The Scapegoat

Mustering their courage and shouting slogans, the large force hurried toward the earth's core.

Along the way, many more villagers joined them, carrying weapons. Some hadn't even gotten dressed properly, wielding things like pitchforks and iron rakes.

Everyone had a responsibility to protect the village's very survival!

As he watched their numbers steadily swell, Fang Yue gradually relaxed. To his surprise, he even spotted Little Fox among the large force.

"Little Fox, over here!"

Fang Yue waved at him. Tactical Breathing Fox hurried over, greatly surprised, and looked Fang Yue up and down in shock.

"Brother Ye, what are you doing here? Oh, right, I remember you're technically part of the Guard Team too. But weren't you seriously injured and beyond saving?"

Tactical Breathing Fox was Doctor Hong's apprentice, a young assistant who had studied medicine under him. He'd examined Fang Yue alongside Doctor Hong before, making him the only player besides the NPCs who knew about Fang Yue's condition.

At the time, Fang Yue's condition was simple to describe: he'd become a cripple, unable to practice martial arts, and was badly injured. He'd need at least ten days or half a month to recover. He was as good as dead.

Little Fox had assumed Fang Yue would simply wait for dawn, run out of Lifespan, and die.

Who would've thought he'd see Fang Yue in the Patrol Team, full of life? He didn't look even remotely injured, let alone like someone suffering from Meridian Disorder and qi deviation.

Seeing Little Fox circle him like he was an alien, Fang Yue gave him a mysterious smile.

Tsk, tsk, Little Fox, you're behind on the news.

What you saw was my daytime version.

The latest update's out now. All negative statuses have been removed, and the Nighttime War God has made a triumphant return!

Anyway, at night, I'm like a cow riding a motorcycle—unstoppably awesome!

Of course, Fang Yue couldn't tell Little Fox all that. He just sent him a message saying he'd made a full recovery.

Little Fox was amazed. He looked at Fang Yue like he was a medical miracle.

According to his cheap master, Doctor Hong, no one—not even the gods—could save someone who'd suffered qi deviation like Fang Yue.

Even someone as mysterious and inscrutable as Lord Han had to go to another village to seek medicine before there was any hope of treating him. That showed just how serious it was.

And indeed, it was.

Just imagine an ordinary person with only 1 point in both attributes forcing himself to practice a Martial Path technique that required 30 points to learn.

If he didn't train himself to death on the spot, he'd be lucky. Suffering qi deviation was practically getting away with his life.

Fang Yue naturally believed that.

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

As long as he had a breath left, once night fell, he could even kill a god!

A little qi deviation was nothing to fear!

While the two of them were chatting, Niu Niu suddenly stepped forward, grabbed Little Fox's hand, and said excitedly, "Fox Bro, save me!"

...Why did you have to beg everyone you met to save you?

Fang Yue was speechless. Hadn't this guy been pretty arrogant before?

He'd trained hard for a day and a night, boasting that his bare-handed skills were unmatched.

With 3.7 points of Force, he'd stood above everyone else, practically invincible. He'd even wanted to challenge me.

And now, before the night was even over, he was calling everyone an expert and begging them to save him.

Man, your image fell apart fast.

Niu Niu had no idea what Fang Yue was thinking. Otherwise, he would've poured out a bellyful of complaints.

Who could've guessed that the boxing techniques he'd practiced for a day and a night wouldn't even be worth a peach in the face of the bizarre?

If Fang Yue hadn't stepped in, he'd have been done for.

Now he was afflicted with [Bizarre Curse] and had run into a player who worked with a doctor. Naturally, he hurried to ask for help.

Whether it worked or not, he could start by calling him an expert!

Little Fox hadn't expected Niu Niu to pull this on him right after they'd met. Caught off guard, he found himself in a firm grip.

He struggled with all his might, then realized he was about as strong as Niu Niu. He might actually be able to break free.

3.7 points of Force, and that was it?

Little Fox didn't know that Niu Niu was afflicted with [Bizarre Curse] and that his attributes had already been reduced to the same 1 point as his own. He assumed attribute points simply didn't make much difference.

He looked at Fang Yue, then at Niu Niu, and stopped struggling. "All right, what's wrong with you? But let me be clear: I've studied medicine for less than a day. Don't expect me to do much for you."

In Ancient Moon Village, players were roughly divided into two groups.

The first group had relied on their own abilities to get into the village before the rainy night ended yesterday. They'd used all sorts of methods, each showing off their own skills, and then made their own way. Some of the more conceited veterans belonged to this group.

The second group consisted of ordinary players who'd been let into the village thanks to Fang Yue's persuasive tongue.

The first group seemed to admire one another as heroes and had formed a closed little circle.

They had little to do with the players who'd entered the village later. They considered themselves above the rest, convinced they weren't in the same league as those who'd only gotten in because Fang Yue had put in a good word for them.

The players Fang Yue had brought in, on the other hand, stuck together. Most of them knew one another by face, shared information, and got along fairly well.

Of course, that was just surface-level harmony. When it came to dividing up the spoils, anyone might turn on the others.

Whatever the case, thanks to Fang Yue's influence, the group's internal relations were stable for now.

Little Fox knew Niu Niu, naturally. They'd run into each other a few times and were at least familiar by sight.

Hearing Little Fox, Niu Niu hurriedly explained his situation.

"Bizarre Curse? Reduced attributes? A countdown?"

Little Fox listened to the unfamiliar terms and shook his head in confusion, giving a three-part answer.

"Don't ask me. I don't know. I have no idea!"

Niu Niu was immediately disappointed, but Little Fox continued, "Still, if we ask my cheap master, Doctor Hong, he might know what to do."

Fang Yue asked curiously, "By the way, where's Doctor Hong? This Focus Fire Order is a big deal. Even the villagers have been mobilized, so he should be coming out too, right?"

At that, Niu Niu gazed eagerly at Little Fox.

But Little Fox shook his head. "No. The old man refused to come out. He's holed up at home with the door locked and just sent me out. I'm a player, so it doesn't matter to me. With something this big happening in the village, I treated it like an event and joined the crowd to watch the show."

After a pause, Little Fox pointed ahead.

"That apprentice over there belongs to the Blood Hunter, and that one's the carpenter's apprentice. Those others are high-level players. They're probably like me—their masters answered the Focus Fire Order by sending their apprentices out to die."

The Focus Fire Order concerned the very survival of Ancient Moon Village. Some villagers with important duties had to respond. Otherwise, they'd face severe punishment when the matter was reviewed afterward.

But the rule had a loophole: as long as they sent a student to fill in, that counted as responding.

After all, talented people were precious. Those who weren't fighters faced a high risk of injury or death at the scene, and losing them would be a heavy blow. So the village tacitly accepted people exploiting the loophole.

In fact, without this rule, some masters might not have been willing to take on new students at all.

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

But players loved responding to game events, watching the action, and courting danger, so he didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

He even treated it as a quest to raise his favorability and happily agreed.