Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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For a fleeting moment, Gu Wuji seemed to see the young man who had appeared several times before. This time, he saw the man’s eyes.
Gu Wuji couldn’t make out what he looked like, but he understood the man’s gaze.
That gaze was indescribable; it suddenly reminded Gu Wuji of the several dungeon bosses he had encountered with questionable sexual orientations, but this time, the gaze even had a touch more… the coldness of someone who had witnessed their partner cheating?
Gu Wuji’s heart skipped a beat, but upon closer inspection, there was nothing there anymore.
“He definitely has a problem… No, maybe I have a problem too…”
For the first time in his life, Gu Wuji doubted himself. Could it be that in one of his lost memories, he was a scumb*g who was bisexual, hooking up with female NPCs and even ghost bosses…?
“No, there must be some misunderstanding. I’ve always been the kind of person who takes responsibility when something goes wrong! Oh right, because I might have been running away with the god’s fiancée before, it’s perfectly normal for the other party to see me as a mistress and hate me to the bone.”
Gu Wuji finally understood. That man’s eyes were definitely the cold eyes one would give someone their fiancée cheated on! He and the ghost boss definitely didn’t have anything going on!
Although this made Gu Wuji feel that his chances of leaving this instance alive had decreased even more, since no matter how he thought about it, he was such a scumb*g! But in reality, he was clearly a good person with upright values and kindness!
Gu Wuji had always despised mistresses, but considering the possibility that the vengeful ghost boss might like him… he’d rather he’d once been a man who eloped with someone else’s fiancée, since being liked by the vengeful ghost boss had already left him with some psychological trauma.
Earlier in the illusion, Gu Wuji and the other two interrogated the vengeful ghost hiding in the tree.
This ghost was inherently timid; otherwise, he wouldn’t have hidden like that. He nervously confessed everything, stating that he mostly stood at the back of the group and, being short, wasn’t very clear about the situation. His ability was merely to recreate past scenes.
In the end, the three only knew that the eloping couple had indeed been caught, and the young man seemed to have given up on escaping with the woman. Just as he was about to have the villagers take the woman back, a strange commotion occurred in the village, seemingly because the god was angry at not being able to find his mate.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the young man pushed the woman into the river… What happened after that was unclear, but in short, he was a complete scumb*g, even suspected of murder.
Xiao Qin was discovered by the villagers after seeing this, and he fled back in terror, but it was too late; he was trapped in the woods.
“Could it be that the truth is that the god’s fiancée ran away, and in his anger, the god turned into a monster, forcing the villagers to use sacrifices to seal him away…?”
Gu Wuji thought to himself, continuing forward through the mist, only to find the scene abruptly shifting to the hall filled with coffins.
Unlike before, all the coffin lids were now closed. Only the one in the very center remained open, its interior pitch black and seemingly bottomless, directly opposite Gu Wuji’s position, as if it had been specially prepared for him.
He even vaguely heard the calls of ghosts coming from the opposite side, a sense of impending death if he went there.
“This is too real. Is this a coffin prepared for a mistress?”
Gu Wuji didn’t want to go over at all, but he couldn’t help but slowly walk forward. As he approached the coffin, he even looked down to examine it.
“…No matter how I think about it, this kind of scene is bound to happen now.”
Sure enough, a strong force pushed him from behind, and Gu Wuji stumbled and fell into the coffin.
Before Gu Wuji could even open his eyes, something cold and sinister wrapped around his body, rendering him completely immobile.
In a daze, he heard a cold voice behind him.
“I’ve been waiting for you for so long.”
….
Gu Wuji suddenly opened his eyes. He felt his face was covered in cold sweat.
Fortunately, it was just a dream, otherwise Gu Wuji suspected he would have died there.
Yang Shao and the others next to him all looked grim. It turned out that the village chief and his men had found this place and were demanding that they be taken away.
The village chief had even gathered several villagers, and it looked like they were going to beat them up. They had intended to wake Gu Wuji, but he was fast asleep and only just managed to wake up now.
“Oh, I see. Well, isn’t that good?” Gu Wuji felt things were going quite smoothly.
They were originally going to find the village chief, and now that the village chief had come himself, it saved them even more trouble.
The middle-aged man was practically paralyzed with fear by the sight, hiding inside and being too scared to come out. Gu Wuji, however, simply walked out; after all, that was what he had planned to do anyway.
The village chief, with a forced smile, said, “I didn’t expect you to be here. I’ve been looking for you for a long time. The event is about to start. It would be a real problem if we couldn’t find you. The village’s publicity depends on you all.”
“Indeed,” Gu Wuji said. “After all, we all agreed to come to the village to investigate. It wouldn’t be good if we missed the event. So, what is the village chief planning to do with so many people?”
The village chief was somewhat surprised that Gu Wuji was so cooperative. He immediately said, “It’s mainly because I’m afraid you might encounter some danger. After all, there are quite a few places in the village that have been in disrepair for many years. It would be difficult to handle if something happened to someone.”
“I see. Thank you for your concern, village chief.” Gu Wuji nodded. “Then, village chief, what are we going to do now?”
“Nothing much. The event will officially start at dawn. You all just need to participate.” The village chief said with a smile. “The other four are ready and waiting for you.”
Everyone was immediately shocked, especially Yang Shao, whose expression was not good at all. The other four? Did that include the bodyguard who had disappeared at the beginning? These two bodyguards were probably no longer human; the situation seemed very unfavorable for him.
Even running away was impossible now. The atmosphere in the village was completely different from before. Looking closely, the fog around the village was extremely thick, obscuring even the village itself. Who knew what was hidden within it? There was even a faint feeling that some terrifying, dormant being was about to awaken.
Gu Wuji felt heavy-hearted, sensing he was about to face a… vengeful ghost boss who saw him as a mistress and wanted to kill him.
The surrounding villagers all looked normal, but their expressions were somewhat eerie. If they got entangled with them, the situation wouldn’t be much better. Moreover, to leave this instance, they had to face this situation head-on.
The group then followed the village chief slowly back. The middle-aged man, though reluctant to come, had no choice but to cautiously lead his younger brother out because it was a village event.
“In order to allow you to better experience the village’s activities, we hope you can play roles in them,” the village chief said in a very friendly manner. If someone didn’t know better, they might really think it was just participating in an activity, but looking at the surrounding environment, probably no one with a sound mind would think that way.
This attitude, ironically, sent chills down their spines. Xiao Qin and Yang Shao’s faces darkened, making them be constantly on guard for any potential problems.
“I think it’s fine,” Gu Wuji said to the village chief with a professional air. “But village chief, why did you only inform us at the last minute? And since we’re going to be playing roles, don’t you have a script or something? Won’t this ruin the whole event? I think if you want to develop the village’s culture and make a name for yourself, you can’t be so casual.”
Xiao Qin couldn’t help but look at Gu Wuji with admiration. He was just asking the village chief for information, but Gu Wuji’s attitude was so serious, as if he really cared whether the event could be held properly! He was truly impressive.
Yang Shao: “…” No, he felt that Gu Wuji was simply very concerned about this issue.
The village chief, probably not expecting Gu Wuji to ask this question, paused for a moment before saying, “You don’t need to worry about this. You’ll know what to do when the time comes.”
Gu Wuji was quite disappointed. He had originally thought he could hone his acting skills in the dungeon, so even if he died, it would be a worthy death.
But the village chief’s attitude was truly disappointing…
As they spoke, they arrived at the plaza.
Gu Wuji had been here before; it was just an ordinary plaza. But now everything was different. If you had to describe it, it was exactly the same as the village they had seen in the illusion decades ago, except that the house in the center wasn’t there.
As for the other two companions and two bodyguards, they stood stiffly at the entrance.
The two bodyguards had their heads down, and no one could tell what their expressions were. The two companions beside them had expressions of fear on their faces. No one knew what they had experienced, but when they saw Gu Wuji and the others, their eyes lit up, as if they had found saviors.
As Gu Wuji and the others approached, their two companions immediately sidled up, cold sweat pouring down their faces. They whispered, “Yang Shao’s two bodyguards are so strange; they don’t seem like living people at all.”
“We shouldn’t have thought this village was safe. Is the village chief trying to silence us? Or does he want to do something to us?”
The two rambled on about their experiences during this time—investigating in the village, encountering various ghosts, nearly not making it back, and finally being rescued by the village chief… They even seemed to have heard the village chief say something about how living people were best for sacrifice.
Most shockingly, despite all that, they hadn’t regained their memories. Gu Wuji was beginning to suspect they might also be ordinary NPCs.
“I’m sure you all know the village legend,” the village chief began. “Originally, we were going to reenact the events of that time, but there’s a slight problem. After all, we’re asking all of you to participate, and that might be asking too much… So I changed my mind and decided to change it to a sacrificial ceremony. Seven people will be enough for seven guests.”
“Of course, don’t worry, this simulated sacrificial ritual will absolutely not be life-threatening,” the village chief smiled. “Everything is very simple. After it’s over, I’ll send someone to escort you out of the village.”
As soon as the village chief finished speaking, the system’s voice rang out:
[Triggering Main Quest: Participate in the ritual and investigate the truth of this village.]
The two people paused, then seemed to realize something, their faces showing lingering fear. They had probably finally remembered their true identities and the dangers they had faced these past few days.
Gu Wuji understood by now. It seemed this instance gave people a few days to investigate, during which they might encounter danger, but it shouldn’t lead to immediate death… otherwise, these two wouldn’t have survived unscathed.
And on the last day, the players’ memories would be restored. At this point, regardless of how much information had been uncovered, everyone must participate in the village’s ceremony.
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