Chapter 78 Imperial Apartment 5
Xia Bai felt that he was in big trouble.
What is his fate with the veteran players of the Holy Travel Guild? Two of his two skill corpses are veterans of the Holy Travel Guild, and now the most powerful and mysterious one has come, and he can't explain it to him clearly.
Faced with the captain's questioning, he could only fight poison with poison.
Xia Bai: "I feel that Qian Xing is paying so much attention to me because he knows that I have two of his companions here. The bodies of Gu Quankun and Liu Qiang are here with me."
Ling Changye stared at him, with a smile on his lips, but his eyes were deep, blue in the black, "Why do I feel like there is a secret in you?"
Xia Bai shook his head blankly, "There are no secrets, be honest with each other."
Ling Changye: "Really?"
Xia Bai: "There is one thing I don't know if it can be considered a secret. I have no memory before the age of twelve."
Ling Changye frowned, "Why?"
Xia Bai said: "Grandpa said that when I was twelve years old, I had a serious illness and was on the verge of death. I finally survived, but I lost my memory and my health became much worse. I still remember that when I was twelve years old, my health was really poor. Grandpa sold all his belongings and went around asking people to lend me money for medical treatment."
Before Xia Bai went to high school, his grandfather was the only relative and friend in his life. Although he boasted every day and was often idle, Xia Bai still listened to him and was very close to him, because he always remembered how he carried him to the hospital in the snowy winter.
Ling Changye asked: "What disease is it exactly?"
"Actually, I'm not sure. At that time, we didn't have money to go to a good hospital, so we went to several small clinics. Some said that I had a high fever and became stupid, and some said it was encephalitis." Xia Bai thought for a moment, and then said, "Grandpa said that they also scared people. Some said I would become a fool, and some said I would be paralyzed."
Ling Changye's eyelashes drooped a little.
Xia Bai's grandfather was a person he had never met, and his impression of him was just a piece of fragmentary words from others.
When he was young, he was a corpse driver, traveling all over the country, crossing mountains and rivers, just to return to his roots. Later, when the times did not need corpse drivers anymore, he chose a yard, reserved a place for homeless corpses, and raised his grandson.
Those days should have been simple and comfortable. Later, he became a player and possessed awe-inspiring props and skills. He still lived a leisurely life with his grandson in that small rural courtyard. He did not want to become a big player that everyone looked up to, and he was indifferent to fame and fortune.
He and Xia Bai should be happy and comfortable most of the time.
It’s just that illness, those days…
Xia Bai wandered around the gates of hell in the small clinic several times. He had no idea what disease he had, and no one knew how his grandfather and Xia Bai got through it.
Ling Changye: "I won't become stupid or paralyzed. I will always live healthy and smart."
"Yeah." Xia Bai said, "Grandpa said the same thing at the time, Captain, you said the same thing as grandpa."
Xia Bai said with a pretty face: "The children in the village said that I was burned and became stupid. I looked like a fool, but they couldn't even get into Heping Medical College."
Ling Changye pursed his lips, suppressed his smile, and said "hmm" again.
Xia Bai caught the moment when he was about to laugh or not, and just as he was about to speak, he saw a red envelope appear on his phone.
The only red envelopes you can receive in the game are points red envelopes forwarded from the game app, and they come from people who are in the same game.
"Captain, you gave me a red envelope?" Xia Bai asked stupidly, "Why did you give me a red envelope?"
"In my family, according to tradition, when we learn that someone close to us has suffered a serious illness or experienced a disaster, we give them a red envelope. Because most of the time, it is given by the elders to the younger ones, so there is a saying that it is called a head-touching red envelope."
When he heard that it was a custom in his hometown and that the red envelope had good meaning, Xia Bai said "Thank you, Captain" and immediately clicked it. When he saw the amount, his eyes widened in shock and he stared at Ling Changye blankly.
Ling Changye smiled, his voice pleasant, "If you get sick one day and I'm not here, go find the best healing player."
Xia Bai looked at Ling Changye, who was looking at him quietly with a smile on his face. He couldn't tell what the comfortable and itchy feeling was in his heart. He just wanted to tell him a lot of things, things that had been suppressed in his heart for a long time.
"Captain, I'll tell you another secret."
"You don't have any secrets, do you?"
“It’s not all my secret.”
"Um."
Xia Bai: "This phone belongs to my grandfather. I didn't have one before. After my grandfather died, I used his phone and the only social app he had to chat with his friends on his behalf. Mainly, I didn't want my grandfather to leave completely without a trace."
Ling Changye said, "Hmm," and said, "You are continuing to live for Grandpa."
You are alone and can't accept your grandfather's death.
"And his old friends are all very old and won't live for many years. Every time I hear that one of them has passed away, I will be depressed for a long time. Until now, I don't know how to tell them, or I just want to keep it a secret from them until they pass away."
"His old friends are all corpse-carriers from different factions that he met when he was young. They must have fought often in the past. As they got older, they named their group [Old Dead Never Contact Each Other], and they quarreled in the group every day."
Ling Changye: “…”
Xia Bai: "They are a group of poor and lonely old men abandoned by the times. They can only wear reading glasses and quarrel in the group to keep each other warm. I used to think so until I knew that grandpa must be a very good player, until I found out that Lao Wang in the group was the director of the Gaming Administration."
Ling Changye: “…”
He pinched the bridge of his nose and said, "Let me think about it. There is no record of Director Wang's experience as a corpse driver. The earliest record is that he became the village chief because he was loved by the villagers. Later, he rose rapidly and became a powerful player, so he became the director."
Xia Bai was angry, "He is indeed a player."
"I was the only one who was deceived. I had thought about taking care of them together in their old age, collecting their bodies together, and burying them together in the yard."
Ling Changye was silent.
Xia Bai asked again with a sluggish face: "Captain, could Qian Xing's original appearance also be an old man?"
Ling Changye: “…”
Xia Bai was numb, "I said he smelled like an old man."
Ling Changye was also a little confused. He felt that this was not a small secret. The Director of the Game Management Bureau and the most powerful elder of the Holy Game Guild might know each other. Did they know each other's identities?
Ling Changye smiled as if it had nothing to do with him, and then described Qian Xing's true appearance in detail to Xia Bai. Xia Bai was 70% sure that he was Lao Qian from the "Never Contact Each Other Again" group.
The old man who is always a step behind, often unable to catch up even in an argument because he has to wear reading glasses.
Xia Bai: “…”
So, that group of elderly people who he thought were abandoned by the times, the fragile elderly people who found it even more difficult to survive after the advent of the game, the elderly people who seemed to know nothing when signs of the game appeared in the group, one was the director of the Game Management Bureau, one was a mysterious elder of the Holy Game Guild, and one was a player with terrifying skills.
Sure enough, there was a "surprise" waiting for him.
Xia Bai stared blankly for a while, digesting this shocking event in his outlook on life.
The director was not in a position to ask at that time because his grandfather had passed away. This time he must ask Lao Qian carefully.
"What about Yang Yi? How could he sign up without telling us?" Xia Bai asked.
He had been curious before: if players can fill in vague or even untrue information, and the gaming administration cannot prohibit them from disguising themselves, how do they confirm that the player who registers and the player who plays the game are the same person?
Song Shi told him to look at the game ID.
After everyone comes out of the game, there will be an extra game app on the mobile phone, and at the same time, they will have their own game ID. When there is a similar transaction in the player communication center, the ID will automatically appear.
"Yang Yi is such an important person in the Game Management Bureau. Don't the staff know his game ID? If they knew, wouldn't they have found it when they looked at the list?"
Ling Changye: "The Game Management Bureau should indeed have records of game IDs, but they are not public. After all, speech and transactions are personal privacy. And even if they knew, what would happen? He has the right to accept bounty missions and enter the game."
Xia Bai: "So why did he disguise himself into the game?"
"You and Yang Mei." Ling Changye said, "He may still want your blood. It's inconvenient to move around in the Game Management Bureau, but there are no restrictions in the game. As for Yang Mei, I can't say what the situation is with them."
"You may have also felt that every time Yang Yi was around, Yang Mei would be unhappy and depressed." Ling Changye said, "Occasionally he would even behave aggressively."
This should be the identity sensitivity issue that Ling Changye mentioned.
Xia Bai: "But if you don't tell him, he'll be mad at you later."
"Just give birth. You'll forget everything in an hour." Ling Changye said.
Xia Bai: "...He is not prepared, what if something happens?"
Ling Changye: "This is also what I am struggling with."
The two discussed it and decided to tell Yang Mei about this during lunch, when it was the safest time.
At this time, Yang Mei had happily changed into her skirt and went to knock on the door of the girl in Room 209.
Xia Bai saw his happy look through the crack in the door, and thought of the way he lowered his head and snapped his fingers when he met Yang Yi before and after. He suddenly understood why Ling Changye didn't want to tell Yang Mei.
When Yang Yi was not around, Yang Mei was as happy as a little angel. When Yang Yi was around, the little angel's wings seemed to be broken.
Lin Xiang, who had been liked by his elders since he was a child and was full of confidence, was met with setbacks.
After he knocked on the door, the person inside just asked him what he was doing.
Lin Xiang: "Hello, we were arguing in the hallway just now. Did I disturb you? I brought you a small gift to apologize."
The grandmother inside said coldly: "No need to apologize, just go away."
Lin Xiang: "I bought some gifts, I hope you will accept them, otherwise I will really feel bad."
Grandma: "The gift is outside, please go."
"...Oh, okay!" Lin Xiang leaned over the door and looked inside. "Then I'll leave it here. If you need anything, you can tell me. I'm young and strong, and I've been very idle lately."
Grandma: "If you don't leave, I'll call the police!"
Lin Xiang ran away immediately.
When he was running, he saw the old man from Room 204 peeking at him and sneering at him.
Lin Xiang: “…”
On the contrary, Yang Mei was easily invited into the room by the girl.
He came back just before lunch, and they all thought he must have found out a lot of clues, but he said, "I just talked to that girl about clothes and hairstyles, and complained about math."
“…”
Yang Mei: "However, she invited me to visit her again in the afternoon."
Xia Bai: "That's good. If I ask her about something right at the beginning, she might be on guard. Only by doing this slowly can we find important clues."
Yang Mei nodded, "Yeah, she's super cute. She wants to be friends even without the game. We can't be too utilitarian."
Ling Changye: "Tell me what you saw in her room."
"Her name is Li Shiqi, and she asked me to call her Xiaoqi. She should be around 18 years old. I saw her high school textbook." Yang Mei said, "There were two pillows of different colors on the bed, one black and one pink. I felt that she must have slept with someone else before. There was a plate of melon seeds and nuts on the table, which she shared with me. I felt that she was not living in extreme poverty."
"Oh, right." Yang Mei said, "Xiao Qi also smells like incense. Do you think she could have set up the altar? Her conditions are much better than those of the old man in Room 204. She should be able to provide fruits and incense every day."
Ling Changye nodded, "It's possible."
But at lunch, they learned from Wei Jingyun that the old lady in Room 308 and the couple in Room 406 could also smell the scent of incense.
After hearing the news, Xiong Xiyuan said to them, "I said everyone here is a bad person. The couple in the 303 Beauty Salon should also have the smell of incense, but it was covered by the smell of shampoo inside! They must have set up the altar together. They killed someone together, so everyone has to worship."
Lin Xiang nodded, "This can also explain the new fruits that are replaced every day. They all have a hard time. It is too difficult for one person to change the fruits every day. If everyone pays for it, it will be easy."
"I actually agree with this statement." Wei Jingyun gave his reason, "Generally, altars are set up in relatively public places to allow more people to worship. Otherwise, if it is set up by a single person, why not put it in your own home?"
Everyone agrees with his statement.
Xiong Xiyuan sighed, "If this is the case, our mission will become more difficult. We thought that if we could find the person who set up the altar, we would be able to find the truth quickly. If they did it together and stood on a united front, they might have come up with a unified statement long ago."
"Yes." Lin Xiang thought of the grandparents and grandchildren in 211 and felt a headache. "It will be very difficult to break through."
"No." Ling Changye pulled them back from the wrong direction in time, "The altar was not set up by everyone in this apartment building together."
Xia Bai nodded, "I don't think they set it up together. At least the lady boss of 303 was not involved."
Lin Xiang immediately asked: "Why?"
"When we were returning from breakfast, the proprietress of Room 303 and the old man of Room 204 had an argument, and the proprietress threw a kettle down." Xia Bai said, "The kettle broke, and the hot water flowed down the stairs, and the kettle also rolled down. The altar was in the corridor. If the proprietress participated in the setting and had a little awe or fear in her heart, she would not have thrown the kettle down so recklessly."
"Yes!" Lin Xiang slapped his head, "Why didn't I think of that?"
Because you prefer to imagine.
Xia Bai glanced at Ling Changye, who nodded and continued, "If the boss lady didn't participate, her husband, who is always submissive in front of her, would naturally not dare to participate either."
"Wow!" Xiong Xiyuan exclaimed, "Then we have ruled out two suspects. This proves that they didn't do anything wrong related to the altar. We can ask them about the other people in the apartment building."
Wei Jingyun said: "And the little girl in Room 305, she shouldn't be a suspect either?"
Ling Changye said: "Don't judge based on your subjective imagination. Did you find anything on her this morning?"
"No, she hasn't gone out yet. She ignored us when we knocked on the door. Last night she asked us if we had seen her mother. Maybe she thinks we are of no use to her anymore." Wei Jingyun said, spreading his hands.
"She didn't go out?" Xia Bai was puzzled: "Today is not the weekend, she should be in school at her age."
"Her mother abandoned her. How can she go to school alone? She's lucky to be able to support herself in this apartment building." Wei Jingyun said, and then looked at Xia Bai and Ling Changye, "The boss lady of Room 303 seems to like you guys very much. Why don't you go ask her more?"
Ling Changye nodded, "We will talk to her more when we go to wash our hair tonight."
“…”
After speaking a few words to the two of them briefly, they went upstairs. They had an important thing to do at noon today, so they told Yang Mei that Yang Yi was also in the game.
When going upstairs, Yu Chao and Lan Xiang, players from 311, happened to be coming down from upstairs to look for food. When they passed each other, Lin Xiang suddenly sneezed.
Seeing the two people looking at him, Lin Xiang waved his hands and said, "Sorry."
The two of them didn't say anything and went downstairs.
Lin Xiang muttered, "They talk so little and are so cold."
Xia Bai nodded, "I didn't hear them talking either."
Seeing the old man looking at them furtively in the corridor again, the four of them went straight into the room.
Ling Changye got straight to the point, "Yang Mei, I have something to tell you."
Yang Mei was drinking water, and looked up blankly. There was a drop of water at the corner of his lips, flowing down along with his opening movement. He looked stupid, "What's the matter, Captain?"
Ling Changye said: "You know that Xu Qingming, right?"
Yang Mei nodded, "I know."
Ling Changye: "He is Yang Yi in disguise."
Yang Mei was stunned for a moment, then continued to drink water with her head down, "Oh."
Lin Xiang said in surprise: "Yang Yi? Is he the vice president of the research institute who sat in the middle when we were retelling the game?"
Xia Bai nodded, "That's him. He and Yang Mei had some unpleasantness, so the captain specifically reminded Yang Mei."
"What's going on?" Lin Xiang immediately squatted in front of Yang Mei, frowned and asked: "Did he bully you?"
Yang Mei said directly: "He is my brother."
Lin Xiang was stunned for a moment, then stood up awkwardly, "Oh, I was just, excited..."
As he spoke, he realized the problem: unhappiness between brothers is more complicated than unhappiness with other people.
Ling Changye didn't give this matter much time, and then said to Yang Mei: "If you continue to go to 209 and try to get a condom on that girl, the door of 211 can't be opened, and we may have to rely on you on this floor."
Yang Mei immediately raised her head, clenched her fists and said, "Captain, don't worry!"
As soon as they finished speaking, they heard the sound of a door opening and closing. The four of them immediately stopped talking, walked quietly to the door, and looked out through the crack.
The door of room 211 finally opened, and the old lady inside walked over holding the hand of a boy, probably going downstairs to eat.
The old man had a bent back, walked slowly with his bound feet, and his face was covered with wrinkles. He held the boy's hand tightly. The boy looked about the same age as the girl in 305. He wanted to pull his hand back in annoyance, but he couldn't, so he had to be led back to look.
It should be because of the gifts that Lin Xiang left for them at the door.
After the two disappeared, a pair of shriveled eyes appeared, "You still accuse me of peeping, but you are the peeping Toms!"
“…”
The four of them stepped back immediately.
Lin Xiang smiled awkwardly and said, "The old lady seems to be very nervous about her grandson. He is already eight years old, but she still wants to hold his hand tightly."
Ling Changye said: "That boy doesn't seem to like this. Why don't you chase him with the gift and give it to him personally?"
"Good idea!" Lin Xiang immediately pushed the old man away and went.
Yang Mei also took two bags of snacks from the bag that Lin Xiang brought from the canteen, "I'll go now. Xiao Qi doesn't seem to have come out for lunch, so I'll go and show my courtesy."
He didn't seem to be greatly affected. Ling Changye said, "Go ahead and take this with you. We'll take a look too."
Ling Changye handed him a mobile phone with a hook, but Xia Bai could tell that it was not a simple mobile phone accessory, but a prop similar to a surveillance camera.
Yang Mei hung it up and left.
Soon Xia Bai confirmed Ling Changye's guess on his mobile phone. After Yang Mei entered 209, the picture of the two people in the room appeared on the mobile phone.
Yang Mei happily shared the snacks with Xiao Qi. Xiao Qi thanked him and ate with him. While eating, she asked, "Did your boyfriend buy this for you?"
Yang Mei: “Ah?”
Xiao Qi covered her mouth and laughed, "Don't hide it, I saw you coming out of a room with a tall boy. He was the one who brought the apology gift to 211, right?"
Yang Mei blushed, "No."
Xia Bai: “…”
"Stop pretending. It's nothing. I originally came here to live with my boyfriend." Xiaoqi said.
"Wow!" Yang Mei looked gossipy, "You have a boyfriend?"
"Yeah." The girl smiled shyly, "I have a boyfriend who loves me very much."
Yang Mei moved closer to her excitedly, "How is your boyfriend?"
"He is very handsome and likes me very much, but he is very possessive and clingy," said Xiaoqi.
"He looks like the hero of the novel! Do you have a photo of him?" Yang Mei said excitedly, "Show me now!"
"No." Xiaoqi lowered her head.
"Ah? No." Yang Mei was a little disappointed, but soon he became excited again, "What's so good about the photo? The photos nowadays all look fake dead, how can they be as good as the real person? When will he come? I want to see the real person."
Xiaoqi lowered her head to pick up the bed sheet and said, "If he doesn't come, I'll go see him."
Seeing this, Xia Bai felt a little weird.
Not to mention that it is strange that one of the young couple does not have a photo of the other.
If it is true as Xiaoqi said, that her boyfriend is very possessive and clingy, how could he not come to see her, but she would go to see her boyfriend?
At present, Xia Bai can only think of two situations that can explain these two strange things.
First, Xiaoqi is lying. She doesn't have a boyfriend who is handsome, clingy, possessive, and strong.
Second, Xiaoqi did not lie, but her boyfriend was shameless.
Xia Bai suddenly thought of the old man in Room 204 next door. He said that he had a filial and capable son, but in fact, his son had not visited him for a long time.
Is there any connection between the two?!
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