Chapter 74 "The Little Taoist Priest" 'Double Flesh Path' means he has two...
"3 seconds?"
The player team chat was filled with screams.
"He's doomed, even if he's the GM, he's finished!"
[Deer]'s face turned ugly upon hearing this. She looked at the two men kneeling in front of the ancestral hall in the distance. Apart from the strange long-haired man, Zhong Ding, who was anxiously holding the dazed little Taoist priest in blue, the other men and women in ancient costumes below the stage were completely unresponsive.
"Mr. Zhong!"
[Deer] thought that Zhong Ding's behavior in this part was a plot guide, so she started frantically tapping the panel, trying to talk to Zhong Ding, hoping to skip some useless NPC lines.
But strangely enough, the whole world knows it's a game, and Jane Dieda herself knows it too.
Only Zhong Ding didn't treat liking Jane Dieda as a task given by the game.
"No... let me!"
The bell and cauldron were calling out to Jian Dieda's soul. His divination bones were nearly broken by the backlash of his internal Taoist magic. A surge of bloodthirsty energy that broke through his internal organs turned the inner scene map red. The pounding of his heartbeats set off alarm bells for the players present. They watched Jian Dieda exorcise evil spirits while also watching this stunningly handsome man.
The surrounding players watched as cursed red liquid flowed from their pupils.
Their fingers intertwined, and they held each other tightly, their aching bodies locked in a struggle, like weeping mandarin ducks in a pond.
Within the illusory world, the Ninefold Hell labyrinth, disguised as a wedding banquet, was originally filled with illusions.
In the real world, the red-robed Taoist priest gradually bled from all seven orifices, and his lips turned purple.
“I beg you…” Zhong Ding said, his words tinged with tears, “Actually, I take my mother’s surname. My mother never told me who my father was. She returned to Qingyang Town while pregnant, and I have never been held by her once since I was a child.”
"Before you came into my life, I never made those ancient promises, those vows...to anyone lightly...from the bottom of my heart, but please...please never leave me alone again..."
"Young Taoist priest, I am your puppet. The rope and my life are in your hands."
If Jian Dieda were here, he would probably see the problem. Zhong Ding seems to be trying to break through the original program in his body to find some NPC awakening instincts, just like him.
Perhaps this scene touched the system's higher-ups, and Zhong Ding regained the right to use his body for 1 second. Following Jian Dieda's previous demonstration, he picked up the item in front of all the players and used his last bit of strength to throw the pair of red holy grails hard.
The sculpture smiled, and she wore a bright red cloak with auspicious bat patterns, exactly the same as the Celestial Master's robe worn by Zhong Ding.
The next second, Zhong Ding made a request to 'her'.
"Immortal of the Year, Immortal of the Year, please share the pork, I beg for your return to life, Heavenly Mother grants me three cups, believers pray for your possession."
—"The occasion for Master Zhong to invoke the gods": ["I want to exchange thirty years of my lifespan for the chance to marry Jian Burang, as I wish."]
—"The occasion of Master Zhong's summoning of the gods": ["I want Jian to not leave Qingyang Town alive."]
This is exactly what Master Li wished before he came in. The players gasped. What? Zhong Ding, the NPC, has a male-male storyline with the host?
Shocked as they were, those of us from modern society still offered our respect and blessings.
At this moment, a non-system player casts the Holy Grail that unlocks the side quest.
The ghostly soldiers of the underworld passed by, and all the guests and demons stopped moving.
[Deer] immediately typed in the public chat: "GM!! Are you alright!! It seems the Second Holy Grail has given you time to cast! Can you try to get out of the Otherworld first?!"
"..."
Jane was lying in a pile of monster corpses, covered in blood. Hearing this, she felt that she could finally be saved.
While he was deducing the plot of the wedding banquet, he was pulled out by the long-haired demon monster with the placenta on its head, and the two even bumped into each other face to face.
Seeing the ghost stuff its head into the hole in the middle of the table, about to bite off its head with its mouthful of fine fangs and a forked, blood-red tongue, Master Jian used his peach wood sword to split the table open and rush out. A three-meter-tall, ancient-dressed demon girl with black hair chased after him. Amidst the misty air echoing with the sound of suona horns from the game, her face and neck were as long as a living placenta. As her elongated limbs twisted uncoordinatedly, the guests beside her were torn to shreds, a scene of utter carnage and flying organs. During the chase, the female ghost's head, with a forked snake tongue at the tip, was right in the middle of the dark, gaping mouth, emitting a sharp, deadly roar at the Taoist's exorcising peach wood sword…
At the critical moment, in front of the lanterns lit up on this panel, four unbroken ci poem titles reappeared. They were:
The Peony Pavilion ① - Unlocked Plot: Xiaomei's Secret Meeting with Master Li (Viewing Progress 100%)
Dream of the Red Chamber ② - Unlocked Plot: Sun Youfu's Strange Encounter in the Mountains? (Viewing Progress 0%)
"The Promise of the Cold Kiln" Part 3 - Unlocked Plot: Sun Youfu and Master Li? (Viewing progress 0%)
"Flowers in the Mirror" Part 4 – The innkeeper of the Mother and Son Inn? (Viewing progress 0%)
The lantern ghost asked again: "You have three seconds left to successfully escape the instance."
【Please answer, Taoist priest.】
Who killed Sun Youfu?
Jian Dieda opened the panel, clicked on the handwriting keyboard on the ink painting title board, and wrote out the names of the three ci poems before "Flowers in the Mirror" as if playing a crossword game.
The plot of "Yingying Betrays Zhang Sheng" has been unlocked: Xiaomei's secret meeting with Master Li (viewing progress 100%)
This was a storyline that everyone had seen before, but the last two were clearly different. Jian Dieda had just met the witness at the wedding banquet, so he picked up the clues and successfully deciphered the card storylines of "Daiyu Hides the Jade" and "Cold Kiln Cooks Pinggui".
The second card was flipped over first.
After the fog scene, the first scene in my mind's all-night drama was a character animation on the hillside of Cilonggou on the night of the third day of the third lunar month. After Li Yuanwai left Xiaomei's house in sadness, he walked alone to the hillside, and then a strange NPC carrying a load of firewood walked towards him.
The NPC has "Woodcutter" written above his head, but the plot seems to be more complicated than it appears. The "Old Woodcutter" quickly stopped the drunken Master Li, who once again expressed his desire to replace Sun Youfu and marry Xiaomei. Upon hearing this, the Old Woodcutter smiled knowingly and led Master Li step by step to the inn run by a mother and son halfway up the mountain.
A line of bloodstains appeared on the subtitle.
"I love her so much!"
"Tonight I'm going to be her husband, Sun Youfu! Not some seventy- or eighty-year-old Li Yuanwai!"
During the intermission of the shadow puppet show, a butcher's knife was plunged into 'Little Black's' face. A shrill scream and the tearing of flesh occurred simultaneously, as if two people had completed some kind of terrifying ritual in the mountains.
An hour later, two hours later, as the rooster crowed at dawn, the person who had slept all night woke up. When his shadow appeared on the window frame, a scream came from off-screen: "Ahhh—no, this isn't me—what happened—what did you do to me?"
The voice clearly belonged to Master Li. Jian Dieda had personally witnessed him and the old woodcutter enter this inn last night. His gaze shifted, and he stepped into the small building.
A man dressed in Republican-era attire sat on the ground, pointing at the old woodcutter and loudly accusing him. His face was turned towards Jian Dieda, who had now walked directly in front of him and clearly saw the man's face.
No one could have imagined that 'Master Li' would become 'Sun Youfu'. Yes, this 'old woodcutter' actually swapped the faces of the two to fulfill Master Li's wish!
Master Li asked fearfully, "Why have I become Xiaomei's husband?"
The old woodcutter laughed and said to him, "Isn't this your wish? When I met you last night, you were saying that you wanted to become Xiaomei's husband no matter the cost, so I brought you here and gave you half a sesame seed cake and some pickled vegetables. As long as you eat the food at this inn, any human wish can be fulfilled."
Master Li may have truly gone mad. Even after his face was swapped, he didn't suspect that the old man was a demon. Instead, he accepted the fact and silently left with the secret.
The story is so bizarre that Xiaomei's real husband probably wasn't Sun Youfu from this point on, but rather Master Li. Jian Dieda was truly speechless after reading it.
But the matter is not over yet, who exactly is this old man?
The third card was flipped over, and a card storyline unfolded for Jane.
This card depicts a pot of saliva with spices floating on top, set up by a monster. A piece of yellow fat from a living person, still unmelted, floats beside the pot. This is likely the first-pressed corpse oil extracted from the bodies of the demon hunters and the victims, considered by the monsters to be the most savory and nourishing medicine.
At this moment, the answer was obvious. Jian Dieda recalled the old man's deformed appearance, like that of a goat. So, he could guess what kind of monster this ugly old woodcutter who gave Sun Youfu half of the sesame seed cake and pickled vegetables was.
"Taotie".
The Taotie, well aware of human nature, hibernates during famine years, often opening rural restaurants to attract human diners. They then turn all their customers into braised pork, roast duck, and cured meat, even using the bones to make their favorite grain liquor. In the eyes of the monsters, all the food in the world has a magical power to turn humans into fat pigs. The easily satisfied appetites of oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and chili fuel human greed, turning their stomachs into bloated, bottomless pits, forever craving more meat and wine to fill their empty spirits.
The people and pigs at the inn weren't starving; their bodies, accustomed to unrestrained gluttony, had become so used to eating anytime, anywhere that they would starve to death if they stopped. They could only devour the delicacies on the table like madmen, and in the end, a great demon ate half of them alive, leaving them with only a mouth without them even realizing it...
After dying from the gluttonous feast, the souls of the humans and pigs that crawl out of their bodies will travel from Cilonggou all the way to the slaughterhouse to become the tools of the next monster.
This is the legendary Hungry Ghost Realm, managed by the innkeeper ghost mother from the third revolving lantern. These beings have no gender and are collectively known as the Ghost Clan. However, the souls here, far from being human, no longer resemble any creature of the natural world; they are obese, resembling lumps of flesh pieced together from the swill and grease of their stomachs and intestines. Even so, their insatiable hunger remains, and their bodies still possess a writhing, blood-red maw capable of constantly devouring.
The final card's cover has been revealed.
What happened on the night of the third day of the third lunar month?
Jian Dieda wrote down his problem-solving approach:
There were three cases within cases that night.
In the case, both Sun Youfu and Li Yuanwai were bewitched by Taotie and voluntarily changed their skins. Li Yuanwai transformed into Sun Youfu and came to Xiaomei's side. Sun Youfu felt inferior because of his poor family background and was willing to withdraw.
In the second case, a month later, the man disguised as 'Sun Youfu' by Li Yuanwai died mysteriously. The real Sun Youfu, worried that his wife would be implicated by the rumors, decided to marry Xiaomei for the second time, but he also died mysteriously on his wedding night.
The third case involved Taotie setting up a trap beforehand. It found Xiaomei twice and caused her to hallucinate. Because she was afraid that her two husbands would cheat on her, she added medicine from a breeding pig farm that she had bought to her food at home. As a result, the first man and the second old man gained 200 pounds in a short period of time and were unable to get out of bed. Their figures became out of shape and they eventually became food for the Human Skin Inn.
The three clues were successfully linked, and another card was revealed from the four cards. The animated feature film of the ancient town is here! The plugin that helps solve the case automatically recreates the scene setup of all four scenes in the previous case.
"If love between two people is meant to last, why should they be together every day and night?"
Xiaomei covered her face and cried bitterly until late at night. She lay down on the bed and fell asleep.
She was exhausted from crying, but when her body collapsed like a beautiful corpse that had faded away, she had no idea that a disheveled, lantern-ghost female corpse had arrived at this tomb-like mountain forest and tiled house.
The paper-figure lamp, reminiscent of characters from "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio," swayed gently. The female ghost's hair strangled Xiaomei's neck, yet she didn't kill her. She lifted Xiaomei up like a puppeteer.
Xiaomei was hoisted high up, her expression and body became uncontrollable, and she stared blankly at the corners of her mouth like a puppet on a string. Her shoulders and legs, which were floating in the air, were also given a charming and graceful gait by the female ghost.
The long-haired female ghost wore a pink and white lotus-patterned gauze dress, a crown of a hundred sons worn by the Heavenly Queen, and was covered in the fragrance of flowers, as beautiful as a painting.
An old nursery rhyme says that girls are made of sweets, spices and all the good things, and are only a little less than angels.
Rotting corpses are covered with jade powder, and withered bones are adorned with silk brocade.
This boss's true origin is Shebi Shi.
Legend has it that it is a mountain spirit in the Classic of Mountains and Seas that is deaf in both ears, has a human face, blood-red eyes, and its body always emits the stench of an ancient corpse from a barren era.
Strangely enough, Jian Dieda did not write down the murderer's name, and he did not make a move while watching the female ghost remain motionless.
[“The host?”] The deer came looking for him.
Without even looking up, Jian Dieda asked, "Is Zhong Ding still alive?"
The deer froze.
GM asked her what she meant by that sentence.
Before the female player could figure it out, a young man who had always been indifferent and devoid of any human emotion said something that left her speechless.
"If he gets a game over, I won't write down the correct answer. I'll just end the second half of the Zisha exploration and give you all the puzzle cards."
【Deer】Even though she had considered it, she never expected that Jian Dieda was playing the game to be with an NPC. Under such circumstances, even if she had a heart of stone, she would not deliberately lie to steal the item cards of the two of them. The girl repeatedly stopped him: "Host, he is still alive. You entered the dungeon and you fought the boss. You should answer the question."
Jian Dieda knew that Zhong Ding was not dead.
He didn't say anything more.
Although he didn't explain clearly whether the boss in the dungeon was dead or not.
"Okay, I'll go out first," he replied calmly.
With a beep, the system notified that the dungeon time was up and two more story clips had dropped. Moreover, the life-or-death crisis that was almost game over was actually resolved in one go.
When Jian Dieda fell backward, his thin body smashed through half of a chair leg.
But the total points on the entire Goblin channel suddenly skyrocketed by 200 times! Countless gift carnivals nearly drove his long-closed chat room crazy!
[Japanese Illusionist - Player Lao Zhang] even became a devoted fan: "Damn, master, please accept my bow!"
The official reward arrived, albeit belatedly.
[Scene ends: Gao Laozhuang Slaughterhouse on Cilongpo]
[Individual Task: Perform a basic Taoist ritual with your teammates to find out the strange reason why Xiaomei's first husband, Sun Youfu, was possessed before his death]
[Congratulations, player, you have collected a special story card: Village of Gluttony]
[Congratulations to the player for picking up a special story card x1, "Nine Sons of the Dragon"]
...
Half an hour later.
Fifth Master hurriedly pushed open the door, and the people from the Zhong family quickly made way like mice seeing a cat, revealing the figures of Furong Dan, Antique Zhang, and Bai Xiaosheng inside.
Fifth Master remained silent and asked Lanlan, "How is Master?"
Lanlan, her eyes red, replied, "She's unconscious."
Fifth Master asked again, "What about that beggar? He harmed someone; surely he won't get away with it all, leaving my nephew alone on the brink of life and death?"
Furong Dan instinctively wanted to speak up for the "beggar," but Gu Dong Zhang had already grabbed his aunt's sleeve and whispered, "Please don't talk back, please spare my life!"
Seeing that Fifth Master's expression was really bad, Bai Xiaosheng first worked with Antique Zhang to drag Furong Dan aside, because he was afraid that his group would be chased away.
Fifth Master wasn't that unreasonable. The government constables had already told him the whole story. The death of Master Li and the solving of Xiao Mei's case were mainly due to Jian Dieda's efforts. The Zhong family had been exorcising demons for generations, and they had a glimpse into the character and cultivation of this young Taoist priest.
The problem is that no matter how righteous Jian Dieda is, he is still a man, a Taoist priest who has left home to cultivate. If Zhong Ding is blinded by lust and develops worldly desires, he will most likely be betrayed. What kind of person is he?
Fifth Master had already discussed it with the family, and they were determined to drive these people away today and never allow Jian Dieda to approach Zhongding again.
Fu Rongdan noticed something amiss and naturally refused to agree.
First, although the leads in the cases of Sun Youfu, Li Yuanwai, and Xiaomei have been clarified, Taotie has not yet been caught, so Jian Burang and the others definitely cannot leave. Second, they also have a mission: to prevent Fifth Master from going in, something Jian Dieda had repeatedly instructed them to do before going in to care for the patients.
That's what Jane Dieda just said himself.
“Zhong Ding made a wish to the Heavenly Mother on my behalf, and the Wild Buddha’s lifespan was shortened in an instant. Now that his power is depleted, he can only use his family’s unique skill, ‘Flesh Double Path,’ to save his life. I have to help him.”
Jian Dieda then explained the reason for his seclusion to the trio.
"I saw him use this unique skill the first time I met him..."
Bai Xiaosheng didn't know how the two first met, and asked in a serious tone, "Brother Burang, what exactly is the Zhong family's 'Double Flesh Path' martial art?"
Fu Rongdan was also very curious. They had been in town for a long time and had only heard that the Zhong family had relied on this unique skill to save lives for generations. They had never told outsiders what kind of secret it was.
At first, Jian Dieda didn't say anything, but after thinking for a moment, he replied, "I can't tell you exactly what 'Rou Shuanglu' is, but I'm confident I can save him. Just keep an eye on the door and don't let anyone in."
"..."
“During these few days, Zhong Ding and I want to be alone together, and that person has to be me.”
When Jane Dieda said those words, he realized that he had been very selfish this time.
Although Zhong Ding had no parents, he had a family and Fifth Master as a relative. Why should he not allow anyone to approach him? Besides, Fifth Master was not without ways to save the Zhong family head who was implicated by him.
However, after leaving the dungeon of Cilongpo in Jian Dieda, it was as if he had bound himself to a game couple account with a man. If either of them went offline for more than a second, they would both suffer from severe separation anxiety.
Zhong Ding's injured body was thus placed right under Jian Dieda's nose.
Just like when we first met, the bright red curtains were drawn, and a stick of incense burned in the dimly lit room. A parrot stand made of Sichuan pepper wood hung in front of the antique embroidered couch, and Master Jian was unbuttoning the top peony flower button of the long-haired man's robe.
The Dragon-Falling Book and the "woman's trinkets" rewarded from the dungeon were scattered around them. After Jian Dieda stripped them all naked, he bent down and picked up the item. The note once again showed its purpose: "[This is an ancient sexual tool used to replace a woman's breasts.]"
Meanwhile, the fifth mysterious card reveals:
'Meat Double Road'.
[A secret internal energy cultivation technique for men in the Celestial Masters sect, its secret lies in enabling the practitioner to possess two organs simultaneously, large and red in color, with unobstructed passages for both the front and back.]
Jane sat on the edge of the bed, speechless, her mind reeling from the unbearable answer.
He really wanted to beg God to stop playing this game, or at least to talk about some basic science, okay? How could there be such an unbelievable horror game? Did they even consider a simple-minded guy like him? Is this a human or a snake?
But while he was lost in thought...
The air gradually became more humid...
"...Tsk."
Jian Dieda forced himself not to think about the existence of those two unscientific things. He rubbed his cheeks, his back was soaked with sweat, and he made all the preparations to climb back. Zhong Ding was still lying there weakly. The young master's lips were white, and he looked like a sickly beauty who was easy to bully.
These lips look really kissable, not at all like a super monster with two Optimus Primes on its body.
Jane Dieda appears cold on the surface, but somewhere deep inside, he's secretly driven by impulses; he might just be a 'Zhong' (a homosexual) person.
In fact, from the moment they met, Zhong Ding attracted him, not only because of the man's appearance, but also because of the contrast between his lack of love, sensitivity, and need to be protected.
Unable to avoid getting close to him, Jian Dieda was already prepared for the rear to fall.
He lifted his buttocks slightly, hugged the long-haired handsome man, and rubbed against him. As soon as he took the initiative, Zhong Ding responded reflexively, wrapping his arms around the Taoist priest's tail and kissing him like he was teasing a cat.
When Jian Dieda was kissed deeply, his lips twitched, and his face, which had been trying to remain expressionless, turned bright red. Zhong Ding also instinctively pulled him onto his lap, and the two hugged even tighter as their faces touched.
They were just as close as they were at the temple.
At this moment, the young Taoist priest became the Celestial Master's treasure once again. Zhong Ding seemed to need nothing; as long as it could touch the slightest bit of his skin temperature, there was a possibility of improvement.
Strangely enough, when Jane pulled down his pants, she seemed unusually skilled, as if it were a natural thing for her to do it herself. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought they were old lovers.
Consider that although Zhong Ding was over thirty, his appearance and complexion were still as white as the first snow.
At the same time, despite being an older man, he maintained a very good physique. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that his muscles were so well-defined that he resembled a plaster statue. In fact, apart from his legs, which lacked exercise, this man exuded a unique and captivating charm that could entice ordinary people to fall for him.
On the embroidered bed, they were in a frenzy, embracing each other again and again, moistening each other's lips and tongues with sweet saliva. Zhong Ding's blood and energy seemed to be replenished after absorbing the life force of a living person. He growled and panted more and more excitedly, grabbing Jian Dieda's hair and kissing him sadistically until drops of blood stained their clothes.
But he didn't seem to want to bully his own little Taoist priest, and soon he returned to his usual good husband state. Master Jian understood that he was holding back, but no one needed anyone else to hold back today.
So he simply made the old virgin Zhong family official's disguise disappear on the spot.
The young Taoist priest always produces high-quality items.
"Well--"
"..."
"oh!"
The bell and tripod are like a lost child, stretching out from the long-parched desert as if thirsty, trying to grasp his oasis.
The hand searching for water grabbed Jian Dieda.
The situation, which is on the verge of erupting, seems imminent and cannot be delayed any longer.
Jian Dieda deliberately unleashed a powerful move at him without holding back.
Zhong Tianshi sensed something, pressed his chest against the quilt, murmured a few times, and then turned his face away, defeated by shame. His body, which was taller and stronger than Jian Dieda, somehow managed to contort into the image of a young girl in the throes of first love.
It was at this moment that Jane's heart suddenly softened again.
The outsider who had traveled to this world stopped and asked the man a question. Like a piece of computer code that had been erased but still left traces, he submitted his recognition program to the NPC heart that was near him.
"Zhong Ding, have we met before?"
I think I can't remember what you look like anymore.
But I seem to remember your eyes forever.
Who exactly are you?
Zhong Ding could not answer.
The truth seems to always be in the distant future, something they cannot currently access.
Jian Dieda remained silent, but after Zhong Ding calmed down a bit, he sat up and looked for the small system.
Jane Dieda: "Little bald head, come out here."
He posted a screenshot of himself before entering the game.
The above are three lines of text.
"Player Card: Little Taoist Jian Burang No. 1927 is offline."
"New player: Little Taoist Jian Burang No. 1928 has logged in."
"The player's last words: Don't...don't get...eaten by that!"
Bald guy: "...?"
Jane Dieda: "Actually, this isn't my first time in this world. Number 1928, Jane Burang, doesn't mean I'm the 1928th little Taoist priest, but rather that this is the 1928th time a little Taoist priest has entered this world with amnesia, right?"
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