I Don't Agree to the Terms
Chapter 26: Middle-Level Region - Fengtai Village

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Middle-Level Region - Fengtai Village

[Mid-Tier Area: Fengtai Village]

[Quest: The Truth Behind the Mountain God’s Wedding]

"Hisss~ it seems like this force is getting stronger," Gu Shanhai touched the back of his head. Although it wasn’t painful, the sensation of phantom pain still lingered faintly.

Gu Shanhai looked at the remaining two players, belonging to a three-person instance, their IDs being Emperor’s Grace and Heavenly Immortal Drunk.

He didn’t know the former, but he had indeed heard of the latter’s reputation.

People nicknamed him the Good Guy Card Reaping Machine.

The player was very kind-hearted, just a bit ugly, so in various worlds he triggered large deeds of kindness that bound him to "being a cow or horse in the next life, chewing grass to repay."

Meaning, see you in the next life.

Under normal circumstances, not to mention in the next life, even the life after next would be hopeless.

But the issue was that this Heavenly Immortal Drunk’s talent was said to be tied to karma, and since he was primarily a Summoner, combining his talent with his peculiar occupation and skills, he indeed managed to summon the other person’s next life.

However, they were not humans, but rather summoned creatures like cows and horses, because they promised to be a cow or horse themselves, and under the influence of karma in the next life, they actually became cows and horses—but their combat ability was no joke.

Looking at the current situation, Heavenly Immortal Drunk evidently hadn’t completed his karmic summoning system yet; his enthusiasm was real, and his reputation had always been good.

Unfortunately, he later disappeared, presumably dead in some world. He didn’t survive even the first version update, and died in the middle period of the first version. The karma-based elements were too deeply entangled, and one carelessness could drag him into the mire.

"Why don’t we introduce ourselves? I am the initiator of this instance, skilled in summoning," Heavenly Immortal Drunk spoke first.

Gu Shanhai felt a bit uneasy. The instance likely leaned towards an Eastern karmic system, emphasizing "good is rewarded with good, and evil with evil—karmic cycles and retributions are inevitable."

"I’m a support, skilled in fire-support," Gu Shanhai immediately said.

"Scout type, huh? Generally handles puzzle-solving instances," Emperor’s Grace wasn’t as domineering as his ID suggested, giving off a rather refreshing vibe; he likely was good at managing and making friends in reality too.

"Well, it looks like I’ll have to be the main attacker this round," Heavenly Immortal Drunk saw their combination and felt somewhat helpless, but luckily summoning was quite versatile, even though his skills were somewhat limited. "By the way, what does your fire-support include?"

"Let me check, long-range blast, pinpoint blast, and also persistent damage," Gu Shanhai said after glancing at his Mana aura.

"???"×2

Dude, that’s called firepower support, not fire-support.

"Oh, I also have a Flame Shield, which continuously drains health when applied—yes, it drains the health of the person shielded," Gu Shanhai said seriously.

"Brother, have you ever thought about applying your Flame Shield on the enemy?" Emperor’s Grace felt that this thing was definitely not a Flame Shield but surely some kind of burning DEBUFF.

"It worked quite well; I cooperated with a blood-selling teammate last match, and once I applied my Flame Shield to him, his attributes and skills skyrocketed," Gu Shanhai claimed it was quite effective.

"..."×2

The two were somewhat speechless, but they could see that Gu Shanhai’s skill system was unusual, yet the odd combination also presented solid gameplay.

"Fine, just handle the support, let’s head into the village. The difficulty of this instance isn’t low; even the Mountain God is involved," Heavenly Immortal Drunk didn’t say much more. Everyone was a solo player, and even though he was the initiator, if truth be told, he was also taking advantage to some extent since as long as someone completed the main, side, or even hidden tasks, he could share in the rewards.

So, dragging his feet was out of the question.

The main thing was to complete the quests.

On their way into the village, they also exchanged their speculations.

For example, Heavenly Immortal Drunk had obtained some information about this village in the last instance, such as the village being very isolated.

More importantly, among the three, Heavenly Immortal Drunk had an identity—he was regarded as a college student returning to the village, so the other two’s roles were clear, they could pretend to be his friends.

The current worldview was still unclear, but the village, Fengtai Village, was a backward place where many things from the outside world couldn’t reach.

As for the strange outfits they wore, there was no need to worry since they all had the "First Epoch" cover that automatically adjusted to fit the current world’s style, and Gu Shanhai of course had it too—after all, he had paid with his lifespan, which was a service in itself.

Upon entering the village, it was indeed very backward—no water, electricity, or other basic infrastructure.

"Are you folks from outside?" An old man came over and asked, then took a closer look at Heavenly Immortal Drunk before realizing something, "Aren’t you Zhou Laosan’s Blackie who left some years ago? The Mountain God ceremony this year actually let you come back, haven’t your father been handling these past years?"

"Yes, I’ve been working, had to come back and look around," Heavenly Immortal Drunk vaguely responded, since he wasn’t really Zhou Family’s kid, he had no such memories.

"Good good good, it’s good you’re back, but a few years ago, the rain caused your house to collapse, probably can’t live there now," the other party said this with a somewhat evasive expression.

It seemed there was some hidden secret.

"That’s no problem, just find a place to stay for now, I’ll pay," Heavenly Immortal Drunk said generously.

The currency from the "First Epoch" was withdrawable and could be converted into the corresponding world currency, a benefit for players.

Gu Shanhai didn’t have these; he had gold, just not much of it.

Heavenly Immortal Drunk immediately took out a few bills, perhaps amounting to around three hundred, clearly intending to cover the entire cost.

"It looks like Blackie, you’ve made quite a lot in the city, just right, my house has vacant rooms, come, stay at my place," the other brightened up, hastily snatched the bills from Heavenly Immortal Drunk’s hand, and led them along.

On the way, they also learned his name, calling him Qian Lao was fine, country folk weren’t that formal.

Throughout, Emperor’s Grace kept chatting with Qian Lao, indirectly probing about the Mountain God ceremony, and it could be determined now that the event was indeed about the Mountain God’s wedding.

But whether the Mountain God was real or fake, that was another story, as Emperor’s Grace didn’t get a conclusive answer from Qian Lao’s words, clearly Qian Lao was purposely avoiding the matter.

The underlying situation was unknown; it would require further investigation.

Of course, what Gu Shanhai was thinking was, whether or not to just solve the problem with a single fire?