Division of Labor

"The rain will stop soon. Remember, after dividing up the work, go help Old Zhu's family. Cough, cough... A bunch of country girls, and you're afraid of a little rain." Seeing that the papers had been handed to them, the old man picked up the cane beside him and struck the floor hard.

His aged voice went on and on, grumbling about this useless bunch.

But Zheng Wuyou caught the implication... the old man was trying to drive them away.

But everyone had just watched that body melt away in the rain.

Who would dare go outside now?

The rain still showed no sign of letting up, falling in a dense curtain. Blood and rainwater had mixed together, part of it already flowing up to the threshold.

Raindrops struck the bloody water, sending ripples across its surface. It was especially glaring in this gloomy setting.

Without anyone to take the lead, no one dared risk their life lightly.

And so, they were stuck in this situation.

They could neither advance nor retreat.

Until the man in dark blue pajamas casually handed the lists in his hand one by one to the Toothless Pajama Man standing there in a daze, a man in sportswear, the girl with bangs who had been shouting at the NPC, and the uncle in capri pants.

He kept the last one for himself.

"W-what about mine?" The burly man who had entered the Main Hall with Toothless Pajama Man poked his head over to look at Toothless Pajama Man's list. He still could not understand the words on it.

Everyone else who had not received a list looked at the Navy Blue Pajamas in confusion, but there were clearly only a limited number of lists.

He had only one list left in his hand.

"What do you mean by this? Why did you only hand them out to them?" The burly man clenched his fists, worried that he would be punished for not having a list. He strode toward the Navy Blue Pajamas aggressively.

He completely ignored the fact that the lists had been given out by the old man seated in the place of honor.

The dark blue pajama man leaned against the wall without moving. His indifferent eyes watched the man approach as though he were looking at an idiot.

"Don't argue yet. The list seems to say how many people the task is for." The man in sportswear was the first to speak, breaking the standoff in the air. He had found the only line on his list that he could understand:

[One Dog Meets the River, Sun about to feed; East Displays a Joyful Doll, Dwells in a New Womb.]

"But I don't really understand what it means." He clicked his tongue. The only thing he could make out was the number that seemed to indicate the required number of people.

He recognized every character in the sentence, but he did not understand the sentence itself.

The others with lists lowered their heads and examined the information in their hands.

"He wouldn't give out tasks with the wrong number of people." Seeing that someone had noticed the information on the lists, the dark blue pajama man calmly pushed away from the wall and walked over to the people holding lists.

He took out his own list and held it up before them.

It clearly read:

[Three Snakes Meet Their Master, Sun about to feed; North Places a Pig's Head, Long Smoke Celebrates.]

"Who can understand this? Why does every sentence have 'Sun about to feed'? Does that mean feeding at sunrise?" The girl with bangs scratched her head in frustration. She pouted resentfully, because she could not understand the list in her hand either.

What kind of list was this? It was written in such a roundabout way.

Knowing she truly could not make sense of it—she had always been weak at humanities subjects—the girl with bangs held up her own list as well.

The others without lists gathered around too. No one noticed that the rain outside had already stopped.

The chirping of cicadas and birds gradually rose from halfway up the mountain.

The midday sun broke through the clouds, shining over the mountain village.

"Old man, what kind of list is this? Why is it all riddles? How are we supposed to... Where is he?" The burly man squeezed his head out from the crowd and looked in confusion toward the place of honor where the old man had been sitting, only to find it empty.

No one knew when he had left.

Perhaps the rain had thrown everyone's thoughts into disarray; not a single person had heard him leave.

The old man's silent disappearance did not distract them. They turned their attention back to the remaining three lists. Toothless Pajama Man's list read:

[Two Horses Reach the Shore, Sun about to feed; East calls to hold a wine jar.]

For the first time, everyone felt that they could finally understand Toothless Pajama Man's last line!

This was a task to find wine.

The uncle in capri pants' list read:

[One Sheep Enters Alone, Sun about to feed; West hosts a banquet, East ignites the whip.]

Zheng Wuyou noticed that aside from the dark blue pajama man's list, whose obvious direction was north,

the second line of the other three all began with east.

Were they supposed to find the household hosting the banquet and offer their help?

So was it in the northeast?

But when she looked at the list in Bangs Woman's hand, the direction gave her a confusing answer.

[Double Chickens Crow Together, Sun about to feed; West Enters, Ten Dishes Plow the Muddy Garden.]

"What the hell is this? First east, then west." The burly man irritably pushed his way out of the group and went to the doorway for some air.

The doors of the houses lining the village's only stone path remained shut tight, rain or shine.

Wasn't there supposed to be a wedding banquet?

How were they supposed to do that with every door closed?

Were they secretly holding it at home?

"What kind of godforsaken place is this? Not even birds shit here, and we still have to solve riddles. I want to go back and play games!" Ignoring the short woman at his feet, who still had not snapped out of it, the burly man boredly raised his head and roared at the sky.

Zheng Wuyou ignored the complaints behind her and looked thoughtfully at the list in the dark blue pajama man's hand.

A possibility suddenly flashed through her mind.

Three Snakes...

Could that be the Little Girl, herself, and another person born in the Year of the Snake?

This was a Zodiac Attribute!

"Divide the work according to the zodiac. I'm a Snake." Zheng Wuyou tightened her grip on the Little Girl's trembling hand and, as casually as if she were watching street entertainment, hit upon the first key point of the riddle.

As for the words "Sun about to feed," which appeared on every list, she racked her brains but still could not figure out what they meant.

But one thing was certain: it was absolutely a crucial point.

And it was the shared link between every task!

"Right, right, right! I'm a Sheep!" With her reminder, the uncle in capri pants immediately understood that One Sheep referred to himself.

He had thought all along that he was supposed to prepare a sheep.

Bangs Woman said that, just like her list stated, she was a Chicken.

"Dog," said the man in sportswear.

"I'm also a Snake..." The Little Girl hid behind Zheng Wuyou and spoke in a tiny voice.

Only Toothless Pajama Man said with some confusion, "I'm a Horse. So these lists are categorized according to the zodiac signs of the first few people?"

"Before the lists were handed out, we couldn't see any of the words on them." Zheng Wuyou recalled that she had deliberately examined the blank sheets on the table then. No matter how she looked or from what angle, she could not make out a single word.

Only after they were handed to them could they see the first line on the lists.

That was definitely not a coincidence.

It was deliberately designed that way.

This damn Countdown Nightmare would not even overlook such tiny details just to avoid giving away spoilers.

Seeing that progress had finally been made, the burly man by the door thankfully bowed to the heavens, then turned back and said, "I'm a Horse too."

Now, aside from the short woman who had been staring blankly into space and the dark blue pajamas who spoke as if every word cost him money, no one had revealed their zodiac sign.

Everyone else still alive had already spoken.

They could not place their hopes on the short woman. She had just lost her friend and had yet to recover.

So everyone's eyes fell on the dark blue pajama man.