Chapter 34

The autumn wind was cold, and the withered leaves were mournful.

This year's autumn was especially cold, so cold that the wind was like a thin knife, cutting into the bloody wounds on the chapped skin, making people shiver.

The village was called Tong Bai Village. It was very desolate, with mountains on both sides. One side was close to the rolling river, and the other side was connected to the wilderness. Usually, one could only enter from the small paths between the mountains. The low houses were arranged in rows, and there were few signs of human habitation. Behind them was a luxuriant green mountain that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Today, the weather was gloomy, as if it was about to rain.

The traffickers dragged the broken wooden carts towards Yushan Road. House by house, they gathered at the open space at the entrance of the village, watching from afar.

The silent womenfolk were tied onto the handcart, staring with their dark eyes. Their tattered woolen clothes couldn't block the cold, not to mention the dirt that could be rubbed out from the corners.

The traffickers used their stiff fingers to count the dirty bills in their hands, spittle flying everywhere.

"Now it's hard to sell teenage girls. In the village next door, you can buy one for five dollars. The old men are tired of playing with them, so they can't sell them for the same price as before."

The village at the mouth of the river was only a few li away from here, but it was located outside the mountains. Apart from the steep and difficult mountain path, its geographical location was much better than Tong Bai Village.

Wang Shou spat fiercely, "Even if I sell one for five dollars, I'll still make a profit. That woman at home only knows how to eat and not cook. I'll kidnap her and sell her in a few days."

For the past few years, people had not been able to eat their fill. Coincidentally, there was a drought this year, and all the grain died in the fields. There was no harvest, and there was a famine. The situation outside was already very serious, and the deeper you went into the mountains, the more terrible it was. In the most serious area, it was said that eight or nine out of ten people in the village had starved to death. The bones were spread out on the ground, and no one collected them. The stench was so strong that it made it easy for the hungry vultures.

Fathers sold their daughters, husbands sold their wives, and sold them to brothels in other cities. There were also those who were too hungry to eat and willingly followed the traffickers. There were only a few women left in the huge village.

Along the way, everyone looked sallow and emaciated. They were as thin as a match, and their clothes did not even cover their bodies. Not even a piece of bark was left on the roadside.

Although the human traffickers traveled back and forth between the various villages, using the excuse of famine as an excuse to sell women, they would sometimes develop some unknown fear towards Tong Bai Village, which was hidden deep in the mountains of the valley.

This feeling was not easy to describe. If he had to blame it, it would be the scene he saw at the market behind the village a few days ago.

He had traveled extensively and had even carried the lives of people on his back. However, this was the first time he had seen such a scene.

After he went back, he tossed and turned in bed and thought for a long time. He also walked around outside a few times. Finally, he decided to come in and do one last business deal.

The girls in other places didn't have a good business. Either the disaster wasn't that serious and they weren't willing to sell their children to suffer in that place, or they hadn't lost their humanity under the torture of starvation.

Only in Tong Bai Village, which had been severely affected by the disaster, the entire village was in one breath. The men were responsible for kidnapping them and selling them. Every time they returned, they would receive five or six good goods.

Originally, this should have been the last business deal for the human traffickers in this village. However, the words of the villagers made him change his mind.

It wasn't a fourteen or fifteen year old girl. Adult men in their twenties could get a higher price. The big shots in the city liked the latter type. Sometimes, they could even get a net profit of twenty or thirty yuan. Who wouldn't be moved when they heard this?

The human trafficker's hand that was counting the money paused. "Okay, you do things more strictly. I'll come again in the night the day after tomorrow."

Wang Shou smiled. "You don't trust me when I do things? That woman's stomach wasn't good enough. A few days ago, she escaped back to her mother's home. "

He was so thin that his cheeks were sunken. He squatted down and viciously kicked the wooden wheel.

The girl's eyes revealed a look of fear. She couldn't help but shrink back.

He looked pensive and said to himself, "It's okay. This money-losing thing is still here. Looking at the time, she will definitely come back to take a look."

The human trafficker didn't say anything. He drove the similarly thin mule onto the road and slowly drove away from the deserted village deep in the mountains.

The wind carried the withered leaves and swirled them from afar.

After he was done with this job, he wouldn't come back to this evil village.

The sound of the mule's hooves followed the rolling of the wooden wheel into the distance. It disappeared into the forest further away and could no longer be heard.

.....

Everything fell into a frozen state of stillness.

[Beep beep beep … Connecting to the main system.]

After this prelude, the trainees in the square also found that they could finally move their feet and move around in a narrow area.

They were all changed into coarse clothes that matched the era of this dungeon instance. The level badge hanging on their chests indicated their identity.

Although the surrounding scenery was frozen, the trainees could move freely in this empty square. Many people were secretly sizing up the other trainees in this dungeon instance.

When they saw the two S-level trainees present, and two of them were high level S-level trainees, everyone sucked in a breath of cold air.

Not only were there S-level trainees, but there were also many A-level, B-level, and C-level trainees. After seeing this scene, many of the D and E grade trainees' faces turned pale.

Many trainees had already analyzed that the difficulty of the dungeon instance would be adjusted according to the strength of the participants.

This was only the second round, and there were already two high level S-level trainees in this dungeon instance. One could imagine how difficult this dungeon instance would be.

They were newbies, and it was not easy for them to survive the first round. In Las Vegas, they exchanged their lives for a chance to live. Struggling at death's door, they knew how precious life was.

It was not a sensational story. Just the scene of this special event in Las Vegas had already caused many trainees to die an unnatural death.

In the beginning, the main system proposed the method of exchanging organs for chips.

The newbies who did not have the initial gambling capital had no way out. They took their chips into the casino and lost until their eyes turned red at the gambling table.

The winners took more chips and walked to a higher level gambling table, walking toward an unknown fate in front of them. The losers could only return to the front desk dejectedly and use more organs as collateral.

Infinite Loop had never opened up a channel for exchanging special items before. The horror of the first dungeon instance also made them fully realize that one more item meant one more hope for survival.

The main system did not want to send all the trainees to their deaths. It opened up a channel. As long as they did not want to die, any newbie with a brain would desperately seize this opportunity.

But all of this was built on bones and blood.

The trainees who took the generous chips were complacent, and their greed grew bigger and bigger. In the end, they were back to square one at the high level gambling table. They lost so badly that they could not even take out the chips to redeem their lives.

The practice at the low-level gambling table was repeated over and over again. They won and lost, and were forced to exchange some of their organs for some F-grade and E-grade items. It was common for them to lose an eye or a few fingers.

Many gamblers who squandered all their chips did not dare to walk out of the door of the Las Vegas Golden Palace. Some simply threw caution to the wind and immersed themselves in the Golden Palace Lounge to get drunk, waiting for the moment of judgment to come. There were also those who knelt on the crimson carpet and begged from the high level trainees. They did not hesitate to use all kinds of dirty deals, lowering their voices and working like cattle or horses, just to exchange chips to save their lives.

In the face of the cruel problem of survival, everything became cold and realistic.

Humanity was on full display.

Three days later, the main system's cold mechanical voice rang through the entire trainee dormitory.

[The special scenario "Las Vegas" will be closed permanently in ten minutes. The calculation of chips for each trainee will begin immediately. Trainees who do not have enough chips to start the bet will have their organs removed or be forcibly erased.]

This event was enough to leave a memory for everyone.

There were originally more than ten thousand trainees, but the number of thriller trainees had decreased sharply. Now there were less than seven thousand.

During this period, there were naturally people who were in the limelight.

Among them, the most eye-catching was the C-level trainee with eye-catching hair and eyes.

Coincidentally, he also appeared at this venue.

The Magician Zong Jiu.

This name could be said to have become famous overnight.

Many of the trainees present were discreetly sizing up the white-haired youth.

The Magician in the casino could be said to have limitless glory. Not only did he win all the way, but he also won a huge amount of chips at the central table.

Most importantly, he had won the favor of that great person.

The newcomers looked at him with eyes full of admiration and fear. Apart from a few seniors, almost all of them were cold and indifferent.

[The 815-degree panoramic camera with no blind spots has been activated. Individual livestreams will not be available for this round. Only the dungeon's public livestream will be available.]

[Trainees have entered livestream mode.]

Although the main system was still loading, the camera was first activated at the same time.

Those who did not enter the horror dungeon opened the spectator channel and rushed into the livestream.

[I'm here!!! Let me see what this dungeon is like!]

[Looks like a deserted village? Looks a bit like Asia. I don't know what year it is, but it looks quite early.]

[I don't mean to say this, but it looks like this building mode is strange and eerie … Forget it, how can a horror dungeon not be eerie and eerie? jpg]

[Ahhhhh I can see it, I can see it. F * ck, this dungeon's configuration is so luxurious, I'm stunned.]

[Indeed, No.8 and No.9, two high level S-Class! Damn, according to the two S-level in the last round, the dungeon's difficulty was raised to almost S-level. I suddenly feel that this dungeon is also, hmm …]

[It doesn't matter if it can be solved or not. The most important thing is that I can lick Brother Magician's face again. Awsl, in this cold and endless cycle, only beauty can keep me going.]

[Agreed + 6.]

The bullet screen was noisy.

Zong Jiu stood quietly in the same spot, his whole body was cold and indifferent.

He first tried to figure out the plot of the previous scene, then looked at the surrounding environment. Then, he turned his gaze and met the eyes of the black-haired man standing not far from him.

It was him again.

Zong Jiu felt that he was too fated with this person.

But this person was a con artist who was good at both civil and martial arts. He was also very smart and knew more than he did. He was a variable that was hard to control.

Zhuge An nodded at him coldly as a greeting.

He wore a simple straw raincoat, which made him look like a hermit.

Other than that, No.9, Azan, was also not far away. His brows were furrowed and no one knew what he was thinking.

The A-level Blood Breed, Anthony, had his hands in his pockets. When he saw the white-haired youth, his face darkened. Yi Yuesi, who played Landlord with Zong Jiu, was also among them.

Zong Jiu looked around carefully. Other than these few people, there were no other familiar faces.

No.6 was also nowhere to be seen.

Thinking of No.6's ability and the cold murderous intent, Zong Jiu was almost certain that this person would come to this dungeon to cause trouble.

I'll just deal with it as it comes.

He thought carelessly.

The devil only knew that Zong Jiu had exposed his mentor's identity. He didn't know that Zong Jiu had exposed his ability to act as an NPC and control the trainees. He also didn't know that Zong Jiu had an S-level item that was specially used to expose someone's identity.

If this was used well, Zong Jiu could win by surprise. There was no need to be afraid.

At this time, the system finally finished loading.

[The main system has been successfully connected.]

[The second round of Thriller Trainees has begun. Current location: Stage 8: Starving Mountain Village.]

[The mode of this round is ID Card Mission. Trainees are divided into two camps. Different camps have different main missions and extra missions.]

[Complete the main mission to clear the stage. Complete the extra mission to receive extra rewards. Fail the main mission and you will be eliminated. Extra missions are not compulsory. Success will double your level evaluation. Failure has no effect.]

[ID cards have been sent to each trainee's backpack. Please check.]

Two camps?

The trainees' expressions changed. They all checked their ID cards in their minds.

Zong Jiu opened his ID card.

Today's surprise.

He had obtained the Spy Card.

The main mission of the Spy Card was to find out the truth and let the culprit receive the punishment he deserved.

As for the extra mission … the Spy Card didn't have any extra missions. The main system indicated that because the Spy Card had a special characteristic, it assumed that the Spy Card only needed to complete the main mission to automatically receive the extra reward from the special mission.

Oh, the main system was so easy to talk to? Zong Jiu wouldn't believe it even if he was beaten to death.

As expected, when he saw the next line, he knew what the special characteristic of the Spy Card meant.

The main system kept saying that this round was divided into two camps, but in reality — —

There was only one Spy Card in this round, and that was Zong Jiu.

Zong Jiu, the Lucky Goose, was speechless.

Playing the role of the only Spy Card in a group of thirty people, danger!