Yan Dahai said urgently, "Ask that old man again, how could he just lose something so important?"
Did he misremember and forget where he put it?
Lin Feng added, "That's right, that sword is too important to us, how can we just lose it like that!"
"Could it be that he doesn't want to give it to us?" Su Su also said.
Han Rui shook her head. "It shouldn't be. If that were the case, he wouldn't have told us he knew where the sword was and brought us to his house."
Moreover, I've searched his house thoroughly, but I still can't find the sword.
He was also quite certain that he hadn't misremembered.
Su Su said, "If that's the case, could it be that the sword was stolen by someone?"
But who would steal that sword?
Han Rui thought of how crazy those villagers had been earlier; they had no reason whatsoever when they went berserk.
They were utterly insane, but their faith was undeniably Devotion; how could they possibly steal that sword?
After all, that's something the goddess's messenger needs.
"It's the Headless Knight!" Qi Lin, who had been silent all along, said.
Everyone looked at him, incredulous.
Would the Instance boss, a ghost devoid of intelligence and driven only by instinct, really steal a sword?
This is ridiculous!
Rather than this answer, they preferred to believe that the sword had been stolen by other villagers.
"I'm serious, I'm not joking," Qi Lin said.
"We saw the Headless Knight as soon as we entered the Instance."
And look, aren't there some charred marks on the ground? They look similar to footprints."
Upon closer inspection, everyone noticed that there were indeed some charred marks on the ground.
Although individual marks are not clearly footprints, these marks are a series, and the distances between them are roughly equal.
It does indeed look somewhat like a footprint.
Several people could already picture the scene.
While everyone was gathered in the middle of the village, the Headless Knight dismounted and quietly entered the village.
Then, he broke into the old man's house and stole the sword.
This sounds reasonable, and there are footprints as evidence, but...
It just feels like absolute utter bullshit!
It's unbelievable that the Instance boss would steal such a crucial item.
Qi Lin said, "I know, although it sounds a bit far-fetched, but..."
This is the only possibility I can think of that fits the current situation.
Although everyone still found it hard to believe, a sense of foreboding was already creeping into their hearts.
But if Qi Lin's guess is true, then they will not only lose their qualification to pass the level, but their lives will also be threatened.
At this moment, a shadow fell over everyone's hearts.
Seeing that everyone was silent, Lin Feng said,
"What if the Headless Knight really did steal that sword?"
"If that's the case, clearing the Instance will be much more difficult, but it's not entirely impossible."
Yan Dahai said, "There is also Holy Water in the village, which can subdue the Headless Knight."
Without that sword, it will be more difficult for us to deal with the Headless Knight.
But we still have five people left, and we're not weak, so we still have a chance.
Other teams failed mainly because they didn't have enough members, but these teams haven't had any deaths since entering the Instance.
Furthermore, one of the five of them is a Boundary System Ability User.
As long as the Headless Knight can be trapped within the barrier, it can also have a weakening effect.
Therefore, they are not without a chance of winning.
"I also think now is not the time to give up," Qi Lin said.
"An S-rank Instance with a complete walkthrough is about to be cleared."
We might not encounter this situation even once every few years, so it would be such a waste to give up now.
Besides, even without that sword, we still have a fighting chance.
The rewards for S-rank Instance are very generous. A large amount of experience points can instantly boost their level by three or four, and there are also Transcendent Items that match the Instance's level.
These will be very helpful for future Instance.
Furthermore, it becomes extremely difficult to improve one's strength after level 20.
If you can't clear the Instance, even if you survive an S-rank Instance, you'll only get a tiny bit of experience points as a reward, and almost nothing else.
However, clearing an S-rank Instance is very difficult; with bad luck, it can take years to clear even Instance.
Now that an Instance is about to be conquered is right in front of them, it's simply impossible for them to choose to give up.
Besides, this is only the first day; they need to survive in the Instance for three days before they can leave.
Even if they don't cause trouble for the Headless Knight during this time, the Headless Knight won't let them go.
We might as well take advantage of the fact that we have all the staff now and give it a try.
What if I actually beat the game?
This "what if" is still very tempting.
The group's spirits were lifted, and they quickly reached an agreement to continue completing the Instance.
It's too early to give up now.
"Let's go get the Holy Water," Yan Dahai said. "It's still daytime; even if we encounter the Headless Knight, he can't do anything to us."
The three immediately headed towards the location of the goddess statue.
The guide includes a map of the village, so even without the villagers leading the way, they can easily find the place.
Just as the five of them were about to arrive, they heard the angry voices of the villagers.
"This is blasphemy against the goddess! Kill them! You must kill them!"
"Unforgivable! Burn them!"
We absolutely cannot let them get away!
Hearing the commotion ahead, the five suddenly had a bad feeling.
Could it be that the villagers discovered they were impersonating the God's Messengers?
Given the villagers' madness, anything that blasphemed the goddess would provoke their intense rage.
They've already seen that.
Once those villagers go crazy, they lose all reason and are capable of anything.
The group exchanged glances and decided to go and check it out.
They believed they were strong enough to escape even if the villagers discovered they were impersonating the God's Messengers.
Soon they saw the villagers, whose anger had driven them mad; their eyes had taken on an eerie red hue.
The villagers were walking in their direction.
Seeing the madness in the villagers' eyes, the group involuntarily took a few steps back.
These villagers have completely lost their minds; they don't know if the God's Messenger can still protect them.
Han Rui gritted her teeth, took a step forward to face the villagers.
What happened?
The villagers did not answer; they continued forward, like enraged wild beasts.
"I command you to stop! I am the messenger of the goddess, and you must obey my orders! Otherwise, you will be blaspheming the goddess!"
However, her words had no effect whatsoever; the villagers had gone completely mad, and even her status as God's Messenger couldn't save them.
A crazed villager rushed forward and reached out to grab Han Rui.
However, he failed to catch Han Rui, Han Rui body suddenly vanished.
When she appeared, she was already behind the villager, holding a knife in her hand, and easily cut off the villager's head.
Blood gushed out, splattering all over her.
Han Rui, holding the villager's head, shouted to the remaining villagers,
"Stop! This is what happens when you offend the God's Messenger!"
However, the killing did not frighten the villagers; on the contrary, the smell of blood stimulated them.
Their blood-red eyes, like those of wild beasts, gleamed with excitement.
Han Rui took a few steps back and said, "What exactly happened? How did it suddenly turn out like this? Didn't they already believe we were the goddess's messengers?"
Look behind them!
Qi Lin was quite tall, and because he was standing on tiptoe, he was the first to notice what was happening behind the villagers.
The goddess statue had been toppled and shattered into several pieces, with a strange scarlet liquid flowing out from it.
Furthermore, the small pool in front of the goddess statue had long been damaged, and the so-called Holy Water had spilled all over the ground.
The water mixed with the blood of the goddess statue and seeped into the ground.
Now they finally understood why those villagers had gone mad.
Because the statue of the goddess was smashed.
For these Devotion and incredibly fanatical villagers, this was absolutely unforgivable.