TEFSCBSS Chapter 74

Chapter 74: Is Zhao Wen Under Suspicion?

“As soon as Little Lingzhi arrived here, that group of people tried to use the soul-swapping technique to kill her. However, they didn’t expect that the technique wouldn’t work on a woman’s body—it could only be performed using a man’s body.”

“They originally wanted Little Lingzhi to leave and bring people back, but with the thick fog and her being just a little girl unfamiliar with the roads, she had no choice but to stay here.”

“Surrounded by ghosts, with only herself as the lone living person, you can imagine what kind of life she endured. Fortunately, Zhao Huolang was there to bring her food, or else she would have starved to death.”

“A few years later, when Little Lingzhi finally grew old enough to leave, she managed to make her way through the fog and out of the village, where she met my father.”

“I have to admit, my father truly loved her. After being raised in a place devoid of sunlight and filled with eerie energy, Little Lingzhi no longer looked like her younger self—she was as pale as a ghost. But my father recognized her at a glance.”

“After that, their love story unfolded.”

“But in the end, because she had lived here for so long, her aura had already merged with the village of Shanshi. After giving birth to me, she became so weak that she was on the verge of death. With no other choice, my parents returned to Shanshi Village.”

“Whether it was good luck or bad luck, I’m not sure, but as soon as Little Lingzhi returned, she was about to die. My father wanted to follow her in death, so they were buried together in the same coffin, leaving no opportunity for the villagers to possess my father’s body.”

“Unexpectedly, this very act granted them the same ‘immortality’ as the villagers, so they have remained here ever since.”

“It’s likely that Gu Qing’s parents went through the same thing. However, since the villagers disapproved of it, no one ever brought it up again.”

Zhao Wen was dumbfounded. Could something like this happen? That was absurd!

Wan Nian sighed again. “Once they recognized me as their daughter, they abandoned their plan to make us their sacrificial replacements. After all, the reason they were doing all of this in the first place was just to find me.”

“So in the end, we didn’t have to sleep in coffins. But for some unknown reason, they suddenly seemed to be summoned by something and left in a hurry.”

Gu Qing picked up the conversation. “We decided to follow the same route as last time—at least until we gathered all the players. So we came to find you first.”

“Good brothers!” Zhao Wen looked touched, but deep down, he was relieved. Thankfully, he had arrived in time, avoiding any suspicion.

After a while, the three of them finally arrived at Li Tiechui’s courtyard. Sure enough, Li Tiechui was still lying peacefully inside the coffin.

Zhao Wen sneered inwardly. Ha! This time, Li Tiechui must have realized that he didn’t need to destroy the ritual—he just needed to consume the soil and bones to attain immortality! Well then, Zhao Wen would simply wait like a lurking mantis, following Li Tiechui’s lead to obtain the key ingredients for eternal life.

And unlike Li Tiechui, he was still an unsuspecting “outsider.”

Li Tiechui heard approaching footsteps. He lifted his eyelids slightly and sighed inwardly. He was getting old. When his apprentice had complained about how exhausting role-playing games were, he hadn’t believed it—now, he truly understood.

Hopefully, this second round would end soon so he could still have the energy to discuss business with Boss Zhao.

Regardless, with all four of them gathered, they weren’t willing to give up on finding Wang Bokao. Predictably, when they arrived at Wang Bokao’s courtyard, it was empty—not even a coffin remained.

Gu Qing frowned and turned to Wan Nian. “What exactly happened when you were here before?”

“Ahem. Last round, I didn’t want to get into the coffin, so I ran away when things got chaotic outside. I saw everyone heading to the ancestral hall, so I followed along,” Wan Nian said, a hint of confusion appearing in her eyes at the right moment. “Could it be that Wang Bokao also escaped? Why didn’t he wait for us?”

Perfect. She had learned how to shift suspicion. Internally, she muttered an apology to Wang Bokao, but on the surface, she remained innocent and puzzled.

“In that case, let’s head to the ancestral hall.”

Zhao Wen clapped his hands, urging everyone to move forward. They didn’t bother waiting for the ghostly singing this time—keeping the group together was the top priority. Most importantly, based on their initial scripts, none of them had tasks that required them to separate anymore.

Besides, wasn’t the soil located near the ancestral hall’s graveyard? Heh. Zhao Wen walked behind them, a sinister smile creeping onto his face.

The female ghost’s song rang out again from above, but none of them paid any attention. They had already heard it before.

They simply continued deeper into the village, eventually spotting a group of people carrying a coffin out of the ancestral hall.

“In a moment, we should run into Zhao Si. This time, there’s no need to attract attention and risk getting separated again,” Gu Qing said, leading the way without turning his head.

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.

“Wait, where’s Zhao Si?”

“Hmm?”

Having participated in the last round’s manhunt for Zhao Si, Gu Qing, Li Tiechui, and Zhao Wen all looked puzzled. They widened their eyes, scanning the crowd of villagers for any sign of him.

“Zhao Wen, you have sharp eyes. Do you see Zhao Si anywhere?”

“No, we didn’t see him at the location we last found him. There’s no sign of him anywhere!”

“That’s strange…” Li Tiechui smacked his forehead, struggling to process the situation. A full-grown man just vanished in this round.

Wan Nian turned to Zhao Wen. “You were probably the last person Zhao Si sent away. Did you notice anything unusual about him?”

“Uh, no. He pushed me into the courtyard and left.” Zhao Wen pretended to think before suggesting, “Maybe he went to the Earth God Temple? After all, we can’t afford to lose even one of the six players!”

“Jiang Liang was running around like crazy last time, attracting all those ghosts. Maybe after sending me off, Zhao Si went looking for him.”

The explanation made sense, and the other three nodded in agreement.

“So, do we go find them now or…?”

Zhao Wen’s expression showed clear disdain. “Let’s check the ancestral hall first. We didn’t investigate it at all last round, but it’s important.”

“Besides, Wan Nian and I have already been near the grave mounds before, and there was something strange about those graves. We should take another look.”

“As for Jiang Liang, he came here just to cause trouble. He never shares any useful information, refuses to discuss things with us, and now he’s scared out of his mind. He definitely won’t leave the Earth God Temple—no need to bother with him.”

The other three agreed with Zhao Wen’s reasoning. Once the group of villagers carrying the coffin had swayed their way out of sight, they slipped into the ancestral hall and started searching through the place.

However…

Gu Qing cast a doubtful glance at Zhao Wen. Something about him felt off.

Zhao Wen had always been a bit timid. Aside from when he was focused on searching for clues or reasoning things out, he usually deferred to Gu Qing and Wang Bokao, rarely voicing his own opinions. Why was he suddenly taking the lead this time?

Had he simply gotten used to things? Grown more confident?

…

Meanwhile, as the four of them searched for clues, Wang Bokao was looking utterly miserable… or at least, he would be if anyone could see his face from inside the coffin.

“Damn it! Would you people just let me out already?!”

“If you can’t do that, at least get some people of the same height to carry this thing properly!”

“The left side is too low, the right side is too high, the front keeps dipping, and the back is tilting up!”

“I swear, I’m gonna puke!”

“AHHH—I’M GONNA LOSE IT!”