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

The man looked at his companion—the somewhat taciturn male player.

"Do you feel... a sudden chill?" he asked.

Villagers occasionally talk and make noise during the funeral procession, which is not among the prohibited activities.

He noticed this and spoke without much hesitation.

"It is a little cold." The silent man frowned. "Why did it suddenly get so cold... uh!!"

Before he could finish speaking, the silent man suddenly felt his limbs being immobilized by an unknown force, rendering him unable to move.

Then he felt a tearing pain all over his body.

Like words being erased by an eraser, his body suddenly disappeared piece by piece at an extremely fast speed.

He only had time to let out a scream before he vanished from the spot, leaving behind only a few tattered, blood-stained pieces of his clothes that fell to the ground.

At the same time, a scream from a villager in Baicun came from another location.

Like the silent man, one villager disappeared from the spot in a very short time, leaving only his blood-stained clothes behind.

A strong smell of blood spread.

The male player with sparse hair on his head narrowed his pupils and immediately wanted to run away.

Seeing that the other villagers were still attending the funeral, he could only force himself to suppress his fear and join the procession.

Fortunately, no further abnormalities occurred.

After circling Bai Village for the fourth time, the funeral procession returned to Bai Village before it got completely dark and placed the nine coffins in the Ghost Goddess Temple.

The villagers pushed the covers off, removed them, and put them together in one place.

The only surviving male player followed behind the villagers, taking the opportunity to peek inside the coffin before his brows furrowed deeply.

Tanya and the other two, along with the other villagers of Bai Village, were no longer in the coffin.

All nine living people have disappeared.

……

Upon hearing the two screams coming from outside the coffin, Tanya realized something was wrong and immediately thought of a possibility—the lesser mountain spirit hadn't eaten enough of the seven living people!

She immediately tensed up and became alert.

Before the ritual is completed, she is still alive and could be attacked by the secondary mountain spirit at any time.

Suddenly, she felt her vision blur and her body begin to spin.

This anomaly ended quickly.

Tanya noticed that her posture had changed from lying down to sitting up, and even the clothes she was wearing had changed to a wedding dress, with a red veil covering her head... She was stunned.

Considering that she could only escape this place after participating in the burial ceremony, she forcibly suppressed the thought of teleporting away, lifted the red veil, and looked up to observe her surroundings.

It seems... we've arrived at a sedan chair?

Besides her, there was another person in the sedan chair.

Tanya cautiously turned her head to look and found that it was someone she knew—one of the players who had disappeared on the bus.

Tanya recalled what had happened a few days ago.

This player in front of me is extremely cunning. He once pretended to be an innocent rabbit to trick cannibalistic players, killing several people... Wait a minute!?

tentacle……! ?

what's the situation?

Is this guy a monster?

Tanya immediately tensed up and entered a state of maximum alert.

They seemed poised to strike swiftly at the slightest provocation.

"Don't be nervous, my little wife."

Fan Xiao smiled at Tan Ya and casually retracted the five tentacles, turning them back into fingers, leaving only the other five to continue observing the situation outside the sedan chair.

He continued, "Players have all sorts of abilities. Growing a few tentacles is nothing to be surprised about, you're not a magical girl."

"..." Tanya frowned, remaining vigilant: "You really are a demi-human player? Octopus genes?"

She remembered that Fan Xiaolu had revealed a gray player ID.

I thought this creature, with its distinctive features, might be ant-like, but it turns out it's a tentacle-like creature.

"From what you're saying, you didn't believe the color of my player ID in the first place?" Fan Xiao said speechlessly, "It's just a player category, what's the point of disguising it?"

"What does 'beloved wife' mean?" Tanya changed the subject.

"It means exactly what it says. Look at the clothes you're wearing. Don't you understand? We are currently holding a ghost marriage ceremony."

Fan Xiao didn't hold back and generously shared the intelligence from Hongcun with Tanya.

After listening, Tanya's brows relaxed slightly, many of her doubts were resolved, and she gained a more complete understanding of Red and White Village.

It was indeed a joyous occasion held in Hongcun!

She had some suspicions about this before, but wasn't sure.

“I see,” Tanya’s lips curled slightly, regaining her usual composure. “My darling wife… that’s quite a direct and bold way to address you. What, Mr. Fan, are you no longer going to play the innocent little rabbit?”

Previously at the bus station, You Guo had struck up a conversation with her and introduced her to the name "Fan Taozai".

You can tell it's a pseudonym just by listening to it!

However, that doesn't stop her from using that name; there's no point in worrying about her real name.

"What do you mean by 'pretending'? That's really rude." Fan Xiao glanced at Tanya: "Among the players who entered the dungeon this time, I should be the most clueless one."

"Ha ha……"

Tanya chuckled softly, offering no comment, and changed the subject, saying, "You just said that two people were eaten on your side. On our side, three were clearly eaten by lesser mountain spirits... Adding the two who just died, the people of Red Village should have eaten seven living people."

She breathed a slight sigh of relief after reaching this conclusion.

At least the secondary mountain spirits won't attack them anymore.

After relaxing, she asked in a more relaxed tone, "Speaking of which... is the difficulty level in your Red Village very low? Only two people died?"

"You can ask other players about this," Fan Xiao said with a smile. "The answer can't come out of my mouth."

"Why?" Tanya asked, her tone becoming more serious. "Are there any rules we need to follow?"

There are no rules, it's just a matter of personal preference.

Fan Xiao said very seriously, "I'm the kind of person who's particular about how I put on airs. It feels too tacky to force myself to show off to others; I have to put on airs subtly."

"The most deadly form of showing off is the subtle kind."

"So you have to ask other people, find out about me from other players, and then indirectly realize my strength. I can't tell you directly... do you understand what I mean?"

"???"

Tanya looked puzzled.

She quickly realized: "Don't tell me that so many people survived in Red Village because of you?"

"Let's not dwell on these trivial details," Fan Xiao waved his hand. "We need to consider the issue of ghost marriages now."

At this point, he said with a serious expression, "The village chief of Hongcun told us that the ghost marriage ceremony is different from the normal marriage ceremony. After the sedan chair is carried back to Hongcun, there is no custom of holding a banquet. We have to go straight to the bridal chamber as soon as we get back to the village... Sigh, this is a bit difficult."

"..." Tanya was silent for a few seconds, then asked, "What did you say!"

“The ghost marriage ceremony is different from a normal marriage ceremony; the feast will be omitted,” Fan Xiao repeated.

"That's not it!" Tanya frowned. "You said you wanted to go to the bridal chamber?"

"Yes, marriage definitely involves consummating the marriage in the bridal chamber. Why would you doubt this?" Fan Xiao asked curiously.

"...The nine dead people from White Village and the nine wedding party members from Red Village—the number of men and women isn't exactly evenly distributed!" Tanya said sternly, "How are you going to get into the bridal chamber?"

"Huh? You didn't get the wrong idea, did you?" Fan Xiao suddenly revealed a disdainful expression: "Going to the bridal chamber doesn't necessarily mean doing *that* kind of thing. You're actually thinking about doing something lewd in a dungeon... I'm speechless!"

"..." Tanya: "Then what do you mean by saying it's difficult?"

"Oh, I was just joking with you to pass the time," Fan Xiao said. "Actually, there's no wedding night involved. We just need to go back to the Ghost Goddess Temple and pay our respects again, and the ceremony will be complete."

"...Has anyone ever told you that you're particularly annoying?"

Tanya clenched her small fists beneath the wide sleeves of her wedding dress.

The wedding dress was a normal woman's size, but it looked a bit too big on her... or rather, it made her look too petite.

It lacks any imposing presence.

The kind that looks easy to bully.

Fan Xiao smiled but did not answer.

He mentally estimated the distance; the wedding procession should still be some time away from returning to the village. In the midst of the tedious information exchange, he chose to add some fun.

Tanya resisted the urge to hit someone and seriously suggested, "How about we escape together as a team after the ritual is complete? More people means more power and efficiency. There are many monsters in the mist, and escaping separately is not a good option."

“No, if you want to escape, then escape,” Fan Xiao said. “I feel that the people of Red and White Villages are really pitiful, so I’ve decided to stay and help them end the curse here.”

"..." Tanya asked in surprise, "You...are you serious?"

“Of course I’m serious,” Fan Xiao replied.

Tanya glanced at him a few times, unsure if he was joking.

After thinking for a moment, she kindly reminded her, "According to the information you provided, the Ghost Queen is not someone a C-rank player can handle. And the villagers here aren't exactly kind people; they've killed countless people in so many dungeons, even we almost..."

"What I want to do has nothing to do with who they are." Fan Xiao interrupted Tanya, "It's just that I'm kind-hearted and can't stand what they see."

"..." Tanya's eyes were subtle.

"You seem quite unconvinced?" Fan Xiao asked.

"...Mr. Fan, are you sure you want to discuss this with me?" Tanya said speechlessly, "Before you start building your persona, think about what you've done to those cannibalistic players. I think your kindness is fake; you just want to get a high dungeon rating, right?"

"These two are not contradictory."

Fan Xiao laughed and said, "You people always like to divide good and evil into extremes. If someone does something slightly scheming or manipulative, you label them as treacherous and cunning. In reality, if we're talking about kindness, I'm much better than you."

"So, it's the 'spiritual victory method,' right?" Tanya retorted.

"No, it has nothing to do with that."

Fan Xiao lied, "You think you're kinder than me, but actually... kindness has different levels."

"Your kindness is most likely brainwashing under the influence of the environment, emotional impulses, and universal moral values. It is a framework that sets you in, rather than a goal you pursue yourself."

"Let me give you an example. You help an elderly person cross the street, and then you get falsely accused and left with huge debts. Would you still help an elderly person who has fallen in the future?"

"...Probably not," Tanya said uncertainly.

"But I can."

Fan Xiao said, "I will gather evidence first through means such as video recording before I go to help."

“A dark mind does not prevent a person from doing the right thing; in fact, it can make them do it better.”

"Black and white are opposites, yet they define each other. If one cannot bear even a trace of evil in their heart, how much weight can shallow kindness carry? It would probably break with a single prick."

“…Isn’t that sophistry?” Tanya said.

Where is the sophistry?

Fan Xiao chuckled and said, "To be a good person, one must understand the unity of opposites. When your heart is filled with both colors, choosing to do good is the highest level of goodness. Such goodness is more unbreakable and will not be swayed by external things."

"And you hypocrites, created by your environment, generally have a high rate of turning evil. The conditions for turning evil... well, perhaps one betrayal is enough. You're practically defenseless."

"But I'm different. I may be cunning, but no one understands kindness better than me!"

Tanya: "..."

Why does it seem like what he said makes a lot of sense?

How could this be?

No... I can't listen to any more!

I feel like I'm being brainwashed!

……