Chapter 15

Chapter 15

When Liu Ye stepped out of the house, he saw Baolong and the other three sitting neatly by the door, legs crossed, casually snacking on sunflower seeds.

Liu Ye was startled by the disheveled state of the three men.

“What happened to you guys? How did you end up looking like this?”

The three of them glanced at him, their faces filled with a sense of weary resignation. They wanted to know what they had done to deserve this, too.

When Liu Ye noticed John’s severed arm, he was even more shocked.

“Whoa, brother! You’ve got some nerves of steel. Your arm is literally gone, and you’re still here cracking seeds? Get to a hospital, man!”

John gave Liu Ye a long, deep look before replying, “No need. There’s a wedding going on in this family, and there are no cars on the road to take me anyway. I’ll deal with it after the wedding is over.”

Liu Ye thought about it and figured that made sense, though John definitely couldn’t just leave it like that.

So, he reached into his bundle, pulled out a tube of ointment, and handed it over.

“Here, take this. It’s for stopping the bleeding.”

“Thanks.”

John took the ointment and tucked it into his clothes. In the Fiendish World, it was better to be cautious with items given by strangers.

Liu Ye didn’t mind. Just then, Steward Wang suddenly appeared at the door.

“Have you all rested enough? Our Master requests your presence.”

Xiaoshuai and the others knew the critical moment had arrived. They stood up, alert and wary, and followed Steward Wang.

Strangely enough, John, who should have been suffering from massive blood loss, now had a much more ruddy complexion. He didn’t look like an injured man at all.

After they left, the family from the house emerged. They carefully gathered the discarded seed shells like precious treasures and brought them back inside.

On the way, Liu Ye felt a bit uneasy and leaned in to ask Xiaoshuai a question.

“Hey, brother, how much do people usually give as wedding gifts in the city these days?”

Xiaoshuai: “…”

He couldn’t tell if this guy was genuinely stupid or just acting. Who gives wedding gifts in the Fiendish World?

However, considering the possibility that the man was hiding his true strength, Xiaoshuai answered honestly.

“Normally, it’s three hundred. If you’re close, five hundred. For a best friend, at least a thousand.”

At this, Xiaoshuai seemed to recall something, and his expression turned melancholy.

“Just this month, I’ve already given five gifts. At the end of the month, my boss is holding a promotion party for his kid…”

“A promotion party isn’t so bad, right? After all, it only happens once in a child’s life,” Baolong remarked.

“His son is moving from the junior nursery class to the senior class…” Xiaoshuai said hollowly.

Baolong: “…”

When Liu Ye heard the prices, his face turned green. That was way too expensive! He only had twenty yuan in his pocket. If he weren’t so broke, he wouldn’t have had the thick skin to stay in someone else’s apartment for free.

Seeing Liu Ye’s reaction, Baolong couldn’t help but chime in.

“We’re here to help out. There’s no need for a gift.”

To his surprise, Liu Ye looked at him with even more disdain.

“Look, these are like family relatives. Isn’t it only right to help out? You’re a big guy, but you really don’t understand how social obligations work, do you?”

Baolong: “…”

It was the first time he had ever heard someone refer to a Fiend as a “family relative.”

Before long, the group arrived at a residence in the center of the village. It was a very ancient, traditional mansion that occupied a massive area-it covered more than half the village.

Bright red “Double Happiness” characters were pasted on the main gates, lanterns hung from the eaves, and flowers were arranged everywhere.

It looked no different from a typical rural wedding, yet it felt utterly bone-chilling.

Xiaoshuai could even smell the thick, cloying stench of rotting corpses.

“This level of rot… just how many people have died here?”
Xiaoshuai’s expression was somewhat grim.

As the group stepped inside, they were greeted by a massive Willow Tree. Its branches hung down naturally, swaying gently in the breeze.

The moment the branches fluttered, Xiaoshuai’s vision suddenly blurred. When he looked at the Willow Tree again, he was horrified to find that those weren’t willow branches at all-they were rows of hanged corpses, swaying in the wind.

Xiaoshuai broke out in a cold sweat instantly. No wonder he had smelled such a thick stench earlier. Just as he was about to pull out his Fiendish Item, he noticed his own face among the corpses, hanging from the tree with a distorted, agonizing expression.

In that instant, a powerful sense of suffocation overwhelmed him. Oxygen rapidly drained from his lungs. Within moments, Xiaoshuai’s consciousness began to fade. He clawed at his neck, leaving behind streaks of blood, but it was no use.

Just as he was about to die from asphyxiation, a sharp pain suddenly flared across his face, snapping him back to his senses.

Regaining his bearings, he realized he was standing under the tree, his own hands tightening a willow branch around his neck in an attempt to strangle himself.

Standing right in front of him was Liu Ye.

“I’m just saying, brother, what are you doing? It’s someone’s wedding day, and here you are trying to hang yourself at their front door. Isn’t that a bit disrespectful?”

Xiaoshuai was too choked up to speak and could only manage a weak wave of his hand.

Steward Wang looked at Liu Ye in surprise. He hadn’t expected the man to be completely unaffected by the Willow Tree.

*This person is not simple,* he thought, his eyes narrowing.

Nearby, Baolong and the others were also shaken. They had all been affected by the Willow Tree to varying degrees. If Liu Ye hadn’t slapped Xiaoshuai-the sound of which had startled them awake-they would have ended up just like him.

At this point, even the dimmest among them realized that Liu Ye was certainly no newcomer. On the contrary, he was a very powerful Pro Player.

They wanted to say something, but they saw Liu Ye incessantly apologizing to the steward.

Seeing Liu Ye’s behavior, Xiaoshuai and the others fell into deep thought.

Working backward from the result, if Liu Ye was a Pro Player, why was he acting like a simple country bumpkin?

After a moment’s reflection, it clicked. It was obvious: the man was completely immersing himself in the Fiendish World.

He didn’t view himself as a visitor from another world, but as a member of the Fiendish World itself.

By doing this, he could better integrate into this world, thereby reducing the difficulty and building closer relationships with the locals.

Thinking of this, they all looked at Liu Ye with admiration. *Brilliant, truly brilliant!*

This was why he was a Pro Player; the gap between them was just too wide!

Steward Wang didn’t say much more and began assigning tasks to Liu Ye and the others.

Liu Ye and Baolong were assigned to help out in the kitchen.

Inside the kitchen, the Chef watched the two of them with a sinister gaze.

Baolong was nervous, but after glancing at Liu Ye, he imitated him and put on a forced smile.

Liu Ye went a step further, rolling up his sleeves as he spoke to the Chef.

“Uncle, hurry up and give us some orders. I’m telling you, and I’m not bragging, back in our village, I’m the one who prepares all the banquets!”

A strange smile appeared on the Chef’s face.

“The kitchen is out of meat. Why don’t you help me get some?”

As he spoke, he stared intently at the two of them, and a terrifying aura began to emanate from his body.

Baolong understood the meaning immediately. The meat the Chef wanted was them!