Better to Kill by Mistake Than Let One Go

"Welcome, welcome! I never imagined a small place like ours would have the honor of receiving guidance from an expert like Mr. Zhou."

The Deputy Director excitedly clasped the hand of the white-haired old man before him.

Though they were about the same age, Zhou Huasheng was a renowned professor of archaeology, a towering figure in the field.

"We're the ones imposing on you."

Zhou Huasheng patted the Deputy Director's hand. "This matter wasn't really our concern, but that Golden Dagger is no ordinary object. It seems closely connected to an ancient ruin we're searching for, so we took the liberty of coming to bother you."

"Yes, yes. We shouldn't talk out here. Let's go inside."

The Deputy Director was exceptionally cordial. He could see perfectly well that Zhou Huasheng and his party had come for the Golden Dagger, but what did that have to do with him?

Whether or not the Old Farm Director's case was solved, the dagger would never end up in his hands, whether it was treated as a murder weapon or an antique. It certainly wouldn't be staying at the Forest Farm.

All he had to do was take care of his own responsibilities.

At that thought, he glanced sideways at Chief Wang, who stood beside him. The chief looked particularly grim.

Technically, since the dagger was a murder weapon, nobody should have been allowed to see it, let alone take it away for examination. But Zhou Huasheng's reputation was so great that even the higher-ups had to show him some deference.

The group walked along chatting amiably, when a young man behind Zhou Huasheng suddenly interjected, "On our way here, we heard that someone tried to steal the dagger last night, and that a man risked his life to protect it. How is he doing now? Could we visit him?"

Zhou Huasheng sounded just as concerned. "Yes. If such an important relic were lost, we'd be criminals in the eyes of history. At the very least, please let us do what we can to help."

"Well..." The Deputy Director hesitated. Li Laosi's injuries were severe, and having so many people visit would not help him recover.

"Don't worry. I brought professional medical staff and medicine to stop bleeding and prevent infection. They can give the hero a checkup while we're there."

Zhou Huasheng gestured to the three people following behind him.

The shortest of them patted the medical kit at his waist.

The Deputy Director found it difficult to refuse. He was just about to nod when a sharp cry rang out in the distance.

Everyone turned to look. It was Xu Tong.

Looking utterly disheveled, he ran toward them, shouting as he came, "Something's wrong! Something's wrong! Uncle Li... He's not going to make it!"

"What?"

The Deputy Director and the others stared at one another. Even Yang Guanjin was taken aback. "Wasn't he fine just now?"

"Uncle Li's wound suddenly split open. We can't stop the bleeding..."

He raised his bloodstained hands, panic written across his face. His eyes were filled with unease and helplessness. He looked like a child watching a fire break out, with no idea how to put it out.

"Quick! Zhang Hu, get over there and save him!"

With a life at stake, Zhou Huasheng hurriedly sent the three men behind him to help. The Deputy Director, despite his age, rushed ahead to lead the way.

But when they arrived, Li Si was lying on the bed, completely silent.

Zhang Hu carried his medical kit over and examined him carefully. After checking his pulse and pupils, he turned to his companions and nodded. "We're too late. If we'd gotten here half an hour earlier, we might have saved him."

"How could this happen?!"

The Deputy Director's regretful expression gradually turned furious. He looked back and saw Xu Tong standing behind them, bewildered and at a loss. His temper flared.

"Didn't you say you'd treated the wound? What happened?! I knew it, I knew it! Students like you do nothing but talk big. You can't get anything done!"

Xu Tong looked at the eyes fixed on him from all around. His eyes were bloodshot and brimming with tears, but in the end, he silently lowered his head and clenched his fists.

"And now you're acting like you're the one who's been wronged! Weren't you the one who claimed you'd learned first aid at school?"

The Deputy Director kicked him, knocking him to the ground. Fortunately, everyone nearby rushed to hold the older man back and pull the furious Deputy Director away.

Chief Wang first examined Li Si's body. When he pulled back the blanket, he saw that the bandage over the wound was stained red with blood.

Then he went over to Xu Tong. Seeing him sitting on the ground without a word, he sighed. "This isn't your fault. We were careless. Did Uncle Li say anything before he died? Did he act strangely at all?"

Xu Tong shook his head, but then seemed to remember something. He opened his mouth, only to close it again.

Seeing how hesitant he was, everyone grew even more anxious. Yang Guanjin urged him, "If there's something, just say it."

"Don't worry. Say whatever you need to," Chief Wang encouraged, pulling him to his feet.

"Son, say what you have to say. Don't be afraid. You did your best; nobody's blaming you."

Even Zhou Huasheng came forward to comfort him.

Under the pressure of everyone's stares and urging, Xu Tong took a deep breath, as if gathering his courage, and began, "Uncle Li... He... He was fine, then suddenly went mad. He started talking to himself, shouting words I couldn't understand. I think he said something about..."

He tried to recall it. "Something about... a white ghost... some treasure... in the mountains..."

His words came out in fragments, and nobody could understand what he meant.

But the moment he said them, many people present wore strange expressions.

Each of them seemed to have gleaned some crucial information from his words. Although Xu Tong had his head lowered, he could see every expression on their faces clearly.

"What nonsense are you talking about? What is all that supposed to mean?"

Everyone reacted differently, but only the Deputy Director scolded Xu Tong. Since things had already come to this, all the others could do was persuade the Deputy Director to leave.

"Li Laosi was a bachelor his whole life. We brothers will stay and get him cleaned up and dressed."

A few old men sighed.

Xu Tong looked up. "Let me stay. I'm the one who got Uncle Li killed. Let me prepare him for his burial. It's the least I can do to make amends."

The old men exchanged glances. They all understood that this wasn't entirely Xu Tong's fault. Even without him, Li Laosi's injuries had been so severe that, with no doctor at the Forest Farm, he would have died anyway.

But seeing how determined Xu Tong was, the old men nodded in agreement.

Everyone dispersed, and Zhou Huasheng and the others left too.

Watching them go, Xu Tong furrowed his brow. What he had just said had naturally been made up.

His aim was not only to throw them off the scent, but also to test them.

Zhou Huasheng and his people had come for the dagger. They were bound to be especially interested in where it had come from.

After hearing those key words about a treasure in the mountains, they would naturally start making connections.

As for the white ghost, that was the one who had attacked Mad Dog last night. What surprised him was that Zhou Huasheng's face hadn't changed at the mention of it, but Xu Tong had seen his hand tremble slightly.

Whatever the case, he had accomplished what he set out to do.

Xu Tong entered Mad Dog's room and opened the door. Mad Dog's corpse was lying on the bed. After closing the door, Xu Tong said in a low voice, "Come out, quick. The drug you gave me is about to wear off."

As soon as he finished speaking, a small Paper Doll emerged from beneath the bed. It waved its arms and legs at Xu Tong, though he had no idea what it was trying to communicate.

Xu Tong set the Paper Doll on the table, then took the Ghost-Charming Bell out of the Prop Catalog. He gave the bell a gentle shake in front of the Paper Doll and murmured, "Soul Detention!"

"Third, are you sure that guy's really dead?"

At the entrance to the cafeteria, the three young men Zhou Huasheng had brought along sat on stone stools. Yang Zixuan, the leader, asked the question.

"He's dead. His body's still warm, but there's no life in him," Zhang Hu, the one Yang Zixuan called Third, answered with a firm nod.

The answer left Yang Zixuan a little disappointed. "What a shame. All the Livestock from last time died. I wanted to catch a couple more, but one of them died first. What a waste."

"There's still another one," Zhang Hu said, narrowing his eyes.

"But he doesn't seem like one to me."

Yang Zixuan lightly tapped the stone table in front of him. On the way here, they had already figured out the situation at the Forest Farm.

In particular, after learning that someone had tried to take the Golden Dagger last night, they had set their sights on Li Laosi and the young man named Chen Shaoguo.

After all, if they weren't players with a mission, it was hard to explain why they'd gone to such lengths to protect the Golden Dagger.

But after seeing how the kid had looked while the Deputy Director scolded him, and how flustered he'd seemed, Yang Zixuan wasn't so sure anymore.

"He's probably just a rookie. Third, go sound him out. If he's willing, offer him a few benefits and get him to join our team. Keep him sweet and get his information out of him. Then, in the next Script World, we can raise him as Livestock."

Zhang Hu nodded and stood up. After taking a couple of steps, he suddenly looked back. "What if he refuses? Or what if he really isn't a player?"

Yang Zixuan stopped tapping the table and glanced sideways at Zhang Hu. "Better to kill by mistake than let one go..."