Ye Tianxuan calmly dodged the strange pounce, raised his eyes to look at Zuo Meng, who was standing at the door with a troubled expression, and seemed to understand something.
He turned to look at the monster, sighed softly, and feigned a helpless expression. "Alright, I can tell you're not too keen on sleeping by the door. I'm not one to bully monster players, so you can sleep in this room and get some rest."
He waved his hand dismissively and turned to leave with a flourish.
Zuo Meng immediately followed silently, glancing back at the strange creature standing in front of her house. It seemed to be staring at Ye Tianxuan's back with some emotion, completely forgetting that it was originally her house.
"Boss Ye... if your habits were in the real world, you'd be a complete capitalist, and you'd be hanging from a street lamp."
"I didn't bully anyone." Ye Tianxuan turned around calmly with a smile, and slightly raised his hand to point at the villagers on both sides. "They are serving me voluntarily."
Zuo Meng then noticed that no one noticed him carrying his bride, but Ye Tianxuan was walking very casually through the village at night. However, when the villagers saw him, they all avoided him, pretending not to see him.
This tense attitude is very unnatural.
Zuo Meng finally understood why they could play cards under the tree so late without any problems, and why no villagers dared to approach them.
It's likely that the villagers had already learned their lesson before he arrived, but the scene was cleaned up so no one would notice.
Now no one in the village dares to mess with them.
Of course, this "they" does not include Zuo Meng... If he goes out alone, he will still be attacked by the group.
"What do you want from me by knocking on the door?" Ye Tianxuan interrupted Zuo Meng's dazed thoughts, looked at him, and smiled, "Is the child lost and can't find his way home?"
Zuo Meng felt subtly implied, but at the same time, the bride on her back trembled slightly, as if she had reacted to Ye Tianxuan's words.
"Yes..." Zuo Meng answered with a forced smile, "I think I'm trapped in a maze, I keep going around in circles in the village and I can't get out."
He looked up and around, "If we keep walking like this, we might end up back..."
Zuo Meng's voice suddenly stopped, and she looked around blankly.
He was so focused on following Ye Tianxuan that he didn't notice Ye Tianxuan leading him back. The two of them walked straight out of the village.
"Do you know why the bride asked you to take her home, but didn't respond to your questions?" Ye Tianxuan took out a cigarette from his pocket, but didn't smoke it. He just fiddled with it between his fingers, as if it had become a habit for him.
"Why?" Zuo Meng stood frozen in place. She had already vaguely sensed that something was wrong. The bride was pointing straight ahead, but she couldn't get out of the way.
"Because she doesn't know where her home is either." Ye Tianxuan stopped and stared intently at Zuo Meng. "Can you tell? All the weddings in the village are between sick men and paper brides."
Zuo Meng nodded slowly.
Ye Tianxuan then asked, "Did you see any young women while you were walking around the village today?"
Zuo Meng shook her head stiffly.
Very few young people are allowed to show their faces, and there are absolutely no young women.
"Obviously there are no young women in the village, so where do you think she could live?" Ye Tianxuan turned around, guiding her leisurely as they continued walking forward.
Zuo Meng kept her head down and followed behind Ye Tianxuan. "Since there are normal marriages in the village, there should be young women. It should be that all the young women in the village have disappeared, just like all the young men have gotten sick. Her family must be in the village."
"But even if she doesn't return to the village for a short period of time, she won't forget where her home is, unless she hasn't been back to the village for a very long time, or..."
Ye Tianxuan stopped in his tracks, and Zuo Meng stopped as well.
He looked up and was stunned by the answer that appeared before him.
Ye Tianxuan led him to an area outside the village, which was clearly a cemetery.
"Or perhaps, she's trapped somewhere and can't even see the direction of home." Ye Tianxuan slowly added the second half of the sentence, took out a box of matches from his pocket, lit them, squatted down, and helped one of the fallen tombstones to its right.
"Alright, you're home now. Get off him."
The bride on his back didn't move, but responded in a soft voice, "My home... isn't here."
"So where do you live?" Ye Tianxuan casually waved the match in his hand. "You'd better think about it quickly. Once the flame goes out, I'll go back to sleep and won't be able to help you find it. After all, not all players have that kind of free time and patience."
As soon as Ye Tianxuan finished speaking, he blew out the match in his hand.
In the darkness, there was an eerie silence.
Then, with a crackling sound, a new match lit up, its small flame enveloping everyone's faces. The bride slightly raised her head, her sewn-on lips half-pursed, looking somewhat unhappy.
"You always do this, you just have to tease me..."
"We're old acquaintances, so what's wrong with teasing you a little? I need to let my new guy know that you're a passive type of weirdo before he'll take the initiative."
The bride remained silent, but Zuo Meng, standing to the side, was bewildered. "Boss Ye? What do you mean?"
"See? This is the consequence of not reading the dungeon guide." Ye Tianxuan casually shook the match, and the flame went out again, but his voice did not stop. "In this dungeon, I pointed out in the guide that you need to talk to the monsters to get clues. This is the most important point."
"If you don't let her talk and learn about her situation, how will you know how to help her?"
Zuo Meng tilted his head, seemingly vaguely remembering something. It seemed that this instance required communicating with the monsters to obtain clues, but he hadn't said anything to the monsters all day. Even when he went to the clinic, he only spoke a few words to the little paper doll and knew nothing about the village.
The gentle approach to exploring information refers to engaging in deep communication with the supernatural, which means communicating with the bride.
He turned his head slightly, cautiously, "Then...can you tell me what happened in the village?"
The bride remained silent, her lips pursed.
Zuo Meng was at a loss and somewhat anxious, "How can I help you if you don't tell me!"
Ye Tianxuan sighed and corrected her, "Just tell her, 'I want to take you home, I want to understand what happened to you, I want to help you.'"
"Her story is basically the same as the story of the village. After listening to it, you can understand some of the background. Don't ask so directly."
Ye Tianxuan, with a cigarette between his fingers, looked quite helpless.
He clearly stated in the strategy guide that players entering this instance needed to practice their communication skills for half a month before they could come, but it seems Zuo Meng didn't participate at all.
How did such a slip-through fish manage to emerge from such a strict town? Luckily, he caught him.
The operation of this town is still not reassuring. He has to train newcomers in the middle of the night. When will he ever be able to retire?