The Beginner's Uninhabited Village (End)

If killing the little snakes was what it took to truly kill the Man-Snakes, then all their earlier fighting might have been wasted effort.

After killing the Man-Snake, White Bone nodded toward the players, then returned to his burial place.

Above him, A-Fei lay peacefully still as though asleep, showing no sign of being awakened by the commotion outside.

The rooster crowed right on cue, and A-Fei and White Bone vanished.

The players hadn't slept all night. Even Ji Xun no longer brought up resting.

They were running out of time.

Lu Jiancheng buried Zhao Fu beneath a tree not far from the river. Without the Man-Snakes, this village might have been a paradise in many people's eyes.

Tang Cha led the way, taking everyone to Grandpa Jin's house, which the village elders had told him about.

Grandpa Jin sat in the courtyard smoking his pipe. He was just as disheveled as when Ji Xun had seen him yesterday, but the pungent stench clinging to him was gone.

"You're quite something, forcing those monsters into such a corner." Grandpa Jin lowered his pipe, marveling at what they had done.

"You knew they were fake villagers?" Fang Rui asked in surprise.

"A-Fei never came home that day, so I went to Teacher Meng's house to look for him." Grandpa Jin clenched his teeth, and his finely wrinkled eyes slowly filled with tears. "I happened to see them... skinning Teacher Meng and her husband and tearing out their bones."

"Then why didn't you tell anyone?" Fang Rui asked.

Grandpa Jin sneered. "You think I didn't want to? I went to find the village chief the next day, only to catch him secretly eating raw meat! Our village was poor. Nobody could bear to spend money on meat except during the holidays. He had to be a monster too!"

Grandpa Jin could hardly describe the sight. The village chief had gnawed at a bloody piece of meat and bone like a ravenous wolf, his lips still curled with sated pleasure. To Grandpa Jin, that wasn't a human at all, but a monster that had crawled out of hell!

"I didn't know who was human and who was a monster. Eventually, I realized they were all monsters." Grandpa Jin's expression darkened, and he gave a bitter laugh. "Those snakes leave secretions behind when they crawl around at night. I smeared that stuff on myself, and they thought I was one of them. Maybe they weren't wrong. Maybe I really am a monster, just like Old Man Chen."

No wonder he had survived among the monsters.

The players fell silent for a while, and Ji Xun told him about A-Fei.

At last, Grandpa Jin's tears spilled over. His forty years of perseverance had finally borne fruit. "A-Fei, my A-Fei-"

[Ding-dong-Side quest "Grandpa Jin's troubles" completed]

"Are you leaving?" Grandpa Jin asked, wiping away his tears.

"Grandpa Jin," Fang Rui said, "do you know where the villagers Grandpa Chen took away ended up? We need to find a real villager."

Grandpa Jin nodded. "I do, but you can only go there at night. There's nothing there during the day."

Fang Rui had already suspected as much. White Bone, the baby, and A-Fei had all appeared at night. The fourth villager would only appear at night too.

Grandpa Jin promised to go there with the players that night. Afterward, they returned to "Ji Xun's" cottage.

They didn't see a single villager along the way. Only now did the village truly resemble an "Uninhabited Village."

The players didn't dare let their guard down. The monsters were lying low, waiting to attack at night, so they had to make the most of their time to rest.

Night fell, and ash filled the sky.

Rustling rose all around them. Weapons in hand, none of the players had any thought of retreating. Even Xin Xin held a shovel, ready for a fight.

They beheaded every scorpion and Man-Snake they encountered along the way, and Ji Xun mercilessly sliced the little snakes that crawled out in half.

By the time they found Grandpa Jin, Ji Xun's face was deathly pale.

Grandpa Jin took them to a clearing not far behind the village. Last night, they had been so busy going into the river and killing snakes that they hadn't noticed this spot.

Only now did they discover that the waist-high weeds concealed rows of graves without headstones.

"After all that searching, they're all dead?" Tang Cha's heart sank. He had thought there would be survivors.

"The last one died the day before you arrived." Grandpa Jin pointed to a freshly dug pit.

That was why Ji Xun had met him by the river that day. He had been digging this man's grave all along.

The players stepped forward. The dead man was about the same age as Grandpa Jin, and the deep creases covering his face made him look as though he were crying.

[Main quest: Find at least four villagers (4/4)]

As the quest notification sounded, a bus horn rang out from the village entrance, its long, piercing note shattering the stillness.

Provoked by the sound, the monsters let out waves of howls.

"Hurry and go," Grandpa Jin said. "You're running out of time!"

Tang Cha glanced at Ji Xun and said urgently, "Grandpa Jin, come with us!"

Grandpa Jin smiled and shook his head. "We haven't spent all these years doing nothing. Don't worry. I won't die."

The howls drew closer and closer. "Go!" Fang Rui said.

They hesitated no longer and broke into a run toward the village entrance.

Wave after wave of monsters lunged at them, and Ji Xun drew his saber to carve a path ahead.

"This isn't working! We can't help you!" Lu Jiancheng grabbed his arm. Ji Xun's hand was already shaking badly, and his saber fell to the ground with a sharp clang.

He bent down, picked up the saber, and said with a cold expression, "Go!"

They looked back. A dense mass of Man-Snakes and scorpions filled the path behind them too. They were surrounded.

Seeing the players trapped in the middle, the monsters flashed stiff, bloodthirsty smiles, then surged forward together.

"Cover your ears!" A child's clear voice rang out, and the players instinctively obeyed.

A crackling barrage of firecrackers followed. The noise threw the monsters into a panic, breaking their encirclement.

They looked toward the source of the sound and saw A-Fei sitting on a rooftop, dangling a string of firecrackers from a fishing rod. Catching Ji Xun's gaze, he grinned. "Thank you for getting me out, uncle! I'll hold them off for you!"

The monsters recovered and tried to keep chasing the players, but figures appeared from different directions throughout the village, blocking their way.

There was White Bone, slow-moving but armed with sharp, hard bones, and a little baby with only one leg crawling around his feet.

There was also a woman with an ashen face, smiling gently at the players.

And behind them stood countless villagers, their movements stiff and their faces filled with hatred...

The monsters stopped doggedly pursuing the players and fled in panic instead, but the villagers gave them no chance to escape.

"Uncle, hurry and go! Leave this to us!" A-Fei shouted, waving toward the players. "Goodbye!"

Tang Cha's eyes reddened. In the end, the kind villagers had protected them after all. "Goodbye, A-Fei!"

Ji Xun waved to A-Fei too, then said to the players, "Let's go."

When they finally reached the bus stop, they saw the bus waiting there.

The passengers inside still stared out with venomous expressions, except this time their gazes were fixed on the Uninhabited Village.

The doors opened, and the passengers got off one by one. They walked past the players without sparing them a glance.

Compared with their panic on the way here, they were much calmer now, even though they still didn't know where the bus would stop next.

Tang Cha leaned over the back seat, looking toward the Uninhabited Village. "What do you think will happen to this village now?"

No one could give him an answer, but the wicked had been punished. That was already the best ending the story could have.

[Vehicle departing. Next stop: Headquarters Base-]