Xu Yingtang managed to distract the little ones, and when it came time to discuss who should be responsible for binding the unexpected income and how to handle it, Long Hao, who was left on standby on the shore by them, took on a more important task, one so crucial that it could determine whether they would successfully clear the instance this time.
– Salary negotiation.
It was agreed that the work hours would be counted from the day they arrived at the village, even though it seemed that the ceremony was canceled and the boss was overthrown by them. Not a single penny of the wages owed could be lessened.
After all, based on their experience as part-time tomb raiders last time, if the part-time commission didn’t come through, no other income would matter.
For two guys about to receive a substantial share of the underwater treasure, they were still concerned about their own wages. Long Hao had many grievances in his heart that he didn’t dare to express.
—As an ordinary person who knew nothing, he had no concept of hourly wages for this job, thinking it was just a temporary actor’s part-time job, and even earning 208 a day exceeded his expectations.
So, while following the pretty butterfly that supposedly led the way to the only surviving heir to the village (according to Xu Yintang), Long Hao muttered a lot of complaints to himself that he dared not say out loud.
Unaware that Long Hao’s psychological shadow was already hatching a cocoon, the system and him were on the same side, venting their frustrations together, which slightly reassured Long Hao, who was on the verge of mental collapse from the nightmares he had endured these past few days.
Feeling the system’s presence by his side, just like it had been for the past few years, was comforting. Long Hao felt like he had pieced his shattered worldview back together a bit. He stood at the door of the house where the butterfly flew in, took a deep breath, clenched the chainsaw that Xu Yintang had lent him, and cautiously entered as if he were entering a tiger’s den.
But in reality, there was only A-Zhu, who was trembling with a kitchen knife in her hand, and behind her was Aunt A-Gen, whose skin was cracked and eyes cloudy, already on the verge of death.
“Don’t come any closer!” A-Zhu pointed the kitchen knife at Long Hao, but couldn’t help but keep trying to turn back to check on Aunt A-Gen’s condition. She tried to make herself look fiercer by moving her feet, but couldn’t hide her bewildered and fearful emotions.
She didn’t know what had happened, only that suddenly her familiar world had changed. The sisters and aunts who were usually not very close to her, but not unkind either, suddenly seemed possessed, turning into terrifying monsters before her eyes.
The only one who still had some sanity left was Aunt A-Gen, her biological mother who also looked different, grabbing her tightly and urging her to hide in the house, not to go out under any circumstances.
A-Zhu even learned for the first time that her mother, who had never spoken a word since childhood and could only babble, was not mute.
“A-Zhu, it’s okay…” Aunt A-Gen struggled to sit up, squinting to see who the newcomer was. Her voice was hoarse and unpleasant, even describing it as a “broken gong” would be generous.
Long Hao was so surprised by the fact that she could speak that he couldn’t even hold the saw steady. “You… I thought you were mute?”
Aunt A-Gen smiled faintly, her face like dry cracked mud oozing dark, viscous blood from every crevice. Long Hao noticed her hands were like deformed claws, and her movements were strange, resembling some kind of squirming soft creature.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Although she still mostly resembled a human, she exuded elements of a creature only found in monsters, like a being caught in between, which made her even more eerie and disgusting.
Obcu Ljb kjr rb oglutafcfv ys tlr bkc vlrmbnfgs atja tf mbeivc’a jqqgbjmt, jcv Ceca C-Xfc mgbjxfv, “Gbc’a yf jogjlv, P’w jiwbra vfjv… Yeg wjrafg lr jigfjvs vfjv, fnfc lo atfgf jgf qeqqfar ralii jilnf, atfs kbc’a regnlnf qjra cbbc abvjs.”
Lfg kbgvr kfgf byrmegf jcv ribk, yfmbwlcu fnfc wbgf ecmifjg jr atf rfcafcmfr ugfk ibcufg. Obcu Ljb mjealberis xfqa tlr vlrajcmf ogbw atfw, ibkfglcu atf rjk yfrlvf tlw, jcv obgmfv j rwlif atja kjrc’a abb oglutafcfv. “P’w cba jogjlv, sbe… sbe mjc ajxf sbeg alwf… jmaejiis, P vbc’a xcbk ktja tjqqfcfv. Ktf akb bo atfw jrxfv wf ab mbwf tfgf, rjslcu sbe kfgf ibbxlcu obg rbwfbcf ab lctfgla atf nliijuf’r jrrfar jcv qjs kjufr…”
Aunt A-Gen paused, then muttered in a daze, “Right, she hasn’t been “blessed” by the master, there’s only A-Zhu left, only A-Zhu… A-Zhu must survive…”
She had a look on her face that was both crying and smiling, and seemed to be celebrating with a complex expression.
The women of the village were basically the same age because they all hooked up with men from outside during the Elixir Ceremony, ensuring that the new generation of children would be ready to receive the village chief’s “blessing” together and be parasitized, turning into his “kin.”
For the aging and declining village chief, this was a more effortless method.
However, the man Aunt A-Gen chose to mate with was so likable that he clouded her judgment and they eloped. As a punishment for such betrayal, her voice turned into what it is now, and she could never fully transform back into her human appearance.
She became something in between, something that no one would accept.
And after A-Zhu was born, the village chief, under the pretext of preserving the village’s bloodline, forcibly brought her and her daughter back to the village.
A-Zhu was arranged to receive the village chief’s “blessing” along with this group of women and their children. Aunt A-Gen’s husband disappeared from then on, and she neither knew nor dared to find out what had happened to him. No one had seen him since.
Aunt A-Gen intermittently told A-Zhu these stories, and then began to explain the inheritance of the estate to her in detail.
The estate of the village was vast, and they had made reasonable and legal preparations for various special circumstances. For example, in the event of the village’s destruction, A-Zhu would indeed be the legal inheritor of all the assets of the village.
Aunt A-Gen was actually quite wary of Long Hao standing aside, fearing that he might have ill intentions. However, she had no other choice but to pray that Long Hao was a good person and to explain more to ensure that A-Zhu had more chips to survive.
Listening to Aunt A-Gen’s detailed instructions, Long Hao didn’t know how much longer it would take for her to finish. Thinking about Xu Yintang and Shi Yuebai, who were waiting on the way back, he couldn’t wait to speak up, “Um… shouldn’t you tell her the password for the safe and pay them their wages first? They seem quite anxious.”
As for how the inheritance should be handled afterward, they could arrange it however they liked. The village was rich enough to rival the wealthiest in the world, and Long Hao sincerely didn’t want to have anything to do with these two anymore.
In the hope of getting his wages and completing the task earlier to leave this haunted place as soon as possible, Long Hao temporarily put aside the fact that Aunt A-Gen wouldn’t live much longer, and used his persuasion skills to successfully get the money before the two demons returned.
—Did he accidentally mention the words “two demons” just now?
Ahem, it was a slip of the tongue, just a slip of the tongue.
By the way, the hourly wages of these two were truly jaw-dropping, and he even wanted to ask if they were hiring ordinary humans.
“Ordinary humans,” Xu Yintang said, “you’re not.”
Absolutely useless, even in an E-rank instance, he would just be delivering food to monsters.
Long Hao breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that this should be the end of his involvement, and quickly found an excuse to slip away. Before leaving, he also handed his business card to the two, inviting them to play with him in the future, just not in such thrilling places as the village. He’d be happy to accompany them for meals and tea.
However, it was best not to come looking for him again.
The experience in the village left Long Hao with psychological trauma that even as a seasoned player in Dream Life, he couldn’t heal.
Just like Wang Laowu, who was suddenly stabbed by the news that his employees had wiped out his employer’s entire village, the psychological shadow was so large that it was immeasurable.
“We haven’t wiped out the village,” Xu Yintang corrected him. “There’s still one survivor.”
Weakly clutching his heart, Wang Laowu said, “Shut up. Let your boyfriend talk to me. Every time I hear your voice, I get chest pains.”
What sin had he committed in his past life to hire such a grudge-bearing employee? On the phone, every word was about how he killed the employer. Oh, his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys…
Xu Yintang reluctantly closed his mouth, while Shi Yuebai, with a face full of remorse, leaned in to kiss him and took over, saying, “Don’t worry, apart from you and me, no one knows about our involvement in this matter. And we’ve already received our wages, and we’ve been paid for every day we worked. Look, the money should have been deposited by now.”
One moment Wang Laowu was groaning on the phone as if he were about to pass out, and the next moment, after checking the transfer records, he was completely fine.
How understanding, money heals all wounds.
Shi Yuebai cleared his throat and continued, “We also acquired some antiques and jewelry. We don’t have any connections in this area, so if you’re interested, we can discuss the commission fee…”
What a joke, of course Wang Laowu was interested.
He must have accumulated great virtue in his past life to have hired such an excellent and thoughtful employee!
As Wang Laowu excitedly asked about the condition of the antiques and jewelry, the mechanical electronic sound of the system also rang in their consciousness.
[Congratulations, player, for completing the hidden instance “Gray Part-Time: Part-Time Ceremony Actor”!]
[Instance data settlement is in progress. Please wait…]
[Part-time job: Part-Time Ceremony Actor, completed]
[Earning employment points: 960,000]
[System task: Investigate the “Dream Life Game System,” completion progress 23%, task progress saved.]
[Earning reward points: 230,000, these reward points are temporarily unusable due to incomplete tasks.]
[In this game session, players collectively earned 1,190,000 game points (230,000 frozen).]
[You will return to reality in 3 seconds. Countdown: 3, 2, 1…]
[Sincerely look forward to meeting you again next time! Wishing you a healthy and happy life!]
Author’s Note –
Wang Laowu: As long as the money is in place, let the employer die [Smoking].
The fourth little one is finally going to hit the assembly line [Rubbing hands].
I’ve already thought of a name www.
You can guess what the fourth little one look like.
I hope the little one is a beautiful reverse mermaid with a magnificent koi head and powerful human legs! Because that’s the first mental image that popped into mind 🤣 they can be named Fourth Pearl or something along those lines
Not me just thinking of a dragon 😭
The fourth child must have scales!
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING AWESOME!!!
😂money can solve just about every issue in life
Gold fish?
Thank you for your translation 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚