Fortunately, although there was a shrine here, the black shadow from the mountain did not appear. Shangguan Cuihua held the silver zen staff and cautiously touched the shrine, but no mechanism was triggered. They faintly felt that this shrine must have some significance, yet they could not connect it with the ones on the mountain.
"Could it be that the shrines on the mountain are actually a kind of protection or a kind of seal?" Nangong Meili said hesitantly. "So the village chief's house would also have these?" After all, a shrine was just a small cabinet for worshipping gods or buddhas—what if this was the mountain god's effigy?
Soon, Li Si found a hidden compartment on the wall near the shrine. She pushed hard, and a small opening suddenly cracked open on the right side of the shrine, revealing a square compartment. Reaching inside, she found three incense sticks and a box of matches.
"This is… for us to make an offering?"
Incense, matches, shrine. With these three elements gathered together, and seeing that the incense sticks happened to match their number, the players faintly felt that everything was under the control of some existence.
Looking back at the warm reminder, it seemed that shrines had never been mentioned. Since that's the case…
"Let's try it. I'll go first." After a moment of contemplation, Shangguan Cuihua stepped forward holding the silver zen staff. There was no helping it—since this was a team game, every player had to do their part… and she was the only one who had obtained a magical artifact. No matter how one looked at it, the risk was lowest with her testing it.
Shangguan Cuihua took a deep breath, then very respectfully and devoutly lit the incense. Holding it with both hands, she bowed deeply toward the shrine.
In just two seconds, the shrine flashed once, a golden light flickering and disappearing. The incense in Shangguan Cuihua's hands drifted away into nothingness. Her expression froze, and suddenly a female voice appeared in her mind—"May you rise higher step by step."
What did that mean? Rise higher step by step? Shangguan Cuihua didn't have time to ponder the meaning of those four words before she realized her body was completely out of her control. She stepped back two steps to make enough room. Nangong Meili and Li Si didn't know what had happened, but seeing her serious expression, they quickly made space for her as well. However—
There was no music, yet Shangguan Cuihua had started dancing! This was… breakdancing? Her body was slim and didn't look very strong, yet in this dance, whether in strength or movement, she performed at the absolute peak.
"This rhythm, this explosive power…" Nangong Meili couldn't understand why Shangguan Cuihua suddenly began showing off her street dance skills, but she faintly felt it had something to do with the shrine. She touched her storage ring and focused her attention on her gun. Although she hadn't bought many bullets, it was her final trump card. If anything went wrong, she would destroy the shrine immediately.
When the dance ended, Li Si raised both hands in a seal-like clap, completely confused. "It was amazing, but… what's the effect?"
"…" Shangguan Cuihua finally regained control of her body, and felt a deep sense of social death.
After a moment of gathering herself, she answered, "This seems to be some kind of ritual after making an offering. I heard a voice say 'May you rise higher step by step,' then my body stopped obeying me. As for the effect… my mind feels clearer, and my body seems much lighter. I think I received some kind of blessing? 'May you rise higher step by step'?"
"I see… a blessing buff… not sure if it's fixed or random." Nangong Meili thought for a moment, lit an incense stick with a match, and bowed just like Shangguan Cuihua.
"May you be auspicious and have everything as you wish."
A female voice echoed in her mind, and Nangong Meili immediately experienced exactly what Shangguan Cuihua had felt! Her body lost control, but her consciousness stayed clear. The feeling was extremely strange. Although dancing an overly cute otaku-style dance was a bit embarrassing, at this moment all she could think was—if only the trials inside the virtual illusions could also be completed automatically like this!
After the dance ended, Li Si and Shangguan Cuihua gave very face-saving applause.
Clear mind, light body, and even what seemed like an increase in strength. It appeared to be a full-range buff; they just didn't know whether the enhancement had a duration, and if so, how long it would last.
"After finishing the dance, you get the enhancement. I felt the same as you. But the words I heard were 'May you be auspicious and have everything as you wish.,'" Nangong Meili said honestly. She looked at Li Si. "Go ahead."
After a dazzling solo Latin dance performance, Li Si also received an enhancement buff. The three of them now looked at the shrine with completely different eyes. Shangguan Cuihua thought: afterwards we have to search everywhere, find more of these offering incense sticks. This game truly wasn't completely heartless—it still gave players hope of clearing it! There were still many possibilities ahead. For example, if someone had enough incense and kept making offerings, could the buffs stack? For some players whose trials in the virtual illusions were too outrageous and too difficult, even a slight increase in success rate mattered.
Or perhaps, how many more hidden enhancements like this were concealed in the game? And right—there was also the holy purification water mentioned in the warm reminder, which they still didn't know how to obtain.
The three sisters had gained a lot, and seeing that the village chief hadn't noticed anything unusual, they continued searching diligently. After all, incense sticks were precious; what if other hidden compartments also held items?
On the other side, the male players' progress was far less optimistic.
Huangfu Tiezhu and Yuchi Goudan indulgently ordered three meat dishes and one vegetable dish, ate to their fill, and stayed in the tavern drinking a few cups of tea. Yet even though they had spent money, they didn't get any useful information from Fang Xunjiu or Fang Yunjiu.
"That big Boss Fang looks friendly, but no matter what you ask, he skirts around the question," Huangfu Tiezhu said, a bit frustrated. The problem was—even after being brushed off, he still couldn't bring himself to feel angry at Fang Xunjiu. As for the Fang sister… "The little Boss Fang always has a cold face—one look and you know she's not easy to deal with."
Advertisement
Privacy Settings
Yuchi Goudan rubbed his round stomach, thinking that this was the most perfect meal since entering the game. The tavern's food was expensive, yes, but the taste was truly top-notch! Even without clues, coming here to spend money was worth it.
Of course, thinking it was one thing, but they couldn't just go back like this. "How about… we look around inside the tavern? The boss seems to have built a cellar. Maybe there's a mechanism or hidden passage somewhere?"
"We're not familiar with this place at all. And there aren't many customers—after we talked to the boss just now, they've been watching us the whole time." Huangfu Tiezhu looked helpless. Why did this Goudan always act on impulse? Searching the tavern right under the owners' noses? Tempting as it was, he didn't dare do anything under their watch. Eventually, when they finished their tea and were feeling uncomfortable under the siblings' gazes, they stood up, planning to leave for now.
Who would have expected that just as they stood up, Fang Xunjiu walked over with a bright smile. "You two spent quite a bit here today, and seeing how you're also participants in the ritual… I don't have much information for you, but I do have two incense sticks here. Would the two of you be interested?"
"Incense sticks?" Tiezhu and Goudan exchanged a look. They had no idea what that was supposed to be. But since it was something given by a blue-name NPC and related to the ritual… it probably wouldn't harm them, right? "Boss Fang, you're too kind. Thank you, Boss Fang."
"Aye, no need to be polite." Fang Xunjiu waved his hand with a smile and raised two fingers. "Two thousand."
"..." The two players with empty pockets were stunned on the spot. Their status in the village wasn't high, and the money they'd spent on food and drink was pooled together. Where were they supposed to get two thousand from?
"No money?" Fang Xunjiu slightly raised his brow. Although the smile was still on his face, both Tiezhu and Goudan clearly saw the words "get lost" behind it.
"We can work at the tavern! We can do anything! Wash dishes, serve food—anything!" Seeing the situation turn bad, Huangfu Tiezhu quickly spoke up, struck by sudden inspiration.
"Right, we can do anything! We can chop wood on the mountain and fetch water from the foot of it!"
"You can see you're short on staff here—we'll work for you! Work nonstop!"
As soon as Huangfu Tiezhu spoke, Yuchi Goudan immediately reacted, and the two of them chimed in one after another, full of enthusiasm. Their eagerness almost stunned Fang Xunjiu. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Alright, but I'll only give you one for now. Remember to come help this afternoon. Tomorrow, come again for a trial shift. If you perform well, I'll give you the other one early."
As he spoke, Fang Yunjiu casually took out an incense stick and handed it to Huangfu Tiezhu.
The two players were thrilled. After thanking them, they ran off holding the incense like treasure.
At the schoolhouse, Wu Sansheng and Xia Yun—one scholarly, one martial—had Zhang San and Wang Erma come under the pretense of wanting to study. Wu Sansheng unexpectedly gave them several higher math questions, utterly stumping both of them. Forget higher math—even Olympiad problems would have been brutal for them! How many years had it been? They were players now—how were they still being punished by math? Was this reasonable!?
As for Xia Yun's side… Zhang San and Wang Erma's hands were numb from holding the wooden swords. They actually couldn't beat a female NPC? Even without using any skills, they still couldn't beat her!
After a whole day at the schoolhouse, they returned completely empty-handed.
...
When the seven players regrouped, the spirited three female players were in stark contrast with the four male players. Huangfu Tiezhu and Yuchi Goudan were still alright—they held their incense stick like a precious treasure, so it wasn't a total loss. Zhang San and Wang Erma were truly "expressionlessly numb." Especially after hearing the female players talk about the shrine, the incense sticks, and the effects of offering…
"..." Huangfu Tiezhu looked at the incense in his hand, then at Yuchi Goudan, and sighed. "Brother, you go make the offering first. Come on, let's go now. We still have to work hard later to pay off our debt." If they performed well, they would probably get the second incense stick tomorrow.
Right now, when they couldn't even get one per player, there was no way to test whether multiple offerings on one person could stack.
"We'll be working at the tavern, so maybe we'll find hidden passages or secret rooms. The tavern definitely has shrines and more incense sticks." Since the Fang siblings could casually take them out, there must be more than just two. And getting the qualification to work was practically a legitimate pass to investigate the tavern openly!
"Brilliant, after all, it's hard to guard against those close to home…" Yuchi Goudan was absurdly delighted and now full of anticipation for the coming work shift.
Zhang San and Wang Erma, who didn't dare make a sound, exchanged a look. In each other's eyes, they saw the despair of the doomed—did they… actually have to go back to the schoolhouse and keep searching?