Chapter 289 [(*^▽^*)]

The player also noticed the strange reaction of the surrounding villagers, and then realized that they had just been confronting the village chief, who clearly held the highest position in the village.

The player who didn't give the village chief face just now will likely not receive many good treatment in the village in the future.

After a brief discussion, the players agreed not to go in now. When they asked the village chief when they could go in, the village chief only said, "Wait a few days," and then said nothing more.

The players who had argued with the village chief were worried about what would happen next, so they kept quiet and left with the others, wondering if the same thing would happen again at the villagers' homes...

Lin Leyou and Xue Rui stood a little further away and watched the situation. They saw the village chief and some villagers around them talking to the couple. Then everyone dispersed.

Just then, Lin Leyou and Xue Rui also turned around and walked away. Not far in front of them were the players who had been walking the slowest, so they weren't too conspicuous in this position.

The mechanical spider was still watching from the side. After the village chief and the villagers dispersed, everyone glanced a few times in the direction the player had left, but no one paid attention to him and Xue Rui, which was good.

Only after they had walked far away did they turn back to look at the village chief and the others. By then, they had all dispersed and disappeared from sight, except for two figures in front of the house next to the dilapidated mud-brick house.

It was the couple Lin Leyou knew. "Xiao Rui, what do you think the so-called truth really is?"

Xue Rui doesn't know yet, but he knows a little.

"What Fan Yu said is definitely not 100% true; there must be something false in what he said."

One of his player missions is to uncover the truth. If what Fan Yu said is true, then he already knows pretty much everything about the cause of death of this girl named A Rong.

However, he did not complete his task, and the system did not provide any notification. This means that Fan Yu's statement was incorrect, or not entirely correct, or incomplete.

In short, Fan Yu definitely has his own ulterior motives. Judging from what he said, he is speaking up for A Rong and even wants the masters invited by the village chief to help the female ghost.

That being said, none of them have actually seen this female ghost face to face yet, so there are still some doubts about whether this female ghost is Ah Rong. They must truly confirm the other party's identity before they can say for sure.

Lin Leyou said, "Let's go to Arong's house tonight, or look around for wells. Maybe we'll see a female ghost crawling out of a well."

Xue Rui blinked, and the thought of such a scene gave him goosebumps. Although he wasn't afraid, the thought of ghosts still triggered some subconscious reactions.

Lin Leyou: "What's wrong? Are you afraid of ghosts?"

Xue Rui said, "Brother Lin... it's not like I haven't been to ghost-filled dungeons before. This dungeon seems to only have one female ghost, so why would I be scared?"

Lin Leyou stroked his chin and nodded, "You're right. So... if a female ghost crawls out of the well, don't hide behind me?"

Xue Rui sighed, "Brother Lin should take care of himself. Don't hide behind me when the time comes."

The two chatted and laughed for a while before following the other players around the village, asking villagers some simple questions.

The answers they received from these villagers were completely different from those from Fan Yu's side; there was simply no way to compare them.

These villagers, whether rich or poor, all said that the couple did a good job, raising Ah Rong's daughter without holding a grudge after her parents died.

"Forgive past grievances? Weren't Arong's parents bad to them before?"

The villager said, "Weren't they going to build a house? Arong's parents said they had crossed the line and had to pay compensation, otherwise they would have to rebuild the foundation."

"But the foundation had already been laid and construction had already begun. Why did they bring it up now of all times? It's obvious they only said it because they knew we couldn't change it. They immediately started demanding an exorbitant 300,000! Otherwise, they threatened to use their weapons to demolish the foundation!"

"As a result, during the argument, the man suffered a heart attack and died. His wife also passed away from grief. Although no one wanted to see such a thing happen, this matter really had nothing to do with the couple. It was Ah Rong's parents who brought it on themselves!"

Lin Leyou and Xue Rui exchanged a glance. These were the villagers' opinions, but were they telling the truth, or was Fan Yu telling the truth?

Xue Rui, "If that's the case..."

The villagers, perhaps caught up in their conversation, continued, "They even paid for the funeral, and afterwards, they forgave Ah Rong, making her their goddaughter, giving her the best things, buying her nice clothes and good food, and giving her a lot of pocket money, all as compensation, but..."

Xue Rui, "But? What 'but'..."

He glanced around cautiously, then leaned closer and whispered, "But this Ah Rong didn't appreciate it at all. However... she accepted all the money as if it were her due."

"Although the adults in the village disapproved, they couldn't do anything about it as adults, so they could only talk about it behind people's backs. Eventually, their children found out."

“Kids are easily swayed by emotions. They got angry and ganged up on Ah Rong. Ah Rong wasn’t easy to bully either, and she always fought back against them.”

Lin Leyou, "Can Arong win?"

"Hey! You know what, she actually won sometimes. Ah Rong has a strong hand and her punches hurt a lot. Many kids who have been beaten by her will avoid her, or they will only dare to sneak up and attack when she is with other kids. For a while, the whole village was in chaos."

"Sigh..." He sighed, "I thought things would get better when the children were older, but who would have thought that Ah Rong would just disappear like that..."

At this point, the villager didn't continue, seemingly losing interest all of a sudden. He turned and left, and when the other players chased after him, he just waved them off without saying a word.

Xue Rui: "Didn't they say before that A Rong was a girl with long hair covering her face, very withdrawn and autistic? How did she become a little tyrant? And Fan Yu's version seems to be the pitiful version."

Lin Leyou said, "The rich people in the village, those who curry favor with the village chief, all say that Arong is withdrawn, not good at communicating with others, and always gets bullied without saying anything. The conflict between the four elders was just a misunderstanding. The ordinary villagers all say that Arong is a little tyrant, very good at fighting, and that Arong's parents demanded exorbitant prices and eventually died of anger after losing an argument. Fan Yu's version is that Arong's whole family are pitiful."

Xue Rui, "Which one is the real one?"

Lin Leyou led Xue Rui to the riverbank once again. There were two households there. One of their wells was sealed off, but the other was still open.

Lin Leyou found it strange, "There are actually wells here with open covers. Generally, when water is not being drawn from them, the covers are closed to prevent people from accidentally falling in."

The two slowly approached the well and peered inside. They found it contained only ordinary well water, nothing unusual.

Just as the two were about to leave, they suddenly felt that the place was too quiet. Why were neither of the two households home?

Xue Rui pointed to the gate in front of them, "The gate of this house is not closed, so there should be someone inside."

Lin Leyou sent the mechanical spider inside to check, and found that it was indeed empty, as was the house next door.

After Lin Leyou told Xue Rui, he said, "What do you think is going on? They all went out to work? The gate wasn't closed? The manhole cover was open too..."

Xue Rui said, "Perhaps it's because the village has a good atmosphere, so it's okay to leave the door open and go out to work. Should we wait a little longer?"

Lin Leyou frowned slightly. "I feel like something's not right. Never mind, I can't quite put my finger on it right now. Let's go for now and come back to check on it later."

Not long after they left, the manhole cover that had been opened... the manhole cover that had been placed to the side actually moved up by itself and covered the manhole.

As they prepared to return to their lodgings, both of them were conflicted. Xue Rui was unsure if he could still stay at the village chief's house, while Lin Leyou was reluctant to go to the couple's house.

The two of them stood there at the crossroads, unsure whether they should continue walking. But... if they didn't live there, where else could they live?

Is it okay to just find anywhere to stay in this instance? Is it alright to stay in the wild? Are there any unexpected situations that might arise?

Lin Leyou said, "Why don't you come and stay with me over there? The room they arranged for me is quite big. It's obviously not appropriate for me to stay with you at the village chief's place."

Xue Rui thought the same thing, "Shall we go then?"

Just as the two were about to leave, two players caught up from behind. "Hey, don't go yet, do you want to exchange some information?"

Lin Leyou was slightly taken aback. "What intelligence?"

"Information about the quest items."

Xue Rui: "Isn't the maximum benefit from this quest item to be held by the individual?"

This benefit refers to points.

Lin Leyou: "You guys probably didn't get it, right? Is there some clue?"

"Oh dear, I knew I couldn't fool anyone, but we definitely have clues. It just depends on whether you're willing to come along. Even if you do come, we might get the quest items first, and you might end up with nothing. Are you still willing to come?"

Since they had nothing else to do anyway, it would be good to have more clues. "Let's go and check out the situation first."