Chapter 13: Haunted Houses in the Republic of China (Thirteen)
Candles are indispensable in this copy. Without candles, you cannot go out at night. However, the average of two candles per person taken out from the safe house is not enough. When Lao Zhang goes to deliver goods and Brother Zhao is asked to patrol at night, their candles are quickly consumed. They must find a way to replenish them.
If they can't get the candles through normal channels, they have to take unconventional approaches. Naturally, they can't bear the risks themselves, so newcomers become the best choice.
Wu Er didn't know why Chang Yue asked him to ask Ning Hanqi for help, but since the old player said so, he had to agree that she was right.
Ning Hanqi stepped aside, avoiding the other party's gift and then pulled him up. Wu Erdan was so frightened that his legs were weak and he had to support himself by the table to barely stand.
"Remember how many candles they asked you to take?"
Perhaps it was Ning Hanqi's gentle and calm voice that gave Wu Er confidence. He calmed down a bit and thought carefully. After a while, he said dejectedly again: "I don't know. They asked me to take half a basket. I don't know the exact number."
"Am I finished?" The feeling of despair enveloped Wu Er again.
"Half a basket?" Ning Hanqi thought for a moment and consoled him, "It's okay. There should be other people who can remember the number."
"Others?"
Ning Hanqi didn't answer the question immediately. She just asked Wu Er seriously: "Brother Wu, are you sure you only took the candles? Did you use them?"
Wu Er nodded confidently and said, "There are only candles, and I haven't used them. If they hadn't lied to me, how would I dare to take anything here?"
"That's good." Ning Hanqi's expression eased a little, and then he asked the other two veteran players, "Where are the other two?"
"They, they each took four candles. They probably haven't had time to use them yet, but their candles are all burned out. They will definitely use them tonight. Should we... go tell them?" Wu Er was very unhappy. He wished those two people would die! Who would tell them?
"No, don't tell them." Ning Hanqi made a silent gesture, the smile in his eyes was hard to understand. "If you want to retaliate against them, don't say a word."
Wu Er nodded repeatedly, and then he wouldn't say a word!
"Okay." Ning Hanqi nodded, then turned around, pushed open the door and said, "Let's go, while those two are busy with other things, let's go get something."
She was thin and had no great strength, and seemed to need more protection in this ghost place. However, her back was so calm and unhurried, and for some reason Wu Er felt a little more at ease.
"Get something? What?" Xiaolu hurriedly followed, and Chang Yue thought for a moment and followed closely behind.
Wu Er was the slowest to react. He waited until all three of them had walked out the door before he staggered to catch up.
"Go get some candles. Your candles are probably almost gone, right?" Ning Hanqi said.
"There's only a little left! Yesterday I was wondering what to do! Sister Ning, you're truly my savior!"
"Where is Chang Yue?" Ning Hanqi turned around and glanced at Chang Yue who was following slowly behind him. The little girl who was named stiffened all over, and her expression flashed with confusion and struggle.
"...Not much." She was a little afraid of Ning Hanqi. Although the other party had not shown any malice so far, people are born with the fear of the unknown. Not everyone is as heartless as the deer. Maybe having a big heart is a blessing.
"That's perfect. Let's go get more together. I've already told the eldest lady. If you don't get it now, you may have trouble when you want it later." Ning Hanqi led the other three people around and around to find a very remote storage room. When the servant who was sweeping outside saw them, he immediately came over and respectfully called them "son-in-law".
"The eldest lady asked me to get some candles." Ning Hanqi directly told the servant his purpose.
"I'll get it for you right away. How much do you need?"
"One basket."
The servant paused, but he did not question this request that seemed to be for purchasing goods. He quickly took the key and went to the grocery room to pick out a basket of candles and handed it to Ning Hanqi.
"Thank you." Ning Hanqi took the candle.
"You're welcome."
After getting the candles, Ning Hanqi asked Wu Er, "Where did they ask you to steal the candles from? The ancestral hall or the storage room at the entrance?"
Ning Hanqi seemed to be very familiar with the Xia Mansion, and she knew where players could get a large number of candles.
"In, at the entrance of the yard... I don't know if that is a storage room, but it's not far from where we live. There are a lot of sundries piled up in it. I remember there was a large round table with carvings in the middle, and there were many kerosene lamps on it." Wu Er described it based on his memory.
"That's the storage room. Let's go and see if we can solve your problem." Ning Hanqi was carrying a bamboo basket full of candles. The basket was not light. Wu Er was considerate and proactive, so he immediately helped to carry it over.
This large courtyard with six entrances is like a maze. Chang Yue has been running around outside these days and still hasn't figured out all the ways. However, she found that Ning Hanqi did not hesitate when passing every fork in the path, as if she had walked this road many times. She frowned and her guess deepened.
As soon as you enter the yard, you will see a storage room filled with other daily necessities besides candles. It is so close to where the players live, so it is hard not to suspect that this is a bad taste of someone, specially used to test the players.
Normally there are people guarding this place, but those two NPCs have been neglecting their duties for years, so it is easy to lure them away and steal something.
Ning Hanqi went to Wu Er's room first. Several people counted the candles stolen from his room together to confirm the number, and then filled the number with the ones brought out by the two old players.
Half of the new candle was left in the room to confuse the other two old players, and the remaining half was divided among the four of them.
Then they carried the half basket of deadly things to the storage room. At this time, the two NPCs who discovered the lost things were still cursing. Ning Hanqi asked Wu Er to return them, and then told the two NPCs that he had taken the wrong things to fool them.
But before that, you must confirm the number of lost candles with the two NPCs.
No one else accompanied him. Wu Er gritted his teeth and went alone with the basket to find the two NPCs. One of them had a scar on his face and the other had a broken left hand. They looked at him with extremely vicious eyes for a long time, then scolded him, took his basket and drove him away.
Wu Er ran back with some relief at having survived the disaster, and asked Ning Hanqi if he would be safe after doing this.
But Ning Hanqi shook his head regretfully and said, "This only leaves you a way out. It's not enough to completely escape danger now."
"You have two options now. One is to do nothing now. Madam Xia will find you later, and you'll have to find a way to escape from her."
Before Ning Hanqi finished speaking, Wu Er shook his head desperately, "Isn't this going to kill me? What's the second option?"
"The second way... aren't you working at the pharmacy now? Go tell the NPC there that there's a rat infestation in the room and they need some medicine. Get the medicine and mix it in your food. Then, at night, spread the food out in this yard. You'll be on guard here too. Keep an eye out for two fat rats. One has a scar on its face, and the other is missing its left front paw. If they haven't eaten the poisoned food, you must kill them tonight, no matter what method you use. Otherwise, leave them until tomorrow, and you'll only have the first way left."
A scar on the face and a broken left forelimb?
Wu Er seemed to have thought of something, and his legs couldn't help but tremble.
"Do we have to kill them?"
"Yes, if we don't shut them up tonight, this matter will reach Madam Xia's ears tomorrow." Ning Hanqi stood aside and didn't say much. The choice was all up to Wu Er himself.
Wu Er's body hunched over, and with a wry smile on his face, he said to Ning Hanqi, "Why am I so unlucky?"
Then he said goodbye to them and prepared for tonight's rat-killing plan.
"Fortunately, I followed Chang Yueyue, otherwise I would have been trapped to death." Xiaolu looked at Wu Er's back and felt extremely lucky.
"What the hell is Chang Yueyue?" Chang Yue was very resistant to this cute reduplicated nickname.
Xiaolu thought the name was cute and wanted to keep using it, but Chang Yue raised his hand and hit him on the head with a knuckle.
Chang Yue then glanced at Ning Hanqi and asked hesitantly, "Are the mice at night actually some of the NPCs during the day?"
"Maybe part of it, right? The housekeeper, Mrs. Wang and some NPCs all have the characteristics of rats. Besides, the game has already said that you can't eat rat and snake meat." Ning Hanqi smiled, but the warmth did not reach his eyes. Chang Yue sensed a dangerous aura and immediately stopped asking.
"I have something else to do, so I'll leave first. These candles... thank you. If you need any help within my ability in the future, just tell me." Chang Yue put away the candles. She didn't intend to take them for free, so she would definitely pay for them.
"That's perfect. I actually need your help with something later." Ning Hanqi continued without hesitation.
Chang Yue suddenly widened her eyes and stared at the woman who was smiling like a fox, and the candle in her hand immediately became a hot potato.
"Don't worry, it's not dangerous."
Although he explained, Chang Yue's expression still showed obvious vigilance.
"Go ahead and do your work, but be careful and don't go to that pond." Ning Hanqi smiled and warned, "You might get angry."
Chang Yue frowned, probably guessing which two people were courting death. She was about to go and investigate the situation, but immediately gave up the idea... Did she owe Miss Ning another favor?
"Thank you," she mumbled a thank you quietly before changing her destination and leaving.
"Take your anger out on others? What are you taking your anger out on? Who are you taking your anger out on?" the little deer asked doubtfully.
But Ning Hanqi did not answer, but only asked her if she had finished her work for the day.
"Ah!" The little deer screamed. Because Wang Po didn't come to disturb them today, she even forgot to work!
"I have to go wash clothes! See you later!" The deer quickly ran away and disappeared.
"call……"
Just as he went out to get the candles, the sky became gloomy. Gradually, the wind started to blow, raising dust in the mansion. Ning Hanqi looked up and saw that the thickest dark clouds were above the fifth courtyard.
Some people are blinded by interests and dare to dance on the graves, repeatedly testing the bottom line of the dungeon boss.
"madness."
The cold and sarcastic voice disappeared in the air, but Ning Hanqi still looked gentle.
It's good that they are jumping around, as it distracts Nuannuan's attention and makes it easier for her to do more things.
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