"Don't rush."
Chen Miao's eyes narrowed slightly as he placed his right hand inside his coat, ensuring he was ready to burst into action at any moment, before allowing his face to appear more serene. He looked toward the elderly villagers sitting on the stone bridge, chatting about everyday matters.
There was something off about this secret realm.
And there was an important piece of information.
The highest clearance progress of this secret realm was only 12%, meaning some people had been here before but had not cleared it, advancing only 12%.
Once progress reached over 60%, it was considered cleared, and one could leave the secret realm at any time.
A progress over 90% was an excellent clearance, and 100% was a perfect clearance.
12%... it meant that everyone who came to this secret realm last time died here, without making it out, which indirectly proved the danger of this secret realm. One should know, none of those who dared to explore new secret realms beyond the suburbs were pushovers.
They were all fully prepared.
In such circumstances, however, they all died here, which made him need to be even more cautious.
"Sigh..."
Chen Miao took a deep breath, his palm gripping the "Python R6 Revolver" sweating slightly. He had a certain level of offensive capability, but his ability to defend himself was almost zero, especially against these beings that didn't seem to rely on physical attacks, it was even more disconcerting.
"No unnecessary movements, don't strike first, let's go into the village and take a look."
"Okay."
Chen Miao put on a friendly smile, walked cheerfully onto the stone bridge, and handed out cigarettes with both hands to the elderly men who were chatting, making small talk. He mentioned that he was a tourist from another place just passing by and wanted to have a look inside the village.
The old men were easy to talk to, waving their hands indifferently and saying he was free to look around.
Not much time passed.
He then walked into the village with Hungry Monkey, taking big strides.
The village was nestled between several large mountains, in a valley, with the only access road being the stone bridge at the entrance to the village. The wind was strong; in the past, it would have been an excellent place to hide an army—easy to defend and hard to attack.
All single-story houses.
About twenty-odd mud brick and tile houses in total, with various farm tools, like hoes, scattered around outside the houses. It seemed the elderly took great care of their tools, all of them cleaned to the point where they looked brand new.
Occasionally, a delicious scent of food would waft from one of the houses.
And there stood Chen Miao with Hungry Monkey in front of a well in the village, whispering, "The Secret Realm Introduction made it clear, survive for 12 hours and something dangerous happens at night, that's what the introduction to the secret realm says."
"But I think there's a trap inside."
"I believe the secret realm is using some clumsy methods to hint at us, suggesting we act against those elderly beforehand, kill all of them to avoid the crisis that comes from the old men at night. But I suspect there's a trap, if we act against the old men, it is very likely we'll encounter a fatal crisis."
"But if we do nothing and just stay in the village for 12 hours, we might safely get through this secret realm."
"In other words, the Secret Realm Introduction itself is a trap. It's tempting us to act but what we need to do is to pretend we haven't seen anything strange that we come across, then patiently wait for 12 hours without doing anything."
"..."
Hungry Monkey was slightly stunned, then he looked at the Secret Realm Introduction, scanning it seriously before raising his thumb in admiration, "Miao, you're the smart one. I hadn't thought of this at all. If it were me, I would have marched in, killing all the way, maybe dead by now."
"Turns out, it's the clever ones who should be entering secret realms."
"Someone not so bright like me, coming in here, I'd probably drop dead on the spot, but luckily I have you."
Chen Miao squinted his eyes without speaking. This was just a judgment he made, and he was a little unsure about it. But now, while those people were at the village entrance, he decided to first take a look inside the villagers' homes to see if he could find anything.
...
Soon.
Six hours had passed, and there were only six hours left to complete the task.
The sun had already reached mid-mountain and was preparing to set after a few more hours. Yet, during these six hours, nothing happened, and everything was as peaceful as usual.
In the meantime, Chen Miao and Hungry Monkey had run throughout the entire village within these six hours.
The first house they went to was the one from which the scent of food emanated. They confirmed that the food being cooked was not human flesh but pork.
Next, they crept into other residents' homes.
They found no memorial photos on the walls nor any terrifying items like a ghost marriage or red high heels. Everything appeared to be serene.
There was nothing out of the ordinary.
The only find of any value was a diary in one of the houses, which recorded the village's development history. The village used to be prosperous, but when the road construction did not progress, due to all the mountain paths, the young people left the village, and it slowly declined.
Only during the New Year would people return.
On ordinary days, the village was left with just these elderly residents, lonely and deserted, without even a single child.
Every household was the same.
These elderly people had no entertainment activities; their only pastime was chatting at the village entrance.
Their complaints revolved around grievances, loneliness, and the unfilial behavior of their descendants.
There was no other useful content.
"..."
Chen Miao stood in front of the cabinet, his brow furrowed as he flipped through the somewhat dusty diary in front of him. After pondering for a moment, he tucked it into his chest. The fact that the diary had been thrown in the cabinet to gather so much dust indicated that it hadn't been used for a long time.
The rest of the notebook was more than half empty, and it didn't make sense to say it was discarded. Moreover, judging by the household's habits, the person was frugal and wouldn't just throw away a half-used notebook.
He didn't find a new diary either.
The likeliest reason was that the elderly person keeping the diary no longer felt lonely and didn't need the diary to express their complaints anymore. However... he hadn't found anything like a TV or any other form of entertainment in the house. How had the elderly diarist managed to alleviate their loneliness?
Up to now.
He was still confused, having found no very valuable information. Yet, he vaguely sensed some answers, but he couldn't be certain, especially considering that the last team that passed through the Secret Realm had only a 12% completion rate, implying that it was a realm where one could easily be annihilated if not careful.
This was a two-player Secret Realm.
Only two players were allowed to enter, and they had specifically chosen this before entering, judging by the numbers next to the white vortex entrance to determine how many people the Secret Realm was designed for.
He had to put himself in the shoes of the previous team that had entered this Secret Realm and think about what he would do.
After a long while.
Chen Miao's pupils suddenly dilated sharply. He thought of a possibility that he was almost afraid to confirm. If this possibility was true, he might already be on the brink of death, only a few steps away from it.