Chapter 94 - 85: Confucius Said: Since You Are Here, Make Yourself at Home (2)

"Warrior! Did you... did you kill all of these?"

"Yeah."

Glancing at Ahmed, who was being carried by Da Bao, Lu Wenwu calmly wiped the dirt off his Heavy Cannon Gloves and nodded slightly.

The white-bearded elder asked again, "May I ask, warrior, who are these people? Could they be the bandits from the mountains?"

"Yes, they are bandits."

Lu Wenwu didn’t elaborate and just went along with his words.

"The horses were startled and ran off; a few are left here."

The villagers looked in the direction he pointed and indeed saw a few half-tamed horses.

"This warrior is truly a divine being! It’s our village’s great fortune to have you all at our Longevity Village!"

A round-faced, pale-skinned elder stepped out from the crowd, praising Lu Wenwu with a cheerful expression.

"Dear warriors, if our village has been negligent earlier, I hope you do not blame us."

"Here’s the thing, my house is one of the wealthier ones in the village and has a few spare rooms. How about you all stay at my place for a few days? I’ll provide you with plenty of good food and drink!"

No one spoke and they all looked in Lu Wenwu’s direction, clearly wanting him to make the decision.

Before Lu Wenwu left earlier, he had specifically instructed them to protect themselves well.

The four of them unanimously thought he had discovered something, which was why he brought the "feigning sick" Ahmed before coming to aid, thus causing a slight delay.

"Sure, let’s go."

Lu Wenwu didn’t refuse and agreed with a smile.

The villagers instantly beamed with joy, crowding around them like heroes, and headed toward the round-faced elder’s large courtyard.

Only Mao Mao, who understood Lu Wenwu the best, noticed something.

The master’s smile earlier was very sincere...

...

In a distant cave, an old Daoist who had been quietly meditating suddenly awoke.

He took out the Three Pristine Bell used to control the cursed zombie puppets, a clear crack appeared in the middle, almost splitting the entire magical artifact in two.

"All dead? Not even a message came back? How is this possible?"

The old Daoist staggered to his feet, pounding his legs, which were slightly numb from sitting cross-legged for so long.

"Could it really be that old one acted personally? It shouldn’t be, even if he came himself, with the powers of those mutant zombie puppets, at least one or two should have escaped."

"What on earth is going on?"

The old Daoist was perplexed.

Though he never expected this group of zombie puppets to cause any significant damage to the Longevity Village.

But for them all to be killed with no news back, isn’t that a bit too ridiculous?

This old fellow, who never worked as a programmer, might never understand what a logical conflict is.

The orders he gave to the zombie puppets were to cause havoc in Longevity Village and then bring the information back.

But...

The zombie puppets never reached Longevity Village; they were stopped by Lu Wenwu halfway.

To reach Longevity Village and complete their mission, they needed to either kill or drive back Lu Wenwu first, force their way in, wreak havoc, and then return.

Thus, without compromise, they naturally fought to the end, focused only on pushing forward.

But who would’ve thought, Lu Wenwu was just too damn fierce.

One punch for each, one punch for each.

In this way, he blocked the door and single-handedly wiped out the entire team of zombie puppets!

What a tragic story, truly!

In Longevity Village, the warmth from the villagers waned, and the group settled in the small courtyard allocated by the round-faced elder.

Inside the house with an isolation array cast, Aiken couldn’t help but ask, "Mr. Violent Dragon, did you find something?"

"Yes, in fact, even if I don’t say it, you probably suspect it too." Lu Wenwu didn’t hide it, "Something’s wrong with the people in this village."

"Those two old men?" Da Bao speculated.

Lu Wenwu shook his head.

Zhang Sijia also guessed, "Is it that Dazhu?"

Lu Wenwu shook his head again.

Ahmed looked left and right, and tentatively asked, "It can’t be that the village chief, who hasn’t shown up, is the problem, right?"

Lu Wenwu shook his head for the third time, "Actually, what I’m saying is, everyone in this village has a problem. They are not human at all."

"Not human?" Aiken frowned, "But they seem normal."

"Maybe that’s just on the surface." Da Bao continued, "If this Dungeon World follows the logic of Uncle Ying’s zombie movies, I think I’ve noticed something too."

"What is it?" Zhang Sijia seemed puzzled, "I haven’t watched many of those old movies..."

"Some people, when they walk, their heels don’t touch the ground. According to movie settings, this is a sign of being possessed by fierce ghosts." Da Bao explained, "And judging from my observations, it might be worse. They are likely already fully possessed."

"So those villagers Mr. Violent Dragon mentioned are actually..." Ahmed’s bandage was already soaking through with sweat.

Who knows why a mummy like him could even sweat in fear.

"They are Corpse Ghosts and people possessed by Fierce Ghosts; they need human blood and Yang Qi to survive, which is likely the origin of Longevity Village’s name." Lu Wenwu concluded, "Besides, there’s another matter regarding the recent attackers."

"With the bandits that attacked us in the afternoon being the same group?" Aiken keenly noticed, "Are they part of the main mission this time?"

"Hard to say." Lu Wenwu sighed, "But I do know that those eleven B+ Level zombie puppets were once players. They retained some of their abilities and equipment attributes from when they were alive. By killing these zombies, I completed a side quest."

"What!?"

The four were shocked.

Even the usually composed Aiken couldn’t help but exclaim.

"This... this is astonishing..." Da Bao said with a bitter smile, "We are already deep in enemy territory, with strong enemies lurking outside. No wonder the dungeon fusion rate is nearing eighty; there must be at least twenty batches of players who have died here."

"And as more players die, the difficulty will only increase." Aiken’s brow was already furrowed tightly, "Dungeons don’t set impossible missions; there must be a way to break the cycle. My intuition tells me the key issue lies in the Glutinous Rice Shop."

"Wait, something seems off." Zhang Sijia tilted her head and looked troubled, "If Corpse Ghosts and Fierce Ghosts need human Essence Qi and blood, then how does a third-party force get player bodies to refine into zombie puppets?"

"Got it!"

Aiken suddenly punched his thigh.

"I understand it now! The point of this dungeon is to let us pit the tiger against the wolf, using the third-party force to attack Longevity Village and distract the Corpse Ghosts and Fierce Ghosts."

"The existence of the Glutinous Rice Shop represents that the one refining zombie puppets is extremely powerful. We must rely on external forces to barely contend with Corpse Ghosts, surviving for thirty days."

"Impressive, Mr. Violent Dragon! If you hadn’t figured out their identities ahead of time, we would’ve been kept in the dark, not realizing the danger surrounding us!"

"So how do we find out where the force that attacked us is now?" Ahmed nervously fiddled with the bandage on his hand, "According to typical dungeon procedures, we should split up in the village to gather clues, right?"

"My assessment is—possible, but unnecessary." Lu Wenwu ruffled Mao Mao’s head lazily, "Did you guys forget? Mao Mao is a dog! It’s a dog! So why look for clues? Mao Mao has already remembered the scent of those guys."

The four: "..."

Wdnmd, weren’t closed, right!

The atmosphere became a bit awkward for a moment.

Having gotten used to those powerful battle spirit pets, suddenly encountering one so original was indeed a bit of a shock.

Finding clues isn’t likely; walking through the process honestly in this life to clear the level isn’t possible. The only way is to bunk off once in a while to maintain life.

Just like when you play escape room games, the fastest way to clear is definitely not to follow procedures, but to dismantle it directly with force...

Lu Wenwu showed a very sincere smile: "So, tomorrow when I wake up, I’ll see what kind of force attacked us."

"As for you guys... wander around the village, protect yourselves while trying to trigger some side quests."

"If you’re really worried, whoever has a Personal Space can hide in it, endure until the last day, and then come out for settlement. Getting a ’Pass’ and earning a thousand Spirit Coins is better than losing your life."

Aiken instinctively wanted to object, thinking it was too dangerous for Lu Wenwu to go alone; at least they should team up.

However...

He swallowed his words, recalling the formidable combat power Lu Wenwu displayed today...

Well, never mind!

He alone can match up to the four of us!

We’d better not make trouble for the big boss!