Su Er had long had a vague premonition that his understanding of the game was different from that of others, and his communication with Wei Jun in the ruined temple once again proved this.
Whether or not to stick to one path was once a troubling question.
Nowadays——
Suer turned his head slightly, looked at his companions and said, "Practice is the only criterion for testing truth, and truth is in the hands of a few people. And the results of my practice are all good. I represent the minority, which means I am the truth."
"…"
Wei Jun's throat moved, and he glanced at Ji Heng: "Don't you want to go and persuade him?"
"How to persuade him?" Ji Heng said calmly: "Go find him another fortune teller?"
The discussion of the topic came to an abrupt end.
To be fair, Su Er sat up straight, looked at the old man and said slowly, "That's too general. Anyone on the street would say that."
The old man looked unhappy, but he could not refute it. After all, he could not tell the extra things.
He resisted the urge to say "get out" and instead directed his anger elsewhere. With a thud, the cup in his hand was slammed down on the stone table, leaving a crack on the bottom.
"Next one." The old man said with a bad look.
There were many questions he wanted to ask, but judging from the other party's expression, there was indeed some murderous intent in his eyes, so Su Er wisely retreated.
Wei Jun felt a little regretful that he didn't stop Suer from stepping forward first. Now he was sitting opposite the old man, facing a face full of resentment.
"You will drown in one day," the old man said coldly, "If you want to live, you must deceive God."
Wei Jun cooperated and asked how to deceive.
The old man's expression became more cheerful: "It's very simple..."
With a flick of his sleeve, the cup fell to the ground, shattering into pieces and splashing the remaining liquid on the inner wall. Wei Jun subconsciously produced an extra talisman in his hand. Seeing that the old man had no intention of attacking again, he remained highly alert, but did not make a move.
His judgment was soon proved to be correct. The old man had been sitting still, and the corpse fluid that seeped into the ground attracted several colorful snakes.
I'd been trying to escape the trap, but now that I had a chance to observe it closely, I realized it wasn't like any other snake. Its face...was strangely human-like. Its head was much larger than a normal snake's, and unlike the usual round, fierce eyes, its eyes seemed to sparkle with wisdom.
The old man walked over and touched the snake, then smiled faintly and said, "It's recorded in the books that many powerful gods have human faces and snake bodies."
Wei Jun is not unfamiliar with this. The most well-known ones are Nuwa and Zhu Jiuyin.
The old man continued, "Fate is predetermined, but there is a way to escape it." His eyes turned increasingly gentle as he spoke, "This is the result of my research."
After the flower snake licked the corpse fluid on the ground, it curled up to one side and hissed a few times. The old man placed a book in front of it. The flower snake used its tongue to turn the pages and read with great interest.
This scene made everyone present's scalps tingle. Wei Jun frowned: "Are these...humans or snakes?"
"They will become those who escape the cycle of reincarnation," the old man said calmly. "They will grow up little by little, and eventually evolve into snakes with human faces."
Players, especially women, all had the urge to vomit. After staying in the dungeon for too long, they had seen too many bloody and mangled scenes and could barely control themselves. What they feared most was encountering some living creatures that they could not identify.
The old man didn't think there was anything wrong with his behavior. He asked proudly, "What do you think?"
"You're right." Suer said firmly.
The old man looked over.
Su Er: "Human lifespan is definitely not just a hundred years. I have done a lot of research in this area and am good at alchemy. I can give you a few for free."
I thought to myself that even if I mixed it with elements like sulfur and mercury, it wouldn't be poisonous enough to kill you.
Logically, his words should be the most satisfactory, but the old man always has a bad impression of this person and even wants to kill him.
Wei Jun interrupted their conversation and said, "So if I want to survive, I have to become a half-human, half-ghost monster?"
The old man was quite dissatisfied with the 'monster' talk and pursed his dry lips. "That's not necessary. Just choose a snake and keep it with you. Feed it with your own flesh and blood every day."
He had no intention of hiding anything and spoke directly to the truth: "But some of these kids have big appetites, some have small appetites. It depends on your luck which one you choose." He paused and looked at the other players with a smile: "The same goes for you. There are still many in the house. Choose one each."
A life-threatening question, the difference lies in how many lives are lost.
Wei Jun narrowed his eyes and asked, "Choose now?"
"We are all destined to be together," the old man waved his hand, "You can stay here for a day and interact with them."
After saying that, he left with the thickest and longest flower snake.
The atmosphere did not ease with his departure, it even became heavier.
Li Li hinted, "Let's find a quiet place to talk."
Who knows if these snakes can understand human language and report to the old man.
Everyone moved to an open area.
Su Mei was staying at home quietly at this moment, not daring to make any trouble. She had an inherent fear of snakes.
In order to make it easier to talk, Song Jiayue knocked the white fox unconscious before speaking: "The rules of killing have emerged."
The ghosts and monsters in the dungeon cannot kill the players at will. They will always find ways to create one condition after another. These conditions can turn a hope of life into a dead end, forcing them to step in.
Li Li, like Su Mei, was naturally afraid of slippery creatures. She said fearfully, "What if I choose the wrong one?"
Wei Jun suddenly looked at Su Er and Ji Heng, who had been silent the whole time, and laughed: "What are you thinking about? Why are you so absent-minded?"
Suer: "Thinking about the host."
The fortune teller was the most elusive host he had ever met.
"..." Wei Jun looked at Ji Heng with a complicated expression: "Are you also missing the fortune teller?"
Ji Heng shook his head and answered Li Li's question: "If you make the wrong choice, choose again."
Li Li was surprised: "But the old man said that each person can only choose one."
Ji Heng said calmly, "If the old doesn't go, the new won't come. Since he provided the snakes, he should be responsible for after-sales service."
Li Li wiped his neck and said, "You want..."
Ji Heng nodded slightly: "A snake itself is much easier to deal with than a ghost."
Su Er raised his eyebrows when he heard this. Ji Heng always gave people the impression of being very low-key and thoughtful. He was also curious about how the nickname "Ghost-Seeing" came about.
Now it seems that there is often a cause for every effect.
Wei Jun thought it was feasible: "I'm just afraid it might anger the old man."
"The snake's death has nothing to do with us."
Under Wei Jun's skeptical gaze, Ji Heng glanced at Su Er and said, "The old man treats snakes as humans. Like him, we feel that this snake is too lonely, so we decided to find a companion for the flower snake."
Su Er understood: "Then we can only blame these snakes for their bad luck and say that I killed them?"
Ji Heng nodded: "Remember to set up the scene to create the illusion of accidental death."
The white fox slowly woke up. Song Jiayue had a strong hand and his neck was still numb from the hit. Before he could recover, he heard this crazy conversation and felt that it would be better to faint.
She had always thought that she was miserable enough, and now she suddenly felt a little sympathetic to the snake... and she was arranged clearly without realizing it.
After the plan was finalized, Ji Heng looked at Wei Jun and said, "You and Song Jiayue choose first, and the others will make the decision tomorrow."
Wei Jun nodded, saying that this was safer. Firstly, their death time was the earliest, and secondly, the attack power of snakes was still unknown, so it would be better to find one or two and observe them first.
I was able to move around the house again and didn't encounter the same dilemma as before.
It is a cloudy day today, and there are many snakes out and about. Some are hanging upside down on the eaves, and some are coiled around thick tree trunks. Fortunately, the flower snakes did not show any intention of actively attacking.
After walking around for most of the way, Wei Jun concluded: "The most obvious difference is the size of the head."
Some of these snakes are even about to grow into a complete human face.
Song Jiayue and Wei Jun chose two completely opposite ones, one was almost forming a complete human face, and the other looked very weak.
They went to find the old man. When the old man heard that the two had already made their choice, he smiled and said: "Feed the chosen snake with some of your blood, and it will follow you."
No one left the deserted house that night. Although Song Jiayue was considered very brave, she still felt scared when being followed by a snake all the time.
Players gathered in the lobby and recorded the time and amount of blood feeding.
Whenever a flower snake is hungry, it will stare at people with its tongue lolling, making an attacking gesture. Wei Jun conducted an experiment on himself, having a white fox scratch a little flesh from the tip of its finger with its claws. He found that once the flesh was added, the flower snake's need for blood was much less.
Song Jiayue suddenly had an idea: "What would happen if I fed it other people's blood?"
The two sides took turns feeding the snake, and the flower snake suddenly became irritable, with anger flashing in its vertical pupils. The two then stopped this dangerous attempt.
In the middle of the night, the big snake was still relatively calm, but the little snake began to ask for blood. Wei Jun fed it half a bowl and it was still not satisfied.
Ji Heng hinted with his eyes that the snake couldn't be left. With his other hand, he gently stroked the white fox's fur. Su Mei immediately understood that he was going to push her out to fight the snake.
"Wei Jun will be with you. You can only live if we live."
A ghostly voice sounded faintly in my ears.
Seeing that they had made the decision, Song Jiayue took the big snake out for a walk in the yard. Su Mei knew the situation and pretended to use her claws to drain Wei Jun's blood. At the same time, the flower snake hissed and circled on the ground, as if urging him to do so.
Wei Jun took a deep breath, his eyes fixed, and his hands moved so fast that they almost left afterimages. He firmly and accurately grasped the snake's vital point, and with a flick of his white fox claws, he finished off the human-faced snake more smoothly than he had imagined.
Ji Heng: "Drain the blood and tie a knot to cover the wound."
Wei Jun did as he was told.
Ji Heng: "There's a well in the courtyard. The water is filled with bones. The corpse fluid the old man drank was probably extracted from it."
"Okay!" Wei Jun said with a smile, "We've already found a place to dump the body."
The scene in the well was very disgusting. There were many bones floating around, and the snake's body was resting on one of the bones, half-sunken.
The sinful night gradually dissipated. At daybreak, the old man came out with a small teapot, ready to pour the corpse fluid, when he suddenly heard a howl. Thinking someone had died, he happily walked over.
When he realized that the source of the sound was close to the well, his smile gradually faded.
Sur lay by the well, shedding two crocodile tears. When he heard footsteps, he turned around and cried out in grief, "Snake, the snake has drowned!"
"…"
Wei Jun really couldn't perform this kind of effect, so he just kept silent and pretended to be immersed in sadness.
The old man walked quickly to the well, and the lid of the small teapot made a clanging sound due to his quick steps.
Seeing the snake's corpse inside, the old man's face froze and he turned around abruptly: "What happened?"
At this moment, his eyes were as cold and cruel as a snake, and the players present couldn't help but feel frightened.
No one answered. Seeing the old man thoroughly enraged, Ji Heng hugged the white fox and whispered, "All living things have spirits. My friend was predicted to drown, and I think this snake, repaying the favor of its blood, took the initiative to protect him from the disaster... Ah, this is truly moving!"