Chapter 2437: Please Sit
Xu Huo and Bubble Bean returned to the village one after the other. The Painting Woman had already cleaned the house, and she had even used her social skills to borrow some local snacks from a few neighbors—mainly wild fruits from the forest and edible wild vegetables. She had set out a small table and claimed none of it cost anything.
Watching the two of them "communicate," Bubble Bean entered the house with a gloomy expression.
"How is it?" the Yin-Yang Master immediately asked.
"Can't figure out what kind of role he's playing." Bubble Bean's probing had yielded nothing. "If he were acting as a Hidden Friend, he should have fought us to the death back in the woods instead of following us here."
"Maybe he's not confident?" the Yin-Yang Master suggested. "After all, it's two against one, and that woman seems a bit slow-witted, not much combat ability. Since she's a Mental Super Evolver, it's normal for her to be bad at fighting."
Super Evolvers relying on Super Evolution Power wasn't unusual—they had encountered many such players.
"Don't let your guard down. I've already made it clear to him—we'll keep to ourselves." Bubble Bean specifically warned him, "Don't provoke them on your own. If they really aren't Instance players, there's no need for confrontation."
The Yin-Yang Master had no choice but to nod. Just then, someone outside called them, saying dinner was almost ready and inviting them over.
When the two of them came out, they ran into Xu Huo and the Painting Woman. The earlier stiffness was gone, and both sides nodded politely to each other.
Since it was a communal meal, the tables were set up outside. Some prepared side dishes were already on the table, and the villagers called them over first to taste their homemade fruit wine.
Bubble Bean and the Yin-Yang Master had fierce looks, but once they dropped their pretenses, they could still laugh and chat with others. The villagers meant no harm and weren't particularly wary of them, so the atmosphere quickly became lively.
The Painting Woman was popular with the children and was pulled over to their table. Xu Huo, on the other hand, was more favored by the girls. Several young women gave him small handmade trinkets and boldly observed his appearance.
"Heh!" the Yin-Yang Master sneered disdainfully.
Xu Huo turned his head to look at him. "Is there something?"
The Yin-Yang Master was about to make a sarcastic remark, but after glancing at Bubble Bean, he changed his tune. "I've heard that quite a few people in the game use disguise masks to deceive young girls. On the surface, they look handsome, but in reality, their true appearance is too ugly to look at."
Xu Huo ignored him. The girls who overheard didn't care whether he was using a fake face; instead, they curiously asked how the fake face could look exactly like a real one, completely indistinguishable.
Xu Huo's appearance had indeed been altered, but it was just an ordinary face. The girls gathered around him simply because he seemed kind and easy to talk to—it had nothing to do with looks.
He bought a few boxes of facial modification cosmetics from the game platform and gave them to the girls, who quickly shifted their enthusiasm away from him.
"Come, come! It's rare to have such rich and delicious food. Let's have a few more drinks today!" A middle-aged man sitting next to Grandpa He invited Bubble Bean and the Yin-Yang Master. Some of the villagers who enjoyed drinking gathered together.
Overall, the atmosphere was quite good. The subtle rejection they had felt upon arrival seemed to have dissipated.
Just as things were getting lively, a loud crash suddenly came from deep in the forest. The sound was far away, but when they turned around, a figure abruptly appeared in their field of vision, followed by a second and a third.
The two who arrived later were clearly chasing the first person. Two consecutive Blockade Barriers restricted the first person's escape route, then a special item was used to limit his movements before they launched a concentrated attack.
The first person was already injured when he arrived. Under the continuous assault, many of his items had failed. He barely managed to withstand this round of lethal strikes and then flew straight toward the banquet!
Bubble Bean and the Yin-Yang Master didn't want to get involved, so they stepped aside. The injured player wasn't completely out of strength either. The reason he unhesitatingly flew toward the banquet was that he had his eyes on the villagers beside the table.
A child who had just run over became his target. But just as his hand reached out, it was grabbed by another hand. He looked up and, before he could see the face of the person holding him, received two slaps and was kicked flying!
The injured player staggered back several meters, dodged the follow-up attacks from his two pursuers, and then circled behind the villagers, using them as shields against the three players. Of course, his greatest wariness was toward the Painting Woman who had just hit him, because when they had clashed, his items had failed to work on her!
The lively atmosphere vanished instantly. With the players confronting each other, danger lurked once more.
At that moment, the Painting Woman furiously jabbed at her communicator and raised it toward the injured player. "Why are you bullying a child?!"
The injured player knew she was tough and, after a moment's consideration, said, "These two are hunting me. I was forced to defend myself. What I did just now was only a temporary measure—I wouldn't really hurt the child."
"You expect me to believe that? Do you think I'm an idiot?" The Painting Woman was furious. She pressed her hand on the child's head and said, "This is my new friend. How dare you bully him!"
With that, she threw off her coat, and all the paper toys and scraps hidden inside flew out—to store enough paper, she had mostly prepared small pieces. Of course, even these ordinary paper scraps were lethal enough. The moment they flew out, they formed a fierce wind that wrapped around the injured player, instantly separating him from the villagers!
Although the paper controlled by the Painting Woman was lethal, it couldn't break through the defense barrier of a high-level item. So it only temporarily trapped the player. Within seconds, he broke through the wall of paper blades and reappeared before everyone, intending to use the same trick again!
This time, Xu Huo stopped him.
Intercepting the man mid-flight, Xu Huo grabbed him by the shoulder face-to-face, staring directly into his eyes, and said firmly, "It's a bit inappropriate to cause trouble when you're a guest at someone else's house."
The words seemed polite, but his eyes clearly said otherwise. The injured player instinctively used attack items when grabbed, but several items were deflected by Xu Huo's defense barrier, not even touching his clothes...
Under immense mental pressure, the injured player had no choice but to suppress his killing intent and grit his teeth in submission. "If they don't make a move, I won't either."
Xu Huo's expression relaxed. He smiled and patted the man's shoulder, then turned to look at the other two players. "Since you're here, you might as well join us. The food's already on the table. How about eating together?"
He then looked at Grandpa He. "Old sir, is there enough food for everyone?"
Grandpa He snapped out of it and nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes! Plenty to go around!"
Xu Huo grabbed the injured player and shoved him into a seat, then pointed to the seats across from him and said to the other two, "Please, sit."