"Greed": We Have to Be Scientific

"This year's harvest looks pretty good, but it still can't compare to that piece of land."

"Ha, be content. Don't you even know how that land came about?"

"I was just saying, how could I actually do that? I'm not tired of living."

"It's been half a month already, and the director still hasn't agreed?"

"Sigh, you know him, he's such a nice guy, but he doesn't even look at the state our village has been in. If you ask me..."

"Cough cough!"

Xu Xi and the Young Man in a Duckbill Cap originally wanted to listen a little longer, but one of the villagers spotted the two unfamiliar young men and immediately interrupted their conversation.

Xu Xi were both somewhat disappointed that they hadn't heard the villager finish his sentence.

The conversation among these villagers clearly contained some key information.

"Who are you?" the villager who first discovered them asked, frowning.

The Young Man in a Duckbill Cap wasn't intimidated by his cold expression at all. "We're relatives of Aunt Cui Fen. We've been coming over for a few days since we have some free time."

"A relative of Cuifen's? I've never heard of them."

Faced with blatant accusations, the Young Man in a Duckbill Cap remained unfazed. "We just arrived today. If you don't believe me, you can ask Aunt Cui Fen. We don't know you, why would we lie to you?"

Seeing that the two young men seemed completely unashamed, the villagers began to believe them.

That's true. We're all from the same village. They can easily find out the truth by asking around; there's no need for someone to impersonate someone.

The villagers' wariness lessened considerably, and their expressions softened somewhat.

The only villager to speak continued, "Then what are you doing here?"

"We just finished dinner at my aunt's house and came out for a walk to digest our food and enjoy the scenery of Ninghe Village. We were surprised to see a field of ripe wheat over there," the Young Man in a Duckbill Cap pointed to the golden wheat ears. "The rest of the wheat ears are green, only that one is different. We were curious and wanted to come and ask about it."

Another villager asked in a strange tone, "Didn't Cuifen tell you?"

The Young Man in a Duckbill Cap looked bewildered. "What did she tell us? Aunt Cui Fen only said there were evil spirits in the village, and that we shouldn't wander around, especially not near any uninhabited houses."

"But what era are we living in? This is all feudal superstition. We need to talk about science."

"And what does this have to do with the wheat?"

"Science?" The villagers looked at each other in bewilderment.

Xu Xi, who was listening from the side, couldn't help but twitch her lips.

As expected, these players who can clear multiple Dungeons are no ordinary people; they can spout off half-truths without batting an eye.

One of the villagers muttered, "There really is a connection."

The first villager to speak said, "In short, listen to your Aunt Cui Fen. Don't wander around for the next three days, don't go out at night, and don't pay attention to any knocking."

After giving them a few words of advice, the villagers prepared to go home.

The Young Man in a Duckbill Cap quickly pressed on, "Hey, you still haven't told me what's going on with that wheat?"

But the villagers clearly didn't intend to say much. They simply told them, "Go home early after your walk, don't linger here too long," and then left.

Watching the villagers' Young Man in a Duckbill Cap's face gradually faded, replaced by a thoughtful expression.

Although they didn't figure out what happened to the wheat field, they did get some additional clues from the villagers.

He subconsciously turned his head to discuss it with the person next to him, only to see the other person walking towards that unusual wheat field. He paused for a moment, then immediately followed.

Xu Xi arrived at the obviously problematic wheat field and began to examine it carefully.

When he heard the phrase "Don't you even know how that land came about?", he had a vague idea, and sure enough, he soon realized something was wrong.

The soil in this area was dark in color and had a strong, rusty, fishy smell.

The Young Man in a Duckbill Cap who followed soon also smelled the pungent odor.

"Look at the color and smell... could this wheat field have been watered with human blood?" The Young Man in a Duckbill Cap exclaimed in surprise, "Judging from the pungent smell, even if it wasn't watered every day, it must have been watered at least every few days."

So that's why the villagers are unwilling to talk about it?

Xu Xi looked up at the sky. Although it hadn't been half an hour yet, it would still take them some time to walk back.

"Let's go back and meet up with them first. It's quite a while from here to Awang's house." The Young Man in a Duckbill Cap also had the idea of going back.

Xu Xi nodded.

The two began to retrace their steps.

Awang's house is near the end of the village, not far from their temporary residence.

Xu Xi and the Young Man in a Duckbill Cap did not approach Awang's house directly, since according to the story, that house could be considered a "source of trouble".

The two of them were the first to arrive.

Not long after, the Young Woman in a Long Dress and the girl with curly hair walked over together, seemingly having also formed a team behind them.

A few minutes later, the Man in a Suit and the Tall, Thin Man approached from different directions.

The six people reunited.

The Man in a Suit spoke first, sharing the information he had gathered. "I went to the village entrance and chatted with the older women. The last death in the village was about two weeks ago—three people died. The exact cause of death is unknown, and they seemed a bit hesitant about it. However, they all agreed that Awang's mother was responsible for the deaths of those three people."

Unexpectedly, the Tall, Thin Man who had been silent all along suddenly spoke up, saying, "I went to the cemetery, and the most recent date on the tombstone was two months ago, and there was only one."

Hiss.

Now everyone understood why the Tall, Thin Man had chosen to share the information second.

Three people who died half a month ago still don't have graves?

"Are all the villagers who died mysteriously without any graves, or are only these three people without any?" the Young Man in a Duckbill Cap asked curiously.

The Tall, Thin Man replied casually, "The cause of death on some of the gravestones is unknown. I counted sixty-three of them."

This means that these 63 people are probably the villagers who died mysteriously in the past three years.

"So the cause of death for these three people is rather unusual?" the Young Woman in a Long Dress guessed, frowning.

"Since the cause of death of these three people is unusual and different from that of the previous sixty-three villagers, why are those older women still convinced that it was Awang's mother who was causing the trouble?" The Curly-Haired Woman played with her hair, somewhat puzzled.

The Man in a Suit said, "It seems we need to focus our attention on the cause of death of these three villagers."

The Young Woman in a Long Dress also shared what she had discovered. "I went to some villagers' homes under the guise of visiting them, and we bumped into each other along the way, so we teamed up."

She glanced gesturingly towards the Curly-Haired Woman.