"Greed": Could You Please Save Awang?

Seeing that the matter seemed to have passed, the Young Woman in a Long Dress began to recount the information she and the Curly-Haired Woman had gathered from the villagers.

"The villagers are worshipping what is said to be Mountain God... uh, a deity? The village's sacrificial ceremony in three days is to pray for the Mountain God's blessing, and the ceremony will be presided over by a particularly famous Shamaness in the village."

"This Shamaness holds a special position in the village. It's said that she was the Shamaness first connected with the Mountain God, and after she led the villagers to worship the Mountain God, the probability of death in the village dropped significantly."

"The villagers spoke of the Shamaness with great respect, and of the Mountain God with even greater reverence."

... How did this Mountain God get involved again out of nowhere?

These were the immediate thoughts of everyone after hearing the news.

"No wonder the villagers didn't seem too worried about Awang's mother's evil deeds; it turns out she'd invited the Mountain God to suppress her." The Curly-Haired Woman's tone was quite meaningful.

The Young Man in a Duckbill Cap raised an eyebrow. "Then why did the village chief ask us to exorcise the evil spirits, without even telling us that the village worships Mountain God?"

The Man in a Suit looked thoughtful. "It seems this year's ceremony is different from previous ones. The village chief disagrees with it, but his disagreement is tantamount to offending the Shamaness and the Mountain God, Mountain God might then withdraw his protection from the village."

"So the village chief invited us 'experts' hoping that we could eliminate the root of the threat to the village— Awang's mother—before the sacrificial ceremony in three... now, two days from now, to prevent it from taking place," the Young Woman in a Long Dress whispered. "They probably had us pretend to be Aunt Cui Fen's relatives to avoid attracting the attention of the Shamaness."

This is currently the most reasonable guess.

The Curly-Haired Woman put down her chopsticks and glanced at everyone. "So here's another question: what exactly is wrong with this sacrificial ceremony that made the village chief so resistant, and even managed to drag it out for half a month under the pressure of so many dissatisfied villagers?"

Since the players haven't gathered any clues in this regard, they certainly can't make accurate deductions.

"Speaking of which, we seem to have overlooked a key figure who has been present from beginning to end." The Man in a Suit rubbed his temples. "We forgot to pay attention to the cause of Awang's mother's death."

"If this Dungeon was created by Awang's mother's resentment, then how she died and why she harbored resentment should be very important clues."

"For example, how did that fire start? And why did Awang's mother choose to take revenge on the village?"

"We need to know the truth in order to figure out a way to clear this Dungeon."

Yes.

Everyone suddenly realized that their focus had unknowingly shifted to the strange things in the village, and they had almost overlooked the true core of the Dungeon.

After reminding the others, the Man in a Suit turned to the Tall, Thin Man beside him and asked, "Did you find anything on Awang?"

Everyone else turned their attention to the Tall, Thin Man.

Xu Xi looked at the man with a gloomy demeanor with equal curiosity.

"Awang fed the chickens in the yard in the morning, then laid a bunch of wildflowers at his mother's grave. After that, he spent the morning picking wild vegetables at the foot of the mountain. When he got back, he started washing the vegetables and cooking. That was all."

The Tall, Thin Man seemed unaccustomed to speaking so much at once; his expression was somewhat unnatural. After a pause, he added, "..."

"The only unusual thing is that Awang buried his mother's grave himself; it was rather simple, and even the tombstone was made of thin wood with crooked handwriting. It's likely that Awang carved it himself."

"..." Recalling the thin little boy they had seen earlier, everyone fell silent.

After a while, the Man in a Suit sighed and said, "It seems we won't be able to get any useful clues from Awang for the time being."

He thought for a moment and summarized the information he had, "First, we need to figure out what exactly happened three years ago that caused that fire, and why Awang's mother chose to take revenge on the entire village after her death."

The claim that Awang's mother cheated on him and that Awang's father burned her to death in a fit of rage is utterly absurd.

It seems more like they're trying to cover something up.

"Secondly, why did the three people who died half a month ago die differently from the villagers before them? One of them died by swallowing gold, and what caused the other two to die? There is a high possibility that they have something in common."

"Third, how did that strange wheat field come about? Who was its original owner? Why does it need to be watered with blood? And who is currently watering that wheat field? The villagers say that the wheat field is related to Awang's mother. What exactly is the connection?"

"Finally, why did the village chief disagree with the sacrificial ceremony two days later? What's so special about this ceremony?"

After listening to the Man in a Suit's clear summary, Xu Xi felt that the previously complicated information had suddenly become much more organized.

The Young Woman in a Long Dress thought for a moment and said, "Judging from the current situation, the villagers are still quite reserved with us strangers. It will probably be difficult to get any more clues out of them."

"The villagers advocate for the ritual, but Village Chief Zhu strongly opposes it. As highly skilled individuals who have come to 'exorcise' the evil spirits, we are unsurprisingly aligned with Village Chief Zhu's stance. Therefore, we have encountered a bottleneck and cannot complete the exorcism in two days..."

Everyone understood the implication of the Young Woman in a Long Dress.

They could 'request' the Village Chief Zhu's help to obtain more information.

The Man in a Suit's eyes lit up. "We could definitely give it a try."

His gaze lingered for a moment on the seemingly gentle and quiet Young Woman in a Long Dress.

The other party's thinking is extremely quick.

The others also agreed to give it a try.

Xu Xi had been completely invisible throughout the entire process, quietly sighed, feeling that his teammates in the multiplayer Dungeon seemed to be getting stronger with each run.

After everyone finished lunch, they went to the kitchen.

Village Chief Zhu wasn't there, but since he had previously said that his grandson could come to him if needed, the group went to the kitchen to ask the boy to go find his grandfather.

The boy, who was as strong as a calf, agreed at his grandmother's urging.

However, after leaving the kitchen, he didn't immediately run out to find Village Chief Zhu. Instead, he stood in front of the players, looking at them awkwardly.

The Man in a Suit smiled calmly and asked, "What's wrong, little one? Don't you know where your grandfather is?"

The boy shook his head and then nodded. "No, I know where Grandpa is. It's... it's... are you the masters Grandpa invited to get rid of Aunt Mei Chan?"

Aunt Mei Chan?

Everyone instantly grasped the key words.

The Man in a Suit smiled, but didn't answer directly, "Why do you ask that?"

The boy scratched the back of his head and stammered, "Um... could you please save Awang?"