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

Qiao Ran shrugged and said "Okay," then got down to business:

"Everything is proceeding according to plan. The reason it turned out this way is a long story, but I'll keep it short~"

After Song Yuan stayed in the dormitory, Qiao Ran and He Xiao began exploring the night map. He Xiao's first chosen location was also the village chief's house:

Unlike Song Yuan, who went to the village chief's house because she found the "finger bone" clue, He Xiao went because the village chief was the only NPC among the villagers with a name, and he figured he could find some kind of key clue there.

And it just so happens that, by sheer chance, he hit the right spot.

"Brother Xiao, Brother Xiao..."

He Xiao was already in a bad mood because he had lost Song Yuan as a shield. He yelled at him impatiently:

"What are you yelling about? What's the matter!"

With a fawning smile, Cui Xiaofei said timidly, "Brother Xiao, I urgently need to use the restroom, could I go there?"

He Xiao spat out in disgust: "You're such a lazy bum, you've only been out a short while and you've already caused me trouble."

But despite the insults, you can't really let him wet his pants, can you? But this damn "Cui Xiaofei" is quite particular, insisting that it's uncivilized to do it in the woods or bushes, and that he must find a latrine at a villager's house.

If it weren't for needing an unlucky guy to step in his trap and take the fall for him, He Xiao would have preferred to shoot him dead.

After reluctantly watching "Cui Xiaofei" run into the outhouse and then hurriedly run out again, the two arrived at the village chief's house:

He Xiao had already given Zhao Meng the decoding device while picking up girls. Therefore, the two could only try the most primitive method: that is, honestly using a VPN.

The hole in the woodshed was barely big enough for someone as petite as Song Yuan to squeeze through, let alone two men. Cui Xiaofei, being relatively slender, was alright, but He Xiao, with his broad shoulders and long legs, couldn't fit at all. He struggled awkwardly at the window for a long time, completely ruining the composed and handsome image the guild had painstakingly cultivated in him. In the end, Cui Xiaofei had to find tools to remove a plank before he could get in.

The two searched the village chief's kitchen, main room, woodshed, and even the pigsty, but found nothing—the corner of the table in the main room was also empty, leaving them with nothing.

The clue could only be hidden in one place: the village chief's bedroom.

Forced by He Xiao's tyranny, Cui Xiaofei took the lead and pushed open the bedroom door. There was no terrifying scene inside, just a normal bedroom layout. A middle-aged woman lay on the bed, presumably the village chief's wife. Her expression was very peaceful, as if she were fast asleep.

Cui Xiaofei bowed and nodded to He Xiao, indicating that he would search the area around the desk. He Xiao had originally intended for Cui Xiaofei to search the entire room, as a way of clearing out potential hazards. But then a pleasant surprise awaited him:

Three shiny objects lay beside the wardrobe. He walked over and picked them up, discovering they were three identity tags:

Name: Zhang Zhicheng

[Location of the village where the personnel are stationed: Kujing'ao]

Contact number: *******

Name: Ma Weifeng

[Location of the village where the personnel are stationed: Kujing'ao]

. . .

"!!!"

A gleam of wild joy flashed in his eyes, as if he had finally found a clue, and the corners of his mouth turned up in a wild grin:

Aren't these the three volunteers?! Their ID tags are actually here?!

He quickly stuffed the three ID tags into his pocket. Turning around to check, he saw that the woman was still asleep. Cui Xiaofei, with his back to him, was examining the desk drawer by drawer. His tense nerves relaxed a little, and he opened the wardrobe to continue searching for clues. Sure enough, he found the clothes of three young men at the bottom—these clothes were completely different in style from those at the village chief's house, and they were easy to find.

"Ha, what a crappy dungeon? This is so simple, and you call it a puzzle game?"

The answer is obvious: the three volunteers were killed by the village chief's family.

He believed he had deduced the correct conclusion and waited quietly for the system notification sound:

"..."

"...Holy crap! What's going on?!"

He frowned in confusion, threw the clothes back into the closet, and as he closed the closet door, his reflection appeared in the mirror—a pale face right next to his ear!

The woman opened her mouth wide, her eyes glaring angrily, as if about to scream. Although He Xiao was a grown man, he knew that if he let her scream at this moment, nothing good would come of it. He summoned his pistol, intending to shoot the woman in the head.

"Bang—smack!"

At the critical moment, a figure suddenly darted out, grabbed the woman's waist, and lurched her forward, causing them to fall to the ground together!

[Ding~ Player Cui Xiaofei has used the talent "Speed ​​Escape"]

The bullet missed the woman, only tearing the hem of her clothing. In those two seconds, as if she had finished her stance, a deafening scream erupted from deep within her throat:

"Aa ...

The two people at the scene felt like their eardrums were about to explode. Cui Xiaofei was so frightened that tears streamed down his face. Without daring to waste a second, he used the momentum from his "speed escape" to run wildly towards the only window in the bedroom, smashed the glass, and rushed out!

He Xiao was caught off guard, so his reaction was a beat slower than his. He realized that Cui Xiaofei, the coward who had been so attentive and obedient to him since entering the instance, had actually betrayed him!

His eyes were bloodshot with rage, and the intense sense of humiliation made him momentarily forget his mission. He raised his gun and opened fire wildly at the window through which Cui Xiaofei had fled.

"Cui Xiaofei?! You son of a bitch, you're asking for it! I'll kill you today!"

Just as he lifted his leg to give chase, his ankle was grabbed by some terrifying force. His flesh was mercilessly squeezed, his skin and muscle tissue burst open due to the immense pressure, and his bones shattered instantly.

He Xiao let out a bloodcurdling scream and turned around to see—it was the same middle-aged woman who had screamed. Just now, when he looked through the mirror, she could still be clearly seen as having the most basic "human" features, but now, at his feet, was clearly a highly decomposed corpse!

Her eyeballs were gone, leaving only two deep black holes. Some kind of thick, blood-red worms kept crawling out of her face and orifices, falling to the ground with a crackling sound.

He Xiao's mental energy was immediately reduced significantly. He gagged and pulled the trigger, blowing the woman's head off.

[Ding~ Player He Xiao used an A-grade item: First Aid Bandage. Injuries below severe level are fully healed, but health is not restored]

The mangled foot was restored to its original state thanks to the prop. He Xiao, leaning against the wall, retched violently, then fired a shot into the window, blasting a large hole in the wall.

Being betrayed by someone as "weak" as Cui Xiaofei was a major event for him. After the pain and shock, his first thought was to bring Cui Xiaofei back and make him suffer a terrible death. But just then:

"Aaaaaah!"

"Aa ...

"Aa ...

Suddenly, screams, some near, some far, some loud, some soft, rang out from all directions.

The initial scream seemed to trigger a chain reaction. Behind him came the squelching and churning of flesh and blood; the scattered soft tissue rapidly reformed, and the woman he had shot in the head miraculously recovered completely, even wriggling to her feet.

His pupils contracted sharply, and he dashed out of the courtyard:

The village chief's house is located halfway up the mountain.

In the dark, dense forest, on the bright white path, at the foot of the distant mountain—countless monsters, holding torches and resembling that woman, were gathering around him.