As soon as the bandits were subdued, the police from the other side of the bridge rushed over. They helped the students onto the bridge, as the village was still dangerous and they couldn't stay there any longer.
Jiang Min was lifted onto a stretcher. There was a deep, long cut on her face, which was also covered in mud.
With tears in her eyes, she asked the police if she would be left with scars. She also mentioned that Ren Yifei had threatened her with a gun, and she cried very sadly.
Ms. Wang, who had been quiet, couldn't help but ask when she saw Jiang Min crying and making a scene, "Jiang Min, are you doing this for the sake of the outstanding class officer position at the end of the semester?"
Jiang Min's crying paused for a few seconds. She didn't answer, but cried even harder and more sadly, making herself look like a complete mess, just like a 'victim'.
"You're terrifying."
"She concealed the criminal's crime, helped the criminal evade criminal responsibility, and caused serious consequences. This may constitute the crime of harboring a criminal, and she will bear criminal responsibility." The old police officer said as he watched Jiang Min leave. He didn't know if he was talking to himself or to Ren Yifei.
Not all acts of failing to rescue someone in distress are merely matters of moral condemnation. Let her be happy for a while. On the other side of the bridge, He Xiangxue's parents are waiting for her explanation—the other students will reveal part of the truth.
Within two minutes, the two families started arguing and fighting.
The old police officer turned around, took off his clothes, and covered Ren Yifei with them. Ren Yifei stared blankly at the ground. The old officer didn't know what to say, so he said nothing and just patted him on the shoulder.
Regardless, the veteran officer was still relieved that he chose to let go of his hatred at the last moment. Letting go is a painful and difficult thing, but once you get past this hurdle, the road ahead will become wider.
He also felt sorry for Jiang Min, who was at such a young age and had just been admitted to university, but her life might have taken a different turn.
She deserves this punishment. What would the world be like if indifference and selfishness were celebrated and praised?
Think about the other people involved in this incident. Chi Bo is dead, and no one knows who killed him. Everyone is a suspect, but not enough evidence has been found yet.
He Xiangxue's disappearance is likely to be a grave mistake.
Teacher Wang's career is over, and the other students were also greatly frightened. It's really...
As more police officers arrived, the survivors gradually calmed down and even began to care about other things, such as the village.
"What's going on in this village? Why are they stopping us? And these people even have guns?"
"The matter is rather complicated," the veteran officer hesitated.
"Let me speak for them. As victims who have been implicated, they need to know what has dragged them down." The photographer walked over. "I came here specifically for this village."
The students looked at him, then at the veteran police officer, and suddenly realized: "Ah, you're the legendary undercover agent?"
"...No, plainclothes officers."
In theory, these things shouldn't be told to them, but since it's uncertain whether this village will continue to exist after today, the photographer, who was also an undercover police officer, still revealed some things:
"This place is ostensibly a tourist area, but in reality, it is a transit point for human trafficking and an entertainment center for people with special fetishes."
"Huh?" The students couldn't imagine that, apart from not seeing many people, this small village had nothing special about it.
"The people here have connections with overseas. They gather the trafficked women here, some of whom are sent abroad, while others are kept here for prostitution. To prevent these women from escaping, they bind their feet and hide them in cellars, only allowing them to come out when guests arrive. That's why you don't usually see young women."
It's not that there are no young women at all; the staff at the Jamsil and the guesthouse are young women, but they are different. They are probably the nieces or nephews of the village's leaders, like 'little princesses'.
There's no need to talk about this; as accomplices, we're all going to jail anyway.
This seemingly peaceful little village actually hides such a secret? The students felt a chill run down their spines, and they wanted to curse whoever had chosen this place. But they didn't want to cause trouble; they just wanted to go home as soon as possible and crawl into their beds.
"Are you really Han Feifei's brother?" A classmate hesitated before walking up to Ren Yifei.
Ren Yifei ignored him, still displaying a cold and indifferent demeanor as if his heart had died.
"I'm sorry." He bowed and apologized to Ren Yifei. "When I get back, I will issue a public apology on the school forum. Although it won't undo anything, I'm sorry."
One by one, as if infected by the atmosphere, whether out of genuine feeling or simply due to the mood, they all came forward to apologize. Ren Yifei clenched his fists, avoiding their gaze, and simply lowered his head to take deep breaths.
"Captain, I checked the illustrator's phone. There was indeed someone who lured her here, but they didn't mention what the gift was. They're targeting He Xiangxue simply because the illustrator likes her." A junior officer nearby approached and reported quietly.
"Hmm," the veteran officer nodded, then asked, "What about He Xiangxue's leads?"
The young officer immediately took out his sketchbook, which had a drawing folder attached to it: "Look here."
This is the illustrator's latest artwork: a mermaid with a graceful figure and serene face, twisted in an S-shape. Her tail is as red as flames, while she wears an ice crown on her head. The contrast between blue and red is very striking.
"Mermaid, water…" The old policeman suddenly thought of something, "the well, that abandoned well."
They had tested the well; it was filled with murky water that was difficult to see, and there was no sign of life, so they put it down after taking a look.
"Follow me!" The old police officer turned and walked away, followed by two other officers with guns.
"I'll go check the bus first." The driver also left. Most of the students had left, leaving only the players.
The players were puzzled. This had never happened before; why were they actually moving their base?
"Young man, let me take you there." A policeman, thinking they were afraid, came over and reassured them gently, "Don't worry, the bridge has been repaired."
"No... never mind." The player was taken away by the police.
"I'll go over there first."
After saying goodbye to the other players, he followed the police onto the bridge, but as soon as he took a step, he felt dizzy and the world turned upside down. His body fell uncontrollably down the cliff.
"Student!" From the police officer's perspective, he only saw the student suddenly lunge towards the railing with his eyes wide open. The officer was nearly scared out of his wits and quickly pulled the suicidal student back.
"My friend, please don't do anything rash. There's no hurdle in this world that can't be overcome..."
"..." The player stared blankly at the iron chain bridge before him, all illusions and hallucinations vanishing. He broke out in a sweat, and looking at the other side, he felt as if it were all an illusion.
Two more people tried, but neither of them could cross the bridge.
On one hand, the NPCs were cautiously thinking that they had committed mass suicide, and on the other hand, they were unable to leave Wutong Village. The players were exhausted and on the verge of collapse.
"The dungeon is messing with us!" The players were so angry they pounded the ground.
Something must have gone wrong in this instance, but how exactly did it happen? They didn't do anything.
Saman, on the other hand, looked like he'd been struck by lightning; his face was completely cracked.
The NPCs in the dungeon all have running programs. Following the programs will prevent the storyline from breaking down and causing bugs in the entire dungeon. Only the player's crazy actions can cause the entire storyline to break down, or even lead to such dumbfounded situations.
And the one most likely to cause the entire plot to fall apart...
It was the NPC played by Afei—the experienced veteran player Saman—who came to this conclusion.
In this instance, the NPCs who directly drive the plot forward seem quite obvious.
"Am I a fool?" Saman wanted to take back what he had said before.
Teacher Wang has noticed the players' unusual behavior, and she knows why. Because of her, she cannot continue the story outside of Wutong Village.
Her attention was entirely on Ren Yifei. She reached out her hand to him and said, "Xia Chuan, let's go back."
She had misunderstood this boy, but today she was no longer confused: Let's go, leave this place, and live our own lives. Teacher Wang's smile held a few tears; everything was coming to an end.
"Teacher Wang," Ren Yifei slowly raised his head, his expression somewhat strange, a kind of ominous strangeness.
Teacher Wang subconsciously withdrew her hand. She didn't know why, but she felt that the person in front of her was somewhat dangerous.
"Are you a ghost?"
The wind blew through Ren Yifei's hair. He took off his glasses, and his eyes, instead of showing sadness and pain, shone with a soft light.
It took Teacher Wang three seconds to understand what he meant. Then, she suddenly froze, her eyes widened, and she took a half step back. Looking at Ren Yifei, she gently shook her head, as if trying to deny something: "You, who are you?"
The dungeon, already on the verge of collapse, couldn't hold on any longer. A slight tremor came from the ground beneath their feet, and NPCs and players jumped up: "What's going on? An earthquake?"
Having had experience before, Ren Yifei simply gazed at her calmly and said, "Just as you expected."
It's a player.
Teacher Wang took two steps back, looking at Ren Yifei with disbelief, muttering, "Impossible, you must be joking, how could this be?"
She collapsed to the ground, pointing at Ren Yifei: "You're joking with me, aren't you?"
"No." Ren Yifei toyed with the glasses in his hand, his expression unusually cruel.
With a loud crash, rocks tumbled down the cliff, the earth shook, and the NPCs on the other side of the bridge screamed incessantly.
Teacher Wang clutched her head, and memories of the past, scenes she had experienced, and her students... all of this information rushed into her head almost at once.
She felt dizzy, as if her soul was being swept up in a gale, sometimes spinning and sometimes falling straight down.
"Ah—" The players lost their footing and fell to the ground, watching as cracks appeared in the blue sky and white clouds, with black malice surging through the gaps.
The police officers who had been advising them not to commit suicide stood there, but the wind blew them away.
Immediately afterwards, a thick fog enveloped everything around.
The players sitting on the ground looked at each other in bewilderment: "The dungeon crashed?"
This was a rare sight, and the players were unsure of what to expect. Ren Yifei, however, nodded calmly and said, "It's a mess, but it'll be fine in a bit."
He has experience with this.
Saman walked over to Ren Yifei and said in an exaggerated tone of "You're amazing," "You completely fooled me. Even if I had three more days, I still wouldn't be able to find you. I lose, truly."
"Hmm," Ren Yifei suppressed the corners of his mouth that were turning up, and said reservedly, "You are still very capable, it's just that you met me."
"Wait a minute, are you a player?" Watching the two interact, the players belatedly realized that this person was actually a player.
"So, you...you are mountains and rivers?"
These players never considered the possibility of someone else impersonating them. That's impossible. Who else but the real person could be so genuinely invested?
"He is not a mountain or river."
The tattooed man, who had been quiet until now, walked over and extended a hand: "Your acting is better than mine. If I had your acting skills back then, I wouldn't be under scrutiny for everything I do now."
"Who are you?" Ren Yifei realized something. The presence of this tattooed man was indeed strange, like an audience member expecting a perfect performance.
The tattooed man smiled slightly, gazing at Ren Yifei as if looking at his physical body, or perhaps at the soul within. His expression softened, and combined with the subtle scent of sandalwood, it exuded a unique sense of peace: "My real name is Xia Chuan. Hello, 'Xia Chuan'."
Teacher Wang, lying on the ground, was completely bewildered. She looked at Ren Yifei, then at 'Xia Chuan,' and pressed her temples: "Who are you? Am I dreaming?"
Her response was an even faster rate of dungeon collapse.
The instance world shattered into pieces, a huge gap appeared in the sky, and nothing could be seen outside the thick fog. Ren Yifei looked at 'Xia Chuan' for a long time, then reached out and shook his hand: "Hello, Xia Chuan."
"It's Shanchuan, his code name is Shanchuan," Saman added from the side, unable to bear seeing Afei call someone by their real name.
"In my world, the police don't show up; they are accidents and variables. And these bandits in the village won't be dealt with so easily; many people will die this time."
"Really? It must have been a series of unexpected events that led to this outcome."
Shan Chuan, the real 'Xia Chuan', smiled and said, "The desolate corner must regret it. It thought it could anger me and ruin you, but in the end, it all benefited us."
"Ahem." Saman, feeling a bit out of the loop, made his presence known from the side: What do you mean by "making things right for 'us'"?
"You didn't come in by accident?" Ren Yifei seized on the key point in his words.
Shan Chuan smiled and said, "Of course not. I came to kill you. You, and Saman."