Scapegoat Gu

With that thought, Sang Yu admired the young man leading the way even more.

As if sensing Sang Yu's unusual gaze, Bo Shuo, walking at the forefront, turned his head to look back at her, asking, "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing..." Sang Yu swallowed the words of admiration in her mouth, then suddenly caught sight of two figures acting suspiciously out of the corner of her eye. "Wait, they want to explore the Village Chief's house too!"

The Village Chief's house was located in the very center of the village, with several cleared areas nearby for raising poultry. Haystacks were placed on top, effectively concealing one's figure.

And just by the haystacks not far from them, two people were hiding. Even from a distance, their clothing edges could be faintly seen.

The appearance of other people at this time would not be friendly to them.

The faction war had already begun, and the relationship between the two sides of examinees was like fire and water, each wishing the other dead.

It was estimated that a fight would break out if they met now.

Sang Yu carefully identified the faces of the two, then lowered her voice significantly: "I have an impression of them. The one with the buzz cut is Bai Ziheng, a C-rank player. His skills are related to defense. Like me, he's a reserve divine favor. We need to be on guard. The slightly thinner one is Xiao Qi, a D-class player."

Reserve divine favor?

Hearing an unfamiliar term, Bo Shuo poked 007. "What is divine favor?"

007 explained, "You know this is a world where gods exist. Since gods exist, there are divine favors. Any examinee who is one step away from B-rank can undergo the divine favor assessment. Passing the assessment makes them a reserve divine favor."

"As long as one can become a divine favor, they will receive the blessings bestowed by the sovereign they serve, and their strength will greatly increase."

"So, even at the same level, the strength gap between a divine favor and a non-divine favor is very large."

Bo Shuo sounded tempted. "Can I become a divine favor?"

This was all good!

007 cruelly shattered his fantasy, tugged at his ear, and said indignantly, "You're dreaming. We are now sworn enemies with the gods. Forget becoming a divine favor, if you even show your face, you'll be killed."

Bo Shuo: "..."

Regretfully dismissing the idea, Bo Shuo thought of something new and asked Sang Yu, "Besides Bai Ziheng being a reserve divine favor, are there any other divine favor holders in this exam?" ...Like Xi Guici?

Bo Shuo swallowed the rest of his words and, after a moment of silence, heard Sang Yu's reply.

"In this exam, besides Bai Ziheng and I, two C-rank players who are reserve divine favors, the others are probably just ordinary examinees. As for Xi Guici..." She seemed to hesitate, recalling such a person.

But in the end, she just shook her head. "I've never seen this person before, let alone his background. I didn't even know he existed. It's like he suddenly popped out of a rock. But I have a feeling his strength is far above mine."

This was also one of the reasons Sang Yu had been hostile towards Xi Guici. It was hard not to be hostile towards a dangerous person whose intentions were unknown and who kept following them.

Moreover...

Sang Yu recalled the man's undisguised, deep malice towards her, and a chill ran down her spine.

There was a distance between them and the two figures ahead. Coupled with their hushed voices, the footsteps of patrolling villagers completely drowned out their movements.

Bai Ziheng and the other two naturally did not notice the two little tails following them.

Seeing a gap in the patrols ahead, Bai Ziheng cracked his knuckles, did a simple warm-up, and quickly led Xiao Qi into the yard.

The village houses all had wooden doors, which were easy to break. Using a wire, they picked the old-fashioned lock, entered, and left the door half-ajar.

Bo Shuo and Sang Yu exchanged glances. Seeing the two heading inside, they followed. Without needing to think, they could enter the Village Chief's house unimpeded by following their path.

The Village Chief's house was large, much larger than the other simple thatched huts, a two-story Western-style building.

The floor was paved with wooden planks. Perhaps due to prolonged use, there were some hollows underneath. Stepping on them without controlling one's strength would result in a creaking sound.

To avoid attracting the attention of the two ahead, they moved almost cautiously.

Of course, only Sang Yu was overtly careful. No matter how deliberate Bo Shuo was, from other angles, he still appeared calm and composed.

The first floor had no special clues, only common furniture and decorations found in rural households.

But Bo Shuo soon noticed something amiss. A fishy, sweet smell seemed to permeate the air, very strong and very familiar.

Thinking of something, Bo Shuo took out the Red String they had been given at the beginning from his pocket.

He sniffed it near his nose.

Indeed, the two smells were identical. It was just that perhaps due to the passage of time, the scent on the Red String had faded slightly, but it was still strong enough to make him dizzy.

Following the scent, Bo Shuo arrived at a corner, which was a pile of miscellaneous items, seemingly untouched for a long time, covered in a thick layer of dust.

007 jumped to the spot with the least dust and called out to Bo Shuo, "Host, look here."

It was a wooden board, dusty and indistinguishable from the floor.