I, the screenwriter, have experienced a resurgence of inspiration.

"Is this the location of our mission?"

Although Zhao Weilai found it strange, he still walked over to the red paper and examined it carefully:

"...'A demon dwells in the Orchid Garden. We cordially invite heroes from all over the world to capture it. We are deeply grateful...Respectfully left by Master Hu.'"

Almost instantly, they all thought of their mission prompt:

Welcome to the instance: "The Fox in the Orchid Garden"

[Total number of players in the current instance: 50]

[Instance Type: Annihilation/Elimination]

[Mission Description: You are a traveling demon hunter. A few days ago, a friend wrote to you, mentioning that there are monsters appearing in Songjiang County. You have just arrived in Songjiang County and heard that there are evil spirits in "Lanyuan" that eat people and breathe fire every day.]

[Main Quest 1: There's a ghost in the Orchid Garden. Find a way to enter and investigate. (Failure will deduct 200 points)]

……

"I know that! That's how it's portrayed on TV! Tearing it off means we've accepted the mission, right?"

Deng Ziwen happily grabbed the red paper, his movements so fast that no one around him could react—while Zhao Weilai slapped her silly boyfriend's arm:

"Are you stupid? Didn't you see the constables with knives watching over there?!"

The constable with a sword on his side was so startled by Deng Ziwen tearing down the notice that he was about to draw his sword, but after glancing at Zhao Weilai and his companions' attire, he sheathed his sword and explained politely:

"So that the important person may know, this notice is an official document that Hu Yuanwai asked the county government to post. It must not be destroyed at will. Anyone who destroys it will be punished with one hundred strokes of the cane and exiled three hundred li."

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, brother. I'm new here and I really didn't know this rule."

When Deng Ziwen heard "one hundred strokes of the cane," he withdrew his hand and quickly bowed to the bailiff in apology. However, the bailiff seemed even more frightened than he was, bowing and scraping repeatedly.

"No, no, please rise, sir. How can we be acquainted with such an honorable person?"

One of them apologized hastily, while the other said he dared not; their heads were lowered than the other's.

……

"Alright, you two are bowing to each other like husband and wife here?"

Ding Feifan grabbed Deng Ziwen and asked the trembling bailiff:

"Hey... young man, my companion is a bit silly. We are a few demon hunters from out of town. We came here because we heard that there are monsters around."

"We don't know how to get to the Orchid Garden. Could you please tell us more details, and what about the man-eating demon in the Orchid Garden?"

As he spoke, he discreetly slipped something into the hand of the constable, avoiding the crowd.

The constable initially wanted to refuse, but when he squeezed it, he found a hard object that looked like silver. Upon closer inspection, his eyes nearly popped out of his head!

It was actually a one-tael gold ingot!

What a generous gesture!

The kickback he received was ten taels of silver, equivalent to his annual salary!

……

The constables who witnessed this were filled with remorse, becoming even more convinced that Zhao Weilai and his group were someone of great importance. They rudely chased away the crowd who were looking at the notice.

"Go away, stop crowding around! There's a monkey trainer over there, go perform over there!"

"Come on, come on, Lu Da, why aren't you leaving yet? Are you going to catch demons or exorcise monsters if you stay here?"

"Watch out, evil spirits might escape from the Hu family and devour you!"

The crowd of onlookers dispersed, and for a time, only Zhao Weilai and his group remained in front of the government office.

The constable took the money and immediately spilled the beans:

"What you may not know is that the Hu family built a garden in this area, which was named 'Orchid Garden' because it was full of orchids. The owner of the Orchid Garden, Mr. Hu, was a very philanthropist in this area."

Several months ago, a monstrous demon over four zhang tall suddenly appeared outside the Lan Garden wall, spying on Miss Hu. Later, it even shouted loudly, forcing Master Hu to marry his unmarried daughter to it!

"Yes, yes, that evil spirit was terrifying; it ate more than a dozen monks and Taoist priests who came to exorcise it."

Another constable rubbed his hands together, as if afraid of missing something, and added:

"If you gentlemen wish to see some excitement, I'll recommend a good place—there's a Fulai Inn not far from Lan Garden. If you stay there, you can get a glimpse of Master Hu's house. After midnight, the evil spirit will reveal itself. Just watch the spectacle, but absolutely do not venture into Lan Garden!"

Zhao Weilai and Su Ya exchanged a glance.

The three new players behind him were already a little scared and kept swallowing.

Ding Feifan's face remained expressionless; he simply touched the prosthetic eye installed in his right eye and suggested to Zhao Weilai:

"Captain, I also suggest we observe the situation first before starting the mission."

"it is good."

Zhao Wei glanced at the constable, thought for a moment, and asked in a low voice, "Young man, is there anywhere around here that sells clothes?"

Although their clothes were practical for movement, they were too conspicuous in the dungeon and easily recognized by other players.

She couldn't guarantee that all the players entering the same instance were thinking of peaceful coexistence like them.

"Clothes? Oh, you mean a shop that sells custom-made clothing? Yes, yes, yes! Go out this road, then turn into Lishui Lane, and you'll see Fulai Inn. Opposite the inn is the best clothing shop in the county. I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"

After the constable finished speaking, the group glanced at the list again, and Su Ya raised her phone and took a picture of the red paper.

[Emergency Contact Phone (Purple): It's a smartphone, but if you enter your player ID, you can talk to other players remotely. (Talk time: 10 minutes, cooldown: 1 hour, cannot be used across instances.)]

……

……

……

Following the directions of the constable, the group arrived at the Fulai Inn, but instead of entering, they went to a clothing shop to change into clothes more in line with the era.

The shop owner originally thought that Zhao Weilai and Su Ya were women and wanted to style their hair, but he found that their hair only reached their backs, which scared him so much that he almost stopped doing business.

In the end, Zhao Weilai had to pay extra to buy two riding outfits. He didn't let his hair down; instead, he tied it up high behind his head.

Although it looks a bit strange, at least it doesn't stand out too much.

……

"So the spiritual life of people in ancient times was not low at all. Look at this teahouse, look at this snack shop, pastry shop, gambling den—forget about this, hey, there are even monkey shows."

—Su Ya hadn't been a member of the Jiangcheng team for very long, but she was about the same age as Zhao Weilai and, being kind-hearted, was quickly accepted by the other team members.

In this instance mission, Liu Guilan and Tan Moli chose to submit an "Instance Refuge Application," which means entering a low-difficulty instance and bypassing the high-difficulty instance, which is why they were not with Zhao Weilai and the others.

"What an adorable monkey!"

Zhao Weilai also saw the monkey trainer and her monkey surrounded by the crowd.

The monkey trainer was a young woman with high eyebrows and deep-set eyes, who looked like she had foreign blood. Her companion was a towering Kunlun slave with dark skin who always lowered his chin and peeked at people when he looked at them.

The couple kept more than a dozen monkeys, all of them fluffy and very cute.

Some were kept in cages, chirping and jumping around, while others perched obediently on a woman's shoulder, chained by a thin chain, jumping through fire hoops, walking on tightropes, clapping, and making faces—they were so lively they looked like real people.

Upon further inquiry, Zhao Weilai learned that the monkey trainer and his companions had no money to stay at an inn, so they were performing here to earn money.

……

"That was fun! That was fun!"

"Great! One more time! One more time!"

"Hey lady, can you get that big monkey to climb that pole?! I'll give you a reward if it does!"

The woman with high eyebrows and deep-set eyes glanced at the crowd, her gaze landing on Zhao Weilai and the others before quickly shifting away. She then pulled out a willow whip and lashed it with a "crack" at the large, unmoving monkey.

"Squeak squeak squeak! Squeak squeak squeak!"

The monkey was in pain from the beating, and its two feet kept jumping on the ground, but a hint of hatred appeared in its eyes, and it refused to climb the pole.

"..."

The woman mumbled something in Spanish, and Kunlun Nu stood up, grabbed a whip, and began to beat the monkey mercilessly until tears streamed down his face.

Zhao Weilai, Su Ya, and the others frowned as they watched.

The surrounding audience couldn't stand it anymore and started throwing copper coins as rewards, telling the Kunlun slave to stop beating the monkey.

The monkey trainer gave a wicked smile and gestured to Kunlun Nu. The man then struck even harder, and the large monkey began to wail and cry like a human:

"Waaaaaah!"

Zhao Wei couldn't stand it anymore and pulled Su Ya to leave, but the latter tugged at her sleeve, gesturing for her to look across the street.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Weilai was stunned.

A pair of exceptionally good-looking twins stood in the crowd.

A man and a woman, similar in height and build, almost as if they were made from the same mold, with strikingly beautiful features and an eerie aura.

The two had initially just watched coldly as the monkey trainer abused the monkey, but the trainer seemed to have taken a liking to the twins. He approached with a smile, carrying the monkey, and spoke to them in broken Chinese:

"Beauty...Hello, beautiful sir."

She reached out as if to touch the face of the twin with the more defined features, but the next second, something unexpected happened:

"!"

"Snap!"

"Aaaaaah! Murder!"

"Quickly, call the constables! Murder has occurred!"

—No one saw how the twins moved their hands, but the monkey trainer's arm was severed at the root and fell straight to the ground, and the monkey immediately ran away.

"Who do you think you are, to dare lay a hand on us?"

Zhao Weilai heard the ghostly, beautiful woman speak, a small mole under her eye appearing as if it were bleeding blood:

"Go to hell, go to hell, go to hell, go to hell, go to hell."

Each curse was like overlapping ghostly whispers, eerie and terrifying.