88: Chapter 88 mission not yet issued, be careful of accidental discharge.

"Damn it! Why do the people I bring always pull this crap? Are they all brain-dead!" Chen Yao rubbed his face hard, looking utterly helpless.

The one currently being dismembered and fought over for food by five or six villagers was one of the remaining five hoodlums.

At this moment, most of the villagers at the other tables were still frantically scrambling for the fruits and snacks on the tables.

Those villagers with more vivid expressions, whose eating habits weren't quite so gluttonous, were still staring fixedly at the passengers who had yet to start eating. Their appearances grew increasingly fierce and cruel as they rasped out, "The feast has begun... Must eat!!"

Seeing this, many passengers no longer dared to hesitate. They scrambled to grab some bright fruits from the tables and stuffed them into their mouths.

"The feast has begun... Must eat!!"

Chu Xuan's table was also being stared down by two villagers. Seeing the ferocity in their eyes intensify as the food on the table visibly diminished, Wang Ruozi hurriedly grabbed two bananas and handed one to Chu Xuan.

"Maybe we should just eat a little..." Wang Ruozi trembled as she peeled the banana, preparing to put it in her mouth.

Right then, a silver light flashed in Chu Xuan's eyes, and the two villagers immediately became dazed.

Seizing the opportunity, Chu Xuan quickly reached out and snatched the banana from Wang Ruozi's hand. He squeezed the fruit pulp onto the ground under the round table before handing the peel back to her.

Chu Xuan did the same with the banana in his own hand, leaving only a banana peel.

The two villagers were dazed for a moment before asking with confusion in their expressions, "Did you eat?"

"Of course we did. Didn't you just see? Only the peels are left." Chu Xuan shook the banana peel in his hand.

"Oh." The two villagers nodded blankly and asked, "Was it good?"

"It was delicious."

The villagers urged, "Then eat more."

"We're already full."

Chu Xuan's expression was calm. Seeing the two villagers' faces about to contort again, he said, "Such delicious food—if we eat too much, there will be less for you. So, my eating less is for your own good. I'm saving this precious delicacy for you. You should be grateful instead."

The two villagers froze for a moment and said in unison, "Thank you."

"Then don't just stand there, hurry up and eat." Chu Xuan gestured with his chin. "If you don't eat now, others will finish it all."

"Ah, right, right, right!"

The two snapped back to their senses and immediately scrambled to grab the food on the table, gorging themselves once more.

"Big Brother, why do they... seem a bit stupid? This was too easy to trick, wasn't it?" Wang Ruozi leaned in and whispered.

"They are a bit rigid."

Chu Xuan nodded, though he knew that without using the Heart Bewitchment skill, it probably wouldn't have been so easy to fool them.

Inside the shed, everyone seemed to have gone mad, fighting over the food on the tables.

Even the passengers who were extremely resistant at first were now unable to stop themselves after the first bite, looking as if they couldn't get enough.

Old Wu and his group, while not as frenzied, were also constantly stuffing food into their mouths without pause.

The scene was filled with desire and greed. It didn't look like they were eating fruits and snacks at all, but rather some irresistible, addictive drug!

Chu Xuan's expression was slightly grave, while Wang Ruozi covered her mouth tightly with both hands, afraid she might scream from terror.

After seven or eight minutes, the food on the tables was completely swept clean. Only then did everyone stop, wiping their mouths with lingering desire before returning to their previous states.

The passengers who had eaten the food no longer showed their initial fear and resistance. Instead, their faces were glowing, and they seemed completely refreshed.

The way these people looked at Old Wu and the others even held a sense of kinship.

"Is everyone full? Then let's go and worship the gods together."

The White-haired Elder cleared his throat and led the crowd out in a single file, heading up the mountain.

"Huh?"

Suddenly, Fox paused slightly. She tugged at her low-cut collar to cover her ample cleavage and said with a surprised look, "We've been here for over ten minutes, but the System hasn't given any mission prompts this time. What about you guys?"

The Bald Man shook his head without speaking, remaining as taciturn as ever.

The Tattooed Man, Chen Yao, frowned. "I haven't either."

"If there isn't one, there isn't one. Don't tell me you guys actually want to accept a mission?"

The short Xiao Zei curled his lip. "Every time I come here, my mission is to help the Great Buddha find its True Self. How the hell should I know what the Great Buddha's True Self is? If it weren't to earn a bit of spirituality value, I'd never come to this place with such a terrifying monster. Asking me to find its True Self? Ridiculous! Most importantly, the reward is only 200 spirituality value. It's like handing out scraps to a beggar!"

"Hmm, indeed."

Old Wu nodded. "Regarding mission rewards, the System is indeed a bit of a scam; they're completely mismatched with the difficulty! My mission here is usually to save the newcomers. I get 10 spirituality value for every person I rescue... Heh!"

Old Wu suddenly gave a mocking smile. He didn't finish his sentence, replacing the end with a cold laugh.

However, Chu Xuan, who had intentionally walked closer to overhear more information, already understood.

The so-called newcomers were likely the passengers who had been brought here through various means.

Since the passengers were brought here by Old Wu's group in the first place, what talk could there be of 'rescuing' them?

Each person's fare alone cost 10 spirit money. If they saved them for a mission, wouldn't all their work be for nothing?

At that moment, Chen Yao said, "I've been here three times in total. Every time, the mission is to help these [Villagers] find release. In the mission prompts, these villagers are all Strange Creaturess. For every one killed, the System gives an extra two points of spirituality value. The required number is no less than ten. If the mission fails, three attribute points are randomly deducted."

Chen Yao was no longer as standoffish as before and opened up:

"But I heard from my previous guide that once you kill a [Villager] here, it triggers the Great Buddha's killing rules. It won't stop until everyone besides the villagers is dead. Escaping from the Great Buddha's hands isn't that easy!"

"Then your mission really is a trap."

Fox giggled. "The Great Buddha is at least a B-rank Ghost, and everyone who comes here is suppressed to their state at Rank 1. The gap is just too large."

"Forget suppressing our Ranks—even if we weren't suppressed, all of us combined wouldn't be enough for the Great Buddha to kill."

Xiao Zei shook his head with a sigh, then looked Chen Yao up and down, suddenly showing surprise:

"Buddy, your attributes at Rank 1 were actually this high? Your agility reached 9 points, stamina was 8, spirit was 7, and both strength and Charm were 10. Not bad!"

Hearing this, Chen Yao immediately frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

"Hehe! Sorry, force of habit. Won't happen again."

Xiao Zei gave an apologetic smile and adjusted his black-rimmed glasses, though he didn't seem very sincere and looked somewhat mischievous:

"It's just your Rank 1 attributes. Back then, everyone was basically a newcomer and hadn't developed their attributes specifically, so it's not much of a reference. I haven't seen your real Rank and attributes yet!"

Chen Yao narrowed his eyes slightly.

Xiao Zei pretended not to notice, his eyes darting around as he observed the surroundings. When his gaze landed on Chu Xuan, he suddenly frowned:

"What's with you always clutching that submachine gun? We're all on the same side here. Who are you guarding against? Be careful it doesn't misfire!"