93 Suspicious Cul

"Yo, my dear Ran Wei, the apple of my eyes, light to my stars," Lin Zhuyue spoke, "Buy my instance too please, I am broke."

"What the hell are you talking about," Ran Wei asked her, as she was about to take out the spirit crystals she won through the lottery. "Why would I ever do that?"

"For one, because you are a nice and giving person, secondly, we've known each other for so long, and we toil at the same place," the woman spoke, "So don't be so cruel and do your coworker a favor."

"You are human scum, you dare call yourself of the same species as me," Ran Wei shoved her dumb mug away. "You think budding up now will make up for the lifetime of headaches you have delivered to me?"

"I was young and stupid back then," Lin Zhuyue said. She glanced away, her eyes glistening. "At that time, I had yet to see the world. . . I missed Mount Tai when it was right in front of me."

"What the hell are you talking about."

"Hah," Lin Zhuyue sighed out of irritation, her expression sank. "Don't make it this hard and just give me some money. I'll pay you back one day."

"I'd rather trust a blind baboo to lead me to heaven." Ran Wei shrank back. Suddenly, a wild idea came to her mind. "Actually, how about this? Shall we make a bet? if you manage to reach 50% in the completion rate, you won't even have to pay me back. In fact, I will pay for you until you finish the game."

Lin Zhuyue grumbled. She thought deeply about the proposition. "But I've hardly reached 30% yet." Without a doubt, that was a hard task for her, even more so as she carried no special ability like Mei Xue or Lan Jiu. "What if I fail?"

Ran Wei smirked a rather devilish look. "I own you until you can pay me back."

"Yeah, hell no." The young woman rejected her sternly. She even formed an ex with her arms while shaking her head rapidly. "Hell no, hell no. I'd rather die than take part in your fetish game."

"Stop putting words in my mouth, I'm not into some twisted roleplay," Ran Wei reprimanded her in anger, throwing her hands down and stomping the ground. "But if you lose, I'll make work you to the bone until you cannot physically move anymore. That way, you won't be able o bother me anymore." She paused, to show off her smug grin. "If you don't want to, then just forget about it. I don't have anything to gain after all."

"You've become corrupt with only this small amount of power. There's no person more pathetic then you," Lin Zhuyue spoke. She bit her nails, thinking. "Fine. Let's do it."

"What?"

"Let's go. What, you thought I would give up, huh," she continued. "Just watch, I will make you eat your words and wring your assets dry!"

"Fine with me, I'd love to see you try," Ran Wei shot back.

Lan Jiu, watching that from afar, said to Li Yangyi. "The sensual tension between these two is insane."

The boy from the Li family stared at him, baffled. "Dude, what the fuck are you talking about?"

Lin Zhuyue furiously stomped her way to one of the cores and furiously injected her Spiritual Qi into it. Even as she entered the illusory world, her pouting cheeks did not disappear. It was the sight of the wizard statue that finally abated her wrath. Though she hadn't seen this art-piece for more than a decent amount of days, the image had remained ingrained in her mind. She truly enjoyed staring at beautiful things, which was why she liked Mei Xue and this statue.

"Tsk, how am I supposed to get a completion rate of 50%," Lin Zhuyue mumbled. She thought, if she didn't win this bet, Ran Wei may actually sell her into slavery to earn some quick cash. She'd do the same without any remorse too, after all. But personally, she imagined herself worth more than her coworker, so it wasn't a fair comparison.

An unexpected voice interrupted her needless thoughts. "You've been here quite often, do you see something in the statue?" Turning around, she saw the woodchopper again. This person, she had also not seen for a while. For whatever reason, the man only appeared within her illusory world, and she had yet to see him in any other instance. Though she did not care much about that, as he did not possess any outstanding beauty. He was average at best.

"I just like the look of it," she answered him honestly.

The woodchopper stood next to her. "I understand what you mean," he replied. "As I have told you last time, I've not been in this village for long either. Before I was trapped within this small little cage, I was the heir to the log mill of my family. I know this doesn't sound like an elegant job, but everybody needed wood, whether for fire or for work. Especially when a big delivery came, we would earn quite a lot. I had a fiancee at home, she was my childhood friend, and when the two of us were to marry in 2 months, we promised to travel the world." He laughed. "But it matters little now, I suppose. I've lost it all, and for what reason?"

Lin Zhuyue did not react. Her eyes remained on the wizard as if spellbound. If there was anything that could possibly shoot up her completion rate, it had to be with this guy.

"When I had just arrived, it was this statue that brought me peace with my situation," he told Lin Zhuyue. "Back then, I'd also glance at the statue, mesmerized. Just like you."

"Is that so."

The woodchopper gaged her reaction. After a long while, he asked her, "If you wish, do want to know the true purpose of this statue?" As he glanced at her, there was a hint of a fervent expression within his eyes—hard to catch, but undoubtedly there.

Lin Zhuyue frowned. Suspicious. This was truly suspicious. It reminded her of those old-time scams that tried to steal your information and identity by being all nice to you. Still, she had no other lead. "Tell me more."

"Well, our thoughts, naturally aren't unique. There are many people similar to us, who believe, no, they know that the wizard will be the salvation for us to escape this eternal prison. He will be the one to descend and defeat the witch, no doubt." The woodchopper stretched his arms like he was trying to hug the whole world. "We've formed a small underground organization, in hopes of one day call forth that mightily being."

"...That's called a cult," she muttered to herself. The young woman remembered hearing scarce news from time to time about the people that worshipped the statue in other instances, but she hadn't imagined the woodchopper to be one of them. "Hasn't he perished already?"

The young man in front of her was slightly surprised. "Oh, you know your stuff. But you cannot define the wizard by a mortal's standards. The wizard is incapable of perishing. The times in between his return only grows longer."

Man, he's a nutcase, Lin Zhuyue thought. But she had to admit, it was rather interesting. "Fine, let's go." Also, the last part awfully reminded her of the stores' condition, where three deaths sent one out the instance. In any case, she had nothing better to do.

The woodchoppers' eyes lit up. "It's just around here, follow me!"

Her mother had always told her not to follow strangers, but this time, she could not help it. At least the man did not lie to her, and it took them a few minutes to reach their hideout. But the fact the only way inside was a damp underground staircase, illuminated by only sparse torches, did not help their credibility. Water dripped from the ceilings, creating small puddles for Lin Zhuyue to avoid. The woodchopper himself did not seem to care about these small details, waltzing through freely and getting his clothes wet. Arriving at a big wooden dungeon door, he spoke, "It's here."

As he opened the door, a sudden bright light enveloped Lin Zhuyues' eyes, causing her to squint. What she saw was unexpected, to say the least. She expected some kind of prison, but instead saw a cozy little room, painted a cute white, with cushions and a fireplace. The people gathered where, unlike her imagination of burly geriatric men, young women, kids, and some frail old people that sipped their tea.

"Oh, woodchopper, what a timing, we were just about to read the Legends of the Wizard III, the infinite mirror," a plump middle-aged woman spoke. Her eyes fell on Lin Zhuyue. "Wait, who did you bring with you? I don't recognize her."

The woodchopper spoke excitedly, "I saw her standing outside, admiring the statue of the almighty wizard. I thought she may be interested in learning more about his stories."

"How thoughtful of you," the woman said. "Everybody, welcome the new member, uh, miss, what is your name?"

"Huh, ah, yes," Lin Zhuyue stammered, still shocked about the development, "My name is Lin Zhuyue."

"I see!" The kids clapped cheerfully, hearing her name. An elderly man even offered her some cookies, though she declined for now. The woman had a radiant smile on her face. "Well, miss Lin Zhuyue. You can call me the librarian. Welcome to the village book club!"