Where's the cute girl we were promised? She's completely wiped out S-rank dungeons!

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zhao Meng stomped hard on the village chief's back several times, as revenge for the beating she had received the day before. While frantically grinding her high heels into his back, she covered her mouth, feigning pain, "It hurts so much..."

Song Yuan gestured for her to collect all the fallen teeth, then grabbed the village chief's ankle and dragged him back: "He's the one who got hit, what's there for you to be in pain for?"

"I don't know, it looks like it's in a lot of pain."

Song Yuan tied up the village chief and the villager who tried to buy her and threw them into the small hut that had previously been used to imprison women, locking the door from the outside.

The village chief, this NPC, was indeed a bit difficult to kill. Even when Song Yuan closed the door, he was still glaring at her with resentful eyes, his mouth stuffed with paper making muffled sobs, as if he were uttering the most vicious curse in the world.

Now, they can finally experience for themselves what it feels like to be locked up in such a dark, stuffy, and humid place.

Perhaps the village chief's screams were too horrific, for the women lying in the main room gradually awoke. Like the other female NPCs in this instance, they couldn't speak. They simply huddled together, staring at Song Yuan and Zhao Meng with terrified eyes.

Song Yuan stuffed the tied-up dog into a sack, hoisted it onto her shoulder, and gave them instructions before leaving:

"Don't open the woodshed door. I don't know exactly how long we'll have to wait, but by midnight tonight, the whole village will be in chaos. That's when you can take the opportunity to escape, understand?"

The women, whether they understood or not, neither nodded nor shook their heads. They just stared at her with wide eyes. Song Yuan didn't have time to waste with them and instructed Zhao Meng, who was standing nearby, to bring the copper bell:

"Let's go."

With everything ready, the two went around to the back of the house, slid down a slightly steep slope, and entered the forest area.

Song Yuan carried a half-dead wolfhound on her back with one hand, walking briskly. Zhao Meng, holding a copper bell with a human tooth tongue between two fingers, followed with faltering steps. After walking for a while, Song Yuan stopped, turned around, and commanded her:

"You lead the way."

Zhao Meng was so frightened that her hair stood on end: "W-why?! I...I was walking very slowly..."

Song Yuan explained objectively: "Because my luck stat is very low. It's easier to find our destination if you lead the way."

That makes sense. Although she was trembling with fear, under Song Yuan's calm gaze, Zhao Meng was forced to stand in front, tears welling up in her eyes.

"I have absolutely no idea where we're going! Where are we supposed to go?"

"We'll know when the time comes."

The forest was so dense with foliage that not a ray of moonlight could be seen; the only source of light was the flashlight in Song Yuan's hand. The two continued on like this for an unknown amount of time. Upon reaching a certain area, Zhao Meng, who was walking in front, suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold, and a large patch of goosebumps erupted on her smooth back.

"Alright, we've arrived at our destination."

Song Yuan put down the sack on her back; the wolfhound inside was still asleep. She pulled out a razor blade, pressed it against the throbbing carotid artery, and gestured with her chin towards Zhao Meng:

"Ring the bell forty-nine times. Be careful when you ring it; there's only one dog here, so you won't get a second chance."

Zhao Meng looked like she was about to cry: she really didn't want to accompany Song Yuan in this kind of weird ritual, but now it wasn't realistic to back out.

"Ding ding ding~"

Ding Ding Ding ~

Ding ding ding~

The surrounding forest was completely dark, and there was no sound. Even the mountain wind and the small creatures hidden among the trees had fallen silent at this moment; the only sound was the crackling of human teeth striking a bronze surface.

Despite the place being unusually cold and gloomy, Zhao Meng broke out in a cold sweat. She kept glancing at Song Yuan beside her, seeking some psychological comfort.

"38, 39, 40..."

45, 46, 47...

As she drew ever closer to the forty-ninth count, her nerves tightened. Just as she was about to make the forty-ninth count, the flashlight in Song Yuan's hand snapped out.

"!!!"

Zhao Meng's heart was pounding so hard she was almost speechless with fright; however, the sudden darkness did not affect Song Yuan's actions. She swiftly and cleanly slit the wolfhound's throat.

Warm blood gushed out, splattering on half of her face. Dark red blood gushed out, soaking the soil below. Song Yuan brought up the system panel, purchased a new flashlight, pointed the light end upwards, and "click" switched it on:

A pale, swollen face was hanging upside down in front of her:

A putrid, musty stench wafted in with the cold air. The face was so close to her that she could see every detail. The female ghost had long, moldy black hair, cloudy, grayish-white eyes without pupils, and her face was covered with bluish-black lividity, some parts of which had rotted away. The pink flesh was rotten and white from dampness, and it seemed as if it would fester and fall off at the slightest touch.

"Slap!" Song Yuan raised her hand and slapped it.

"Aaaaaaahhhhh what are you doing—"

Zhao Meng screamed in terror and reached out to hug her for courage, but Song Yuan pressed her chest against her and refused.

"Don't stand so close to me. Don't you know you should maintain basic social distance when you talk to people?"

The last female ghost who dared to get close enough to scare her has already gotten her comeuppance.

Zhao Meng broke down: "Aaaaaah! What are you talking about?! What time is it?!"

The female ghost clearly hadn't expected to be treated this way. Instinctively, she loosened her grip on the tree trunk to cover her face and fell from the tree with a "whoosh!" Her limbs were bent at an odd angle, causing her to writhe haphazardly on the ground like a newly mutated zombie, unable to stand like a normal human.

"Aaaaaah, she's attacking us! She's attacking us right now! I told you that this kind of evil ritual would never end well, but you wouldn't believe me, sob sob sob, and I'm still going to die in this damn dungeon, ahhhhh..."

Zhao Meng cried and tried to run away, but Song Yuan grabbed the hem of her skirt:

"Don't move, look carefully before you speak."

The female ghost convulsed on the ground for a long time, but seeing that she couldn't stand up no matter what she did, she simply gave up. She crawled on all fours, nodded in Song Yuan's direction, then slowly turned around and began to crawl rapidly.

"Keep up!"

After speaking, Song Yuan started running at the speed of the female ghost. Zhao Miao was stunned for a moment, and by the time she reacted, the two of them had already run several meters away. She hurriedly stumbled and staggered to catch up.

"Where is she going?! Why are we following her...?"

"Don't ask so many questions, just follow along."

The female ghost crawled very fast, but not at a constant speed. She would slow down and wait for them to catch up when she heard Zhao Meng fall or get tired. The two followed her, turning left and right, passing through the bushes and around the tree trunk. They didn't know how long they had been running, but when the silvery moonlight shone on their faces, they finally had the real feeling that they had "finally escaped this forest."

Zhao Meng collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath: "We escaped...we really escaped? Am I dreaming...?"

Song Yuan wiped the sweat from her brow and looked around. They were at the foot of the mountain; a small path led directly to the village entrance. She turned to look at the female ghost still hidden in the darkness:

After leading the two out of the forest, she darted into the nearest bushes, leaving only her eyes visible as she watched the two women bathed in moonlight.

Noticing that Song Yuan was observing her, she stretched out a pale, slender hand from the bushes, clutching something tightly in her palm.