198 lighter

◎Paper Figure◎

Chigu Village ten years ago, before the fire broke out.

Qi Qiuxue paused, and suddenly recalled the mission objectives issued by the system when she first entered the dungeon.

——【Solve the problems you need to solve.】

Although the system does not clearly indicate what "things should be solved", in an S-level difficulty copy, if you want to get a higher level, you must collect all the clues, achieve all the achievements, and do everything to perfection.

And now, what they have to do is very clear.

"It seems we have to prevent the fire from happening." Liu Ge said in a low voice.

"Yeah." Qi Qiuxue nodded in agreement with Liu Ge's statement, raised her eyes to look at the sky, and roughly estimated the current time.

It was around eight in the morning, and there were still nearly twenty hours before the fire broke out. During this time, they had enough time to collect the remaining clues.

But looking for it yourself is too inefficient.

It’s better not to——

Qi Qiuxue lowered her eyes and took out the camera and recorder from her pocket.

Said: "From now on, we are the club reporters who are here for winter vacation social practice."

-

Although there are great differences between Chigu Village ten years ago and ten years later, the village committee is still located in the same place and there has been no change.

Qi Qiuxue and others quickly found the village party secretary and expressed their intentions to her. She said that she was a journalism student from a certain university. She had learned early on that Chigu Village had beautiful scenery and simple folk customs, and she came here specifically for winter vacation practice. She hoped to shoot some videos, conduct some interviews, and write a report on Chigu Village.

At first, the village party secretary was a little wary of the few people, but Qi Qiuxue maintained a gentle smile and was polite and humble throughout, and the players next to her cooperated perfectly with her. She claimed that after the report was released, it could promote Chigu Village to a certain extent and promote the development of the village economy.

"We came in a hurry this time, so we didn't have time to prepare some things." To further allay the village party secretary's concerns, Qi Qiuxue sincerely apologized. "We will send your student ID and club introduction letter to your email address after we return. We will also complete the news report within a week, including photos, videos, and audio recordings, and send them all to you for review. We will not send it out until you are satisfied with the revisions."

As she spoke, she placed the milk and fruit she had bought from the supermarket on the table: "This is a little gift from us, I hope you will accept it."

There was nothing wrong with his words and actions. The village party secretary scanned the faces of several people one after another, paused, and finally nodded and agreed: "Okay, I'm willing to help you complete the interview."

"Those little girls are so adorable." She smiled, and amiably expressed her fondness for Qi Qiuxue and the others. "I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I feel like you all look so familiar. You look a lot like the girls from our village who went to school in other places. If it weren't for the age difference, I'd really be a little skeptical about your identities."

After he finished speaking, the players looked at each other in tacit understanding. In fact, according to the plot setting, they were indeed the girls mentioned by the village party secretary.

"Then I'll start." Having achieved her goal, Qi Qiuxue immediately ended the greetings, switched the camera to video mode and pointed it at the village party secretary in front of her, while Li Yiqing on the side cooperated perfectly and turned on the recorder.

She asked the village party secretary many questions, including the origin of the name of Chigu Village, its history, its development over the years, and some major events that had occurred in the village.

Then, she turned off the camera, stood up, and looked at the village party secretary: "Would it be convenient for us to take a tour of the village committee?"

The village party secretary nodded: "Of course."

So Qi Qiuxue took the lead and walked towards the bookshelf, which contained some newspapers, books, folders, files, etc. Qi Qiuxue quickly checked them and finally her eyes stopped on an extremely old book placed in the corner.

When I picked it up, I found that it was a book that looked very old. Both the binding and the paper showed a sense of age. Even the content was not printed, but handwritten.

"This was passed down from my great-grandmother's generation," the village Party Secretary said. "Is it a collection of stories? Anyway, it contains many legends, all very magical. I've read a few pages before, but I couldn't quite understand them, so I'll leave it here for now."

"Would it be convenient for me to take a look?" Qi Qiuxue asked.

Village Party Secretary: "Of course it's convenient."

So Qi Qiuxue quickly browsed the contents.

The book contains many things, including some ancient myths, methods of dream interpretation, how to practice some magical skills, and how to learn to communicate with animals. Just as the village party secretary said, it is indeed magical and looks like a story made up on the spot.

But when Qi Qiuxue turned to the last few pages, she suddenly saw two records worthy of attention:

As human beings, we should be kind to all living things and harbor good intentions. Those who commit many evil deeds will be punished by heaven, endure the pain of reincarnation, and suffer all kinds of torture. Evil thoughts are like a knife; those who are controlled by it become both the butcher and the prey.

This seems to be referring specifically to what happened to the homeless man.

The other record is about a curse——

Legend has it that there was a giant tree that had grown for thousands of years. It possessed immortal powers, possessed human nature, and was indestructible. Later, a villain discovered it, chopped off its branches, and made it into a wooden statue. This statue was then sold everywhere, worshipped, and carried countless pains and desires, becoming the embodiment of evil spirits.

Its body is the gathering of all desires, possessing the greatest energy. Its veins can extend infinitely as this energy gathers, affecting humans and livestock, and inflicting curses on the human body through names and memories. Those cursed are eternally unable to escape, their bodies manipulated by evil spirits, their souls forever imprisoned.

The curse does exist, and all the villagers in Chigu Village are affected by it and can never escape it.

No matter where they go, no matter where they are, as long as their names are not changed and their memories are not erased, the curse will always exist in the villagers' bodies. One day, it will fully blossom and bear fruit, and begin to exploit and plunder innocent people.

"Is there such a big tree in our village?" Qi Qiuxue asked quickly.

The village party secretary shook his head and said, "No, I grew up in Chigu Village and have never seen such a big tree. These are just some myths made up by the older generation. There is nothing to be believed."

"I still have some things to take care of. Do you have any other questions?" Seeing that it was getting late, the village party secretary politely sent the group away. "You can walk around the village and experience our beautiful scenery and local customs. You can also ask the villagers any questions you want. Just say you've already informed me in advance."

"Okay." Qi Qiuxue smiled sweetly and politely thanked the village party secretary. "I understand."

-

In the following period, Qi Qiuxue interviewed several villagers in succession and learned about the first ten years of Zhang Yu's (a homeless man) life. He was smart and quick-witted since childhood, and his grades were very outstanding, but when talking about his character, all the villagers shook their heads, saying that the child had a bad temper, was selfish and insidious.

"He kills small animals, beats up parents, bullies classmates, and even has a bad gambling habit. Sigh, I don't know where he learned all that." The villager sighed and said, "Recently, a homeless man showed up in the village. He's taken a liking to him for no apparent reason. He beats and insults him every day, even threatening to kill him."

"What a sin! What a sin!" the villager sighed to himself for a moment, then suddenly came to his senses. "Just listen to this for yourself. Don't write anything about it in the newspaper, or I'll be in trouble too."

Qi Qiuxue nodded after hearing this: "Don't worry."

"By the way, there is a lost little girl named Chen Yifei. Do you know her?" Adhering to the belief of not missing any clues, Qi Qiuxue asked the villagers about Chen Yifei again.

"I know, I know. This child was lost when she was very young. Well, she had a miserable life. Her mother and father died early. Originally, only her grandmother was left to take care of her all day long. But now her grandmother is dead too."

"I hope she can come back one day." The villagers began to sigh again, "What a poor child."

What the villagers said was the same as what Qi Qiuxue asked the returnees ten years later.

"I don't have any more questions." Qi Qiuxue said goodbye, "Thank you very much."

“…”

There are still more than ten hours left before the fire breaks out.

To avoid accidents and mistakes, Qi Qiuxue and others bought some food in the supermarket and waited near the fire site in advance. After a long and boring wait, Zhang Yu really showed up.

Time seemed to have returned to that night again. The homeless man was running in front and Zhang Yu was chasing him desperately from behind. Then the stone he threw hit the homeless man's head and killed him in one blow.

Then he took out a lighter and gasoline.

Qi Qiuxue and others filmed everything, rushed forward in time to stop his behavior, called on villagers living nearby to tie up Zhang Yu together, and decisively called the police.

After another long wait, the police arrived and took Zhang Yu into the police car.

At this point, the few of them finally succeeded in preventing the fire from happening. In response to the villagers' gratitude, Qi Qiuxue and the others casually exchanged a few words, then quickly found an excuse to leave. They used the key props as the system instructed to return to ten years later.

This time, all the paper figures in the village disappeared, and the villagers' bodies were never taken away.

"Does this mean the mission is completed?" Liu Ge asked the system.

But unexpectedly, the system did not respond, as if the connection between the two was suddenly disconnected, and they could not receive any reply from the system for the time being.

Including whether you have passed the level and how to leave the copy.

“…”

What's going on?

"Are there any clues we haven't found yet?" Su Wen continued to try to communicate without giving up, but still received no response.

Qi Qiuxue and Li Yiqing looked at each other strangely.

So after a moment of confusion, Qi Qiuxue had no choice but to give the order: "Let's walk around the village again. Maybe we can find some more crucial information now."

The players could only nod in agreement.

Compared with before, the atmosphere in the village was much better this time. When they were wandering in the village, they happened to meet their childhood friends. They were enthusiastic and talkative. They said that it was their birthday today and they would take them home to celebrate no matter what.

Unable to refuse, they had to agree, just in case this was some side plot, and just in case they could gather some useful clues.

So several people followed their friend back to her home and saw with their own eyes that her family brought out plate after plate of delicious food and exquisite cakes.

The companion put the candles in place one by one, and looked at Qi Qiuxue beside him expectantly and happily: "Axue, can you help me light the candles?"

"No." Qi Qiuxue shook her head, "You should do it yourself."

"Okay." The friend pouted a little unhappily, silently lit all the candles, and was about to sing the birthday song when a scream suddenly came from the kitchen.

"What happened?" So everyone rushed over one after another.

My friend's mother was sitting on the ground, having slipped and fallen heavily. "Excuse me, can anyone help me up?"

"Let me do it." Qi Qiuxue said this, lowering her eyes and helping the woman up.

"Thank you." The woman looked at her gratefully, then shook her head and complained, "My wrist hurts. I might have twisted it accidentally."

"There's one last dish left in the pot. Ah Xue, can you just stir-fry it for me and take it out?"

"...Okay." Qi Qiuxue paused for a while, then she picked up the spatula and turned on the gas stove.

"Click, click." The gas stove did not burn as expected.

"We can't compare to the city here. Everything here is very old. It looks like the ignition mechanism is broken again." The woman sighed helplessly and raised her hand with difficulty to point to the paper and lighter placed beside her. "Axue, light this piece of paper and use it to ignite it."

After she finished speaking, she slowly put the lighter into Qi Qiuxue's hand.

The lighter is all white, smooth and cold to the touch, and feels like a snake.

Qi Qiuxue held the lighter tightly, not moving, and continued to look at the woman calmly. After a few seconds, the woman began to urge: "Axue, can you move a little faster? We can have dinner soon..."

"No." Before she finished speaking, Qi Qiuxue shook her head gently.

"What did you say..." The woman was quickly stunned.

Qi Qiuxue repeated her answer again with a firm look in her eyes: "I said, no."

For a moment, time seemed to suddenly stand still, and then the woman in front of them began to twist, the air suddenly shook, and one after another, cones of light emitting dazzling brightness flashed before the players' eyes, and everything around them changed drastically.

The players were forced to close their eyes, and then slowly opened them after everything calmed down.

They returned to the fire site again and smelled the pungent smell of gasoline all over the ground.

Something was tightly held in Qi Qiuxue's hand, and her fingertips were pressing on the switch of that thing. A flash of jumping flame burst out from that thing, surging wildly.

It was a lighter, a white, smooth and cold lighter.

“…”

Should we say that it is worthy of being an S-level difficulty copy? It is tempting Qi Qiuxue and other players to ignite the fire again and become the arsonist of that year.

Qi Qiuxue raised her fingertips cautiously.

Soon, the flames disappeared, and the surroundings fell into darkness and silence for a short time.

But this situation only lasted for a second. When it came back on, everything had changed again. They were still in Chigu Village, but it was not the normal Chigu Village.

It was like an underground kingdom where everything was made of paper. When they looked into the distance, they saw a huge object standing there.

——It’s the roots of trees, countless crisscrossing and intertwined roots, very high, so high that you can’t see the end at a glance.

From top to bottom, the roots of the tree are covered with numerous white creatures.

After a few seconds, Qi Qiuxue uttered a few words in a very soft voice.

"Paper figurine."

【Author’s words】

Here it comes! I didn't update yesterday, but I'll update more today. There are also red envelopes in the comment section of this chapter, which will be posted before the next chapter is updated~

Special thanks to zzzkx baby for the deep water, it's worth the money! Also thank you to all the treasures for the overlord tickets and nutrient solution, leaving comments and reading, love you qaq