Infinite Puzzle City

Chapter 7 The Old Lady’s Methods
Xiao Ran did not go back the way he came. Instead, he went around the village and walked back from the other direction. His brows were furrowed as he walked along the way.

"These villagers are no longer human, so why do I need to help them in this mission? What should I help them with? Physical salvation?"

"In other words, the villagers in the mission might not be them."

“Also, that woman looks crazy, mad, and stupid, but there’s no guarantee that she isn’t pretending. I’ve met her twice, and I always feel like she’s deliberately misleading me.

"Just like what Niu Wazi said, being trapped in the body, neither human nor ghost, not dead but aging, anyone who watches themselves decay bit by bit would probably have some mental problems."

"Niu Wazi was still defending the old lady at the end. This old lady is really very powerful."

Xiao Ran was also a little worried. There was something wrong with this village. Under any other circumstances, he would have run away long ago, but now he couldn't. He had no way to leave here unless he completed the main task.

But the main task is to help these villagers.

This always makes Xiao Ran feel conflicted.

"Is there anything else going on here?"

"there!!"

Just as I was thinking about it, I heard someone shouting in the distance. When I looked up, I saw several villagers running towards me.

"where have you been??"

When they saw Xiao Ran, the villagers rushed over immediately, which was completely different from the villagers who had chatted with them in the morning.

Each of them looked ferocious and shifty, and even the way they walked, they had the posture of a bandit. The bald man in the lead grabbed Xiao Ran's clothes, as if he was afraid that he would run away.

"What do you care where I go?"

Unexpectedly, facing these ferocious villagers, Xiao Ran lost his temper. He pushed the bald man's hand away and cursed: "I don't want to stay in this shabby place for a day. I can't even find a toilet. Don't you guys usually poop?"

Faced with Xiao Ran's angry questioning, the few people who had been annoyed just now could not help but look at each other with strange eyes.

At this time, the first bald man hurriedly tried to smooth things over, forcing a smile on his face and said to Xiao Ran, "Don't get me wrong, we are worried about you too, afraid that you got lost. Besides, you didn't even say hello to Aunt Zhang, she was so worried."

"She's dumb, what should I say to her when I greet her?? Besides, I have a stomachache, and I asked her to take me to the toilet? By the time she took me there, I'd already shit my pants."

Xiao Ran curled his lips and looked at them with disdain. These words left them speechless and they could only hurriedly surround Xiao Ran and walk back.

The bald man introduced himself on the road: "My name is Niu Tao, everyone calls me Brother Tao, if you have any inconvenience, just tell me."

"Brother Tao!"

This name sounds familiar. When I think about it carefully, isn't he one of the people who often bullied Yang Xuan as mentioned by Niu Wazi?

Xiao Ran became more alert to this Brother Tao, and just nodded with a smile on his face: "Okay, okay, then I won't be polite to Brother Tao."

"You're welcome. We are all brothers."

When Xiao Ran was sent back to Aunt Zhang's house, he saw Aunt Zhang kneeling on the ground and crying loudly, with an obvious fist mark on her face.

After seeing Xiao Ran coming back, Aunt Zhang rolled over and crawled over to him, hugging Xiao Ran's thighs. She looked extremely miserable and pitiful.

Seeing this, Xiao Ran felt a little guilty about what happened to Aunt Zhang. After all, it was he who ran away and caused Aunt Zhang to be beaten.

"What are you doing? Hurry up and pull him up!"

Brother Tao seemed to notice the change in Xiao Ran's eyes, and fearing that he might see something, he quickly asked someone to pull Aunt Zhang up.

"You see, Aunt Zhang is kind-hearted. She's really worried that you'd get lost, and she's gotten so anxious that she's lost her mind." Brother Tao explained to Xiao Ran with a smile, and waved his hand casually, signaling everyone to send Aunt Zhang to the room to rest.

Xiao Ran nodded with a fake smile, ignoring the look Zhang Mazi cast towards him for help, and asked, "Where's my bag?"

"Bag?"

When they heard Xiao Ran mention his backpack, Brother Tao and the others immediately became alert.

However, Xiao Ran said as if it was a matter of course: "Of course, there is bread in it. I'll make do with it. Otherwise, if I eat your food, I will have diarrhea again. If I have a stomachache, who will help you tonight?"

After hearing what Xiao Ran said, several villagers finally relaxed. Brother Tao winked at the people around him and asked them to get the bag. At the same time, he arranged for Xiao Ran to have a good rest in the room next door.

After a while, the backpack was delivered. Xiao Ran checked and found that everything in the backpack was there and had not been touched by anyone.

When I walked to the door, I saw Brother Tao and a few others sitting in the yard through the crack in the door, obviously on guard against me running away again.

Seeing this, Xiao Ran made a bitter face and thought to himself: "These villagers are not trustworthy. I think helping to exorcise ghosts at night is probably not a good job. They might even use me as a sacrifice. I can't beat them, and I can't run away..."

"correct!"

Just when Xiao Ran was in trouble, he suddenly remembered something. After thinking for a moment, he took out a small folding fruit knife from his backpack.

I remember that when I entered here, I was told that I could offer sacrifice to the evil god, but I didn't know if it would work. Thinking of this, Xiao Ran took the knife and slashed his arm fiercely, and blood immediately flowed out from the cut.

"hiss!!"

The intense stinging sensation made the veins on Xiao Ran's forehead throb. At the same time, he also received a cold reminder sound.

"The evil god Xingxie has sensed your actions. Your behavior has won his approval. He has gained the blessing of [Power of the Evil God], and his strength has increased by 1. This will last until the end of this maze city trial."

"The evil god Xingxie greatly appreciates your actions, but if you wish to gain more power, please inspire deeper pain to complete the sacrifice."

Along with the prompt sound, Xiao Ran keenly felt that there seemed to be subtle changes in himself. Although it was very slight, he did feel as if he had strength all over his body.

"Is it just pain..."

Xiao Ran looked at the fruit knife in his hand and couldn't help but narrow his eyes: "This is also a means of self-protection. When the time comes, it may be a solution."

……

Niujiaopo is gloomy during the day, but the view becomes clear at night.

I saw a white lantern hanging on the door of every household.

Normally, at night, the villagers would not dare to leave their homes easily, but today they lined up in a long queue and gathered at the open space behind the village.

In the crowd, Xiao Ran was seen following behind a group of villagers, surrounded by everyone like a star surrounding the moon.

"Let me carry it for you." Brother Tao followed Xiao Ran and saw that he was still carrying a backpack. He enthusiastically wanted to come forward to help.

Xiao Ran quickly dodged and said, "No, it's not heavy anyway."

Hearing this, Brother Tao wisely withdrew his hand and said with a smile: "Little brother, don't be afraid later, just listen to the old lady. You are an outsider, and the evil ghost can't hurt you!"

"Oh."

Compared to Brother Tao's enthusiasm, Xiao Ran just nodded lightly, and looked in the direction of the crowd. He saw that the old lady had changed into a black robe, with a few chicken feathers stuck in her hair, her hands crossed in front of her chest, and was carried by several villagers. She had her eyes closed like the old charlatan in the TV drama. You could see her lips moving, but you couldn't hear what she was saying.

The road became more and more desolate, and gradually some graves began to appear around it.

Xiao Ran glanced at the inscription on the tombstone and guessed that this place should be the cemetery of Niujia Village.

I saw a coffin placed on the open space of the cemetery in the distance. There was still soil on the coffin, which obviously had just been dug out.

Xiao Ran was confused for a moment, but before he could think about it, Brother Tao suddenly pulled him.

"Hurry, the old lady is calling you."

When he looked up, he saw the old lady waving at him. Seeing this, Brother Tao pulled Xiao Ran forward without saying a word. After sending Xiao Ran to the old lady, he stepped aside silently.

"Child, I've wronged you tonight, but I will definitely not treat you unfairly after this is done."

The old lady raised her head, and there was a hint of coldness in her cloudy eyes, which gave Xiao Ran goosebumps all over his body. He thought, "This old lady is really not a good person."

At the same time, he put one hand in his pocket, tightly holding the fruit knife, stared at the old lady's neck, and walked towards the old lady with a smile.

"Closer, closer..."

At this time, the old lady took out a big golden toad from her wide robe. The toad lay on the old lady's hand, its eyes rolling back and forth, and then opened its mouth towards Xiao Ran.

Suddenly, Xiao Ran raised his eyebrows slightly, and saw golden little yellow croakers coming out of the toad's mouth. Even under the firelight at night, it was still dizzying to look at.

The old lady smiled and said, "The village has been trapped here for many years. These are all old things from the past. I don't know how much they are worth outside now. Just consider them as your reward."

"This...how embarrassing."

Xiao Ran grinned and walked to the old lady's side while speaking. He calmly took out the fruit knife from his pocket and quietly pushed it against the old lady's back.

"Catch the leader first. Let's control this old lady first, and then we can talk about the rest later."

Xiao Ran was making some plans in his mind, but he didn't expect that when the old lady saw him coming, her smile became even brighter and she casually threw a gold bar into Xiao Ran's pocket.

The moment the gold bar fell into his pocket, Xiao Ran suddenly felt his body sink, as if a huge stone was tied to his whole body, and all his muscles stiffened.

"Young man, there's nothing to be embarrassed about."

The old lady raised her head and looked at the stiff expression on Xiao Ran's face. She picked up one small yellow croaker after another and stuffed them into her pocket. With each stuffing, the heavy weight doubled, making Xiao Ran almost unable to breathe.

"Give me more, give me more."

The old lady smiled and threw the small yellow croakers into Xiao An's pocket one by one, as if they were New Year's money for her grandson. While stuffing them in, she reminded him, "Take them and don't throw them away. These are your life-saving money..."

(End of this chapter)