Qi Wuyuan didn’t know who the system meant by Player No. 698, and when he heard the notification, he showed no emotional reaction.
The viewers in his livestream, however, immediately grew excited and started talking all at once.
Player No. 698 was Ruan Xiaoxiao.
She ranked steadily at third place on the newcomer leaderboard, a powerful new player. Not only that, she had a twin brother who held the top spot on the same leaderboard. The siblings were inseparable, highly coordinated, and always tackled dungeons together.
In “The Fourth World,” players had a strong culture of admiring and following the powerful.
Leaving aside the formidable strength she shows when paired with her brother, even looking at Ruan Xiaoxiao alone, her performance in every dungeon is outstanding.
She is a rare pure “intelligence type” in The Fourth World, and during challenges she can even toy with the dungeon’s NPCs.
The audience has long been dissatisfied with those NPCs, so players like Ruan Xiaoxiao—who can “vent” on NPCs on behalf of the viewers and make it entertaining—are very good at attracting fans.
At the same time, they are also well aware of how malicious Ruan Xiaoxiao’s personality can be.
[Am I the only one who feels that the newcomer who just got 2000 points from the goddess is actually a bit pitiful?]
Ruan Xiaoxiao is young, so even when viewers call her “little sister” in the chat, she considers it taking advantage. She insists on dragging them out after the dungeon and having her brother teach them a lesson. Over time, her fans simply started calling her “goddess.”
[All I can say is, if this newcomer doesn’t have real ability, he’ll be in trouble.]
[Has the goddess finally decided to play her jade-polishing game?]
[Since this is the livestream tipped by the goddess, I’ll stay and watch this newcomer too.]
With the influx of fans brought in by Ruan Xiaoxiao, the lower-tier players who had been hanging around the stream shouting for the newcomer’s embarrassment temporarily fell silent.
They continued lurking in the livestream, waiting to catch Qi Wuyuan making a mistake so they could mock and vent their frustrations. Their mentality had long since become twisted.
Qi Wuyuan paid no attention to the changes happening in the livestream.
Or rather, since he couldn’t see the barrage of comments anyway, trying to manage them was pointless—better to just ignore them.
He kept his eyes lowered, focused on the photo frame in his hands, secretly guarding against the dungeon boss’s every move.
At that moment, the sedan chair seemed to have passed through a lively area. The warm yellow light that had been filtering through the curtain into the chair mostly disappeared, and the noisy sounds diminished greatly, leaving only the music played by the troupe following behind.
The female singing voice continued to repeat the same two lines of lyrics.
Qi Wuyuan remembered that these two lines came from the Book of Songs (Shijing).
Back when he hadn’t yet taken over managing the shop, he was recuperating at home and often bored, so he liked to read to pass the time. He had gone through every book in the Qi family’s study.
His memory was excellent, and he vaguely recalled that this poem was written in a male voice, describing a wife or lover boldly pursuing him.
'A pursuit as passionate as the sun.'
Qi Wuyuan felt that these two lines were a hint given by the dungeon.
A clue about the bride’s true attitude toward this absurd wedding.
But since the poem’s main perspective was male…
Qi Wuyuan couldn’t help but doubt the poem’s implication.
Thinking this, Qi Wuyuan turned the photo frame in his hand and carefully examined the groom’s portrait.
The man in the photo had handsome, deep features. His eyes stared fixedly at Qi Wuyuan, lips curved in a half-smile, and the temperature inside the sedan dropped several degrees.
Qi Wuyuan involuntarily shivered.
His body had long been weakened by the various medicines he had been fed since childhood.
Such physical condition was utterly terrible in a dangerous instance.
Qi Wuyuan only managed to observe the man’s face once before the cold forced him to turn the frame away.
But even a single observation was enough.
At that moment, the jolting sedan suddenly stopped.
The surrounding light had unknowingly vanished completely, leaving Qi Wuyuan sitting in total darkness inside the sedan.
Then, Qi Wuyuan heard footsteps and voices growing louder.
“Erwa, it’s been a long time since we came back. Has the village changed at all over these years?”
A woman’s voice asked.
A younger man replied: “Ah, what changes could there be? Every household in the village has been farming and herding cattle the same way for decades.”
“That’s true,” the woman continued, trying to dig deeper: “But aside from farming and herding, hasn’t the village at least put up some electric wires these past years to make life more comfortable?”
“They did put up wires, but since there’s a wedding, the power’s been cut off.” The one answering the unfamiliar woman’s question turned out to be Chen sao: “Yao Wazi, is it you all who’ve come back?”
The three newcomers following behind Wen Yao and Li Quan were startled when Chen sao suddenly spoke up.
Zhao Jinming managed better, only shivering instinctively, but the two newcomers behind him couldn’t hold back and both screamed outright.
From the players’ perspective, they were walking along a mountain path, with nothing but pitch darkness ahead. Then, with Chen sao’s sudden words, an entire wedding escort team inexplicably appeared before their eyes.
The flashlight shone ahead, revealing the woman at the front with a deathly pale face, bright rouge on her cheeks, and features that carried an indescribable sense of wrongness.
She was dressed festively, followed by a sedan chair carried by four rough-looking men. The bright red sedan stood abruptly in the middle of the road, and behind it the makeshift troupe dutifully beat drums and gongs, playing cheerful wedding music.
Yet in this setting, the supposed festivity was completely transformed into a chilling sense of discord and dread.
The players did not hear any singing voices.
Hearing the newcomers scream, Li Quan frowned—trouble.
Sure enough, Chen sao’s gaze was drawn to the two screaming newcomers. She stepped closer, carefully scrutinized them, and asked: “What are you screaming about?”
She pressed closer step by step: “Everyone knows the village rules. Even those who moved to the city haven’t forgotten them. How could you act like you didn’t know the power would be cut today?”
After speaking, Chen sao somehow bypassed Li Quan and Wen Yao, moving right up to the newcomers.
Her eyes stared fixedly at the two, filled with menace, scanning them up and down as if she were looking at food.
“What are you screaming for?”
As she spoke, her mouth stretched wider and wider.
“Are you really from the village? I asked you—what are you screaming for?”
She looked at the two newcomers, waiting for their reply.
A foul-smelling drool dripped from Chen sao’s gaping mouth onto the ground, making the newcomers’ legs go weak. Neither dared to answer.
“Why scream? Do you even understand the rules?”
Chen sao continued her relentless questioning.
Li Quan knew the two newcomers’ screams had aroused the NPC’s suspicion, and irritation immediately welled up inside him.
Although in low-level instances they wouldn’t draw identity cards requiring them to play as NPCs, giving them high freedom, one major reason newcomers’ death rates stayed high was this: as soon as they entered the dungeon, they broke character.
No matter how much freedom the system gave them, breaking character was absolutely forbidden.
Some newcomers didn’t trust the guide’s words and, upon seeing NPCs, asked foolish questions like “Where is this?” or “Are you kidnapping me?” Once NPCs sensed the inconsistency, if the break wasn’t serious, they might just question you further, and you could bluff your way through. But if it was serious, the NPC could simply kill you outright.
Li Quan opened his mouth, already prepared to answer on behalf of the two newcomers and smooth things over.
“Chen sao, didn’t you say we were in a hurry?”
But before Li Quan could speak, a cold, clear voice drifted from the sedan chair not far away.
“Oh, my memory! Aren’t these the two children from my own family? They’ve grown so big.”
Upon hearing the voice, Chen sao immediately changed her attitude. She slapped her forehead hard, withdrew the ferocity from her eyes, and acted as if she suddenly recognized who the two newcomers were.
“Ah, this isn’t your fault. Back when your parents left, you were still small. Not remembering is normal.”
Chen sao returned to her original spot, waving her hand for Erwa to explain some of the village customs to the players.
“You’re lucky, just happened to run into our wedding escort team. Come along with us—it’s auspicious.”
As soon as Aunt Chen finished speaking, Erwa quickly and happily responded: “Alright!”
The players were given no choice at all.
The newcomers, relieved to have escaped Chen sao’s interrogation, breathed easier. But Li Quan and Wen Yao exchanged a serious look.
That voice from inside the sedan chair just now…
Just hearing it made Li Quan’s body tense instinctively, as he felt danger surge from within and an unstoppable chill.
This must be the instance boss!
He and Wen Yao exchanged glances, confirming the situation.
It was unusual to encounter the boss immediately upon entering a dungeon. The good thing was that at the very start of such a dungeon, staying near the boss was relatively safe—at least the boss wouldn’t attack players right away.
Li Quan and Wen Yao naturally didn’t dare refuse Chen sao’s words, so they had to walk along with the wedding escort team, bringing the three newcomers with them.
It was strange that such a long escort team didn’t use even a single flashlight, trudging through the dark mountains. Fortunately, they didn’t stop the players from using theirs.
After walking peacefully for a short while, the sound of flowing water grew louder in their ears.
Finally, the group stopped in front of a river.
The road ended here, clearly cut off by the river ahead.
The river was terrifyingly wide, about ten kilometers across, though under the flashlight beam the water appeared calm.
The escort team reached the bank, the four strong men set down the sedan chair, and skillfully pulled out several small boats from the riverside.
——They were going to cross the river.
At that moment, an electronic voice simultaneously appeared in all the players’ minds.
【 Main Qu
est: Survive seven days, successfully triggered!】
【 Current Primary Objective: Successfully live through the first day.】
【 Day One Hint Words: Crossing the river, Eye contact, Rules】
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