Chapter 43: The Virgin Saint

“Stop giving me those flirtatious glances! I’m not into older women like you! Here, let me introduce you to a guy who’s still got stamina—except he’s got no dick and’s short, ugly, and poor, but otherwise pretty great!”

Wu Wang sprinted wildly up the mountain.

The girl slung over his shoulder, who had just finished eating, grew even paler.

She clamped her hand tightly over her mouth, trying desperately not to vomit.

Wu Xiaoyou felt her stomach churning violently; her already poor mental state sank further into lethargy.

Come here~ come find us~

“We’ll give you everything you desire~”

“Child~ this is your true home~”

As haunting, bone-melting whispers filled his ears, Wu Wang felt an inexplicable demonic fire slowly burning within his chest.

【Mental Power: 25—24】

His mental power continued to decline.

Yet his footsteps grew even swifter.

But because he was carrying Wu Xiaoyou, he couldn’t perform a double jump to escape directly from the air.

Otherwise, the enemy couldn’t use the same respawn method of falling from height.

He had sensed something was off the moment those female ghost shadows first appeared.

They seemed to be heading straight for the dilapidated hut.

Strangely, their primary target wasn’t him—it was Wu Xiaoyou inside the hut.

“Bad luck girl! How are you feeling? Don’t fall asleep! Absolutely don’t sleep!” Wu Wang, even while sprinting, still had the breath to check on Wu Xiaoyou’s mental state.

Honestly, the danger of this nightmare-level dungeon was absurdly excessive.

Any other player with only single-digit or barely ten-point mental power would’ve already collapsed and fallen into the ghosts’ grasp by now.

Luckily, I have Yuan Shen’s aid.

Combined with my lifelong talent for suicide, my mental power can easily hold out until we reach the village.

But the girl on my shoulder? Not so certain.

“Don’t say stuff like that! Sleep? What a joke—I’m just feeling nauseous… you’re acting like a nurse in intensive care, and I’m just the patient who wants to puke…”

Wu Xiaoyou forced out fragmented words through clenched teeth.

Her spirit actually seemed quite good.

No idea why.

Aside from the initial drop in mental power caused by the Yin Yuan God, the hundreds of female ghost whispers behind her seemed to have no effect whatsoever.

“You’re all women—you should have things in common! Why don’t you ask these sisters to pause for a bit? Let’s chat about something else—like those annoying guys on Xiaohongshu? I happen to know one creepy guy who loves spying on others!” Wu Wang kept joking.

This earned him a look of utter disdain from Wu Xiaoyou.

Honestly, she could only sense a strange, chilling presence creeping up behind her—but when she looked back, she saw nothing.

The fact that hundreds of female ghosts were chasing them was something Wu Wang had mentioned during his break on the way down the mountain.

Normally, humans can’t see ghosts.

She suddenly shouted behind her: “Stop! This guy isn’t looking for a spouse! And we don’t have any Ji Zhi Tang!”

Then she glanced down at Wu Wang.

She sighed and asked sarcastically: “Even if you scream like that, do you really think it’ll work? Come on—I’m just an ordinary person. Telling ghosts to stop? That’s ridiculous.”

Thud—

Wu Wang suddenly stomped his foot hard on the ground and stopped running forward.

He glanced behind him.

Then, like discarding trash, he dropped Wu Xiaoyou off his shoulder. She landed with a cry, rubbing her sore butt and grimacing: “Why’d you stop running? Give up? Think you’re gonna die waiting?”

“No, we’re not done,” Wu Wang said with a strange expression. “They’ve stopped.”

At this moment, in the vision only Wu Wang could see:

The dense shadows of female ghosts lining the country path and behind the surrounding trees showed no sign of advancing further.

They merely stared fixedly ahead with eyes obscured by mist.

More precisely—they stared at the delicate, pale face of the girl who was currently grimacing and rubbing her sore butt.

“Girl… take care…”

“Don’t forget your home…”

The eerie ghost whispers echoed again.

But this time, Wu Wang felt no loss of mental power.

It was as if they were merely offering a warning.

【Hidden Quest Triggered—Virgin Saint Selection】

【Find the tomb of the Yin Yuan Virgin Saint and help them attain liberation】

【Reward: Memory-Washing Stone (Plot-Critical Item)】

“Huh?” Wu Wang was completely baffled.

So, in addition to the main and side quests given at the start of the dungeon,

Hidden quests could also be triggered?

And the reward offered was the key point.

The note explicitly stated “Plot-Critical Item”—clearly, this Memory-Washing Stone was necessary to complete the dungeon under normal circumstances.

My own path had already deviated from the norm.

Other players entering this dungeon wouldn’t so easily uncover the truth that the village chief wasn’t human, nor could they sit down and have a calm conversation with him, coaxing him to reveal his origins willingly.

They certainly couldn’t strike any kind of deal with him.

After all, all this hinges on the village chief needing me—to help him absorb Yuan Shen’s aura.

Other players who come into contact with Yuan Shen’s aura…

Wu Wang suddenly recalled the beginning of his Xinshoufuben —the corpses on the ground twisting grotesquely under Yuan Shen’s gaze.

Unsurprisingly, it seemed I was the only one who could ignore Yuan Shen’s influence.

Even if my body mutated, I only needed to die and respawn once to return to normal.

Look at me, brat!

“Hey, Zhang San Crazy, where to next? Back to the broken hut?” Wu Xiaoyou asked, standing up.

Her complexion had improved significantly.

Her mental power recovered far faster than normal—but Wu Wang didn’t care about that.

He was far more curious about why she could make the ghosts stop.

Was she truly just an unlucky girl who wandered into this place by accident?

Especially after learning that no one could leave the village during the Yin Yuan Festival.

Wu Wang grew even more puzzled.

【While walking in the forest, you encountered a girl who had fallen from the mountain and collapsed】

This was the dungeon’s introduction describing how Zhang San Crazy found Wu Xiaoyou.

But could a clueless girl really stumble into this forest while it was sealed by the Yin Yuan God?

Was she truly Wu Xiaoyou?

Even if she was,

Why did Second Sister come here back then?

“No, plans have changed. Tonight, I’m taking you to stay in the village,” Wu Wang said after a moment’s thought. “I already have a way to ensure they won’t harm you.”

“So impressive? Sigh… you look about the same age as my little brother—he’s such a dumbass,” Wu Xiaoyou said with exasperation.

A flicker of suspicion passed through Wu Wang’s eyes.

He caught a linguistic slip.

She…

Wasn’t she supposed to have amnesia?

But Wu Wang didn’t point it out—instead, he silently led the way down the mountain.

Soon, the two arrived at Yin Yuan Village.

Seeing Wu Wang return, the village chief’s face showed clear surprise.

He had expected to meet him at the ancestral hall tomorrow night.

Why had he come back so soon?

“You’ve changed your mind? Huh… who’s this?”

The village chief instantly knew Wu Xiaoyou met the criteria to become the Yin Yuan Virgin Saint—he didn’t need her birth details to sense it.

But where did she come from?

Wasn’t Yin Yuan Village sealed off?

Wu Wang spoke slowly: “Could you please arrange us some lodging?”

“I’ve come to deliver the offering.”

Village Chief: “?”

Wu Xiaoyou: “?”