Chapter 129

Chapter 129

Essentially a lone wolf, Luo Xi moved swiftly through Yin Qiao Town. Before long, he found the house of the matchmaker that A Jie had mentioned. The place was quiet, and there were indeed no signs of the old lady’s movements.

However, for safety’s sake, Luo Xi did not rush in. Instead, he jumped onto the roof from the backyard wall and began observing the situation. This was a “good” habit he had developed—before meeting Xiyu, it was rare for streamers working with him to spot him multiple times, only to find that he had won the dungeon unnoticed.

With the faint red glow, he looked into the eerie yard, where various paper effigies were piled up. But these were all incomplete, motionless ones. Some faces were only half drawn, while others weren’t even fully pasted yet. The paper corners that curled up in the cold wind made a rustling sound, resembling incomplete corpses in the blurry night.

And the glue that A Jie wanted was indeed everywhere in ceramic jars, but despite the seemingly safe environment, Luo Xi still wasn’t completely at ease. He decided to wait a moment longer.

True to his caution, about six or seven minutes later, a tall woman suddenly burst out of the matchmaker's house, holding something in her arms. She seemed quite nervous—it was the feminized streamer, Ma Ruofei.

Luo Xi’s impression of this person wasn’t as straightforward as his brother’s, and he wasn’t inclined to help.

He raised an eyebrow, but then saw a group of paper effigies suddenly appear, noisily chasing after Ma Ruofei, looking furious as though they were determined to catch her.

Luo Xi already knew that he wouldn’t notice these things because he wasn’t afraid. Not rushing in was definitely the right choice.

He shook his head helplessly, taking the opportunity to leap into the yard, grab a jar of glue, and run. Not wanting to miss the chance, he followed Ma Ruofei’s fleeing direction, climbing over walls until he saw her successfully shake off the paper effigies. With a mischievous smile, he appeared: “Hey, what did you take? Shouldn’t we share?”

Ma Ruofei, who had just escaped danger, tensed up again and warily sized him up: “What do you have? Shouldn’t it be the same for both of us?”

Luo Xi held up the glue jar: “It’s the stuff for sticking those paper effigies. If you like, I don’t mind sharing half with you.”

Ma Ruofei snorted in disdain, taking out a book titled “Silk Dyeing Method” from her arms, cursing: “This dungeon is like a nightmare. First, I was forced to change sex, and now I have to research dowries. I bet all this nonsense was thought up by that old lady, and the solution must be in her hands, so I went to her house and found this thing.”

Luo Xi didn’t directly snatch it. He raised an eyebrow: “Let me take a look. If you need my help later, I won’t be stingy. How about it?”

After considering Luo Xi’s character and the other competitors’ flaws, Ma Ruofei opened the book and said honestly: “Look, it says the process for dyeing wedding clothes. It might be useful, but it doesn’t mention the materials. I know you’re smart, so memorize it and give me back the book.”

Luo Xi took the book, frowned as he read it under the lantern’s light, and returned it to Ma Ruofei, saying softly: “Don’t worry. I believe the next clue will be related to dyeing. After all, it’s just the first day. The majority of people won’t fail the task. But…”

Ma Ruofei, who had benefited from Luo Xi in “Rose Game,” trusted his judgment, nervously asking: “But what?”

Luo Xi smirked: “No matter how much the game company likes to make gory and scary stuff, the mainstream values can’t be that dark. You finish your task, but don’t do anything useless. I suspect there will be a plot twist.”

Ma Ruofei stuffed the “Silk Dyeing Method” into her chest and cursed fiercely: “It better twist. How dare they turn me into a woman? With that Withered Tree Chief and the matchmaker, let me see how I throw them both into the lake.”

Luo Xi, still thinking about A Jie’s task, didn’t want to waste more time with Ma Ruofei, who liked to argue. He raised an eyebrow and smiled faintly: “Enough talking. Be careful. I’m going to find Xiyu.”

With that, he directly climbed onto the roof of a nearby house and quickly disappeared.

Ma Ruofei hesitated, about to say something, but then stopped: “This guy… why does he live like some martial arts expert?”

Meanwhile, Xiyu was still keeping watch over the NC A Jie with Su Ziyan. He was quietly training himself to think about dark things, and sure enough, he intermittently saw several paper effigies wandering the street. Some were eating, some were strolling, and some were drunk. If you didn’t look at their appearance, their behavior wasn’t much different from ordinary humans.

But… controlling his emotions was so difficult. The moment his mind became uneasy, those images would vanish in an instant.

It seemed that this effect was based on analyzing brainwaves through the holographic nutrient tank. Even if he wanted to deceive himself, it wouldn’t be possible.

Xiyu pursed his lips and furrowed his brows, deep in thought, when he finally saw Luo Xi returning.

A Jie was more excited than anyone, immediately picking up the head that had been placed by his feet and saying: “It’s the glue, quick, glue it on!”

Su Ziyan, still disturbed by the strange scene, wanted to speak but hesitated.

Luo Xi shrugged helplessly, knelt on one knee, and used a small brush to apply some glue from the jar. He then glued A Jie’s severed neck back together, saying: “It’s almost done. Once it dries, it shouldn’t fall off. It’s just a bit ugly.”A Jie’s voice was faint: “Thank you, as long as it’s complete, it’s fine. Anyway, I’m not good-looking.”

Su Ziyan: “At least you have some self-awareness.”

Xiyu furrowed his brow and asked again, “Alright, what about the promise you made to us?”

A Jie turned his inky eyes and thought for a moment before quietly saying: “Every time they choose a bride, it’s always a bloody and chaotic mess... Though I don’t know who they picked or what god the bride was married to, this year is an exception…”

Luo Xi urged: “I stole the glue for you so quickly, stop stuttering.”

A Jie sighed: “Before you guys arrived, the chief had already chosen a bride. The girl who was chosen was called Ziye. She had a very bad temper, and on the night of the selection, she actually escaped from the matchmaker's house. She was later caught and, in the end, couldn’t bear it and committed suicide! So, there wasn’t a bride after that... No wonder they brought in more candidates. I’ve already seen quite a few tonight…”

This news was even less useful than expected.

Su Ziyan was speechless: “So what?”

A Jie: “This is all I know. There’s no ‘so what’.”

Xiyu guessed this might be related to the main storyline and grabbed A Jie, asking: “How did Ziye commit suicide? And where is the body now?”

A Jie seemed to have been burned by his hand and quickly moved far away, then answered: “I don’t know... I’m just a beggar, how could I dare get close to the chief and the matchmaker? These are all rumors. You should go ask elsewhere!”

With that, the little paper effigy seemed to be afraid of being pursued, and immediately floated away, disappearing.

Su Ziyan scratched his head, looking at Xiyu in frustration: “Are we wasting our time?”

Xiyu squinted: “No, this information is very useful.”

Su Ziyan didn’t understand.

Luo Xi stood up seriously and said: “That’s right. Since Ziye was the last chosen bride, the wedding dress she wore—must be the most correct one!”

Su Ziyan then realized: “Yeah, if we can find a sample, we won’t have to waste time.”

At that moment, the eerie voice of the matchmaker sounded again.

[Candidates, you should cherish your time. Until now, I haven’t seen a single wedding dress.]

[Let me give you a second hint, the color of the wedding dress is exactly the same as the Yin-Yang Tree outside the village.]

Luo Xi looked up after listening and waved: “Let’s go, let’s check the situation.”

Su Ziyan nodded: “No need to rush, the tree won’t disappear anyway.”

“After everything, don’t you still have a guard up?” Xiyu said while leading the way: “If Mu Yuan and the others burn the tree, and we haven’t found Ziye, then we’re in trouble.”

Su Ziyan fell silent.

Luo Xi turned back to look at him: “Hey, get it together, don’t just waste time.”

Xiyu: “Is it because of Du Li’s situation? Now you’re indifferent about whether you’re eliminated or not?”

“So what if I am?” Su Ziyan said honestly: “When I signed up, I was full of enthusiasm, thinking that if I won, I could end my streaming career. But after playing until now, it’s better to be self-aware. I know I can’t beat any of you.”Luo Xi didn't usually care about others' opinions, but seeing Su Ziyan so weak made him look down on him: “I trusted your nonsense last time, went through all that trouble to save you, but I didn’t expect to hear this from you. If you really don’t care, then why ask me to save you?”

Su Ziyan pouted and didn’t answer.

Xiyu knew that Luo Xi valued Su Ziyan's ability, but in the end, everyone could only rely on themselves. He gently said, “It’s fine, just let it be.”

A small argument led to a tense atmosphere among the three as they searched for the Yin-Yang tree.

After thinking it over, Su Ziyan realized that the fault was his own weakness, so he quickly racked his brain for a topic: “The matchmaker’s announcements are made every two hours. I feel like not much time has passed, but I’ve already heard two announcements. Is it just a sense of time or something? Time seems to pass too quickly…”

Luo Xi didn’t argue with a child. He calmly said, “There’s nothing in Yinqiao Village to measure time. I already paid attention earlier. According to the dungeon’s setting, there shouldn’t be any changes between day and night, so there’s no answer to this question.”

Xiyu looked down at the shrouded ceremonial clothes tied around his waist, then quietly gazed at his back, feeling worried.

Perhaps it was the mood playing tricks, but he soon spotted an old paper effigy sweeping the floor and quickly went up to ask, “Hello, where is the Yin-Yang tree?”

The old paper effigy wasn’t as lively as A Jie, and even seemed a bit short-sighted. After a while, it slowly looked up and said, “The bride has come... the bride has come…”

Xiyu forced a laugh: “What bride... I’m asking—”

“The Yin-Yang tree... Turn left ahead, keep walking to the end, when you see the big gate at the village entrance, you’ll see it when you go out...” The old paper effigy continued sweeping the floor. “The bride always has to bow to the Yin-Yang tree…”

Luo Xi watched from the side, feeling surprised by this scene.

He had thought that Xiyu, like him, would never feel fear or unease.

But... maybe it wasn’t the case?