CH 8.1

Several people stayed busy until the latter part of the night, and Li Cancan woke up.

Considerate Zhou Guang was right to prepare in advance as Li Cancan shouted for food as soon as she woke up. Xia Chi and Liang Xi were also hungry after being busy for a long time, and Bai Lixin also realized that he hadn’t eaten anything all along.

In fact, he didn’t need to eat anything since becoming a god. But he was afraid of being thought of as a monster if he didn’t eat, so he drank some porridge.

In this way, five people dried out a pot of porridge in the middle of the night.

Liang Xi told Li Cancan everything that had happened since she passed out, except that she was probably the “River God’s Bride” who was most crucial to the completion of the mission.

When Li Cancan was in a coma, the buff on top of her head was not displayed. Now that she had woken up, the buff on top of her head was revealed.

Speed 300%.

Li Cancan’s role was also a brand new one: [ maid.]

As for what kind of maid she was, they wouldn’t know until the next day.

The next day, when the rooster crowed, Bai Lixin finally got to see the spectacular sight of “no matter where the players are, the NPCs can find them” as Xia Chi said.

The five didn’t go to sleep until after midnight. It was late and had safety in number so no one suggested sleeping in another room.

Liang Xi found some bedding and made bunks on the floor, so the five simply slept in their clothes.

Bai Lixin woke up first when the rooster crowed for the first time.

The other four were still sleeping on all fours, and Xia Chi’s saliva was almost flowing onto the pillow.

Bai Lixin was just about to get up and wash up when he realized that he was quite clean.

Not so much clean in the sense that he hadn’t gotten dirty, but in the sense that it was like he had just had a bath.

Because of the limited conditions, he had only washed his face hastily yesterday. But he got up feeling refreshed today and could even smell the faint scent of grass and mint, much like the scent in the cave the day before.

Bai Lixin looked down and twisted the corners of his pyjamas. They were clean and crisp as if he had just washed them.

He pursed his lips, his raven-feathered lashes fluttering in mid-air, hiding the thoughtful look in his eyes.

Just when he was about to call the others up, there was a loud bang at the courtyard door, followed by a knock that sounded like a steady rain.

The knocking was deafening, lest the people in the room fail to hear it.

A man’s voice rang out, “The day’s work lies in the morning, everyone gather in the courtyard before the cock crows or you will be educated about laziness.”

Xia Chi got up from the bed with a carp and shook the other three up in a panic.

Li Cancan was still a little confused, but seeing the panicked look on Xia Chi’s face, tensed up along with him.

Two minutes later, the rooster crowing stopped and all the players appeared in the courtyard.

Bai Lixin observed the NPCs in front of him. The man at the head wore a black hat and was dressed much better than the other NPCs and looked to be around forty or fifty years old. This was the very same village chief they had seen in the photo yesterday.

A dozen NPCs stood in front of them, their faces pale, the black in their eyes almost filling their sockets. They were unblinking and stiff as stone.

The remaining players possessed the professions of villagers, blacksmith, doctor, maid and Saint.

Six villager NPCs took away nine villager players, and the blacksmith and Liang Xi were also taken away, leaving only Bai Lixin and Li Cancan in the courtyard.

Li Cancan fainted as soon as she entered the village. It was now her first time seeing the NPCs and she was completely shocked.

The village head and the two remaining male NPCs walked up to Li Cancan and Bai Lixin. The village chief looked Bai Lixin up and down with his dark eyes.

He tugged at his face as if he wanted to show some kind of expression, but because his face was so stiff that it ended up like his entire face was twitching, “Not bad, really good looking.”

Li Cancan beside Bai Lixin was already shaking into a sieve.

Village Head: “The Saint’s task today is to bathe, change clothes and clean the shrine afterwards. Maid, your task is to assist the Saint in cleaning the shrine. Follow these two elders.”

Bai Lixin glanced at the village head and silently followed the NPCs.

As he was leaving the courtyard, he vaguely heard the village head’s muffled voice, “Boy, can you do it?”

Li Cancan trembled for a while before finally calming down, “Bai Lixin, it’s good that it’s the two of us together.  I would probably be scared to death if it were just me. Why do I feel that these villagers are even scarier than those monsters.”

Bai Lixin: “The Uncanny Valley Effect, ever heard of it?”

Li Cancan: “It seems a bit familiar.”

Bai Lixin: “Humans will report a favorable impression of anything that imitates them. For example, a blinking cat, a dog with a tilted head, a panda begging for a hug. But once something looks too human-like, humans become fearful instead. For example, a dull simulated robot, a doll with a stiff expression.”

Li Cancan’s nervously wrapped her fingers around the corner of her clothes, “It’s true now that you’ve mentioned it. I used to be most afraid of things like dolls. I feel like they’re staring at me every time I sleep at night.”

“That’s why I’m scared of these NPCs.  They look human but their expressions and movements are different from ours.”

Bai Lixin: “Don’t be afraid, there were three female players with fever, and only you survived, and with that alone, you are brave and have strong willpower.”

Li Cancan’s eyes filled with tears, ” I don’t dare to die. My grandmother is sick and she only has me now. She is still waiting for me to save her life. If I die, my grandmother will be very sad.”

As the two talked, the man who had been silently leading the way suddenly stopped in his tracks.

“My Lady Saint, please go inside and change your clothes. Replacement clothes have already been placed inside. Feel free to call us if there are any problems, we are always waiting outside.”

“Maid, please join us outside and wait to be summoned.”

Li Cancan’s expression froze. She nervously looked at the two pale NPCs and then looked at Bai Lixin pleadingly, “Can…can I follow you in?”

Villager: “No, the body of the Saint is not something we can desecrate, not even if we are maids.”

Although Li Cancan was a little disappointed, she quickly steeled her spirit again at the thought that these two NPCs might leave some kind of clue.

Li Cancan: “Okay, I’ll wait outside.”

Bai Lixin walked into the house that the villagers pointed out.

This was actually a courtyard, and the one that the villagers had let themselves into was one of them.

Bai Lixin entered the room.

The small room had a folding screen with a set of pure white clothes hanging on it.

Behind the screen was a round wooden bucket that could hold two people and was filled with clean water.

Bai Lixin tested the temperature of the water and found it was cold.

The bath was set for him, and it seemed that the only way to get a new clue would be during the ritual.

Without hesitation, Bai Lixin took off his clothes and stepped into the wooden bucket.

The cold water instantly invaded his body along his pores and he psychologically shrank his neck.

A ray of sunlight came in through the half-open window and hit the water in the barrel, making the water sparkle and ripple a little.

Bai Lixin opened the taskbar.

[Clearance mission: Survive 72 hours. (35:45:23/72:00:00)

Additional task: Find the truth about the River God’s Curse. (30%/100%)]

There were less than 40 hours left, leaving him with little time.

Bai Lixin immersed his entire body in the icy water and poured a handful of water over his face.

His eyes were slightly closed and he leaned his head back, resting his neck on the edge of the barrel as a few words gradually came to his mind.

Bao’er, Grandma Sang, the village head, the River God, thirty years ago.

Finally, Bai Lixin stopped at the “River God”.

Bao’er, Grandma Sang, the village head, these were all real.

But is the “River God”, the character who plays the most important role in the “River God Curse”, a real god or a lie made up by man to deceive the world?

In all the information he had learned, the River God appears only in words like “legend” and “heard”.

Was Bao’er really sacrificed to the River God thirty years ago? Or was it something else?

If there was a River God, then all they have to do was follow the trail and find the reason for his anger.

But if there was no River God, then the problem lay in thirty years ago.

Bai Lixin was considering the connection between these several things when he suddenly felt his fingers being hooked by something.

His eyes snapped open and he stretched out his hand with vigilance.