The entire ancestral hall fell silent, even the chirping of insects seemed to disappear.

Wen Renxi was genuinely confused. According to the memories she had received, she was just a fragile college student here for an internship, right? But Han Jiao said she was actually a player who had failed the mission nine times.

Han Jiao looked at the others, then at Wen Renxi, and finally swept her gaze around again, becoming hesitant. She began to doubt what she had seen in the golden clock. “…But the golden clock records show Wen Renxi is a player?”

What was going on?

Why did she say she was a native?

Damn, something wasn’t right!

Didn’t that mean Wen Renxi had been lying to her from the beginning?

Wen Renxi lowered her eyes to look at Zaoya, not saying anything, but her mind was in a whirlwind.

She realized she had made a mistake.

At the very beginning, Wen Renxi knew that the players were fearful, as if not completing the mission would result in a great price. However, at that time, because of her identity, she didn’t think too much about it.

Because of preconceived notions about one’s identity, people often fail to notice what’s wrong.

The players were afraid not of system punishment, but of the world itself.

This world wasn’t the ordinary world she thought it was, but a nightmare realm. Otherwise, the records in Han Jiao’s golden clock wouldn’t be like that.

Zaoya was a hidden boss.

Also, she had been attacked by beasts with Han Jiao in the forest, and later, she noticed something was wrong. The bodies and blood of those beasts disappeared quickly after their death, as if they had never existed. And those beasts resembled wolves, but weren’t, at least not any wolves Wen Renxi had seen.

They might not be beasts at all.

Her phone couldn’t call the police or contact the outside world, not because there was no signal in the mountains, but because this wasn’t a normal world. Shangyang Village was the core.

If Shangyang Village was still old-fashioned and feudal, reacting little to someone’s death, what about Professor Huang and his two assistants who came from outside? Why were they so calm and indifferent about Shao Xiaofeng’s death?

This was completely wrong!

Therefore, she probably was a player like Han Jiao, but due to some reason, she didn’t have the original owner’s memories, only the identity assigned to her by the system in this world.

Realizing this, the original owner’s missing memories seemed to find an opportunity and rushed into Wen Renxi’s mind.

Fortunately, Wen Renxi’s soul was strong, so she wasn’t overwhelmed by the original owner’s memories, but she finally understood what was going on.

–

In 20xx, the entire Earth was drawn into the nightmare world, forming a huge trial field. Everyone had to enter a dungeon world at least once a month. If they didn’t enter by the deadline, they would be forced to enter, and the forced entry dungeons would be more difficult.

Of course, the rules of the nightmare world weren’t without hope. Minors under the age of fourteen wouldn’t enter the nightmare world, and those between fourteen and eighteen had to enter every month, but if someone used survival points obtained in the nightmare world to exchange for dungeon vouchers, they wouldn’t have to enter.

However, dungeon vouchers were only for minors under eighteen, and couldn’t be used by those above eighteen.

Dungeon vouchers required a lot of survival points, which were very important for everyone who had to enter the nightmare world, as they could be exchanged for various items. Therefore, not many people exchanged dungeon vouchers for minors.

Of course, the nightmare world wasn’t without benefits. After clearing a dungeon, you could get various rewards based on the completion degree, and you might encounter fortuitous events.

The original owner’s name was also Wen Renxi. Her father’s surname was Wenren, and her mother’s surname was Xi.

After her father sacrificed himself and her mother died in an accident, she lived with her grandparents for a few years. After her grandparents passed away, her uncle treated her poorly, and she was adopted by her father’s comrade. She had an older brother and sister and a younger sister, but now only she and her younger sister Rong Yan were left.

Among the four siblings, her second brother Rong Qi and younger sister Rong Yan were her adoptive parents’ children, while her older sister Yue Manqing and the original owner were her adoptive father’s comrade’s children.

The original owner was very timid. She had watched her mother die under the wheels of a car, resulting in severe psychological trauma. After being adopted by the Rong family, her brother, sister, and youngest sister took good care of her. When the nightmare world arrived, the original owner was only thirteen, so she didn’t have to enter.

When she turned fourteen, Yue Manqing and Rong Qi, considering her personality, used their survival points to exchange for dungeon vouchers, preventing her from entering and planning to wait until she was eighteen.

Another reason was to protect her in the real world, so that if Yue Manqing and Rong Qi had an accident, the original owner could take care of the youngest Rong Yan.

However, Rong Qi and Yue Manqing disappeared in the nightmare world two months ago.

Disappearing in the nightmare world almost meant death.

Yue Manqing and Rong Qi were both intelligent, and they had accumulated a lot of points over the years, a large portion of which was in the original owner’s hands, in case something happened to them.

Even if they disappeared, the points they left behind could support the original owner until she was eighteen, but after consideration, the original owner gave up.

Survival points had to be saved for Rong Yan when she turned fourteen. Rong Yan wasn’t in good health, and she couldn’t let Rong Yan enter the nightmare world at fourteen, so the points couldn’t be used anymore.

Besides, she was already seventeen and could try entering. She had heard that the first dungeons were low-level difficulty, not very dangerous, and she could gradually adapt.

However, the original owner never expected that her first entry into the nightmare world would result in an accident, directly throwing her into the high-level dungeon [Snow Wedding Gown].

–

After receiving the original owner’s memories, Wen Renxi couldn’t help but look at Han Jiao, who had already lowered her head.

Han Jiao seemed to swallow nervously. “In the previous nine times, I never succeeded because I wasn’t strong enough. Wen Renxi never succeeded because she didn’t like the mission and was reluctant.”

Silence.

Except for Zaoya’s soft snoring, the ancestral hall was extremely quiet.

Wen Renxi listened to Han Jiao’s explanation, feeling a bit strange.

Huo Yu glanced at Wen Renxi, most of his face hidden under his hood, making it hard to see.

Wen Renxi thought she was a native, so she stopped them from capturing Zaoya. But now that Wen Renxi was a player like them, and the mission was to find Hu Yuanwai’s daughter-in-law, she couldn’t leave without completing it and would die here.

So, what would she choose now?

The situation suddenly became tense.

Wen Renxi looked down at Zaoya’s peaceful sleeping face, reached out to gently stroke Zaoya’s slightly dry hair, not waking her up.

“I remember now. I probably lost my memories because of the special circumstances here, genuinely believing I was an intern college student.”

Wen Renxi’s face still had a smile when she said this, but the smile was chilling.

“You’re no match for me. The bride represents the only hope for survival. As long as we get the mission target, we can win. So, even if we win, this chance of survival is mine.”

This sounded arrogant, but no one refuted it, and even Han Jiao didn’t move away from her because of Wen Renxi’s possible reversal.

“But Zaoya isn’t a tool or a spoil of war. She’s a person.” Even though her identity had changed from a native like Zaoya to a player, Wen Renxi’s attitude remained the same.

“Zaoya is a person.”

Wen Renxi’s voice was soft. Even for players, the non-berserk Zaoya was just a weak native, but she was a person.

Not a spoil of war.

“The girls of Shangyang Village are people.”

Wen Renxi had emphasized this many times.

If the mission wasn’t so absurd, Wen Renxi wouldn’t have reacted this way.

Fighting for victory, the strong were respected, but Zaoya wasn’t a tool. She was just a girl who had climbed out of hell.

“If the mission fails, we all die,” Qiu Yuanzhi said, not commenting on Wen Renxi’s words, but stating a fact.

This was the nightmare world; you couldn’t just give up on the mission.

“Mm.”

“I promised Zaoya I would take her out of Shangyang Village, to the outside world. I also said that if she went to school, she would do very well.”

“…”

Was she crazy?

It was the second night, and dawn was approaching, marking the third day.

The mission deadline.

Wen Renxi wouldn’t hand over Zaoya or allow anyone to harm the girls of Shangyang Village. Not the villagers, not the players. Call her overbearing.

The records in the golden clock had proven that the method of clearing the dungeon was wrong. If it were correct, [Snow Wedding Gown] wouldn’t be such a dangerous dungeon.

“So, do you want to try my idea?”

“What idea?”

Qin Guoan, who had been staring at the dark night sky outside, finally spoke when he heard Wen Renxi’s words.

“Complete the mission. Find a wife for Hu Jizu, a daughter-in-law for Hu Yuanwai, and fulfill the village’s dream of having a snow bride.”

If you ignored Wen Renxi’s ruthlessness when she attacked and only looked at her now, you would really think she was a cute and well-behaved girl. She looked so innocent.

Han Jiao looked at Wen Renxi, not understanding what she meant.

Not just Han Jiao, but the others didn’t understand either.

“There’s one type of bride that won’t make Zaoya go berserk,” Wen Renxi said meaningfully.

Wen Renxi was sure of this.

According to the records Han Jiao had seen, once the bride was locked in the coffin and died, Zaoya would go berserk. But don’t forget, last night, someone died in the Hu residence and was suffocated, but Zaoya didn’t go berserk.

Shao Xiaofeng!

Shao Xiaofeng died because he used Zaoya’s puppet to replace Zaoya and complete the mission. But the puppet had no life, so it naturally didn’t work. And the puppet belonged to Shao Xiaofeng, so the red coffin, through the connection with the puppet, captured Shao Xiaofeng, leading to his death in the Hu family’s courtyard.

Shao Xiaofeng died in the Hu residence’s courtyard, but it was no different from dying in the coffin.

It was as if Shao Xiaofeng had been locked in the coffin and suffocated.

Zaoya didn’t go berserk that time.

No, it wasn’t that Zaoya didn’t lose control that time. It should be said that Zaoya almost lost control last night. The danger Wen Renxi felt in the mountains came from this. But as if sensing something, Zaoya quickly returned to her normal self and didn’t become a big boss and annihilate everyone as recorded in the golden clock.

What did she sense?

She sensed that the one trapped in the coffin and suffocated wasn’t a girl who had been deceived or forced in, but a man.

The only difference was that Shao Xiaofeng was a man, not a girl.

“So, who said the bride must be a girl? The daughter-in-law must be a woman? A male daughter-in-law isn’t impossible.”

“…”

“…I think we can try,” Lu Lu’s eyes lit up, and she immediately raised her hand in support.

She had mentioned this in front of the Hu family, and although she was being sarcastic and testing their attitude at the time, it was indeed what she thought.

“The birth of a snow bride is mainly to protect the family and bring good fortune. Since Zaoya’s brother wants this good fortune so much, he should fight for it himself, right? I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”

“Wouldn’t it be more justifiable to earn something yourself than to rely on others?”

“…”

It was Zaoya’s family who wanted the good fortune. They wanted it for Zaoya’s brother, for his success and wealth. Zaoya’s brother was the beneficiary, so wouldn’t it be fair for him to bear the cost?

You want it? Go get it yourself.

Zaoya didn’t want it anyway. Whoever wanted it could have it.

“If I succeed in leaving, you all die. If we try and fail, we all die. If we wait for the mission to fail, we still die. The results are the same, so why not try?”

Judging from Zaoya’s reaction when Shao Xiaofeng died, Wen Renxi was at least ninety percent sure she could succeed.

Zaoya had almost lost control, but only almost.

“…”

Their reactions were strange, but following Wen Renxi’s line of thought… it did make sense.

…It seemed reasonable.

They were indeed no match for Wen Renxi.

And they had already given up on this sinful mission.

But choosing Zaoya’s brother was completely different. It seemed like killing someone, but fundamentally, it wasn’t.

Completely different.

“Let’s try then.”

The question now was how to convince Mr. Hu to accept Zaoya’s brother as the bride instead of Zaoya.

Without Mr. Hu’s approval, they couldn’t succeed, as the mission required them to report to him.

“I think, to avoid having only one person complete the mission like before, we can try to find out which families are trying to have their daughters compete for the snow bride position,” Lu Lu suggested, her eyes gleaming.

“If that doesn’t work, we can be kind and find a few concubines for Young Master Hu.”

No matter who it was, as long as it was a woman, it wouldn’t work. Even Zaoya’s mother wouldn’t do, because ultimately, they were just being sacrificed, gaining nothing.

So, women were out of the question.

It wasn’t that Zaoya would lose control, but rather the previous snow brides who had died tragically in the coffin.

“Then the question is, how do we convince Mr. Hu to marry his son to a man?”

Huo Yu listened quietly, and finally, seeing that everyone agreed, he raised the final question.

This was a good question.

“I think this choice shouldn’t be difficult,” Wen Renxi blinked innocently, suggesting with a smile, “After all, compared to having his son’s bones crushed to ashes, marrying a male daughter-in-law isn’t so bad. I’m sure Mr. Hu won’t mind, right?”

“…”

Was this a suggestion for physical persuasion?

“As long as it works, the rest doesn’t matter,” Han Jiao said weakly, leaning against Wen Renxi.

She felt insecure.

But leaning against Wen Renxi made her feel much safer.

“Since that’s settled, and time is of the essence, let’s go ask the other villagers tomorrow. This is easy to find out. We girls can’t do it; Zaoya ran away, so other families with daughters have a chance. If they want it, they’ll definitely be obvious.”