The farce in the town calmed down, the intense period of people suddenly stabbing each other fading away.
The pedestrians steered clear from the people holding knives as if avoiding a plague. Some people were holding sticks and beating the offenders who were screaming that they were fine. They were then guided to a secluded location to be isolated.
A group of middle-aged ladies were watching them and gossiping.
"My world, where did this plague come from?"
"It started with the mayor, and now even people on the streets go crazy."
"Even the witch and her gorup went crazy."
"Do you think the town is cursed?"
"I'd rather believe they're the ones who brought in the plague."
"Most likely. They were probably expelled from their towns and came here to spread the disease."
"And to think we treated her so kindly."
"They should call Purifiers."
"I hope it doesn't affect the festival."
"I hope so too."
"May we have a peaceful summer and this blight be lifted."
Among the ladies was a woman who was listening quietly as if gathering intel. She suddenly said, "do you know where she is now?"
The ladies shook their heads, "she escaped so quickly they couldn't catch her."
"It's like she disappeared into thin air."
"I hear people say they've occasionally seen her group. They appear around the graveyard."
"That sounds like something to scare the kids."
"I know, right?"
The woman nodded and suddenly started engaging in the conversation.
—
SV stared at the group of middle-aged ladies below and figuratively stroked his beard. His random act wasn't fruitless after all. He did manage to pick interesting points.
One, it seemed impossible to kill the townspeople.
Two, Yun Jierou and her group seemed to have tried as well.
Three, there seemed to be a plague in the town that started with the mayor.
But something seemed amiss. He had witnessed previously how they buried a corpse. So how did that person die? And also, was the BOSS unkillable too? Where did Yun Jierou and her group go?
SV figuratively narrowed his eyes and looked around the area of his 'massacre'. The commotion should have attracted her group, right?
He searched the ant-like figures one by one to see if there was anyone without threads attached to them. SV guessed that Yun Jierou and her group had no threads attached to them; otherwise it was basically impossible for them to complete the trial. Like not impossible difficulty but actually impossible. Since the BOSS could literally possess them and have them kill themselves.
After all, when he entered the dream before, he was capable of dying, which was different from the townspeople, who were practically immortal, thus further solidifying his theory.
Fortunately, he did manage to see a sneaky figure in the distance, standing atop one of the houses. Surprisingly, no one noticed it standing there.
SV figuratively narrowed his eyes, and sure enough, it had no threads attached to it. SV made sure to follow the figure as it gazed at the scene for some time before turning and heading in a certain direction.
The figure was very fast, and had it not been for his bird's eye view, SV would have missed it.
It left the town and headed in the graveyard's direction, stopping near a group surrounding it. The gates of the graveyard were now closed.
SV curiously looked inside and saw corpses roaming inside. Interestingly, none of the corpses had threads attached to them.
The plot had already progressed to this state?
He looked and saw the figure approaching another and reporting. He zoomed in and saw that it was indeed Yun Jierou and the figure was Yinuo.
They were talking and discussing something. Yun Jierou pinched her fingers, frowned, and then shook her head. Yinuo was visibly disappointed but didn't say anything.
They then joined the rest in circling the graveyard.
SV wondered whether they'll be able to crack the barrier around the graveyard.
No matter. The most urgent matter was to find a way to communicate with them. For that, he needed a vessel, but there was no one nearby. He could try and possess someone and head for the graveyard, but he didn't know how long her group would stay here.
The trouble was that she'd leave and then it'd be harder to find her. Should he just observe and wait till she enters the town?
SV was torn by indecision before he simply decided to possess someone and head for the graveyard. It didn't look like they'd be done anytime soon. Hopefully, he'd catch them.
—
One of the ladies working in the field suddenly straightened up and stretched her back, trying to work out a crink, "fuck."
She, like other women around, had the skirt of her dress bunched up around her waist, the pants beneath reaching mid-calf.
"Martha, you okay?" Another woman called out, surprised by the sudden profanity.
Martha waved her hand, "just feeling stiff. I need to go for a walk."
Martha walked out in full view of the confused people around her. But then they shook their head and returned to their work, assuming that she needed a break.
Martha headed straight for the graveyard, walking as fast as her tired body allowed, having let her skirt fall down once more.
Reaching near the graveyard, she couldn't see anyone around. She thought for a moment before her eyes suddenly became dazed for a second, looking left and right, confused as to how she had wound up there. Then, her gaze regained its clarity and shouted, "Yun Jierou, it's me, Bandit Emperor."
She waited for a few moments before Yun Jierou suddenly appeared in her vision and uttered a single word, "Speak."
Martha smiled bitterly, "I'm here to help you; you don't have to be so cold. It was my fault last time. I apologize. Is that enough?"
Yun Jierou remained silent and looked behind her. Kexin and Yinuo appeared and frowned as they gazed at Martha, the two men appearing on the sides.
"Are you a woman?" Kexin asked.
Martha shurgged, "you've seen me before; I'm a bald man. I'm just possessing this woman to facilitate communication."
Kexin frowned, and Yun Jierou looked thoughtful. The two men looked at Martha with interest while Yinuo sneered, "philanderer."
Martha chuckled, knowing that she still held a grudge. "No matter. So are we good?"
"Very well, let us call it water under the bridge," Yun Jierou nodded.
Martha then immediately perked up, "have you confirmed that this is a dream?"
Yun Jierou nodded, "This Yun did have her suspicions before. The strange fate of the town and the state of the townspeople. Although a dream isn't the only explanation, it is a safe assumption for the current situation."
"Then have you tried fighting it out with the BOSS?" Martha queried.
Yun Jierou didn't quite understand the meaning of BOSS but she was able to figure out who she was referring to.
Yun Jierou remained silent for a bit before asking, "were you the one who caused the strange stabbing incidents?"
Martha blinked and nodded. Then it seemed to click: "he's indeed the same, isn't he?"
Yun Jierou nodded helplessly, "we tried many things, but none yielded results."
Then she stared at Martha, "you seem to be the same. Do you have a way to deal with him?"
Martha raised her hand to stroke a beard but failed, so she could only stroke her chin, "not from inside the dream. And unfortunately, I have no way to deal with him from outside the dream either."
Yun Jierou probed, "could you clarify?"
"Eh, I don't even know where to begin," Martha said after a brief silence. Then she said immediately after, "whatever, I'll just tell you everything I know from the beginning, and you decide what you want to do with it, okay?"
Yun Jierou nodded, "that works too."
Then, under the surprised look of the group, Martha simply sat down ungracefully on the ground, "it'll take some time, so just sit down and listen. My back is killing me."
Yun Jierou raised an eyebrow, and Kexin scoffed, "as if you needed to possess this poor woman."
Martha shook her head, ignoring Kexin, "are you going to sit or not? Otherwise, I'll just start."
The group sat down following Yun Jierou and waited for Martha to start.
Martha wanted to say something before she looked at Yun Jierou, "actually, I had a question I wanted to ask you. Is this your trial?"
Yun Jierou was confused by the sudden question but nodded nonetheless.
"What's the difficulty level?" Martha probed.
The question made the others fall into a strange silence, making Martha confused. Did she ask something strange?
It was the man on the left, his previous captor, who replied, "it's impossible."
Martha cocked her head, "are you sure? This doesn't seem impossible to me."
Yun Jierou shook her head, "to you maybe. But it's undoubtedly an impossible trial."
Martha shrugged, "No matter. Anyway, what I wanted to ask is why am I here in your trial?"
Yun Jierou became silent, and the group became thoughtful.
For a moment, no one said anything. Then, it was Yun Nierou who broke the silence, "we want to know too. We don't quite understand your existence. You're different from us, different from the townspeople, and closer to the one you call BOSS. This Yun assumed you were part of this trial, but it seems not."
Martha raised her hand to stroke her beard but failed. She frowned and looked at Yun Jierou, "can you help me grow a beard?"
The group was stunned by the offhand remark for a moment before Martha sighed, "no matter. Anyway, my existence is like the BOSS probably because I'm currently possessing the lake."
The group was confused, so Martha continued, "basically, there's a lake outside, and it contains half the BOSS's soul and the wills of the townsfolk. You see how I'm possessing this woman? I can basically control anyone in the town. The BOSS can do it too."
The group immediately frowned, and Kexin asked, "can you control us?"
Martha shook her head. "If I could, then the BOSS would've dispatched you long ago. Why wait till now?"
Kexin breathed a sigh of relief, and the others' frowns eased.
But then Martha continued, "but that doesn't explain why I'm here. Actually, what about your group? Are they part of the trial?"
Yun Jierou shook her head, "they're my helpers."
"You can have helpers?"
Yun Jierou became silent, the group staring at Martha strangely.
"Eh, what's wrong?" Martha asked, then seemed to think of something, "is this common knowledge?"
Yun Jierou nodded and explained, "you can pay a certain price to have several people undergo the same trial."
"Ah," Martha nodded, then frowned, "but they don't seem to have reached the attribute limit like you though?"
"What do you mean?" Yun Jierou asked.
Martha cocked her head, "aren't your attributes stuck at 1000?"
Yun Jierou blinked, looking increasingly confused, "sorry, This Yun cannot see the connection."
"I mean, don't you need to reach the threshold to be able to participate in the trial?"
Yun Jierou blinked as realization dawned in her eyes, but it was Kexin who answered, "the threshold is at level 50. The attribute limit has nothing to do with it."
"Oh, foundation," Martha seemed to understand.
Yun Jierou looked speechlessly at Martha, and so did the group.
"What's wrong now?" Martha asked.
Yun Jierou shook her head, and the captor explained, "you lack so much common sense that it's hard to believe you're not from the trial, boy."
Martha shrugged, "how am I supposed to know? I just started like a day ago. I'm not even from your world, okay?"
The revelation brought the group to a sudden stillness.
Yun Jierou hesitantly ventured, "you are an Extraterrestrial?"