"Greed": When You Have Eliminated the Impossible
"But one moment it was an unusual wheat field, the next it was an old man knocking on the door in the middle of the night, and there was even a strange Mountain God. There were too many strange and supernatural events in the village, which is why he temporarily suppressed his suspicions."
Cao Hongbo pondered for a moment, then hesitated slightly. "Isn't this a bit far-fetched? If he could deduce from the poisoned food that the villagers likely died from water poisoning, I would find it quite reasonable, but I've had this suspicion for a while..."
Ge Ying didn't continue arguing, but instead asked directly, "Then why does he always choose to try the food first?"
"This..." Cao Hongbo was speechless.
Indeed, no player would dare to do something as thankless and arduous as poison testing without some confidence.
"Teacher Cao, we're not streaming ordinary players right now. Think about his First Instance."
When Ge Ying first heard that a player had cleared a single-player Dungeon in less than three minutes, he instinctively thought it was just a gimmick made up by marketing accounts to attract traffic.
However, after witnessing the screen recording of the live broadcast, his doubts vanished instantly, replaced by boundless shock.
"I believe most netizens here have wondered why Xu Xi, who seemed to have collected no clues, cleared the game directly."
Ge Ying smiled slightly.
"It's precisely because his thinking is at a different level from ours that, for example, a kindergarten child needs to use their fingers to count the single-digit addition and subtraction problems, but any older student can tell the answer at a glance."
What might be just an ordinary decoration or a very common conversation to us could be a crucial clue to him. That's the difference between us and him.
Although he didn't know exactly how Xu Xi had detected the poison in the food, it was obvious that she had accurately determined that the food was indeed poisonous through some means.
Upon hearing this, Cao Hongbo also recalled the video that could be described as a miracle, and gradually he was convinced by Ge Ying.
Yes, if we didn't have a premonition, who would be so careless as to be the first to test for poison every time, and even be able to tell if the food is poisoned?
In the real world, if villagers keep dying in the same way, their first thought would be that some kind of infectious disease is rampant, or that a large-scale poisoning incident has occurred. If disease is ruled out, and poisoning is to be carried out, then water becomes a feasible and relatively easy way.
In the Dungeon, they naturally assumed it was the work of an evil spirit, without considering the possibility of disease or poisoning.
The reason for their preconceived notions is that the mysterious power in the Dungeon doesn't exist in the real world, so they naturally look for answers in a more scientific way.
Xu Xi is different from them; they are now working backward from the result to the cause, while the other party had considered this aspect from the beginning.
When you eliminate all the impossibilities, whatever remains, however incredible, is the truth.
Cao Hongbo currently has this mindset.
Song Yan glanced at the silent Cao Hongbo, assuming he disagreed with Ge Ying's words, and said, "It seems that the two experts have different opinions. That's alright, we can continue reading."
[You mean Xu Xi already suspected the water source might be poisonous after hearing the initial background of the Dungeon from Village Chief Zhu???]
[Dude, I admit I'm not very smart, but comparing me to a kindergarten kid is a bit much, isn't it?]
[You should consider who you're comparing yourself to. If you're still at a kindergarten level compared to Xu Xi, you should be grateful.]
[Playing around is fine, but have you guys forgotten which Production Team?]
[Daily Question: When will the Production Team go out of business?]
[This Dungeon is so sneaky! It lures players towards something supernatural, then secretly poisons them.]
[After the incidents involving the Mountain God and the human sacrifice, it seemed like the situation in the Dungeon was almost clear, so how did this poisoning incident come about?]
[It feels a bit out of place, like I was watching a horror movie but it suddenly turned into a suspense movie halfway through.]
[Heaven above, I would gladly trade ten years of the Production Team's lifespan for Xu Xi's safe passage through this Dungeon.]
[That's ruthless. Ten years is too short, let's make it a hundred. And while we're at it, let's also pray for Boss Cheng Xu.]
Following the Village Chief Zhu's directions, the six people arrived at one of the empty houses in the village.
This is it.
According to Village Chief Zhu, the family originally consisted of an elderly man in his sixties who lived alone. One day, after visiting someone, he collapsed on the ground with sweating hands and feet as soon as he arrived at his doorstep. He did not last long before passing away.
Several people drew a bucket of water from the well.
The water appears clear and transparent to the naked eye, but no one dares to touch it or try to drink it.
Soon, Village Chief Zhu came in from outside the yard carrying another chicken.
He rushed over after comforting his wife and grandson.
If the water is toxic, that would be a big deal for the village.
If the water wasn't poisoned, then the fact that someone had inexplicably poisoned their food is no small matter.
In short, he desperately wanted these experts to help him find out the cause and effect.
In Village Chief Zhu's experiment, the chicken that drank the water died shortly afterward, just like the chicken that had eaten cooked rice before.
"It seems it really is because of this well water," the Man in a Suit said in a deep voice.
"How could this be?" Village Chief Zhu, looking puzzled.
The players were thinking much deeper than Village Chief Zhu.
The Young Woman in a Long Dress pointed out, "I just don't know if the problem is only with this well water, or..."
Village Chief Zhu's expression changed drastically, and he slapped his thigh. "Oh no! What if the villagers all drink this well water—"
"Village Chief Zhu calm down." The Man in a Suit quickly stopped Village Chief Zhu, who was about to gather the villagers. "It's already evening. The villagers have probably finished most of their dinner. If there were anything going on, they would have already started arguing. It wouldn't be so quiet here. You can hear the old men chatting nearby."
Upon hearing Village Chief Zhu calmed down.
That's true. After dinner, the villagers like to chat for a while at their doorsteps before closing them to keep an eye on Old Man Liu.
Even now, if he listens carefully, he can faintly hear some idle chatter.
If every household's well had a problem, there should have been a commotion long ago.
Seeing that Village Chief Zhu had taken his words to heart, the Man in a Suit breathed a sigh of relief.
We almost alerted them.
"Village Chief Zhu, it just so happens that your well is out of service, which is why you came here to fetch water. Otherwise, you wouldn't have discovered that the well water is poisonous."
"So what we need to determine now is whether only this family's well water was poisoned, or whether the well water from every family of the villagers who died in the past three years was poisoned."