"Ah!"

"Ouch!"

"Ooh-rah!"

Three cries of pain accompanied three muffled thuds as bodies hit the ground.

The sounds faded, and Lu Xiaoyao and her companions, faces pressed against the earth, grimaced in agony.

Still sprawled on the ground, groaning, they noticed a pair of feet in delicate shoes and socks in their line of sight.

Lu Xiaoyao: 0.0!

Wang Wenfei: 0.0!!

Zhen Po: 0.0???

"Had enough of lying down?"

They looked up at Mu Chen's familiar face, but this Mu Chen exuded an aura of gloom and coldness. His deep, dark eyes were devoid of light. Lu Xiaoyao shivered involuntarily.

This person was far more terrifying than the usual Mu Chen!

The Boss's aura was very different from that of the Mu Chen they knew.

"Enough, enough!"

Lu Xiaoyao said, pushing herself up with her hands in an incomprehensible way, scuttling backward away from Mu Chen, shocking her teammates!

Wang Wenfei & Zhen Po: What kind of bizarre creature is possessing her?

"You…"

Mu Chen looked at the group of one man and two women and was about to ask if they were roleplaying the three players staying at the Zhang residence. But he paused, his gaze falling on Zhen Po's androgynous attire.

The upper garment had a waist-cinching design typical of women's clothing, while the ill-fitting pants, with a slightly papery sheen, were clearly not his own.

A closer look revealed that they had been stripped from a servant in the courtyard or pilfered from a servant's quarters.

Startled by his own suspicions, Mu Chen subconsciously used the Boss system to determine the players' genders and identities.

When the female symbol "" appeared next to Zhen Po's name, he stopped speaking, his lips twitching.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough!"

Mu Chen coughed violently a couple of times. Then, glancing at the trio's information, he suddenly remembered the Zhang family patriarch telling him earlier about the three brides for tonight.

"You… are the brides for tonight?"

Their faces were smeared with makeup, making it impossible to discern their features. Mu Chen had a pretty good idea of what was going on. He couldn't help but cough again as a tickle arose in his throat.

"That... you, you are Bo... eh, Master Zhang?"

The three were intimidated by Mu Chen's Boss aura, barely daring to breathe. Lu Xiaoyao, in particular, was recalling the story of the feng shui master who had provoked the Boss and been skinned alive. Was she next?!

"Yes, I am. I suppose… you are my fated ones."

"Eh o.o?"

The address of "fated ones" was something Ming Mei hadn't expected at all.

Watching Mu Chen spout nonsense and the three players actually believing him, Ming Mei thought these players were beyond help...

"Are you saying that your power has been taken away in this round?"

"Yes. They plan to sacrifice three brides tonight to completely transfer my luck and allow someone else to achieve eternal life."

"Why?"

The three were confused by Mu Chen's words. They seemed to have forgotten what Mu Chen's role was in the original storyline.

"Why change it when things are fine?"

Lu Xiaoyao didn't understand.

"In the past, I was offered living sacrifices. I was constantly reborn in the descendants of the Zhang family, ensuring their eternal prosperity."

"Hmm... and now you don't bless them anymore?"

"That's right. Because I refused the living sacrifices, the Zhang family's fortune has plummeted. People keep dying… In fact, there are no living people left in the Zhang family, but they refuse to accept it. They'd rather use even more evil methods to achieve eternal life."

Wang Wenfei frowned at Mu Chen's words and asked, "Then why are you unwilling to accept living sacrifices now? You weren't like this before."

"Because I have someone I love."

Hmm, perhaps there's still hope? He looked at Lu Xiaoyao and said, "You know."

"I know?"

Being looked at by the Boss, Lu Xiaoyao went from dazed to suddenly enlightened. Realizing she had discovered some incredible truth, she stared at Mu Chen with wide eyes and asked in disbelief, "Wait! Do you remember your previous game memories?"

Lu Xiaoyao remembered starting to ship Mu Chen and Ming Mei's CP from this point on, so... this Boss really did remember!

"Originally, I didn't remember either. But one day, something seemed to tamper with me, even with this world, making me recall my past memories and causing these guys who used to obey me to become disobedient."

"Are you talking about a bug?"

Hearing him say that, Lu Xiaoyao and her two teammates exchanged glances, their excitement palpable!

They didn't expect to find a clue about the Zerg so quickly!

"I don't know. I don't know what the other party looks like."

Mu Chen shook his head but pointed them to another way out. "However, my father should know something."

After speaking, Mu Chen kindly pointed in the direction of his father's location in the courtyard.

Following the direction Mu Chen pointed—the direction they had just fled from—Wang Wenfei frowned and looked at Mu Chen. "Are you saying you want us to help you find the mastermind?"

"Yes."

Mu Chen showed no shame in trying to get them to do his bidding.

"What are the benefits?" Before Wang Wenfei could say anything else, Lu Xiaoyao had already approached and asked curiously, only to receive a cold glare from Mu Chen and a light threat.

"Benefits…"

Mu Chen sneered. "There are no benefits. But if you don't agree, I can guarantee you won't leave this house."

Lu Xiaoyao felt a chill run through her body. The temperature in the house seemed to be dropping, the light was dimming, and the Boss was emanating a faint blue light, making his face look even more terrifying.

Lu Xiaoyao and her two teammates were now completely obedient.

"Then… then what do you need us to do? We just escaped. Going back now is like courting death."

Seeing that they couldn't refuse the request, Wang Wenfei gave a vague answer.

We can agree, but you have to figure out how to deal with the mess we made.

However, Mu Chen simply chuckled and didn't directly respond to the three before him…

"Boss, we're leaving. Are you staying at the store, or are you coming with us?"

Zhen Hu and Qi Hai Kui, leading a group of little ghosts, stood aggressively on the road in front of the store. Anyone would think they were about to charge into the store in the next second.

"I'll go with you. I might not be safe alone."

Actually, it was mainly to sell boxed lunches.

Ming Mei felt that with game memories no longer suppressed, her boxed lunches would definitely sell well. If she didn't seize the opportunity to sell them now, when would she?