Chapter 1 Host, Is This How You Play?

　　"Host, is this how you play?"

　　Gui Gui discovered that Mingmei was becoming more and more unrestrained. She used to be apathetic, unwilling to sell bento boxes even for two extra hours. Now, she's playing a two-in-one NPC and proactively changing the script herself.

　　"Aren't many people playing like this? I'll check the forums when the game is over." Mingmei carried on with her pretense, leaving Gui Gui speechless and withdrawn.

　　Finally, Gui Gui couldn't help but say, "Actually, when you and Mu Chen switched roles and played the villain, it was quite good."

　　"You mean the scene where I chased after people with a knife was pretty good?" Mingmei raised her eyebrows, then looked disgusted. "I'm supposed to be a mountain god in this game. What mountain god chases after people with a knife? Not elegant."

　　"That's not what I meant."

　　"Then what is it?"

　　"You seem to be helping the players." After Gui Gui said this, Mingmei laughed and retorted, "What's my mission in this game?"

　　"To sell bento boxes and maintain the villagers' faith in the mountain god."

　　"Oh, I've been on that path all along."

　　After Mingmei finished speaking, Gui Gui became even more confused. "Are you sure?"

　　...

　　"Okay, okay, let's go, let's go."

　　Lu Xiaoyao came out of the bathroom with wet hair and urged Julian to leave quickly.

　　Julian glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 11:50, only ten minutes since Lu Xiaoyao entered the bathroom.

　　The speed at which Lu Xiaoyao took a shower deserved applause.

　　Especially since she washed her hair too.

　　"Okay."

　　It had been less than half an hour since Mu Chen entered the village. They shouldn't be too late if they hurried over.

　　Along the way, the torches dispelled the black mist. Lu Xiaoyao looked at the houses in the village without any lights and whispered to Julian, "We were just thinking about going down the mountain, and we forgot that everyone is asleep so late at night. What should we do? We can't just wake them up, can we?"

　　What Lu Xiaoyao said made sense. Julian also forgot to ask Mu Chen about this.

　　Seeing that everyone was asleep, and according to what the mysterious merchant said, everyone knew about the black mist at night, then it was very likely that no one would go out at night.

　　Even if they knocked on the door, it might be impossible.

　　This was terrible.

　　However, just as the two of them were worrying about this, they saw a courtyard not far away with lights still on. There were even torches hanging on the courtyard door, and the bright lights indicated that someone was still awake.

　　"Let's go, over there."

　　Julian and Lu Xiaoyao walked towards the light. Sure enough, they saw Mu Chen standing under the eaves of the house in the courtyard.

　　The courtyard had white streamers hanging on it. From the courtyard door, they could see the coffin in the main room.

　　This family was obviously having a funeral.

　　Julian and Lu Xiaoyao exchanged glances and entered the courtyard. Mu Chen heard the movement, looked up and saw that it was Julian and the others, then withdrew his gaze and continued listening to the middle-aged couple talking.

　　"Although my son is simple-minded, he has a good heart and knows how to help us take care of the chickens at home. Although he doesn't like to interact with the villagers on weekdays, he will help anyone who asks him for help. How could such a good child..."

　　As she spoke, the middle-aged woman covered her face and wept again. Julian stepped forward and saw the familiar black-and-white photo in the main room, and was immediately stunned.

　　"This, isn't this the one who told us that day..."

　　Before he could finish speaking, Mu Chen stopped him with a glance. Then he looked at the parents of the simple-minded man and said, "Please accept our condolences. We just came down from the mountain today and encountered this... Then let us offer him incense."

　　After Mu Chen finished speaking, the other party did not refuse and invited them in to offer incense.

　　After offering incense, Mu Chen and the others did not leave. They just made excuses to stay in their house and chatted with the parents who had lost their son for a while.

　　They then learned that the one who had the accident was their youngest son. He had been lost once when he was a child, and after he was found and brought back, they didn't know what had happened in the wild. He was overly frightened, and afterwards, he became crazy and foolish.

　　After that, he would become nervous and scared when he saw people. The family had no choice but to build a house near the chicken farm so that he could live away from the village while taking care of the chickens.

　　But they didn't expect that last night, not only did all the chickens in their chicken farm die, but the child was also gone.

　　The couple burst into tears again when they talked about this.

　　"My God? So many chickens all died?!"

　　Lu Xiaoyao exclaimed. She had previously thought that Mu Chen and the others were paranoid when they said they didn't hear the chickens crowing in the morning.

　　As a result, her face was slapped hard. Something big really did happen last night?

　　"That must be a big loss, right?" Julian remembered that their family seemed to have a large-scale chicken farm.

　　"Fortunately, everyone in the village has a good heart and bought them back at half price." After the woman finished speaking, a trace of shame flashed across her face. "I also know that everyone is kind in this matter. The chickens were bitten to death for no reason, and they are still willing to buy them back... I will repay everyone when I raise chickens again in the future."

　　"Auntie, were all your chickens that died for no reason bought by people? Which families? It seems that they are all kind-hearted people." Julian's tone pretended to be surprised and emotional, which made the other party nod repeatedly.

　　"Yes, many people in the village like to eat chicken. In recent years, the chickens raised by our family sometimes don't even need to be pulled outside the village to sell. The people in the village digest them themselves."

　　"Ah? Don't they raise them themselves?"

　　Lu Xiaoyao was also confused after hearing this.

　　"They do, but it's not enough to eat, so our family started the chicken farming business."

　　"Is that so? Do people here like to eat chicken so much?" Mentioning chicken, Lu Xiaoyao remembered that Mingmei also brought roasted chicken with her when she went up the mountain, saying it was a tribute.

　　"Is it because the mountain god likes to eat chicken, so everyone eats chicken?" Thinking about it, Lu Xiaoyao said her thoughts, but the woman looked confused.

　　"The mountain god... According to the older generation, the god likes fresh melons and fruits, as well as incense candles, but I haven't heard of him liking to eat meat."

　　"Listening to you, Auntie, it seems that you... don't really believe in the mountain god?"

　　Mu Chen interjected at this time.

　　"How can that be? The mountain god must be believed in. This has been passed down from generation to generation in the village. Although there are some unfilial ones in the middle... Ah, let's not mention those. Just say us, we believers can't trouble the mountain god with every little thing, right?

　　The mountain god blesses us with good weather and abundant harvests, and has never let us go hungry during those disaster years. That's already amazing. There's no need to always trouble the god. The god... will also be tired, and will also have times when he doesn't want to do anything, right?"

　　The woman's tone was faint: "Even gods inevitably have things they can't do."

　　"But I heard many people in the village say that they go to the mountain god when they have problems, saying that the mountain god is always responsive."

　　At this time, Julian also realized that what this family said seemed to be different from what others in the village said.

　　"How is he always responsive? It depends on the matter. Like the Zhang family at the entrance of the village, their child was so young, and the family didn't keep an eye on him. He ran onto the road and was killed by a passing vehicle.

　　The car escaped at that time because no one saw it. It took a long time to find him, and the child's body was already cold. His wife still says every day that she wants to ask the mountain god to return the child. Tell me, how can the mountain god respond to that?"