MS Chapter 85

The old woman came and went without a sound, though it was also possible that their attention was too focused on the cat corpse and the dead baby, so they didn’t notice her approach.

In any case, her sudden appearance genuinely startled the other two Players.

The old woman was hunched over but didn’t use a cane. Lu Qingjia noticed the footprints behind her, which were steady and firm, clear and distinct.

So he smiled and asked, “Granny, what’s going on here?”

He pointed at the dead baby in the tree: “I’ve heard that it’s unlucky to bury a dead cat, but why is this baby hung here?”

The old woman seemed equally curious about the three of them. When Lu Qingjia spoke to her, her eyes greedily sized them up, finally settling on Lu Qingjia.

She chuckled, “It’s just a girl child, after all. She can appease the mountain god, which is a meritorious deed.”

Then she added to the three of them, “But now that you’ve returned, there’s no need for this evil anymore.”

Lu Qingjia smiled, glancing at the baby tied to the dead cat, and said, “But if I were the mountain god, I wouldn’t be pleased with such an offering.”

The old woman’s expression changed immediately. “Shut up, sin, sin! The child is ignorant and has offended the mountain god. Please don’t take offense.”

She rubbed her hands together and bowed in all directions, as if afraid of being implicated by Lu Qingjia’s reckless words.

Lu Qingjia, being the eccentric he was, didn’t shut up. Instead, he climbed the tree and untied the rope holding the cat corpse and the dead baby.

“What are you doing?” the old woman hurriedly tried to stop him but was blocked by the Extreme Player and the Infinite Player.

Lu Qingjia quickly dug a hole in the ground and hastily buried the cat and the baby.

He said, “Granny, listen to me. Superstition is no good. Not to mention how terrifying this is, the bacteria and the corpse poison flowing down—if anyone walks barefoot here, their feet will rot.”

The old woman was frantic. “You little brats, your fathers and grandfathers were all cowardly beasts, and the younger generation is no better.”

“Quickly dig it up and hang it back, or else no one will be able to save you later, the mountain god—”

Before she could finish, Lu Qingjia interjected, “The mountain god?”

He said this, then turned toward the village and added, “We’ve returned because we have something to discuss with it.”

“I wonder if Granny has time to show us the way?”

At this, the old woman’s mood shifted. It was as if her earlier anxiety had vanished, and she once again looked at Lu Qingjia and the others with that rare, almost covetous gaze, as if they were offerings.

“Come, come, come,” she said, leading the way while humming a tune that seemed eerie in the setting sun.

Every now and then, she would intersperse her humming with phrases like, “Now that you’ve returned, don’t leave.” It didn’t sound like a song but more like the chants at a funeral.

The village was not small—at least in Lu Qingjia’s estimation, it had at least two hundred households.

The houses were densely packed, and although according to Lu’s father, the village had completely isolated itself to prevent the young from fleeing as they had in the past.

Only a few who were steadfast in their belief in the mountain god were allowed to leave to study, and then return to the village as teachers.

Based on the Players’ imagination, this place should have been stuck in the last century, poor and backward.

But surprisingly, the houses in the village were neat and solid, with uniform white walls and gray tiles. Cement roads led to every household, and it actually looked quite decent.

The sun was about to set, and most of the people who had gone out to work were returning home with their farming tools.

Despite the fact that this village had to sacrifice people every three years, the villagers’ faces showed no signs of depression or defeat.

Most of the people they passed looked calm and relaxed, though when they saw the three of them, whose clothing clearly stood out, their expressions changed, and they examined them with a mix of emotions in their eyes.

This kind of gaze was uncomfortable, especially when so many people were looking at them at once.

Fortunately, the three Players were all battle-hardened, and they didn’t pay it much mind.

Lu Qingjia even smiled at a few young girls returning with bundles of pigweed.

The village men, their faces weathered and rough, were used to such sights. But the girls, who had never seen a man like Lu Qingjia—pale, clean, elegant, and almost otherworldly—blushed and lowered their heads, not daring to meet his gaze, and quickened their steps.

The old woman was displeased and snorted, but she didn’t say anything.

However, someone must have quickly spread the news of their return, because by the time the old woman led them to a stop, a large crowd of villagers had already gathered around them.

Many were even holding bowls and chopsticks, clearly having come out to watch the spectacle during their dinner break.

They didn’t shy away from staring, even openly pointing and whispering about the three of them.

The old woman knocked on the door, and the solid wood door opened from the inside. An old man with a pipe came out.

Without needing the old woman to explain, he said to the three of them, “You’ve returned? Come in.”

Lu Qingjia said, “You don’t seem surprised that we’ve come.”

The old man smiled. “What’s there to be surprised about? You were bound to return.”

He even gave Lu Qingjia a deep look, a twisted smile on his face as he added, “You couldn’t have stayed away even if you wanted to.”

This raised the alertness of the Extreme Player and the Infinite Player. They glanced at Lu Qingjia, already guessing why the old man had singled him out.

This also explained why Lu Qingjia was the first to know about the instance’s mission and difficulty level. It seemed that he had already experienced it before them.

However, the two Players didn’t yet know about the curse’s transferability that Lu Qingjia had deduced, so for now, their sympathy for him outweighed their suspicion.

The old man glanced at the black cat in Lu Qingjia’s arms, spat out an “unlucky,” but still moved aside to let the three of them in.

This was the village’s ancestral hall, with a simple layout—a typical two-courtyard house.

But the old woman and the other villagers didn’t follow them inside.

The old man led them into the worship room and pointed at three cushions on the ground. “Kneel.”

The three of them ignored him and instead began examining the entire room.

Apart from the ancestral tablets arranged in order, the topmost one was a stone covered with a red cloth.

Lu Qingjia pointed at the stone. “Is this the mountain god?”

The old man, seeing their disrespect, didn’t get angry. He just said, “It is and it isn’t.”

He sighed and shook his head. “You kids raised outside have no sense of propriety or rules.”

Then he gave Lu Qingjia another scrutinizing look and asked, “How many are there in your family?”

Lu Qingjia knew he was asking about his generation, so he answered, “Two. I have an older brother.”

The old man gave an eerie smile. “I thought you looked familiar. It must have been your brother who came back then.”

He shook his head again. “What a pity, what a pity.”

Perhaps because this world was where Old Uncle had met his end, Lu Qingjia’s behavior in this instance was noticeably different from his usual style in many small details.

The other two Players, who didn’t know him well, might not have noticed, but Zhong Liyu was the most aware of it.

The most obvious change was that he had become much less patient with many things.

After hearing the old man’s words, although Lu Qingjia’s face still wore a smile, Zhong Liyu could sense the sharp, aggressive edge in his heart at that moment.

If it weren’t for the fact that it involved his uncle, he would have probably already pulled out a cannon and blown the ancestral hall to pieces.

Instead, he suppressed his emotions and asked, “Where’s the place of sacrifice? It’s not here, is it?”

“Haha, why the rush?” the old man said. “Stay a few more days. You’ll get to see it.”

Lu Qingjia, hearing this, actually stopped being impatient. After going through the motions in the ancestral hall and finding little of value, he followed the old man out.

The villagers were still gathered around, and the number of onlookers had even increased. Children were also pointing and whispering about the three of them.

Lu Qingjia asked the old man, “Where will we be staying?”

At this, someone stepped out from the crowd—a man who looked to be in his forties or fifties, though his actual age was probably younger.

He was the most robust among the village men, and he gave the three of them a cold look before saying, “Follow me.”

It was clear that they had already made arrangements for those who had returned from the outside.

The man led them to an empty house near the back of the mountain. It was obvious that no one had lived here for a while, but surprisingly, it had been cleaned very thoroughly.

However, judging by the condition of the walls and furniture, it must have been cleaned out only in the last couple of days.

It seemed that they had anticipated someone’s arrival and had prepared it specifically, rather than maintaining it regularly.

The house had several rooms, each with a bed already made, enough for the three of them to stay.

The man pointed to the kitchen. “There’s rice, flour, oil, and vegetables. Cook for yourselves if you want to eat. If you need anything, just shout ‘Old Xi’ at the door, and I’ll come.”

Communication really was all about shouting here.

After the man left, Lu Qingjia took out his phone and, as expected, there was no signal.

But he and the Infinite Player weren’t worried about this. Infinite City had plenty of advanced technological gadgets.

There was a tool the size of a dust plug that, when inserted into a phone, acted as a powerful signal receiver.

Not only could it pick up signals from this village, which was only isolated by a few dozen kilometers, but it could even forcibly capture signals from thousands of miles away, and ordinary physical barriers were largely ineffective.

Unless, of course, they were locked in a room made of a specific metal, more than a meter thick.

Lu Qingjia tossed a receiver to the Extreme Player, and the two Players’ expressions turned rather strange as they looked at him.

There was even a hint of fear in their eyes.

After all, in other games, such Items were usually obtained by participating in exchange instances. The fact that Lu Qingjia could casually pull one out now suggested that he had likely already participated in an Infinite Game exchange instance.

Yet he was here now, even though most Players could only participate once. This made the situation a bit unnerving.

However, compared to this possibility, the two Players were more inclined to believe that he knew someone who had participated in an Infinite Game instance and had obtained the Item from them.

But seeing him hand it over without a second thought made that explanation hard to swallow.

As the two Players looked conflicted, Lu Qingjia took out some food from his storage space.

At this point, he couldn’t be bothered to cook. After hours of travel and trekking, he was hungry.

To deal with resource shortages, given the amount of storage space Lu Qingjia now had, he was fully prepared, with enough rations to survive for a long time even in a place with no food.

He took out a steaming box of food and shared it with the cat.

The two Players also took out their own food, though the Extreme Player’s meal was rather interesting.

Lu Qingjia glanced at the strange dishes in the other’s lunchbox—purple tomatoes, red blueberries, apples with blue flesh, and colorful slices of sashimi that looked downright sinister.

The Extreme Player noticed their gazes and smiled. “People have mutated, so how could plants and animals escape?”

“But you can’t eat these. They’re highly toxic.”

Lu Qingjia asked, “Are you a Poison Skin?”

The other nodded. “As soon as I entered this instance, I turned into this. It’s quite disorienting, but at least I can return to my original form. Without my poison as a defense, I’d be quite anxious.”

Poison Skins were dangerous in the three major games. Their entire bodies were highly toxic, and even the air they exhaled was poisonous. In a large space, it was manageable, but if you were in a small, enclosed room with a Poison Skin, an ordinary person wouldn’t last long before succumbing to the poison.

So the Extreme Space had developed a set of equipment specifically for Poison Skins—thin as cicada wings, it could filter out the toxins from their breath and sweat.

Of course, this equipment could also be removed instantly, as Poison Skins’ early advantage relied heavily on this innate trait.

While eating, the three of them discussed their respective game situations and shared their thoughts and insights on this instance.

After a while, they each returned to their rooms to rest.

Lu Qingjia lay in bed, staring at the mosquito net above him, while the black cat stepped on his chest and swished its tail against his neck.

He grabbed the tail and absentmindedly stroked it.

Lu Qingjia himself wasn’t aware of it, but this action made Zhong Liyu’s imagination run wild.

If only he were in human form right now.

If Lu Qingjia knew what this guy was thinking, he’d probably tighten his grip on the cat’s tail and slam him against the wall.

Lost in thought, Lu Qingjia drifted off to sleep.

In the middle of the night, he suddenly woke up, sensing something was wrong.

The black cat had already woken up but, following their initial agreement, didn’t dare to alert or help him, simply standing anxiously by his pillow.

When Lu Qingjia woke up, it let out a sigh of relief.

Even without getting up, Lu Qingjia realized what was wrong.

The room was too cold.

It felt like it was dozens of degrees below zero. It was summer, and Lu Qingjia had been sleeping in just a thin set of pajamas. At this temperature, even a Player would struggle.

But soon he discovered the reason—the white mosquito net around him was now covered in a thick layer of ice.

And Lu Qingjia could feel that this ice had been created using his own Ability, and at full power at that.

In other words, the coldness was at the limit of his frost Ability.

He tried to retract the Ability but found that it was unresponsive.

With a crack, the ice above him shattered, and a thick chunk of ice was about to fall on him.

Lu Qingjia rolled to the side, but that was just a diversion—several icicles shot toward him from another direction at high speed.

Normally, with Lu Qingjia’s physical resilience, the Celestial Bloodline’s defense, and his monstrous regenerative Ability, a few icicles at such close range and without enough acceleration wouldn’t even require him to dodge.

But Lu Qingjia had a gut feeling that he shouldn’t take the hit.

So a large hole appeared beneath him, and the Anywhere Door activated. He and the cat fell through the bed and reappeared underneath it.

At the same time, he activated his Holy Light Ability. Although there was no one in front of him for this Ability to be useful against, it worked well enough as a light source.

Then, under the bed, Lu Qingjia saw a strange-looking talisman.

He tore it off and rolled out from under the bed.

By now, the ground was also rapidly freezing over, and Lu Qingjia immediately created a pool of Sludge beneath him to prevent himself from getting stuck.

But the ice was so overpowering that it quickly stiffened the Sludge, rendering it useless.

This was far more potent than when he controlled the Ability himself. Although it lacked some flexibility, it was undoubtedly very troublesome.

Lu Qingjia had no choice but to activate the Anywhere Door again, this time appearing in the courtyard, leaving the room behind. The ice didn’t follow him out.

The other two Players, hearing the commotion, quickly came out of their rooms and asked, “What’s going on?”

Lu Qingjia gestured toward the room, and when they looked over, they could feel an intense chill even through the door.

“This… isn’t this supposed to be a curse?”

Lu Qingjia said, “Of course. Relying solely on a chain of accidents, unless you’re willing to suffer heavy losses and disregard the lives of outsiders, it’s hard to kill a Player.”

But it was impossible to disregard losses and the lives of NPCs. Besides being a game instance, this was also a living world. This was only an Intermediate Level Game, and it was a stable, peaceful world. The world’s consciousness wouldn’t allow any rules to disrupt the order.

Players’ Abilities were diverse and strange. Just take Lu Qingjia’s defensive bubble, for example. If it were just a “Final Destination” type of scenario, relying on physical attacks from real-world accidents, frankly, it wouldn’t harm Lu Qingjia at all.

He could simply keep his defensive bubble active throughout the entire instance, and the game wouldn’t be nearly as challenging as imagined.

The same went for other Players—no matter what, they would always find a way to protect themselves.

But even someone as powerful as Old Uncle, who had the Ability to control the time of objects, couldn’t save himself.

Of course, the main reason was that he had trusted the wrong person, but it was clear that this game, which had even forced the Trickster—a top-tier exchange student—to seek refuge, must have more than just the ever-present accidents.

The Trickster’s ability to become an exchange student already spoke to his strength.

Therefore, it was obvious that there must be a greater threat hidden within.

But Lu Qingjia had never expected that it would be the betrayal of his own Abilities.

When the two Players learned that the out-of-control Ability was Lu Qingjia’s own, they were shocked.

If that were the case, this instance was truly terrifying.

It was almost impossible to guard against. Imagine an accident happening, and you instinctively use your Ability to defend yourself, only for the Ability to fail or even turn against you. Without a more effective contingency plan and strong enough reflexes, failure would be almost inevitable.

Moreover, there was no guarantee that the betrayal would only affect one Ability.

After a while, the traces of ice faded, and Lu Qingjia waved his hand, creating a patch of frost on the ground.

He said, “It’s back.”

This discovery didn’t bring them much relief, as it meant that any Ability could betray them at any moment, without warning.

Lu Qingjia returned to the room to sleep, glancing at the talisman he had torn from under the bed. Unable to make sense of it, he put it away.

Early the next morning, he was woken up by the crowing of roosters throughout the village.

After getting up and making a simple breakfast, Lu Qingjia discussed and assigned tasks with the other two Players before heading out alone.

He went to the river, where several young women were washing clothes.

When they saw Lu Qingjia, they shyly stole glances at him, occasionally gathering to whisper and giggle.

One of the bolder ones asked him directly, “Are you one of those chosen to return this year?”

Lu Qingjia hadn’t expected the younger generation in the village to have a different narrative from the older ones.

But it wasn’t surprising. Based on the villagers they had seen earlier, the adults of a certain age were tight-lipped, but the teenagers and children showed no malice toward outsiders.

Instead, they were more curious and intrigued.

So when the girl asked, Lu Qingjia nodded.

Then he smiled and said, “To be honest, I’ve never been back here since I was born. I’ve been a bit nervous about coming, afraid the villagers wouldn’t like me.”

The bold girl had broken the ice, and the others were no longer shy.

They gathered around and said, “Nonsense! You’re so handsome, of course we like you.”

Then they asked, “Do you really keep a black cat? The adults say black cats are unlucky, and whoever keeps one will die a bad death. Did it get you chosen because of that?”

Lu Qingjia didn’t answer the question but instead magically produced a box.

He smiled at the girls and said, “My mother asked me to bring some gifts back to avoid being impolite, so I prepared something for you.”

Opening the box, inside were some popular accessories like hair clips, bracelets, small combs, and earrings.

These weren’t things Lu Qingjia had brought with him when he left yesterday; he had specifically used the Anywhere Door to return to the city to buy them.

Although the mountain village wasn’t exactly poor, it was isolated and conservative. Even when they occasionally went to the town for markets, how could they see such finely crafted, uniquely designed, and shiny items in an ordinary remote town?

Girls love beauty, and they couldn’t take their eyes off these little gifts.

One girl whispered, “The village doesn’t allow us to take things from outside.”

Lu Qingjia smiled, holding a hair clip up to her hair. “Your hair is thick and beautiful; this suits you perfectly.”

He added, “They’re just small trinkets. If it’s inconvenient to wear them now, keeping them to look at would still mean my effort wasn’t wasted.”

The braver girl bit her lip and took a small comb from the box. “I’ll take this.”

Once she started, the others followed suit.

Receiving gifts shortened their resistance, and with Lu Qingjia’s good looks and sweet talk, how could these girls, who had barely left the village, resist?

Lu Qingjia casually probed for information, and the girls chattered away, revealing all sorts of gossip, whether appropriate or not.

Zhong Liyu nestled in Lu Qingjia’s arms, feeling increasingly dissatisfied.

If he wasn’t here, who knows how Lu Qingjia would charm women.

The black cat in his arms began to stir, but Lu Qingjia continued chatting with the girls while one hand stroked the cat’s belly.

The way he slowly caressed it was quite provocative, entirely different from his usual cat-petting.

Zhong Liyu’s entire body stiffened as he felt that hand searching through his fur.

Then it found a small bump, and the index finger began to circle it, even pressing down with the thumb.

Although Zhong Liyu was now a cat, his sensations were no different from when he was human.

While a cat’s physiology differs from a human’s, the sensitive and stimulating areas were still there, as he had only changed form, not species.

Having been abstinent for years, how could he withstand such provocation?

Zhong Liyu’s entire body hardened, then melted into a puddle in Lu Qingjia’s arms, his mind soaring while already planning how to indulge once he was back to human form.

Would his skills have dulled after so long?

No, Jiajia was so skilled; his experience was etched into his muscle memory.

Lu Qingjia glanced at the cat practically glued to his hand, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

The way he could control it with just one hand was quite endearing.

Even as he sexually harassed the cat, Lu Qingjia didn’t stop gathering information. Unfortunately, the girls didn’t know much, and what they did know had been embellished.

But from their chatter, Lu Qingjia managed to extract some useful information.

However, one girl’s words made Lu Qingjia’s expression change instantly.

She asked, “Are you also going to get married in front of the mountain god this time?”

“Hmm? What do you mean?” Lu Qingjia’s expression was still calm, not yet realizing the implications.

The girl explained, “My father heard from the elder last night that you’re Brother Ji’s younger brother. Didn’t you know?”

“Brother Ji came back and got married.”

The smile on Lu Qingjia’s face had vanished. He asked, “Why? Did he marry someone from the village after returning from outside?”

The girl shook her head. “No, Brother Ji brought someone back with him. It was a man. Huh? What was his name? Why can’t I remember?”

Another girl chimed in, “Brother Ji got a lot of scolding back then, but he still got married.”

Lu Qingjia’s smile returned, but Zhong Liyu, sensing the murderous intent emanating from him, shrank back, no longer daring to feel aroused.

Lu Qingjia murmured softly, “So, they’re already married? Then naturally, we can’t let them be separated for too long.”