Swish!

The cold wind howled.

A group of refugees wearing tattered, old, dirty clothes with holes and dark blood stains, and with disheveled hair arrived at the entrance of the manor.

They hesitated in front of the door, unsure if they should knock, when they saw a group of men and women with eerie, rigid smiles opening the door:

"Welcome guests, you must be travelers passing through in distress?"

"We offer free food and lodging for travelers here, please come this way!"

The gentle smiles of these blacksmiths felt strange and inexplicably creepy.

Making this group of villagers fleeing in distress somewhat uneasy.

They dared not speak much, glancing around, secretly vigilant, quickly being led to a corner inn within the manor to find a seat.

From the kitchen came the aroma of steaming hot dishes.

They instinctively swallowed their saliva, having been on the run for days without food.

"Smells so good."

"I'm starving."

"I knew there were kind folks on the mountain."

"I feel a bit uneasy."

"I think it's fine, as long as there's food."

"Hope it's not poisoned."

"Even if it is, I won't mind. I'm starving, better to die full."

Some of the refugees started discussing, the intense hunger in their bellies making them less inclined to think too much.

At this moment, a group of people descended from upstairs.

"Dizzy," the "Loli Medical Fairy," "Su Yuniang," three embers, along with the Food God, Shao Chaikun, two living people, were responsible for hosting the guests arriving at the inn.

The embers Su Yuniang hurriedly came up the mountain.

She bid farewell to Ning Jiaojiao, saying she would be away for a few days.

The inn's NPC recruitment task couldn't be done without her.

After all, when the other players log off at night, she has to oversee everything, manage the night activities of the NPC-recruiting tavern.

This made ember Su Yuniang herself feel like a gold brick, needed everywhere, being too capable is not easy.

The blacksmiths on the mountain are truly a useless bunch of small fry!

Unfortunately, she couldn't cook for the adorable Ning Jiaojiao baby.

The "Medical Fairy" sat gracefully and said, "Are you here escaping trouble too?"

"You too?" The leading scholar showed surprise.

"Yes, we arrived a bit earlier than you and have been staying here for a while." Dizzy spoke, but felt terrified inside.

He recalled how yesterday a group of "blacksmiths" surrounded him with a warning:

{"Dizzy, I need you and Su Yuniang to pretend to be the last group of guests in the manor, blend in with this group, stay at the inn, and secretly incite them."}

{"Do you know Snowstorm Manor? Find a way to make them fearful and turn on each other."}

{"Have you watched horror movies before?"}

{"You're the atmosphere group, understand? Su Yuniang and the others will assassinate these guests, you're responsible for cover!"}

They said a lot.

These words made Dizzy feel utterly creepy.

These manor monsters are finally going to eat humans!

They actually started attacking passing travelers, running a shady inn.

These are living, breathing people.

All pitiful and innocent common folk.

It suddenly reminded him of those gruesome criminal cases before transmigration, like human meat buns, human leather inns... The more he thought, the more terrifying it seemed.

Sin, it's simply sin!

—I want to secretly tell these innocent travelers that there's something wrong with this inn.

—I can't tell them, if I do, those freaks on the mountain will kill me!

Two thoughts repeated in Dizzy's mind, he felt he was the unluckiest transmigrator ever.

"Dizzy, what's wrong?" The Loli Medical Fairy smiled brightly.

"No, nothing." Dizzy smiled somewhat stiffly, the nearby Medical Fairy and the other four villains were ready to prey on the guests.

At this moment, the naturally sociable "Su Yuniang" joined in, chatting with a few villagers, "Hello, good brothers, pretty sisters, where did you escape from?"

The scholar stammered with his lips, "I escaped from Zhangtou Village, my surname is Li."

Beside him, a skinny little girl with a ponytail said, "I came from Pingtou Gou, everyone calls me Erya."

Then, several villagers started speaking as well, gradually letting their guard down.

During Su Yuniang's casual chat, they inadvertently revealed their names, professions, origins, and identities.

Pingchang City is essentially an enormous living area the size of a province.

Enclosed by "walls," internally divided into many villages, manors, farmland, wilderness, rivers.

"That's how it is, you all have been through so much work." Su Yuniang nodded, as a social butterfly, it was ridiculously easy to build connections with people.

"What about you, sister?" Erya, the little girl with double ponytails, asked.

Su Yuniang said, "Originally, my family was somewhat wealthy, fleeing with my father, but unfortunately my father died, and a few guards turned villains attempting to humiliate me."

Su Yuniang squeezed out a few tears as she spoke, "Luckily, I escaped to this manor, received help from the villagers, and managed to stay here."

The scholar listened, feeling as though something was watching him, like countless eerie eyeballs embedded in the ceiling, whispering indescribable chaotic murmurs in low tones.

He looked up suddenly, but saw nothing.

Was it an illusion?

This inn in the deep mountains felt odd, an extreme sense of unease lingered in his heart.

"Come, it's time to eat."

Soon, a few women brought dishes.

Their stunning appearances made several villagers' eyes go wide.

These women's beauty was pure and adorable, their posture like small rabbits, obedient, their slender waists shaking attractively, captivating movements one couldn't look away from.

The dishes were served quickly, and the tempting aroma stimulated their appetites; several villagers were starving.

"Delicious, it's simply too delicious!"

"Oh my heavens."

They began to devour the food voraciously.

Meanwhile, some polite villagers felt somewhat embarrassed, realizing they were too dirty and had dirtied the bowls, utensils, and tables, feeling rather uneasy about it.

After eating and drinking their fill.

They received a few pieces of clothing, were sent to bathe, and then allocated rooms.

Shortly thereafter, several villagers finished bathing and changed into clean clothes, feeling as if they had been reborn, and gathered downstairs to chat.

By this time, the sun had set, and under the dusky twilight, the manor appeared exceptionally yellow and lifeless.

"Our manor prohibits going out at night, please forgive us, it's not safe outside."

Several stiffly smiling women locked the inn doors and told the guests:

"According to our village's customs, the inn will be completely sealed for three days to observe if guests brought any impurity from outside the village, after all, some among you may have brought something unclean."

"Three days later, the doors will open, and you will become our real guests, free to move outside, possibly even becoming residents of our manor."

Clang.

The doors were tightly shut.

The sky grew darker, and outside was pitch black, devoid of any life.

Being confined for three days didn't bother the guests present.

Many villages have customs to guard against outsiders.

Their previous village had them too.

Villagers would be wary of passersby, fearing they were demon cultivators, or even unclean things, and would observe them first.

Such precaution is completely understandable.

Just calmly waiting for three days was enough.

Having escaped together day and night, they knew everyone was safe, not something unclean.

But before sleep, they also fell into a discussion.

"Sigh, escaping from the city, finally managed to survive."

"Red Sun City is unsafe; it's better to flee."

"We commoners suffer; I read in books how, when the time comes, village after village dies."

"Won't the city's great cultivators protect us?"

"Pah, I heard from my grandma that in the city, when the great cultivators' ancestors go mad, they're the first to eat people, and even the great cultivators themselves must die."

The crowd resonated deeply with the chaos in Pingchang City.

Many had even fled because densely populated areas, teeming with vitality, were more likely to attract unclean things.

Not to mention, the city had over thirty thousand filthy city walls.

Some refugees thought, wait to survive the Red Sun then return to the city.

"Speaking of those women earlier, do they truly have such figures? Rather exaggerated!"

"Are the rumors from the valley true, would they invite their wives to entertain us? Could they be those women just now?"

"Sluurp, hopefully it's true, seems like they could nurse ten children, fully nutritious."

"You are so filthy, people are providing hospitality and aid, yet you lust after their wives." The twin-tailed little girl retorted angrily.

"Young girl, what do you know? If that's really the case, we must respect their local customs, request travelers' blessings for their wives, bringing luck to their husbands too."

"You are so vulgar." Su Yuniang showed her anger, yet her charming manner made her rage appear as if she was still pitiable.

Several villagers beside her suddenly stared intently, greedy expressions surfacing.

The entire inn was bustling with noise.

Outside, the entire manor suddenly fell quiet.

But the guests inside the inn inexplicably felt a bit eerie and hastily retired to bed.

In this world, villagers truly rest according to the sunset, sleeping as soon as the sun sets, especially after having traveled countless days; they're weary enough to drop.

Nightfall came quickly, and everyone returned to their rooms.

In the room, Erya lay down and slept for a while, suddenly awakened by a strong urge to relieve herself.

In the darkness, she opened her eyes, groped around to light an oil lamp, opened the door, and headed toward the bathroom at the end of the corridor.

Suddenly, from a nearby guest room, came a hoarse and murmured whisper from the scholar: "Prove the spiritual root... Ah, no, don't knock on me..."

Erya's mind wavered.

She remembered this room belonged to a man who claimed to be a food god, quite refined but with a stiff smile; his name sounded ominous.

How could this happen in his room? Screams inside, had something happened to him?

She was so frightened that she hurried back to her room, hiding at the door and keeping it slightly ajar, verifying there was nothing unusual outside, and listened for a while, thinking she must have misheard.

The urge made her unable to hold it any longer, and she hurriedly ran out.

In the ladies' bathroom, she swiftly untied her robe and squatted down for a while before standing up, suddenly seeing a dark figure enter the bathroom.

Erya curiously leaned out, recognizing this silhouette as somewhat familiar.

Long, flowing black hair, graceful figure, wearing a loose robe—who among the ladies from the day could it be?

The other person also began to relieve herself, the sound of water at night strikingly clear, but how could there be two streams...

Were two people entering simultaneously?

She felt a chill creep over her, a sense of mystery began to spread throughout her body, a kind of inexplicable fear made her lean out to take a look.

Following the dim light through the skylight, she vaguely discerned the scene.

The woman was actually standing...

How could that be!

Her heart raced, her legs trembling uncontrollably.

When she leaned out again, she found the shadow had vanished.

Oh snap!

An oil lamp suddenly lit up.

The deadpan face of the Loli Medical Fairy was already before Erya, showing a stiff yet gentle smile: "You discovered it?"

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