Since all these rules and superstitions are outdated, what's wrong with me indulging in some me

"Yes."

Leo took a deep breath, a look of surprise appearing on his dark face:

"But you just said... he's still alive?"

"He's still 'alive,' just getting stranger and stranger."

Kevin took over the conversation, his face turning ashen.

Leo's face was a mixture of confusion:

"This can't be! I checked, he's not breathing! Or perhaps..."

An even more terrifying thought choked him.

"Or perhaps the 'Ivan' you saw dying and the 'Ivan' we met later were not the same person at all."

Lu Changsheng slowly took over the conversation, his eyes sharp, his brain working at lightning speed, connecting all the clues.

"A deep pool may appear calm, but hidden currents may arise."

Lu Changsheng read aloud the comments Chen the Blind Man had given to Ivan.

"At the time, we only found it obscure and unclear. Now, thinking back, perhaps 'deep pool' refers to Ivan himself, or his body? 'No waves' refers to his outward appearance of calmness and even submission? And 'undercurrents'...?"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the surprised and uncertain faces of the crowd:

"It might refer to something... inside his body."

"Possessed by a ghost? Reincarnated?" Cheng Caijun's voice trembled slightly.

"uncertain."

Lu Changsheng shook his head, his brows furrowed. On his first night in this instance, he had a dream that someone was going to slit his throat.

He described the terrifying feeling he had in his dream—the slow, icy grinding of the back of his neck.

"That feeling wasn't like a simple nightmare."

Lu Changsheng said in a deep voice, "When I woke up, I saw Chenggong choking himself."

"We are too..."

Mark nodded repeatedly, indicating that he had also had similar nightmares.

Kevin, with a cool and collected expression, slowly analyzed:

"There's definitely something unclean in this village. And this thing can not only harass us from the outside, but also launch mental attacks on us. I suspect Ivan has fallen victim to a mental attack. The Ivan we see now is definitely not the same person he used to be."

"So, all these criticisms are our predetermined fate?"

Yamamoto Ichiro's expression turned somewhat grim, as if he had thought of something.

"Let's analyze it following Mr. Yamamoto's line of thought. Currently, there are only three people in us who are in serious crisis: Ivan, Mr. Leo, and Mr. Mark."

"Leo's comment was 'A giant tree in spring has thorns at its roots.'"

Lu Changsheng looked at Leo's wound and slowly recalled.

"You're already quite tall; describing you as a 'giant tree' would be very apt. 'A giant tree in spring' should refer to its tenacious vitality. But there are thorns at its roots..."

All eyes turned to Leo's severed leg, a strange sense of destiny swirling in their hearts.

The roots of a tree are like a person's legs. If there are thorns on your legs, does that mean your legs are injured?

"What do you mean?!"

Leo glared angrily.

"These villagers broke my leg just to make my fate conform to what that blind man said?! And they gave me the ointment so I could keep living?"

"It seems the villagers' intentions are quite clear: they want us to follow the blind man's divination."

Kevin slowly replied.

Lu Changsheng remained silent, his mind racing.

Ultimately, it was the villagers who targeted the players based on Blind Chen's predictions.

The outcome of the villagers' actions against the player will become what Blind Chen predicted.

This problem, which may seem to be just a matter of reversing the order, is actually of paramount importance.

If the villagers 'arrange' the players according to the instructions, it means that the instructions are 'commands' and the villagers are the executors.

Blind Chen's position is very special; he may not only be a fortune teller, but also one of the core figures in this village.

But if the villagers target us first, and the result happens to 'match' the prophecy, then this instance will probably be more troublesome than we imagined.

But Lu Changsheng remained silent and did not point it out.

"What about the others?" Park Bo-soo's face turned pale. "Our comments..."

Now, when I think back to each and every comment, they are all vague yet contain profound meaning.

"Why did the villagers do that?"

Park Bo-soo, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but chime in.

"The villagers probably aren't normal people either," Emily suddenly said quietly, a small flame flickering at her fingertips again. "The Chen clan members are buried only once every eighty years, there are no new graves on the burial mound, and the ancestral hall has an empty altar. This village probably hasn't had a natural cycle of life and death for a long time."

"So... what exactly is the purpose of all this? To possess our bodies? But why are we being made to follow Blind Chen's divination?"

Cheng Caijun scratched his head, thinking for a long time but still couldn't figure it out.

"Taking up the body..."

Kevin chewed on the word, his resolute face filled with worry.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple. If all you wanted was a body, why go through all that trouble with the incantation, breaking a leg and poisoning someone? Why not just do it like you did with Ivan, or drug Leo?"

The trail went cold again.

Everyone fell silent.

Although the dungeon says you can clear it if you survive for seven days, and they've already survived for three days, not a single person has a smile on their face.

As everyone knows, the true nature of this instance has not yet been revealed, and the further we go, the greater the crisis will become.

"I still feel something's not right. I was attacked last night."

Yamamoto Ichiro's deep voice broke the silence. His face was still somewhat pale, and fear lingered in his eyes.

Everyone's attention immediately turned to him.

"Tell me in detail," Lu Changsheng said in a deep voice.

Yamamoto Ichiro took a deep breath and began to speak:

"After nightfall, Park Bo-soo and I took turns on watch. At first, it was just the sound of wind and strange noises. Later... I suddenly felt chest tightness and difficulty breathing."

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines upon hearing this. It was similar to the nightmare Lu Changsheng had described, but it was more direct and more dangerous.

"I tried to fight back and call for help, but to little avail," Yamamoto Ichiro said, his voice still trembling with fear. "And then there was a sudden, loud crashing sound outside the door! Something was banging on the door!"

"Break down the door?" Kevin frowned. "The rules say 'don't open the door if you knock,' but if it's a forced ramming..."

"Yes, it was a very violent impact; the door bolt almost broke." Yamamoto Ichiro nodded. "I thought we were being attacked from both inside and outside, and I was sure to die. But just then, there was another muffled thud outside the door, followed by a strange scream, and the banging stopped. The chill and hallucinations in the room also vanished immediately."

"Someone... chased away the monster that was banging on the door for you?"

Emily raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Yamamoto Ichiro confirmed. "It was a male villager."

"Villagers?" Lu Changsheng pressed, "Can you tell who they are? Or are there any distinguishing features?"