the best place to go.
Perhaps because the sun was shining brightly in the afternoon, there was no one in the village.
Occasionally, there would be a few quarrels heard, basically the voices of the players, which were out of tune with the lifeless village.
Xu Zhiyan followed the road and came to the abandoned house at the end.
As soon as he stepped into the yard, he felt a gust of cold air approaching, and it seemed to be colder inside than outside.
He took two steps forward, the coldness gradually intensified, and there was a strange dampness in the air, but when he stood outside the door of the room in the center, he felt his body inexplicably hot.
A bad premonition came over me.
Xu Zhiyan caught a glimpse of refracted light from the broken window hole, and without thinking, he ran towards the courtyard gate.
“Squeak—”
The door behind me seemed to open.
But Xu Zhiyan seemed not to have heard it and did not even turn his head. It was not until he walked out of the courtyard and a long way away that he patted his chest and stood firm.
He recognized the light; it was reflected by the snake's scales.
"……Grass."
Despite all his planning, he still forgot one thing yesterday.
This fucking snake is a reptile!
It doesn’t have to be in the water!
It's all because this broken snake couldn't get out of the water from beginning to end...
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