Strange things happen, and I drive the evil god mad by chasing debts.

Suona, rotten wood, sacrifice... This damned sense of familiarity.

As soon as Shen Qingchan woke up, she used the muscle memory etched into her DNA to determine her situation.

She was locked in a small, bumpy wooden box, covered with a heavy wedding dress.

Outside, there was music that sounded like a funeral procession.

Isn't this the unlucky NPC, Falling Flower Cave Girl, from the sandbox game "The Mysterious Descent," which she played eight hundred times in order to get all the achievements?

"What kind of international joke is this?"

Shen Qingchan sneered inwardly, a sense of utter absurdity rising within her.

"Damn, I'm sick of playing through the whole game, and now I'm back in the starting area, and I'm the first sacrifice to be killed by the plot?"

[Ding! The system has detected that the host's soul strength is highly compatible with the rules of this world.]

[The Rule-Based Survival System is officially integrated!]

[Current Scene: Fallen Soul Slope, the Cave God's Wedding.]

[Host's identity: Fallen Flower Cave Maiden (awaiting sacrifice)]

Main Quest: Survive tonight and successfully obtain the Cave God's "Wedding Token".

[New player bonus: Three random rules have been loaded.]

As soon as the system notification sounded, Shen Qingchan moved her fingers and touched the rough, cold wooden board.

My nose was filled with the smell of rotten wood, mixed with a sweet smell of cheap incense burning. It made me nauseous if I smelled it for too long.

Oh no, this is a coffin.

Outside, there was the sound of wood creaking and rattling, and several pairs of feet stomping on the ground, heavy and aimless.

"Let's lift the sedan chair!"

When that man shouted in his hoarse voice, the wind in the valley seemed to swirl around, sending chills down people's spines.

Shen Qingchan narrowed her eyes as a pale blue virtual panel appeared before her.

[Rule 1: The cave god prefers quiet brides. Any offering that makes noise will be considered "unclean" by the wedding procession and killed on the spot.]

Rule Two: The cave god only eats live offerings; dead things will defile its cave.

Rule 3: There are three "things" in the wedding procession that are not human.

"Quiet?"

Shen Qingchan smirked. Ha, what a load of bullshit.

What she hates most is having others set rules for her.

Especially in this game where she has figured out all the loopholes.

She raised her hand, mustered all her strength, and slammed her fist into the coffin lid!

"Thump!"

A muffled thud echoed on the mountain road.

The four burly men carrying the red-lacquered coffin trembled, their feet slipped, and the coffin tilted violently, almost tipping over.

"Oh my god! What's going on?!"

The pockmarked man at the front of the line was so frightened that his legs cramped and his voice trembled.

"Stop panicking! Hold them steady!"

An old man wearing a faded white long gown and carrying a pipe squeezed through the crowd; he was Shen Dafu, the village chief of Luohun Village.

His old face was long and drawn, and his eyes were full of malice.

"This is the 'goods' that the Cave God specifically requested! If anything goes wrong, our entire village will be executed!"

He swaggered and cursed, enjoying the fearful looks the villagers gave him.

In Luohun Village, he was the local tyrant. He said that whoever was chosen as a sacrifice by the cave god had to obediently die.

"Village chief, this Shen Qingchan... could she be a zombie?"

A villager asked in a low voice.

Shen Dafu's face darkened. He walked to the coffin and banged the coffin lid hard with the end of his copper pipe, making a loud "bang bang" sound.

"Shen Qingchan! You brat, behave yourself!"

He cursed in a low voice, each word like shards of ice, "Being able to serve the Cave God is a blessing you've accumulated over eight lifetimes! If you dare to cause trouble again, I'll nail you to this hole right now with peach wood nails!"

His voice was particularly jarring in the quiet woods.

The surrounding villagers also began to whisper and point at the coffin.

"Exactly, to be favored by the Cave God is such a blessing, this girl really doesn't know what's good for her."

"That's right. What if we anger the cave god and he brings down disaster?"

"Village Chief Shen is an envoy who can speak with the Cave God; listening to him is definitely the right thing to do!"

Inside the coffin, Shen Qingchan listened to the discussions outside.

Ha, what a blessing?

These idiots.

She took a deep breath and gathered her strength.

Seeing no movement from inside the coffin, Shen Dafu sneered smugly, "You brat, you're just afraid of dying..."

He hadn't finished speaking.

Click!

A sickening sound of wood snapping.

Everyone watched as the coffin lid, which had been nailed shut with eight nails, was simply blown off from the inside!

"boom!"

The coffin lid spun out and crashed with a bang at Shen Dafu's feet, scattering dirt everywhere.

"what!"

Shen Dafu screamed in fright and kept backing away, dropping his pipe to the ground.

It fell silent immediately.

It's so fucking quiet.

Even the wind stopped.

Everyone forgot to breathe, their eyes almost popping out of their sockets, staring intently at the broken coffin.

Shen Qingchan sat up from the coffin.

She ripped off the obstructive red veil, revealing a pale face, which was frighteningly calm.

Those eyes, which should have looked like those of a dead person, were now eerily bright.

It's a light only wolf cubs possess, wild and cold.

She raised the corner of her eye slightly, with a lazy yet slightly wicked look, and her gaze fell on the terrified Shen Dafu.

"Good fortune?"

Shen Qingchan patted the wood chips off her wedding dress. The sound wasn't loud, but everyone could hear it clearly.

She braced herself with her hand, flipped the coffin over, and landed steadily.

Her bright red wedding dress was so dazzling it hurt the eyes.

She looked at Shen Dafu, who was sprawled on the ground, tilted her head, and although she was smiling, the smile sent chills down one's spine.

"Such a great blessing, here you go, do you want it? My dear... Village Chief Shen?"

The villagers were so terrified when they saw the girl emerge from the coffin that they were speechless with fear.

The energy this girl has is absolutely terrifying.

Is this still the same Shen Qingchan who is usually gentle and weak, and blushes when she speaks loudly?

"You...you vixen! How dare you show yourself!"

Shen Dafu let out a "hoarse" sound, squeezing out words, and his hand pointing at Shen Qingchan trembled like he had Parkinson's disease.

"Why wouldn't you dare?"

Shen Qingchan walked towards him.

Her red shoes crunched on the fallen leaves, each step feeling like a sharp, piercing touch on her heart. "Wasn't I supposed to be the bride the Cave God specifically chose?"

She stopped in front of Shen Dafu, bent down, and looked at him closely, her eyes like those of someone watching a monkey show on stage.

"Shen Dafu, you keep talking about the Cave God getting married, so I'd like to ask, if it's a marriage, where did the dowry from the Cave God go?"

bride price?!

The moment those two words were uttered, the crowd erupted in chaos.

Shen Dafu's face turned pale. He looked away for a moment, but then immediately glared back, stubbornly holding on.

"Nonsense! Utter nonsense!"

His voice cracked from shouting, and it was clear he was bluffing. "The marriage of the Cave God is a divine command! A blessing! How can you defile it with mortal dowries! You are showing disrespect to the gods!"

The henchmen behind him realized what was happening and started shouting too.

"That's right! Shen Qingchan, don't be ungrateful! The village chief fought for this opportunity for our village, and you still dare to mention money?"

"You're obsessed with money! You'd even take things from the gods! Are you out of your mind?!"

The villagers were already foolish, and after being fooled like this, their eyes changed when they looked at Shen Qingchan. They were filled with contempt and anger, as if she had dug up someone's ancestral grave.