Read Novel Full Chapter 620
Chapter 620
[Congratulations, players. The progress of ‘Finding the Cause of the Fire’ is now 5%.]
The crowd that had been discussing animatedly suddenly fell silent.
The players looked at each other. Someone asked uncertainly, “Did you all receive the system prompt?”
Everyone nodded, speaking one after another.
“Progress is 5%.”
“Same here.”
“Yes, I got it too.”
“So we’re on the right track,” Li Li, who played the role of the group’s soul, analyzed. “Think carefully, what exactly were we discussing when we reached this 5% progress?”
A player guessed, “The treasure of Chenjia Village?”
“Or the mysterious figures in the night?”
Song Yuantian: “Combine the two. The last part—those mysterious figures set Chenjia Village on fire because of the treasure of Chenjia Village.”
As soon as he finished speaking, someone in the crowd immediately agreed, “Yes, yes, that must be it. The cause of the fire in Chenjia Village is definitely related to the mysterious figures and the treasure!”
Li Li fell into deep thought, “But it shouldn’t be as simple as our previous speculation that the mysterious figures burned down Chenjia Village after finding the treasure. If that were the case, our task progress would have easily exceeded 50%. There must be some other secret.”
Bai Lixin: “If you take the same keywords, but change their order, it can convey completely different meanings.”
“For example, using ‘cat,’ ‘key,’ ‘bridge,’ and ‘I’ to form sentences. ‘I crossed the bridge holding a key to find the cat’, and ‘The cat on the bridge took away my key’ express two entirely different meanings.”
“?” Someone looked at Bai Lixin in confusion. “What do you mean? What are you trying to say?”
“You’re talking in riddles and trying to sound profound.”
“I just suddenly thought of this,” Bai Lixin leaned against the wall and slightly bent his legs with his toes pressed against the wall. “I just feel we shouldn’t limit our thinking based on this 5% clue. It doesn’t have to be the mysterious figures who set the fire after finding the treasure. It’s also possible that the people of Chenjia Village set the fire to protect the treasure.”
“And then burned themselves to death?” Someone scoffed, “Who would be that stupid? That’s just too dumb, impossible.”
“Not necessarily,” another player countered. “Horror game copies don’t always follow common logic. Something like that is very possible. Until the end, we won’t know the real answer.”
A player with a buzz-cut said, “Tch, are you all still newbies? You have entered so many copies, haven’t you encountered enough twists and turns? We think the mysterious figures are the villains because we’re currently in the role of Chenjia villagers, so we naturally see the opposing forces of Chenjia Village as the enemy. But who says the people of Chenjia Village are the victims? What if they are the real villains?”
The girl with the high ponytail frowned. “But I don’t think the people of Chenjia Village are bad. They don’t have much offensive power, and they’re quite simple and honest.”
Buzz-cut: “What if the people of Chenjia Village don’t even know they’re monsters? Haven’t we often seen this kind of plot in movies and novels? The protagonist has already turned into a zombie or some other kind of monster, but deep down, they still think they’re human. When humans capture them, they actually believe that the humans are the real monsters.”
“Maybe the second stage will have a plot like that? Water pollution, wasteland mutations, the people of Chenjia Village have all been infected, and the acid rain is the evidence. And the black-clad figures that appear in the rain, could those weird suits actually be protective suits? And what we see as terrifying faces are actually protective masks?”
“The players who were captured developed ulcers, like they were infected by bacteria and mutated. Maybe the bird-masked people captured them because they were infected?”
[Ding, congratulations players, the progress of ‘Finding the Cause of the Fire’ is now 10%.]
Buzz-cut’s eyes lit up, and he tried hard to suppress his excitement. “Did you guys get the system notification?”
From the shocked, surprised, and delighted expressions of the players around him, it was clear that everyone had received the system notification.
Buzz-cut’s eyes grew even brighter. “It seems my analysis was correct!”
Someone said eagerly, “Then why don’t you continue analyzing?”
Buzz-cut pursed his lips. “That’s it. My limited wisdom only goes this far.”
There were rustling sounds in the courtyard as groups of three to five players huddled together, whispering about something, but no more meaningful deductions were made, and the system didn’t provide any further prompts.
After another twenty minutes, Li Li asked, “Has anyone made any new discoveries?”
The players in the courtyard looked around, each hoping someone would step forward, but no one did.
Li Li: “Based on our earlier discussion, we’ve identified three key points: the mysterious figures, the treasure, and the villagers of Chenjia Village. Time is running out, and waiting around isn’t going to get us any answers. Since we don’t have any more clues, I’ll assign today’s tasks, and we’ll each group up to investigate.”
“First, the identity of the mysterious figures and their purpose.”
“Second, what exactly is the treasure? Is there really such a thing, and if so, where is it?”
“Third, search the village thoroughly to see if there’s any evidence of pollution. We need to determine whether the background is indeed as we speculated, a wasteland pollution copy.”
“Fourth, investigate the identity of the villagers of Chenjia Village. Are they just ordinary villagers, or do they have another identity?”
“Fifth, since that banyan tree is so mysterious, it’s necessary to go up the mountain to investigate Rong Mountain and the banyan tree.”
“These are the five points I’ve thought of. Does anyone have anything to add?”
The players shook their heads.
Li Li waited for a while before continuing, “Since no one has anything to add, I’ll keep going.”
“I’ll say it again—I believe that teamwork is more advantageous than working alone. I want everyone to group up and investigate these five directions. Does anyone want to leave the group and investigate on their own? If so, step forward now, and we won’t stop you from leaving.”
“But let me make it clear, this isn’t volunteer work. Only those who contribute and participate in equivalent exchanges can reap the rewards. If you leave our group, we won’t provide you with any assistance. On the contrary, since we are a team, resources must be shared, and any information and clues obtained must be shared. If we find out that someone is hoarding information, we will no longer provide that person with any help.”
“Does anyone want to leave?”
The players shook their heads, indicating that they didn’t want to leave.
Li Li’s gaze fell vaguely on Bai Lixin and his group, his eyes carrying an inexplicable pressure.
Bai Lixin: “…”
Li Li waited a little longer, then smiled gently, “I believe no one will regret their choice. We have 60 people now, and five directions in total. Each direction will have 12 people, so choose the investigation direction you’re interested in. Once a group reaches 12 people, you’ll need to pick another direction.”
Bai Lixin and his group discussed among themselves and decided that it wasn’t wise to put all their eggs in one basket.
There were five of them, and since there were five directions, they decided to have one person investigate each direction, just to be safe.
After discussing, the five of them quickly chose the directions they wanted to investigate. Bai Lixin was somewhat interested in the treasure, so he chose the second option.
It took five minutes for the players to select their investigation directions under Li Li’s command.
Among the five options, only those investigating the identity of the “mysterious figures” looked a bit troubled.
Perhaps it was because yesterday’s heavy rain had brought too much shock to everyone. Most of the players who ended up in the first group investigating the mysterious figures were those who didn’t choose in time and were forced to select it.
According to Li Li, they could investigate separately, but they had to find something. They were to reconvene at dawn tomorrow in the courtyard to exchange information. Any player who didn’t obtain any information would be expelled from the group for “inaction.”
Bai Lixin had already decided on his approach to investigating the treasure. After Li Li disbanded the group, Bai Lixin didn’t hesitate like the others and directly left the courtyard.
“Bai Lixin.” Song Yuantian caught up with him. “Where are you planning to go?”
Bai Lixin: “I ran into Xia Chi yesterday. He’s now the second young master of the Song family in Chenjia Village. He mentioned that Master Song made his fortune by trading mountain goods and then left Chenjia Village. Later, his eldest son returned to the village and died on Robg Mountain. After his eldest son’s death, Master Song also moved back to Chenjia Village. The reason that made his eldest son and him return to this village that they had already looked down upon is very likely to be the treasure.”
Song Yuantian: “Are you planning to investigate the Song family?”
Bai Lixin: “Yes, and I’ll also check on the second young master of the Song family.”
“Haha,” Song Yuantian laughed, “I’ll go with you. From what you just said, Master Song probably knows the secret of the treasure. He might even have some connection with those mysterious figures.”
Among the five of them, Song Yuantian chose to investigate the “identity of the mysterious figures”, Bai Lixin took on the “secret of the treasure”, Samael focused on the “evidence of pollution in the village”, Emil was assigned the “identity of the villagers”, and Lin Jue investigated “Rong Mountain and the banyan tree.”
Song Yuantian was an old partner, and Bai Lixin naturally welcomed his participation.
The current problem was how they could smoothly enter Master Song’s home.
However, Bai Lixin soon discovered that this wasn’t a problem at all. When they were halfway there, a group of men dressed in uniform servant attire blocked their path.
These men were all broad-shouldered and muscular. The leader was someone Bai Lixin recognized—it was the steward who had captured Xia Chi, the young master, that day.
The steward stopped the two of them, his eyes sweeping up and down, examining Bai Lixin and Song Yuantian carefully. Then his gaze settled back on Bai Lixin. “Are you Chen Erniu?”
Bai Lixin responded smoothly, “Yes, I’m Chen Erniu.”
“No wonder our young master said I definitely wouldn’t mistake you,” the steward muttered, giving Bai Lixin another once-over. “You are very good-looking.”
He paused, then pointed at Song Yuantian. “You’re not bad either. I almost mistook you earlier.”
Song Yuantian: “…”
‘Thank you, I guess.’
The steward cleared his throat. “Getting back to business, our second young master has been on a hunger strike for two days.”
Bai Lixin & Song Yuantian: “…”
The steward continued, “He’s been clamoring to see you. He’s been saying that he’ll only eat after seeing you and threatens to die if he doesn’t see you.”
Bai Lixin: “So your second young master sent you to find me?”
The steward shook his head resolutely. “No, it was our master!”
“He wants to see just what kind of coquettish bitch has bewitched our second young master!”
Bai Lixin & Song Yuantian: “…”
‘I thought Xia Chi was here to lend a helping hand, but who knew he was just adding fuel to the fire?’
‘What a good brother.’