Only then did the bespectacled player standing closest to the village chief realize that when the chief turned toward them, only his head had moved. His body had remained completely still, facing forward.
The player's heart lurched. Just as he was about to discreetly step back, the chief turned his head back around and started walking again, saying as though nothing had happened, "Don't worry..."
"When the time comes, I'll take you to the Lady's Temple. Then..." As he spoke, he gave an inscrutable chuckle. A chill ran down the players' spines.
Fortunately, the chief returned to normal the next second. "I'll take you to your lodgings now."
He led the players to three neighboring houses. "You can stay here for now... I've already spoken to the owners. Each house can accommodate four people. Work out the arrangements yourselves..." With that, he left the players behind and walked away.
Without so much as a goodbye.
"We don't seem very welcome here..."
One player sighed as he watched the chief walk away, seemingly unable to leave fast enough.
"Of course we aren't." The bespectacled player came over and joined in. "Isolated villages like this have always been hostile to outsiders. If the instance hadn't stipulated that we were here to do some bullshit 'research,' we probably would've been driven away the moment we reached the village entrance..."
"My name is Song Yunyi." He looked at everyone. "We'll be spending the next few days together, so why don't we introduce ourselves? It'll make it easier to address each other."
No one objected, and they each gave their names. Once the introductions were over, Song Yunyi stepped forward to organize things. "Then let's sort out the rooms..."
Each house had two rooms, with two people to a room. Players who knew each other had already paired up, while the rest divided themselves up at random. Bo Yi ended up sharing a room with a skinny male player named Jiang Xiaofeng. The other room in their house went to two players who knew each other: the taller one was Du Yong, and the shorter one was Xu Xiaoyang. Bo Yu shared a room with another female player she didn't know in the house next door.
Once the rooms were assigned, Bo Yi headed toward his lodgings.
Knock, knock. He knocked on the wooden door.
Footsteps soon sounded behind it, followed by a sharp, grating screech as the wooden door scraped across the ground. A tall villager appeared in the doorway.
He stood straight and sturdy, a full head taller than Bo Yi. His black hair was cropped neatly, and his skin was a healthy wheat-gold. He wore a long tunic that seemed to be the same style as the village chief's, but even its loose fabric couldn't conceal the sleek contours of the muscles beneath.
"What do you want?" He looked down at Bo Yi.
"The village chief said we could stay here," Bo Yi answered, tilting his head up.
"Oh, you're those college students..." The muscular villager glanced over Bo Yi and the three players behind him, then stepped aside. "Come in..."
Just past the entrance was a small courtyard. It was empty, though, and a little too clean. Only a solitary well stood in its center.
Hmm... The sight of the well gave Bo Yi pause.
Maybe... that Evil God really hadn't lied to him?
Unfortunately, Bo Yi had no way of knowing what was inside the well right now, because-
The well had been sealed tightly with sheet metal. Apparently feeling that wasn't secure enough, the owner had piled several large rocks on top of it as well.
"That's a little strange..." Xu Xiaoyang rubbed his chin as he studied the well.
"What is?" Du Yong asked gruffly beside him.
"This village is deep in the mountains, surrounded by forest, and I can't hear any rivers or waterfalls nearby. This well... should be their only source of water."
"So why would a villager seal off his only water source...? Something's wrong!" There had to be a clue here.
Xu Xiaoyang and his teammate were deep in their discussion, but with the NPC still present, they deliberately kept their voices low, afraid that saying the wrong thing might offend him. Just then, they heard Bo Yi point at the well and ask the NPC with "blithe disregard," "Why was this well sealed off?"
Xu Xiaoyang: "!!!"
Was that something you could just ask outright?!
As it turned out, the NPC's reaction told him-yes, it was.
"We weren't using it, so we sealed it."
The villager answered, "The water in this well is dirty. You can't drink it. Stay away from it unless you have a reason to be here. If you want drinking water, there's some in the water vat in the kitchen."
Bo Yi nodded and continued, "The village chief told us to follow the village's rules, but this is our first time here, and we don't know much about the local customs... Are there any particular taboos we should know about? I'm worried we might offend someone without meaning to..."
Oh? Hearing Bo Yi's question, the other three quietly pricked up their ears.
That was a good question!
The villager glanced at Bo Yi and said stiffly, "Nothing in particular."
"Just don't go outside at night. You must stay in your rooms."
"Otherwise, the Lady will be displeased."
Bo Yi nodded, looking obedient despite his completely expressionless face. "Then can we look around the village?"
"No!" The villager cut him off hastily. Seemingly realizing he had overreacted, he gave a light cough and amended, "The Back Mountain. You can't go to the Back Mountain."
"The Back Mountain is our village's burial ground. Outsiders like you aren't allowed in... You'd disturb the peace of the dead."
"What about the Lady's Temple?" Bo Yi lowered his head with a show of shyness. "Can we go have a look at the Lady's Temple first? I'd like to take some photos of it for our research report."
This time, the villager was perfectly calm. He waved a hand. "The Lady's Temple is at the westernmost end of the village. Go have a look if you want..."
"But it isn't time yet, so you can't go inside... You can only look around outside."
Seeing how accommodating this villager NPC was, Xu Xiaoyang immediately sidled up with an ingratiating smile. "Hey, brother, can I ask-"
"Which lady do you worship?"
The villager's attitude had only just improved, but his expression instantly turned hostile. "The Lady is the Lady! What do you mean, 'which lady'?! Watch your mouth!"
Xu Xiaoyang immediately fell silent, grumbling inwardly in dissatisfaction. Why was this NPC so two-faced...?
After scolding Xu Xiaoyang, the villager seemed to lose all desire to entertain them. He pointed at two rooms. "You'll stay in those two." Then he turned and left the house, apparently to attend to his own business.
There was no difference between the two rooms. Bo Yi picked one at random, pushed the door open, and went inside.
Two shabby wooden beds stood side by side in the dark room. Apart from those, there was only a table in the corner, piled high with dusty odds and ends.
Bo Yi's gaze swept lightly over them. He was just about to look away when it suddenly stopped, as though he had noticed something.
Before you continue