You said you were going to make games, how did you become the richest man without doing anything?

Chapter 568 ends the first week, and it’s hotly discussed across the internet!
Suddenly, a strange sound echoed through the thick fog, like the sound of some creature wriggling in the mud, or the sharp sound of claws scraping against stone. This unfamiliar sound instantly aroused the most primitive fear in everyone's heart, like fine needles piercing everyone's nerve endings.

A chill rose from the soles of their feet, intertwined with fear, like an invisible net, tightly enveloping the three of them. The late autumn night was already chilly, and the damp mist made it even more unbearable to shiver.

Fatigue washed over them like a tide, the continuous flight leaving everyone exhausted. Tang Yin, carrying Xiao Mei on his back, his arms ached from the prolonged exertion. He had no idea how long he'd been walking, or how many turns he'd made. It was as if he'd been trapped in a maze from which he could never escape.

Suddenly, Wang Lina in front stopped.

"——Tang Yin." Her voice came through the thick fog, so ethereal and unreal, like a whisper floating from another world.

"What's wrong?" Tang Yin answered with forced calmness, trying hard to suppress the trembling in his voice.

"It's no use anymore." Wang Lina's laughter trembled with a hint of despair, which sounded heartbreaking.

"—What are you talking about?" This time, Tang Yin couldn't deny her words as firmly as usual. The current situation was indeed unusual, and Wang Lina's condition was obviously very poor. Her pale face looked even more haggard in the mist.

"Take a rest first. We will be able to leave here soon. Don't worry." Tang Yin tried to comfort her, but he didn't even believe what he said.

"No, it's useless." Wang Lina's voice was filled with deep fatigue.

"why?"

"Because..." Wang Lina paused, "As long as I'm here, we'll never be able to leave the Godhead Valley."

There was an eerie silence.

What does that mean? Tang Yin's brain was working rapidly.

"Grandma Rong said it before, we are from Huangquan." Wang Lina continued, "So..."

"Are you saying that you can't reach the other side?!" There was disbelief in Tang Yin's voice.

"Because..." Wang Lina's voice gradually became quieter, "Because I grew up eating the food of the Hidden Mist Village."

"And, I..." Her voice began to tremble, "I've been... polluted...!"

"Wang Lina!" Tang Yin shouted.

"Don't look at me--!" Wang Lina covered her face in pain.

Tang Yin turned without hesitation and held Wang Lina in his arms. In the dim light, he finally saw her face clearly—her once fair skin was now covered in brown and yellow blisters, like some horrible parasite gnawing at her flesh.

Without hesitation, Tang Yin closed his eyes and kissed her lips. A mixture of blood and pus spread between his lips and teeth, carrying a sweet, rusty taste. He swallowed it without hesitation. At this moment, he wanted to prove with his actions that no matter what she became, he would not leave.

Tang Yin tightened his arms and hugged her thin body with all his strength, as if pouring all his love into this embrace. He held his breath, stopped all thoughts, and let time stand still at this moment.

He didn't let her go until his chest felt stuffy and he was almost suffocating.

As fresh air rushed into his lungs, Tang Yin felt like he had been reborn. And Wang Lina was in his arms, sick and desperate, but she was still the one he wanted to protect the most.

When their lips parted, Wang Lina didn't even have time to breathe before she eagerly repeated to Tang Yin: "--I'm sorry--I'm sorry--I'm really--very sorry--"

Her voice was like broken wind chimes, trembling with every syllable.

Tang Yin still held her emaciated body tightly, as if this could hold onto her fading life. His heart was swirling with indescribable emotions. He had never imagined that he would lose to such an inexplicable fate. A month ago, he was still worried about the postgraduate entrance exam, but now, he had to watch the person he loved most wither away in his arms.

Wang Lina weakly raised her arms and gently wrapped them around Tang Yin's waist, but soon, her arms dropped like a puppet with its strings cut. Her body temperature was gradually draining away, and the herpes on her skin glowed sickly in the moonlight.

"...Let's go." Tang Yin said in a low voice, with a hint of hoarseness in his voice.

"But..." Wang Lina wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Tang Yin.

"Let's go." He said without question.

The air was filled with a faint, fishy smell, the scent left by the pursuers, slowly approaching. Tang Yin knew they had to keep moving forward.

Time blurred in the thick fog, perhaps hours, perhaps only minutes. The presence of the pursuers was always there, yet strangely, they didn't attack, as if biding their time.

Wang Lina's condition deteriorated rapidly. Her steps became increasingly unsteady, and she would stop every few steps to cough violently, spitting out a black liquid tinged with blood. After each vomiting, she would look at Tang Yin with an apologetic look, repeatedly saying "I'm sorry." Tang Yin could only swallow his heartache and use gentle words to encourage her to keep going.

They stumbled forward in the fog, Wang Lina's footsteps growing damper, like treading on mud. The passage of time felt unreal; perhaps they had walked a long way, or perhaps only a few meters. Wang Lina's apology echoed in the fog, intertwining with her sticky footsteps to form a dirge of despair.

Reality began to distort, as if in a nightmare from which one could never wake up. If none of this was real, then nothing would be surprising.

Sudden--

"Tang Yin." Wang Lina called his name in a hoarse voice. These two simple words made Tang Yin's heart tremble, like a ray of light suddenly lit up in the darkness.

then.

"Thank you..." Her voice was as soft as a cicada's chirping, and before she finished speaking, she vomited violently again.

"I'm very happy." These were her last words.

As soon as he finished speaking, the hand he was holding suddenly became light and fluttery. Tang Yin was stunned.

——What’s going on.

He looked down and found that all that was left in his hand was a rotten palm. The skin on the palm had begun to fester, revealing the blackened muscle tissue underneath.

Then, Tang Yin heard a horrifying sound: sticky bodily fluids flowed across the ground, and the muffled thud of organs and limbs falling one after another, like ripe fruit. Aside from the rotting hand in his hand, Wang Lina's body instantly reduced to a bloody mess. Tang Yin stood there, watching helplessly as her remains piled up into a small mountain of flesh in the thick fog.

At that moment, a strange realization washed over him: he had lost her forever. He would never again touch her warm body, hear her sweet voice, or see her bright smile. Everything was over, like a shattered dream, leaving only endless despair and nothingness.

——Is this the [Yellow Spring Man]?

However, we can't admit defeat now.

Memories came flooding back like a tide, and Wang Lina's last words echoed in her ears: "No matter what part, it doesn't matter, take me away from here." Her voice was so weak that it was almost inaudible, but it revealed a heartbreaking determination.

Tang Yin carefully placed the remains of her hand in his inner pocket, close to his heart. The flesh on his palm had begun to rot, emitting a faint fishy odor, but he didn't care. Carrying the sleeping Xiao Mei on his back, he continued on through the eerie fog. Xiao Mei's breath was light, like a feather on the back of his neck.

Not long after they left, Xiao Mei woke up. When she realized Wang Lina was gone forever, she completely collapsed. She clung to Tang Yin's shoulder and sobbed, her tears soaking his clothes. Her cries echoed in the mist, like some ominous omen.

"I want to walk by myself." Xiao Mei sobbed. Tang Yin hesitated for a moment, then put her down. Her feet had just touched the ground -

Something unexpected happened!

A malicious force stretched out from the depths of the thick fog and instantly dragged Xiao Me in. Tang Yin only had time to see a huge arm covered with gray-brown hair. Under the fur, he could vaguely see the squirming muscles of the arm, emitting a disgusting stench.

A shrill scream pierced the night sky, a sound somewhere between human and beast, terrifying to the point of chilling fear. Tang Yin hesitated for a few seconds, as if wrestling with a final struggle, then turned and ran in the direction Xiao Mei had disappeared.

A massive figure loomed in the thick fog, a terrifying beast unlike anything he had ever seen. Its outline was blurry, but the suffocating, oppressive feeling it evoked was terrifyingly real.

Tang Yin ran desperately when he felt a sudden chill beneath his feet. He looked down and saw he had stepped into a dark body of water. He had finally found the legendary Godhead Valley, but it all had lost its meaning. Wang Lina had turned to blood, Xiao Mee had been abducted by a wild beast, and he had lost everyone he cared about, leaving him alone.

Wang Lina's last words echoed in his mind again: "No matter what part, it doesn't matter, take me away from here."

——Does her last wish still have meaning?

No, he had to make her last wish meaningful. He had to leave here alive and return to the city, no matter what. He owed her that. Tang Yin pressed tightly against his chest pocket, where Wang Lina's hand still lay.

After passing through the last patch of thick fog, the massive wolf-like creature finally revealed itself. It was the size of a small car, covered in dark gray fur, and its eyes were like two balls of ghostly green will-o'-the-wisp fire. Seeing this, Tang Yin suddenly understood.

"Ah, this place really is hell." He laughed at himself.

This place was neither the living nor the underworld, but a hell somewhere in between. No wonder they hadn't heard the sound of Zhao Gang's body falling into the water when they had thrown it into the Shen Ge River Valley. It turned out that the moment they entered the mist and climbed down the cliff, they had already passed away.

He finally admitted defeat. Having already swallowed the blood of the Yellow Springs Man, there was no escape. This realization gave him a strange sense of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

Tang Yin struggled symbolically for a moment, then gave up all resistance. He stood there, calmly watching the giant wolf approach step by step. If fate meant for him to be torn to pieces here, then so be it. After losing Wang Lina, his soul had already been shattered.

Tang Yin was lost in thought at the last moment of his life.
Ah, where did I go wrong?

Escape via the Divine Valley route?
Or the act of escaping itself?
——No, it has nothing to do with running away.

He couldn't think of anything more.

——Ah, damn it.

If he had participated in the Huangquan Ji Banquet, perhaps the ending would not have been this.

This is Tang Yin’s last thought in this life.

The game pops up a prompt: [End of the first week].

……

The discussion that "The Mystery of the Hidden Mist Village" has aroused in the gaming circle is like the thick fog in the mountains, getting thicker and wider.

Well-known game reviewer "Deep Sea Fish" published a lengthy article: "The biggest highlight of this game is its perfect fusion of traditional Werewolf gameplay and storyline into an AVG. Players enter the game from the perspective of Tang Yin, but do not know whether they are a werewolf or not. This setting directly subverts the traditional Werewolf game logic. Even better, through the somatosensory device, players can truly feel the character's heartbeat, breathing, and even the sweet taste of swallowing Huangquan blood."

Game designer "Mu Zichen" focused on analyzing the game's scene design: "The worldview of the Hidden Mist Village is textbook-level. From the stone tablet at the village entrance to the sacrificial rituals, from the legends passed down by the elders to the gossip among the young, every detail tells the history of this secluded mountain village. The Divine River, in particular, blurs the line between reality and hell, casting a layer of mystery over the entire story."

Folklore enthusiast "Nanshanke" published an article on the subject: "Many of the game's settings are derived from real folklore. For example, the villagers' worship of the wolf god actually exists in the mountainous areas of southern China. And the setting of the "Yellow Springs Man" may be derived from the customs and legends of certain regions. The development team's attention to folklore details makes the entire game more convincing."

Popular streamer "Little Coconut" commented on the characters: "Wang Lina's character is so touching! Her words to Tang Yin, 'Get me out of here,' are absolutely heartbreaking. And Xiao Mee, she seems innocent and cute, but is she really just an ordinary little girl? Why were there animal screams when she was abducted? Every character holds a secret."

In the game forum, players' discussions are even more heated:

"I think the most exciting thing about the game is the multi-play design. Every time you play, you can discover new clues. It's like Detention meets Old House in the Mountain Village!"

"By the way, has anyone noticed the setting of the Divine River? Why is there no sound of water when a body is thrown into it? Could it be that the whole village has gone to hell?"

"Instead, I'm very concerned about the identities of the three wolf gods. I feel it has something to do with the village's generational system. The old generation, the middle-aged, the young, every group may have a wolf god hidden in it."

Veteran game reviewer "Bai Ze" concluded, "The greatest success of 'The Hidden Mist Village' lies in its narrative. While ostensibly a werewolf-killing game, it actually tells a story about human nature, desire, and redemption. Each character in the game has their own perspective and struggles, and each choice leads to a different outcome. And the most terrifying thing is that players never know whether their character, Tang Yin, is human or wolf. This uncertainty of identity imbues the entire game with a philosophical dimension."

Soon, topics like #TheMysteryofTheHiddenMistVillage##G酱直播吓哭##How many hidden details are there in the game# became trending searches. Players began organizing online puzzle-solving sessions, and some even created dedicated wikis to document every detail and possible explanation of the game.

This discussion lasted a long time, and even when the new game came out, people were still discussing the secrets of the Hidden Mist Village. As one player in the comment section said: "This is not just playing a game, it's like studying an entire world."

And more people are looking forward to...

How will the second week develop?

(End of this chapter)