Old Affairs Remnants

"This is..." Yan Li and Bugui, sitting on the same side, were the first to see the words on the note, "It's a rumor from the Fang Mansion."

Bugui handed the note to Yu Xing and Gu Xing across from him. Yu Xing glanced at it and frowned slightly.

Fang Deming, along with his wife and eldest son, got married.

Based on these elements, the events at Never Forget Dwelling should have occurred before his adoptive brother sent him the letter. This character had been traveling for a long time and lived away from home, rarely returning. It is not yet clear when his "brother" got married.

It might have been last year, or it might have been several years ago.

However, even several years ago, in the era that Nanshui Town is in now, it was by no means an era in which local gentry and wealthy people could casually disregard human life.

Fang Deming committed murder at Never Forget Dwelling, either the news was suppressed and no one in the town knew, or... the times were out of order.

Just as Baibao Street Nanshui Town seem out of place, or rather, the entire Nanshui Town gives people an indescribable sense of temporal and spatial dislocation.

It has both modern facilities and modern residents, such as schools and hospitals, and Lao Gan Ma (a popular chili sauce brand) chopping vegetables in a bright kitchen, as well as elements with a more ancient feel, such as traditional costumes, old streets, and old teahouses.

Even the way people think here has a strong sense of conservatism. None of the residents walking on the street were playing on their phones; they all seemed very interested in the ordinary things on the street.

Even worse, they treat tourists visiting Nanshui Town in the same way as some backward villages with inconvenient transportation and trapped in the mountains, regarding outsiders as very important.

In fact, the bus stop is just outside the town. If you want to go out to make a living or earn money, it's just a matter of leaving the town.

Yu Xing felt a flash of Spiritual Sense in her mind, as if she had touched upon a very important clue, but she couldn't quite grasp it.

Fang Mansion, it's still related to the Fang Mansion.

He's going to see tomorrow just how big a secret is hidden in "his" house.

"There's no one around now, and we can't even eat. I deduce that the mealtime was given to us to look for clues." Yan Li quickly gathered his thoughts and turned to look around.

I can't go down the stairs.

It's on the outer street, out of sight.

But all obstacles on the second floor had been cleared away. There were no other diners, no ceramic heads or paper effigies. The note was right under their noses, almost as if inviting them to find out what was going on.

"Hmm, there are a lot of partitions and cabinets in this area outside, so they might be hiding other things. Also, there are the private rooms—" Gu Xing silently released Yu Xing's arm, "I don't know if we can go into the private rooms. Could any of you go check?"

"Search," Yan Li stood up, his expression calm. "First, look for any other notes. Gu Xing Bugui, search the second-floor lobby. Yu Xing and I will check the private rooms."

He habitually assigned tasks, then realized the three people in front of him weren't members of the Widow Investigation Team, so he added, "Do you think this is okay?"

Bugui and Gu Xing looked at Yu Xing.

Actually, only Yu Xing here could make Yan Li notice whether his tone of voice was appropriate.

"I have no objection." Yu Xing stood up as well. "However, you two shouldn't separate in the hall, lest something happens and no one knows."

The four then left their seats and began to roam freely.

This time, without the ceramic-headed waiter's frantic countdown to serve the food, they no longer felt like they were breaking the rules when they got off their chairs.

The hall where the four of them were located was on a platform outside the second-floor staircase. It wasn't large, with only three tables near the window.

On the other side of the stairwell is a U-shaped corridor. The corridor is slightly narrow, and the middle of the U-shape is open, allowing people to lean on the railing and look down to the first floor, where they can enjoy the song and dance performances and storytelling.

The outer ring of the square connects to several private rooms, the wooden doors, carved with intricate patterns, are tightly closed, creating a sense of solitude and privacy.

Yu Xing counted them; the second-floor lobby on this side of the platform occupied one side of the U-shape, and the remaining three sides each had three doors, meaning there were a total of nine private rooms.

After a brief discussion, he and Yan Li decided to investigate separately from the beginning and the end, so they could meet up in the middle room.

At that moment, Yu Xing had already reached the first door.

The withered doorway exuded a lifeless coldness, and the dim environment obscured visibility, but fortunately, the strategist's night vision was quite good.

He tried pushing the door, and unsurprisingly, the seemingly closed door to the private room opened easily, like a silent invitation.

This feeling of being lured into a trap is not pleasant.

But Yu Xing was much better than the others. The others' understanding of the Fang Mansion was fragmented, mostly based on information gathered in town, which was hard to judge as true or false, let alone deal with the strange events related to the Fang Mansion.

His identity as the youngest son of the Fang family gave him a huge advantage—or perhaps it can be called an advantage for now.

He knew the structure of the Fang family, and relying on this identity, he was bound to interact with the Fang family members and gain access to the plot, rather than thinking about things in a gambling mentality.

Never Forget Dwelling and the Fang family have become enemies, but judging from the current reaction of the townspeople in Nanshui Town, even if there is an enmity, the Fang family has won.

The Fang family is still talked about by the townspeople, while Never Forget Dwelling has disappeared from public view along with Baibao Street, and is only seen when tour guides lead groups.

With some interest in the Fang family's information, Yu Xing pushed open the door and entered the first private room.

At the same time, the system's voice suddenly sounded.

[You have triggered the Side Quest: Old Stories]

[Task Requirements: Touch the items in the private room that hold clues to the past, observe Old Affairs Remnants, and answer three questions before leaving the room.]

[Task Reward: Unknown]

With a click, the wooden door behind him closed. Yu Xing didn't need to touch it to know that a special energy was now entangled on the door, making the thin wooden door completely still... similar to the power of the [Cage], a rule-type sacrificial object he once possessed.

The chill in the air quietly faded away, as if there was no winter in these private rooms, only a gentle, warm breeze blowing silently.

He finally took a good look around the room.

The construction of the Never Forget Dwelling must have been many years ago. Back then, people paid attention to feng shui and grandeur, so the houses were always designed with many twists and turns, and partitions and screens everywhere, so that people could not see everything as soon as they entered.

The same is true here. Upon entering, there is a half-wall wooden shelf with openwork partitions, on which are placed many exquisite and elegant ornaments, including a lit incense burner that is emitting a faint fragrance that is hard to describe.

Yu Xing walked around the partition and finally saw the room clearly.

This private room has no windows, but there are quite a few tables inside. On the left is a large dining table with six chairs, and separated by a screen, there is a daybed and a small table for one person.

The tables and couches weren't empty; besides decorative items, there were many things that didn't quite match the rest of the room, seemingly left behind by guests.

He stepped forward, looked around for a moment, and reached out to touch the candlestick on the small table.

You stirred up Old Affairs Remnants.

With two soft popping sounds, the candles on the candlestick, which had long since died, came back to life and burned again, illuminating Yu Xing's vision.