Chapter 38: The Road Home (The Ruined Village Concluded)

"It was never the River God who needed it," Liang Dan said.

Zhang Yumeng let out a laugh. "True. You only realize that once you've grown up."

"This sacrifice," Liang Dan continued, "hurt so many innocent people."

"No." Zhang Yumeng sat up. "Since the sacrifices began, two groups of outsiders have come to Zhang Village. Only you adults with such poor judgment could fail to tell the real from the false."

Liang Dan’s heart felt heavy. She sighed softly, "So, the ones who came in later were all just her projections."

He Yu, standing to the side, added coolly, "Not projections—illusions."

"I see," Liang Dan said, feeling a sense of relief. "So, from start to finish, you never intended to harm outsiders."

"No," He Yu replied. "We really did want to kill you. When you're seeking revenge, you just kill everyone in your path; there’s no need to care about who is innocent."

Zhang Yumeng added, "It makes no difference to us who dies."

He Yu continued, "Actually, there was something I lied to you about earlier. The reason we were able to watch them build the boat wasn't because they wanted to take us with them; it was because we wanted to destroy the boat to stop them from leaving. They never, ever intended to take us with them."

He Yu smiled at Liang Dan, revealing two standard canine teeth. "Big sister, you're so kind, you must think we're terrible, right?"

"I don't think so," Liang Dan said.

"Then do you think they were terrible for abandoning us?"

"I don't think so, either."

"Fine," He Yu said, lying back down. "I wish you a smoother journey home."

Zhang Yumeng lowered her voice. "Actually, there was another way to offer a blessing on the back of that torn book."

Liang Dan understood immediately. "That line your mother wrote in the box?"

"Yes. 'May your journey home be a little smoother.'"

Many trees had been felled, and the scent of flowers drifted from not far away. The morning sun shone warmly upon her. Liang Dan slowly closed her eyes, and the scent of the forest faded from her senses. When she opened her eyes again, she was sitting at her own computer.

The screen was glowing, displaying a single line of text:

*Congratulations on scoring zero on the Personality Darkness Test! Share it with your friends and let them take the test too!*

"Test your head!"

Liang Dan slammed the laptop shut and downed the water on her desk in one gulp. Perhaps it was because she hadn't had a drop of water for seven whole days, but after drinking this cup—which had been sitting there for a week—she didn't notice any spoiled taste.

Liang Dan looked at the calendar on the wall: July 25th. This was clearly the day she had taken the test. She checked her phone; the call log lit up, showing that she had spoken to her junior schoolmate thirty minutes ago.

Liang Dan let out a long breath. She must have been overworked lately, causing her to daydream in broad daylight.

She carried her glass toward the bedroom to rest, but as she took a step, she tripped over something. Liang Dan moved her foot and looked down. A wooden plank lay quietly on the floor, with a row of crooked characters written in red ink.

Liang Dan’s heart hammered against her ribs as she snatched up the plank.

*"May your journey home be a little smoother."*

How obvious. How glaringly obvious that line was. Why hadn't she recognized a single word back then? Liang Dan desperately wanted to deceive herself, but the sight of the plank shattered any possibility of denial.

A void-like screen materialized before her eyes, the red text shining brilliantly:

*"Congratulations to the Paragon of Virtue, Liang Dan, for completing the Level 1 instance 'The Ruined Village.' You have successfully leveled up to a Level 1 Player. You have received one instance fragment and one Treasure Chest of Wealth."*

A small, golden-glowing chest appeared before her. Liang Dan tapped it, and it slowly popped open, revealing a line of text:

*"Congratulations to the Paragon of Virtue, Liang Dan, for receiving ten guaranteed-win draws."*

Liang Dan muttered to herself, "Is this really how wealth is acquired? According to the logic of novels, shouldn't it just be deposited into my bank account without raising any red flags?"

Liang Dan swiped the screen to close the chest, and a new interface appeared:

**Instance Survival Game Rules:**
1. Completing the Darkness Test is considered consent to participate in the game.
2. A player's actions and speech must align with the system's assessment, or they will suffer immediate death.
3. Successful completion of tasks leads to exit from the instance back to the real world; failure results in immediate death.
4. The instance world randomly summons players who have joined the game, with difficulty matched to the player's level.
5. Players who have not been summoned may apply to enter the game voluntarily and choose their own instance level.
6. Completing an instance task guarantees a prize. There are three types of random drops: player level upgrades, instance fragments, and various treasure chests.
7. Collecting ten instance fragments allows a player to apply for a permanent exit from the game.
8. Treasure chests are categorized into Wealth, Item, Skill, Information, and Knowledge chests.
9. Players may gift their skills to others, provided they consent. Note: Common skills can be gifted to anyone; Innate Skills can only be gifted to those with whom the player has a favorability rating of over 20%.
10. Note: Innate Skills are granted to each player after they complete the test.
11. Players below level three, upon receiving an instance invitation, may share the test link within a specified time to someone who has never entered the game. The person who completes the test will enter an instance in the player's stead. Note: All gains from the instance are acquired by the player who actually entered it.

"So that's how it is."

No wonder her junior had begged her to finish the test as soon as possible when she called—she had been in the middle of being summoned by the instance game.

Liang Dan picked up her phone, hesitated for a moment, then set it back down. Since she was already in the game, calling to confront her junior wouldn't change anything. With that time, she might as well test out what she had won.

A "guaranteed win" sounded quite tempting.

Liang Dan carefully tucked the wooden plank into her drawer, put on her coat, and headed out. There was a small convenience store downstairs that sold scratch-off lottery tickets. Standing in the store, she felt inexplicably nervous. She waved a hand and said, "Boss, give me a scratch-off ticket."

The boss pointed to a large stack. "The prices are written on them. Pick one yourself."

Liang Dan tore one off at random and scratched it with her remaining fingernails. She had never played these things before and had never even looked when others did, so after scratching it, she had no idea if she had won.

The boss was busy tallying up items for another customer. Liang Dan waited, but then more people arrived to pay. She stood to the side, waiting for a turn that didn't come, and grew impatient.

A middle-aged woman nearby asked, "Are you buying something, girl? If not, stand aside."