Lucky billion players, you've never seen one before / I can accumulate my own luck

Inside the tile-roofed house, Fan Xiao glanced at the young man who had appeared beside the village chief, then looked away and asked curiously, "That's strange, you actually came to find us on your own initiative?"

"The main reason for seeking help is you. Without your help, I doubt many others would have survived to this day."

After the village chief finished speaking, he stared at Fan Xiao for a long while.

Yesterday morning, Fan Xiao pulled him out of the house, and then, in front of him, flew into the mist outside the village, not returning until the afternoon.

When he returned, this guy had grown a large number of long arms on his back, each carrying the corpse of the mountain spirit.

The scene was both bizarre and spectacular.

This guy was proving to him—proving that he possessed the formidable ability to survive in the white mist.

That evening, this guy did something even crazier—he came over to his house for a visit.

And naturally, they were attacked by the subconscious mind of the Ghost Queen.

As a result, this guy not only stayed out until dawn, but also went to the temple of the Ghost Goddess, took off the red veil and red wedding dress of the statue, and showed them to him... Afterwards, this guy put the clothes back on the statue without getting hurt.

This can be described as an extreme insult.

They were practically standing on the statue of the Ghost Goddess to poop and pee.

The village chief admitted that he was a little surprised.

Damn it... Among all the players who have entered Red Village, this is the first time he has encountered someone as "mischievous" as Fan Xiao.

To survive such a mischievous person without even sustaining a scratch... he had to admit, this guy really had some skills.

After hesitating for a moment, the village chief finally sighed and said, "I have a story to tell you, young man. Would you like to hear it?"

"Not really," Fan Xiao replied.

"..."

The village chief said helplessly, "My story contains the truth about everything in Red and White Village."

"I admit you're smart, but the information you've gleaned from your investigations and deductions probably doesn't cover everything, does it?"

"For example, how is the ghost marriage ceremony conducted, and what dangers might be encountered? Also, what impact will the players have on you after the ghost marriage, and what should you pay attention to?"

"Are you sure you don't want to know?"

“You’re not very good at tempting people, village chief.”

Fan Xiao chuckled and said, "Whether I know these things or not is actually irrelevant to me... Well, I mean in terms of safety, no matter what happens, I'm confident I can survive."

Instead of mentioning danger, tell me your story. It can help me unlock more exploration points and improve my dungeon rating.

"...You are indeed different from other players."

The village chief understood Fan Xiao's underlying meaning—he wasn't unwilling to listen to the story.

So he glanced at the boy next to him and said, "Xiao Chen, tell them about it."

The young man nodded.

"Who is he?" Fan Xiao asked.

The village chief was silent for a few seconds before replying, "He's my great-grandson, I suppose."

"Oh?" Fan Xiao said thoughtfully, "Becoming a resident of Red Village can preserve your youth? You look quite young, and you already have great-grandchildren?"

"You'll understand after you hear it."

The village chief sighed.

Fan Xiao observed their reactions, seemed to have thought of something, and his expression turned serious. He said, "How about having someone older say it?"

"..."

The village chief was somewhat surprised, then shook his head and said, "I should have been the one to say it, but I have other things to do, so I can only leave it to others."

"We're all monsters, no matter who says we're all the same, there's no difference."

"Young man, you'd better not have any extra pity for monsters."

"Sigh, what can I do when I have such a noble character and high moral standards?" Fan Xiao sighed, his gaze falling on the boy: "Tell me about it."

Chapter 545 Getting married

After hearing Fan Xiao's words, the boy nodded and began to tell the history of Red Village and White Village, as well as the story of the Ghost Goddess.

White Village was formerly known as White City, while Red Village is a village composed of secondary mountain spirits transformed from the villagers of White Village.

The Ghost Goddess is not a deity, but a mountain spirit.

Upon hearing this information from the story, Fan Xiao did not show any surprise.

After all, he had already guessed it; it was just that the definitions of the terms in the story were more professional.

The boy's account helped fill in the gaps in his background.

They also provided him with some crucial information.

For example, after the ghost marriage is performed, the living person will become a secondary mountain spirit, but the transformation will not be completed immediately - with the evolution rate of a C-level player, it can probably last for about 12 hours.

If you can escape within 12 hours, the abnormalities in your body will be cleared, and the transformation will stop.

However... the Demon Queen will awaken 8 hours after the ritual is completed and begin chasing the player.

Given the speed of the Ghost Queen, catching up would be quite fast.

Therefore, the player's actual escape time was only a little over 8 hours.

Once caught, they will become food.

After listening, Fan Xiao asked the boy, "From what you're saying, encountering the Ghost Queen is equivalent to the end of the game? Her strength is far inferior to that of the other mountain spirits?"

"A world of difference!"

The young man said in a serious tone, "The first players to enter this place can fight against the Ghost Queen."

"Later, the Ghost Queen continued to devour the lesser mountain spirits, becoming stronger and stronger. She could even absorb and gain your abilities after devouring the lesser mountain spirits that you players transformed from."

"Over the years, her power and abilities have increased to a terrifying level, even changing some of the rules here. For example... although her digestion speed is getting faster and faster as her strength increases, the time she sleeps is getting longer and longer."

"We suspect that the rules here are restricting her."

Upon hearing this, Fan Xiao glanced at the village chief in surprise.

He thought the village chief had called him to discuss how to cooperate in killing the Ghost Queen.

But judging from the boy's description... the Ghost Queen seems to be someone that players cannot defeat.

The "End the Curse" dungeon quest seems almost impossible for a C-rank player to complete at present.

Fan Xiao thought for a moment and asked, "It seems you want to form a good relationship, hoping that we will become stronger in the future and come back to help you end the curse here?"

"Yes, Grandpa said that a player with your outstanding abilities can easily grow."

The boy nodded and said, "Previous players told us that this is not an independent space instance; it is connected to the outside world."

"When you become stronger in the future, you can come here again."

"At that time, the Ghost Queen may not be anything to you."

"Aren't you afraid I won't come back?" Fan Xiao asked.

"We must always sow some hope and leave something to remember us by."

The person who answered was the village chief.

He sighed and said, "Living in a place like this, without any hope, you might go completely mad at any time and become a real mountain ghost."

"I can only say you're really lucky, you bet on the right person." Fan Xiao laughed, "There aren't many people like me who are kind-hearted and keep their promises, and you just happened to meet one."

"..."

The village chief didn't comment on that statement.

How could he possibly know what Fan Xiao was really thinking?

But sowing seeds of hope was something he had to do.

He prayed silently, hoping for some reward.

Fan Xiao then looked at the boy and asked, "Where is the Ghost Queen's true form?"

"Original body?"

The boy shook his head: "After the Ghost Queen awakens, she will appear in the form of dense fog. Mountain spirits can basically control fog, and the Ghost Queen is no exception. As for where her true form is... we have never seen it."

"Then how did you determine her image and begin to worship her?" Fan Xiao asked curiously.

"The image was given to us by the Ghost Queen herself, a red wedding dress, a red veil... This image might be related to a ghost marriage ceremony?" the boy said uncertainly. "As for whether her true form is like this, or where her true form is when she is asleep... we don't know either."

"Don't you know...?"

Fan Xiao didn't dwell on that question too much and continued with a new one: "You just said that the Ghost Queen became stronger by devouring the villagers of Red Village, so why are there still tens of thousands of villagers left in Red Village?"

"Because of digestion time!"

The boy replied, "After the Ghost Queen devours a secondary mountain spirit, the digestion speed is related to the degree of faith the secondary mountain spirit has in her. The higher the degree of faith, the faster the digestion."

"After discovering this, Grandpa organized a silent ideological reform for us Hongcun people."

"Gradually, the Ghost Queen's digestion speed has become slower and slower. Now, she will even fall into a deep sleep after eating some of the people of Red Village."

"Aren't you afraid the Ghost Queen will find out if you say these things?"

"You Guo, who is next to Fan Xiao, asked... or rather, reminded him."

“While the Ghost Queen is asleep, she cannot perceive any information from the outside world. Only when players attack villagers, or villagers reveal things to players that they shouldn’t, will the dungeon rules be triggered, causing her subconscious to impose punishment,” the boy said. “She doesn’t know what we said.”

"Punishment? What kind of punishment?" You Guo asked.

Just as the boy was about to say something, the ground beneath his feet suddenly began to writhe.

You Guo and the others also noticed the anomaly, and were surprised and instinctively backed away.

The boy's expression changed, fear filling his eyes as he looked at the village chief: "Grandpa..."

“Don’t be afraid. Do you remember what Grandpa told you?” the village chief asked.

“…Hmm!” The boy nodded, forcing his back to straighten: “It’ll only hurt for a moment, then I can go see my mom and dad.”

"As expected of a child from our old Zhuang family!" the village chief laughed. "Don't worry, Grandpa will be here to keep you company soon."

Thump—the boy fell into the writhing ground, like a pebble falling into water.

A scream rang out, and then everything fell silent.

Fan Xiao watched this scene silently and sighed inwardly.

He had already guessed what would happen to the boy, which is why he suggested that someone else tell the story.

The village chief refused.

As for the boy's demise... it wasn't that he didn't want to save people, but rather... the people of Red Village were all man-eating monsters, and in a sense, they were already dead.

Now that the village chief and the boy have accepted this outcome, he has given up on acting on his own initiative.

Moreover... the solution to break the curse is to kill the Demon Queen.

With the death of the Ghost Goddess, these villagers of Red Village, who are secondary mountain spirits, will likely die as well.

It's really frustrating... Fan Xiao quickly composed himself.

"That's the truth about Red Village and White Village."

After the boy disappeared, the village chief's gaze lingered on the ground for a few seconds before returning to its usual calm: "Just come to me before dusk, and I will organize your ghost marriage ceremony."

"You know that revealing the truth could kill people, yet you still let your great-grandson tell you these things..."

As the only female player in the team, Xu Xuan was quite emotional. Looking at the village chief with a calm expression, she felt a little negative emotion.

She couldn't stand it anymore.

The village chief shook his head: "I just said, don't have any extra pity for us Red Village people. Just a few days ago we were thinking of killing you."

"We have unknowingly eaten countless living people."

"When we regain our senses and when we turn into monsters is beyond our control. Death is a kind of liberation for us."

"What I want you to save is not the Red Village, but the few remaining survivors in the White Village... No, the survivors will be continuously drawn in. Only by completely ending the curse can we prevent the birth of new Red Village people."