Contrary to Xu Xi's expectations, the "villager" did not attack him.
The other party looked like a man in his fifties or sixties. Apart from his face being a bit pale and his clothes a bit dirty, there was nothing about him that seemed remotely supernatural.
But Xu Xi didn't dare let his guard down.
The old man stood in place, staring fixedly at him. Two seconds later, he opened his mouth, his voice hoarse, and asked, "Do you have gold?"
Gold?
Xu Xi was completely baffled.
What kind of question was that?
And the old man just stared at him unblinkingly, looking like he wouldn't give up until he got an answer.
Xu Xi didn't know what to answer either. After thinking for a moment, he simply asked in return, "Why are you asking that?"
"Do you have gold?"
"None of your business whether I do or not."
"Do you have gold?"
No matter what Xu Xi replied, the old man only repeated this one question. He didn't seem to show any signs of wanting to harm anyone either.
It seemed the answer could only be chosen from 'yes' or 'no'.
Xu Xi himself didn't have any gold, so he tentatively replied with a 'no'.
"You really have no gold?" The old man's expression immediately turned sinister, and he asked again in a creepy tone.
It was as if, if Xu Xi's answer was still 'no', the old man would transform into a supernatural being.
To be honest, Xu Xi was indeed made hesitant for a moment by the old man's reaction, but in the end, he firmly replied with a 'no'.
Sure enough, the old man remained as he was and didn't go berserk.
After staring at Xu Xi unwillingly for a good while, he finally turned and walked towards the next household.
Shortly after, the familiar knocking sound came from next door, still the same routine: knock a few times, if no one opens, move to the next house.
Xu Xi had already glimpsed with his peripheral vision that the door to the room opposite had quietly cracked open a slit while he was talking to the old man. It was clearly the baseball cap young man inside the room keeping an eye on the situation over here.
Seeing the old man had left, the baseball cap young man opened the door and came out.
There was no trace of guilt for hiding at a critical moment and letting his teammate face the danger alone on his face; it was full of openness.
"Sorry, buddy, I'm a bit afraid of dying, so I hid first."
For the baseball cap young man, preserving his own life when danger struck in an instance was the most important thing. When necessary, he could even turn on so-called teammates.
Besides, it was the hoodie-wearing young man who opened the door himself.
Xu Xi didn't say anything. Even though he had experienced very few instances, he knew this kind of attitude was actually the norm in instances.
Seeing the other person wasn't speaking, the baseball cap young man didn't feel awkward and restated his guess that he hadn't had time to voice earlier.
"I suspect it might be because we still have that pungent, fishy smell lingering on us that the old man targeted us like that."
"Whether it's because of that or not, I think both of us need to take some measures."
"I suggest we go take a shower later. First thing tomorrow morning, we should go find the village chief to get some plant ash or something similar to remove the smell from our clothes. There should be plenty of that stuff in the village."
Seeing this person's thoughts aligned almost exactly with his own, and that he had even considered how to remedy the situation, which sounded very reasonable, Xu Xi didn't argue.
He closed the door and was about to head back to his room to take a shower when he heard the baseball cap young man behind him ask in a hesitant tone, "Buddy, you have a life-saving item, right?"
Xu Xi's steps halted. He turned his head to look at the young man who seemed purely curious.
"I just saw you open the door so decisively. Without some confidence, who would dare be that brave?" The baseball cap young man said with a smile.
"So?" Xu Xi raised an eyebrow slightly. "What do you want to say?"
The hoodie-wearing young man before him clearly didn't look very old, but those eyes, as calm as the deep sea, seemed as if they could see right through a person.
The baseball cap young man's heart instinctively tightened. He pretended to have just realized something and immediately apologized, his face wearing an appropriately contrite expression. "Sorry, I was out of line. I shouldn't have asked such a boundary-crossing question."
Xu Xi made an ambiguous "hmm" sound, turned around, and went back to his room.
The remaining baseball cap young man stood in place for a while before leaving.
——
[What's this baseball cap guy's deal? I can understand him hiding in the room; it's human nature at a life-and-death moment. But he actually chased after to ask Master Xu Xi if he had a life-saving item afterwards?]
[This kid clearly isn't a good person.]
[He doesn't think Master Xu Xi has an item on him and wants to scheme to take it, does he?]
[The prophet above, you're getting the knife.]
[I know Master Xu Xi has an item on him, but I'm not sure if it's the life-saving kind.]
[The fact that Xu Xi dared to open the door directly must mean he observed some other detail, knowing opening it wasn't dangerous. Look, the old man just asked a question, got an answer, and left.]
[Speaking of which, it's strange. Why did that old man linger at Xu Xi's door for so long, looking like he wouldn't give up until the door was knocked open?]
[Could it really be because they got contaminated with the smell from the wheat field?]
[I don't think so. That's too far-fetched. They weren't there for long, and that little bit of smell probably evaporated clean on the way to Ah Wang's house.]
[Not necessarily. This is the world inside an instance. Isn't defying common sense normal?]
[How come none of you are saying it's the show crew poisoning them? Don't forget how the previous players died.]
[Damn, that makes sense. Those previous players were indeed always inexplicably targeted by the supernatural beings.]
[I vote for the show crew. It must be the show crew making their move.]
[Stupid show crew, come out and take the blame!]
Song Yan, Cao Hongbo, and Ge Ying looked at each other, bewildered by the suddenly aggressive live stream comments.
Even these three started wondering in their hearts if the show crew's mysterious influence was really starting to take effect.
As for commentary? Analysis?
Forget it. What were they supposed to comment on in this situation?
——
Early the next morning.
The six of them gathered at the village chief's house for breakfast.
At the table, the Suited Man subtly glanced at the hoodie-wearing young man and the baseball cap young man sitting diagonally across from him.
"Something knocked on the door last night, but it left after a few knocks."
As soon as he said this, everyone's eating slowed down.
The Long Dress Girl and the Curly-Haired Woman exchanged a look.
"Our door was knocked on too. It also left after a few knocks."
The baseball cap young man glanced at Xu Xi, who was eating breakfast unhurriedly, and briefly recounted last night's events.
Regarding the hoodie-wearing young man's bold action, the others were both surprised and had formed some speculations, but they didn't show it.
"It's hard to say if you were affected by that smell. Logically, smells naturally evaporate, and you didn't stay by the wheat field for a long time either."
The Suited Man thought for a moment and still held a reserved opinion on this possibility.
"But an old man who only asks 'Do you have gold?'... Obviously, the villagers know this old man goes door-to-door knocking at night, and they should be clear about his identity."