12: It is my duty as a kind-hearted person to help the suffering villagers!

Although the outsiders they tricked were not children, as long as there were enough of them, Mountain Child would surely be satisfied.

At first, the other villagers thought this was not good, but the Village Chief said that if this method worked, no one in the village would have to offer sacrifices anymore.

Which family doesn't have children? Hearing this, they naturally wouldn't object.

Several substitutes: ...MD, this old man is truly despicable. No wonder the villagers always looked at us like we were fat meat.

You don't want to die, so you'll let others die for you?

It was the first time I truly experienced 'substitute literature,' and I didn't expect it to be in this way.

Baldy wanted to beat the old man, but seeing his old arms and legs, he felt that one punch would send him to his grave, so he held back.

After all, this old man was also a plot NPC, and it wouldn't be good if killing him caused an unforeseen change.

"What about that passing Taoist you mentioned?" Cheng Zhen noticed the key point.

The Village Chief said that he was just a half-blind Taoist passing by, who had told them that Mountain Child seemed to be under some kind of restriction, unable to damage or open doors, and would only invade as thick fog at night.

Then, the Taoist taught them to pour black dog blood on their doors and gave them some talismans for each household to stick on their windows to prevent Mountain Child from sneaking in.

At first, the villagers also considered having every household put up talismans to prevent Mountain Child's invasion.

But in that case, the talismans would be damaged after two days, and where would they find enough talismans for such consumption? In the end, they were left with only the path of offering sacrifices.

And whether it was psychological or not, after several sacrifices, the harvest in the fields even improved slightly, so the village went further and further down the wrong path.

Since it was a dungeon setting, Cheng Zhen was too lazy to argue with the old man. He just wondered if the Taoist might be related to the dungeon BOSS. But after asking a few more questions, the Village Chief still knew nothing about the Taoist.

Besides the Taoist, Cheng Zhen also asked some questions about Mountain Child, and the old man dared not hide anything, confessing everything clearly.

"It seems we can't get any more information."

After the old man truly had nothing more to say, Jacket Uncle asked Cheng Zhen, "So, should we go back and prepare, or continue investigating in the village?"

Seeing that the old man was no longer useful, Cheng Zhen's gaze gradually became dangerous.

Village Chief: "Σ(°△°|||) You, what else do you want to do? I've already told you everything I know!"

"Old man... oh, no, Village Chief."

Cheng Zhen patted his shoulder: "I know, you have suffered from Mountain Child for a long time, but you have always had no way to resist, no door to fight through."

Village Chief: "That's not exactly true, after all, the harvest..."

"No, you have."

Cheng Zhen showed a 'nuclear castration' smile: "We are kind-hearted and cannot bear to see innocent children suffer. We can solve the problem of Mountain Child for your village once and for all."

"Since we are helping you so much, as the Village Chief, shouldn't you show some appreciation?"

He rubbed his index finger and thumb together, making a blatant hint.

Village Chief: "No, we..."

Bang!!!

"What about you?"

At Cheng Zhen's signal, Baldy obediently stepped out and showed off his muscles, leaving a battle-damaged decoration on the wall with his bare hands.

Hmm, this time he avoided the load-bearing wall, a good improvement.

Village Chief: ?!

...Thank you, brave warriors, for ridding my small mountain village of demons and evil spirits. Although this old man is not wealthy, to thank you all, I am willing to offer my family's assets!

Tears welled up in the Village Chief's eyes. He had bent his back his whole life, and now it was completely broken.

Cheng Zhen was also very pleased to see him so moved.

Since you strongly insist that I take it, I can only reluctantly agree!

"Start searching! Take tools if there are any, and valuables if there are no tools!"

Cheng Zhen gestured for Baldy and the others to start ransacking.

The others didn't expect such a development and were stunned for a moment.

But soon, they reacted, and their eyes immediately lit up.

Generally, when Raiders enter a dungeon, they are mostly cautious when interacting with NPCs, afraid of offending them and increasing the dungeon's difficulty.

But now, the situation had changed.

They were already treating you as a scapegoat and planning to kill you, so what else was there to say?

Old man, drop the gold!

Everyone immediately began to frantically ransack like Mount & Blade players.

Baldy was especially excited. If he hadn't been worried about affecting the dungeon's development, he would have given this scoundrel two solid punches long ago.

He didn't expect to be able to retaliate in this way. It wasn't 'shrimp heart' (harmless), but 'pig heart' (malicious)! (TL note: This is a play on a Chinese idiom, Killing people and destroying their hearts (shārén zhūxīn), meaning to kill someone and punish their heart, i.e., to utterly destroy them, not just physically.)

Learned, learned!

After a thorough search, everyone actually found some good items—

[Item: Demon-Suppressing Cinnabar Talisman (Worn)] x10

[When affixed to a building, it can mildly deter evil spirits such as ghosts and monsters for 1 hour.]

[Note: I heard cinnabar talismans and black dog blood go better together~]

[Item: Exorcising Black Dog Blood (One Bucket)]

[When poured on a doorway, it can mildly deter evil spirits such as ghosts and monsters for 1 hour.]

[Note: I heard black dog blood and cinnabar talismans go better together~]

These two were combination items, with greater efficacy and value than single-type items.

In addition, they also found [Village Chief's Private Stash], [Rusty Tetanus Machete], [Ten-Year-Old Air-Dried Cured Meat], and many other items.

Except for the old cured meat which might cause random negative BUFFs if eaten, the remaining items were all practical.

Cheng Zhen was very satisfied with their haul. With a wave of his hand, he left [Village Chief's Private Stash] and [Tetanus Machete] for himself, and let them divide the rest.

After all, he had the protection of merit, which was many times stronger than talismans. It was better to use those flimsy papers as a carrot on a stick to motivate everyone to work hard.

If you want a horse to run fast, you have to feed it well. Cheng Zhen was much better than some black-hearted bosses when it came to boosting employee morale.

Jacket Uncle looked surprised, not expecting Cheng Zhen to be willing to share items with them.

After all, they were currently clinging to Cheng Zhen's leg to clear the dungeon, and these items were also squeezed out of the Village Chief through Cheng Zhen's actions. Even if Cheng Zhen took them all, he wouldn't have any complaints.

But Cheng Zhen actually shared quite a few practical items, which made them both happy and moved.

The two students experienced the joy of a 'zero-dollar purchase' for the first time, and their pure hearts were thus corrupted by profit.

Fortunately, this wasn't the world of Mount & Blade, otherwise the old Village Chief would have been captured and sold as a prisoner.

Seeing how eager they were to work, Cheng Zhen nodded in satisfaction. He reached out and pulled the old Village Chief, who had a pained expression, and in the other's bewildered look, he softly spoke three words:

"Lead the way!"

Village Chief: ?

Lead what way?

Cheng Zhen spoke eloquently: "Since we are helping your entire village drive away demons and evil, there's no reason to let only you, the Village Chief, pay!"

"You lead us door-to-door, making sure every household knows that we are here to help (rob) them!"

Hmph, the entire village treated us as scapegoats, how could we let them off?

Everyone: ?!

Employees: (✪∀✪)✧ Can we do that?

Village Chief: _(´ཀ`」 ∠)_ Can we do that???

...

The day slowly passed.

As the sun set, Cheng Zhen and his group returned to their small house with a bountiful harvest.

Under the tearful gaze of the entire village and the admiring eyes of his teammates, Cheng Zhen straightened his chest, feeling the golden light of merit on him become much more vibrant.

Helping suffering villagers, saving innocent children, sigh, I truly am a great benevolent person~