Listening to the noisy noise outside the door, Xia Qi felt a headache.
He sighed helplessly, climbed up from the kang, lifted the tattered and greasy cloth curtain on the door, and walked out.
The officers and soldiers who were searching for women outside couldn't help but brighten their eyes when they saw Xia Qi appear.
When Xia Qi saw the appearance of the two officers and soldiers, he was also stunned.
Although these two soldiers were wearing ancient armor, they had non-human heads on their necks, like animals that had eaten big-headed pills. The soldier on the left had a blue bull's head, and the other had a bright red horse's head. When they saw Xia Qi coming out, their huge bull and horse eyes showed surprise.
His mother didn't expect him to come out, and immediately shouted "Oh no!" and pushed him behind the curtain: "Go in quickly!"
Xia Qi looked down at her and said calmly, "I want to enter the palace."
Worried that delay would result in the loss of key information, Xia Qi planned to enter the palace earlier and not waste his time on useless plots.
When his mother heard that he was willing to enter the palace, she immediately showed a look of horror. She held Xia Qi's hand and cried, "Qi'er, that's a place where people are eaten. Mother is worried that they will eat you until there is nothing left..."
Xia Qi didn't move and let her hold his hand and wail.
"You dead woman, if you try to stop us again, we will eat you!" Niu Tou and Ma shouted angrily at his mother.
After completely frightening his mother, Niu Tou urged impatiently: "Since you are willing to enter the palace, then hurry up and follow us. Let's hurry back to Fengdu before it gets dark."
Seeing that the officers and soldiers were urging him fiercely, his mother had no choice but to send Xia Qi away crying.
Xia Qi followed the Ox-Headed and Horse-Faced soldiers out of the thatched hut. When he reached the door, Xia Qi realized that he was in a desolate village.
The village was full of thatched houses that would become bald if the wind blew. The words "impoverished mountainous area" were written on the inside and outside. Withered yellow grass grew on the roadside and there were several wild graves built in the grass piles. A thin black smoke floated in the sky above the graves. The smoke gathered and dispersed from time to time, as if it had life, and no one knew what the gas was made of.
Ox-Head and Horse-Faced Guards led Xia Qi out of the village. From time to time, they looked back to see the expression on Xia Qi's face.
However, Xia Qi disappointed them. He didn't cry at all during the whole process, nor did he show any anxiety.
Xia Qi acted so calmly, as if he was preparing to enter Fengdu, go into the palace and usurp the throne to become the Ghost King.
When they came to a small road outside the village, Niutou pointed at a shabby donkey cart under a dead vine tree not far away and ordered Xia Qi, "Sit on it."
At this time, there were three people sitting on the donkey cart. When Xia Qigang looked up at the donkey cart, he met a familiar gaze.
"Brother Xia?" There was a girl in a white dress sitting on the donkey cart.
She originally had a cute round face, but after being used as a scapegoat by her own sister, she never gained weight again and looked very thin.
I saw my sister sitting in the wind, as if she would fall down if the wind blew.
Xia Qi was slightly surprised when he saw his sister appear here.
This sister had once been his teammate in the "Rose Earl" dungeon. At that time, she had been very brave and had helped him clear the dungeon.
"Long time no see." Xia Qi climbed onto the carriage and consciously sat in the outermost seat.
My sister smiled bitterly: "We are really destined to meet. How come I met you in this copy again?"
Xia Qi looked at her in confusion. His sister looked like she had been through a lot. He handed her his hand and asked in a low voice, "What level of player are you now?"
After hearing this, the younger sister extended her index finger and wrote on his palm: "Beginner Player."
Sure enough, as Xia Qi expected, his sister was still a beginner player.
My sister scratched her head in embarrassment and said, "I did it on purpose."
The higher the level of the copy, the more difficult it is, and the stronger the opponents that come with it. My sister doesn’t like playing games in the first place, so she has been just a supporting role in the game and has never been upgraded to an intermediate player.
The two chatted briefly and then stopped talking.
At this time, Ox-Head and Horse-Faced Guards had already pulled the reins and were driving the donkey cart on the road.
I don’t know if it’s because they went to the palace, but besides Xia Qi and his sister, there were two female players sitting on the donkey cart.
The two female players seemed very excited, and from the expressions on their faces, Xia Qi could guess that they might be newcomers to the game.
Sitting opposite Xia Qi was a girl with dyed blond hair and thick eyeliner. She didn't look much older than her sister, but her outfit made her look extremely mature, and she looked a lot like the gangster girl who used to fight in school.
The yellow-haired girl looked at her plain-faced sister and asked curiously, "Doesn't it add to your charm if you add a little bit?"
Hearing this, Xia Qi looked at his sister in confusion.
"No, why should I add it?" The younger sister looked at the light on the faces of the two people opposite and said lightly, "Did you two add it?"
"Yes." The yellow-haired girl shook her hair narcissistically. "After adding it, my face is glowing. I feel so beautiful now."
My sister raised her eyebrows and looked at Xia Qi with a strange expression.
Looking at the soft white light on the face of the yellow-haired girl opposite him, Xia Qi touched his own face and thought that there was probably light on his face as well.
Sitting next to the yellow-haired girl was a woman wearing a white shirt and suit pants. She curled her lips, turned her head and said to the yellow-haired girl, "You won't add all your initial points to charm, will you?"
"Yes, I added them all." The yellow-haired girl giggled and said very innocently, "As soon as I entered the game, the madam sold me out and said that I could go to the palace to serve the emperor. I must have traveled into a novel. In order to gain the emperor's favor and become a concubine, I must add all the charm."
Hearing that he was "favored" by the emperor and would become a "favored concubine", Xia Qi couldn't help but feel a tingling sensation on his scalp.
The white-collar woman laughed dryly, "What the hell? Aren't you afraid that you're too pretty and will be killed by other ladies as soon as you enter? That's how it's played out in TV dramas."
It turns out that this person has watched palace fighting movies, and his level is a little higher than that of the Yellow-Haired Girl.
Hearing this, the yellow-haired girl slapped her head and said, "Oh, I forgot."
The white-collar woman covered her mouth and smiled secretly. It was because she had watched too many palace fighting movies and knew that she had to keep a low profile and avoid the fights between the cats and dogs. Therefore, she did not add all the points to charm, leaving a lot of points for intelligence.
After all, palace fighting tests intelligence!
The white-collar woman thought happily that after she gave birth to a prince and lived until the emperor died, she would be the empress dowager!
Seeing the two people who were already "entering the game" opposite, the younger sister suddenly fell silent. Xia Qi couldn't stand it anymore and reminded them seriously: "Don't be too careless, this is a 'sinful game'."
"Got it. Thank you, big brother." The two female players didn't care at all about Xia Qi's friendly reminder, and started discussing the common routines in palace fighting dramas.
Xia Qi shook his head. That was all he had to say. These two were newcomers, and there was nothing he could do if they really wanted to kill themselves.
Although the donkey cart was not moving fast, it finally arrived at the legendary Fengdu before dark.
Unlike the City That Never Sleeps, the outer walls of Fengdu are built with black bricks and stones, and with pale lanterns hanging on the city walls, this city does not look like a place where people live, and it looks eerie.
Not only that, there were also white shadows floating on the city wall. It was not clear what kind of strange species it was, but it definitely did not look like a living person.
"Oh my god, is this the imperial city?" Originally, the yellow-haired girl was very much looking forward to this place, but when she saw the scene on the city wall, she couldn't help but become scared.
The white-collar woman was also frightened. She didn't know whether to comfort herself or others. She whispered, "But, maybe it will be better if I enter the palace."
However, after they entered the city, the atmosphere did not become lively. The entire Fengdu Street was empty, and the street was covered with white paper money. At this time, a cold wind blew, shaking the white lanterns hanging on the eaves on both sides. Xia Qi looked at the lanterns carefully and found a big word "甸" written in black ink on the white lanterns.
"It's so scary." The yellow-haired girl sobbed softly.
Fear made the two women feel a sense of mutual sympathy. The yellow-haired girl and the white-collar girl almost hugged each other. They didn't even dare to open their eyes. They sat in the car trembling and never mentioned the matter of entering the palace to become a favorite concubine and empress dowager again.
Seeing that the two of them looked so useless, the younger sister couldn't help but curl her lips.
The donkey cart stopped outside the palace. The Ox-Head and Horse-Faced Demons handed the four people over to the maids who were waiting outside the palace. They took a few purple paper money that looked like ghost money and left.
The person who came to pick them up was a kind-looking nanny. Since the nanny looked like a human, the yellow-haired girl and the white-collar girl immediately breathed a sigh of relief and started to flatter the nanny.
They stood on the left and right of the nanny, one said to the nanny, "Thank you for your hard work, nanny", and the other hinted to the nanny in some way that if she became successful in the future, she would never forget her support.
Listening to the flattery of the two, the nanny grinned strangely, nodded, and said: "There will be a talent show tonight, and only the four of you are missing, hurry up and follow me into the palace."
After saying that, the four of them followed the nanny and walked into the palace gate.
Since entering the palace, the yellow-haired girl couldn't help looking around, her eyes full of curiosity. Although the white-collar girl took the route of keeping a low profile as the queen mother, she also secretly observed her surroundings.
After pulling away from the two men in front of her, the younger sister whispered, "I added 5 points of intelligence, 10 points of force, and 5 points of endurance."
After all, she and Xia Qi used to be teammates, and her sister planned to continue to treat Xia Qi as a teammate, so she began to explain everything to him.
"I also ordered planting and cooking." said my sister in a low voice.
Because this is a copy with no time limit for upgrading, she plans to wait and see for a while. If the copy settings are suitable, she will stay here and not leave.
"By the way, Brother Xia, how come you still have some charm?" After the younger sister finished explaining, she asked the biggest question in her mind.
Hearing this, Xia Qi was speechless and couldn't answer at all.
Don’t ask, if you ask, you are forced to do it.
Seeing Xia Qi's embarrassed expression and a look that he couldn't explain, his sister's face became even weirder. She thought, no, Xia Qi is not that kind of person. Could it be that he was forced to add points by the system
Little did the sister know that she had guessed the truth of the matter. Seeing that Xia Qi was unable to explain, she continued to discuss the issue of the copy with him.
"Mammy, will there be someone to help us dress up?" The yellow-haired girl said excitedly as she looked at the black palace nearby.
Although this palace is as dark as a haunted house, judging from its tall and majestic appearance, the emperor living in it is very wealthy. Once she becomes a favorite concubine, she will be able to live a life surrounded by slaves.
Hearing this, the nanny's smile grew even wider, and she said gently, "No need to wash yourself. When you are useful, someone will naturally wash you."
"Thank you, Ma'am!" The yellow-haired girl nodded happily, not thinking that there was anything wrong with the phrase "wash it clean".
The four of them walked for about ten minutes, and when they arrived outside a small garden, the nanny stopped and asked them to wait outside the garden.
There was a chattering sound nearby. Xia Qi turned his head and found that there were many people wearing modern clothes nearby. They all looked like players participating in the "talent show".
Xia Qi counted the number of people nearby and found that there were a total of 20 players participating in the draft, including him.
Judging from the expressions and aura of the players present, Xia Qi initially determined that, including himself, there were about 5 senior players, 5 intermediate players, 5 beginner players, and 5 newcomers who seemed to know nothing.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please follow me in quickly so that the ladies can take a look at you." The nanny walked out of the garden gate again and ordered everyone to follow her into the garden.
As everyone was standing together, after hearing the nanny's order, the newcomers and senior players walked in first. Xia Qi saw the senior players looking nonchalant and thought, this must be the strength of the senior players. After all, they are all as skilled and bold as Sister Hong.
The remaining group that entered the park one after another were mostly intermediate players. The beginner players had the weakest abilities, and they were the last to enter after watching everyone else enter.
After arriving in the yard, Xia Qi discovered that the garden was also very dark. Even the few lights were not turned on. The entire garden did not look like a harem garden, but rather like a gloomy cemetery.
In the pavilion in front of all the "beautiful girls", there were ten tables, behind each of which sat a "woman" wearing ancient costumes and with frighteningly pale faces. They all wore pearls and jade on their heads and colorful clothes, and were dressed extremely richly and gorgeously.
This group of people should be the empress mentioned by the nanny, the concubines in the harem.
Xia Qi frowned, raised his head, and looked at the "women" behind the table one by one. When he finished looking at 9 people, he unexpectedly discovered that among the concubines sitting there, there were more men than women!
When he looked at the last table, he unexpectedly saw his former next-door neighbor.
The purple-haired gay man was wearing a pink low-cut coat and skirt and holding a small butterfly fan in his hand. When he saw Xia Qi, his eyes widened and he almost popped his eyeballs out.
After the "beauties" had gathered, they stood quietly in front of the pavilion in two rows and two lines, waiting for the decisions from the ladies in the pavilion.
At this time, the concubine sitting at the side in a royal blue dress smiled sweetly and said to the tall "woman" sitting in the middle: "Madam Lin Guifei, there are so many beauties here today. Can you give me a few more this time?"