Chapter 35

The square was silent as everyone lowered their heads to check their ID cards.

The ID cards were divided into two camps. Everyone's role in the horror dungeon was different.

It was a serious matter to make a mistake in role-playing mode. If the NPC noticed the problem, it would affect the trainee's mission progress. If it was serious, the trainee would be killed at the end of the dungeon. Because of this, no one dared to be careless.

Unexpectedly, this dungeon did not have a high requirement for role-playing. Instead, it was similar to Zong Jiu's mental hospital dungeon. They just had to force their way through. The focus was still on the camp and the main mission.

Zong Jiu continued to look at the spy card in his mind.

The ID card showed that the owner of this identity was not originally a resident of this village. He was a refugee who had followed other refugees to this village.

That was just his surface identity.

In reality, his real identity was not a refugee. He was a necromancer who came to this village to collect fresh corpses.

Are you surprised? Are you surprised.jpg

Zong Jiu was speechless.

This identity was a little fashionable.

According to the necromancers' customs, they needed to train a well-trained "corpse leader" to be the leader of the necromancers. Without a good leader, they would not be able to do the necromancers.

Coincidentally, the ID card showed that he was a novice who had just stepped into the field. He went on his way after reciting a few incantations and Chinese talismans that he was not very familiar with. As the saying goes, a novice is not afraid of tigers. After he finished his apprenticeship, he immediately calculated the geomancy of the surroundings and rushed over. He mixed in with the refugees who tried to hide in the mountains and waited for the perfect corpse to be the leader of the necromancers.

No wonder.

Zong Jiu had thought that there must be some conflict between the spy and the normal card. Now that he saw the identity of the spy, it was not strange at all.

The normal card would definitely be on the opposite side of the necromancer. Based on this, the probability of the normal card's main mission was to protect the villagers was very high.

According to the iron law, trainees were not allowed to kill each other. Therefore, this corpse must have come from an NPC in this deserted village.

Since the main mission was to "find a perfect corpse," the meaning of the main system's mission was self-evident.

Ordinary people had to protect the villagers, but the mole only wanted corpses.

Zong Jiu did not know who the "perfect corpse" was, but there was no doubt that in the upcoming mission, the more deaths there were, the better it would be for him. Even though the trainees were not allowed to kill the NPCs themselves, they could still add fuel to the fire.

Thinking about it, this village was not simple. With so many high-level trainees present, the difficulty of the dungeon could only be high.

But who cared?

Zong Jiu had already dared to cause trouble before his hands had recovered. Now that his hands had recovered and even his eyes had been strengthened to the peak, Zong Jiu would only become more reckless.

Who didn't love the mastermind behind the scenes?

With that thought in mind, Zong Jiu withdrew his consciousness from the ID card.

Since his identity card was a necromancer, he was equipped with the corresponding identity items.

Disregarding everything else, although the number of people in the faction was 85 to 6, which was enough to be called the enemy of the whole world, the treatment of this Ghost Card was really not bad.

He bought a bunch of Necromancer ID items for free.

A C-class soul-sucking bell and a pack of F-class yellow talisman paper of unknown use.

Special items in horror dungeons were quite rare. Otherwise, the new trainees would not have to exchange them for missing arms and legs. If Zong Jiu successfully cleared the dungeon, these few items would be in his pocket. It was simply wonderful.

The mole in the mental hospital dungeon had immunity from dying at the hands of unsolvable supernatural beings. Could it be that the mole in this dungeon also had immunity? If that was the case, Zong Jiu would be overjoyed.

Even though there were thousands of thoughts running through his mind, the white-haired young man's expression did not change. He maintained an expression and stood in place.

In order to fit the dungeon's setting, the trainees had changed their clothes into straw raincoats. They all wore straw sandals and carried a cloth bag on their shoulders. It did not look out of place.

At that moment, the main system's voice sounded in a timely manner.

[The Famine Mountain Village has officially opened.]

[The duration of this dungeon is seven days. On the seventh day, the dungeon will be closed at midnight. Calculation will begin. Trainees, please pay attention to the appropriate allocation of time.]

After the mechanical voice disappeared, the surrounding scenery seemed to have been brushed by water. It was as if the waves had come to life.

The trainees were all secretly sizing up the others. No one made the first move.

"Hey, who are you? Where did you come from? "

In the square of Tongbai Village, near the entrance of the village, more than thirty unfamiliar faces suddenly appeared. Naturally, they attracted the attention of the native NPCs.

Wang Shou, the villager who had appeared in the prequel plot, stood not far away. He walked over with an unfriendly expression.

Behind him, dozens of villagers carried hoes and sickles in their hands. Their expressions were vigilant.

In this dungeon, there was not a Holy Son Messiah with sufficient prestige, warmth, and kindness. The two Grade-S who had been thrown into this dungeon were also reticent. They liked the character of lone wolves and had no interest in upholding justice and presiding over the overall situation.

For a moment, everyone looked at each other. Like a plate of loose sand, they did not know how to answer.

The two sides faced each other for dozens of seconds. As the smell of gunpowder in the air grew stronger, finally an honest-looking Grade-A opened his mouth.

"Brothers, please don't misunderstand. We are refugees from the outside. We mean no harm. We just want to find a place to rest in the village."

Wang Shou looked at them suspiciously. "You're refugees?"

The entire village was thin and sallow. Their ribs could be clearly seen through their open necklines. They were all skin and bones, covered in frostbite and dirt.

And anyone with eyes could see that not only were these self-proclaimed refugees wearing clean clothes, but they were also all fair and plump, with red lips and white teeth.

They said they were refugees, and they looked even more impressive than the young masters in the city.

"No, our village does not welcome outsiders."

He spoke in an evil tone, as if he was going to chase them out with the villagers behind him.

This time, the trainees were all anxious.

Lin Guoxing quickly stepped forward. "Wait!"

He was the honest Grade-A who had spoken first.

As a senior, Lin Guoxing certainly knew what kind of situation they were in.

If they were really chased out by the villagers, the consequences would be light. Most importantly, they still had to complete the main mission!

Thinking of the main mission of "Protect the Villagers" on the identity card, Lin Guoxing smiled bitterly in his heart.

The higher the level of the trainee, the more privileges they had. The Grade-A trainee's privileges were not only an exclusive presidential suite, but also clues about the next instance dungeon in advance.

At the end of the last instance dungeon, Lin Guoxing already knew the background of the second round of the dungeon.

The background of a deserted village was quite common in horror instance dungeons. It was considered one of the classic horror constructions. Lin Guoxing guessed that this instance dungeon would use the old-fashioned role-playing mode. But what he didn't expect was that when the instance dungeon started, the main system actually told him that it was a camp mode. Camp mode was one thing, but the main mission was the most troublesome protection mission.

Generally speaking, there were many types of main missions in horror instance dungeons. There were discovering the truth, finding the item, completing the commission, escaping from desperate situations, surviving within a time limit … But if you asked which type of mission a survivor was most unwilling to encounter, the protection mission would definitely be at the top of the list.

As everyone knew, NPCs in horror instance dungeons had brain circuits that were different from normal people. It was difficult to understand and communicate with normal people. If you wanted to protect them, or persuade them not to seek death, it was harder than ascending to heaven.

There was once a bloody case in the Infinite Loop. In a certain Grade-A instance dungeon, the survivors needed to protect a family and escape from the pursuit of a malicious spirit.

According to the routine of the protection mission, as long as they could protect one person in the family, it would be considered as completing the main mission. But in this instance dungeon, it was as if the whole family had been bewitched. They had to seek death and run back. The Calabash Brothers were sent to the malicious spirit one by one to save their grandfather. In the end, it led to the tragic annihilation of the entire survival team.

Just like the deserted village in front of them.

If the trainees couldn't even stay in the village, how could they protect them?

Obviously, the others also realized this and stepped forward.

"Yes, yes, we are only here temporarily to escape. We won't affect your villagers."

"Big brothers, please be magnanimous. We will rest here for seven or eight days and leave. We won't disturb you."

After seeing the anxiety on their faces, Wang Shou's eyes turned.

He waved his hand, indicating the villagers behind him to be calm and put on an impatient posture.

"Okay, you can stay if you want. But the village can't let you eat for free. We have to give you some benefits. "

Benefits?

Everyone looked at each other.

[Giving some benefits is too realistic.]

[Speaking of which, the trainees shouldn't have the money of this era, right?]

One of the trainees asked, "The benefits you are talking about are …?"

Wang Shou picked up the hoe on the ground and pointed at the trainee's backpack.

The other villagers exchanged glances.

It wasn't that Tongbai Village hadn't had refugees before, but it was the first time they had brought so many bulging backpacks.

"But —" The trainee hesitated.

Although they were all refugees, there were differences in status. The things in their backpacks were different.

The villagers were impatient. "Stop talking nonsense. If you want to stay in the village, take off your backpack!"

The situation was in a stalemate.

No one expected that Azan, who had been standing at the edge of the crowd, would be the first to move.

He walked over and threw the backpack in his hand in front of the villagers.

Several pairs of dirty hands pulled at the knots together. When they saw the things inside, their eyes turned green.

Azan's backpack didn't have much in it. Other than a few copper coins, there was also a handful of gray jerky.

The eyes of the people surrounding the backpack turned green. They reached out to take it, but Wang Shou smashed them with the hoe.

"What's the rush?! I haven't even taken it yet. You're quite brave. "

He was the son of the village chief, a well-known bully. He was the first to get all the good things in the village. Even if the villagers had a bloody hole in their hand, they didn't dare to talk back. They could only smile humbly.

Wang Shou snorted coldly and turned around. He picked up a piece of jerky and stuffed it into his mouth.

The eyes of the villagers behind him were glued to his hand. They were drooling and yearning. The sound of saliva swallowing rose and fell one after another.

In the past few years, famine had swept across the land. The weather wasn't on their side, and locusts passed through. Countless people starved to death in one county. Sometimes, dozens of floating corpses could be seen in the river next door every day.

Under such circumstances, if people didn't have enough to eat, how could they manage the livestock? The only pigs and cows in the village were gone the year before last. Even the bark of the trees deep in the mountains had been stripped clean by the hungry people. They ate only powdered leaves for a meal, not to mention meat.

Even though he was full, Wang Shou felt a strange thirst in his stomach.

"It's okay. The taste is far worse than the white meat at the back of our village."

He smacked his lips and kicked the remaining jerky and copper coins into his pocket. "Okay, you can have it."

The other trainees were whispering at the back. They all looked relieved.

"So simple? We just need to hand over the backpack and we'll pass? "

"I just took a look. I only have some dry food in my backpack."

There were also trainees who wanted to cry but had no tears. "Ah! What should I do? I don't have a backpack in my identity settings. "

"I don't have one either. Can't we get in?"

After entering the infinite loop, the physiological functions of the people who wanted to survive were stopped. Although they could still satisfy their appetite, there was no need for humans to eat. They would not starve to death if they did not eat like the NPCs in the instance dungeons. Moreover, even if they were hungry, they would not be interested in the inferior food after eating the delicacies in the trainees' dormitory kitchen.

With an S-level leading the way, many trainees obediently went to line up under the watchful eyes of the villagers to be looted.

The trainees who did not have any backpacks could only stand aside awkwardly.

[Did you just announce the Factions? Everyone looks very vigilant now.]

[Yes, they all seem to be staring at their backpacks. But why do some people have backpacks while others don't?]

[This … maybe refugees are divided into high and low ranks. Light candle.jpg]

[I think that's a good idea. If it's a mole, even if they dress up the same, their belongings would be different, right? Just now in the square, everyone's eyes were on them. It would be difficult to sneak away.]

[Sigh, it's a pity that this competition only opens the collective camera and not individual livestreams. Otherwise, it would be easy for us viewers to guess who the mole is.]

Zong Jiu was unperturbed. He was empty-handed to begin with. The yellow talisman and the Soul-Sucking Bell were tied to his waist.

Since they were items, they could be put into the System Space. In the worst case, he could just stuff the Necromancer's exclusive item into the System Backpack. He did not have to worry about exposing his identity because of such a small matter.

After everyone was done checking, not to mention the trainees, even the bullet screen could not figure out what was going on.

On the other side, it was also coming to an end.

After looting a large pile of food, the villagers were overjoyed. Their attitude also relaxed a lot.

"Alright, since you've paid, our village will temporarily take you in for a while."

However, there were more than thirty people in front of him. Wang Shou remembered that there were not that many empty houses in the village.

He thought for a moment. "How about this, those who have paid, you take them to the empty houses. Those who have not, you take them to the old locust tree."

The villager named Lao Qiang suddenly raised his head. He looked hesitant. "Over there … Will there be any problems?"

"What can be bad about it?"

Wang Shou said impatiently. "It's been so long. You guys are the only ones who keep talking."

Lao Qiang did not dare to refute. He could only agree.

Before he left, Wang Shou motioned for him to lean closer.

"Keep an eye on this group of people. There must be a big fish on them."

Not far away, Zong Jiu was among the people who had not paid. He silently drew a card for the "old locust tree" they were talking about.

The white-haired youth lowered his head. He looked at the inverted card in his hand without batting an eyelid. He was lost in thought.

He drew Big Alcanar's thirteenth card, Death.