Players: All NPCs in the Sect Are Moles

"How should I know...? It’s not like we’re... ahem, native players who spawned here."

Zhang San shrugged, waving his hand dismissively. "Who cares? It’s just a game."

"Worst case, we just go down there and fight. If we win, great. If we die... just think of it as a free teleport back to the sect, or a forced logout."

Li nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly. "Good point. Let’s send a private message to the guild leader. Tell the First Senior Brother that we’ve died a valiant death, and he can avenge us later!"

"Makes sense! Let’s go!"

The two exchanged a smile, and the light from the flying swords beneath their feet flared brightly.

SWOOSH—!

Two streaks of light cut across the sky, heading straight for the war-torn area below the city walls.

...

The perspective shifts back to the ground.

Mrs. Wang was being dragged along, stumbling, by the City Guard next to her, but her spirit seemed to have been left behind at the intersection.

The image of that figure collapsing, his body engulfed in flames, seared her mind and made her heart tremble.

’Yes, she wasn’t a good person.’

’At the market, she’d sprinkle water on her vegetables to make them heavier and rig her scales. To earn a little more money, she’d get into screaming matches with people for a good half hour.’

’She was greedy for petty advantages, sharp-tongued, and narrow-minded, wishing she could snatch every last copper coin from others’ pockets for herself. But as bad as she was, she only ever wanted to make a bit more money. She’d never thought of taking someone’s life...’

’And she certainly never imagined there were actual fools in this world, people willing to give up their own lives to save a nasty old woman like her.’

’That was a life... A human life, sacrificed to save her...’

Mrs. Wang’s tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. Her chest felt so tight she could barely breathe.

"That... Officer..." Mrs. Wang’s voice trembled as she clutched the sleeve of the scrawny City Guard, [The Little Match Girl], beside her. "The one from before... that big fellow... Whose boy was he? He was so young..."

"What was his name? Please tell me... When I get back, I’ll set up a memorial tablet for him... If I survive this, I’ll pay my respects to him every festival from now on..."

Sobbing, she confessed incoherently, pouring out her heart. "I’m sorry... I’m so, so sorry... I shouldn’t have called you bandits... I shouldn’t have cheated on the scales... I’ll never do it again..."

"You’re good people... you’re truly good people... WAHHH..."

However, [The Little Match Girl], who was desperately dragging Mrs. Wang toward the safe zone, was clearly in no mood to entertain an NPC’s melodrama.

He glanced at the approaching mob of red-named monsters on his map, then at the blubbering Mrs. Wang, and finally snapped.

"Alright, that’s enough! Stop crying! God, you’re annoying!" [The Little Match Girl] yanked her arm sharply. "If you want to thank someone, thank him, and thank me! But we’re just following Miss Su’s orders!"

"Ma’am, let me be blunt—" he glanced back at Mrs. Wang, "—if it weren’t for completing Miss Su’s mission, if we weren’t afraid of losing performance points and contribution... given how you were throwing a fit and trying to frame us earlier, we really wouldn’t have wanted to save you!"

"Forget taking a hit for you, I even wanted to land a couple more hits on you myself! So shut up!!"

"..." Mrs. Wang’s sobbing stopped abruptly. She froze.

That phrase, "wanted to land a couple more hits on you myself," sent a chill down her spine. But strangely, she didn’t feel angry.

’She’d lived for over half her life; did she not know what a rotten person she was?’

’In the eyes of honest folk, she was a despised shrew. In the eyes of the officials, she was a troublemaker.’

’Even she wouldn’t choose to save someone like herself if she came across them in trouble.’

’And yet, this very person she herself despised had just been pushed away from Death’s door by that young man. And now, this impatient City Guard was dragging her to safety, refusing to let go.’

’They were using their lives to shield her, to protect her. No matter how harsh his words were, his hand never loosened its grip.’

In that instant, tears of regret welled up again. She fiercely raised her sleeve, wiped the tears and snot from her face, and clenched her jaw, forcing back the urge to collapse.

’This life was given back to me by them. This life is stained with that boy’s blood.’

’If I can just survive this... as long as I’m still breathing... if I ever dare to tamper with the scales by even a hair’s breadth again, I’ll chop off my own hands! If anyone dares to say another bad word about the City Guard or Miss Su, I’ll rip their mouth apart!’

’I’ve been a rotten person for so long... At the very least, I have to live like a decent human being from now on. That’s the only way to not fail Miss Su and the City Guard who sacrificed himself for me...’

...

「Meanwhile, on the battlefield.」

The Qi Refining Stage Evil Cultivator leader, despite his health bar being nearly empty, was still wreaking havoc.

Drenched in blood from absorbing the essence and blood of too many players, his eyes were crimson, and he had fallen into a frenzied state, having completely lost his sanity.

"Die! All of you, die!!"

Just as he was about to tear another player to shreds—

"Now’s our chance!!"

[One Sword To Rule] and [Biqu Country 4-Go] once again found an opening, charging the Qi Refining Perfection Evil Cultivator with no regard for their own lives!

SQUELCH—!

As the Evil Cultivator’s health bar hit zero, his movements came to an abrupt halt.

The Qi Refining Evil Cultivator, still in his charging pose, collapsed stiffly without any warning or so-called weakening phase.

"He’s dead! Finally dead!"

Just as [One Sword To Rule] and the others were about to breathe a sigh of relief, many players who had participated in the kill leveled up on the spot. Even [One Sword To Rule] finally reached the third level of Qi Refining.

As the one who dealt the final blow, [Biqu Country 4-Go] also successfully reached the fifth level of Qi Refining in this battle.

But before they could celebrate their hard-won victory, the sound of something tearing through the air came from the distance.

"Run!! We kited the Foundation Establishment Evil Cultivator over here!!"

In the distance, the suicide squad of players who were supposed to be luring away the Foundation Establishment Stage Evil Cultivator were sprinting desperately in their direction. Behind them, a terrifying figure was rapidly closing in!

"What the fuck?! Seriously, why did you pull that thing over here?!"

[Grave Robber] and a few other council members watched the scene, their faces turning green. "We just barely managed to kill three or four Qi Refining Stage mobs, and we haven’t even caught our breath, and you bring a Foundation Establishment Stage ’daddy’ over to us?!"

The players who pulled the monster felt wronged too. "We had no choice! We were trying to lure the enemy away, right? Besides, at least you guys have some Qi Refining cultivators who can probably break its defense! We can’t even scratch it!"

Before they could finish, the Foundation Establishment Evil Cultivator, floating in mid-air, looked down on the ants below with an indifferent expression.

"A bunch of ants..."

He didn’t even use an ultimate move, just casually waved his hand.

BOOM—!!