"Greed" Time-Limited Instance

"In short, please, a few experts, help our village! I'll give whatever it takes!" Village Chief Zhu pleaded earnestly. "The sooner it's resolved, the better; ideally, it should be resolved within three days."

Three days?

Is this a time-limited Dungeon with a specific duration?

The Man in a Suit smiled and nodded, "Village Chief Zhu rest assured, we are all professionals. I just wanted to ask, is there any significance to the three-day period? After all, we haven't actually met Awang's mother yet, and we don't Item specifics of how difficult the situation is. What if..."

"... Sigh, there's no real explanation. It's just that there aren't many people left in our village. Most of the young people have gone out to work, leaving only the elderly and children. We can't let them keep dying like this."

Everyone could see that this Village Chief Zhu was hiding some information.

But if they won't tell you, you can't just force them to.

The outline of the village came into view, becoming clearer as they approached.

"We're almost at the village entrance." Village Chief Zhu suddenly stopped and earnestly requested of the six people behind him, "We'll need your help to pretend to be relatives of my wife's side. If the villagers ask, just say you're here for a few days."

Upon hearing this request, all the players were completely baffled.

They're already asking them to exorcise evil spirits within three days, and now they're telling them not to reveal their identities?

What, the villagers don't welcome their exorcism?

Seeing the obvious confusion on the faces of the exorcists, Village Chief Zhu cleared his throat, carefully choosing his words before explaining, "The villagers have been tormented by Awang's mother for too long and can't withstand any more torment. Let's wait until the masters successfully exorcise the evil spirits before I tell the villagers the good news. At that time, the village will hold a banquet to reward the masters."

Everyone understood.

Doesn't this mean they're afraid their exorcism will fail and the villagers will be disappointed?

Although it sounded reasonable, Xu Xi always felt that the village chief was also hiding something in this regard.

"Since Village Chief Zhu has put it that way, of course we agree." The Man in a Suit smiled and accepted the statement.

The others, including Xu Xi, remained silent.

After a while, the seven of them arrived at the village entrance.

The elderly women sitting under the shade of a tree not far away, chatting and knitting knots, looked up and saw them, and immediately began to whisper among themselves.

Soon someone shouted, "Director, why are there so many people following you?"

Village Chief Zhu chuckled and replied, "They're all relatives from my husband's side, a bunch of young people who came here for a few days."

"I didn't realize Cuifen had such a group of beautiful relatives. Why didn't you invite them over sooner... cough, come to my place another day, and I'll kill a chicken for you." The older woman seemed to realize she had misspoke and quickly corrected herself.

Village Chief Zhu seemed oblivious to their misunderstanding, exchanged a few more words with them, and then continued leading the players forward.

The six people following behind showed no outward sign of surprise, but in reality, they were all deep in thought.

Xu Xi glanced at the chattering aunties out of the corner of her eye and muttered to herself, "They don't look like they've been through any real misery."

The village was quite peaceful, with houses scattered in an orderly fashion. Almost every household had a yard where chickens, ducks, and other poultry were kept. Villagers gathered in twos and threes, seemingly chatting about everyday life.

Village Chief Zhu walked along, he introduced the six people behind him to the villagers.

"It's getting late. Why don't you gentlemen come to my place for dinner first? My wife should have the food ready by now; she's a very good cook."

"After dinner, I will arrange accommodations for the experts."

Village Chief Zhu deliberately lowered his voice.

The Man in a Suit lowered his voice in response. "No problem, Village Chief Zhu, you can arrange it."

Of the six players, the Man in a Suit could be said to have shouldered the heavy responsibility of social interaction.

Xu Xi felt he didn't need to say anything; with so many people around, he really didn't know what to say.

The young man in the baseball cap, the girl in the long skirt, and the woman with curly hair—at least they had exchanged a few words earlier.

The Tall, Thin Man looked gloomy, like him, didn't say a word.

"We've arrived. My home is right here. If any experts have any problems, you can come here to find me. Even if I'm not here, my son will come and call me."

The Village Chief Zhu's house looks no different from the other villagers' houses. Its only advantage is that it is very close to the village entrance, which is only a ten-minute walk away.

A chubby-faced little boy peeked out from under the gate every now and then. When he saw Village Chief Zhu, his eyes lit up instantly, and he immediately ran over and grabbed Village Chief Zhu's sleeve.

"Grandpa, where did you go? Why are you only coming back now? Grandma said we have to wait for you to come back before we can eat. I'm starving!"

Village Chief Zhu said with a stern face, "I saw your grandma secretly slip you two sweet potatoes before I left. We have guests today, so go and pour them some water."

The little boy looked up at the six strangers behind him and obediently replied, "Oh."

Then he turned and ran back into the house.

Grandma! We have guests!

Village Chief Zhu watched the little boy run away with a helpless expression, then turned around and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, my good-for-nothing son and his wife have gone out to work, leaving the child in the village. He's always been mischievous, so if he offends any of you gentlemen, please be kind to him for his young age."

"Kids are kids, it's good for them to be lively, we... uh?" The Man in a Suit was about to say that they wouldn't mind, but when he heard the other person's last sentence, he was stunned for a moment.

The Village Chief Zhu, oblivious to his stunned expression, turned and shouted towards the house, "Old woman, quickly set the table! The guests have all arrived!"

"Coming, coming, what's the rush? So you're not the one cooking?" A neatly dressed auntie came out carrying dishes, and her face immediately lit up with a smile when she saw the six young people behind her husband.

"Hey, the dishes are all ready! Masters, please have a seat!"

Xu Xi was greatly amazed by his ability to switch between expressions so easily.

The six people were warmly invited to sit at the table by the village chief and his wife, and the little boy poured a glass of water for each of them.

The food on the table was plentiful, and it was clear that a lot of effort had been put into it.

"Village Chief Zhu, you haven't eaten yet, have you? How could we eat before you? Besides, we can't let the child go hungry. Come on, little one, eat with your uncle." The Man in a Suit waved to the little boy.

Village Chief Zhu glared at his eager grandson, then shook his head. "We can eat in the kitchen later. We should treat our distinguished guests well for the first meal."

The Man in a Suit was only trying to get the village chief's family to eat with him because he was worried there might be something wrong with the food.

The village chief refused, and none of the players dared to touch their chopsticks.

However, just as the two sides were locked in a stalemate, the young man wearing a black hooded sweatshirt suddenly stretched out his chopsticks.