Chapter 62: DnD

Shen Lingxue nodded: "Hello, let me introduce you. These are all staff members from our TV station. This is Fang Xiu, Zhao Hao, and Liu Shuai. I'm sure you already know the purpose of our visit, right, Village Chief?"

Village Chief Wang nodded and smiled, "I know, I know. The city wants to develop a tourist attraction, so you're here to film the scenery of Heishui Village for promotional purposes. This is a good thing for our village. We'll be troubling you for a few more days."

"It's no trouble at all. This is our job. We hope you'll cooperate with us."

"Of course, of course. But it's already dark, so let's film tomorrow. By the way, there are no hotels in the village, so we'll have to invite you to stay at my house. It's a mountain village home, so I don't know if you city folks will be comfortable."

After exchanging a few more polite words, they followed Village Chief Wang to his home.

Village Chief Wang, as the village chief, had a home that was clearly better than the brick-and-tile houses of other villagers. It was a small courtyard made up of several flat-roofed houses, reminiscent of a simplified version of a traditional courtyard house.

"Gui Fang, the city journalists are here. Hurry up and prepare some food."

At Wang the village chief's shout, a sturdy middle-aged woman emerged from the house.

She seemed to have never seen so many city people before and was clearly at a loss upon seeing Fang Xiu and his group, not knowing where to put her hands.

"This is my daughter-in-law, Wang Guifang. My son is working in the city, so it's just the three of us living here now. You can rest assured, there's enough room for everyone.

Gui Fang, go catch a chicken and stir-fry some mushrooms and wild vegetables to entertain the guests."

Wang Gui Fang seemed eager to escape and hurried off to prepare the meal.

Zhao Hao didn't want to trouble them and quickly said, "Village Chief Wang, there's no need to trouble yourself. We already ate on the car and aren't hungry yet."

Shen Lingxue also agreed, "That's right, Village Chief Wang. We'll skip dinner. We've been driving all day and are tired. We'd like to rest early."

"Oh, I didn't think it through. Gui Fang, don't prepare dinner yet. Go boil some hot water. Fu Gui, take Miss Shen and the others to their rooms."

"Alright, Grandfather."

After some fuss, Fang Xiu and the others stayed at Village Chief Wang's house.

Since Village Chief Wang's house was large and there were only three people, there were many empty rooms, which were sufficient for Fang Xiu and the others to have one room each.

At night, after Village Chief Wang and the others had gone to sleep, Fang Xiu and the others gathered in their room.

"Have you noticed anything unusual?" Shen Lingxue asked the group.

Liu Shuai shook his head, indicating that he hadn't noticed anything.

Zhao Hao, however, sighed with emotion: "Back when I was working as a laborer, I thought my life was already tough enough. But now, compared to the village chief and his family, those days don't even count.

Wang Village Chief's family isn't wealthy, yet he still cooked chicken for us. I've heard that chickens are very important to them because they lay eggs, so they wouldn't kill a chicken unless it was too old."

Liu Shuai suddenly understood, "So that's why you lied and said you ate on the bus—you didn't want them to go to the trouble."

Zhao Hao nodded, "If possible, after the mission is completed, I want to donate some money to Heishui Village."

At this point, Shen Lingxue crossed her arms and said calmly, "Even though you're not doing well yourself and constantly face the risk of spiritual instability, you can't stand seeing others suffer."

Zhao Hao felt a bit awkward, but still insisted, "Aren't you the same? You also opposed eating the chicken when we were stewing it."

"I opposed it because we're on a mission outside, and we don't know where the strange entity is. Out of caution, we shouldn't eat food from others. Besides, while the chicken is precious to them, it's not like the whole family depends on it for eggs.

Although Heishui Village is a mountain village in a remote area, its resources are abundant. The villagers rely on the mountains and rivers for their livelihood. Take chickens, for example. There are countless wild mountain chickens roaming the mountains, and almost every household raises them. Some even sell them to the city, establishing a specialized brand focused on wild mountain chickens.

A single wild mountain chicken sells for several times the price of ordinary chickens."

Zhao Hao: "..."

He suddenly felt a bit awkward, as if a poor boy were trying to donate money to a millionaire.

Liu Shuai exclaimed in surprise, "The Black Water wild mountain chicken sold at exorbitant prices in supermarkets is from this village?"

Shen Lingxue nodded.

Zhao Hao felt even more awkward.

"Since we haven't discovered anything unusual, let's rest. We'll depart for the Black Water River early tomorrow morning. According to the records, the strange phenomenon is likely related to the Black Water River. Additionally, the three of you are newcomers, so it's best for you to sleep in the same room and take turns keeping watch. Remember, when facing strange phenomena, the absence of abnormalities is the greatest abnormality."

"What about you? Aren't you coming with us?" Zhao Hao asked Shen Lingxue.

Shen Lingxue sneered coldly, glancing at Zhao Hao: "After becoming a Spirit Tamer, everyone's personality is inevitably influenced by the strange forces, leading to more negative emotions than ordinary people. It's clear you've been affected, and no wonder—after all, the ability you awakened is of that nature."

Zhao Hao hurriedly rebutted, "What are you talking about? I didn't mean to sleep with you. I just think that since there are strange occurrences in Heishui Village, it's safer for us to stay together at all times."

"Do you even believe what you're saying?" Shen Lingxue sneered, then turned and walked away.

Normally, when executing a mission, Shen Lingxue would never choose to stay alone in a room, and might even stay awake all night. After all, facing mysterious events, one wrong move could be fatal.

But this time was different. She knew the truth.

This strange incident wasn't a C-level mission at all, but a D-level one, and might even be a D-within-D.

Wang Dehai was now taking Fang Xiu very seriously and didn't want him to take too many risks, but to improve his abilities, he had no choice but to send him on missions.

So, this strange incident was carefully selected by Wang Dehai specifically for Fang Xiu to gain experience.

And she, Shen Lingxue, was the babysitter.

Given her current strength, undertaking a D-class mission would have no effect on her own abilities, so her presence here is purely as a chaperone.

It's purely because Wang Dehai wants her to protect Fang Xiu and the others.

Fang Xiu has immense potential and cannot be allowed to fail. Although the fat man Liu Shuai can only teleport twenty centimeters, the agency has determined that once he advances to the second tier, his combat power will be no small matter.

As for Zhao Hao, he's only here because of Fang Xiu, just to make up the numbers.

This has left Shen Lingxue feeling quite annoyed.