The gate to the courtyard of the small building opened, and Shao Dong happily carried in a basket of breakfast.
Three minutes later, the expression on his face turned into one of utter panic.
Shao Dong was stunned and as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, repeatedly dialing 110 while muttering to himself about why he couldn't get through.
Beside him, people were already sitting at the long table, eating breakfast without batting an eye.
"You, you...aren't you worried about your comrade's death?"
“We will carry on his last wishes and do a good job in this charity event,” Shi Jinzhe said, feeding the peeled egg to Shehe. “Don’t worry, it won’t interfere with our work.”
"That's not what I meant! Your companion is in trouble, nowhere to be found, dead or alive! Aren't you worried?"
Sherman pulled out a compressed biscuit from somewhere: "We're in a hurry, but we can't get through on our phones, so there's no use in being anxious."
He then asked Qi Yin, "You're in the same room, don't you know what happened?"
Qi Yin shrugged. "I'm a very heavy sleeper. I woke up to this situation. The bloodstained clothes I took off are still there. I'm very scared. I really don't know."
Shao Dong broke out in a cold sweat. How could these people be so calm? He paced back and forth at the door, repeatedly dialing the police.
Finding that calling the police was ineffective, he hurriedly walked outside, saying, "I'll go test the signal at someone else's house. Don't wander around. There are wild boars in these mountains. Sometimes they get hungry and eat crops, which can hurt people."
"Wait a minute," Shi Jinzhe called out to Shao Dong, "Do you have any financial expenditures for charitable causes? Charitable organizations release these every year, have you seen them?"
"What is that?" Shao Dong was completely confused. "I've never heard of it." He gripped his phone, not wanting to waste any more time, and quickly left.
The gate to the courtyard slammed shut. After feeding Shehe, Shi Jinzhe ladled out a bowl of porridge for himself and drank it slowly.
Shekh was puzzled: "Why does he look so panicked? Is there something scary here?"
"Huangshan River was eaten by ghosts. From Shao Dong's perspective, the unexplained disappearance of volunteers who came to do public welfare had a serious impact on him."
Shekh looked towards one side of the long table, puzzled. "Isn't he right here?"
As soon as the words were spoken, the entire room fell silent. All eyes turned to Shekh; in broad daylight, some even felt goosebumps.
Sheh stared at Shi Jinzhe's paused movement and pointed to the spot where Huang Shanhe had been sitting yesterday: "Right there, he's still watching him."
She turned her finger and pointed at Qi Yin again.
He is still looking at him; it is the dead Huang Shanhe looking at Qi Yin.
"What else did you see?" Shi Jinzhe swallowed the porridge in his mouth before speaking.
"It's broken."
While others might need time to process those two words, Qi Yin felt a chill run down his spine instantly. He knew best how Huang Shanhe had died; while he was pretending to be asleep, Huang Shanhe was being devoured piece by piece by evil spirits. Of course, he was shattered...
"Ugh..." Li Jiaoyang covered her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes. She hadn't seen the room where the incident happened, but she knew what had happened.
She knew Huang Shanhe was dead, but the woman said he was sitting right there; it turned out there really was a ghost…
All eyes were on Shekh. This dungeon definitely had ghost elements, so it wasn't impossible for players to turn into ghosts. But how did she figure that out?
In broad daylight, a player who just died became a ghost that couldn't be seen by anyone—this is simply unbelievable.
Ignoring the stares, Shekh turned to Shi Jinzhe and said, "I want to leave here."
The things on the other side of the table were ugly, and she didn't want to look at them anymore.
"immediately."
Shi Jinzhe hadn't even finished half of the porridge in his bowl, but he didn't intend to keep Shehe waiting. Since she could see a ghost without a physical form, she was worth his patience.
He finished the rest of the porridge in one gulp and asked, "Should I take you with me, or will you go by yourself?"
"You." There was still a lot of mud outside, but she wouldn't leave.
Shi Jin squatted down, letting her wrap one arm around his neck and supporting Shehe's knees with the other. He picked her up and walked straight out of the courtyard.
The mountain village was still a bit chilly in the morning, and even though the houses were far apart, you could still see villagers working in the fields.
The two's striking appearances attracted the attention of some villagers. A few minutes later, an older woman wearing a headscarf tentatively called out to them.
"Hey, aren't you the guy who gave Shao Dong money, the one called 'Love and Charity'?"
Shi Jinzhe smiled politely and replied, "I just heard that things aren't going well here, so I came as a volunteer to help. I don't know anything about that charity."
Before things become clear, he doesn't want to get too involved with any party, because if there are any problems with this charitable cause, it could be a real disaster.
"No wonder, I was wondering why you dared to come."
"Auntie, what do you mean by that? Could you explain it to me?"
“I don’t know exactly what happened, but I do know that Old Li’s family at the village entrance beat someone up when the volunteers came last time.”
The aunt sighed, looking puzzled: "Old Li didn't say what was going on. He just chased people away and wouldn't let them into the village. Among the people who came, one of them said he would take the money back and never come again."
"Were there volunteers who came before us?"
"Yes, they've come two or three times, but after Old Li beat someone up, no one has come anymore. It's been several years now."
She waved her hand dismissively, saying with a sigh, "But Shao Dong is capable; he gets interviewed by TV stations every year. So, even if he doesn't come, we still have to pay him."
After the aunt finished speaking, she praised Shehe, whom Shi Jin was holding, "This girl is really beautiful, but what's wrong with her eyes? She can't see."
She circled around the two of them, scrutinizing Shekh from head to toe, nodding slightly as she looked.
Shi Jinzhe took two steps back, letting Sheh out of her sight.
The older woman asked, "Is this your sister or someone related to you? Her skin is so smooth and radiant; she looks like she's from a big city."
That's his girlfriend.
A male voice came from behind him. Shi Jin turned around and found that it was the burly man who had warned him before.
"Girlfriend..." The aunt's tone was ambiguous, and she began to look at Shekh with a critical eye. After looking at him again, she was not satisfied and lost interest in the two of them, so she turned and left.
As the woman walked away, he explained to Shi Jinzhe and Shehe, "I briefly surveyed the village yesterday evening. The woman's surname is Zhou, and everyone in the village calls her Widow Zhou. She has a son who is not very bright and is over thirty years old, but he is still unmarried."
"I see."
The burly man approached and said, "My name is Meng Chengxi. How about we cooperate? There's a charity school run by Shaodong just three miles away. Shall we go together?"
Meng Chengxi glanced at the two's postures. Shehe had one hand on Shi Jinzhe's neck, and the other hand was clasped with his.
I was too naive yesterday. That woman must be capable to dare to eat those things, and the man also ate those meals this morning, so it shouldn't be the kind of exploitation he's thinking of.
As long as it's not someone like Qi Yin, then cooperation is worth considering. After five games, there will definitely be extra points to exchange for items. He said he couldn't move, but that's just fooling newbies and novices.
Shi Jinzhe didn't answer, but instead asked an unrelated question: "Do you have a room all to yourself?"
"Yes, it's right across from you, the first room on the right, I live alone."
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