Chapter 39: Xi Tu Lanya – The Village of Virtuous Women
Several players exclaimed in disbelief, “How is that possible?! Who would willingly choose death?!”
“Well… not necessarily,” someone hesitated. “Didn’t Fang Lin prove it? Zhen Zhen grew up here her whole life, raised under the teachings that demand chastity. Isn’t that what everyone in this village believes?”
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
Wen Qianxue thought for a while and said, “If that’s really how she feels, then wouldn’t helping her fulfill her final wish also count as fulfilling her last心愿 (wish)?”
“Where does she live? Maybe we should go back again, talk to her properly, and find out what she truly wants.”
Li Zhi shook her head. “We’ve already drawn suspicion by asking around about Zhen Zhen today. The villagers are already wary of us. If we do go back, we’ll have to sneak in when no one else is around. We can’t be seen.”
She remembered hearing the scolding from the middle-aged woman when they had climbed over the courtyard wall earlier. No doubt, the villagers would now watch Zhen Zhen even more closely.
How could they get inside again without being noticed?
Chi Yi sighed, “This is when I really miss that invisibility potion from the last副本.”
“There is another way,” Li Zhi mused. “Last night, when all the villagers came to watch the opera, the village was empty, right?”
Someone disagreed, “Even if we convince the troupe leader to hold another performance, the villagers just watched one last night. They won’t come again tonight—they don’t have money to burn.”
Li Zhi thought quietly, “They won’t pay to watch… but what if it’s free?”
“That’s easy to say, but who would perform for free? Us?”
Everyone looked at each other, then turned their gaze toward the three idols—Pink, White, and Golden-haired.
Pink/White/Golden: “…What?”
Chi Yi winked playfully, “You’re performers too, right? Why don’t you just go up and dance something short?”
“Are you kidding?!” Pink snapped. “Our dances would be considered indecent here—we might end up caged in a pigsty!”
“Then just do something conservative! Just sway a bit and shout a few lines. Just keep them distracted for a little while!”
Everyone knew it was a joke. In this era, anything outside traditional opera would feel like a cultural shock. There was no way villagers would gather for any other kind of performance the way they did for opera.
As silence fell, Li Zhi heard someone practicing vocal drills in the back yard. Even off-stage, they still trained regularly.
“Maybe there’s another way,” Li Zhi said. “Tao Yu might help us.”
Tao Yu—the rising star who played Fang Lin last night?
Throughout previous副本s, NPCs were treated as scenery or plot guides. Even when an NPC helped, it was always part of the storyline. None of them had ever tried to seek help from an NPC unrelated to the main plot.
Would Tao Yu really help?
Li Zhi stood up. “Let’s try.”
She walked out toward the main courtyard, others hesitantly trailing behind. Passing through several carved gates, they arrived at a yard filled with stage props.
Li Zhi whispered to Chi Yi, “You go.”
Chi Yi quickly rubbed her eyes hard a couple times.
Inside the yard, Tao Yu had taken off her makeup and was wearing practice clothes. With one leg balanced on a stool and her long hair braided and coiled behind her head, she spotted the players peeking from the doorway. She narrowed her eyes, jumped down from the stool, and glared.
“What are you sneaking around for? Say what you need to say!”
Chi Yi, eyes red from rubbing, approached pitifully. “Sister Tao Yu, you’re so kind. Please help us.”
Tao Yu made a face. “Stop trying to flatter me. What is it?” After looking at Chi Yi’s sad expression, she cleared her throat awkwardly. “Is it about the troupe leader cutting your rations again?”
Chi Yi sweetly linked arms with her. “Just come with us. We’ll tell you everything, but only to you.”
Though clearly annoyed, Tao Yu followed them back to the players’ room and finally snapped, “Alright, alright! Stop acting so mysterious! Just spit it out! All of you look so gloomy—it looks like I owe you money or something!”
Chi Yi sighed deeply. “Sister Tao Yu, we heard something today while walking around the village. It seems women here must commit suicide after their husbands die—to follow them in loyalty, just like Sister Fang Lin did last night.”
Tao Yu spat in disgust. “Why mention that useless woman? She’s as cursed as this damn village!”
They’d heard her curse at Fang Lin last night for dying for a man and disgracing all women. Now, seeing her reaction again, Chi Yi felt more confident and continued, “I heard another woman will die in four days—her husband died too, and now she’s locked away by the villagers, forced to follow him in death!”
Tao Yu’s expression shifted slightly. “Really?”
Everyone nodded furiously. “Of course! We heard it ourselves!”
Tao Yu cursed, “These people are despicable!”
Chi Yi lowered her voice, full of sorrow. “It’s so tragic being a woman here, Sister Tao Yu. Let’s help her.”
Tao Yu paused, her earlier anger fading into suspicion. “What exactly are you planning?”
Chi Yi explained, “We want you to host a free opera tonight to draw the villagers out. Then we can sneak in and save her!”
Tao Yu immediately turned to leave. “No way! Forget it!”
“Wait-wait-wait—!”
Everyone rushed to stop her, and Pinky even ran ahead and shut the door, blocking her escape.
Tao Yu laughed bitterly, crossing her arms. “What? Are you going to lock me up? Want me to scream for the troupe leader?”
Seeing their pleading expressions, she snapped, “Have you even lived your own lives yet? Why meddle in others’ business? Life isn’t easy for anyone. If I helped every poor soul, none of us would survive!”
“Please, Sister Tao Yu,” Chi Yi, perfectly playing her innocent role, begged. “You just need to sing one opera. We’ll handle the rest. We promise not to drag you into anything.”
“I’m worried about getting dragged in?!” Tao Yu growled, then muttered angrily, “I swear, I must’ve offended some ancestor to meet you people!”
She thought of Fang Lin, who used to overshadow her. Though they were rivals, once Fang Lin died and left the spotlight open, she didn’t feel happy at all.
“Fine,” she relented. “Call it doing good karma.”
Joy spread across everyone’s faces. Chi Yi quickly asked, “But the opera needs the troupe’s support. Will the troupe leader agree to a free show?”
Tao Yu shot her a glare. “I have my ways. You just wait and see.”
Sure enough, within half an hour, someone came to notify them that Tao Yu would be performing tonight at the village entrance—free of charge—and that the players should hurry to spread the word.
Pinky grabbed the gong and rushed out joyfully.
Hearing about the free opera, the villagers were delighted. The village chief came by briefly to ask about it. The troupe leader told him that since Fang Lin had died, Tao Yu had become the new leading actress. But since she’d never led a show before, she wanted to test the waters tonight to avoid mistakes during the festival performance in four days.
Since it was a trial run, naturally no payment was needed—just a rehearsal for the villagers to enjoy early.
The village chief didn’t ask further.
After dinner that night, every household brought their benches to the open-air stage. Children, following their earlier agreement, ran to find Li Zhi to learn how to roll iron hoops. Li Zhi played with them for a while until the opera officially began. Then she sent the kids off to watch, and hurried with Chi Yi and Pinky toward Zhen Zhen’s house.
To avoid suspicion, the other seven went to the opera. On stage, Tao Yu chose the longest piece and began singing slowly.
The path through the village wasn’t hard to remember. Soon, the white mourning flags of Zhen Zhen’s house appeared. The front gate was locked—looks like her in-laws had gone to watch the opera too.
Li Zhi circled to the back. Inside the compound wall, she found the old basket she had placed near the wall that morning. Pinky lifted the two girls up. Stepping onto the basket, they easily climbed over the wall and dropped down silently.
Pinky stayed outside as lookout.