Early the next morning.
They were called to the cafeteria. After breakfast, they would each change into wedding clothes and enter the Fortune Lady Temple with whoever held the same number to perform the wedding rites.
In the cafeteria, Wan Yingjun saw Li Qing arrive with Gong Yao, and his expression instantly darkened.
Normally, Li Qing would have ignored Wan Yingjun's hostility toward him, but Gong Yao noticed that Li Qing deliberately glanced at Wan Yingjun today, his eyes...
Looking distinctly displeased.
He lowered his head and asked quietly, "What's wrong?"
Li Qing slowly shook his head without saying anything.
Naturally, he couldn't tell anyone the reason.
It was simply because, when Li Qing woke up that morning, he had finally received a reply from his superiors:
[Player P-Q9288600 (Wan Yingjun) has exhibited no abnormal behavior. Administrator, please do not interfere with the player ecosystem.] [Respondent: Division One]
Division One was the department Li Qing reported to directly.
He had only asked the Technical Team to investigate a player, yet somehow that had prompted a reply from his superiors telling him to mind his own business.
That made it even harder for him to believe Wan Yingjun was just an ordinary player.
And what did they mean, "do not interfere with the player ecosystem"?
It was the Technical Team's buggy update to his Administrator Console that had forced him to pretend to be a player and work three days of overtime!
Li Qing was very unhappy. For once, he even let it show on his face, so clearly that Gong Yao noticed.
Breakfast today wasn't as quiet as it had been the previous few days. Everyone was trying to find out each other's numbers.
Although Wan Yingjun was displeased that Li Qing hadn't come to him, he wasn't worried about having the same numbered token as a "local." He had probably asked around and already learned that either Li Qing or Yuan Sisi held number 5.
Another half hour passed, and Li Qing was forced to put on that strange red bridal gown and leave his room.
The other brides weren't ready yet. Only one figure, who had worn a red bridal gown all along, stood quietly outside.
"Wu Nianfang."
Li Qing spoke first.
Wu Nianfang slowly turned around and looked at him without a word.
Li Qing got straight to the point. "Shall we swap tokens?"
Wu Nianfang seemed to have known what he would say. "Why should I swap with you? Gong Yao is a good man. Having him stay here with me wouldn't be bad."
Li Qing said, "Rather than keeping a good man here, I think what's beneath the Fortune Lady Temple would interest you more."
Wu Nianfang's gaze shifted. "What do you mean?"
"Girls keep dying in this temple, and then they take the lives of other newlyweds. I never quite understood it before. The culprits who killed you have been committing their crimes right under your noses, yet the people of Fortune Star Village are still getting away with it."
Wu Nianfang stared at him, her gaze turning venomous.
"You can't go beneath the statue to attack them, can you?"
He extended a finger and tapped the empty air-to him, a line of code formed from green pixels hovered there.
"Because that's one of this Dungeon Instance's rules, you can only kill the newlyweds aboveground according to those rules. But to me, it's just a line of code."
Li Qing looked into Wu Nianfang's eyes.
"Swap Wooden Tokens with me. Once I finish this Dungeon Instance, there should be about three days between my request to have it reclaimed and the order's approval and execution. During that time, I'll delete this line of code, and the rules here will no longer apply to you."
Wu Nianfang froze.
Then, for the first time in days, she finally smiled.
She took out the Wooden Token marked 6 and placed it in Li Qing's hand.
Li Qing suddenly sensed something strange.
He turned around. Xu Yuan, Zhou Qing, Fang Miao, Yuan Sisi-every bride had changed into her wedding gown and, at some point, opened her door. They were watching the two of them silently.
While he stood stunned, Wu Nianfang had already slipped token number 3 out of his hand.
The brides all began to move, approaching the two of them with cheerful smiles.
"Ugh, how annoying. I'm with Ding Yi again." Zhou Qing led the way.
Xu Yuan followed behind her resentfully. "If it isn't Yingjun, I don't care who it is."
Fang Miao had completely regained her human appearance and wore a shy smile. "I'm paired with Li Zi... I think he's very nice, too."
Yuan Sisi was much more relaxed than she had been over the past few days. She smugly waved her Wooden Token. "Wan Yingjun is with me. How about that? Haha!"
Xu Yuan's eyes widened in anger, and she lunged at her. Laughing, Yuan Sisi ran ahead.
Li Qing and Wu Nianfang followed the four women to the Fortune Lady's Ancestral Hall.
A crowd of men and women they had never seen before had already gathered there. They were villagers who had come to watch the ceremony, led by a man in his fifties whom everyone called the village chief.
Li Qing stood beside Gong Yao and followed his gaze toward the village chief.
"That's the man I saw underground," Gong Yao said softly, without looking away, in a voice only the two of them could hear.
Li Qing murmured in acknowledgment. "This Dungeon Instance really is full of surprises."
Gong Yao turned to look at him. "How did it go?"
"I got the swap."
Just then, gongs and drums began sounding in front of the temple.
Aunt Liu announced excitedly, "Fortune Star Village has successfully matched six more couples this year! You will be joined in matrimony under the Fortune Lady's gaze!"
"Couple number 1, please enter the Fortune Lady Temple and begin the wedding rites!"
The man named Li Zi and Fang Miao stepped forward and entered the Fortune Lady Temple together.
Under Aunt Liu's guidance, they slit their wrists and dripped their blood into wine cups. That served as their wedding wine.
After they drank, nothing unusual happened. Only the village chief offered his congratulations.
Li Qing, however, saw the dark aura over Li Zi's face deepen. He had already died once.
The second couple was Ding Yi and Zhou Qing. They looked at each other with distaste, but still drank the blood wine as required.
Just then, Aunt Liu suddenly shuddered and loudly announced, "The Fortune Lady has descended!"
Ding Yi was immediately overjoyed, and everyone else offered their congratulations.
Zhou Qing gave the crowd a bored look, then sneered, seemingly unsurprised.
When Zhao Yu's turn came, he saw that his partner was Wu Nianfang and let out a terrified shriek. "What's going on? Wasn't my partner Yuan Sisi? Why is it you?"
He turned back toward Yuan Sisi, his eyes wide. "You set me up!"
Yuan Sisi looked at him indifferently and shrugged.
Two villagers dragged Zhao Yu into the Ancestral Hall and forced him to drink the blood wine, but nothing happened.
He looked dazed. Just as the relief of having survived began to spread across his face, Aunt Liu announced, "The Fortune Lady has descended-"
Zhao Yu looked as though he had been struck by lightning.
The people outside had no idea how utterly he had despaired. They merely exclaimed, "Two brides have been possessed by the Fortune Lady this year!"
Wu Nianfang took Zhao Yu's hand and said softly, "Husband..."
Zhao Yu shook her off. "Stay away!"
Wu Nianfang's lips spread into a soft laugh. "Have you forgotten, husband? You already belonged completely to Fortune Star Village a day ago."
Zhao Yu froze.
"I... I've already... died?"
Wu Nianfang chuckled and helped him walk out.
Next came Xu Yuan and her assigned partner, the man who had "died" alongside Fang Miao on the first day.
As she passed Wan Yingjun, Xu Yuan gave him a coy, reproachful look. But once she turned away, she put on a happy smile, until Aunt Liu announced again, "The Fortune Lady has descended!"
Three Fortune Ladies in a row had already sent the villagers into an uproar.
Standing beside Yuan Sisi, Wan Yingjun sneered and muttered, "There's no such thing as a Fortune Lady. Ignorant fools..."
Yuan Sisi said, "Really? But Fortune Star Village really does have lots of Fortune Ladies."
"Just tricks to fool people."
Yuan Sisi said regretfully, "Of course you don't believe it. You've never seen one."
Then she smiled happily again. "It's our turn, hubby~"
Wan Yingjun paused.
Ever since Gong Yao appeared, Yuan Sisi had acted completely out of character, barely acknowledging him. Now she was suddenly being affectionate?
Yuan Sisi took his arm of her own accord. "I'm so happy. I was the one who won you in the end, haha!"
Wan Yingjun felt a stir in his heart. "So you were only being cold to me before to play hard to get?"
A faint blush colored Yuan Sisi's cheeks. "How else could I compete with Xu Yuan and Zhou Qing? Come on, let's go through the wedding rites. After this, we'll be a family!"
Feeling rather pleased with himself, Wan Yingjun let her pull him into the temple and drank the wedding wine.
Clatter!
The wine cup fell to the floor. Wan Yingjun's eyes suddenly widened, veins bulging on his forehead-
"You-!!!"
Yuan Sisi tossed aside her own empty wine cup and watched Wan Yingjun with a beaming smile. "Hubby~ This time, we can stay together forever..."
Aunt Liu's voice rang out again:
"-The Fortune Lady has descended!"
Before you continue