"Greed" Wards Off Evil

Inside the Dungeon.

While Xu Xi was observing her teammates, the other five were also observing each other.

The six people, each with their own distinct style, each occupied a spot, maintaining a certain distance from one another.

Before anyone could speak, a slow, hoarse voice came from not far away.

"You must be the experts who accepted my commission to exorcise evil spirits from our village, right?"

Upon hearing this, the six people looked in the direction of the voice and saw a slightly hunched, elderly man slowly walking towards them.

As the old man approached the group, the well-dressed, sophisticated man in a suit opportunely spoke up, "Indeed, it is us."

Regardless of whether they can exorcise evil spirits or not, since the Dungeon assigns them to experts, they have to be.

It was obvious that the old man in front of them was there to provide them with initial information about the Dungeon.

The others, of course, wouldn't be foolish enough to undermine the Man in a Suit.

"That's wonderful!" The old man visibly became excited. "I've heard you're very famous. Now our village is saved!"

The Man in a Suit smiled slightly, "We need to learn more about the situation."

"No problem, of course no problem. Please come into the village with me. Standing here is too conspicuous. Let's talk as we walk." The old man pointed ahead, "Our village is just ahead."

"Okay, please lead the way."

After the old man turned around, the Man in a Suit nodded to the other five people and followed behind the old man.

The group's expressions varied, but they quickly followed together.

Xu Xi habitually walked at the very back.

The Man in a Suit gave him a sense of familiarity; he was very much like the Refined Man from the previous Dungeon, both of them being people who were well-versed in the art of language.

The two men simply had different temperaments; the Refined Man was more gentle, while the Man in a Suit appeared more shrewd.

The seven people walked slowly along the relatively flat dirt road, their shoes occasionally crunching over small pebbles. On both sides of the road stretched endless wheat fields, and a gentle breeze stirred up layers of green waves.

The bitter scent of wheat straw and the earthy smell of soil wafted over, Xu Xi took a gentle sniff, inexplicably feeling a little more relaxed.

If it weren't in Dungeon, this natural scenery of blue sky and green grass would probably be very popular.

It's a pity he didn't have a phone, otherwise he really wanted to take some landscape photos and post them on WeChat Moments.

It wasn't just Xu Xi; judging from the unconsciously dazed expressions of the other players, everyone's thoughts were pretty much the same.

But soon, the old man's deep, hoarse voice at the front brought everyone's scattered thoughts back.

"Our village is called Ninghe Village, and I am the village head. My surname is Zhu."

"As for why we invited several experts here, well, that's a long story..."

As the Village Chief Zhu walked, he slowly explained the situation to the players.

"As you can see, our village is nestled against the mountains and beside the water, with a beautiful environment. In the past, many people came here for tourism."

"But three years ago, a major incident occurred in the village."

Before I get to that, I need to mention Awang's family in the village.

"Awang is a child with a hard life. His father died in a construction accident the year he was born. The boss refused to pay the compensation and eventually ran away with the money. Since then, Awang has been raised by his mother alone. Without the breadwinner and without the compensation, life has been really difficult for the two of them."

"Around that time, some rumors started circulating in the village, but Awang's mother had a fiery temper. If anyone dared to gossip about her family, she would grab a kitchen knife and go to their door. Gradually, no one said anything to their face anymore."

Upon hearing this, the six players clearly sensed that Village Chief Zhu's tone had not only lowered slightly but also trembled slightly, causing their hearts to sink.

Three years ago, Awang was only 7 years old. Unlike his parents, he wasn't outgoing. He was quiet and reserved from a young age, and he would help with chores every day without his mother having to call him. If my little rascal were half as sensible as Awang, I would wake up laughing in my dreams.

"But who knew that such an ordinary day would suddenly turn into such a tragedy."

"Awang went out to help his mother pick wild vegetables that day and wasn't home. Luckily, he wasn't home. That day, a big fire broke out at Awang's house, and the fire spread to several other houses, burning Awang's mother and some elderly villagers who had difficulty walking and couldn't escape to death inside."

"After that, people started dying in the village."

"First, there were some elderly people who either suddenly passed away at their doorstep after visiting neighbors, or collapsed on the table after eating at home, without even having time to be taken to the hospital."

"At first we didn't pay much attention, after all, it's normal for accidents to happen at this age, but things got weirder and weirder afterward."

"From elderly people in their sixties and seventies to children as young as seven or eight, even young people who had always been healthy were dying one after another."

"Our village has a total population of less than two hundred, but in just three years, more than sixty people have died in our village!"

Everyone gasped in shock upon hearing this.

A small village, with an average of more than twenty people dying every year?

The sunny-looking man in the baseball cap interjected, "Didn't you call the police?"

"Of course I called the police." The village chief's tone was full of bitterness. "When the children and young adults started getting into trouble, I called the police."

"But when the police arrived, they investigated the entire village, but found nothing unusual."

"From then on, rumors spread that there were evil spirits in the village."

"But what does this have to do with Awang's family?" The stylishly dressed Curly-Haired Woman asked this question, but she already had a guess in her heart.

The continuous deaths in the village may be related to the fire at Awang's house.

Sure enough, everyone heard Village Chief Zhu lower his voice, as if he were avoiding something, and explain in a low voice:

"A rumor, which I don't know where it came from, said that the fire at Awang's house was because Awang's mother... had an affair, Awang's father, unable to bear it in the underworld, started the fire in a fit of rage, burning the adulterous couple to death."

This...?

The six people looked at each other in bewilderment.

The gentle-looking girl in the long dress couldn't help but frown. "You believed that?"

Village Chief Zhu sighed, "At first, of course we didn't believe it, but..."

"You don't know, the first people to die were the ones who gossiped about Awang's family, saying that Awang was a jinx who would bring misfortune to his father and mother, and that such a strong fate would surely bring misfortune to everyone around him in the future."

The villagers all believed that Awang's mother, unwilling to accept her fate, had transformed into a vengeful ghost and returned to take revenge on the village.

The Young Woman in a Long Dress asked again, "So, village chief, you think so too?"

Village Chief Zhu did not answer, but only sighed repeatedly.

Xu Xi thought to herself, "The village chief must have believed it, otherwise he wouldn't have invited them to 'exorcise the evil spirits.'"