Chapter 41: Want to Make a Deal? It's Called Desire

He had figured it out.

Everything stemmed from this old man's desire.

At first, he wanted to survive, so he built a village with the refugees;

Later, wanting to live longer, he made a deal with the Great Deity of Yin-Yuan to become a ghost;

Now, he felt that living as a ghost was too stifling;

He wanted to turn the tables, revolt, and become the role of the Great Deity of Yin-Yuan himself.

And what about the future?

It was endless.

Human desire is like a bottomless ravine.

To satisfy it, those who fall deep within are willing to pay any price.

"Say what you want. Right now, you only need to tell me: do you take this deal or not?" The old village chief's tone was no longer kind.

He was actually quite confused himself.

The fellow before him, who could change his appearance at will, had first been impaled through by his own bone spikes, and then had fallen from a great height.

In the end, the chief had even used the power of the Great Deity of Yin-Yuan to cast a curse on him.

Yet, the man had appeared at this grand sacrifice as if nothing had happened.

He even looked lively and well, showing no signs of any lasting impact.

How on earth was this possible?

"If I don't, what can you do to me? You can't catch me." Wu Wang stood up and began using the box to pack food.

If he didn't head back soon, his second sister would go hungry.

The old village chief said with a dark expression, "From this day forward, unless the grand sacrifice is successful, no one shall leave this village even half a step without the permission of the Great Deity of Yin-Yuan."

"Now that Zhang Sanfeng and the Saintess are both gone, once the three-day sacrifice ends, the Great Deity of Yin-Yuan will sacrifice the entire village, and this village will become its territory."

He had already concluded that Wu Wang had murdered Zhang Sanfeng.

Since there was no longer a Saintess, and no Little Madman to pay the debt...

"You wouldn't want to be trapped here forever, would you?"

At this point, Wu Wang had an epiphany.

He finally knew what the main quest being erased by the Abyss God was!

[Escape Yin-Yuan Village within three days]

Or rather, [Exorcise the Great Deity of Yin-Yuan]!

After all, Wu Wang had tested it himself.

Indeed, normal methods made it impossible to leave this village.

As long as one stepped into the surrounding forest, they would inevitably loop back.

Trying to persuade the Great Deity of Yin-Yuan to let him leave was clearly a delusion.

The only option was to take the entity down!

To take down a Nightmare-level dungeon BOSS...

"Once I replace the Great Deity of Yin-Yuan, I will have the right to let you go! It's a win-win!" The old village chief's expression was bordering on madness; it was clear he had waited too long for this.

Now that the chance to break free from the Great Deity of Yin-Yuan was within reach, how could he allow the man to escape?

Wu Wang pondered for a moment.

Then, carrying his packed lunch boxes, he prepared to descend from the stands.

He said coldly, "Give me a day to consider. I'll give you my answer in the ancestral hall tomorrow night."

He ignored the old chief's attempts to detain him from behind.

After jumping down from the stands, Wu Wang merged into the crowd and vanished.

Even though the old village chief looked down upon all the villagers from his high seat, he still failed to notice who the man had transformed into.

But he wasn't worried.

He knew this man would definitely come back for him.

Because he had smelled the same scent on the man that he possessed himself.

The scent of a craving for freedom and salvation.

"Speaking of which, that fragrance on him was even more intense. What exactly is it..."

The old village chief sat back down, muttering to himself, and began to enjoy the performance of the grand sacrifice.

He contemplated what that alluring scent on the man actually was.

It was somewhat similar to the scent of the Yin-Yuan Saintess.

But it was even more intoxicating.

Just who had that fellow been in contact with to be stained by such a scent?

————

Quietly leaving the plaza, Wu Wang hurried toward the mountainside.

Along the way, he was thinking about two things—

First, the truth behind the Yin-Yuan Grand Sacrifice and the whereabouts of the real Yin-Yuan Saintess.

When the old village chief spoke those words, Wu Wang had glanced at his status panel.

[Side Quest 1: Investigate the Village Chief's Secret (Completed)]

This proved that the old village chief had not lied about his origins.

He truly was an old relic from two hundred years ago.

However, the next side quest did not show a completed mark.

[Side Quest 2: Learn the truth of the Yin-Yuan Sacrifice and find the real Yin-Yuan Saintess]

This proved that regarding the matters of the Great Deity of Yin-Yuan, the old village chief was hiding something from him.

The truth might not be exactly what the old chief had said.

He would need to meet the Great Deity of Yin-Yuan in person to be certain.

Second, what was going on with the "Pollution Broadcast"?

If he remembered correctly, Principal Wang had obtained the aura of the Abyss God through hearing a certain eerie broadcast.

From then on, Gaoshan High School had been polluted.

Now, the pollution in Yin-Yuan Village originated from the same source.

This proved that dungeon worlds did not exist in complete isolation!

But a broadcast must have a source!

Wu Wang didn't believe the broadcast content was being played by the Abyss God.

The Abyss God could cause a dungeon to explode instantly with a single glance.

He was simply too terrifying.

The aura emitted by the broadcast, by comparison, was far too weak.

It was more like someone was using the aura unintentionally released by the Abyss God to slowly pollute other dungeons.

"Who would do such a thing? A player? Or some NPC?" The more Wu Wang thought about it, the more terrifying it became.

Furthermore, it had been mentioned during the Open Beta—

[Dungeons that fail to be cleared three consecutive times after the Open Beta will descend into reality]

Someone was deliberately increasing the difficulty of the dungeons to force them to descend into reality!

What kind of catastrophe would that be?

While he was an immortal existence, his second sister was not!

If a dungeon descended near her...

"Forget it, don't overthink. I'll just speedrun this current dungeon first." Wu Wang shook his head to clear his thoughts.

His driving force had always been simple—

To become strong, strong enough to protect his sister under any circumstances.

And also strong enough to find the true form of the Abyss God.

And then, to trouble Him into killing him.

He might be the only hope in the world of being able to kill him.

Perhaps he could even find the reason for his immortality from the Abyss God.

Wu Wang had been looking forward to true death for a long time.

Just as water and air are the most primal needs for ordinary people, the allure of death was no different for him.

Perhaps this was the curse of being immortal.

"Hehe~ Chicken soup is here~"

Wu Wang happily pushed open the wooden door.

It was just like in reality, when he would prepare food and call out to his sister, who was busy gaming in her room.

However, as soon as he entered, he saw her lying stiffly on the bed.

Her eyes were tightly shut, and cold sweat was pouring from her.

Her whole body was trembling, her breathing had become rapid, and she was clenching her teeth, making a clicking sound.

It was as if she were trapped in a nightmare from which she could not wake.

Her spirit was being relentlessly tormented.

"Ah!"

Before Wu Wang could step forward to check the situation, Wu Xiaoyou bolted upright as if waking from the brink of death.

Terror flooded her eyes.

Seeing Wu Wang's worried gaze, she said tremblingly, "I... I had a nightmare. I saw a strange person. He told me to tell you... not to make any deals with the old village chief."

"Hmm? Are you also Cao Cao? 'I killed him in a dream'?"

Wu Wang was puzzled.

What kind of dream-visitation could mention him?

How could it even know about his dealings with the old village chief?

As soon as he spoke, Wu Xiaoyou's trembling became even more pronounced.

She had never felt such a chilling sensation in her entire life.

The scientific concepts and materialism she had been raised with were instantly shattered.

Even if she couldn't understand how this was happening, she knew instinctively what had occurred—

She had encountered a ghost.

"That guy said... his name was..."

"The Great Deity of Yin-Yuan..."

(End of Chapter)