While constantly grumbling in his mind, Ben also controlled Ethan to catch up with the mysterious old woman.
Wearing a black hooded robe and leaning on a skull-headed cane, she looked like a priestess or a witch.
She had a very religious vibe.
It had to be said that horror games, combined with religion and the occult, were a perfect match.
This included themes in Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and Nebula Games' first horror game, Outlast, which all had related religious content.
Suddenly, that somewhat eerie atmosphere seemed to sweep back in.
When Ethan caught up to the old woman, she stopped and muttered some incomprehensible words.
'Born from life, born from death, glory to...'
Ethan looked at the strange old woman in front of him and cautiously asked.
'Hey, hello? You shouldn't be outside, it's too dangerous.'
'Hey, did you hear me?'
Hearing Ethan's words, the old woman slowly turned around and revealed a strange smile.
'It's you! The child's father.'
Ben's spirits lifted. Here it comes! Here it comes!
The clue for the main story quest has arrived!
It's obvious that this installment, like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, is about finding a daughter.
However, one is an adult daughter, and the other is an infant girl.
Ethan in the game also reacted immediately.
'The child? Wait... you mean Rose? Is she here?' Ethan asked urgently.
The old woman in front of him burst into laughter: 'Rose? Rose! Yes!'
After a brief bout of wild laughter, the old woman looked steadily at Ethan: 'She is in danger. After Mother Miranda brought her into the village, we have fallen into darkness!'
'The castle bells announce danger! They are coming!'
Seeing the old woman turn and leave, Ethan stepped forward, wanting to ask more.
'Wait! Where is Rose? And who is Mother Miranda?'
But the old woman paid no attention to Ethan and walked directly towards the village gate.
'The bells ring for us... They are coming again!'
'Uhahahahaha... hahaha!'
Amidst the old woman's roaring laughter, she "thoughtfully" closed the heavy iron gate for Ethan.
When Ben could finally control Ethan again, he was completely speechless looking at the gate.
Another riddle-giver.
If you know something, just say it. If you don't know, say you don't know. Why are you being so cryptic?
And you're leaving, so why are you locking the gate for him?
Can't handle losing, huh?
Griding his teeth internally, Ben didn't rush to find an exit and continued to wander around the village.
Looking at the map, he still had many houses where he hadn't found collectibles.
And it seemed that all the monsters in the village had disappeared, having been affected by the earlier bell ringing.
So, the village seemed temporarily safe.
Soon, not far away, Ben found a stone gate with two reliefs on it. Judging by their body shapes, they looked like an angel and a devil, but the faces of both reliefs were missing.
Clearly, this was a quest for the player to find two stone sculptures and fill in these empty spaces.
Without much effort, he found one of the stone sculptures in a room. At the same time, several portraits in the room caught his attention.
The large portrait in the center was of a woman wearing a strange headdress and mask.
Is this the so-called Mother Miranda?
Ben guessed. To her left was a woman wearing a Duchess hat and a necklace of jewels.
"Hehehe..." Looking at the portrait of the noblewoman, Ben couldn't help but let out a chuckle.
If there was anything that attracted him the most before playing this game, it was undoubtedly the person in the picture in front of him.
A very big BOSS.
In every sense of the word, a very big one.
It's a shame it's just a picture and not the real thing!
Ben felt some regret. As for the other three, there was an ugly, hunched, dwarf-like deformed person, a doll, and a cool-looking man wearing a cowboy hat and round sunglasses.
"The ultimate boss and her four Heavenly Kings?"
Looking at the five portraits, Ben thought of the dark fairy tale at the beginning.
It was clear that there was an allegory back then. The old witch at the end undoubtedly corresponds to Miranda.
Then the Bat Lord, the Mechanical Warhorse, the Deep Sea Fish King, and the Dark Spirit Weaver clearly correspond to the four Heavenly Kings.
He just didn't know who corresponded to whom.
As an experienced gamer who had played many games, Ben immediately made connections.
After going in circles, seeing that the house on the map had turned from red to blue, Ben left again.
Next up was the scavenger hunt for the outsider.
If every house doesn't turn from red to blue, he wouldn't feel right!
While searching for the second stone sculpture, he passed through some reeds and entered a farmhouse where Ben met a pure and cute girl named Elena and her father, who had been injured by a monster.
The girl was quite pretty, but her old man was really annoying.
The kind Ethan helped them open the gate, but the old man was still sarcastic and dismissive.
"Based on my experience, old men like you won't live more than two or three episodes. But the cute girl might just live to the finale," Ben mused internally.
After some plot development, Ben entered the farm with the girl and her injured father. This was also the home of Luisa, who had been mentioned on the radio earlier.
There were seven or eight other people sheltering here: a drunkard, a crying woman, and a man lying on the sofa, badly injured and unconscious.
Everyone was sighing. Through conversations with Luisa, Ethan also got some key information: everyone in the village worships a being called Mother Miranda.
Miranda used to protect them, but for some reason, so many strange monsters had appeared this time.
Just as Ben was pondering the relationship between Miranda, the village, and the werewolves from before.
Elena's father, the annoying old man, suddenly let out a painful roar. With a swift move, he chopped Luisa, who had stepped forward to care for him, to death.
The room was instantly filled with panic. The drunkard, who had been quarreling earlier, followed suit and was bitten to death. The women screamed and tried to escape but were also pounced on by the old man and had their necks broken.
The kerosene lamp lit up the room, and blood splattered on the floor.
Then, the old man, who had transformed into a werewolf, lunged at Ethan.
His maw gaped open, revealing every single tooth clearly.
"Damn it! I knew that injured old man was a threat!"
Ben shivered, but he wasn't scared, just a little surprised.
Just as the old man's teeth were about to touch Ethan's neck...
Bang!
A gunshot rang out. Elena, holding a shotgun, blasted her father away with a single shot.
'I'm so sorry, Dad...'
Holding the shotgun, speaking apologetically, and watching the charging old man, Elena decisively fired another shot.
"Holy crap, father-daughter love! A legendary scene! But well done!" Ben quickly controlled Ethan to get up. Looking at Elena, the girl holding the shotgun, still a little sad, he couldn't help but give her a thumbs-up.
Although it also showed a father-daughter love scene, Elena's situation was completely different from when Jaina in Warcraft ruined her father Daelin.
After all, Elena had taken down her father when he lost consciousness, while Jaina was clearly siding with others.
"Based on your performance just now, girl, you'll definitely live to the finale!"
(End of chapter)