Read Novel Full Chapter 623
Chapter 623
Master Song: “Lin Xiao is a stubborn young man. Simply capturing him won’t make him reveal the whereabouts of the jade seal.”
Mysterious man: “Then what should we do?”
Master Song: “I received Lin Xiao’s wedding invitation yesterday. His wedding is in two days. Many people from Chenjia Village will certainly attend his wedding. Most importantly, his beloved wife will also be present.”
“We can blend in with the crowd, capture his wife and the villagers from Chenjia Village, and use their lives as leverage in front of everyone. I don’t believe he won’t hand over the imperial jade seal.”
The mysterious man pondered but didn’t speak.
Suddenly, Master Song clasped his hands together in a gesture of respect, “My Lord, allow me to congratulate you in advance on your upcoming victory and acquisition of the secret treasure! In light of the effort and dedication I’ve shown in devising this plan for you, could you grant me a trivial token from the treasure?”
Mysterious man: “What is it?”
Master Song: “It’s rumored that among the secret treasures of the Chen Kingdom, there is a miraculous medicine, obtained from the Immortal Mountain, which can bring the dead back to life and regenerate flesh and bones. When the founding emperor of the Chen Kingdom was gravely ill, his great general ventured to the Immortal Mountain to seek this divine medicine. After overcoming countless hardships, the general finally found the mountain. The immortal was moved by the general’s loyalty and granted him five pills of divine medicine. After the founding emperor of Chen had been dead for several days, he took one of the pills and immediately came back to life, which led to the prosperous era of Chen.”
“It is said that when the Chen Kingdom fell, there were still three pills left, and they are among the treasures. I don’t ask for much, just one of these pills, so I can fulfill a humble wish of reviving my unworthy son.”
The mysterious man was intrigued, “Is that medicine really so miraculous?”
Master Song: “I’ve never seen it myself, but since it has been passed on until now, it’s better to believe it might exist. If you could grant me this request, I would gladly offer up the other half of the treasure map and assist you in finding the location of the secret treasure.”
“The reason the ancestors of the Chen family settled here was not just because it is a place of good feng shui and a dragon’s vein, but because they buried the treasure in Rong Mountain.”
“But you must have seen the strange happenings on Rong Mountain, even my son died there. Only with my guidance can you find the treasure.”
The mysterious man was silent for a moment before agreeing, “Very well.”
“Master Song is our friend. A single pill is not too much to ask for in return for such friendship.”
Master Song displayed the sly smile of a greedy man, “Then it’s settled. Two days from now, I’ll bring the invitation and the map, and you’ll bring your men. After we get the imperial jade seal from Lin Xiao, we’ll head straight to Rong Mountain to find the secret treasure of the Chen Kingdom! Whether it’s the dragon’s vein or the Chen family treasure, it will all be yours, my lord!”
“Hahaha,” the mysterious man laughed excitedly, “Good, good, good. We should bring more men with us. Once we have the imperial jade seal, Chenjia Village will be of no use. We might as well burn it down.”
Master Song echoed, “Hahaha, you are wise, my lord!”
The door to the living room was wide open, and the sunlight outside was at its peak.
The brilliant sunlight filtered through the window lattice, casting bright, mottled patterns on the floor like a natural painting.
Under such bright sunlight, four people brazenly conspired together. Outside was light, but they were in a place without a trace of brightness.
The three behind the screen could hardly breath and Xia Chi’s eyes were dazed.
Master Song: “My lord, did you like the ‘Hundred Birds Facing the Phoenix’ painting from last time?”
The mysterious man: “Not bad, it’s a high-quality piece.”
Master Song added, “I’ve recently acquired another batch of fine antiques in my study. Would you like to take a look?”
The mysterious man commanded, “Lead the way.”
The crisp sound of footsteps gradually faded away until it disappeared completely.
Only then did Xia Chi let out a long breath, his eyes still filled with lingering shock.
“So it was them who set the fire that killed the people of Chenjia Village. So this is the truth, doesn’t that mean Lin Xiao was falsely accused? The villagers of Chenjia Village wrongly blamed him.”
“Who are these mysterious people, really?”
“I really want to take off their masks and see if they’re human or ghosts.”
[Ding! Congratulations, player, task progress is now at 25%.]
Xia Chi froze for a moment, “Only 25% progress? So this still isn’t the real cause of the fire?”
Song Yuantian lightly brushed his hand over the screen, “It’s only a partial reason, not the ultimate cause, but it did indirectly lead to the fire.”
The two of them looked at Bai Lixin. Xia Chi asked, “Brother, what do you think?”
Bai Lixin didn’t seem to hear him, staring blankly at the screen in front of him, not answering.
Xia Chi raised his voice and asked again, and Bai Lixin finally snapped out of his reverie, looking at Xia Chi with a dazed expression, “What did you say?”
Xia Chi had to repeat his question, “I asked, what do you think about the fact that the mysterious people set the fire in Chenjia Village, but it only completed 25% of the task progress?”
Bai Lixin: “I have no particular thoughts. It just means we’ve figured out part of the reason, but we haven’t reached the final solution yet.”
“Ah, come to think of it,” Xia Chi’s eyes lit up, “This really feels like solving the last big math problem on the college entrance exam. The problem statement is long, full of traps, has a lot of calculations, many elements, and a lot of steps.”
Song Yuantian: “Bai Lixin, what were you daydreaming about just now?”
Bai Lixin: “Oh, I was thinking about how insignificant Chenjia Village appears, yet it has six different factions.”
Xia Chi counted on his fingers, “The villagers of Chenjia Village are one faction, Master Song is another, and we can consider the mysterious people who searched for things at night and the bird-faced mysterious people in the rainstorm as two separate factions. That makes four factions, so where are the other two?”
Song Yuantian: “Could Lin Xiao be considered a separate faction?”
“Hmm.” Bai Lixin nodded, “Lin Xiao’s current status is very delicate. The people of Chenjia Village don’t accept him, the smiling-faced mysterious people want to capture him, and Master Song wants to use him.”
Xia Chi: “But that’s still only five forces. Didn’t you say there were six? Where’s the other one?”
Bai Lixin said in a solemn voice, “The players’ faction.”
Xia Chi and Song Yuantian looked at each other.
…
Xia Chi opened the back door for Bai Lixin and Song Yuantian, allowing them to leave secretly. By the time they left the mansion, the sun had already set.
As Bai Lixin walked back, he passed by the small river and noticed Chen Dazhuang and Chen Xiaoshi fishing in the water again.
Their arms, legs, and cheeks were red from the cold, but despite having no catch on the shore, they continued bending over and grabbing at the water.
When Bai Lixin passed by the riverbank, they didn’t notice him at all, their attention entirely focused on the water.
This time, he didn’t call out to them but instead stood by the riverbank, observing their movements.
The sun had already set by now, and the sky was growing dark. The moon climbed up the branches, and moonlight spilled down, casting a layer of white glow on the water’s surface.
Bai Lixin noticed that the movements of Chen Xiaoshi and Chen Dazhuang were both stiff and skillful.
Their stiffness came from the jerky rhythm of their joint movements. Their bodies moved up and down rigidly, and their arm movements were awkward, like robots with rusted joints.
As for their skill, it lay in the accuracy and harmony of their actions. Their arms would plunge steadily into the water, fumble around for a bit, then withdraw, only to be placed back down in a different spot.
There was no hesitation or delay in their movements, as if this action had been repeated thousands of times, becoming muscle memory.
Bai Lixin’s gaze fell on their hands, and after a while, he realized something was off.
Both of them were plunging their arms into the water, and when they pulled them out, their arms were aligned with their shoulders, hands facing each other, fingers spread and slightly curled.
With such a large gap between their hands, it didn’t seem like they were catching fish. It was more like they were fishing for something much larger.
Bai Lixin mimicked their posture, trying it out himself.
It looked like… they were fishing for people.
Bai Lixin froze in that pose, then glanced at the two figures in the water, a strange expression flickering in his eyes.
Song Yuantian did not know why Bai Lixin had stopped. But he was smart and after observing for a while, he also noticed something odd.
But since Bai Lixin didn’t speak, he didn’t ask.
It wasn’t until the sky was completely dark that Bai Lixin quietly left with Song Yuantian. He didn’t call the two brothers and returned to the village.
It was still a bit early for the bandits to invade, and many villagers were gathered under the old elm tree in the village. Among them, Bai Lixin recognized several familiar faces of players.
The players were moving among the villagers, chatting here and there, still trying hard to find clues.
Li Li had set the gathering time for dawn tomorrow. Bai Lixin and Song Yuantian parted ways midway, each returning to their “home” for the time being.
Bai Lixin pushed the door open and entered the small courtyard. Wet clothes were hanging on the drying rack again, and a pair of damp cloth shoes stood in the corner.
He glanced into the woodshed. The two large bundles of firewood he had seen yesterday were now almost gone. The area under the stove was clean, showing no signs of use.
On the table, a pair of chopsticks and two hard, cold steam buns were left.
Father Chen was chopping firewood in the corner of the yard, panting heavily, while Mother Chen was hanging clothes to dry again.
Everything looked the same as yesterday, as if the scene was replaying.
Bai Lixin walked to the table obediently and finished the steam buns. He left a brief “I’m going to find Brother Dazhuang and Xiaoshi” before heading out the door.
As soon as he stepped out, he turned a corner and spat out a piece of unchewed steamed bun.
He made a grabbing motion in the air, and the two steamed buns he was supposed to have eaten appeared in his hand out of nowhere, one of them with a missing corner.
Escape System: [Master Bai Lixin, it has been detected that there are sleep-inducing substances in the steamed buns.]
Bai Lixin stuffed the steamed buns into his backpack again, [Got it, thanks.]
For two consecutive nights, he had fallen into a deep sleep after encountering the bandits.
He had asked the Escape System if this was part of the plot setting, but the answer was negative.
If it wasn’t the system making him lose consciousness, then the cause must be within this courtyard.
There had to be something that caused his drowsiness—something he ate that they didn’t. The only answer was the steamed buns.
Why were they so insistent on making him fall asleep in the middle of the night?
Were they afraid he would discover something?
Or were they plotting something behind his back?
Whatever it was, he would uncover the truth tonight.
In the darkness, Bai Lixin made a trip to Lin Xiao’s house. The courtyard was pitch black, and there was no one inside.
Lin Jue had chosen to investigate “Banyan tree and Rong Mountain”. He had mentioned in the morning that he would go to Rong Mountain. Was he still there at this hour?
Bai Lixin wondered if Lin Jue had found any important clues in Rong Mountain.
Under the moonlight, Bai Lixin looked up at the beautifully shaded banyan tree in the distance.
In the upper right corner of his consciousness, the time was ticking away rapidly, showing that there were only 47 hours of game time remaining.
Time was running out for them.