"Greed": It was his first time being drained of blood
The "Shining Players" Production Team was once again met with a barrage of comments from outsiders.
Inside the Dungeon.
After giving Xu Xi and Xi a bunch of dandelions as a token of their appreciation, they prepared to leave.
As they turned to leave, they heard the boy behind them hurriedly call out to them.
"Wait, I know you. You're the masters that Grandpa Village Chief invited."
Upon hearing this, Xu Xi stopped in her tracks.
The Tall, Thin Man calmly hummed in agreement.
Awang fidgeted with the hem of his clothes, his gaze fixed on the grave beside him. He said hesitantly, "I'm sorry... I locked you out before."
His mother taught him to be polite from a young age, but he didn't want to be polite to bad people.
He thought these masters were all bad people.
"My mother didn't become a vengeful ghost, and she didn't harm anyone. Please, don't hurt her."
Xu Xi was taken aback after hearing this.
He didn't quite understand.
Since Awang's mother didn't become a vengeful ghost, why would Awang be afraid of them harming her?
They didn't even have the goal of "exorcising evil spirits".
The Tall, Thin Man paused, his tone unconsciously softening slightly. "We know."
Seemingly feeling that this single sentence didn't express their stance, they added another sentence.
"Don't worry, we won't hurt your mother."
After hearing this, Awang visibly relaxed his body.
Perhaps because of his two older brothers' gentle actions, he inexplicably believed their promise.
Xu Xi didn't know if the boy knew he was a sacrificial offering for the day after tomorrow, but he didn't intend to ask.
Ultimately, one of their goals was to stop this human sacrifice.
Looking at the boy in front of her, who seemed to still feel guilty for locking them out earlier, Xu Xi's eyes flickered.
He suddenly remembered something he hadn't figured out yet, and after carefully considering his words, he cautiously asked, "The fire at your house three years ago... do you know how it started?"
Xu Xi noticed that after he asked his question, the Tall, Thin Man next to him turned his head and glanced at him, the emotion in his eyes leaving him somewhat puzzled.
Is there something wrong with his question?
He felt this point was crucial.
Awang didn't notice the exchange of glances between his two older brothers. He sniffed, not hiding anything, and not as resistant as when they first met.
"The police officers said it was caused by aging wiring, but they didn't believe it. They all said that Dad burned Mom to death."
The "they" here obviously refers to the villagers.
Xu Xi was somewhat surprised.
It turns out that the village had called the police when the fire broke out three years ago, but Village Chief Zhu had never mentioned it to them.
This crucial piece of information further underscored Awang's mother's innocence.
Awang knew the reason for his house fire, but he didn't know much about the deaths in the village, and he also held a hostile attitude towards the so-called Shamaness and Mountain God.
Having obtained a hidden message from Awang, the two did not linger. After saying goodbye to the boy, they headed towards Gao Zhuang's house.
The silence on the road remained unchanged.
But Xu Xi didn't feel embarrassed anymore, because he was recalling his conversation with Awang earlier.
The reason they were locked out of Awang's house the first time they went there was because Awang learned of their "expert" status and thought they were there to harm his mother, so he was very resistant to them.
However, upon entering the village, the village chief asked them to pretend to be Wu Cuifen's relatives.
Logically, Awang shouldn't know their true identities.
But Xu Xi quickly thought of Zhu Yu, the Village Chief Zhu's grandson. Judging from Zhu Yu's words, the two boys were clearly on good terms. If it was Zhu Yu who told Awang, it would make sense.
There was another rather contradictory point in Awang's statement.
He claims his mother isn't a vengeful ghost but begs them not to harm her. Could it be that... Awang's mother's ghost actually exists?
Xu Xi subconsciously touched the goosebumps on her arm.
He had a strange fear of things that he couldn't see or touch.
Finally, why did Village Chief Zhu conceal the true extent of the fire from them?
They had already dismissed their suspicions about Village Chief Zhu, but now he had developed doubts about him again.
At this time, most villagers were probably taking a nap, and there were hardly any people along the way. After walking for about half an hour, the two arrived at a two-story building.
Unsurprisingly, the door was locked tight. Xu Xi had never learned how to pick locks, and he was about to check if there were any windows or anything when he saw the Tall, Thin Man take a syringe out of his pocket.
The other party examined the old-fashioned lock on the door, fiddled with the keyhole a few times with a needle, and after a while, the lock opened.
Xu Xi glanced at the syringe; it still contained some kind of liquid.
Only Items can be brought into the Dungeon.
However, he had no interest in prying into other people's private belongings and simply pretended not to have seen them.
The two successfully entered the house.
Xu Xi stopped after taking only a few steps inside the house.
It wasn't that he encountered any danger, but rather that the things displayed on the first floor surprised him greatly.
Wreaths, incense, Paper Figures... Seeing those familiar funeral supplies, Xu Xi even thought she had returned to the funeral shop in the second Dungeon.
Isn't Gao Zhuang a doctor?
Why are there funeral supplies in the house?
The quantity is actually quite large.
The Tall, Thin Man was clearly taken aback as well.
The two went up to the Second Floor to check. The Second Floor was a normal living space, with nothing else there.
After thoroughly searching the entire house, everything seemed normal except for the somewhat strange funeral supplies on the first floor.
It was almost time for Gao Zhuang to get off work, and the two of them hadn't found anything more, so they had to leave for the time being.
Once outside, the Tall, Thin Man expertly locked the door again.
To avoid bumping into Gao Zhuang, they deliberately took a detour.
The sky was gradually darkening, and by this time the players would have already returned to their temporary lodgings.
But tonight they have to operate at night.
The villagers probably don't go out at night because they're afraid of Old Man Liu knocking on their doors.
They hadn't yet figured out Old Man Liu's attack methods, but his simple and predictable behavior made him seem easy to fool.
Xu Xi had no idea what would happen if she didn't stay in her room that night and ran into Old Man Liu face to face again.
However, since the Shamaness invited them to the Mountain God Temple that night, does that mean that Old Man Liu wasn't a big threat?
Surely the Shamaness's real purpose wasn't just to trick them into going out.
If that's really the case... then I'll just have to die once.
Gao Zhuang's home was about a 20-minute walk from the clinic. The two arrived at the clinic before it got completely dark.
Gao Zhuang had already left work, and the clinic was dimly lit, without any light.
Without hesitation, Xu Xi took out the spare key given to her by Village Chief Zhu and opened the clinic door.
The layout inside was the same as during the day, unchanged, but it was unusually quiet at this moment.
The Tall, Thin Man went straight to the examination table.
Xu Xi then began to examine the various medicine boxes on the cabinet.
After inspecting all the cabinets one by one, Xu Xi fell into deep thought.
He discovered that many of the medicines had expired but were still on the shelf, and most of them were chloride-containing medications.
At this moment, the Tall, Thin Man finished checking the documents on the examination table.
After he reorganized the documents, he came to Xu Xi's side.
"I looked at the medical records, and almost all the medications this Gao Zhuang prescribed for his patients were laced with cyanide."
Xu Xi also told him about her discovery.
The matter has now reached a point where it is quite clear.
The toxins in the well most likely came from the chloride drugs on the cabinet, and Gao Zhuang was prescribing cyanide drugs to the villagers.
No wonder those villagers kept dying; if they didn't die, who would?
The reason they were able to reach this conclusion so quickly was because they already knew the villagers died from poisoning.
Gao Zhuang, who had access to drugs, clearly had the means to poison the drug.
The only thing that puzzled them was why the other party would poison the villagers and deliberately prescribe harmful drugs to them.
What benefit would Gao Zhuang gain from killing those villagers?
The Tall, Thin Man said in a low voice, "Let's go, let's meet up with the rest."
The mastermind behind this has been found. As for what roles the Shamaness and the Mountain God play in this Dungeon, we'll have to wait and see how the other team progresses.
Xu Xi responded.
He still needs to discuss these brain-teasing problems with his smart teammates for now.
... Although to be precise, he was merely an observer.
Xu Xi opened the clinic door, before he could even step outside, an unidentified object slammed heavily into him, accompanied by a cracking sound and a strong stench of blood.
Xu Xi subconsciously reached out and touched her clothes; the sticky liquid instantly soaked her palm.
"Roar--"
As Xu Xi was stunned by the impact, an extremely withered corpse pounced on him from around the corner, its mouth agape as it tried to bite his carotid artery.
In just a few seconds, the situation changed dramatically.
Xu Xi felt a sharp pain in his neck, and the desiccated corpse pressing down on him had an absurdly strong grip, holding him firmly in place.
Before his consciousness faded, he saw the Tall, Thin Man plunge a syringe into the mummified corpse's body.
--
Well...
Xu Xi stood behind the door, still in the position of opening it.
He raised his hand and touched his neck.
This was the first time he had ever died from being sucked dry.