"Greed": There's Something Wrong with Gao Zhuang

The next morning.

The six people gradually gathered and were preparing to head to the village chief's house.

Xu Xi quietly yawned behind the others.

The knocking on the door last night occurred at the same time as the night before.

The old man persisted, relentlessly asking him if he had any gold.

Seemingly influenced by this, he dreamt that night that he was running ahead carrying a stack of gold, with an old man chasing after him with a fanatical expression, shouting, "You have gold! You have gold!"

... Outrageous.

Xu Xi was about to shake her head to get rid of this bizarre dream, a commotion suddenly broke out in front of her.

He immediately went forward to check the situation.

The Curly-Haired Woman had been walking ahead was now curled up on the ground, clutching her chest and gasping for breath.

Seeing the other person struggling to breathe, Xu Xi's first thought was--

"He's been poisoned."

Except for not coughing up blood, his symptoms were exactly the same as when he ate poisonous food in the previous episode.

Xu Xi's words made the other four people's expressions turn serious.

Although they didn't know how the Young Man in a Hoodie was so sure that the Curly-Haired Woman's condition was caused by poisoning rather than other factors, since he was the first to determine that the food was poisoned, he must have some means to do so.

"Let's take her to Village Chief Zhu first."

The Young Woman in a Long Dress was about to help the Curly-Haired Woman hair when the tall, Tall, Thin Man had already picked her up.

"Walk."

The group hurried towards the village chief's house.

The Village Chief Zhu was terrified by the poisoned food yesterday. This morning, they went to another villager's house to borrow well water again and caught a chicken to test for poison. Only after seeing that there was no problem did they dare to eat.

When the experts who had pointed out the poison in the food last night arrived, just as they were about to let them enjoy their breakfast without worry, they saw the curly-haired woman being held in the arms of Tall, Thin Man, looking like she was on the verge of death.

"What... what happened?" Wu Cuifen asked in surprise.

The Young Woman in a Long Dress explained very quickly, "She's been poisoned. Does your village have a clinic or any kind of medical facility?"

Village Chief Zhu nodded hurriedly, "Yes, yes, I'll take you to Xiao Gao's place right away."

It was only after Village Chief Zhu's introduction along the way that the players learned who Xiao Gao was.

Ninghe Village is relatively small, and most of the young and middle-aged people in the village have gone out to work, so medical conditions are not very developed.

Only one young man named Gao Zhuang returned to the village after studying at the town's clinic for a few years and became Barefoot Doctor. Villagers would usually go to him for treatment when they were sick.

After walking for about ten minutes, a small clinic came into view.

Village Chief Zhu shouted, "Xiao Gao, come out quickly! Someone has been poisoned!"

A moment later, a thin young man came out of the clinic and quickly opened the door. "Bring the person in first!"

The Tall, Thin Man carried the Curly-Haired Woman inside first.

Xu Xi walked at the back, unable to resist glancing at the young man named Gao Zhuang, who was actually neither tall nor strong.

The clinic wasn't very big, and it felt quite crowded with eight people standing there at once.

Gao Zhuang examined the Curly-Haired Woman's condition, then hesitated before looking at Village Chief Zhu: "Chief, this... this woman has been cursed by Aunt Mei Chan."

"Where is that..."

Village Chief Zhu was about to say that it wasn't a curse, the Man in a Suit interrupted him.

He asked the Gao Zhuang, "Is there really no way to save her? Why don't you take another look?"

Gao Zhuang shook his head. "These symptoms are the same as those of the others before. I can't see what's wrong. Instead of coming to me, you might as well go to the Shamaness. She can communicate with the Lord Mountain God; maybe she has a solution."

Village Chief Zhu wanted to explain to him that the curse was actually just poisoning, but after being interrupted by the experts around him, he gradually figured out that the experts clearly didn't want him to reveal the truth.

Why is that?

"You're a doctor, how could you believe in such nonsense as curses?" the Young Woman in a Long Dress said coldly. "Let's go straight to town; there are bound to be doctors there who can diagnose the symptoms."

Xu Xi looked at the Curly-Haired Woman had already started coughing and thought that she probably wouldn't be able to hold on much longer than the woman in the previous shift.

The other players also knew that the Curly-Haired Woman was practically doomed; at this moment, they were more focused on testing the young doctor named Gao Zhuang.

Gao Zhuang was scolded, his face flushed, feeling both ashamed and embarrassed. "But I really can't save her."

The next second, the Curly-Haired Woman suddenly grabbed the Gao Zhuang man's arm, pulling so hard that her coat creased.

She moved her lips as if she wanted to say "save me," but before she could utter a sound, the light in her eyes went out.

After holding on for more than ten minutes, the Curly-Haired Woman still stopped breathing.

A player died unexpectedly, and the death was so sudden that a heavy atmosphere filled the group.

Village Chief Zhu appeared very uneasy.

These experts were all invited by him, but some of them died in the village.

It would be understandable if he died from a curse or something, but he died from poisoning...

I'm afraid I've gotten myself into trouble.

Gao Zhuang sighed, "I'm sorry I couldn't save her. With my medical skills, I really can't see anything wrong. I'm sorry."

He looked at Village Chief Zhu.

"Director, this person's symptoms are exactly the same as those of the cursed villagers. I suggest you go see Shamaness."

Upon hearing this, Village Chief Zhu couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

He already knew it wasn't a curse, so what good would consulting Shamaness do?

"A curse? Curses really exist?" the Man in a Suit murmured.

"Then let's go see that so-called Shamaness," the Young Woman in a Long Dress said coldly.

The two turned and left, exchanging words. The tall, Tall, Thin Man carried the body of the Curly-Haired Woman and walked out of the clinic one after the other, along with the Young Man in a Duckbill Cap.

Before leaving, Xu Xi glanced at the overflowing medicine cabinet out of the corner of her eye.

After leaving the clinic, the Man in a Suit saw Village Chief Zhu wringing his hands anxiously and said directly, "We'll have to trouble you to help bury our companion. Don't worry, death is commonplace in our line of work. Our team has a rule that if someone dies during a mission, they can be buried locally."

After hearing this, Village Chief Zhu felt a little relieved and nodded repeatedly, "I'll go and ask someone for help right away."

After Village Chief Zhu left, the Tall, Thin Man gently placed the Curly-Haired Woman's body on the ground.

The remaining players weren't experiencing teammate deaths for the first time, and aside from being a little upset at first, they were now quite calm.

"There's something wrong with this Gao Zhuang," the Man in a Suit said definitively.

The Young Woman in a Long Dress remained calm. "His words were subtly guiding us to find Shamaness."