It's time to become an evil god.

That's strange, so very strange.

Bai Ge observed Boss Li's back, covered his mouth with his hand as he pondered, and then looked at the others.

It seems that everyone has their own thoughts.

Bai Ge couldn't determine which of the people traveling with him was the player, and the clues indicated that there were three in the instance, which didn't mean that the other three were in the van earlier.

"Professor Bai, Mr. Li, we've been waiting for you for so long! Come, come, you must be tired after coming all this way. Come to my house for dinner."

The elderly man, leaning on a cane, slowly walked over with the help of others. His excessive enthusiasm, fake smiles, and the slightly obsequious manner of those around him made Bai Ge guess at Boss Li's methods.

The so-called hot spring development project must involve giving these people a lot of benefits in the early stages and making empty promises for the later stages.

Bai Ge's gaze fell on the two college students walking together. Without saying a word, they headed deeper into the village, seemingly familiar with the area, and soon disappeared from sight.

After exchanging a few insincere pleasantries with Village Chief Ding, Boss Li turned to Bai Ge and gave him a meaningful look.

Bai Ge, understanding the implication, stepped forward, took the village chief's hand, and asked under a pretext, "By the way, village chief, we're quite curious about the history of Genshin Village, and we're planning to do some background cultural promotion for the future hot spring resort. We'd like to know if there are any local legends in your village?"

"A local legend? Professor Bai, you've come to the right person."

Village Chief Ding took a puff of his pipe, exhaling smoke, and slowly said, "We used to have a mountain god with seventy-two goddesses here. They were very effective. It's a pity that the temple was forcibly demolished fifty years ago. Only our older generation knows about the legend of the seventy-two goddesses."

Bai Ge noticed the name mentioned by the villagers and quickly turned around, asking with surprise, "What? The Seventy-Two Goddesses Mountain Goddess?"

"correct."

Village Chief Ding noticed Bai Ge's lapse in composure and quickly asked, "Teacher Bai, oh no, Professor Bai, is something wrong?"

No, that's not right.

The Seventy-Two Goddesses Mountain God was the first team-based dungeon quest Bai Ge experienced. After defeating the Nuo God, the quest was marked as complete and he exited the dungeon. Why did it reappear? Could it be that the so-called Nuo God that was defeated back then was not the final boss?

No, dungeons don't assign meaningless, repetitive tasks; there's only one possibility.

The real problems of the Seventy-Two Goddess Mountain are only now beginning to emerge.

Genshin Impact Village is different from the old locust village. No household hangs a portrait of the White Kimono-sama, and there is nothing particularly strange about it.

For a moment, Bai Ge was at a loss for what to do.

Suddenly, he remembered the clues to the mission.

The three had arrived at Village Chief Ding's house, where the village chief had prepared food and wine and invited everyone to take a seat.

After a few rounds of drinks, Village Chief Ding and his wife were both tipsy and started talking non-stop, recounting the past of Genshin Impact Village. However, most of it consisted of information recorded in Bai Ge's notebook, and there weren't many secrets.

Bai Ge coughed lightly, poured wine for Village Chief Ding, and asked, "I know about the regular ceremonies held in Genshin Impact Village. Village Chief, would it be convenient for me to go and take a look?"

Upon hearing these words, the previously drunken Village Chief Ding instantly sobered up, looked at Bai Ge in surprise, and stammered, "You mean, oh no, I, I don't know what you're talking about?"

Seeing the village chief's terrified expression, Bai Ge nodded to Boss Li.

"Village Chief Ding, what secrets does your village hold?"

With a gloomy expression, Boss Li impatiently tapped the table with his fingers and said coldly, "If you don't tell the truth, you won't get a single penny from here!"

Chapter 550 Boss Li's Secret

"No no no no!"

Seeing that the cooked duck was about to fly away, Village Chief Ding's expression turned pale and then red, and even cold sweat broke out on his forehead. After thinking for a long time, he sighed and seemed to have made up his mind to tell what he knew. "Actually, I am just a representative of outsiders elected by the village. The real power in Genshin Village is held by the three elders."

Bai Ge was stunned for a moment, not expecting that there were other secrets in the village.

Village Chief Ding glanced at his wife, whose face was ashen, and then looked at Boss Li.

Boss Li didn't speak, but simply stretched out one hand. Da Zhuang, who was behind him, immediately took out a wad of cash from the box and placed it on the table, saying, "Go on."

Seeing the stack of gleaming banknotes, Village Chief Ding's eyes widened. He swallowed hard and forced a smile before saying, "There are indeed ceremonies in the village that outsiders cannot witness. I only know that they are held only during the Ghost Festival, and only true members of the Ding family are qualified to participate. Everyone else must close their doors and turn off the lights on that night and is not allowed to go out. We, who are not of the original Ding family but moved here, really didn't know that!"

Boss Li stared at Village Chief Ding with a gloomy face and said coldly, "Bullshit! Haven't you been curious about what kind of ceremony that was all these years?"

"Because the ceremony was held in the ancestral hall deep in the mountains, and it had to be late at night on the day of the Ghost Festival! Some villagers had followed out of curiosity before, and as a result, as a result... as a result, the next day they were found dead on the riverbank at the bottom of the valley. It seemed as if they were being chased by something and eventually fell off a cliff to their deaths. Moreover, the three officiants in the village threatened them not to call the police and buried them hastily. Since then, no one has dared to mention a single word about it."

No wonder these people are so tight-lipped about the village's secrets.

Bai Ge asked in a low voice, "Then, was there a tragic event in Genshin Impact Village that all the villagers kept to themselves?"

"what?"

Village Chief Ding scratched his head. "I really don't know. I only came to this village ten years ago. For anything earlier, you'll have to ask the village elders."

Boss Li didn't say anything, but instead gave Bai Ge a look, stood up, and walked towards the door.

Bai Ge followed him out. Boss Li looked Bai Ge up and down. The fawning expression he had on in the car had vanished, leaving only a blank look on his face.

"Professor Bai, what should we do next?"

Bai Ge said with a smile, "Of course Boss Li knows what to do. I'm just doing my job for money. The initiative is still in your hands."

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant."

Boss Li's face suddenly darkened. He leaned close to Bai Ge and whispered a threat, "If things get out of control and the villagers protest, we'll have to kill a lot of people."

However, Bai Ge was not intimidated at all and coldly replied, "At that time, Boss Li should be more concerned about whether the villagers will cut off his head and stick it on a bamboo pole."

"...Hahahahaha."

Mr. Li was taken aback, then burst into laughter. As he laughed, he suddenly coughed, unable to breathe properly. "I had heard that Professor Bai was the kind of person who would risk his life for academic pursuits, and now I see it's true. My bodyguard Dazhuang and I will go to the village for a while. Professor Bai, please be careful on your own."

After saying that, Boss Li left Village Chief Ding's house with his bodyguards.

"Hey."

After Boss Li left, the two college students who had been hiding behind the tree quietly peeked out and gestured for Bai Ge to come over.

Bai Ge looked at the two of them curiously, stepped forward and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Stay away from Boss Li."

Jiang said in a low voice, "You have no idea what that guy is really like."

"I don't need to know."

Bai Ge said casually, "He provides the money, I do the work, and we have the same goals and interests, so there's no need for us to fall out."

"You're trying to negotiate with a tiger for its skin."

Bai Ge chuckled lightly, "Who do you think looks most like a tiger between the two of us?"

Yu Lin shook his head, revealing a completely different demeanor from that of a college student, and said softly, "You'd better watch yourself. I saw more than a dozen blood-soaked corpses following behind Boss Li."

After saying that, he pulled Jiang away, and the two disappeared into the depths of the dark street.

More than a dozen blood-soaked corpses?

Bai Ge pondered the other person's words, a smile appearing on his lips. "Interesting."

"These two are clearly not players; everyone here has their own little secrets."

"However, tomorrow is the Ghost Festival, and if nothing unexpected happens, something unexpected will definitely happen. The entire Genshin Impact village is so big, why haven't the remaining three shown up yet? Logically speaking, if outsiders appear in the village, they should at least try to get close to me."

"Unless... the remaining three are unable to get close to me for some reason?"

Bai Ge glanced at the time on his watch. More than half a day had passed since the mission began, and there were only three possibilities for why no companions had appeared: either they were being held against their will, they were already dead, or the third was the situation Bai Ge least wanted to face.

This instance blocks damage from teammates.

After all, puzzle games are also a type of battle royale, and perhaps the fewer players who complete the game, the more information they can obtain.

"The village is too quiet during the day. Let's check it out at night."

Bai Ge didn't have much time to unravel the mystery. Before the secret ritual could take place, he needed to learn about the terrifying past events from the villagers. But since even Village Chief Ding didn't know, he needed a new breakthrough.

After wandering around the village, Bai Ge noticed something unusual.

There is a well in the village, but the villagers fetch water from the river hundreds of meters away. Moreover, the well water is clean and clear, and does not look like a polluted water source at all.

Night had fallen before they knew it. The night in Genshin Impact Village was eerily quiet, with only a handful of lights on. Most of the young people had gone to work in big cities, leaving behind mostly women, children, and the elderly. Bai Ge calculated the time; knowing the system's usual pattern, something strange would definitely happen in the village at midnight.

At night, a thick white fog filled the village, gradually obscuring the view. Without the help of props, Bai Ge could only barely make out the outline of the ancient well.

pat.

Footsteps echoed from the depths of the darkness. Bai Ge straightened up and looked in the direction from which the footsteps were approaching.

Boss Li and his bodyguard Dazhuang slowly approached the ancient well, with shadowy figures following behind them as if countless ghostly shadows were on their side!

He walked up to the ancient well, stopped, and suddenly turned to look at Bai Ge hiding in the haystack.

Mr. Li's skin was bluish-purple all over, his face was covered with lividity, and even his pupils were cloudy and unfocused, making him look like a walking corpse.

"Professor Bai, there's no need to hide it anymore, come out."

Mr. Li's voice was cold, numb, and stiff, as if a corpse were speaking.

"Doesn't Professor Bai want to know what secrets this well holds?"

Chapter 551 He Said You're a Son of a Bitch

As expected, Boss Li is not as simple as imagined. On the surface, he is a terminally ill boss with cancer, but in reality, he is involved with some terrifying and evil beings.

Mr. Li smiled calmly and asked softly, "Professor Bai, aren't you curious why a billionaire like me would listen to your ridiculous and absurd theories and support you in spending a lot of money to find so-called mysterious power? Actually, I had already witnessed that kind of terrifying power before Professor Bai, but it came from a sorcerer in Southeast Asia."

Mr. Li unbuttoned his shirt, revealing a bulging, white belly. While it was a rather unsightly sight, under the moonlight, his skin began to writhe, as if something was lurking inside. A look of pain crossed Mr. Li's face; he clenched his teeth, cold sweat pouring down his back. Then, as the thing moved to his beer belly, it suddenly revealed a contorted, agonizing face.

"Help me, please help me!"

"Let me go! Let me go now!"

"It's so crowded here, someone help me!"

First the first picture, then the second, then the third, Mr. Li's entire body was covered with countless faces calling for help, as if his internal organs under his skin had disappeared and been replaced by human faces.

"Shut up, all of you!"

Mr. Li shouted, but the sounds seemed to be cut off, and all was silent. He was in so much pain that he was drenched in sweat, his back soaked with perspiration.

Snap, snap.

Bai Ge nodded thoughtfully, a cryptic smile playing on his lips, and said, "Interesting, but I'd like to know more about Boss Li's backstory."

Mr. Li wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and began to recount his experience.