Lighting an Incense Stick, the Temple Collapses, and the Players Take the Blame

"Everything is packed. Let's go."

"Mount up."

"Move out."

After burning incense and hastily consuming some meat, the group resumed their journey.

Not long after Lu Yuan and the others departed, the incense-filled temple suddenly began to stir.

The divine statue, which had remained uncorroded through wind and rain, suddenly emitted a humming vibration.

The entire statue shook.

With a sharp *bang*, the incense burner on the offering table shattered into fine pieces.

The once-clear features of the deity carved upon the statue grew blurred, losing their original luster. Shortly after, the statue rapidly collapsed and disintegrated, leaving behind nothing more than a small mound of dirt.

Deprived of its divine statue, the dilapidated temple itself began to sway precariously.

A moment later, a thunderous crash echoed through the air.

Having stood for who knows how many years, the temple collapsed for no apparent reason.

Half a month later, when some villagers from Longdan Village came to perform marriage rituals and offer thanks to the gods, they were met with a scene of utter ruin.

"What the hell? Where's the temple?"

"Where did our temple go? Was it stolen? Such a massive temple, how could it just vanish?"

"Who did this? Which absolute bastard is responsible? Not only did they tear down our temple, but they also stole our Lord of Waters and Lands! Aren't they afraid of being struck by lightning?"

"Savages, absolute savages!"

"Are they out of their minds? There are gold and silver Buddhas in other temples they could steal, yet they specifically came to steal our stone deity and even tore down the place."

"This is a provocation, a blatant provocation!"

"Do you think the people of Longdan Village are easy to bully?"

"Village Chief, we must seek revenge for this!"

"Darn it all!"

The villagers of Longdan Village hollered and shrieked in absolute fury.

"I bet those outlanders did this."

"Got any proof?"

"Proof? Our deity has been stolen, what more proof do you need?"

"No sane person with a functioning brain would steal a block of stone."

"Only those outlanders would pull off something like this."

The villagers shouted at the top of their lungs, demanding an explanation from the players.

"I agree."

"A few days ago, I actually saw an outlander stealing shit from my house. He was lurking suspiciously near my outhouse—wasn't he stealing my fertilizer?"

"Right, who doesn't know those outlanders are out of their minds? They sneak around all day long. Chances are, they're the ones who did this."

"Report this to the authorities! We must report them and have them arrested!"

...

Game Forum:

[Attention, players near Longdan Village, stay away! Stay far away! Those NPCs have gone completely bonkers. They're accusing every player they see of stealing their divine statue and blowing up their temple. What a bunch of nutcases.]

[The NPCs in Longdan Village have always had loose screws. A while back, I was digging for earthworms to go fishing in Longdan Village when some middle-aged woman suddenly rushed out and falsely accused me of stealing her family's crap. Lunatics! Why on earth would I steal someone's dung?]

[Hahaha... *cough*, sorry. Normally I wouldn't laugh, but I'm just curious—where exactly were you digging for those earthworms?]

[Right near their latrine.]

[You're telling me you really didn't steal their dung?]

[Dude, are you serious? Is digging for earthworms a crime now?]

[You shouldn't be digging for earthworms there, of all places, right next to someone else's toilet! Come on, ancient toilets are open-pit dry latrines, open-air cesspools overflowing with fragrance, and you went over there to dig for earthworms? I seriously suspect you really were stealing manure.]

[Dammit, have you people never fished in your lives? Do I really have to spell it out for you? I was digging for maggots! Maggots, understand? You jerks.]

[Fishermen really are a different breed. As long as it catches fish, they're willing to try anything.]

[Hahaha.]

[The NPCs in Longdan Village have been a bit overly aggressive lately. Brothers in the vicinity, watch your backs and don't get beaten up.]

[What is there to be afraid of? A bunch of trash NPCs. Piss me off and I'll massacre the whole village, believe it or not.]

[Ooh la la, a GTA player. So fierce.]

[I just hope you can maintain this kind of arrogance when the imperial government puts a bounty on your head.]

[We demonic path players genuinely fear nothing.]

[Demonic fiends are to be exterminated by all! Fellow Daoists, step into my Human Emperor Banner and help me slay these wicked beings.]

[Bro, why is your Human Emperor Banner billowing with pitch-black smoke?]

[That's purple Qi—Imperial Purple Qi so dense it looks black, you understand?]

[Looking at you, you're obviously the biggest demonic lord of them all.]

[Any Desert players here? Demonic and righteous disciples trading kills, boosting battle stats and points. Hit me up in private chat if interested.]

[Do kills on each other even count?]

[They count. It mostly depends on your sect's rules. Anyway, in my Sandstorm Sect, we can exchange identity tokens for points.]

[Which sect are you from?]

[The Demonic Sandstorm Sect.]

[Holy shit, the Sandstorm Sect, the number one sect in the Desert! So jealous. I searched everywhere for ages and couldn't find a way to join, so I had to settle for the Flying Sword Manor.]

[Wait, Flying Sword Manor? Hahaha, your sect is on the kill-list too. Want to trade some kills?]

[Sure, hit me up in private chat.]

...

[Attention! Once your Order Value breaks one thousand, you can acquire an official recruitment form from the yamen, along with massive hidden perks.]

[Ever since the server launch, I noticed the Order Value mechanic. After several months of research, I finally discovered that every time Order Value reaches a certain threshold, you unlock specific rewards.]

[Most of these rewards are intangible.]

[Higher salaries, better NPC favorability, and so on—these all count as rewards.]

[When my Order Value hit eight hundred, whenever I got into disputes with other players, the yamen magistrates would lean toward my side during rulings.]

[When my Order Value reached one thousand, the chief constable of the county I reside in personally came to invite me to join the yamen as a constable.]

[Pfft, what a clickbait title. My Order Value is zero and I still managed to join the government. Did you really need to grind that hard? And after all that grinding, you're just a lowly constable? Nothing to brag about.]

[Will those who castrated themselves and sacrificed their "little brothers" to join the Eastern and Western Depots please kindly shut up? It just makes you look really stupid.]

[Well, what about the perks? Where are the perks? Where are the perks for exceeding one thousand?]

Author replied: [It's much easier to trigger hidden quests.]

Author replied: [After joining the yamen, within about a week, I triggered three hidden branch quests, and the rewards were exceptionally lucrative.]

Author replied [Holy shit, really?]

Author replied: [Really.]

[My current Order Value is six hundred. Raising your Order Value definitely makes it easier to trigger hidden quests. It's not just the yamen either—ordinary NPCs can trigger them too. Those of you with high Order Value should interact with NPCs more often.]

[Don't underestimate any NPC. Some might seem like trash, but they can genuinely lead you to top-tier quests.]

[Order Value is too damn hard to raise. I suggest taking the demonic path route to grind Chaos Value instead. Chaos Value can also trigger hidden quests.]

[Most importantly, Chaos Value is much easier to grind.]

[Oh please, stop hoodwinking people into the demonic path. Why don't you mention how much easier it is to be hunted down for "upholding righteousness and slaying demons" with high Chaos Value? The moment your Chaos Value gets even slightly high, high-level NPCs will track you down and beat you to death. You drop way more EXP and items when you die. It's utterly miserable.]

[Bro, you sound awfully well-informed.]

[How could I not be? I had a bald monk NPC corpse-camp me for half a month, causing me to drop nine levels. I was forced to turn over a new leaf.]

[Tragic.]