Chapter 32: A Big Trouble

Liu Wei looked at Wu Chang in confusion and asked, "Have you met me before?"

Wu Chang smiled warmly and said, "I haven't met you, but when I first saw you yesterday, I felt your face was familiar—I just couldn't place who you were. Then I heard you speak, and I realized you resemble one of my old acquaintances."

Liu Wei muttered under his breath that truly capable people were always strange, then suddenly understood: "Ah, I see."

To prevent Liu Wei from pressing further, Wu Chang cut in first:

"The village chief said you've come to discuss moving up the Extermination Festival?"

Liu Wei nodded. "That's right. Uncle Shan said you also support moving up the Extermination Festival."

"The demonic seal is still intact. If we wait another month, the demon will break free completely—and then it'll be far harder to subdue it," Wu Chang said.

"Your insight is extraordinary—you truly are a young hero," Liu Wei bowed respectfully.

"Too kind, too kind," Wu Chang replied with a smile.

Liu Wei shifted tone, speaking naturally: "There's one more thing I need to trouble you with—though I'm not sure if I should bring it up."

"Uh…"

Wu Chang's fake smile twitched slightly—he knew Liu Wei was up to no good.

"Go ahead."

Liu Wei exchanged a glance with Liu Shan, confirmed their mutual understanding, then said: "Uncle Shan must have told you—last year, a scholar passed through and improved the Extermination Festival."

"He did mention it."

"When the scholar left, he left behind a palace lantern—the core of the improved Extermination Festival. Without the lantern, the ritual cannot begin."

Wu Chang caught Liu Wei's implication: "The lantern isn't in the village?"

Liu Wei's face darkened with worry. "We lent it to the neighboring Chen Village. According to our agreement, they were supposed to return it the day before yesterday—but we've heard nothing since."

"We'd like you to go to Chen Village and check if they're in danger. If everything's fine, please bring the lantern back with you."

Wu Chang asked: "Could it be that the people of Chen Village took the lantern and ran off?"

"Impossible," Liu Wei denied firmly.

"The Four-Sided Lantern is fused with our village's Extermination Array—it draws oil from the array. Without the array, the lantern will fail within half a month."

If Liu Shan had made the request, he might not have thought twice—but since it was Liu Wei asking, he had to be certain, lest Liu Wei had ulterior motives and planned to strike early.

"If they don't have the Extermination Array, why borrow the lantern at all?"

"The Four-Sided Lantern can control fire and repel demonic creatures. Chen Village uses it to escort their women and children to safety—just like us, they kept only the strong to guard the village."

Wu Chang fell silent for a moment, weighed his options several times, then finally agreed to Liu Wei's request.

At that moment, he suddenly understood why RPG game protagonists always did what they did.

In the past, he'd always wondered—why, as a great hero in the game, was he treated like a servant by every NPC? Why did he have to fetch water, chop wood, run errands for everyone?

He'd once wanted to ask: Don't these NPCs have hands?

Now he understood: when the protagonist needed an NPC to achieve a goal, even if the NPC could do the chore themselves, the protagonist dared not let them.

For example, right now—even if Liu Wei wanted to bring the village's strong men along, Wu Chang feared these ordinary people might attract demons along the way.

To minimize variables during the quest, even a simple errand had to be done by the hero himself.

After obtaining the map from Liu Wei, Wu Chang said: "Then there's no time to waste—I'm leaving now."

Wu Chang retrieved his horse. He'd just descended the mountain and hadn't even started riding when he heard commotion from the trees at the foot of the hill.

Following the noise, he found a group of boys from Huai Valley Village.

Most were eleven or twelve years old, circling and tossing a rabbit back and forth.

Trapped in the center was the village guard boy he'd seen last night—grinning foolishly, running in circles as the rabbit flew through the air.

Each time the guard boy nearly grabbed the rabbit, the tallest, boldest boy—the ringleader—would kick him hard, sending him tumbling back to the center, then laugh and continue the game. "Bang!"

A thunderous gunshot exploded through the woods—the ringleader's cotton cap burst open. The bullet grazed his scalp, leaving a charred, bald streak across his head.

"What kind of game is this? Count me in," Wu Chang stepped forward, caught the rabbit the ringleader had thrown in panic, and smiled.

"Oh no—it's the hero! Run!"

Someone shouted, and the village boys scattered like birds and beasts—only the ringleader, still frozen mid-kick with his middle-part hairstyle, remained.

Wu Chang glanced at him sideways. "Still here? Planning to keep playing?"

The ringleader shook his head frantically, crying as he sprinted toward the village—leaving a trail of yellow stains on the ground.

Wu Chang shook his head. Why learn bullying? Did he think the instance dimension had child protection laws?

The guard boy hadn't noticed he was being bullied—he still grinned and called after the ringleader: "Why'd you stop? Don't go!"

Wu Chang handed the rabbit to the guard boy. "They've got urgent business—play another day."

"Oh," the guard boy replied listlessly, stroking the rabbit in his arms.

As he petted it, he whispered: "Don't be afraid—they were just playing with you."

The terrified rabbit, curled into a ball, calmed instantly under the guard boy's soothing touch.

Wu Chang's eyes flickered with surprise—was this boy a druid?

Seeing the boy's tattered clothes, frostbitten hands and feet, and the straw he used to keep warm, Wu Chang unstrapped his pack and draped the thick cotton coat Liu Shan had prepared for him over the boy's shoulders.

"It's unsafe these days—find somewhere to hide."

The guard boy stared fixedly at Wu Chang. "Can you play with me?"

"Not today—I have errands to run," Wu Chang replied evasively.

The guard boy pointed to the farthest mountain at the edge of Huai Valley Village. "I live there. You can come find me to play."

"Next time, for sure."

After this brief interruption, Wu Chang left Huai Valley Village and headed straight for Chen Village on the map.

Huai Valley Village and Chen Village were twenty li apart—but the route was mountainous, with several dangerous zones requiring detours.

At the villagers' normal pace, reaching Chen Village would take three days—round trip, nearly a week.

The roads of Baili Huaishan are complex, and outsiders easily get lost in the mountains; without a detailed route map, it's very easy to lose one's way in the mountains.

Once lost, one has no idea where one might end up.

The resentment of players scattered almost evenly across every dangerous point of Baili Huaishan demonstrated the price of getting lost in Baili Huaishan.

But precisely because of this resentment, wherever Wu Chang went, there was resentment to guide him.

Through the resentment, he could see the intelligence that predecessors had gained by testing with their own bodies; relying on this intelligence, he could foresee the activity patterns of the demons in advance, without having to delay by detouring around dangerous zones.

Traveling at full speed, by the Shen hour, with the sun just beginning to slant west, he arrived at the area where Chen Family Village lay.

Chen Family Village was built against the mountain, near the intersection of two mountain roads.

Although it was not like Huaigu Village, which sat in possession of a valley and large tracts of arable land within it, thanks to its convenient transport links it was the trade hub of Baili Huaishan, and the village's conditions were no worse than Huaigu Village's.

The two villages' terrain advantages complemented each other, and their sizes were comparable, so they had always been closely related — close enough to lend each other a magical palace lantern.

With such a close relationship, yet Chen Family Village had still not come to return the palace lantern, which made the people of Huaigu Village worry that something had happened to Chen Family Village.

Wu Chang stood at a high place, checking the route map Liu Wei had given him.

He saw that the area where Chen Family Village should have been was now shrouded in grey-white smoke, so that even the outline of the village could not be made out.

Liu Wei and the others had guessed correctly — Chen Family Village had indeed run into trouble, big trouble.

(End of this chapter)