Chapter 66

“It’s the Pearl!”

The head shouted, “I can’t be mistaken! I pried that Pearl off a ring myself! This is the Pearl we lost!”

“They’re the ones who stole it!”

The chef threw both plates aside and crawled directly onto the table toward Lu Li.

“Is the Pearl actually a good thing or a bad thing?” Luo Jia Bai’s hand trembled slightly as he sliced the fish. Now, just feeding fish slices wasn’t enough to stop the crazed villagers. “We might not be in a hurry to eat these two dishes, but why do I feel like all the monsters here are about to go berserk?”

Lu Li took Luo Jia Bai’s fresh fish and placed it on the plate.

“When there’s only one, it’s a bad thing.”

“But if there are many, it’s a good thing.”

Just as the villagers’ Tentacles were about to touch his skin, Lu Li brought his knife down on Luo Jia Bai’s fish again.

“Ding.”

On the plate, two identical Pearls gently collided.

Each one shimmered with a lustrous glow under the Moonlight.

The villagers’ movements came to an abrupt halt.

Lu Li set down his knife.

“You only lost one.”

“Now there are two Pearls here. That proves we’re not thieves.”

Lu Li asked the head, “Since you said you can’t be mistaken, come and see which one you lost.”

The head looked confused.

“I have a third one here,” Mirella said calmly.

At some point, she too had cut open her fresh fish and found a Pearl.

Feng Shan looked at Lu Li with a complicated expression.

When the villagers saw the Pearls, they gave up their attempt to attack him and instead attempted to attack Lu Li, but now, confused by the head’s uncertainty, they too lost their direction and sat back down.

Feng Shan stood and split open his own fish with a knife.

“A fourth one.”

Inside every fish’s belly, there was something-each Player had a Pearl.

Now there were seven in total.

The head spun around in a panic:

“How… how can there be so many?”

The villagers became humble. They tugged at the Players’ sleeves, begging, “Could you give me your Pearl?”

The Pearl was an important Item for clearing the stage; it couldn’t be given to the monsters so easily.

The Players shook off the villagers, but even more swarmed up.

“I’ve never entered the Rich District. Just this one Pearl could make me a rich man. Please, I’m begging you!”

“The city gate hasn’t been opened in many years. Honored guests, you are miracles second only to the Moon.”

Luo Jia Bai was very anxious. “This won’t do, the villagers have gone mad. Even if we have Pearls, we still won’t be able to leave.”

Amid the chaos, Lu Li calmly asked the head, “Everyone wants a Pearl. Do you want one?”

The head couldn’t believe it. “You mean… you’re willing to give it to me?”

Lu Li placed his Pearl on the plate and pushed it in front of the head.

“We need to find the city wall and enter the Rich District. The villagers are too noisy. I think you have leadership skills-you can definitely make them quiet down right now. There’s no one better to give this Pearl to than you. You were never meant to be just an ordinary poor person; you’re the most qualified to be a rich man.”

Buoyed by Lu Li’s compliments, the head accepted the Pearl.

“I’m about to become a rich man! I can finally escape this poor Village. Thank you! Guest, I will remember your kindness for the rest of my life!”

Tentacles grew from below the head’s neck, and it handed out a pitch-black stone.

“And your reward! Please take it!”

Lu Li took the stone.

It was heavy.

The stone was wrapped in layer upon layer of black, filthy water, its original form completely obscured.

His Wristband vibrated, and a message notification appeared.

[Congratulations, Player Lu Li, for obtaining a special reward: a stone (it appears to be polluted, please find a clean water source to wash it)]

Luo Jia Bai was anxious. “Why did you give it to him? What Pearl will you use to enter the Rich District?”

His palm was sweaty as he held his Pearl, but he closed his eyes and handed his over to Lu Li.

“Take mine first. I won’t die,” Luo Jia Bai said seriously. “My Healing Ability wasn’t exchanged with an Evil Spirit, so it won’t disappear for now.”

Having finally cleared the current stage, Lu Li breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing Luo Jia Bai’s determined, almost sacrificial expression, he smiled and pushed the Pearl back. “Keep it. I still have another.”

Lu Li stood up, reached past the stiff Feng Shan, picked up the fish in front of the empty seat, and said to Luo Jia Bai, “Wu Bin is dead, so there’s one more fish.”

He spun his knife, slit open the fish’s belly, and took out the eighth Pearl.

“Let’s go.”

When the Players were about to leave, the villagers grew anxious.

“Quiet! Everyone sit down!” The head rolled back and forth on the table, blocking the restless villagers and giving the Players directions. “Guests, just keep heading south. Go past the Hunter’s house, and you’ll see the city wall!”

“Have a pleasant journey.”

–

The Players left the seaside.

A man dressed as a Hunter, bundled up tightly and carrying a shotgun, walked step by step toward the seaside dining table.

He wore rubber boots, and each step made a damp sound-not because of the black water, but because the sound of water came from inside his boots.

He also had an old bronze harmonica at his waist.

The head struggled to reattach itself to its body, one Tentacle gripping the Pearl tightly, humming a cheerful tune in excitement.
At the sound of footsteps, the head – a mobile, tentacled head – turned and exclaimed in surprise, “Hunter? You’re here. We just finished the Welcome Ceremony for the guests. We meant to invite you, but you have to go hunting during the day…”

A cold black Hunter’s shotgun pressed to the head’s brow. Click – the Bullet was cocked.

The head was covered by a broad shadow. The Hunter removed his scarf and mask, revealing a striking and unfamiliar face. His long, seaweed-like hair fell in front of him, and the Moon rose above his head, casting a layer of sacred light.

The head cried out in panic, “You’re not the Hunter! Who are you?!”

The Long-haired Man’s voice was rich and magnetic; even his venomous curses sounded like a song.

“Disgusting little thieves, was it you who stole my Heart?”

Bang!

He fired at the headless villager sitting quietly beside him.

The villager slumped instantly, blue water slowly seeping from the hole in its temple.

“Speak!” The Long-haired Man turned the gun on the head, pressing, “Where is the Heart?”

“What Heart?” the head screamed in misery. “It wasn’t me! Was it the guests who just arrived yesterday? They… they went that way!”

The head trembled, hugging itself with its Tentacles.

The Pearl it had been clutching rolled onto the table.

“Lies, all lies.” The Long-haired Man picked up the Pearl and snorted. “You still want Pearls? Are you worthy?”

He was a Sea Demon who had just come of age.

His Heart had been stolen by cunning humans.

There had apparently been a fierce battle with humans by the sea. When he woke again, his kin were all gone.

He was the only one left of the Sea Demon clan.

He had lost most of his memories in that fight on the shore.

Now, he found a chance to come ashore and discovered a Hunter’s house that had long been abandoned.

He disguised himself as a Hunter to get close to the villagers.

He wanted to find his Heart, find his kin, and take revenge.

The Sea Demon raised his head, closed his eyes and listened to the voice of the Moon. When he opened them again, he said, “The Moon says you are all guilty.”

Today, all the villagers had finally gathered together to welcome the new guests.

The next destination was the Rich District.

Gunshots rang out again and again.

He had come at just the right time, killing every villager without missing a single one.

The Sea Demon crouched down.

At the sewage-strewn shore, he washed his hands.

Black, murky water ran over his fingertips and briefly turned clear.

As soon as it left his hands, it became cloudy again.

A Bone Fish followed the current into his palm and, for a moment, turned into a whole, fresh fish.

He washed off the blood and opened the fish.

He took out a pouch of Pearls.

Inside, two Pearls lay quietly.

One had just been snatched from the head.

The other still had crude glue stuck to its base, with a rough ring band attached to the side.

“Using a Pearl as a ring – ridiculous humans, do you even understand love?”

“Truly ugly.”

The Sea Demon took the ring band and casually tossed it into the rising black water.

–

The Players walked south and soon saw the Hunters’ houses.

Each stood alone, more than a dozen in all.

All the houses were tightly closed, and the Hunters’ shotguns that once hung on the doors were nowhere to be seen.

It seemed the Hunters had all gone out hunting.

Lu Li remembered the strange Hunter from yesterday. He stopped at the door and peered through the window.

He saw the walls inside covered with Corpses of prey.

Deer antlers, rabbit heads, pheasants, and many clean shells, the shells stacked high into little mountains.

These must have been gathered by the Hunter before the Village was punished.

There were muffled sounds from the group.

The Black Bird on Mirella’s shoulder turned its head and glanced behind the Players.

Lu Li stopped in his tracks. “I think I heard gunshots.”

“Did you?” Luo Jia Bai looked bewildered, staring in disbelief at the city wall and gate that had suddenly appeared before them. “Did we really get through the Hunters’ houses so easily?”

When they took out the Pearl, the gate slowly rose with a deep rumble.

Beyond the blinding light –

The bustling scene of the Rich District was utterly different from the poverty and backwardness of the Village, as if they were two separate worlds.

Here, the roads were clean and tidy, lined with vendors selling fruit and drinks, and everyone’s Wallet bulged.

Two women in fox-fur cloaks, carrying small purses, hid their faces with feather fans as they exclaimed, “They’re holding a Pearl and came in through that door.”

“There are still people alive in the Poor Village? I thought they’d all starved to death!”

More and more rich people gathered around.

“Look at those shabby clothes – the poor are always poor. Do they really think a single Pearl can change their class? No one here will take them in. Let them be street beggars!”

“Wait, the Pearl they’re holding seems to be glowing?”

A man in a baseball cap pushed through the crowd and grabbed Lu Li’s wrist.

“A Glowing Pearl! And it’s so big! You’re in luck – Mr. Qiao is one of the top ten tycoons in the Rich District. His wife has recently loved collecting Glowing Pearls and pays a high price! While it’s still light out, let me take you to him.”