Chapter 9: Exploiting the Loophole
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“What a wonderful aroma.” Zhu Chen’s nose twitched involuntarily as he glanced toward the kitchen. The enticing scent of meat stirred everyone’s appetite, even Hong Qi couldn’t resist wandering over to see.
“Where did the meat come from?” Hong Qi peeked into the pot, eyeing the golden-browned pork belly, swallowing hard.
Yu Huaiyu was rinsing rice nearby and casually replied, “Sister Chu Wei brought it back. One of her mission targets gave it to her. I heard she’s almost done with her mission.”
There was an unmistakable hint of envy.
Hong Qi felt a twinge of jealousy too. “Already nearly finished on the second day? That’s great.”
Yu Huaiyu asked, “Brother Hong Qi, what’s your mission? I’ve never heard you talk about your system.”
Hong Qi smiled and said, “Mine’s the Sage System. Teaching someone a single poem counts as completing the mission.”
“And that poem is my method of attack.”
Xia Wulei turned to look at him, intrigued by this fresh idea.
Yu Huaiyu quickly urged Hong Qi to demonstrate. If poetry could really be used as a weapon, that would be impressive!
Hong Qi cleared his throat, “Ahem, well then.”
Xia Wulei scooped up some pork belly and followed them to the courtyard.
Zhu Chen and Chu Wei looked over curiously. Hong Qi stood in the middle of the yard, took a deep breath, and recited steadily:
“Have you not seen—the waters of the Yellow River come from the sky, rushing to the sea, never to return!”
As soon as he finished, a murky water flow, like a small pipe, appeared out of nowhere and trickled onto the ground, forming a shallow puddle of water in the courtyard’s dirt.
The group stared in silence…
Chu Wei said nothing, picked up her corn juice, and returned to her room.
Zhu Chen scratched his head. “Brother Hong Qi, why is the water yellow?”
Hong Qi replied, “...Because it’s the Yellow River.”
Xia Wulei asked, “Any other effects?”
Hong Qi shook his head. “Though I’ve played the game twice, I’ve only succeeded once.”
With so many poems, if his words really came true, Hong Qi’s system was quite formidable.
Truly a golden key.
But for now, everyone was basically at the starting line, with few skills unlocked.
Xia Wulei nodded thoughtfully, eyes gleaming.
“What’s your mission again? Tell me the details.”
Yu Huaiyu frowned.
After hearing Hong Qi’s explanation, Xia Wulei clapped her hands. “This is easy. Come, teach me to recite a poem.”
“Ah?” Hong Qi was baffled.
“Oh, the system never said you can’t teach other players! Why be so rigid?”
Xia Wulei shook her head. She felt these players were just blindly following their systems, which wasn’t right. Rewards had to be earned through effort.
Yu Huaiyu thought, here she goes again, trying to exploit a system bug.
Hong Qi doubted his own sanity. He’d never imagined this possibility. The poems needed for missions were always provided by the system. His last mission failed because the poem was too difficult, and now that same poem had carried over into this game.
When he first saw the village, he was nearly ready to give up, but Xia Wulei’s words shone like a star in the night sky, guiding him toward a new path.
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“Desiring to cross the Yellow River, ice blocks the stream; about to climb Mount Taihang, snow fills the mountain.”
Xia Wulei recited along with Hong Qi. Hong Qi waited anxiously but shook his head in disappointment.
“No, the system didn’t notify mission completion.”
Xia Wulei patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t give up. Go submit the mission and demand the system explain why it won’t mark it as complete.”
Can it really be done this way?
Hong Qi followed her lead instinctively. “The system said the target must be an NPC.”
“There was no mention of this in the mission. How were players supposed to know?”
“The system said it will pay more attention in the future.”
“So what about this mission? It’s their mistake—why should you bear the consequences when you clearly completed it?”
“The system said…”
…
Yu Huaiyu was numb, while Zhu Chen listened intently, taking notes—he might need them tomorrow.
Thanks to Hong Qi’s persistence (?), the Sage System reluctantly granted the mission reward.
“Suc—success?”
Hong Qi could hardly believe it. He stood and shouted, “Desiring to cross the Yellow River, ice blocks the stream; about to climb Mount Taihang, snow fills the mountain!”
Suddenly, a faint frost formed on the table, and a few snowflakes lazily drifted down from above.
The temperature dropped considerably, which was quite refreshing in the summer heat.
Xia Wulei nodded with satisfaction. Indeed, these unintelligent systems had many exploitable bugs.
Even with only one chance, squeezing rewards from the system was worthwhile.
After returning to the kitchen, Xia Wulei exchanged points in the shop for a bag of rock sugar and other ingredients like star anise and bay leaves, preparing to caramelize the sugar.
A small bag of rock sugar cost 15 points; this purchase nearly exhausted all her spare points.
But when the braised pork was finally served, Xia Wulei knew every sacrifice was worth it.
The pork belly, alternating layers of fat and lean, was coated in a translucent reddish-brown thick sauce that made one’s mouth water at the sight alone. Upon tasting, the savory sauce melted in the mouth; the fat was rich but not greasy, and the lean was tender but not dry.
No one spoke at the table; everyone ate eagerly, as if they wanted to lick their bowls clean.
Even usually light eater Chu Wei couldn’t help but eat an extra half bowl of rice. Xia Wulei also invited Aunt Wang to join the meal. Aunt Wang initially wanted to decline but was unable to resist the braised pork’s allure.
She had given so much.
After dinner, Hu Wang licked his lips contentedly, his pale face gaining a healthy flush.
Seeing this, Aunt Wang seemed to make up her mind and said, “You all should leave the village quickly, before trouble comes.”
The players exchanged glances, sensing something crucial was about to be revealed.
Taking the opportunity, Hong Qi asked, “Aunt Wang, why do you say that? Is there danger in this village?”
Aunt Wang sighed. “This village has never known peace. You must have noticed the scarcity of children here—it’s because the village is cursed.”
“Cursed? What kind of curse?”
“The children in this village never live past four years old.”
Aunt Wang gently patted Hu Wang’s head, her tone heavy.
“Our village has long been protected by the mountain god, surviving natural disasters and calamities through the ages. But the mountain god’s protection comes at a price—every year, children mysteriously disappear.”
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“But for the safety of the village, no one speaks of it. Until Hu Wang’s mother sacrificed herself to the mountain god to save him.”
“That was when everyone realized there was a way to save their own children.”
Hu Wang was unaware of the conversation about him, playing with his fingers, looking down.
Xia Wulei frowned. “So this mountain god demands sacrifices—either children or women?”
Aunt Wang nodded. “The mountain god’s demands grow harsher each year. This year, only children under four and unmarried women are chosen.”
The three female players present felt a chill run down their spines.
Yu Huaiyu quickly asked, “So Aunt Wang, do you think we might be chosen as sacrifices?”
Aunt Wang pressed her lips together. “There are currently no children under four or unmarried women in the village.”
“I suspect the sacrifice day is approaching, and the village’s young women have hurried to marry, which is why so many are pregnant at the same time.”
Chu Wei suddenly spoke, and Aunt Wang nodded in agreement.
Zhu Chen couldn’t help but ask, “Why don’t you just run? Leaving this cursed place should be enough.”
Aunt Wang shook her head slowly. “Escape is impossible. No one knows when the village became sealed off.”
They exchanged glances, wondering if it was because of the dungeon.
Hong Qi whispered, “The fates of these NPCs are fixed. Their role is to provide clues to players. No matter what you do in this dungeon, after it ends, they reset to their original state, ready for the next players.”
“Some NPCs even become vengeful ghosts in the end. Some players have tried killing clue NPCs, only to be brutally retaliated against on the last day. We just need to prepare countermeasures.”
Xia Wulei pursed her lips, feeling uneasy.
Is it truly unchangeable? When the seven-day deadline arrives and the village is overrun by ghosts, how do the villagers survive?
“What about those lanterns? Are you not going to hang them back up?” Xia Wulei asked.
She had expected the villagers to hurry and rehang them so she could profit again, but after two days, the village was silent.
“The village chief consulted the mountain god and said it’s unnecessary.”
So the village chief, who dismissed them as superstitious, could actually communicate directly with the mountain god.
Aunt Wang’s information only clarified the “Missing Children” clue and gave no additional fragments.
“Looks like the breakthrough lies with the village chief. Chu Wei will have to investigate.”
Hong Qi said this, and Chu Wei agreed without hesitation.
After spending these few days together, Xia Wulei realized her teammates were not bad at all.
Zhu Chen was youthful and reckless but somewhat simple-minded, curious and fearless.
Hong Qi, the elder brother, perhaps because of his system, carried a scholarly aura but was somewhat rigid and inflexible.
Chu Wei was quiet but reliable when it mattered—she was someone you could get along with.
Yu Huaiyu was just the comic relief.
Xia Wulei only cooked and didn’t bother with cleaning; Yu Huaiyu and the others took care of the dishes themselves.
That night, Xia Wulei intended to sneak out to the Li family ancestral grave but found herself too exhausted, her eyelids nearly stuck shut, so she gave up.
Perhaps the previous night’s restless thievery had left her sleep-deprived. Xia Wulei surrendered to sleep and plunged into deep darkness.
Suddenly, in the middle of the night, Xia Wulei jolted awake.
[Congratulations to the player on discovering an energy entity. Energy concentration index: 3000%.]