Peach Haven Village (33)

Ding! System notification: Main quest completed.

What? Ding Shi pulled up the system page in disbelief. Only after reading it through did he realize that the main quest was to participate in the sacrifice, not complete it.

Ding Shi was in a good mood. He and the village chief each lit a cigarette and chatted idly. Most of the time, the village chief was talking—about the villagers, the past, and Pan'er.

Just like that, the time reached 7:55. A minibus drove over from the distance and stopped two meters away from the bus shelter. Its doors opened.

The rain was still falling. Ding Shi looked at the ground. Would it be okay if his shoes got wet? Either he could test it himself, or the village chief could test it.

Ding Shi respected the elderly and cared for the young. He supported the village chief to the edge of the bus shelter, helped him open his automatic umbrella, and watched as the chief, leaning on his cane and holding the umbrella in one hand, stepped onto the wet ground, entered the minibus, and sat in the front row.

The village chief was fine, but Ding Shi still felt uneasy. Ever since he had woken up, he had constantly felt as though a thorn were pressing against his back.

Time ticked on, from 7:56 to 7:59. The driver had already restarted the vehicle. Watching the seconds on the system clock, Ding Shi opened his large black umbrella and stepped onto the wet ground.

Was there anything wrong with that? Of course not. The village chief had already demonstrated it. Ghost Third Lady would get complaints if she treated them differently.

But Ding Shi's heart had already gone cold. The village chief's umbrella was automatic, made of plastic sheeting. Ding Shi's was a cloth umbrella—the kind where it poured outside and drizzled inside.

Ding Shi did not hesitate. He threw away his umbrella and dashed into the minibus, with a streak of red chasing after him.

Eight o'clock arrived. The driver shut the doors, but he was a step too late. Ghost Third Lady had entered the bus as well and lunged straight at Ding Shi.

"Three Missing One!"

Cheerful tinkling music began to play. The village chief, the driver, Ghost Third Lady, and Ding Shi were all frozen in place as the scenery around them rapidly changed.

A bright beam of light appeared overhead. Beyond the light was endless darkness, while within it stood a mahjong table and four chairs. A mysterious force placed the frozen Ding Shi and the others onto the seats.

The automatic mahjong table spat out tiles, and four rows of mahjong tiles were quickly arranged.

The rules for Three Missing One mahjong appeared on the table. They were easy to understand.

A minute later, the mahjong game began.

Ding Shi quickly drew and discarded tiles. Ghost Third Lady was seated after him. Her adorable face was full of confusion. She was intelligent and understood the rules of Three Missing One, but the problem was that she did not know how to play mahjong.

Ten seconds later, the number above Ghost Third Lady's head jumped from 0 to -1. If she went more than ten seconds without drawing a tile, one point would be deducted.

Ghost Third Lady looked toward Ding Shi and the others for help. Ding Shi had already exchanged looks with the village chief and driver, so all three ignored her pleading gaze.

-

-2, -3, -4.

This was no way to bully a ghost.

Ghost Third Lady could only watch her score keep changing. After losing 100 points, the round ended in a draw.

In the second round, Ding Shi remained dealer, and Ghost Third Lady lost another 100 points.

In the third round, Ghost Third Lady flew into a rage, but she was restrained by the mysterious force and could not lash out.

In the tenth round, Ding Shi finally began teaching her. "Draw one, discard one."

Ghost Third Lady drew a tile and looked at Ding Shi.

"Put it down," Ding Shi said.

Ghost Third Lady placed the Two Bamboo on the table. When she saw the village chief draw a tile, she breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Thank you."

Ding Shi said, "You're welcome. Your voice is lovely."

Ghost Third Lady looked a little shy. "Really?"

"Yeah." Ding Shi slid over a five-dollar bill. "Driver, do you have a Four Bamboo?" This did not count as cheating, right? He was only asking a question. It was not like he was telling the driver to discard a Four Bamboo.

The driver pocketed the bill and discarded a Four Bamboo. Ding Shi said, "Pong. Third Lady, keep going."

Ghost Third Lady picked up a tile and placed it on the table. The village chief drew a tile, and Ding Shi held out another bill. "Village Chief, do you have a Two Dots?"

Goosebumps rose all over the village chief's body. He took the bill and discarded a Two Dots. Ding Shi called Pong and entered a ready hand. The others discarded whatever they drew, and Ding Shi smoothly self-drew a win. With the village chief and driver cooperating, Ding Shi won five hands in a row, then deliberately let the village chief win and gave up the dealer position.

Ghost Third Lady became the dealer. Ding Shi enthusiastically taught her, and Ghost Third Lady was deeply grateful. Without Ding Shi, she would not even have been able to continue playing.

The village chief won with All Simples, Pinfu.

The driver won with All Simples, Pinfu.

Ding Shi won with All Simples, Pinfu.

The round ended, and the points began to be calculated. Since Ding Shi had the highest score, he received no punishment.

The three humans and one ghost were frozen again. The scene around them rapidly changed, and they returned to the bus.

After this ordeal, Ghost Third Lady's opinion of Ding Shi improved greatly, though not enough to stop her from killing him. Just as Ghost Third Lady was about to attack again, Ding Shi, whose instance time had ended long ago, turned into a streak of light and vanished the instant he left the Three Missing One scene.

After stepping out of the island teleportation array, Ding Shi swept his gaze around and found Little Angel on the beach. It was holding a fairy wand and fencing with a crab.

With no time to bother with it, Ding Shi began sorting through what he had gained from the instance.

Congratulations on clearing the Peach Haven Village instance. Your overall evaluation for this instance was Grade A. The following are your instance rewards.

One Friend Card. You may add one friend, who can use the teleportation array to visit your island.

Five random logistics cards.

The most important reward: money.

Based on his overall evaluation, side quest completion rate, and identity compatibility, Ding Shi received a 250% money reward. The base clearance reward was 50 dollars, so Ding Shi received 125 dollars. Adding the instance quest rewards and the money he extorted from the village chief, Ding Shi's current bank balance was 150 dollars.

After use, random logistics cards could grant island living cards. The lowest tier was white, while the highest was red-gold. The color represented the card's rarity—the chance of drawing it—not its power. A representative example was the white mosquito net. How powerful was it? Only those who needed it would know.

Ding Shi checked his luck. Seven points. Not bad.

He first went to wash his hands, then placed the five random cards face down on the table. Ding Shi bowed to the east, south, west, and north, covered the first random card with his palm, and chose to use it. A flash of light flickered beneath his hand.

Ding Shi slowly lifted his palm, revealing just a sliver of the card's edge. Only after confirming it was a green card did he remove his hand completely. Then he pinched a corner of the card between his thumb and forefinger and slowly peeled it open. There was a picture, there was a picture. It was white. Ding Shi began to grow excited, then flipped the card over in one go.

Ding Shi knew that this move of his was not only sleazy but also lame. The joy of revealing the hole card gave him a deep sense of guilt. But it was not entirely his fault. He had helped Wang Meng run a gambling den for two years, so he had inevitably picked up some bad habits. Fortunately, he only enjoyed playing and had no interest in gambling itself. After all, he had seen too many families ruined, and he knew the secrets of gambling tricks. He understood full well how gamblers ended up.

(The gambling-table tricks in this book have not been artistically exaggerated for fiction. Not only can real people reach this level, they are not even rare.)

Air-Energy Kettle. As long as there was water inside the kettle and air outside it, it could rapidly heat the water until it boiled.

The second card was green: a wooden plank bed, capable of replacing the stone bed.

The third card was white: a small bamboo chair, about the same height as a stool but with a backrest.

At the sight of a white card, Ding Shi went to wash his hands again. After performing another set of rituals, he used the fourth random card. Golden light immediately burst forth, nearly blinding him.