As they got closer and closer to the village entrance, everyone felt a surge of relief and quickened their pace.
Qi Liu, running at the back, heard chewing sounds behind him and looked back. He saw numerous dark figures lunging towards a single spot, forming a small mountain. There were no half-orcs in sight. Was it suppressed? The thought flashed through Qi Liu's mind. He looked down at the single jar of pool water left on his body and made a decision. He shouted to the elite male, "Give me your remaining pool water!"
After receiving another jar of pool water from the elite male, Qi Liu braked sharply. He turned and charged towards the mountain of dark figures. From a distance, he hurled both jars of pool water. The liquid covered the figures and splashed onto the nearby dark shadows, causing widespread corrosion and cries of pain. The injured dark figures slowed down in speed and attack power.
"Just one more push, and we'll be out!" Qi Liu yelled towards the mountain of dark figures. He watched as the dark figures, some crawling, some running, with missing limbs and bodies corroded, approached him. He let out a surprised cry and quickly ran back to the main group.
"Roar—!" A beast-like roar came from behind. Qi Liu glanced back and saw dark figures flying everywhere, and below them, the half-orc, having broken free from the restraint of the dark figures, stood up again.
...
The half-orc was covered in many wounds, feeling tearing pain in every part of its body. It was indeed scarred all over. Yet, more strength surged within it, warm and powerful.
Roar—!
It roared and threatened the surrounding dark figures. Then, it pushed aside the dark figures blocking its path and charged towards the group again, towards the oil lamp. Along the way, it threw aside many dark figures that were pursuing the group, with constant thuds.
The flame of the kerosene lamp in Aunt Hui's hand stood tall, growing brighter. Just as the group was about to reach the village entrance, the half-orc was once again pinned down by two dark figures, which began to gnaw at its body. As it fought the dark figures, it suddenly felt a warm current flow through its chest. At that moment, it understood. It understood what the strange, continuous surge of power within its body was. It was the感动 (gǎndòng - touching/moving) brought by conscience, the guilt for what happened on Mount Daqing, and the integrity it once possessed when its heart faced the dawn... These were things it had almost lost. And now, it had finally found them all back.
Bang!
The half-orc was once again pressed to the ground by the pursuing dark figures. But its gaze was fixed straight ahead. Enveloped in light, the group successfully reached the village entrance.
Beside Aunt Hui, Jiang Lin, who had been focusing on the fusion of divine power and ghost energy within his body since the half-orc appeared, sensed something and opened his eyes. In an instant, an extremely terrifying aura surrounded him, but it was quickly reined in. Before anyone could react, Jiang Lin, following closely behind Aunt Hui, flew out of the village.
From his current perspective, the entire world was a closed loop. Only at the moment Aunt Hui stepped out of the village did a gateway to the outside world appear within this loop.
At the same time, on the Dafeng Novel Network, a gender-neutral prompt sounded in the minds of several players: "Ding~ Congratulations to the player for successfully growing the sapling, obtaining 1 seed, and the teleportation will begin in five minutes..."
Qi Liu and the other three looked up and saw the streamer and Aunt Hui disappear together.
Bang bang!
The four instinctively looked back and saw that all the pursuing dark figures were trapped inside the village. No matter how they banged, they could not pass through the invisible barrier, like a cage filled with prisoners. The four searched for the half-orc, only to see it pressed to the ground by numerous dark figures. It gradually reverted to its human form, dissolving into specks of light and disappearing into the air.
The next moment, the four felt something warm envelop them. They couldn't quite describe it. It was perhaps like… being blessed on a beautiful festival.
...
On the other side, Aunt Hui also turned into points of light and flowed in a certain direction. Under the perspective of 'One', Jiang Lin followed closely behind Aunt Hui's energy lines, searching for the interior of this ghost building. The surroundings gradually became clearer. Countless energies converged and flowed here. Jiang Lin felt as if he had become one of them. Unlike the energy channels he had entered before, this channel was more orderly, brighter, and gave a warm feeling.
...
Upon entering the black hole and encountering the first level, Christmas Eve, Jiang Lin had initially thought that the interior of this invasive species was filled with small worlds full of malice. Its purpose was to devour and torment players. However, after watching Shen Luo's live stream, he realized that after the little girl named Xia Qingqing won in the chess room, the materialized chess pieces actually disappeared. It was as if they were finally freed from their restraints and found salvation. And Xia Qingqing had also gained a protective barrier. This reward was clearly different from the rewards given for clearing ghost building levels; it was another kind of power.
When he returned to a new level and planted trees with Uncle Feng, collecting various clues to deduce the method of passing this world, Jiang Lin truly confirmed one thing. Inside the ghost building, there were all sorts of levels. Some were survival modes like Christmas Eve, puzzle modes like tree planting activities, and competitive modes like chess rooms... Each mode had its own unique settings. The ghosts might all be villains, or they might have to follow their character settings, or they might have certain self-authority, such as being bribed with money... But no matter how intricately designed, in each small world, a way out, a path to salvation, was left for the players. The chess pieces in the chess room, Uncle Feng and Aunt Hui in the tree planting activity... And on Christmas Eve, the one who needed salvation was likely the little match girl herself. If Jiang Lin could go back again, he would choose to find a place for the little girl to live permanently, a place with a family. That was what she truly desired. If Jiang Lin guessed correctly, the tree planting activity level would, like the chess room Xia Qingqing played in, be permanently closed afterward. No more players would be pulled into it.
...
(PS: Plot supplement. Aunt Hui and Uncle Feng knew each other when they were young. Uncle Feng's family were all forest rangers, guarding this blessed mountain—Mount Daqing. The older generation said that spirits resided on Mount Daqing. By Uncle Feng's generation, due to his foolishness, such an event occurred on Mount Daqing. In his pain, he had mentioned it to Aunt Hui. He never expected that it would ultimately lead to Aunt Hui becoming like that and being placed under house arrest. His conscience was lost, firstly because he did not expose what happened on Mount Daqing, and secondly because he harmed Aunt Hui. From the moment the village began to change, the passage of time within the entire village became increasingly slow. The world seemed to have forgotten them. The entire village was isolated from the outside world. After a long, long time, the former youth's face finally showed the marks of age, and Hui Niang gradually became Aunt Hui in the eyes of others. ... Until one day, several volunteers came to this village. Time then resumed its normal flow.)
...