Because she was different from everyone else, she couldn't log out!
If she logged out, she would have to face the full force of the modern companies' pursuit.
They would come after her ten or a hundred times more fiercely than they did Gao Linzhi. She might even face a combined manhunt by several companies!
Little Cat Fishing sighed. He, too, logged out and disappeared without another word.
As long as they were in the village, it didn't make much difference where they logged out.
Gao Linzhi, however, didn't leave right away.
He could revive after dying.
Naturally, he wanted to get familiar with oddities.
That way, if oddities appeared in the real world in the future, he would know how to prepare.
A little over half an hour later, the White Mist finally reached the Fourth Elder's courtyard.
A faint voice sounded in his ear. It was the Fourth Elder's.
"Don't be nervous. This oddity is called Silence. As long as you don't make any loud noises, you'll be fine."
The entire village was deathly quiet. The dogs had stopped barking, and the insects had stopped chirping. Not a sound could be heard.
Gao Linzhi peered through a crack in the window toward the courtyard.
He saw the White Mist piling up in layers across the courtyard.
A cricket crawled out from a crack in the wall. Its wings began to vibrate as it prepared to chirp, and it let out the faintest sound.
Then it fell to the ground, flipped onto its back, and died just like that.
Without realizing it, Gao Linzhi had slowed his own breathing.
After an unknown amount of time, something suddenly happened near Lin Qing's room.
The window was thrown open, and then something was hurled outside.
"Bang!" It was a firecracker, exploding with a loud pop!
"Damn it!" The Fourth Elder's voice sounded, low and angry.
Then Gao Linzhi noticed the White Mist in the courtyard rapidly thickening.
The fog from nearly half the village was gathering there.
A bright red dot appeared on the Minimap in his mind.
Gao Linzhi watched the courtyard intently.
A white, faceless figure appeared in the courtyard in the blink of an eye!
"Come out, come out..." The Faceless Man arrived at the window of that room and spoke softly.
Lin Qing naturally wouldn't go outside.
The Faceless Man simply paced back and forth there.
Mist streamed from its body, slowly seeping through the window.
Gao Linzhi watched through the crack in the window.
Even as an Ordinary Player who could revive endlessly, observing an oddity from this close still sent chills down his spine.
He could hardly imagine how terrified Lin Qing must be inside the room.
"Evil spirits, begone!" The Fourth Elder finally made his move.
A flash of blue light erupted, striking straight at the Faceless Man in the White Mist.
The blue light hit its body, but the Faceless Man merely swayed.
Then it changed direction and headed for the main hall in the second courtyard.
Gao Linzhi couldn't help but tense up.
That blue light was probably a Tier 3 Talisman.
White, green, blue, purple, gold, red—the game used the same quality tiers across the board.
The Faceless Man was probably a fairly common oddity. Even the Tier 3 Talisman had only managed to taunt it. It really was a mechanic-based monster.
Did the Fourth Elder have any other tricks up his sleeve?
Gao Linzhi hurried to the rear window and looked toward the second courtyard.
He then saw someone fly out of the main hall where the Fourth Elder lived. The figure was clearly the Fourth Elder.
He moved nothing like a fat man. He was incredibly fast, vaulting straight over the courtyard wall.
The Faceless Man immediately drifted after him.
The chase went on for an unknown amount of time.
Gao Linzhi watched the Minimap.
A red dot and a green dot chased each other, one following the other, all the way out of the village.
As he watched, he began to feel drowsy, but he forced himself to stay awake.
After a long while, the Fourth Elder finally returned to the courtyard, panting.
Bare-chested, he patted his large belly and said,
"Good thing this old man can run fast. Otherwise, I'd have been done for this time."
"You two can come out now."
Lin Qing didn't move.
Gao Linzhi didn't leave his room right away either. He checked the Minimap and saw a red dot on it.
It was right where the "Fourth Elder" stood.
Good. The Minimap could see through an oddity's disguise.
Excellent!
Standing by his door, he called out to the courtyard, "Fourth Elder, are oddities really that powerful? Even you can only run away from them?"
The "Fourth Elder" smiled at him. "You'll find out soon enough."
"Careful! That one's a fake!" Another Fourth Elder's voice came from a distance. "The oddity won't leave until the sun comes up!"
The next moment, the "Fourth Elder" vanished, and the Faceless Man appeared.
It charged toward Gao Linzhi's door, but as soon as it hit the door, a dim glow flashed across it, and the Faceless Man backed away.
In Gao Linzhi's eyes, it wasn't backing away in fear. It was retreating in disgust.
Were there things oddities found disgusting?
Gao Linzhi immediately felt that he'd discovered something.
The Faceless Man then paced outside the room.
Gao Linzhi took a deep breath.
He wasn't all that afraid.
At worst, he'd die once and revive.
He watched the Faceless Man.
After an unknown amount of time, the sky began to brighten.
The White Mist receded, and the Faceless Man finally disappeared.
Gao Linzhi heard a sound of relief.
At that moment,
Gao Linzhi logged out.
His consciousness returned to the real world. He opened his eyes and looked around.
He was in a mountain ravine, inside a simple wooden shelter. Birds chirped and insects buzzed nearby. There were no monsters or oddities.
Though Gao Linzhi hadn't faced any real danger from beginning to end, he still felt a genuine sense of relief.
The sun rose. Gao Linzhi ate a few bites, then logged back in.
When he came online, the sun had also risen over East Wolf Village.
The White Mist had vanished without a trace.
Gao Linzhi shook his head.
For the first time, he truly understood how terrifying oddities were. Even someone as powerful as a village elder—basically a minor BOSS in the game—could only hide and run.
There was no way to fight them head-on.
The gap was just too great.
Just then, the Fourth Elder's voice sounded again from the courtyard.
"Are you two all right?"
"The oddity's gone. You can come out now."
"Fourth Elder, do you remember what you told me yesterday?" Lin Qing's voice rang out.
"Of course. You're a cautious one. Yesterday, I told you..." The Fourth Elder recounted everything in detail.
Only then did Lin Qing relax, but she still didn't open the door.
Gao Linzhi, however, opened his door first.
There was no red dot on the Minimap anymore.
Sure enough, the Fourth Elder didn't turn out to be an impostor this time. He was still his usual self.
Standing in the courtyard, he looked Gao Linzhi up and down, then asked,
"Your Basic Lightness Skill isn't just at the entry level. You've improved quite a bit, haven't you?"
"Yeah." Gao Linzhi didn't hide it.
He didn't wonder how the Fourth Elder knew. The man could have asked Zheng Dong.
Besides, he could tell from the way Gao Linzhi moved.
Someone with martial arts training walked differently from someone without it.
It was like in the real world. Even people who practiced ordinary martial arts seemed to have a spring in their step.
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