Keep attacking girls and try not to be killed by them

Jiang Ran did not go to the orchard to help Wei'er. Of course, this had nothing to do with the breeding that the stupid loli mentioned.

In Jiang Ran's opinion, if it is a normal relationship, then this kind of cooperation of "the boy and girl preparing for the Rain Festival together in the orchard" will undoubtedly greatly enhance their feelings. However, Jiang Ran is taking the evil route. The result he pursues is to make Wei'er fall strongly in love with him, rather than what people often say is mutual love.

[Note 1: Mutual liking, also known as two-way running, refers to a man and a woman who adore each other and strive to get closer to each other.]

[Note 2: It’s a rare opportunity to meet someone in both directions. If you encounter this opportunity, please cherish it.]

After four days of hard work, Jiang Ran has created a "perfect" image in Wei'er's heart that she looks up to. If at this time, Jiang Ran steps into the field that Wei'er is good at and works with her for a long time, Jiang Ran will inevitably expose his own shortcomings, and at that time, the "perfect" image will definitely collapse.

Therefore, during the intensive preparations for the Song of Rain Festival, Jiang Ran did not plan to have too much contact with Wei'er.

·

Half an hour later, Jiang Ran arrived at the outskirts of Ella Village. Before dark, he planned to conduct a round of inspections centered on Ella Village.

It would be difficult for Ghost Ai'er to hide in the village without being discovered, but if she chose to hide in the forest or mountains, finding her would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Jiang Ran hoped to use his identification skills to find Gui Ai'er's footprints somewhere in the woods. This didn't require any skill; without luck, he'd have to rely on sheer determination. Furthermore, during his patrols, Jiang Ran also gained some experience points and prey thanks to traps and the Willow Leaf Dagger (a trophy from defeating a bandit group).

——『Successfully killed the Prairie Dog, career experience +15, current experience value 135/400』

——『Successfully killed the "Green Iguana", career experience +15, current experience value 150/400』

Through his hunting experience, Jiang Ran came to a conclusion: creatures that are weak enough, such as common insects and invertebrates (like earthworms), earn no experience points for their first kill. Therefore, in this world of "Impossible Level," there are no shortcuts to leveling up.

In addition to hunting, Jiang Ran also used his identification ability to collect some useful plants, such as the Epimedium which can cause heartbeat disorder, vomiting and diarrhea, Gelsemium elegans (a flowering plant) which can cause respiratory paralysis, Castor oil plant which can cause convulsions and cardiovascular collapse, as well as Datura, Abrus precatorius, etc. These poisons are all useful to Jiang Ran, whose frontal combat capability is still very weak.

·

Jiang Ran worked in the suburbs until dark. When he returned to the village, his search for "Ghost Ai'er" had yielded nothing, but he had been quite fruitful in other activities. However, although Jiang Ran had obtained a good deal of fresh meat, he had no intention of bringing any to Wei'er.

Once this kind of thing becomes a habit, the effect of sending meat in the future will only be continuously discounted until it becomes ineffective - yes, this is the continued application of the "intermittent reinforcement theory".

After dinner, Jiang Ran used his sleep to experiment with his magic power. After a night of sleeping and waking up, Jiang Ran came to three preliminary conclusions about magic power:

1. Currently, only sleeping can restore mana, closing your eyes and resting your mind is ineffective;

2. You can recover 4 point of mana every 1 minutes of sleep. Downloading from a different location is not supported.

3. After the magic value reaches zero, you will be dizzy and unable to move for five minutes, and you will not be able to recover magic through sleep for 1 hour;

As for whether there are magic potions or other means of restoring magic power in the Prison Star World, Jiang Ran will have to wait until he reaches the town to inquire, as the information in the village is really limited.

·

The next morning, the village chief, Woodall, found Jiang Ran. To express his gratitude to Jiang Ran, he made a hunting bow, fifteen arrows, and a quiver for Jiang Ran.

Originally, Jiang Ran had considered using his "Trickster" skill to trick the village chief into giving him his hunting bow, but now that was easier.

Afterwards, Jiang Ran asked around the village for information about "Lina", the name of the skeleton placed in Ai'er's coffin.

Based on the overall size of the remains and the shape of the pelvis, Jiang Ran speculated that Lina was a woman between 20 and 30 years old. Since her remains were replaced in Ai'er's coffin, she was likely from Ella Village.

Strangely, no one in Ella had ever heard of Lina. Not even the village chief or Grandma Kana had any recollection of her. Could it be that the person who had tampered with the remains had deliberately brought a body from elsewhere? But was that really necessary?

The incident of opening the coffin and replacing the bones was stranger than Jiang Ran had expected. Not only did it fail to provide any clues to the matter of "Ghost Ai'er", but it also added to the puzzles that Jiang Ran needed to solve. After careful consideration, Jiang Ran decided to give up tracking down the identity of "Lina".

What Jiang Ran didn't expect was that at noon that day, an unexpected person brought him good news.

"Banning, I heard you were asking about Lina? How did you know Lina's name?"

The person who came to his door was Mary. Jiang Ran was very surprised. He didn't expect to get a clue from her.

"Yes, I'm asking, Sister Mary, do you know Lina?"

Mary looked around, looking a little nervous. After confirming that there was no one else around, she whispered to Jiang Ran, "Lina...she's a stray...come to my house and tell me the details."

·

Time always flies when you focus on doing something.

In the next two days, Jiang Ran continued to expand the search range, but still found no traces that might be related to "Ghost Ai'er". On the contrary, his professional experience in the production profession "Hunter" and his proficiency in the skill "Concentration" were greatly improved.

Now that expanding the search range outward has yielded no results, Jiang Ran can only change direction and search within Ella Village.

There are two breakthrough points in Ella Village, one is Wei'er, and the other is the locked room in Wei'er's house.

Jiang Ran thought that since "Ghost Ai'er" was so difficult to find, Wei'er would not be in danger for the time being. In addition, tonight was the Songyu Festival, and this kind of special event could often increase a lot of favorability, so Jiang Ran decided to wait until the Songyu Festival was over before continuing his action.

·

As the sun sets and the sunset glow fades, the night falls over Ella Village. Then, moonlight shines through the clouds, bringing silver light to the people of Ella Village who are preparing to celebrate the "Rain Festival."

Jiang Ran was also helping out in the crowd. After chatting with Grandma Kana earlier, he already had a basic understanding of the Songyu Festival.

The Rain Festival is a sacrificial ceremony handed down from ancient times in the Kingdom of West. Every year on the first full moon of May, people will hold a grand sacrificial ceremony to pray to the gods of goodness, hoping for abundant rain in the summer and a good harvest in the autumn.

During the sacrificial ceremony, people would build a high tower-like pile of firewood with branches, and then decorate the top layer with a large number of fresh and bright bouquets of flowers. It was named the "Flower Tower", which meant to offer summer flowers to the benevolent gods and pray that the benevolent gods would repay them with rain and a good harvest.

In a village-level sacrifice like that in Ella Village, the sacrificial fireworks tower will be about five or six meters high. In Gude Town, it can reach a height of ten meters. If you are lucky enough to go to a big city or even the capital to participate in the Song of Rain Festival, you can see a sacrificial fireworks tower that is more than fifteen meters (five stories) high, which is quite spectacular.

With everything ready, the village chief stood on the table and began to recite a prayer. The villagers crowded together around the fireworks tower, waiting for the ceremony to officially begin. As the village hero, Jiang Ran was pushed to the front of the crowd. Because of this, he failed to notice that someone had already come up behind him in the shadows, axe in hand.

2.29 - Rain Festival

“May the good gods have mercy and rain down their blessings upon us!”

"May the good gods have mercy and bring us a bountiful harvest!"

Under the fireworks tower, the village chief Woodell held up the torch and shouted loudly, and the villagers around him also shouted loudly.

Jiang Ran followed suit, but one thing made him a little embarrassed, that is, he was the only one in the crowd without a torch. Jiang Ran, who was participating in the Rain Song Festival for the first time, thought that torches were distributed uniformly in the village. He didn't expect that Grandma Kana would let it slip.

"Now! Let us offer the flowers of summer to the good god! May the vitality of summer be with the good god!!"

After the pious prayer, the village chief took the lead in throwing the torch in his hand onto the fire tower. With a "swish" sound, the flame quickly ignited on the fire tower. Then, other villagers followed suit and threw torches while praying loudly. The shining flames danced in the night sky, and in an instant, the fire tower turned into a blazing tower, like a fireworks tree blooming in the dark night.

"Ban, Banning..."

Jiang Ran didn't have a torch in his hand. He quietly admired this spectacular scene. He had never experienced such customs and practices before in the Earth world.

No matter which world we live in, people have times when they feel powerless, which is why there are fictional beings like "God" who are created to take on people's hopes.

"Ban, Banning..."

However, Jiang Ran still needs to conduct further investigation to find out whether this "good god" mentioned by the people of Ella Village has any connection with the "human-shaped luminous body" in the gray space.

"Ban-ning-!"

At this time, Jiang Ran heard someone calling his name.

The noise at the Songyu Festival was so loud that Jiang Ran couldn't hear clearly. He turned around and saw that it was Wei'er standing outside the crowd, waving at him. The crowd around the fireworks tower was too dense for Wei'er to squeeze in, and she was being pushed further and further away, so far away that she was almost out of sight.

Jiang Ran smiled knowingly. Wei'er came at the right time, and Jiang Ran was just about to go find her.

Jiang Ran struggled to get to Wei'er after passing through layers of people, but for some reason, one of her hands was always hidden behind her back, and her posture looked a little strange.

"My voice was too soft... I thought you couldn't hear me..." Wei'er looked aggrieved, like a child who got lost from her parents at a temple fair.

"It's not your problem, it's just too noisy here... By the way, Wei'er, do you want to throw a torch? I'll take you in?"

Looking at the well-behaved and pitiful Wei'er, Jiang Ran reached out to touch her head, but pulled his hand back in mid-air.

"Throwing the torch, huh? Uh, Ben, Benning, did you…lose it?"

Wei'er was happy for a moment, but then immediately became uneasy again.

"Haha, not yet. I forgot to prepare the torch."

"Really?! That's great!"

"Very good?"

Wei'er couldn't hide her joy and accidentally let it slip that she actually just hoped Banning didn't prepare torches.

"Oh, sorry, I... I meant... I prepared a torch for you."

Wei'er embarrassedly took out her hands from behind her back, but what she took out was not a torch, but an axe, the blade of which reflected the surrounding firelight brightly.

"Oh, I'm wrong, I'm wrong. This is the correct one."

Wei'er fumbled around frantically, and this time she pulled out a torch. In her haste, she had brought out all the axe she had at home.

(Weier is really amazing, she can hide so many things behind her back.)

The moment he saw the axe, Jiang Ran broke out in a cold sweat, probably because he felt guilty towards Wei'er.

"Thank you, Wei'er. Let's go throw the torches together."

"Ok!"

Jiang Ran and Wei'er borrowed fire from the villagers to light the torches, and then squeezed into the crowd and came to the fireworks tower.

Looking at the blazing "fireworks tree", the two shouted prayers together, and then threw the torches out together.

Jiang Ran knew the meaning of torch throwing was that the higher the torch was thrown, the better the harvest would be in the autumn. But there was actually another meaning that Grandma Kana didn't tell Jiang Ran:

It is said that as long as men and women of marriageable age throw torches together, they will be able to get married during the Rain Festival the following year.

Wei'er knew the meaning of this, which is why she specially prepared a torch to go find Banning. Now that she had successfully thrown the torch, Wei'er's heart was pounding! She was happy, but also uneasy, afraid that someone would jump out and say, "Oh, you actually threw the torch together!" or "You will be husband and wife next year!"

If something like this really happened, Wei'er would be so embarrassed that she would die.

Wei'er is now only thinking about one thing, that is, whether Banning knows that throwing torches together will become a symbol of husband and wife. If he knows, does it mean that he also has feelings for her?

Wei'er was really curious, but she couldn't ask this kind of question. If she asked, she would be exposing herself.

"Weier, shall we go eat some sweet potatoes?"

"Hmm? Uh-huh...Okay."

At this time, the adults in the village brought out the "sweet sauce potatoes" that they had prepared in advance. This was the customary closing part of the Rain Festival.

Baked potato cubes dipped in sweet jam are a luxury that can only be eaten once a year in Ella Village. Not only children like it, but adults love it too.

However, due to the insufficient productivity of Ella Village, each person, regardless of age or age, is limited to eating only three pieces, which has made the children look forward to the arrival of the Rain Festival next year.

Jiang Ran tasted a piece of sweet potato with jam. The sweetness of the jam and the mellow aroma of the potato complemented each other perfectly. It was indeed delicious. This was also the first food that Jiang Ran had tasted delicious since he came to the Prison Star World.

"Weier, did you make this jam?"

"No, everyone helped out. I was mainly responsible for picking the fruits."

"So that's how it is... This jam is much more delicious than the ones in our Lucca Village. It must be because of Wei'er's careful cultivation that the jam is so delicious."

"It's not a big deal..."

Wei'er blushed at Jiang Ran's praise, but she wasn't shy just because of the praise. It was because she had an idea in her mind that she wanted to put into action, but she lacked a little courage...

·

The moon quietly passed through the night sky. The Songyu Festival was coming to an end. Some people were dancing around the fireworks tower, while others were sitting on the side chatting.

Wei'er and Banning walked slowly around the fireworks tower. From time to time, someone would come over and say hello to Banning.

Wei'er watched silently, and she thought to herself, Banning is really amazing. He has only been in the village for a few days, but he has already become a person recognized by everyone... Everyone looks at him as if he is the village chief.

——(A powerful person like Banning will definitely leave Ella Village sooner or later... This is not a place where he can show his abilities.)

When Wei'er thought about Banning leaving, she felt as if her chest was being tightened.

A few days ago, Rod's confession made Wei'er realize that if you like someone, you have to say it out loud. If you don't say it out loud, the other person will never know.

Now, the distance between Benning and herself makes Wei feel uneasy. If she doesn't express her feelings, she may never have another chance.

The flickering flames of the fireworks tower were urging Wei'er to hurry up like a countdown. After walking around the fireworks tower again, Wei'er suddenly quickened her pace and stopped in front of Banning.

"Ban-Banning...I..."

Wei'er tightly grasped the hem of her clothes with both hands. She had always dared to look at the ground, but she finally mustered up the courage to look up at Banning.

"I have something I want to tell you..."

2.30 - Dinner invitation

"Huh? What's the matter?"

Banning also stopped, his expression was calm. In comparison, Wei'er was so nervous that she had difficulty breathing.

"That's... that... I... I..."

The words were clearly on the tip of her tongue, but Wei'er just couldn't say the three most crucial words.