Since all these rules and superstitions are outdated, what's wrong with me indulging in some me

"Ivan hasn't returned?"

Kevin glanced at the empty yard.

No one answered.

Just as this silence was about to solidify—

"Knock, knock, knock."

The gate to the courtyard rang.

Three sounds, neither too loud nor too soft, neither too fast nor too slow.

All eyes turned to the weathered wooden door.

No one moved.

The mist sloshed about in the cracks of the door, like countless tiny tentacles tentatively trying to slip inside, only to be stopped by some invisible barrier.

Lu Changsheng and An Zhiyu exchanged a glance.

An Zhiyu nodded slightly.

Lu Changsheng stepped forward and placed his hand on the cold door latch.

"Squeak—"

The door opened.

The fog, like a swarm of startled insects, suddenly receded to both sides, revealing a figure leaning against the doorframe outside the door.

Emily.

She stood there, her posture as languid as if she had just returned from the morning market, one hand in her pocket, the other raised to her mouth, slowly licking the dried scabs on her knuckles.

The morning mist surged past her, blurring her silhouette into a hazy shadow.

Then she looked up.

Several suppressed gasps echoed in the courtyard.

Emily's face was almost completely ruined.

A gruesome wound, with flesh torn open, runs diagonally from the left cheekbone down to the jawline, tearing from the corner of the eye all the way to the jawline, where the dark red muscle texture is faintly visible at the deepest point.

The bleeding had stopped, forming a thin, dark red scab, but a few fresh streaks of blood seeped from the scab and dripped down his chin.

But what's truly unsettling isn't the severity of the wound.

It was her expression.

Emily licked the last finger and smacked her lips in satisfaction. The action aggravated the wound on half of her face, causing the scab to crack open and a trickle of bright red blood to seep out, flowing down the curve of her lips.

She seemed completely unaware.

He raised his eyes, his gaze lazily sweeping over the stiff faces in the courtyard.

Good morning.

His voice was hoarse, with his usual nonchalance. It was exactly the same tone he used when asking "What did you have for breakfast?"

Then she stepped over the threshold and into the courtyard.

The mist closed in behind her.

Cheng Caijun opened his mouth, but his throat felt blocked, and he couldn't squeeze out a single word.

Kevin's hand had already touched the gun handle on his lower back, his eyes filled with suspicion and uncertainty.

Park Bo-soo subconsciously took a half step back.

Mark stared at the shocking wound on Emily's face, his lips moving but only emitting a broken breath.

"You...your face..."

Emily rubbed her chin with her thumb.

"Oh, this," she said, "a minor injury."

She grinned, but to everyone's horror, they discovered that a tooth was missing from the right corner of her mouth!

After saying this, Emily ignored everyone and went straight back to her room.

The door closed behind her.

Not too light, not too heavy.

No one spoke in the courtyard.

Lu Changsheng's gaze was deep, and it was unclear what he was thinking.

"Let's go to the cafeteria."

An Zhiyu's voice broke the silence.

She took the lead and walked towards the courtyard gate, with Lu Changsheng and Cheng Caijun following closely behind.

Kevin supported Mark, and Park Bo-soo helped Yamamoto Ichiro as the group silently walked through the still-foggy alley.

No one looked back at Emily's closed door.

-

The cafeteria was unusually quiet today.

The long table was still set with its usual grayish porridge, dark brown pickled vegetables, and hard, dry flatbread. But the villagers were still there, waiting for the players.

Lu Changsheng's gaze instantly fell on the middle-aged woman.

She huddled in the most inconspicuous corner, with an untouched bowl of porridge in front of her. Her head was bowed low, and her loose hair covered most of her face, but it couldn't hide the scar on her face.

A line was drawn diagonally from the left cheekbone down to the jawline, the skin rolled up, the edges charred black—exactly the same as on Emily's face.

She seemed to sense that someone was watching her, and flinched, burying her head even lower.

Lu Changsheng withdrew his gaze and walked to the long table where the players usually sat down.

The others took their seats one after another.

Ash-colored porridge, dark brown pickled vegetables, and hard, dry flatbread. Just like every other day.

But no one touched their chopsticks.

The villagers' gazes were so intense, like countless needles pricking my back.

Lu Changsheng picked up the bowl of porridge and checked it as usual—nothing was wrong.

Lu Changsheng took a sip.

Seeing the player start eating, the villagers also began to drink the porridge in front of them. The woman followed the villagers, keeping an eye on the player while drinking her porridge.

Lu Changsheng looked at the round pancake on the table and stood up.

Cheng Caijun was taken aback: "Brother Lu?"

Lu Changsheng did not answer. Holding his own piece of bread, he walked across several tables toward the woman.

"You eat this, but I'll drink your porridge."

He snatched the woman's bowl of porridge and then shoved the hardened flatbread into her hands.

The villagers' eyes followed him, like countless sticky tongues licking his back.

The woman was taken aback, then surprisingly, she didn't say anything, just nodded, opened her mouth wide, and took a bite of the pancake that was so hard it could crack an egg.

At that moment, Lu Changsheng saw her teeth on the right side.

On the right side of the woman's teeth, in the same position as Emily's—

It's empty.

All the players witnessed this scene and were stunned, an invisible chill spreading from the soles of their feet.

Everyone instantly realized the seriousness of the situation.

Halfway through the meal, no one had any appetite anymore.

The porridge solidified into a lump of ice in my throat, sinking heavily to the bottom of my stomach, refusing to melt away.

But for the sake of their health, everyone still tried their best to swallow.

They hurriedly finished their meal and quickly left the cafeteria.

"Among the villagers in the canteen, is the boy who guided you there?"

Lu Changsheng went straight to the point.

Mark was taken aback, but Kevin, standing beside him, calmly shook his head and said in a deep voice:

"No, not at all these past few days. If there had been, I would have caught him already."

"it is good."

Lu Changsheng nodded.

"The villagers can't finish eating in a short time, so you need to go through the village now, house by house, and try to find that young man. He's very important. He's the only villager we haven't contacted yet who seems to be targeting us."

Kevin nodded.

Be careful in everything.

Lu Changsheng gave his instructions.

Don't worry!

Mark felt a burning hatred for the young man who had led them into this mess and poisoned him.

Kevin nodded.

"We'll be careful."

This village is too strange; even a master like Kevin has to be careful.

Although Mark sometimes seemed a bit reckless and inexperienced, Lu Changsheng was still at ease with Kevin around.

The two nodded, turned and left, decisively and without delay.

"Park Bo-soo," Lu Changsheng turned to the Korean man with a scar near his eye, "Could you please stay in the yard and take care of the other players?"

Park Bo-soo was taken aback, then seemed to realize something, breathed a sigh of relief, and nodded repeatedly.