After saying those words, Shen Xiaomei closed her eyes.
The others tentatively called out to her a couple of times, but she gave no response.
Song Qingzhang carefully lifted Shen Xiaomei onto his back, and the group headed toward the Ancestral Hall.
Suddenly, Li Xian felt a tug on the hem of his clothes.
He turned around and found a child clutching his clothes, rubbing his eyes as he asked, "Where are you taking her?"
Li Xian patted his head. "Somewhere she can rest."
The little boy only half understood. He tried to follow, but his legs were too short, and he soon fell behind.
Li Xian stopped, bent down, and scooped the boy into his arms.
The boy naturally wrapped his arms around Li Xian's neck and said,
"You're so nice. I'll give you a present in a little while."
Li Xian gave an absentminded reply, not taking his words to heart.
Zhao Fengyi pushed open the doors to the Ancestral Hall. The coffins were lined up neatly, just as they had been when the group left. Song Qingzhang bent down, placed Shen Xiaomei in the middle coffin, and closed the lid.
The moment the lid shut, the completion notification sounded:
[Completion objective: "Place the Bride's body in a coffin in the Ancestral Hall" completed.] [Current instance solution progress: 99%] [Additional objective unlocked: Leave the village] [Notice: Players may log out of the instance immediately or choose to continue with the additional objective. Players still in the instance after ten minutes will be logged out automatically.]
As soon as the notification sounded, tips rained down on Li Xian.
A stream of incoming points replaced the notifications deducting Li Xian's health points, and the larger tips all displayed usernames-
Every single one began with the name of a guild.
Li Xian grew thoughtful.
Xu Yao asked, "Why is there an additional objective?"
Zhao Fengyi shook his head, indicating that he had never encountered this before.
But the objective didn't seem dangerous. Even if they failed, they would automatically log out of the instance when time ran out, so everyone agreed to try.
"Didn't the Village Chief say the rain washed away the only bridge out of the village? Do we have to find something else to cross the river?"
Just then, the boy Li Xian had carried over jumped out of his arms. He tottered out the door, then beckoned to Li Xian.
Song Qingzhang asked, "Does he want us to follow him?"
With no other options, they followed the boy and returned to the Riverside.
The children on the riverbank were all gone. In their place were Wooden Figurines floating on the river.
They had joined together in a long strip that stretched all the way to the opposite bank.
Song Qingzhang cautiously stepped onto them. Despite looking barely afloat, the Wooden Figurines fully supported his weight, so he quickly crossed to the other side.
Seeing this, the others crossed the river one after another, until only Li Xian remained.
Ji Xie appeared just then and said, almost celebratorily, "Off you go. I won't see you out."
After all, their "marriage" would automatically end once the instance was over. Still, Li Xian couldn't quite understand why Ji Xie had bothered showing his face again.
"Hurry up and go!"
Before Li Xian could turn around, the boy urged him on and pushed him backward onto the water. Yet the "bridge" that had been perfectly steady beneath everyone else's feet suddenly swayed.
Li Xian hadn't expected anything of the sort, and his feet slipped out from under him.
The sway seemed precisely controlled, "delivering" Li Xian straight into Ji Xie's arms.
He even felt as though he had accidentally brushed against the corner of someone's mouth.
[Ding!] [Congratulations to Li Xian and Ji Xie for fulfilling the skill's hidden condition!] [Marriage bond automatically extended through the next instance!]
Li Xian sprang away from Ji Xie, then turned and ran to the opposite bank without looking back.
The Wooden Figurines sank beneath the surface in a stream of bubbles.
Ji Xie pulled the boy clinging to his head off in one swift motion and clicked his tongue.
Even with the little brat hanging on to his head, he could have dodged if he'd wanted to.
But in that instant, he had actually hesitated.
And ended up signing himself away for another instance.
While Ji Xie was distracted, the boy slipped away into the river's depths. Li Xian, meanwhile, hurried into the woods.
A faint trail ran through the dense forest. After a few steps, Li Xian saw the others waiting for him a short distance away.
The sky gradually brightened. As they followed the path, the view began to open up.
A figure appeared in the distance.
A middle-aged man in uniform approached them.
"We received a report that seven tourists from a tour group had gone missing..."
He paused, looking over the group as though checking the information he'd received.
"Where are the other two?"
For a moment, no one knew how to answer. Li Xian patted Song Qingzhang.
"Give him that notebook."
Song Qingzhang did as he was told. He took the rain-wrinkled Notebook from inside his clothes and handed it to the man.
The man accepted it in confusion. When he opened it and saw the names inside, his brow furrowed deeper and deeper.
"This is..."
"Something from that village."
Li Xian pointed behind him.
The man drew a breath and carefully tucked the Notebook into his pocket. "I'll get you out of here first."
They followed him farther down the path. When daylight had fully broken, a system notification sounded:
[Additional objective: "Leave the village" completed!] [Congratulations to players Li Xian, Song Qingzhang, Zhao Fengyi, Xu Yao, and Qian Xin for clearing the true ending of the instance "Stone River Village"-The silent village.] [Final instance solution progress: 100%] [Calculating instance rewards...] [Player Li Xian found Shen Xiaomei's body and awakened the children at the bottom of the river. Reward: 3,000 points.] [Player Song Qingzhang handed over the Village Chief's list. Reward: 1,000 points.] [Players Li Xian, Song Qingzhang, Zhao Fengyi, Xu Yao, and Qian Xin reached the instance's true ending. Reward: 1,000 points.] [Anomalies detected in instance content. The above point rewards will be issued at three times their listed amounts.] [Player Li Xian possesses "River God's Favor" and will receive an additional special reward. Please check your personal inventory after logging out of the instance.] [Calculating livestream rewards...] [Player Li Xian received a total of 7,632 points in viewer tips. Congratulations to player Li Xian for achieving the highest overall personal livestream ranking in the Novice Zone!] [The Stone River Village instance is being permanently closed...] [We wish all players an enjoyable next game!]
White light flashed before his eyes. When Li Xian opened them again, he was standing in a spacious white hall.
He looked around blankly, unsure what to do next. As he hesitated, a melodious musical introduction rang through the hall.
Li Xian had no idea what it meant, but everyone around him stopped what they were doing when they heard it.
[Players have achieved 100% solution progress in "Stone River Village." The instance "Stone River Village" is now permanently closed!]
The crowd listening to the announcement gasped.
As though afraid someone might miss it, the announcement repeated three times before finally stopping.
A clamor of discussion rose around him.
"What? The Stone River Village instance closed?!"
"One hundred percent completion... How long has it been since someone last fully cleared a novice instance?"
"I didn't even know instances could be closed..."
If an outstanding newcomer like Li Xian had caused only a slight ripple in the Advanced Zone, news of the instance's closure undoubtedly sent shock waves through the Novice Zone.
Simply because something like this was so rare in the Novice Zone.
Li Xian skirted the crowd and walked toward a conspicuous square pillar in the middle of the hall.
A sign was mounted on each of its four sides. Their red lettering on white backgrounds stood out sharply against the hall's pale colors.
They looked like directions put up especially for newcomers.
But before Li Xian could read what they said, someone stepped in front of him.
Before you continue