Chapter 281: This Dungeon Doesn't Seem as Difficult as Imagined

“It’s fine. Don’t be nervous.”

Unable to figure it out after a long while, Mo Lian tossed the thoughts aside and decided to execute her usual surefire strategy:

“Just follow that guy. Do whatever he says and ignore everything else.”

???

The middle-aged man, Jushi, widened his eyes.

He remembered their previous Dungeons together; Mo Lian had never acted like this. She had always survived by playing it incredibly safe.

Why the sudden change?

Had advancing to the Third Tier made her relax her guard against the dangers of the Dungeon?

Regardless, he decided he wouldn’t follow her example. He needed to maintain a healthy skepticism at all times.

Soon, Mo Lian led the group over to Yan Jing.

“I brought them. Everyone has the items you asked for.”

“Mm.”

Yan Jing nodded.

“Thanks.”

“...”

“...”

Mo Lian waited for him to elaborate. When Yan Jing just turned and walked deeper into the village without another word, she hurriedly spoke up.

“That’s it? You don’t have any other instructions?”

“Oh, right.”

Yan Jing turned back. Joy flared in Mo Lian’s heart, only for him to say, “Take one of the bones you brought and place it in a corner of your house. Bring the rest to me later.”

“Thanks.”

With that, he turned and continued into the village.

“...”

Mo Lian was momentarily stunned. By the time she recovered, Yan Jing had already walked far away.

The ten or so people around her cast hesitant glances her way.

To bring the Huang Family Village bones into the instance this time, each of them had sacrificed nearly ten inventory slots. They had also used Dungeon Selection Vouchers and accepted the penalty of an increased Dungeon difficulty, all to latch onto a strong backer.

Looking at the situation now, had their backer just ditched them?

“...”

Mo Lian felt a spike of panic, but she took a deep breath.

“Don’t panic! Just do it. Just do exactly as he says.”

“Do exactly what he told us.”

“Will this really work?” Seeing everyone’s unease, Jushi quickly spoke up.

“What if the bones get discovered? If the residents here have some connection to them, what happens if things go wrong? Also, who exactly are these residents? We need to figure all this out first, don’t we?”

“Right, exactly...”

With Jushi taking the lead, the others chimed in one after another.

Their wariness was justified. Entering a Dungeon was a highly dangerous activity to begin with. For all they knew, Yan Jing had specifically brought them here as cannon fodder to clear the instance.

“...”

Surrounded by their clamor, Mo Lian couldn’t help but sigh, nursing a massive headache.

“Stop arguing, all of you!”

“We’ll just have to treat this as a desperate gamble!”

She looked at the crowd. “Don’t think I don’t know. Which of you hasn’t hoarded your Dungeons for years? Can you guarantee your original Dungeons would have been completely safe? Didn’t you all come here with a desperate mindset anyway? You’re afraid he’s screwing you over, but you already screwed him the moment you entered.”

Because multiple people had used Dungeon Selection Vouchers at the same time for Dungeons hoarded over several years, the difficulty of the instance had drastically increased.

The original task of completing five requests had now turned into fifteen.

Moreover, the requirement to stay overnight had gone from one day to two.

“...”

The crowd’s eyes flickered. Ultimately, none of them could argue.

They had all dealt with Shen Youran. While that woman was cunning, she had never actively scammed or killed people.

The crowd’s wariness was aimed entirely at Yan Jing.

Thus, the group walked into the village to find their respective households to settle in.

Soon, they arrived in front of the first house.

“So, who’s taking this one?”

Mo Lian looked at the group.

Before her voice faded, an old man resting by the doorway stood up and chuckled.

“Come in, come in. Honored guests traveling from afar must be tired. Please, come into my humble cottage and rest for the night.”

“...”

The group looked at each other in dismay.

Then, they turned on their heels and walked away.

Inner world residents—and from Huang Family Village, no less—actively inviting humans to stay over!

Anyone could see this was a trap!

Were they joking?

Seeing the crowd leave, the old man grew anxious.

That person had given instructions. Whoever hosted a human would receive double the ghost silver!

“Don’t go, don’t go!”

The octogenarian sprinted like the wind, rushing ahead to block their path.

Seeing this, the group surged with weird energy, glaring at the old man with ill intent.

Getting ready to fight right off the bat? It truly was a high-difficulty Dungeon.

Yet, unexpectedly, before the group could even make a move...

Several children playing in a neighboring doorway ran over and scolded the old man.

“Wang Laoba! We agreed no forcing! It’s supposed to be voluntary! You’re playing dirty, huh?! Just wait till we tell the Lord, you’re going to get beaten!”

Hearing this, the old man panicked and waved his hands frantically.

“No, no. I just saw that these honored guests might not understand the situation, so I wanted to explain it to them.”

“Do they need your explanation? There aren’t even enough of them to go around!”

“Exactly! My mom wanted to come, but she didn’t even get the chance!”

“...”

“...”

Hearing this argument between the inner world residents, the players’ hearts pounded wildly.

The amount of information in that exchange was massive!

Voluntary... Lord... not enough to go around...

These words struck their hearts like heavy hammers.

In an instant, everyone concocted a terrifying scenario in their heads, their legs subconsciously going weak.

Even Mo Lian, who trusted Yan Jing the most, felt a bit unsure now. Swallowing hard, she shouted to embolden herself, “Stop arguing for a second!”

“We’ll go check out your house first!”

She looked at the old man.

The old man was overjoyed.

“Okay, good, good! Come, look as much as you want!”

He led the group into his courtyard, bragging as he walked.

“I cleaned this courtyard spotlessly. I even bought food that you all can accept...”

The old man was incredibly enthusiastic, completely unaware that the hands and feet of the crowd behind him were icy cold.

“Who’s taking this house later?”

Jushi whispered into Mo Lian’s ear. “I just took a look around. There are only ten or twenty households in the entire village. I’m afraid there really aren’t enough to go around.”

“Let’s wait and see...”

Mo Lian pursed her chapped lips.

Unexpectedly, the old man’s next sentence instantly grabbed everyone’s attention.

“It’s just me in this courtyard, unlike the other families—”

Just him!

The moment those words registered, someone immediately raised a hand.

“I’ll stay at your place!”

“I’ll do it! Me, let me!”

The group scrambled to be first.

In a split second, the house that couldn’t be given away a moment ago became a hot commodity.

This was perfectly understandable. The second task of Stage A was to stay overnight.

Originally, everyone thought that a household would have at most three people. If they wanted to stay, they would have to kill one of them.

And if they killed one, they would basically have to kill the rest.

Hearing that the old man lived alone meant the second task was effectively bypassed. This kind of opportunity didn’t come by every day. Snagging it was equivalent to saving half their lives.

The crowd’s mad scramble made the old man beam with joy.

“Right, exactly! I told you, what’s so good about their places? Every household has two people. It’s just me here, so it’s way more comfortable.”

“...”

“...”

Everyone thought they had heard wrong, staring wide-eyed in astonishment.

Mo Lian couldn’t help but step forward.

“Did you just say every household only has two people?”

“Yeah!”

The old man nodded. “Two people per household. My old lady was supposed to join me in this household, but she fell ill yesterday. There was nothing we could do. Fortunately, the Lord didn’t mind...”

Listening to the old man’s words, the crowd was utterly astonished.

Two people per household.

Didn’t that mean... this second task was basically given to them for free?!

...

...

Yan Jing walked to the innermost courtyard among the occupied houses and knocked on the wooden door.

“Who is it?”

A tender, youthful voice called out from behind the door.

“It’s me.”

Hearing Yan Jing’s voice, the wooden door swung open. Dong An poked his head out and said in pleasant surprise, “Advisor! You’re here!”

“Mm.”

Yan Jing smiled.

“How have you been lately?”

“Great, really great. Come in and have a seat.”

Dong An led Yan Jing inside with a smile.

“As soon as we received the County Magistrate’s order, Master and I hurried over.”

“Mm. Did you bring the item?”

Yan Jing asked.

“We brought it, we brought it. No one checked us at all along the way. We specifically had someone make a large coffin to cover it up. Whenever anyone asked what was inside, we just said it belonged to County Magistrate Luo.”

Dong An grabbed a stool from the courtyard and placed it in front of Yan Jing.

“Our county has become much more orderly than before. It’s all thanks to County Magistrate Luo, you, and Mr. Yi. Have a seat, I’ll go call Master.”

“No need to call. I’m already here.”

Old Monkey, who only had one hand left, pushed the door open from inside the house. He quickly walked over to Yan Jing and bowed.

“Greetings, advisor.”

“Sit, have a seat.”

Yan Jing’s weird energy flared, shifting a stool over to Old Monkey.

“Thank you, advisor.”

Old Monkey sat down.

“You’ve confirmed there are no issues with the item?”

Yan Jing asked.

“None.”

Seeing Yan Jing ask about the item again, Old Monkey hurriedly stood up. “I’ll show you.”

“Alright.”

The two walked to the corner of the courtyard, stopping in front of a large water vat.

Old Monkey reached out his solitary hand, releasing weird energy, and effortlessly pushed the water vat aside.

Beneath the vat was a large hole covered by wooden boards.

Lifting the wooden boards, Old Monkey said, “Take a look.”

Yan Jing leaned over and peered into the hole.

A silver-white motorcycle lay diagonally in the cellar below, faint light flowing across its chassis.

“Good.”

Yan Jing nodded, and Old Monkey covered the hole again.

“Mr. Yi said this item needs to be handled with care. We guarded it strictly the entire way. It hasn’t suffered a single bump.”

“Thanks for your hard work.”

Yan Jing smiled. “Why don’t I see the County Magistrate?”

“The Magistrate has matters to attend to.”

Old Monkey said, “He told Little An and me to ask around for oil mechanics nearby.”

“Little An and I went asking. There aren’t any in Paima County, only a few oil mechanic households in Luohe County.”

“We found them and bought some of every kind of oil. It’s all stored inside the house right now.”

“Good, very good.”

Yan Jing nodded. “The County Magistrate told me about this. As long as there’s oil, we’re set.”

Chen Nian had told him in a letter how to charge this motorcycle. It was simple and crude—as long as there was oil, it was enough.