Buddhist player

To some extent, what the bard said did make some sense.

Cognitive misguidance, insider betrayal, rule traps, and deception about the nature of the world—these may not seem like much on their own, but when combined, they can be deadly.

Bai Chen had considered that his newbie trial dungeon might be difficult, but he didn't expect it to be this difficult.

What the bard said wasn't all there was to it, because after those four, there was something even more deadly.

"Teamwork...?"

"Yes, this beginner trial dungeon will ultimately test teamwork and the individual abilities of team members."

Bai Chen tossed the burnt incense stick into the fire and forced himself to cheer up.

"Five white candles, five villas. Next, each of you will take a white candle to a villa and, using only the light from your candle, find something hidden inside the villa."

As he spoke, Bai Chen took out the incense box again, but after glancing at the amount of incense remaining inside, he gave up.

"The white candle provides one hour of burning time. Within this hour, you must find the hidden object inside the villa. The white candle will protect you; as long as you don't extinguish it, you will be unharmed under its light. However, it's worth noting that you will continuously deplete your energy during this process..."

"Wait, wait, wait, what you said is a bit confusing. Could you please repeat it?"

Seeing that the person seemed about to continue speaking on their own, Dao Ke Dao Chang Fei Dao, who was completely confused, quickly called for a halt.

"This is the world of the dead. Naturally, there are residents in those villas. Once you enter those villas, they will give you a puzzle to find. After that, all you have to do is find the thing they hid in the villa before the white candle goes out, and then bring that thing back."

He then took out a bucket of instant noodles from his backpack, tore it open, and shrugged.

"How about that? Pretty simple, right?"

The Tao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Tao: "..."

"What riddle are these four villas posing for you?"

At this moment, Yuan Qing suddenly spoke up.

"My wife used to say she really liked my cooking, but then she said she didn't like it anymore."

Bai Chen calmly inserted the fork into the edge of the bucket.

"This is the riddle. Based on this, you need to find a hidden needle inside the villa."

"……what?"

Upon hearing this riddle, Dao Ke Dao Chang Chang was dumbfounded.

"Find the hidden items in the villa based on the clues in the riddle. It's just a simple hidden object game, so don't put too much pressure on yourself."

Bai Chen shook his head.

"No matter what the riddle is or what you're looking for, you'll need to explore the villa eventually. An hour should be enough, but you need to learn to control your stamina and not be scared by those inexplicable threats and face-slapping attacks. As long as the white candle in your hand hasn't gone out, they can't hurt you."

"...I think you overestimate me."

Unconsciously, the corner of Dao Ke Dao's mouth twitched slightly.

"I couldn't understand your riddle at all, let alone search the entire villa for a needle... So, poet, do you have any ideas?"

Looking at the bard next to him deep in thought, Dao Ke Dao is not the eternal Dao, nudged him with his elbow.

"...It should be based on the search results."

The bard glanced at Bai Chen and seemed slightly hesitant.

"The riddle mentions the wife, so the subject of that sentence should be the husband. Perhaps we should start our search within the villa from that perspective... or something like that?"

"A very clear line of thinking."

Bai Chen poured the ginger cola, which his distant relative had cooked earlier, into the instant noodle cup, confirming the other person's guess.

"In the refrigerator in the kitchen, I found the dismembered body of the wife. Her head was neatly arranged and could be seen as soon as the refrigerator door was opened. Her internal organs were also well preserved."

"A corpse was hidden in the refrigerator..."

Just imagining that scene in my head sent a chill down my spine.

"And then, even if the body is found, it won't have much to do with the mystery, right?"

"No, the needle is hidden inside the heart of the refrigerator, along with a bundle of thread. It's easy to find."

Bai Chen closed the instant noodle box and shrugged.

"The heart... wait, why is that needle hidden inside the heart?"

"A woman's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea."

Before Bai Chen could reply, the bard beside him gave his answer with a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.

"It must be this one, otherwise I can't think of a reason."

"..."

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. Suddenly, I felt that I might never find that needle in my entire life.

"Alright, that's the general situation. You should all make some preparations first, and then each of you can choose a villa and set off."

As he spoke, Bai Chen poured out the last four incense sticks from the box and gave one to each person. However, after glancing at the Dao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Dao, and after a moment of contemplation, he gave one extra to the other person.

"Invigorating incense. One stick of incense burns for about five to ten minutes. Holding it in your mouth can help stabilize your mind and keep you alert. Just light it when the time is right."

Because the attributes of consumable items like these can only be viewed when they are used, Bai Chen is not worried that the bard will discover that he is the maker of the incense.

It's normal for people with connections to bring some support-type consumable items when entering a dungeon, but if you craft those items yourself, then it's a different story.

—Especially beginner dungeons for complete beginners.

"There are only three of us, and we have one villa left."

Yunqing glanced at the incense stick in his hand and raised his head.

"In your current state, are you still capable of exploring?"

"To be honest, it's difficult."

Bai Chen shook his head slightly.

"In those villas, the white candles seem to be nourished directly by the energy and spirit of the person holding the candle. You'll get more and more tired and sleepy as you walk, and even after you come out, it's hard to recover. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been so exhausted just now..."

As if remembering something, Bai Chen added a sentence.

"But you don't need to worry too much. As long as you proceed steadily, you'll have enough time. The reason I was so tired before was mainly due to the second exploration of the room and the second lighting of the white candles."

"You went in a second time?"

Unconsciously, Yuan Qing frowned slightly.

"After finding the needle, I still had a lot of white candles left, so I thought I could save them to use on the other villas. However, I didn't expect that the white candles would lose their effect after being lit again. The husband in that villa was so hospitable that I almost couldn't get out of there."

Bai Chen picked up the instant noodle cup with a casual expression.

"Don't worry, there's still enough time. I should be fine after resting for a while longer."

"and then?"

Unable to resist, he pressed on with the question, "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao."

"Our current goal is to escape this afterlife, so what's the point of retrieving anything from those villas?"

"It's simple, just use the things we brought back to fulfill their family's wish."

Bai Chen remained calm as he ate his instant noodles.

"The needles I brought back are for sewing corpses."