Scapegoat

Mustering their courage and shouting slogans, the large contingent rushed towards the core of the earth.

Along the way, they were joined by many villagers carrying weapons, some not even properly dressed, wielding tools like fish spears and iron rakes.

The survival of the village was at stake, and everyone had a responsibility!

Seeing the number of people steadily increasing, Fang Yue gradually felt relieved. To his surprise, he even saw Little Fox among this large group.

"Little Fox, over here!"

Fang Yue waved at Little Fox. The Tactical Breathing Fox, looking greatly surprised, quickly trotted over, his eyes scanning Fang Yue up and down in shock.

"Brother Ye, why are you here too? Oh, right, I remember you're part of the Guard Team, but weren't you severely wounded? Is there no cure?"

Tactical Breathing Fox worked as an apprentice under Doctor Hong, learning medicine. He had even examined Fang Yue with Doctor Hong before. Aside from NPCs, he was the only Player who knew about Fang Yue's physical condition.

To put it simply, Fang Yue's condition at the time was that he had become useless, unable to practice martial arts, and was severely injured. Recovery would take at least ten days to half a month, making him no different from a dead man.

In Little Fox's mind, Fang Yue was basically waiting to die the next morning when his lifespan ran out.

Who would have thought he'd see Fang Yue, full of life and vigor, in the Patrol Team? He didn't look severely wounded at all, let alone suffering from Meridian Disorder or cultivation deviation.

Fang Yue watched Little Fox circle him like he was an alien, and couldn't help but smile mysteriously.

Tsk, tsk, tsk, Little Fox, your news is outdated.

What you saw before was the daytime version of me.

Now the version has been updated, all negative statuses removed, the Night War God has triumphantly returned!

In short, at night, I'm like a little cow riding a motorcycle – incredibly awesome!

Of course, Fang Yue couldn't tell Little Fox all of this. He just sent him a message saying he had completely recovered.

This made Little Fox marvel, looking at Fang Yue as if he were a medical miracle.

Because according to his cheap master, Doctor Hong, Fang Yue's kind of cultivation deviation was beyond even divine help.

Even someone as mysterious as Lord Han had to travel to other villages to seek medicine for any hope of treatment, which showed the severity of the condition.

In fact, it was true.

Imagine an ordinary person with only 1 point in both attributes trying to cultivate a martial art that required 30 attribute points to learn.

It was sheer luck if they didn't kill themselves on the spot during cultivation. Suffering cultivation deviation was already considered getting a second life.

Fang Yue naturally believed this explanation.

But he was different; he had [Night's Breath].

As long as he had a breath left, by nightfall, he could kill gods for you!

Mere cultivation deviation was nothing to fear!

As they were chatting, Niu Niu suddenly stepped forward and grabbed Little Fox's hand, saying excitedly.

"Big Shot Fox, save me!"

...Why do you have to shout for help to everyone you meet?

Fang Yue was speechless. Wasn't this guy a bit tsundere before?

He had trained diligently for a day and a night, claiming his bare palms were invincible.

With 3.7 Control Power, he was above everyone else, utterly invincible, and even wanted to compete with Fang Yue.

Yet, before this night was even over, he had become someone who shouted for help to anyone he met.

Man, your image is collapsing a bit too quickly.

Niu Niu didn't know what Fang Yue was thinking, otherwise, he would have poured out all his grievances.

Who would have thought that the boxing techniques he had painstakingly practiced for a day and a night were no match for an Anomaly, not even a peach!

If Fang Yue hadn't intervened, he would have been finished.

Now, suffering from [Curse] and encountering a Player who followed a doctor, he naturally rushed to ask for help.

Whether it was useful or not, he had to call out to the big shot first!

Little Fox hadn't expected Niu Niu to pull this stunt right after they met. Caught off guard, he was held tightly.

Struggling with all his might, Little Fox realized his strength was about the same as Niu Niu's, and he actually had a chance to break free.

3.7 Control Power, and that's it?

Little Fox didn't know Niu Niu was suffering from [Curse], and his attributes had long been reduced to 1 point, the same as his. He thought the attribute point increase wasn't very effective.

He looked at Fang Yue, then at Niu Niu, stopped struggling, and asked, "Tell me, what's wrong? Let me say upfront, I'm just a medicine boy who's been studying medicine for less than a day. Don't expect me to help you much."

In Ancient Moon Village, Players could be roughly divided into two groups.

The first group relied on their own strength. Before the rainy night ended yesterday, they used various means and showed off their unique skills to sneak into the village and develop on their own. This group of Players tended to be somewhat arrogant.

The second group were ordinary Players who were let into the village solely through Fang Yue's words.

The former seemed to have a sense of camaraderie, forming a closed-off small circle.

They had little interaction with the Players who entered the village later, considering themselves superior and on a different level than those Players who could only enter the village through Fang Yue's charity.

The group Fang Yue brought in, on the other hand, were united and basically knew each other. They shared information, so their relationships were quite good.

Of course, this was just surface-level harmony. When it came to dividing benefits, anyone could turn on each other.

Regardless, with Fang Yue's name, the group's internal relationships were currently stable.

Therefore, Little Fox naturally knew Niu Niu. They had met a few times and were considered acquaintances.

Hearing Little Fox's words, Niu Niu quickly explained his situation.

"Curse? Stat reduction? Countdown?"

Little Fox shook his head blankly at these new terms, answering all three with a "no."

"Don't ask me, I don't know, I don't understand at all!"

Niu Niu was immediately disappointed. Little Fox continued, "But if you ask my cheap master, Doctor Hong, he might have a solution."

Fang Yue asked curiously, "By the way, where is Doctor Hong? With a major event like the Focus Fire Order, even the villagers were mobilized. He should come out too, right?"

Niu Niu looked at Little Fox eagerly upon hearing this.

But Little Fox shook his head, "No, that old man refused to come out. He locked himself in his house and only sent me out. I'm a Player, so it doesn't matter. With such a big event happening in the village, I treated it like some kind of activity and came out to join the main group with a 'watching the fun' attitude."

He paused and pointed ahead.

"That apprentice blood hunter over there, and that apprentice carpenter, and those few others, they are all Players from the High Regiment. They should be like me, typical examples of masters pushing their apprentices out to die in response to the Focus Fire Order."

The Focus Fire Order concerned the survival of Ancient Moon Village. Some villagers with important responsibilities had to respond, otherwise, they would face severe punishment afterward.

However, this rule had a loophole: as long as they sent out their subordinates to respond in an emergency, it counted as complying with the rule.

After all, talent was precious. For those not in combat roles, the casualty rate on-site would be too high, resulting in heavy losses. Therefore, the village tacitly allowed them to exploit this loophole.

In fact, without this rule, some masters might not even be willing to take on new students.

In a sense, apprentices like Little Fox were pushed out as scapegoats.

But Players loved responding to Game events, watching the fun, and courting death, so they didn't think there was any problem with it.

They even treated it as a quest to increase favorability and happily agreed.