Xing Ye: I am weak, pitiful, and helpless.

 

A village with a village committee… and they still carried out vigilante justice on villagers?

Xing Ye tilted up his tiny palm-sized face, using his clear black-and-white eyes to look at the village chief.

The village chief lowered his head to look at the nine-year-old Yang Xiaomao, revealing a kind smile. He squatted down and gently patted Xiaomao’s head, smiling as he said, “Xiaomao, your father and mother have offered you as a sacrifice to the mountain god. In three days, someone will escort you up the mountain. Normally, the sacrifices live together before being sent off. The other four children are already at the lodging—you’ll go too.”

Xing Ye: “……”

Aunty Yang had called herself his “mother,” but now the village chief refered to both “father and mother”—the titles were clearly inconsistent.

The village chief then said to a robust man, “Take Xiaomao to bathe, feed him something good, and then send him to the lodging.”

Xing Ye did not resist. There were too few clues for now. Although the so-called ten players had supposedly entered this world, he hadn’t encountered a single one. Since the sacrifices weren’t supposed to be harmed before the ritual, he might as well go along with the plot for now.

In every world, Xing Ye had tried to hide the fact that he was a player, but he later realized it was mostly futile—rarely could he keep it hidden. In this world, Xing Ye decided to go with the flow and observe quietly for now.

He was taken to bathe and eat. The food was polished rice. Xing Ye wasn’t picky—he’d make himself eat even if it didn’t suit his taste, because only when he was full could he do things with strength.

The body the system had given him this time was too small. One skipped meal and he’d have no energy left. His endurance was low. Xing Ye didn’t intend to mistreat himself.

After bathing, Xing Ye was dressed in a red cross-collared short shirt with half sleeves, and red shorts. The fabric was much better than the ragged clothes he had worn before. The front was fastened with buttons. Standing before the mirror, Xing Ye looked like a little blessing doll—very cute.

The mirror was a half-length one from the 1980s—a rectangular plastic-framed one that reflected the upper body. On the mirror’s surface was a large peony flower, full of retro flair.

It seemed to be a setting from the 1980s, but there was also an uncanny sense of dissonance that didn’t belong in a modern society.

However, every household here had this kind of mirror. The slightly wealthier families even had round mirrors on the lady’s vanity, decorated with birds, flowers, and the double-happiness character on the back. (NT: 囍, represents good fortune)

Xing Ye had bathed in the village chief’s house, so he was also looking at the mirror there.

Wearing the red cross-collared shirt, Xing Ye stood expressionless in front of the mirror. The robust man hadn’t helped him bathe or dress, just guarding outside the door to prevent Xing Ye from escaping.

Taking the opportunity, Lu Mingze appeared in the mirror and wrote a line: “Did you really look like this when you were little?”

Xing Ye replied in a flat voice: “More or less.”

Lu Mingze wrote: “So cute. When we get back to the real world, I want to see your childhood photo album.”

Xing Ye: “There isn’t one.”

Lu Mingze: “How could there not be… Ah! You’re so good at cross-dressing, did your mom often put you in little dresses and take pictures when you were young? Is that why you won’t let me see your album?”

Xing Ye: “No.”

Lu Mingze: “Liar. I’ve got the ‘Eye of Truth’—I can tell you’re lying with one look.”

Xing Ye leaned closer to the mirror and whispered: “If you dare look at my photo album, I’ll bribe the nurses at your care home and have them put you in a dress and take photos for me.”

Lu Mingze: !!!

Seeing the big exclamation mark appear on the mirror, Xing Ye secretly smiled, tucked the small mirror back into his chest, and, with his little legs, walked out the door.

The robust man looked him up and down, puzzled: “That rat-faced deadbeat Yang really has such good-looking kids? Must be thanks to his wife—she was quite the beauty. But he was ruthless. Didn’t coax or cherish her, just abused her till she was skin and bones. Couldn’t even tell she used to be a beauty anymore.”

Xing Ye silently memorized his words and followed the man. He was taken to a large house not far from the village chief’s place.

It looked like the most luxurious building in the village.

At the door, a sturdy farm woman was sweeping the yard. When she saw the burly man, she said, “The last one’s finally here.”

The man grinned at her: “Make sure to keep a good eye on them. Don’t let them escape. The village chief said that thirty years ago—”

“I know, I know,” the woman interrupted, “Just hand the kid over. I’ve got two sisters. We take shifts.”

Xing Ye followed the woman into the room and saw it was a large, clean space. There was a kang (NT: traditional heated brick bed) big enough for ten people. Four kids were already there—some standing, some sitting, and one lying down asleep.

They were all around ten years old. Counting Xing Ye, there were three boys and two girls.

None of them looked scared—nothing like children who knew they were about to die. Was this just another sign of the village’s strangeness, or were these children actually...?

As Xing Ye pondered, the oldest boy, who looked around twelve or thirteen, said, “Finally, we’re all here. You’re a player, right?”

Oh? Xing Ye raised an eyebrow and glanced toward the woman who had gone back outside to sweep.

“No need to worry,” the older boy said again. “Someone used their starting skill—the sound won’t escape. In this world, I go by Qin Xiao’er. Just call me that.”

“Yang Xiaomao,” Xing Ye replied.

Qin Xiao'er was wearing the same outfit as Xing Ye — a red, cross-collared short jacket with long pants. All the boys here wore this getup, while the girls wore long dresses that reached the floor.

The four of them seemed to have already reached some kind of mutual understanding. Xing Ye didn’t speak much and simply looked at Qin Xiao’er. Since this person had taken the initiative to speak first upon seeing him, he was likely the type who liked taking charge. People like this were usually quite welcoming when a new member joined, introducing the team and explaining the current situation — not a bad guide to have.

Xing Ye didn’t mind people like that. As long as they had a good heart and leadership ability, he didn’t care about giving up the “boss” role. After all, in these worlds, Xing Ye had never tried to be the leader — it was always others who pushed him into it.

Only in the casino world did he develop some desire to control. Initially, he had no ambition to rule there either — until Mu Ba betrayed him and Liu Yi was eliminated. For the sake of everyone’s safety, he forcibly won Song Er’s chips, forced him to obey, and prevented Shao Lin from exploiting the situation.

Since someone else had taken the lead this time, Xing Ye was perfectly content to play the salted fish (NT: to stay passive and lie low).

Sure enough, Qin Xiao’er began to introduce them: “We are the current batch of sacrifices. This boy is Wang SiPang, and the two girls are Cao HeiHei and Qian DaNiu. The four of us are all Fate defying players. Are you Fate defying or following Fate?”

This time, Xing Ye answered honestly: “Fate defying .”

When the entire team was made up of Fate defying players, there was no need to pretend to be following Fate — doing so would only sow discord in the group.

“Good, Fate defying,” Qin Xiao’er smiled in relief. “Then we can talk freely. I was really worried the next sacrifice would be a following Fate player. That would’ve made it impossible to talk about following Fate items.”

Xing Ye raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at Qin Xiao’er, putting on a confused expression.

A child’s body had its advantages. When an adult showed confusion, unless they were a very good actor, it often came off as unnatural. But Xing Ye rarely didn’t understand things, so it was hard for him to convincingly act naive or innocent. It was different with a child — Xiaomao’s eyes were black and white, clear and pure, and even a small expression came across as particularly genuine.

Qin Xiao’er asked, “Is this your first time in an advanced world? Cao HeiHei’s first too.”

Cao HeiHei’s identity was now practically confirmed. Xing Ye looked toward the girl sitting on the edge of the kang, whose skin was dark like charcoal, and was about ninety percent sure she was Cao Qian.

“Second time,” Xing Ye replied. “The last world was some kind of ancient Roman gladiator arena. Lots of fighting. If you won, you got ten thousand points. I won, so now I have sixty thousand points.”

Xiaomao’s innocent childlike voice rang out in the room. The others — including Qin Xiao’er — all laughed, as if they found ten thousand points laughably insignificant.

Cao HeiHei looked up at Xing Ye, and Xing Ye looked back at her. This time, they didn’t need a secret code — just one glance between teammates was enough to recognize each other.

Qin Xiao’er was still very composed. He merely chuckled softly before saying, “You’ll see once you’re in the advanced worlds — ten or twenty thousand points isn’t a big deal. The key is following Fate items. If you kill a player using a following Fate item, you can take all of their points. It’s not like in the melee worlds, where killing someone only gets you a thousand. But it has to be with a following Fate item. Do you know what those are?”

“No idea,” Xing Ye replied, adding a little ending tone to his sentence — mimicking Lu Mingze’s style, which made him sound even more innocent and naïve.

Qin Xiao’er patiently explained following Fate items: “In melee worlds, following Fate players become items either through their own passivity or upon failing the final level. Those are the two traditional methods of item transformation. But in advanced worlds, there’s a third way.”

“Oh? Can I get a following Fate item in this world too?” Xing Ye asked with interest.

“Of course,” Qin Xiao’er said, “but I can’t tell you how right now. After all, we’re only teammates — not true companions.”

“Are they your companions?” Xing Ye asked, glancing at the others in the room.

“Cao HeiHei and Qian DaNiu are not,” Qin Xiao’er answered. “Wang SiPang is my teammate.”

But Qian DaNiu, who wasn’t his teammate, was sitting quite close to Wang SiPang.

Xing Ye asked, “I heard that in advanced worlds, players often don’t end up in the same team, so I didn’t even dare contact my old teammates — afraid we’d be on opposing sides. I tried to enter a different world from them just in case. How did you two manage to end up on the same team?”

“If we dared enter the same world, of course we had a way,” Qin Xiao’er said. “Don’t worry — just follow our lead. If you perform well, we might even get you two following Fate items.”

Xing Ye hesitated and said, “Isn’t that... killing people?”

Qin Xiao’er gave a cold laugh and said, “You really are a newbie who just ranked up — still so naive. Following Fate players have had smooth sailing long enough. It’s time the advanced worlds collected some interest. And besides, if you don’t have a following Fate item in this world, you might get killed by another Fate defying player who does. At the very least, you need the ability to defend yourself.”

Xing Ye shrank his neck and acted weak, pitiful, and helpless — not daring to argue with Qin Xiao’er any further.

He glanced around the room, walked over to Cao HeiHei, and whispered, “So this is your first time in the advanced world too?”

Cao HeiHei nodded and replied, “Yes. I came to this room a little over an hour before you. Still don’t know anything.”

Qin Xiao’er saw the two little “weaklings” huddling together, behaving themselves, and nodded in satisfaction. “As long as you two obey, I’ll help you clear the level and even farm some items for you.”

Yeah, right. Xiaomao and Cao HeiHei exchanged a glance, then simultaneously turned toward Qin Xiao’er and gave him a sweet, obedient smile.

 

Translator : DarNan