Chapter 146: Butterfly Village

The afternoon's sightseeing spot was a local performance held at the village's central square. Dozens of villagers dressed in traditional costumes, barefoot and carrying bamboo drums, sang and danced. The obscure melodies and movements resembled some ancient summoning ritual—mysterious and intricate—captivating the tourists.

Xu Yan watched for a while before noticing Li Zhi seemed distracted.

Actually, she'd noticed it this morning when they left—Li Zhi had been searching for something the whole time.

She saw her holding a sunflower-shaped pendant, fingers absently rubbing its surface. Suddenly, Xu Yan remembered seeing this pendant in Li Zhi's profile when she'd reviewed her information before entering the dungeon.

Leaning closer, Xu Yan whispered, "Are you looking for Li Jianxi?"

Li Zhi seemed surprised she'd noticed but smiled and tucked the pendant away. "Yeah."

Xu Yan said, "Honestly, I'm curious about him too. I was hoping to meet him this time. When will he show up?"

Li Zhi shook her head. "Don't know." She paused, her voice lowering. "Based on past patterns, he should've appeared by now."

But twenty-four hours had passed since they entered the dungeon yesterday, and there was still no sign of Li Jianxi. When Xu Yan suggested visiting the clinic at noon, Li Zhi had thought she might find him there—but clearly, something was wrong on his end this time.

A quiet worry settled in Li Zhi's chest, but aside from repeatedly summoning him with the sunflower pendant, she had no other way to find him.

Between them, only when Li Jianxi chose to appear could they meet.

Li Zhi had always been the passive one.

Sensing her concern, Xu Yan patted her shoulder reassuringly. "Maybe he's held up by something. It's only the second day."

Li Zhi nodded with a faint smile.

The local performance went on for a long time. The guide explained that to welcome them, the village would hold different themed shows here daily. Tomorrow's performance would be butterfly-related and even more spectacular.

After the show, the rest of the day was free for exploration. The players split into groups to scout the village, agreeing to regroup at the inn before dinner.

Seizing the moment when the two green tea players weren't paying attention, Xu Yan quietly pulled Li Zhi away.

By the time Nie Miao and Yao Lang went looking for them, Li Zhi was long gone. Nie Miao pouted and stomped her foot, then shot Yao Lang a glare when she found him still standing there. Yao Lang scoffed coldly in return.

Like repels like—they couldn't stand each other.

Their names often appeared together on forums—mention Nie Miao, and Yao Lang would inevitably come up, and vice versa. After all, green tea players were a rare spectacle in dungeons, and some viewers had a peculiar fondness for watching them.

There was a strange satisfaction in seeing them manipulate other players with their act.

Li Zhi was the highest-ranked player they'd encountered since entering the dungeon. The moment they saw her on the bus, their green tea DNA had stirred. Unfortunately, players of her caliber were different from ordinary high-level players. After several failed attempts, neither had found an opening.

But it was only the second day. Both secretly thought the same—with five days left, if they could successfully infiltrate Li Zhi's team this round, wouldn't future dungeon runs be secured?

The two green teas were brimming with fighting spirit.

Butterfly Village was most beautiful at dusk, bathed in sunset hues. But after a day of fruitless searching, the players weren't in the mood to appreciate the scenery. When they regrouped outside the inn as planned, frustration was written all over their faces.

As twilight faded into night, anxiety grew. "Will that butterfly monster come for us tonight?"

The memory of the desiccated corpses inside those cocoons this morning sent chills down their spines.

"The inn's surrounded by patrols," Jiao Shen remarked, glancing around. "If the monster still succeeds with this many guards, then these villagers are utterly useless."

Besides sprinkling butterfly-repelling powder around the inn, the village had also reinforced patrols and hidden sentries. Li Zhi noticed the guards carried trident-like weapons. Their defense centered on the inn—such a heavy deployment clearly aimed not just at protecting tourists but capturing the butterfly monster.

Dinner passed quickly, and night fell. Back in their room, Xu Yan lifted a corner of the curtain. The previously empty streets now had patrol teams, which was somewhat reassuring.

At least they wouldn't wake in the middle of the night to find that butterfly monster staring through their window again.

After washing up, Li Zhi told Xu Yan, "If I get a fever again tonight, don't worry about it. If it's really a rejection reaction, it won't kill its host that quickly."

Xu Yan agreed.

They speculated the foreign substance inside the host became more active at night when the host slept, causing the fever. During the day, when the host was awake, it remained dormant, minimizing rejection.

As night deepened, the footsteps of patrol teams outside grew clearer. No one found it disruptive—on the contrary, it helped them sleep more soundly.

The night passed without incident.

The butterfly monster never came. Whether it knew about the trap or was already sated from the two corpses the previous night remained unknown.

When Li Zhi woke in the morning, she found her sheets and pillow damp with sweat again—she'd evidently burned with fever all night. Her immune system had worked overtime, though how many foreign eggs it had killed was unclear.

Li Zhi felt she might earn a "Frenzied Immune System" achievement this round.

After yesterday's scare, everyone counted heads during breakfast in the lobby.

With the patrols, they'd assumed no one went missing, but soon realized—Tao Tao was gone.

Li Zhi turned to Tao Tao's roommate, another young, pretty girl. "She wasn't in the room?"

The girl hesitated. "She... never came back last night..."

Han Wenlin was furious. "And you're only saying this now?! She's been missing since last night!"

The girl, scolded by a stranger, retorted angrily, "I barely know her! How was I supposed to know if she went out partying? It's not my job to babysit her!"

"I saw her at dinner yesterday," Xu Yan interjected, cutting off the argument. She asked the other tourists, "Did anyone see who Tao Tao left with?"

Everyone exchanged glances and shook their heads.

Someone whispered, "Maybe she left early? This is a free tour—after being harassed yesterday, she might've decided to quit."

Li Zhi said to the roommate, "Take me to your room."

The girl led her upstairs sullenly. Tao Tao had stayed on the second floor. After inspecting the room, Li Zhi returned and announced, "Her backpack's still here. She didn't leave the village."

Though just an NPC, after two days together—and eating her banana—Han Wenlin felt uneasy. "Did that A-Tai take her? I'll go demand answers!"

Li Zhi stopped him. "Even if he did, he'd never admit it. This village is complicated. If Tao Tao's been hidden, finding her won't be easy."

Han Wenlin scowled. "So we just abandon her?"

Nie Miao muttered, "She's just an NPC, not a real person..."

Han Wenlin glared. "Shut up, you fake cutesy—"

Nie Miao's eyes widened in outrage. Xu Yan expected an explosion, but instead, Nie Miao turned tearfully to Li Zhi. "Zhi Zhi-jie, how could he?! I'm just worried about everyone's safety! Picking a fight over some fake NPC could ruin our mission, boo hoo—"

Han Wenlin: "......"

Damn green tea!

Still, others agreed with Nie Miao—going all out for an NPC wasn't worth it.

Li Zhi gave Han Wenlin a reassuring look. Once he sat back down sulkily, she approached Yin Fu. "One of our companions went out last night and never returned. She was harassed by your villager A-Tai yesterday. Do you know where she is?"

Yin Fu's eyes flickered, but her expression remained calm. "Really? I'll ask A-Tai later. He's always been a flirt, but he'd never break the law. Maybe your friend went out exploring?"

Li Zhi smiled. "Three tourists have gone missing in three days. Are you sure there's nothing wrong with your village?"

Yin Fu tucked her hair behind her ear and sighed. "Accidents happen during travel. We host tens of thousands of tourists yearly—if there were real issues, wouldn't they have surfaced by now?"

Seeing her unshakable composure, Li Zhi knew—finding Tao Tao would be nearly impossible.

After breakfast, the tour group gathered for the day's activities. As they left, Li Zhi spotted that furtive figure across the street in the teahouse again.

She discreetly broke away, circling to the teahouse's main entrance on the adjacent street and walked in.

Yin Fu's ex-boyfriend was still peering through the window when a tap on his shoulder nearly made him jump out of his skin. Whirling around, he snarled at Li Zhi, "What do you want now?!"

Li Zhi smiled and squeezed his shoulder. His entire side instantly went numb, and he stared at her in terror.

"Relax," she said. "Just a few questions."

The man adjusted his slipping glasses. "What?"

Li Zhi said, "A companion of ours is missing—a young, pretty girl, about 1.6 meters tall, with twin ponytails, wearing a white jacket and black skirt. You've been watching the inn. Did you see her?"

The man's expression shifted. After a long pause, he admitted, "Last evening... I saw her leave with a local."

"What did the local look like? Do you know them?"

"I know him... It was the village chief's daughter."

Li Zhi released his shoulder. "A-Tai's sister?"

The man exhaled in relief. Seeing Li Zhi meant no harm, he sat back down. "Right. The chief has two children—A-Tai and his younger sister."

Li Zhi pondered this, then sat beside him and poured him tea with a smile. "You seem to know a lot about this village. Care to share?"