Just a Saintess’s Task

"Stop making eyes at me! I'm not into old aunties like you! How about this? I'll introduce you to a guy who's old but still full of vigor! He's pretty good, aside from not having a dick and being short, ugly, and poor!"

Wu Wang ran frantically through the mountains.

The girl he carried over his shoulder, who had just finished her meal, grew even paler. She clamped a hand over her mouth, trying desperately not to throw up.

Wu Xiaoyou's stomach churned, and her already fragile mental state grew even more listless.

"Come to us~ Come find us~"

"We will give you everything you desire~"

"Child~ This is your true home~"

Accompanied by the bone-chilling, seductive whispers in his ear, Wu Wang felt a strange, wicked fire slowly igniting in his chest.

【Mental Strength 25 → 24】

His Mental Strength continued to drop.

Yet his steps only became more agile.

But carrying Wu Xiaoyou meant he couldn't use his double jump to escape through the air. After all, she couldn't survive his usual landing method, falling from a great height and reviving.

He had sensed something was wrong the moment this group of female Ghostly Shadows appeared.

They seemed to be heading straight for the dilapidated house.

The strange thing was, their primary target wasn't him, but Wu Xiaoyou.

"Unlucky Sister! How are you feeling? Don't fall asleep! Whatever you do, don't fall asleep!"

Even while running frantically, Wu Wang had the presence of mind to check on Wu Xiaoyou's mental state.

The danger in this Nightmare-level Instance was simply too much. Any other player, with only single-digit or maybe ten-odd points of Mental Strength, would have already had a mental breakdown and fallen into the ghosts' clutches.

Thankfully, he had the Abyss God's help. Coupled with his unique talent honed by years of suicide, his Mental Strength was more than enough to last until he reached the village.

But the same couldn't be said for Wu Xiaoyou on his shoulder.

Wu Xiaoyou squeezed out the words through her gritted teeth.

"Stop saying that! ‘Don't fall asleep' my ass! You sound like some doctor in the ICU. I just feel like I'm going to throw up…"

He was surprised to see her spirits were still relatively high.

Other than the initial hit to her Mental Strength from the Yin Fate Great God, the whispers of the hundreds of female ghosts behind them seemed to have no effect on her at all.

"You're all girls, you must have something in common!" Wu Wang was still cracking jokes. "Ask them to take a break so we can chat. We could talk about cringey guys on social media! I even know a Cringey Lord Cthulhu who's a total peeper!"

This earned him an eye-roll from Wu Xiaoyou.

Honestly, she could only feel a strange, cold presence approaching from behind. When she looked, she saw nothing. Wu Wang was the one who had explained they were being chased by hundreds of female ghosts.

Under normal circumstances, people can't see ghosts.

She suddenly shouted behind them.

"Stop! This guy isn't looking for a wife! And we don't have any cough syrup either!"

After shouting, she glanced down at Wu Wang.

"Do you really think that will work?" she asked helplessly. "I'm just a normal person. Making ghosts stop just by yelling at them is a little too weird, don't you think?"

Wu Wang stomped his foot, skidding to a sudden halt.

He glanced behind him.

Then, as if tossing out the trash, he dropped Wu Xiaoyou from his shoulder.

She landed with a thud, her face scrunching up as she grimaced and rubbed her backside.

"Why did you stop running? Have you given up and resigned yourself to death?"

"No, we're not done for," Wu Wang said, his expression strange.

"They really stopped."

At that moment, in the field of vision only Wu Wang could see, the dense mass of black, female Ghostly Shadows on the country road and behind the surrounding trees showed no sign of continuing the chase.

They merely used their fog-shrouded eyes to stare intently ahead.

To be precise, they were staring at the pale, delicate girl who was grimacing in pain and rubbing her sore bottom.

"Little girl… take care…"

"Don't forget your home…"

The strange, ghostly mutterings rose again.

But this time, Wu Wang didn't feel any loss of Mental Strength.

It was as if they were truly just giving her a reminder.

【Hidden Quest Triggered. Saintess Selection】

【Find the Yin Fate Saintess's graveyard and help them find release】

【Reward. Memory-Washing Stone (Plot-Critical Item)】

"Huh?"

Wu Wang was completely dumbfounded.

So besides the Main Quests and Side Quests given at the start of an Instance, you could also trigger a Hidden Quest?

The key was the reward.

The words "Plot-Critical Item" made it obvious that the Memory-Washing Stone was normally necessary to clear the Instance.

His own progress had already deviated from the normal path.

Other players entering this Instance wouldn't so easily stumble upon the truth that the village chief wasn't human. Nor would they get the Old Village Chief to sit down for a chat and willingly reveal his entire history. Striking a deal with him would be even more impossible.

After all, the prerequisite was that the Old Village Chief needed his help absorbing the Abyss God's aura.

If other players came into contact with the Abyss God's aura…

An image from the Novice Instance surfaced in Wu Wang's mind. He remembered the purged corpses on the ground, their forms twisted and bizarre under the Abyss God's gaze.

Barring any surprises, it seemed he was currently the only person who could ignore the Abyss God's influence.

Even if his body mutated, Wu Wang only needed to die and revive once to return to normal.

Stare at me! Whelp!

"Hey, Zhang Sanfeng, where are we going next? Back to the dilapidated house?" Wu Xiaoyou asked as she stood up.

Her complexion was much better now.

Her Mental Strength recovery speed was clearly abnormal, but Wu Wang wasn't focused on that.

He was more concerned with how she had stopped those female ghosts. In this Instance, was she really just an unlucky person who had wandered in by mistake?

This question grew even stronger after he learned that it was impossible to leave the village during the Yin Fate Grand Ritual.

Wu Wang was becoming more and more suspicious.

【While strolling through the forest, you encountered a young girl who had lost her footing, fallen down the mountain, and was unconscious.】

This was the Instance description of how he had found Wu Xiaoyou.

But in a forest sealed by the Yin Fate Great God, could an ordinary young girl really stumble in just by losing her footing and falling down a mountain?

Was she… really Wu Xiaoyou?

Even if she was…

Why did Second Sister come to this place all those years ago?

"No, the plan has changed," Wu Wang said after a moment of thought. "Tonight, I'll take you to stay in the village. I already have a way to keep them from hurting you."

"That amazing? Sigh... you look about the same age as my little brother, but he's just a blockhead," Wu Xiaoyou said, shaking her head in disappointment.

A strange glint flashed in Wu Wang's eyes.

He had caught a slip of the tongue.

Didn't she… have amnesia?

But Wu Wang didn't point this out, merely leading the way down the mountain in silence.

Before long, the two arrived at Yin Fate Village.

Seeing Wu Wang, who had left and returned, a trace of surprise clearly flashed across the Old Village Chief's face. He had thought they would meet at the Ancestral Hall tomorrow night. Why had he returned so soon?

"Have you thought it through? Hiss... and this is?"

The Old Village Chief knew at a glance that Wu Xiaoyou met the conditions to become a Yin Fate Saintess. He could sense it without even needing to check her Eight Characters of Birth.

But where did this person come from?

Wasn't Yin Fate Village already sealed off?

Hearing this, Wu Wang spoke slowly.

"Could I trouble you to arrange lodging for us?"

"I came back to bring you a sacrifice."

The Old Village Chief was stunned.

So was Wu Xiaoyou.