Chapter 144

Before she even opened her eyes, Li Zhi first caught the stuffy smell of gasoline inside a coach bus.

As her awareness returned, she opened her eyes to see picturesque countryside scenery rushing past outside the window. It was a coach bus traveling along a mountain road. The bus was packed with passengers. Li Zhi roughly counted them—there were over forty people.

An instance with more than forty participants?

She frowned. Xu Yan beside her also woke up. The two exchanged glances. Sure enough, after taking in their surroundings, Xu Yan looked equally surprised.

"Why are there so many people?"

The more players there were, the harder an instance became. What did over forty people mean? Since the livestreams had begun, an instance with this many participants had never appeared before.

Soon, the other people on the bus also woke up. After seeing where they were, a commotion immediately spread through the bus. Clearly, the other players were also alarmed by an instance with more than forty participants.

Hearing the disturbance from the back of the bus, a young woman wearing glasses who had been sitting in the front passenger seat stood up. She held a loudspeaker in one hand and a small colored flag in the other. Her voice echoed through the loudspeaker.

"Dear tourists, please remain calm. We'll arrive at Butterfly Village in another twenty minutes. I know everyone's tired after such a long ride, so how about we sing a few songs together to liven up the atmosphere?"

Xu Yan whispered,

"She's the tour guide."

Li Zhi nodded.

As soon as the guide made the suggestion, someone sitting toward the front chimed in.

"I think that's a great idea! We've been sleeping the whole way. Singing will wake us up!"

Li Zhi looked around a few more times before realizing something.

"Not everyone on this bus is a player. Some of them are tourist NPCs."

A gentle female voice came from the back of the bus.

"Are you okay? You were sleeping so peacefully, then suddenly jerked awake. Did you have a nightmare?"

Li Zhi heard Han Wenlin answer.

"Ah... yeah. I had a nightmare..."

There were several familiar faces on the bus, but not all players knew each other. For the moment, Li Zhi couldn't distinguish exactly who was a player and who was an NPC.

The tourists in the front were discussing what song to sing when an amused voice from the aisle interrupted them.

"Singing is boring. Why doesn't the tour guide tell us about the history of Butterfly Village instead?"

Li Zhi glanced over.

She recognized the speaker. His name was Jiao Shen, another player who ranked within the top one hundred. Although he barely made it onto the leaderboard, anyone capable of entering the rankings was far from ordinary.

Li Zhi had seen forum posts about Jiao Shen before. He was a textbook professional player. Players like him referred to entering instances as "running dungeons," treating them like games. They were decisive and ruthless, but they also didn't care much about the lives of their teammates.

Of course, in a sense, these gaming-type players didn't value their own lives much either.

The man who had suggested singing looked somewhat unhappy.

"The guide already explained it when we got on the bus. Didn't you hear? Why make her repeat it?"

Jiao Shen replied,

"Yeah, I had my headphones on back then, so I didn't hear it. I'm probably not the only one who missed it, right?"

Several people immediately agreed.

"That's right, I missed it too! Guide, please tell us again!"

Li Zhi memorized the people who had echoed him. They were probably players as well.

Hearing everyone's request, the guide cleared her throat and lifted the loudspeaker.

"Alright, then I'll tell everyone again. We're almost at Butterfly Village. Knowing a little about its history will make your visit much more enjoyable."

"Our Butterfly Village is an ancient settlement with a long history stretching back over five hundred years. In the beginning, it wasn't called Butterfly Village. Like many ordinary villages, the people here worked at sunrise, rested at sunset, and lived peaceful, ordinary lives. Then one evening, an enormous swarm of butterflies suddenly flew into the village. Bathed in the golden glow of dusk, their wings shone brilliantly with a golden luster. They gathered beside the spring where the villagers fetched water and lingered there for a long time, unwilling to leave. Even the spring itself became covered with sparkling golden butterfly powder."

"Later, the villagers discovered that after drinking the spring water, butterfly-shaped markings appeared on their bodies like tattoos. From that day on, they no longer suffered from illness or pain and never became sick again. At the time, a plague was ravaging the land, with disease everywhere, yet this village alone remained untouched. After the village's High Priest performed a divination and sought the will of the gods, they learned that these butterflies were immortal butterflies from the heavens. It was under their protection that the plague had passed them by. From then on, the village was renamed Butterfly Village. The villagers also built a golden statue of the immortal butterflies and worshipped it day and night."

"Moved by the villagers' devotion, the immortal butterflies stayed and began reproducing here. Over these hundreds of years, more and more butterflies have thrived within the village, while generation after generation of villagers has protected the local ecology to provide them with a suitable habitat. That's why, even though we haven't reached Butterfly Village yet, you've already seen the beautiful mountains and clear waters along the way, preserving a wonderfully untouched natural landscape."

"It is precisely because generations of villagers have protected this place that today's famous Butterfly Valley came into being, allowing everyone to witness the magnificent spectacle of countless butterflies dancing through the air. We'll first pass through Butterfly Valley shortly. Right now is butterfly emergence season, making it the peak tourist season for Butterfly Village. So all of you are truly lucky to have won an all-inclusive free vacation. Butterfly Village only offers one hundred free spots each year, and you are this year's lucky winners!"

"According to incomplete statistics, Butterfly Valley is home to over a thousand butterfly species. Of course, the most famous among them is the Golden-Winged Butterfly—the very immortal butterflies that descended from the heavens all those years ago. Their wings are golden, and when they fly beneath the sunlight, they're incredibly beautiful. Legend says that anyone kissed by a Golden-Winged Butterfly possesses immortal destiny and can cultivate into an immortal. Of course, that's only a legend."

"Oh, right."

As she spoke, the guide picked up a red cloth bag from her seat and grabbed a large handful of fragrant sachets.

"These are souvenirs from Butterfly Village. Keep one on you. Once we get off at Butterfly Valley, the butterflies will be attracted by the scent and gather around you. Then everyone can take photos. All those famous internet pictures of thousands of butterflies surrounding someone are taken this way."

She walked down the aisle, handing out sachets one by one.

After receiving hers, Li Zhi sniffed it. Sure enough, it gave off a rich floral fragrance.

She heard Han Wenlin quietly mutter from behind,

"So they're reenacting the Fragrant Princess now."

After handing out all the sachets, the guide returned to the front.

"After visiting Butterfly Valley, we'll enter Butterfly Village itself. The village is also a tourist attraction and is known as a modern-day paradise hidden from the world. I'm sure you've all heard the stories about tourists who came here, fell in love with the place, and never wanted to leave, choosing instead to settle down here permanently."

"Butterfly Village is simple and rustic, nestled among mountains and rivers. Once you arrive, it feels as though time itself slows down. The village even contains many century-old shops rarely seen elsewhere. You might even discover some antiques here."

"Of course, as I reminded everyone earlier, in order to preserve this pristine natural environment, many areas surrounding Butterfly Village remain undeveloped, especially the vast forests behind the mountain. So if you see signs saying 'Visitors Prohibited,' absolutely do not enter those areas. Every year, some tourists ignore the warnings and venture into the mountains, only to never come back down. Please don't gamble with your own safety."

The tour bus gradually slowed.

Looking through the windows, everyone could already see butterflies fluttering everywhere.

The guide waved her little colored flag enthusiastically.

"Our seven-day all-inclusive Butterfly Village tour begins with Butterfly Valley! Everyone, please get ready to get off the bus!"

A few minutes later, the bus pulled into the parking lot of a natural scenic area.

One after another, the more than forty tourists got off the bus.

Li Zhi had been seated near the back and wasn't in a hurry to stand up. Instead, she observed the surroundings through the window.

The parking lot appeared to have been specially constructed for the scenic area. Dense green forests surrounded it on all sides. A stone stairway stretched into the mountains, and a nearby sign read:

Butterfly Valley This Way

"How strange," Xu Yan said. "Butterfly Valley isn't actually inside the village."

"It's probably to preserve Butterfly Valley's natural ecosystem."

The person in front turned around. He was a handsome young man with fair skin and smiling peach blossom eyes. The way he looked at people naturally carried a hint of flirtation.

"You two are players too, right?"

Men with handsome faces and smiling peach blossom eyes were usually very popular with women.

However, Xu Yan clearly wasn't impressed.

"What kind of pointless question is that? Don't tell me you don't recognize her?"

She pointed at Li Zhi.

Li Zhi blinked at the handsome man.

He looked somewhat embarrassed, but quickly regained his composure. His voice was gentle and pleasant.

"Who wouldn't recognize Boss Li Zhi?"

He extended his hand toward her.

"Hello, Zhizhi. My name is Yao Lang. You can call me Ah Lang."

Li Zhi lightly shook his hand.

"Hello."

Yao Lang then turned toward Xu Yan.

"And what should I call this beautiful lady?"

Xu Yan answered without a trace of warmth.

"Xu Yan."

Yao Lang muttered,

"What a cold big sister."

Then he smiled brightly, waved at Li Zhi, and finally turned back around.

The tourists gradually got off the bus. Once everyone had gathered in the parking lot, the tour guide waved her colored flag and led the group toward Butterfly Valley.

Li Zhi deliberately stayed at the back of the group. Soon, the other players who recognized her also slowed down, gathering around her with her naturally becoming the center.

No joke—she ranked fifteenth. Out of hundreds of millions of players, fifteenth place represented the absolute peak of the pyramid. Meeting a top player of that caliber was incredibly lucky. Of course they wanted to stay close to the boss.

Jiao Shen was among them as well. He nodded toward Li Zhi in greeting.

Li Zhi counted them.

There were ten players in this instance.

Everyone else walking ahead should be tourist NPCs.

"Big Sister Zhizhi! Waaah! Mom, I actually ended up in the same instance as Big Sister Zhizhi! I must have saved the galaxy in my previous life!"

A curly-haired girl excitedly hurried over to Li Zhi's side. She cupped her face with her hands, made a heart gesture, and spoke in a soft, sweet voice.

"Big Sister Zhizhi, my name is Nie Miao! Miao as in three water radicals. My birth chart lacks the water element, so my parents gave me this name. I like you so much! Can I give you a hug? Oh my gosh! I'm really so happy!"

Li Zhi: "...Let's skip the hug."

A gentle male voice suddenly sounded from beside her.

"Zhizhi, what do you think about this instance? From what the tour guide said just now, I think there's something wrong with those immortal butterflies. And the villagers built them golden statues for worship. They might actually be some kind of evil deity."

Li Zhi turned her head to look.

At some point, Yao Lang had walked over to her side, squeezing Han Wenlin out of the spot where he had originally been standing.

Walking behind them, Han Wenlin complained with a speechless expression,

"What a fake flirt."

Li Zhi smiled and slipped away from being sandwiched between the two of them.

"We still don't know anything yet. Let's take a look around Butterfly Valley first."

Time to get out of here.

She quickened her pace to catch up with the tourists ahead. She heard the tour guide introducing the different butterfly species around them.

The closer they got to Butterfly Valley, the denser the butterflies became.

After walking through the lush mountain forest for about ten minutes, a huge boulder appeared ahead. Three large characters were carved into it:

Butterfly Valley

The guide's description of "countless butterflies dancing through the air" really hadn't been an exaggeration.

Standing among the forest, surrounded by innumerable butterflies fluttering around them, everyone could feel nothing but awe.

The fragrant sachets they carried were apparently doing their job. Every person was surrounded by a large swarm of butterflies.

Li Zhi spotted the Golden-Winged Butterflies the guide had mentioned. Every beat of their wings scattered golden powder into the air. Under the sunlight, the entire atmosphere seemed to sparkle.

The female tourist who had been sitting with Han Wenlin on the bus was asking him to help take her picture.

Suddenly, Li Zhi covered her nose and mouth and swayed slightly.

Xu Yan immediately noticed her movement and quickly walked over to support her.

"What's wrong?"

Li Zhi frowned.

"I don't know. I suddenly feel dizzy. Could this butterfly powder be poisonous?"

Xu Yan replied,

"I don't feel anything."

Yao Lang and Nie Miao were standing nearby. Hearing her words, they both hurried over.

Yao Lang looked full of concern.

"Zhizhi, are you alright?"

Nie Miao looked at her worriedly.

"Big Sister Zhizhi, could you be allergic to butterfly powder?"

Li Zhi honestly didn't know whether she was allergic to butterfly powder or not, but she really was feeling uncomfortable.

She said to Xu Yan,

"Let's leave this place first."