Chapter 97: The Human Skin Drum (1)

"But..." Qiao Se wanted to say something more, but Tang Mu didn't give him the chance. She turned directly to Qiao Yuan and asked, "How many instances has Qiao Se run? If he spends all his time obsessing over romance, does he even have the energy for anything else?"

As expected, Qiao Yuan couldn't help but glare at Qiao Se. "There are so many women in the association. Isn't that enough for you?"

Qiao Se was speechless.

*What does he mean by "so many women in the association"?*

*My heart is set only on Tang Mu right now, okay!*

Tang Mu, meanwhile, said to Qiao Yuan, "Since we've already locked onto the NPC, let's start the instance."

"Now?" Qiao Yuan frowned, clearly disapproving. "You just came out of the last instance."

"Start it immediately," Tang Mu replied coldly. "My mental strength is SS-rank."

Fine. Since his cash cow was so eager to run instances and make money, Qiao Yuan certainly wouldn't stop her from raking it in.

"Perfect, I've rested long enough anyway. An Xiaoying, go find a few people from the association to join us."

An Xiaoying had no desire to go with Tang Mu. She kept a cold, indifferent expression and didn't even budge an inch. It wasn't until Qiao Yuan glared at her with a darkened face that she finally moved, though she still couldn't help but rebel. "She's just a newcomer. Why should she..."

At this, Qiao Yuan was completely incensed. "What? Do you think my words don't need to be obeyed?"

Tang Mu fanned the flames from the side: "Why keep a subordinate who doesn't obey the boss? Are you just looking for trouble for yourself?"

"Tang Mu, don't think I don't know what you—"

"An Xiaoying!" Qiao Yuan’s voice turned dangerously low. "If you’re still holding a grudge over your sister’s matter, you can choose to leave this association."

An Xiaoying bit her lip, unwilling to submit. After a moment of silence, she stomped her foot hard and, despite her reluctance, went off to find people within the association.

***

An Xiaoying returned with four people: two women, Ge Wenqian and Zhu Ya’an, and two men, Qi Yangbo and Lu Zhengqing. They all wore the emblem of the A-Yu Association on their chests. After a brief introduction, Qiao Yuan began his announcement.

"There’s a high probability our next instance will be A-rank. Everyone, hurry up and sell any items you don't need, then exchange them for what you do. Supernatural-themed games usually offer the best rewards. We’ll be selecting a supernatural category, and you’ll all be transported in."

Qiao Yuan input some commands into an old iPad and transferred them to a USB drive. He then inserted the drive into his gaming card. About ten seconds later, he pulled it out and passed it around to everyone present.

Seeing that they were heading into another instance, Qiao Se raised his hand, feeling very unwilling to be left behind. "I want to go into this instance, too."

His request was met with a ruthless rebuttal from his brother. "With your current ability, you aren't ready to farm monsters in an A-rank instance."

"But..."

"No 'buts.' Stay here and manage the association for me. You don't need to worry about anything else."

"Everyone ready? If so, let's begin."

Tang Mu pulled out her own gaming card and inserted it into a nearby computer. She checked her status; there were no item rewards from the last instance, but she had gained 300,000 points. This was more than she could have made selling items. Her current balance was 343,122 points.

She browsed the shop, only to find that aside from basic potion bottles, the cheapest B-rank items cost over half a million points.

...Never mind. She was blind; she didn't see anything. Close the shop. Close it now.

***

"I'm going in," Qiao Yuan said, and his figure vanished into the virtual space.

Tang Mu also chose to continue the game. The screen of the old computer displayed the following words:

"The game instance 'Human Skin Drum' has been opened for the player. Note: This is an A-rank instance selected by the player. As it is not a randomly chosen one, the difficulty will be slightly elevated, but the rewards will be plentiful!"

"System detects that the player has entered three consecutive instances in a short period. However, this system is too lazy to issue a warning, as the player wouldn't listen anyway, so I won't waste my breath."

"Alright, enough talk. Have fun, player!"

After the text vanished, rows of seats suddenly appeared before Tang Mu. As her vision cleared, she realized she was on a clean, bright, and somewhat new-looking coach bus.

The bus had 53 seats, nearly all of which were occupied. The tour guide sat at the very front, holding a small flag and a lapel microphone. She gripped the mic head with her right hand and spoke with great enthusiasm.

"Look, this is the main attraction of our trip: Luomen Village. This village has over two hundred years of history. The villagers here are simple, honest, and kind. However, because of its remote location, no outsiders have visited this small village in a long time. To promote the tourism industry, the authorities sent people to scout it. They believed that while the location is remote, the village boasts a profound historical atmosphere and incredible natural scenery, so they highly recommended it to tourists."

"You all chose to come to Luomen Village because you love wilderness exploration. To enhance your experience, the tour bus will drop you off at the village entrance and leave, returning to pick you up in seven days."

"Don't worry too much, though. During your stay, I will distribute walkie-talkies. If you have any questions, just use them to talk to me."

"Only if you truly, forcibly wish to leave the village will there be designated personnel to pick you up. As for how to express this 'forceful' desire: tune your walkie-talkie to Channel 2 and say, 'At the third quarter of the Zi hour, the ghost has arrived!' We will safely take you out of the village at eight o'clock the next morning."

"Alright, the bus has arrived at the destination. Please disembark in an orderly fashion. Let’s take a group photo in front of the stone engraved with the words 'Luomen Village'."

Getting 53 people off the bus was no easy task. Everyone scrambled out with their bags, following the guide's instructions to stand in front of the giant stone labeled "Luomen Village."