71: Chapter 71: The Festival of Sacrifice (Sixteen)

"Hee hee, it's rare to meet someone as kind as her, solving their food and clothing problems just in time."

Meng Yu saw Qianye continuing to venture deeper, curious about what exactly she wanted to do.

"Have you two heard anything about a Fountain of Longevity in the village?" Qianye remembered to ask the two beside her; as player villagers, they ought to know more.

"Fountain of Longevity?" Meng Yu was stunned. She had constantly heard this place mentioned by those "parents."

"Ever since I appeared in Changsheng Village and was accidentally discovered by that NPC to be acting a bit off, those parents have been muttering that I'm abnormal, abnormal, and that they need to take me to the Fountain of Longevity to remove the evil spirits and ensure my safety."

"It's just that, ahem, I tied them up later, so I didn't take it seriously." Meng Yu gave an awkward smile.

"Whoa, look ahead, there's something glowing." Tai You pointed to the front left, where something was emitting a faint white light.

Just as they were about to approach, they heard movement behind them.

A "swish, swish, swish" sound, like ants returning to their nest, as a dense crowd of villagers rushed toward the glowing spot.

Seeing this, the three of them hid to the side to observe.

They watched as the villagers jumped into the glowing spot one by one.

"Whoa, don't tell me those villagers were all produced from here. What about the group of villagers during the day? Did they appear from here too?" Tai You swallowed hard. What kind of creatures were these villagers?

The three of them crouched there like thieves, waiting until all the villagers had vanished before coming out and heading straight toward the glowing area.

"This... this wouldn't happen to be that Fountain of Longevity you mentioned, would it?" Tai You stared at the scene before him.

It looked like a pool of hot spring water. Up close, it was still emitting a faint white light all around.

"How did these villagers disappear?"

"Perhaps they haven't disappeared." Qianye gazed at the bottomless hot spring. The spring water wasn't crystal clear; it was a milky white liquid that looked like milk.

Even if something was hidden inside, it couldn't be seen from the outside.

"No, no way, right? Could they be right down there?"

"That's hard to say for sure." Qianye grinned.

In the next instant, under the puzzled gazes of the two, Qianye took out a small white bottle.

She unscrewed the cap, revealing the red pill inside.

"I almost forgot about you." Qianye pinched the small medicine bottle in her hand.

"Will it be useful if I put all of it in?"

She muttered to herself, then tipped it over and poured everything inside.

Qianye squatted down and stared at the spring water, watching to see if there were any changes.

"What did you pour in there?" Meng Yu had a gut feeling it wasn't anything good.

"Oh~ the legendary obedient pill."

Qianye looked closely at the water; the milky white color was now streaked with faint traces of red.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing its effects~"

A single small bottle of medicine had dyed the entire spring water; it looked quite potent.

"Mm, done." Qianye stretched.

Now she could go back and have a good sleep.

Meng Yu: "..." Tai You: "..."

So what exactly was that? What was the point of them following her and fighting monsters all the way here?

Just to find a place that might not even be the Fountain of Longevity and drug it!

And what was that about an "obedient pill"? Had it turned into "obedient water" now?

In an instant, he wanted to cry.

So, is she still just a kid at heart? So playful?

Tai You rubbed his forehead.

They had been busy all night, and they even let a large and a small monster go; who knew what consequences that would cause.

"Since we're already here, why don't we go a bit further in?" Tai You suggested.

So far, they hadn't found any clues related to their mission.

Although these things were clues, they didn't have much to do with him.

Qianye glanced at the two with a half-smile; they both looked completely uninterested in the spring water.

Clearly, their focus in searching wasn't here.

Qianye looked up; the sky was already showing a hint of white. They had been messing around here for almost the whole night.

After taking a deep look at the sky, Qianye withdrew her gaze.

"Look, can you continue walking forward?" Qianye raised her hand, signaling for Tai You to keep going.

Tai You didn't understand, but with a confused look, he walked forward. Then, with a "bang," he was bounced back by something.

"Whoa, what the heck is that?" Tai You's face had been pressed right against it before he was bounced back.

Qianye lowered her head slightly, a red light flashing in her eyes. Suddenly, a transparent, glass-like barrier appeared before them.

Now the two could see it clearly, and Meng Yu also walked over quickly.

She poked her finger at it, and the next second, she was bounced back.

"Why does it feel like this whole village is sealed off, unable to get out or get in?"

What was going on back there? Why couldn't they go in again?

"Look at the mountain range behind it, it's continuous."

"If we want to go up the mountain, it might be related to this."

After saying this, Qianye turned and prepared to leave.

Tai You had been holding back a stomach full of words the whole way, but seeing Qianye's slightly aloof back, he backed down.

The group finally walked out of the woods, the sky already bright. Suddenly, sounds came from behind them.

They turned around. "Whoa!" "When did they appear?!"

The three turned around to find a group of villagers behind them.

Their faces were free of any bloodstains, and a few were recognizable faces.

Their eyes were chilling as they stared fixedly at them. "How... how are you here?!"

Tai You was racking his brain trying to think of how to answer.

Qianye stepped forward, smiling, her eyes clear and bright. "Oh, so uncles, aunts, grandpas, and grandmas also like to exercise early in the morning~"

"Exercising early in the morning strengthens the body."

Hearing this response, the villagers instantly returned to their amiable selves.

Everyone's eyes curved into smiles.

"Oh my, young people are great; you really should exercise early in the morning."

Seeing that Tai You and Meng Yu weren't speaking, the group of villagers stared at them.

"Yes, yes, yes." "Mm, mm, mm."

The two quickly nodded in agreement, and the villagers finally let them go.

Immediately after, the villagers began walking toward the east, returning to their respective homes.

"Phew... that was dangerous."

"They couldn't really have come up from down there, right?!"

Tai You took a deep breath. The more he dug, the more secrets this village revealed.

The three of them headed back together.

When they reached the door, they saw patches of blood on the ground, very messy.

Opening the door, they saw a crowd of people gathered in the courtyard.

"What happened?"

It was normal for players to be here, but those NPCs were also present.

Hearing the commotion, the crowd dispersed, making way.

They saw a corpse lying on the ground—a female corpse.

Her whole body was covered in bite marks.

Judging by the clothes, it seemed to be the NPC named Wei Hong.

To the side, a girl was slumped over, muttering, "She... she's back."

"I... we didn't mean to, we didn't."

"The next one, the next one is me... it's me..."

"What's going on?"

"I, I know." The one called Da Gen raised his hand.

"I just got up this morning. As soon as I opened the door, I saw bloodstains at the entrance. Following the bloodstains, I saw her lying on the ground."

"Then the boss moved her here."

"He said we couldn't let the villagers see."

As for the details, he didn't know what exactly had happened either.