Not to mention the dog hole, even the original little house behind him was nowhere to be seen. It had all been replaced by strange firelight and carbonized traces. But when Ruan Qing'an tried to reach out and touch it, he found that it was all an illusion. Even so, he could not go back.

She couldn't help but frown and look around.

037: [We're not going to be trapped here, are we, ancestors?]

"It might be possible if it were a player, but I'm just an ordinary, weak, and pitiful NPC. They wouldn't trap me here. Besides, the original owner of this body is Li Yu's daughter. They wouldn't want to trick me, would they?"

Ruan Qing'an couldn't help but complain, and calmly walked towards the small river that was lit up by the illusionary firelight. As she approached, a path appeared, allowing her to leave.

Actually, it was similar to what Ruan Qing'an had thought. Although the area by the river was filled with the glow of fire, it didn't mean that she was prevented from passing through.

Seeing this, Nguyen Thanh An did not linger and quickly left.

If she were a player, she wouldn't believe that Li Yu wouldn't have set up a trap at this crucial plot point, nor would she have allowed the clues to be obtained so easily. This path to survival wasn't for the player, but rather for the original owner of this body, her daughter, left by Li Yu...

037: [Hey, ancestor, where's the male lead?]

"Jiang Shihe?"

Ruan Qing'an paused: "Jiang Shihe is such a smart man, he must know I slipped away. It's not a big problem. I have to go first. My mother has opened up a way out for me. Men can step aside for now and we'll talk about it later."

037: [The male protagonist outside the door has absolutely no status...]

Only after Nguyen Thanh An left along the stream did the small house shrouded in illusion gradually return to normal. At the same time, Jiang Shihe, who was waiting outside, seemed to sense something and looked up.

A figure was standing in the small courtyard. The black mongrel that had been barking at Jiang Shihe stopped barking and instead limped over to the figure's feet, rubbing against them, but all that came off were large patches of charred remains.

Li Yu's body was covered in burn marks, her back was hunched, and she stared at Jiang Shihe with lifeless and numb eyes, silent.

Finally, Jiang Shihe asked, "Where is she?"

"...Get out, get out...away..."

Hearing the rough voice, Jiang Shihe sighed softly and snapped his fingers: "I know, she's already been sent away by you."

After saying that, Jiang Shihe turned and left.

After the snap of her fingers, Li Yu and the house began to turn into black ash and disappear. The black mongrel clung tightly to her, whimpering a few times, refusing to leave. Not far away—

The spotted dog, carrying the cloth bag, opened its mouth and barked wildly, then charged over and crashed straight in.

The next moment, they turned to ashes and disappeared completely.

Jiang Shihe walked away step by step with his back to him. His slender hands were in his pockets, and dark green light appeared in his deep black eyes. After a while, he closed his eyes and lowered his voice.

"Why cling to the world of the deceased..."

...

Just as the alarming system notification sounded globally, Xia Changhong arrived at the home of a family in Fengxian Village who could barely be considered wealthy. He had just climbed over the wall and landed when he was startled for a moment by the notification that the entire instance was accessible.

In global thrillers, it's rare to encounter a full-duration notification unless it's a very important clue that can even determine whether a dungeon is cleared.

Even if a notification is issued, it only proves that a clue has been obtained; it does not specify who obtained the clue or what the clue is about. All of this remains unknown.

Nevertheless, Xia Changhong's heart sank a little.

There was no one at this family's house in Fengxian Village. They were quite wealthy, and even the house they built was considered large by the standards of Fengxian Village. Xia Changhong quickly found the location of the ancestral hall and rushed over.

Until he arrived at the entrance of the ancestral hall—

With a 'creak'.

The door to the ancestral hall was pushed open a crack, and Ji He's figure immediately emerged, causing the two to collide.

"Sister Ji?"

"Xia Changhong?"

The two exchanged a glance and stopped in their tracks.

Xia Changhong remained silent and taciturn, secretly thinking that the clue must be on Ji He, and said, "Sister Ji, are you alright? That's great, I've been looking for you for so long."

"No, I just encountered a ghost last night."

Ji He answered casually, without mentioning Ruan Qing'an's unusual behavior. In any case, it was already a foregone conclusion that Ruan Qing'an was one of the two hidden murderers, so she wasn't in a hurry.

After she finished speaking, she glanced at Xia Changhong without making a sound, and couldn't help but curse inwardly. She thought he looked like an honest guy, but she didn't expect him to do such a thing. He secretly took the clues and pretended to come to find her.

Xia Changhong: Bah, you black-hearted bastard!

Ji He: Bah, that's inhuman!

Hidden MVP Ruan Qing'an: ? ? ?

After a brief period of feigned politeness, Xia Changhong took the initiative and asked, "Sister Ji, have you discovered anything since you left last night?"

"It's nothing. Didn't you notice it when you went out this morning?"

"No."

The two paused, and the atmosphere became tense again. With the full instance notification already in effect, neither trusted the other...

After a long pause, Ji He finally spoke up: "Jiang Shihe took us to stay at Uncle Zhang's place before, right? But last night I discovered that Uncle Zhang is a problem. He's a ghost, and Jiang Shihe is still an NPC. They're not trustworthy at all. We can't go back to stay there."

“After I came out last night, I tried to find a way to leave Fengxian Village, but I found that there was no way to leave. For safety reasons, we have to find another place to stay.”

Ji He paused for a moment: "I looked around several times, and this place is quite nice. This family doesn't live here anymore. I don't know exactly what happened, but they haven't been back for a while. I used a detection tool, and it's relatively safe. We can stay here."

She said everything was fine, but the next moment, Ji He changed the subject: "However, after I finished inspecting the ancestral hall, I remembered that there is another place that has been showing signs of disturbance."

"Where?"

"That's it."

Ji He pointed to the area in the backyard of the brick house, which was surrounded by bricks and cement. It looked dirty and messy, but just as she had said, it was making some noise.

Xia Changhong countered, "Sister Ji, what should we do?"

How about this?

Ji He took the initiative, her smile gradually widening, the underlying malice not very obvious: "I know you don't really trust me right now, so why don't we go in together and take a look, and deal with it together?"

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