It turns out that the so-called "rich village" was actually the former "beauty village." Long ago, a group of young traveling merchants came to the village. After entering, they quickly became friends with the simple and honest villagers. Several village girls were deceived by the merchants' sweet talk and accepted their marriage proposals. The village chief was very happy because most of the young men in the village went out to work and rarely returned. Many had even started families and careers elsewhere. In his reply, he earnestly advised the young girls in the village not to leave the village easily, as the outside world was far too dangerous and unfriendly to beautiful women.
Under such circumstances, the village lost the opportunity to reproduce, and the young girls grew old.
The village chief wanted to keep the traveling merchants in the village by offering them marriages, and the merchants, perhaps bewitched by the beauty, actually agreed.
Unexpectedly, on the very night that more than a dozen couples were getting married, a group of bandits broke in and, under the command of a traveling merchant, attempted to abduct the women.
Although the girls in the village of beauties were naive, they were not fools. Lacking the protection of men, they had long understood that they had to rely on themselves in everything, and they fought back fiercely.
That night, the river that flowed through the village was filled with blood. When the village chief helped a few of the younger children escape across the river, they saw flames flickering in the forest, and the village and woods were engulfed in smoke.
The children who managed to escape watched helplessly as their homes and loved ones vanished. Before they could even grieve, the bandits pursued them. But as they stepped into the river, the calm stream suddenly became turbulent, sweeping away all the villains. From then on, the children settled along the riverbank, rebuilding their village. Meanwhile, on the opposite bank, the forest, which should have been barren but had instantly returned to normal, and the perfectly preserved village within it, stood as if nothing had changed, glowing eerily in the firelight.
Once, some villagers, due to poverty, chose to abandon this small village and flee to a rich village. However, the moment they crossed the Bridge of Helplessness, burn marks appeared on their skin. They looked back unconscious and disappeared completely into the forest.
That night, not only the wronged souls of beautiful women were burned to death, but also the wicked bandits and ill-intentioned merchants. Their souls remained there, confronting and harming the innocent beauties. If the villagers wanted to live, they were forbidden from stepping out of the village.
This is just a distant rumor. No one knows the true story of the rich village now, but the women in the village have revealed that whenever they are starving, some rice, flour, and other food will always appear by the river. They believe that this is a kind of protection from the deceased beauty for the remaining bloodline in the village.
The older woman rubbed her forehead. "I think the housekeeper is more insightful than the villagers. Whether he'll protect them or not is uncertain, but he'll definitely be kept as a delicacy. Otherwise, why would he send them rice and flour?"
Lianlian fiddled with the embroidery on the hem of her dress. "It's not just rice and flour. I noticed before that the scholar was quite familiar with food in plastic packaging. I suspect it's supplies left behind by maintainers who are stuck in this deadly realm and can't get out. The demons and monsters on the other side use these supplies to feed the villagers, so that when there are no more maintainers to eat, they'll have something to eat."
This statement sent a chill down everyone's spine.
“The white pills are too expensive.” Du Lanshan looked out the window, his expression cold as iron. “We can’t afford even the slightest injury, otherwise, the other side will welcome us as takeout.”
With no other option, the six had no choice but to cross the river, which was their last hope. Rather than being unknowingly seduced by their injured companions who had transformed into beauties, they decided to take the initiative.
They set off as dawn broke, and after barely managing to 'fly' across the river using cards and skills, they were met by a forest of charcoal-headed humanoid monsters.
These humanoid monsters are extremely hot and cannot be attacked. They possess extremely high mental strength and can disrupt mental attacks with their piercing screams. They also avoid ranged attacks. On the contrary, anyone who touches them is likely to be transformed into one of their kind.
Perhaps no one expected that it was Xiao Wang who solved the problem. This young man's skill was related to fire. Faced with countless humanoid monsters burned to charcoal, Xiao Wang, who had poor mental fortitude, was both shocked and frightened. His skill went out of control, and many flames suddenly shot out indiscriminately, regardless of friend or foe.
As the fire burned, Du Lanshan had no choice but to use his skills on the young man, otherwise the young man might have set himself on fire.
Of course, it was this explosive attack that gave them a chance to survive.
It turns out that the beauty's clothes were the return ticket, and the original site of the Beauty Village was the starting point.
Although Black Charcoal Head was difficult to deal with, Du Lanshan, who was eventually tricked by his companions and covered in soot, had only one thought when he returned to the rest stop: he must warn Shuangshuang that good children don't play with fire, because playing with fire can easily lead to bedwetting!
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