Lin Xia thought about the shop owner’s extraordinary nature, her emotions surging intensely.
The shop owner must be a deity!
“I’m willing to give all the gold ingots to your son,” she said solemnly.
On one hand, she deeply sympathized with the plight of Fan Shuyao and her son; on the other, she felt this was the shop owner’s guidance. For either reason, she would agree, as she was inherently kind-hearted. Although she had witnessed much malice and ugliness since being pulled into the Infinite Flow World, she had retained her innate goodness.
People like her actually found it harder to survive in instances, but she was fortunate enough to encounter the Incense Shop.
Wasn’t this a case of virtue receiving its due reward?
Fan Shuyao was extremely grateful and whispered, “Thank you.”
After receiving the gold ingots, she first used a technique to extract the Gong De – Merit from them, channeling it into her son’s body.
Golden light enveloped the little boy in visible waves, the circles gradually expanding and wrapping around him layer by layer.
“Mom?” the boy called out anxiously.
Fan Shuyao crouched down, gently hugged him, then held his hand and said, “Go on, my child.”
The boy seemed to sense the impending separation from his mother, crying as he clung to her arm. “I don’t want to leave you, Mom…”
Tears welled in Fan Shuyao’s eyes too, but she steeled herself and said, “It’s Mom’s fault. Having been born to me in this life has made you suffer. Your next life will definitely be happy—you’ll have loving parents and a worry-free existence.”
The farewell scene was truly sorrowful, making Lin Xia and her teammates feel their noses sting with emotion.
“The golden light seems quite strong—perhaps you can absorb it too. Why don’t you try?” Lin Xia said with a choked voice. “Then you could be reincarnated like your son.”
For some reason, she felt that when the Incense Shop owner gave her a bag of gold ingots—some large, some small—he had already anticipated the situation of Fan Shuyao and her son. The small gold ingots were for the boy, while the large ones were for Fan Shuyao.
Fan Shuyao hadn’t considered this possibility and was taken aback. “I’m afraid the golden light isn’t sufficient…”
But she didn’t finish, because the golden light suddenly intensified dramatically, enveloping her as well.
Fan Shuyao’s eyes widened in shock, then she looked at Lin Xia with immense gratitude. “Thank you for reminding me.”
Lin Xia shook her head, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief.
She had guessed correctly—the Gong De – Merit in the gold ingots was enough to send both mother and son for reincarnation.
The shop owner truly had foresight.
After repeatedly expressing her thanks, Fan Shuyao raised her hand and performed a technique toward the four directions of the village.
After a moment, she said, “I’ve lifted the village’s restraints. They will return to normal.”
The next second, a notification appeared on Lin Xia and her teammates’ panels—
[Mission Complete!]
[Reward Item +1]
[…]
For a moment, the group stood there in stunned silence.
Had the instance mission really been completed so simply and easily?
Meanwhile, Fan Shuyao and her son’s figures gradually grew transparent within the golden light.
“Thank you all,” she expressed her gratitude once more, then removed the red string from her wrist and handed it to Lin Xia. “I’ve worn this since childhood. It was originally tainted with my resentful energy and considered unlucky. But the golden light just now purified the resentful energy and collected a strand of Gong De – Merit. I’ve also infused it with my technique. Now I give it to you—it should protect you at critical moments.”
Lin Xia’s panel displayed a notification—
[Acquired special item: Defense Red String. Can block 100% of damage. Cooldown time: 72 hours.]
She was stunned, then overjoyed.
An item that could block 100% of damage was absolutely the rarest kind. After all, skills and items rewarded for clearing instances only had certain probabilities of success—she had truly obtained a treasure!
Who would have thought that her act of kindness toward Fan Shuyao and her son would yield such a reward?
Fan Shuyao then gifted each of her teammates an item imbued with her magic. Though they could only be used once, they also provided 100% damage blockage. The teammates were thrilled.
“Farewell.” After presenting the tokens of gratitude, Fan Shuyao and her son vanished completely, and the golden light gradually faded.
Lin Xia and the others stood in place, silently watching the pair depart. It took a long while for them to snap out of it.
“Those villagers should be awake by now,” Lin Xia said, unable to hide her disgust. “What a lenient fate for those beasts.”
One of the veteran players comforted her, “Those villagers are just NPCs in the instance. Think of them as actors.”
That made sense, and Lin Xia finally calmed down a bit.
“Wait, there’s something strange,” the veteran player suddenly spoke up again. “Why haven’t we been prompted to leave the instance yet?”
Logically, after completing the mission and receiving rewards, the next step should be a notification of successful clearance and a reminder to exit.
But they were still in the instance, unsure what had gone wrong.
Lin Xia and the others also realized it—why were they still here? Was there still a main mission left unfinished?
Just as they were puzzling over it, the panel finally lit up again—
[Fan Shuyao and her son have been liberated by the players, freeing them from their fate of being trapped in the instance. The Xiushui Mountain Village instance will be permanently closed.]
Lin Xia: ???
Teammates: ???
So, this instance would never open again? No more players would enter?
This was a first in the Infinite Flow World!
Before they could fully process their shock, the panel prompted again—
[Instance closure countdown!]
[10s, 9s…]
Lin Xia: !
Teammates: !
Ten seconds later, Lin Xia and her team were forcibly ejected from the instance.
Unbeknownst to them, all players outside the instance also received an announcement about the permanent closure of the Xiushui Mountain Village instance, and everyone was in an uproar.
Soon, posts appeared on the forum—
[Who’s so incredible that they managed to permanently close an instance?]
[This seems to be the first time something like this has happened. No one knows what went down.]
[Regardless, it’s a good thing. The Xiushui Mountain Village instance was especially terrifying, full of ghosts—so scary! Many people died in there, and even those who cleared it luckily ended up with psychological issues.]
[I suddenly have a bold idea! If instances are permanently closed one by one, does that mean we won’t have to enter instances anymore, and we won’t have to worry about dying? Maybe we can even return to the real world!]
This comment stirred excitement among the players.
Yes, if all instances were permanently closed, could they finally go home?
At the Incense Shop, Xi Mufu was lamenting not bringing rice to give away for free to the Otherworld Guests.
“I don’t know when my Planting Skill will level up,” she said gloomily.
Ji Jiu replied, “Just bring it next time.”
Xi Mufu hummed in agreement, “I’ve decided—after the next batch of rice is harvested, I’ll plant a crop of precious medicinal herbs. That way, when we gift them to the Otherworld Guests, it’ll be more presentable.” She turned to Ji Jiu, “What do you think?”
After all, giving rice as a gift seemed rather absurd no matter how you looked at it; medicinal herbs were far more reliable.
Ji Jiu replied, “Good.”
As they chatted, the two walked outward together.
“Oh, I wanted to communicate with the guests earlier, but it felt like some force was suppressing me, preventing me from speaking.” Xi Mufu suddenly remembered something and stopped in her tracks, looking up at Ji Jiu.
Ji Jiu didn’t mention that he had already confronted that force, merely stating lightly, “Probably a rule restriction. Don’t worry about it.”
Xi Mufu trusted him completely and didn’t dwell on it further.
By then, the two had entered the backyard and were about to go inside to continue their meal when a tremendous boom suddenly erupted across the sky—
Brilliant fireworks blossomed overhead!
The New Year had arrived!