Chapter 17 Abandoned Village
At this moment, the temple square was filled with a bustling scene of labor.
"One, two, three! Pull!"
"Civil Engineering Dog" was directing several new players, along with the three unfortunate kobold captives, to stand a huge log in the dug foundation.
Just then, noises came from two directions in the Misty Forest almost simultaneously.
"We're back! What a bumper harvest!"
"I'm not a husky!" His signature loud voice rang out first. Then, he and a few agile players emerged from the woods, dragging three knocked-out kobolds with vines.
"We caught three this time! They're all strong and capable! I almost got bitten on the butt by those man-eating plants over there while trying to catch them!" the husky boasted, wiping his sweat.
Meanwhile, the "lost team" led by "Hakimi North and South Green Beans" also ran back, panting heavily.
"Boss! Canned Food Boss!" Hakimi rushed up to "What Canned Food, I'll Tell You," who was walking out of the temple. "Forget about the kobolds! We've found big news! A hidden map! And smoke from a chimney!"
"Smoke?" The canned food's eyes narrowed, and he immediately realized the seriousness of the situation. "You mean, besides us, there are other living people?"
"Yes! It's right behind that abandoned village, in a ravine about three kilometers away!" Hakimi gestured. "We didn't dare to disturb them, so we rushed back to get reinforcements."
The two teams quickly joined forces.
Canned Food made a quick decision: "Husky, hand over the prisoners you captured to the Civil Engineering team and have them keep a close watch on them. Don't let them escape. The rest of you who are strong enough to fight, whether you bought breastplates or have metal weapons, assemble!"
"Target: That mountain hollow where smoke is coming from!"
"Remember, this might involve contact with humanoid NPCs, so everyone pull your pants up! Don't embarrass the gods!"
...
Twenty minutes later, an exploration team of fifteen elite players, led by Hakimi, passed through the abandoned village filled with corpses and silently reached the edge of the hidden mountain valley.
As soon as they peeked out, everyone gasped.
There is indeed a village nestled in the mountain valley.
But it could hardly be called a village; it was more like a refugee camp. A dozen or so dilapidated wooden huts were crammed together, surrounded by a pitiful wall made of thorns and rubble.
At this moment, this small village is facing annihilation.
Seven or eight enormous, mutated hyenas covered in pustules were frantically ramming into the village.
In the center of the village, beside a broken stone pillar, sat an old man with a tattered gray robe and a wrinkled face. He clutched a holy symbol that emitted a faint white light tightly in his hand, blood constantly spilling from the corner of his mouth, and his body trembling violently as if he were having a seizure.
A thin, paper-like white light curtain enveloped the village, centered on him. Each time a hyena rammed into the village, the light curtain would flicker violently, and the old man's face would turn paler.
"It's a temple cultivator!" Through the [Insight] function of the Heart Mirror, Canned Food saw the faint yellow name above the old man's head: Dying Temple Guardian.
Inside the light screen, dozens of ragged villagers huddled together in despair. Most of them were elderly people, women, and children, holding hoes, sticks, and some even carrying stones, their eyes filled with fear.
"That old man is dying," the husky whispered. "The light screen is about to shatter."
The words had barely left his mouth.
"puff--!"
The struggling cultivator suddenly spat out a mouthful of black blood, and the holy emblem in his hand shattered with a "crack".
"May the light...forgive..."
He murmured one last sentence, tilted his head, and breathed his last.
Buzz—!
The light curtain that had protected the village for who knows how long shattered instantly, like a soap bubble.
"Awooo—!!!"
The mutated hyenas, already starving and thirsty, howled excitedly and charged into the village, bringing with them a foul stench.
"It's over!"
"Mother!"
The villagers screamed in despair.
Just as the first hyena opened its blood-red maw, preparing to bite a little girl who had fallen down.
"Take action! Save the NPCs!"
The canned food let out a roar.
"Ha—! Let go of that girl!"
The three "Ha" characters, who had been unable to contain themselves for a long time, charged down the hillside like three cannonballs.
"Hakimi North and South Green Bean" took the lead, his rusty iron axe (now polished to a shine) carrying the momentum of its fall, and slammed it hard into the hyena's waist.
"Pfft!"
"-89, critical hit!"
"Agh!" The hyena screamed in agony as it was cleaved and sent flying.
Immediately afterwards, fifteen players appeared as if from the heavens.
"Stealing monsters!"
"To cover up the mission!"
"That one on the left is mine! Anyone who tries to take it will have to fight me!"
The players roared and charged into the battlefield. Although most of them were only level 2 or 3 and their equipment was very basic, these hyenas were, after all, just wild beasts, and there were only seven or eight of them. Faced with fifteen reckless and well-coordinated players (meaning they were stealing monsters from each other), they were instantly overwhelmed.
"Gangzi! Hold off that leader!"
"Husky! Cut its back! Poke its butt!"
The chaotic battle lasted only three minutes.
The village returned to silence after the last hyena was beaten to death with a dozen sticks and stones.
Only the excited discussions of the players could be heard:
Has it been shipped yet?
"Just a few scraps of leather, so poor."
"But this gives a lot of experience points!"
At this moment, the villagers who had been huddled in the corner finally came to their senses.
Looking at this group of "benefactors" who suddenly appeared, dressed strangely (some only wearing underwear) and behaving even stranger (touching the corpse), their eyes showed not only gratitude but also fear and confusion.
An elderly man with gray hair and a hideous scar on his face walked out shakily, leaning on a cane. He was the village chief of this dilapidated village.
"Thank you...thank you all for saving my life..."
The village chief tried to kneel down, but was stopped by the canned food. The players silently activated the translation function of the heart-protecting mirror.
"Old man, don't be so polite." The man in the can gave what he thought was a friendly smile (but to the villagers, the smile of this blood-covered man with an axe was rather eerie). His voice came through the breastplate after being translated, "It was nothing. We are… well, just passing adventurers."
"Adventurers?" The village chief paused, his eyes dimming. "In this land forsaken by the gods, what adventurers are there left... Humans without the protection of the gods will eventually become food for monsters."
He looked at the corpse of the dead monk on the ground, tears streaming down his face: "Brother Simon was our last hope. He's dead, and the gaze of the God of Light has completely departed from this place."
"Have all the young people run away?" the husky asked curiously. "Why do I see only the elderly, the weak, and the disabled here?"
"They ran away… Anyone who can still move their legs ran north." The village chief sighed. "I heard that there's a cathedral in 'Dawn Town' over there, and a bishop guarding it. People like us who can't run are just stuck here waiting to die."
At this point, the village chief seemed to remember something, raised his head, and looked at the canned goods with a last glimmer of hope in his cloudy eyes:
"My lords...you are so powerful, you must be the servants of some god, right?"
The villagers gathered around, their eyes gleaming with longing. In this world, the absence of divine protection meant death. If these powerful individuals could represent their god and accept the village…
"Well..."
The canned food and the surrounding players looked at each other in bewilderment.
How do we answer that? Should we say we're here to play games?
"Ahem," the canned food cleared its throat. "That's right, we are indeed the servants of the gods."
"Then...then may I ask which god you adults worship?" The village chief's beard trembled with excitement. "Is it the 'God of the Sun'? Or the 'God of Nature'? Or the 'King of Storms'? Or do you worship the 'Lord of Radiance' of White Stone City?"
"Well..."
Hakimi, quick to speak, blurted out, "Neither! Our god is much more handsome than those guys!"
He gestured and described (completely based on Livy's appearance in the temple):
"Our God lives in a huge, dilapidated black temple!"
"He was shrouded in black mist, so you couldn't see his face, but his eyes were purple-gold, which was terrifying!"
"And there were many tentacled-like black shadows dancing wildly around Him!"
"His voice sounded like it was coming from the depths of hell!"
As Hakimi described the scene, the villagers grew paler and paler, their bodies trembling like leaves.
"Black mist... tentacles... abyss..."
A middle-aged woman holding a child screamed in terror and collapsed to the ground: "It's an evil god! It's the legendary 'Abyssal Calamity'! It's a demon god that eats people without spitting out their bones!"
"What?!"
"They are cult members!"
"We've just escaped one wolf's den only to fall into another!"
The villagers erupted in chaos, their initial gratitude turning into utter terror. They instinctively retreated, huddling together, staring at the players as if they were demons.
The players were completely bewildered.
"Huh? No? We saved you!" the husky cried out pitifully.
"Why are you discriminating against our God? Although He does look a bit villainous, He pays out his salary (contribution points) on time!"
Seeing that the situation was about to get out of control, some villagers even picked up hoes, ready to fight to the death.
"Shut up, all of you!"
An old yet powerful roar rang out.
The village chief, whose face was scarred, suddenly slammed his cane hard against the ground.
He pushed aside the young man who was supporting him and walked step by step to the can. He looked at the [Evil God's Breastplate] on the can's chest, which emitted an eerie red light and had an eyeball embedded in the center (it was actually just a design). It was definitely the mark of an evil creation.
The old village chief's body trembled, but his eyes were more resolute than ever before.
"Village chief! They are followers of an evil god! They will devour our souls!" a villager cried out from behind.
"So what?!"
The village chief whirled around and roared at his people, "Did the true god save us?! Brother Simon prayed to the God of Light his whole life, did the god send down a ray of light when he died?!"
The entire room fell silent.
The village chief turned his head, looked at the canned goods, and then looked at the players.
At this moment, this group of "evil god's minions" had just killed the hyenas that were about to devour them and were standing in a pool of blood. Although they looked bizarre, they did not harm any of the villagers.
"As long as these children can live..."
The old village chief took a deep breath, his knees trembling, and slowly, heavily knelt down in front of the can.
"As long as we can save the living... what does it matter if we believe in an evil god?"
He raised his head, his eyes filled with determination:
"My lord, if you and your god do not despise us... we are willing to follow you even if it means offering our souls!"
[Ding! Server-wide story quest triggered: The Choice of Faith.]
[A desire for refuge has been detected in [an unnamed, deserted village].]
[Do you accept this village becoming a vassal state of the temple?]
"Huh?" The group of players were dumbfounded as they looked at the quest prompt that appeared in front of them.
"Do we get to decide how the plot unfolds?"