Chapter 34: The Village of Virtuous Women

The team-up card ensures that bound teammates spawn relatively close to each other when entering the "副本" aka replica.

Li Zhi reached out and pulled Chi Yi from the wheat field, her hand warm and solid to the touch. Only then did the wariness in Li Zhi’s eyes finally fade.

Chi Yi had no idea she'd just been suspected of something. Standing on the edge of the field, she curiously surveyed their surroundings. "Zhi Zhi, don't you think this place is a bit strange?"

As they walked along the field path toward the village ahead, Li Zhi asked, "What's strange about it?"

"It's too normal," Chi Yi replied. "It's not scary or oppressive—it's even kind of cozy. In a副本, this kind of normalcy is the most abnormal thing! This place must be dangerous—maybe even more so than the last two副本!"

Li Zhi patted her shoulder. "Good job. You've improved a lot."

She got praised by Zhi Zhi!

Chi Yi was delighted, proudly lifting her chin.

Live chat exploded with comments like “OTP overload”:

[Finally, it's Li Zhi's副本! After watching her clear副本s, all others feel boring.]

[Lizhi is teamed up with Chi Yi again! Love them so much!]

[Is Chi Yi planning to stay permanently linked with Li Zhi? Can't she walk upright anymore?]

[At this rate, Chi Yi will lose all her original fanbase.]

[Chi Yi's skills are indeed average, but she and Lizhi really click, and they're adorable together. If you don't like them, plenty of people do.]

[Let's not forget, she used to be the nation's first love, super famous. Now she's just a sidekick for an extra? How tragic.]

[What kind of trash sneaked into this live stream? Why so much negativity toward Lizhi and Chi Yi?]

[Fun fact: Wen Qianxue, Chi Yi's rival, also entered this副本. They’ve been rivals since debut, and now they’re still rivals in the副本. Haha, things are about to get spicy.]

...

After crossing the field path, they arrived at a threshing ground where players from all directions gradually gathered.

Chi Yi had been chatting and laughing with Li Zhi until she spotted Wen Qianxue among the crowd. Her expression turned complex. She and Wen were definitely fated foes—they’d been rivals since debut due to overlapping image and positioning. Battling over resources and endorsements was common between them, and their fans naturally clashed as well.

In reality, Chi Yi and Wen Qianxue hadn’t personally fought often over the years; they rarely crossed paths. But in showbiz, some people are just born rivals.

Now that both had entered the same副本—a life-or-death situation where popularity was also at stake—it seemed destined that they wouldn’t leave this one without bloodshed.

Sure enough, Wen Qianxue’s expression was equally complex when she saw Chi Yi. However, both were seasoned entertainment veterans with excellent facial control. Their expressions quickly returned to normal, and Wen even gave Chi Yi a polite nod.

There were ten players in total—five men and five women. Besides Wen Qianxue and Chi Yi, three were high-ranking idols from the same survival show. The trio clearly knew each other well and had good chemistry. Li Zhi guessed they must have used the team-up card.

Chi Yi leaned close to Li Zhi and whispered, "They're from Milky Way—the group that debuted with Lian Qinglin back then."

Indeed, the three looked handsome, fitting today's idol aesthetic. Still, Li Zhi thought they fell short compared to Lian Qinglin. One had pink hair, another white, and the third golden-yellow—standing out conspicuously among the players.

The remaining four were familiar faces from the industry. Upon seeing Li Zhi in this副本, some were happy while others were disappointed. Those who were pleased thought they could relax and ride on her success. Those aiming for MVP felt defeated before even trying and silently cursed their luck.

Everyone waited briefly at the threshing ground until confirming no more players would arrive, then headed toward the nearby village.

By then, the sun had set, casting a peaceful glow over the village in the fading light. As they reached the village entrance, a young man wearing cloth shoes and tied trousers ran toward them anxiously. "Why are you still wandering around? The troupe leader told you to notify everyone to come watch the opera tonight—did you even tell anyone?"

Troupe leader, opera night.

It seemed this副本 involved an opera troupe.

Normally, after encountering the first NPC in a副本, the system would pop up a mission trigger. This time, nothing happened.

Everyone stood there, confused.

To the young man, it looked like they were simply spacing out, which made him furious. "We've already built the stage—if we can't sell tickets tonight, prepare to starve for three days!"

Pink-haired idol quickly said, "Don't get mad—we'll go right away!"

Still scowling, the young man handed them a copper gong. "Notify every household. There's a famine going on—many places can barely eat, let alone enjoy opera. I heard this village is relatively wealthy. Selling more tickets tonight might help us get better meals."

He turned and left. Pinky curiously tapped the gong once, producing a loud clang.

Someone asked, "What’s going on? No mission prompt this time?"

Wen Qianxue said, "Might as well complete this task first—notify villagers to come watch the opera tonight."

With no prompts available, this was the only option. Everyone grabbed the gong and entered the village. Pinky led the way, knocking on the gong and shouting outside each house: "The opera starts tonight! Those with money, support us financially; those without, support us with your presence!"

The gong rang far and wide. Many children ran out from their homes, chasing and playing joyfully around them: "There's an opera tonight! We get to watch!"

Some villagers stood at their doors, curious: "Which opera troupe are you from? What play are you showing tonight?"

Pinky played it smart: "You’ll find out when you come."

Taking the opportunity to notify villagers, they wandered through the village. Li Zhi trailed behind the group, observing the environment. Everything appeared genuinely normal—an ordinary village with no hostility from the locals.

The village wasn’t small, housing over a hundred families. By the time they finished notifying everyone, night had fallen.

Oil lamps flickered across the village as dinner ended and villagers carried long benches outdoors, chatting happily on their way to the open-air square near the village entrance to watch the opera.

In an era still lit by oil lamps, opera-watching was their greatest source of entertainment. Excited children chased each other down the road, clapping and singing a nursery rhyme:
"Going to see the opera! Going to see the opera!
There was a woman named Liu San Niang in the city,
An immoral wife who drowned in the pond,
Deservedly caged in a pigsty,
Her existence disgraced the ancestral shrine."

The players followed behind the villagers, exchanging uneasy glances as they listened to the children’s chant.

“Caged in a pigsty… disgraced the ancestral shrine,” Li Zhi repeated softly, chuckling. “Looks like this plot revolves around chastity.”

Opera nights were common entertainment in those times, and nearly every village had an open-air stage. Villagers easily found their way to the performance area, torches lighting both sides of the square brightly.

The open-air stage was normally used for meetings and speeches but was now decorated with curtains by the troupe.

The young man the players met earlier stood at the entrance selling tickets, grinning widely at the large crowd gathering.

There were no assigned seats—everyone brought their own benches. Long benches lined up neatly as parents held their children close. The square soon filled up, buzzing with lively chatter.

Only the front row remained empty—someone had placed the benches there, yet no one sat on them.

Soon, a drumbeat echoed from the stage, signaling the start of the show. The crowd below quieted accordingly.

The players stood awkwardly to the side. Pinky glanced around and suggested, pointing to the empty front row, "Let’s go sit there."

Others agreed, feeling uncomfortable standing, so they crouched low and moved forward.

When they reached the second row, Pinky suddenly felt someone grab his arm.

An old woman wrapped in black cloth around her head stared at them sternly, her whites-of-the-eyes prominent, giving off a ghostly aura. "Do you understand the rules?" she slowly scanned the players, lowering her voice as if afraid someone might overhear: "The front row... is not for the living."

Pinky shuddered, staring uneasily at the empty benches in the front row.