“In this world, men are no good, and women aren't much better. When you go down the mountain, remember what I taught you. Just do that well, and… above all, don't be fooled."

Mingmei blinked, looking at the spitting image of her mother, the final boss—the Fox Fairy Matriarch. She couldn’t help but marvel at the game's wonders.

So, the villain becomes my mom?

She was deeply impressed by her Uncle Yan Hui's daring and thick-skinned nature, unafraid of her dad's wrath, for daring to use her mother's face for the character model!

She nodded her little head at the Fox Fairy Matriarch, and as if realizing something, reached up to touch her ears—furry!

Suddenly, she realized the final boss's affection towards her; they were fox demons, outwardly called Fox Fairy Matriarchs, so wouldn't that make her…?

Mingmei turned around, and the fluffy fox tail instantly made her eyes light up!

Reaching out to touch it, she whimpered! So soft!

And so smooth!

That feeling!

Mingmei hugged her fluffy tail, but the next second, the electric sensation at the tip of her tailbone caused her entire body to go limp, and she nearly collapsed to the ground.

Mingmei: !!!

She never expected her tail to be so sensitive!

Just as she was about to fall, the Fox Fairy Matriarch scooped her up into her arms.

In an instant, Mingmei's face turned bright red!

Her mom…呸! Fox Fairy Matriarch’s figure was amazing!

Being held in the arms of a fragrant, soft beauty, Mingmei felt a little shy.

Hmm… suddenly she missed her mom, who was on a honeymoon trip with her dad…

"Open your mouth."

"Ah?" Mingmei looked up at the sound, and suddenly something was stuffed into her mouth. Before she could react, it melted in her mouth and flowed into her stomach.

Immediately, she felt her ears and tail getting hot. When the Fox Fairy Matriarch set her down, Mingmei turned to look at her reflection in the smooth jade stone.

The fluffiness was gone, both her ears and tail were gone!

Even her face was no longer her original face!

"Be sure not to show your fox tail when you go down the mountain this time~"

The Fox Fairy Matriarch gave Mingmei a bewitching fox-like look. Seeing her nod slowly, she waved her hand and let her go.

Leaving the lavishly decorated cave, Mingmei stood outside. Thanks to the illusion of the demon magic, Mingmei saw a dilapidated temple.

"Wow~"

Mingmei looked up at the plaque on the ruined temple. She could vaguely make out the three characters—Fox Fairy Temple. The next second, her vision began to blur, and the storyline officially began.

…

Wen'an Village.

"Ming girl, if you agree to take these people up the mountain, they'll give your family this much…"

Mingmei opened her eyes to see a middle-aged man with yellow teeth and a wart the size of a little finger on his nose leering at her, causing Mingmei to "tactically lean back" in fright.

She blinked and looked at the four players behind the NPC with the overly down-to-earth appearance. Good, Lu Xiaoyao was there, and the other three players were the Zhen brothers and Julian.

This round—Mingmei remembered it was supposed to be a five-person instance. Where was the other person?

"Ming girl, didn't you say yesterday that your grandpa needs money for medicine and treatment? If you take them up the mountain and find the Fox Fairy Matriarch, you'll have enough not only for your grandpa's medicine, but even for supplements afterwards!"

Yellow Teeth chuckled. As Yellow Teeth spoke to her, Mingmei thoroughly scanned her current identity information.

Currently, she was the Ming family girl who had gone missing in the mountains last month and returned. It was said that she had visited the Fox Fairy Temple and returned safely with its blessing.

Of course, that was just on the surface.

Behind the scenes, she was still the mysterious merchant selling lunchboxes, as well as the little fox demon guiding everyone into the Fox Fairy Temple~

{Ah~ Guigui, why does my character have so many roles this time?}

Mingmei suddenly realized, how did she stray further and further from the path of simply selling lunchboxes?

Rumor has it that there is a Fox Fairy Matriarch in the mountains outside Wen'an Village, which is known throughout the surrounding area.

Legend has it that as long as someone finds the Fox Fairy Temple and offers their most sincere tribute, their wishes can come true.

To this end, many people have come here, but not everyone who goes up the mountain to find the Fox Fairy Temple can find it.

Therefore, if this group of players wants to go up the mountain to find the Fox Fairy Matriarch and complete the "Fox Fairy Appears" quest, they must find an NPC in the village who has found the Fox Fairy Temple to lead the way.

Thus, Mingmei, the NPC who outwardly found the Fox Fairy Matriarch, entered the players' sights.

Didn't this give Mingmei a reason to follow along and sell lunchboxes?

However, recalling the story of the Ming family girl, Mingmei sighed inwardly. This was the backstory that happened before the main storyline, and the reason she came down the mountain.

This Ming family girl did find the Fox Fairy Temple, but she had nothing to offer. In the end, she used her limited lifespan to wish for the happiness and health of the Ming family's elderly grandfather and grandmother who had raised her in their remaining years.

Therefore, Mingmei, the little fox demon, received the Fox Fairy Matriarch's order to transform into the Ming family girl and come down the mountain to accompany the two elderly members of the Ming family for the last of their days…

"Okay." Mingmei nodded, agreeing to the requests of the people before her, and, according to the game system's prompt, arranged to meet at the village entrance at Mao time (5-7 am) the next day.

After speaking, the players settled down in the village.

The village set in the game was still the largest village in the surrounding area, and it was also located on the side of the official road, so there were inns and food shops.

Although Mingmei didn't follow, she could still see some of the players' storylines through Lu Xiaoyao's perspective.

In the inn,

"You sleep on the floor."

Lu Xiaoyao had been uneasy since she entered the game and received her identity card—a faded courtesan.

A courtesan was fine, but why did it have to be faded?

This time, she was coming with the wealthy merchant who had redeemed her to find the Fox Fairy Matriarch.

However, the wealthy merchant in this game setting, who was infatuated with her and willing to redeem her at a high price, was played by Julian.

For some reason, Julian gave Lu Xiaoyao a feeling of being her nemesis.

She always felt that this person would be her bane.

As for Julian, he also had a lot to say about the identity of the wealthy merchant.

A courtesan looked like this?

Even if she was faded, Julian felt that Lu Xiaoyao's looks were not up to that level. Even if her face was okay, her figure wasn't good enough!

Therefore, the two of them had been in an "hostile" state since entering the game—I don't like you, and you're not much better.

"Time passes so quickly in this game at night, why is it so troublesome? We even have to spread out the bedding on the floor…"

Julian frowned, but he didn't intend to fight Lu Xiaoyao for the bed.

He sat upright on a stool, saying, "I'll just sit here and rest for the night."

After speaking, he glanced at Lu Xiaoyao, who was wrapped tightly in the blanket and staring at him with her eyes rolling around. At this time, Lu Xiaoyao gave him a somewhat incongruous feeling.

It wasn't just one or two rounds that he and Lu Xiaoyao had been "enemies". Although he couldn't remember some of the previous plots, the Lu Xiaoyao in front of him didn't seem to match the image in his mind.

The one in front of him… looked a bit like the silly daughter of the rich landlord next door.

{Hey, hey, look, isn't that player looking at our darling in a strange way?}

{This… is there something going on?}

{No way? Doesn't seem like it.}

{Why do I feel like that look is full of—disgust?}

{Bull, it's clearly a crush! Darling, Mommy doesn't allow dating!}

{Darling! Daddy doesn't agree either!}

{Hubby! I won't allow it!!!}

{Wait, what strange things are mixed in at the front?}

…

Mingmei couldn't help but laugh as she looked at the comments on the livestream. After having dinner with the two elderly NPCs, she went to the kitchen to wash the dishes. Just as she finished, there was a knock on the door outside.

"Coming~"

Mingmei walked to the courtyard and saw a man dressed as a scholar, wearing a light gray robe and carrying a bamboo book box on his back, standing outside the courtyard door.

"Who is it?"

Because it was dusk, Mingmei didn't recognize who it was at first glance. After asking, she walked to the door and finally saw that the person dressed as a scholar was actually Mu Chen.

"I am a humble scholar on my way to the capital to take the imperial examination, passing through this noble place. The sky is getting late, please allow me to stay here for the night?"

For some reason, after hearing the other party's long string of flowery lines, a thought vaguely emerged in Mingmei's mind—what would happen in those stories when a handsome, poor scholar stayed overnight in a remote mountain village?