11: Oops, I'm a stand-in!

Cheng Zhen looked at the other two Rookie with sympathy.

Especially the female student, she was crying even louder now.

She hadn't cried this miserably even when her hands were bloody just now…

Although the process was somewhat hard to describe, Jacket Uncle didn't lie; his healing effect truly reached the level of a primary-grade item, and perhaps even better.

The bald man, who had almost had his philtrum fractured by the Short-Haired Girl and hadn't woken up, finally regained consciousness with a groan after being spat on his face.

The bald man, his face covered in blood, opened his eyes and saw two rows of giant Buddhas standing beside him.

He was so startled that he shot up with a yelp.

Only after seeing his familiar teammates did he let out a sigh of relief.

That was close, he almost thought he had gone to the Western Paradise.

Eh? Wait, no?

There really were two rows of Arhat Buddhas!

The bald man's face was filled with confusion, his whole being disheveled in the wind.

Seeing him awake, Jacket Uncle beside him said grumpily, "You little brat, you caused trouble and then went to sleep, while we almost got screwed because of you!"

The bald man was instantly terrified.

WOC, did I just lead my team to a wipe???

He almost burst into tears on the spot, but thankfully, the Short-Haired Girl smoothed things over for him, allowing the bald man to stop his tears.

It's fine, it's fine, as long as no one died.

"But that Mountain Child, how many abilities does it actually have?"

The Short-Haired Girl, being very practical, wanted to clarify things about the BOSS. She asked, "Its mist-forming ability prevents Uncle Wang and I from dealing effective damage to it. We can only occasionally counterattack when it attacks, but even then, we can't seriously injure it."

"Earlier, I heard a huge explosion from your room. I was worried it would use the same method to attack us, but it hasn't used a similar ability, only claw attacks. Is there some limitation to that ability?"

The Short-Haired Girl looked serious, worried about what other moves the BOSS might use, but her words made the bald man break out in a cold sweat, his face full of embarrassment.

"That..." the bald man whispered, "was the 'Explosive Pill' I got from the clearance treasure chest. It blew up the load-bearing wall, so..."

Everyone: "...?"

So you buried yourself alive!

His two teammates almost fainted on the spot after hearing that.

They almost died trying to save him, and it turned out the source of the problem was the idiotic teammate himself?

Jacket Uncle was so angry that he chugged an entire bottle of water on the spot, lamenting that medicine couldn't save the mentally challenged!

Where was the bald man's previous confidence? He clutched at the corner of his clothes, looking flustered: "Sorry, then how did you all...?"

The Short-Haired Girl pointed at Cheng Zhen: "Thanks to this handsome young man, otherwise we would all be done for!"

She described it concisely, leaving the bald man stunned.

Huh? No way? Bro, are you serious?

You can really carry us through a four-star instance?

The bald man's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief.

Then he pondered for a moment and slowly walked towards Cheng Zhen.

Seeing the bald man walk straight towards him, Cheng Zhen thought he was reluctant to hand over the double-points card and was about to pull his bodyguard over, but then he saw the bald man smoothly bow:

"Thank you, Big Brother, for saving my life!!!"

"I'm sorry, Bro! My attitude was terrible before! Please, Big Boss, carry me through the instance!!!"

Cheng Zhen: ...You really know how to adapt, no wonder you've cleared so many instances.

"No problem, no problem." Cheng Zhen played with the bonus card and said, "That Uncle also said that surviving teammates can earn extra points. As long as you honestly follow instructions, you're guaranteed to pass."

At this moment, no one would doubt Cheng Zhen's abilities anymore.

His promise brought immense reassurance to everyone.

"However..."

Cheng Zhen suddenly changed the subject: "Do you think just hiding in this house for two days and surviving until the instance ends is enough?"

The Uncle was startled: "Uh? What do you mean...?"

"Uncle, you also said that dealing effective damage and solving instance puzzles can increase the settlement score."

Cheng Zhen looked out the window; the village remained silent.

"So, defeating a four-star instance BOSS should add a lot of points, right?"

...

The third morning.

"What's going on?!"

The old village chief's hands trembled as he looked at his grandson, shocked and terrified.

The child looked puzzled, and the wicker ball in his hand gradually seeped with a bloody color.

"Those people... weren't they taken by the great Mountain Child?"

The old man was anxious and uneasy, gripping the child's arm tightly with his withered hands until the child cried out in pain. Only then did he snap out of his daze and hug his grandson tightly.

"No, no!"

The village chief's brows were furrowed as he muttered, "I have to go see, those people..."

"Coming to see when we'll be taken away?"

A voice came, and the village chief looked at the doorway in shock. Cheng Zhen stood there with his arms crossed, a defiant look on his face.

"You, you—"

The village chief was a little flustered, seemingly looking for someone.

"Don't look, look, your son is over there."

Cheng Zhen casually pointed, and the village chief saw his burly villager son being beaten and rolling on the ground by the bald man.

Bald Man: Hmph, I can't beat the instance BOSS, but I can't beat a regular NPC?

"Come—" The village chief was about to shout again but was suddenly caught by a rope around his neck, forcing him to stop his voice.

"If you don't cooperate, then we'll just have to kill you first, and then..."

Cheng Zhen, like a gangster with his underlings, was arrogant and then glanced at the village chief's grandson, his meaning obvious.

Although he wouldn't be so insane as to randomly kill innocent children, scaring the village chief was perfectly acceptable.

Sure enough, that old man was directly broken by that glance and immediately burst into tears, saying, "I was wrong, it was all my idea! Don't touch my grandson, he doesn't know anything!"

Seeing that the desired effect had been achieved, Cheng Zhen nodded in satisfaction.

He had the Short-Haired Girl take the child to the next room first, then led Jacket Uncle and the others to sit down imposingly, telling the village chief to confess leniently or face severe consequences.

With his grandson as a hostage, the old village chief dared not cause any more trouble and honestly confessed everything.

On the mountain next to this village, there had always lived a type of monster. Because of its small stature and child-like voice, the villagers called it the Mountain Child.

Because the Mountain Child liked to abduct children, the villagers did not allow children to go up the mountain. Originally, as long as the villagers did not go up the mountain at night, they would be safe, but a few years ago, for some unknown reason, the Mountain Child's demonic power suddenly greatly increased, and it would sneak into the village to commit evil every night.

The villagers had not resisted, but how could mere mortals defeat a monster? Moreover, the Mountain Child's ability to turn into mist made it immune to ordinary attacks, naturally making it invincible in the village.

Left with no choice, the villagers followed the suggestion of a passing Taoist priest, using the Mountain Child's fondness for children as a weakness, taking turns to offer the village's children as sacrifices in exchange for peace. This was the 'Sacrifice Mountain Child'.

"Hiss, no wonder all I saw in the village were adults, and hardly any children..."

Jacket Uncle frowned.

Although it was just an instance setting, this act of sacrifice still instinctively made the people present uncomfortable.

This year, it was the village chief's family's turn to provide the sacrifice.

The child's toy gradually stained with the demonic red color was proof that he had been chosen by the Mountain Child.

This old village chief didn't want to hand over his grandson, so he came up with a wicked plan.

He sent out invitations, claiming there was a special sacrificial activity here with the effect of praying for blessings, deceiving unfortunate people to come to the village, making outsiders substitutes for the sacrifice.

After speaking, he secretly glanced at the group, afraid that these substitutes would hammer him to death in a fit of rage.

Although the group had anticipated his ill intentions under Cheng Zhen's guidance, they hadn't expected the old man to be planning something like this.

"Let the Bullets Fly" is still playing in C—

Oh no, I've become a stand-in!