"Highway Terror": He Really Had Just Stumbled Into It

In the distance, everyone could already make out the rough outline of the village.

Tan Xingyun was thinking much the same as the bullet comments. He didn't dare drive too close, so he stopped nearby and said tentatively, "We're here, miss. We're in a hurry to get going, so can you walk the rest of the way yourself?"

The Red-Skirted Woman wasn't displeased. On the contrary, she was delighted. "Of course, of course! I've already troubled you enough! Oh, here, take this money as payment for the ride."

She produced a stack of paper bills from somewhere and pressed it into Li Kang's arms.

"I didn't bring much cash with me, so this is all I have. I hope you won't mind."

With that, she got out of the car briskly, without making any move to invite them to the village for the wedding feast.

Li Kang stared blankly at the money suddenly thrust into his arms. He instinctively tried to give it back. "No! We can't take this!"

The moment the words left his mouth, Li Kang came to his senses and inwardly cried, Fuck!

This isn't the fucking real world, so why the hell am I refusing it?!

And I'm even going back and forth over it with an anomaly!

Fortunately, the Red-Skirted Woman didn't notice his stiff expression and simply waved a hand. "Keep it. I can't just hitch a ride for free. If you weren't in such a hurry, I'd even invite you to the village for the wedding feast before you left."

Li Kang quietly breathed a sigh of relief. After a moment's hesitation, he handed the money to Xu Xi beside him. "Bro, what do you think about this...?"

Xu Xi was surprised, but he took the money.

As he looked down to examine the bills, he also paid attention to the conversation between Tan Xingyun and the Red-Skirted Woman.

The money in his hand was the same kind as the money in his own pocket. There was no difference at all.

Meanwhile, Tan Xingyun quickly called out to the Red-Skirted Woman as she prepared to walk toward the village. Under his teammates' questioning gazes, he took out a few sheets of joss paper.

"Though we don't have time for the wedding feast, it must be fate that we came across such a happy occasion. Please accept this wedding gift as a token of our well wishes."

The Red-Skirted Woman quickly caught on. At the sight of the joss paper, she showed no unusual reaction. Instead, she accepted the so-called wedding gift with a radiant smile.

"Thank you for your well wishes, then. Wait here a moment. I'll go get you some wedding candy so you can share in the good fortune."

After the Red-Skirted Woman hurried away, Tan Xingyun explained before his teammates could ask, "Unlike that old woman earlier, this woman is obviously friendlier, and we can talk to her normally. I think there must be something else special about her."

Xu Xiuman thought back. "But she gave us very little information from beginning to end. All she said was that she was going to a wedding feast."

Tan Xingyun nodded. "Yes, but do you still remember that old man at the funeral shop?"

Li Kang asked curiously, "What about him?"

"We originally thought that old man was only there to give us some clues and items, and that was true enough. But we all just accepted what he gave us. Only young Xu actively pried out a deeper clue."

Xu Xi, who had been listening silently, hadn't expected the conversation to turn to him. In particular, he really had just stumbled into it, and every time it was brought up, he felt awkward.

Xu Xiuman understood at once. "In real life, people usually give at least a little money when they attend a wedding feast, so you decided to try doing the same thing."

"Right," Tan Xingyun admitted.

That was all there was to his intention.

"As it turns out, it worked," Xu Xiuman said quietly, looking at the red figure jogging toward them from nearby.

[Fuck, fuck, fuck, he even made that connection?]

[This beer-bellied uncle is pretty impressive. He's bold and careful, brave and resourceful. Feels like he could survive in the game for a long time.]

[So why didn't Xu Xi think of it?]

[So why did Xu Xi have to be the one to think of it? This is a multiplayer instance, not a solo one. Are the other players not supposed to think for themselves? What a joke.]

[Don't mind that idiot, person above.]

[It's not necessarily that he didn't think of it. Maybe he just wasn't interested in doing something unnecessary.]

[Wedding candy sounds like a one-use item. He's already capable of speedrunning the instance, so would he care about a few measly scraps?]

[Measly scraps? What an unfamiliar expression.]

[Plenty of players go through several instances without getting a single one-use item, and you're calling them measly scraps?]

[Stop arguing, the woman in red is back.]

As the bullet comments watched, the Red-Skirted Woman came running back, out of breath.

"Here, take these wedding candies."

Tan Xingyun counted the candies at a glance. There were exactly eight. He accepted them and thanked her with a smile. "Thank you."

"Of course. I'll head back now. Be careful on the road, and have a safe journey."

She waved goodbye, then turned and went back.

Tan Xingyun didn't stuff all the candy into his own pockets. He took two pieces and held out the rest to the others. "Let's split them evenly, two each."

Li Kang let out an "Ah." Whenever he felt awkward, he couldn't help scratching his head. "Uncle, you were the one who got these. How can we take them?"

The candy was most likely an instance item, and he knew how precious an item could be. At times, it could even save a life.

Besides, he hadn't done much along the way, which made him even more embarrassed to take something for free.

Tan Xingyun smiled and said amiably, "We're all teammates, and we've gotten through this instance thanks to everyone's cooperation. Although my attempt turned out well, there was also a one-in-three chance it would turn out badly. You all shared the consequences with me, so shouldn't I share the reward? Besides, she gave us exactly eight pieces of candy, maybe so we could divide them evenly."

Xu Xiuman glanced at him thoughtfully and didn't refuse. She took two pieces of candy in different wrappers from the middle-aged man. "Thank you."

The eight candies came in two kinds: four in floral wrappers and four in plain white wrappers.

Tan Xingyun and Xu Xiuman had each taken one of each kind.

Li Kang noticed that too. He took two pieces, embarrassed, and hurriedly said, "Thank you, Uncle!"

Xu Xi thought the same way as Li Kang. He wasn't so thick-skinned as to take candy that someone else had obtained and that might be an item.

But the other two had taken theirs, and it didn't seem quite right for him to be the only one who didn't.

So he accepted the last two pieces of candy and thanked Tan Xingyun sincerely as well.

[Whoa, this beer-bellied uncle is way too generous. If those really are items, that's eight of them, and he just shares them like that.]

[Any other player would definitely keep them all. Who'd be foolish enough to share them with their teammates?]

[This uncle isn't foolish. Quite the opposite, he's very clever, and he isn't greedy.]

[Uncle: Never thought I'd still have to consider social niceties after entering an instance.]