Strange Tales from the Deep Mountains (26)
"ah--"
A flock of crows suddenly took flight from the quiet witch village, almost obscuring the pale blue sky.
As Rou Rou spoke, a look of melancholy filled her eyes. While telling the story, she covered the little dumpling's ears with her hands, but the soft little paws pulled them away.
“Mommy did nothing wrong!” The little dumpling’s delicate face scrunched up as she looked up and cupped her soft face, saying, “Mommy, don’t be sad. Grandpa Village Chief said he deserved what he got.”
"Mommy is not sad, baby will always be with Mommy."
Her tiny palms gently touched her soft cheeks, as if afraid of hurting them.
Rou Rou hugged the little dumpling into her arms.
The system's mechanical voice sounded again: [Congratulations to the player for successfully unlocking the hidden quest—learning the story of Rou Rou and Xiao Tuanzi and successfully surviving the hidden quest.]
[Hidden quest completion rate: 100%; Quest 1 completion rate: 80%]
[Hidden quest reward: 300 points. Keep up the good work!]
"Brother, I'm sorry." Rou Rou put the little dumpling down and then swayed her snake tail to come to Li Su's side.
“I knew from the beginning that you weren’t that man, but I thought you were a bad person too, so…” The little dumpling secretly glanced at the person next to Li Su, shrank back, and pleaded softly, “I’m sorry, brother, please don’t be angry, okay?”
"I'm so sorry," Rou Rou said. "Because my memory is buried deep inside, I mistook you for him. Xiao Bao almost hurt you. My son and I will accept any way to make amends. I hope you won't blame us."
Li Su was somewhat surprised that Rou Rou spoke to him with such respect. She subconsciously looked up at Qi Wujin beside her and met his gaze as soon as she lifted her eyelids.
Li Su's cheeks flushed. Had Qi Wujin been watching him the whole time?
"Should we forgive him? It's up to you, Su Su." Qi Wujin smoothed the hair that was hanging down his back.
"Mm." Li Su nodded and looked at the mother and son.
They were just NPCs in the game, all controlled by the main AI. And he wasn't injured; on the contrary, his memories were restored as a result.
Li Su gently ruffled the little dumpling's fluffy hair and said, "Brother, don't be angry."
The little dumpling's droopy eyes suddenly widened, looking at him with sparkling eyes, "Really! Wow! Brother, you're so nice! I like you, brother!"
The little dumpling was about to jump into Li Su's arms, but Qi Wujin's glare made her shrink back.
Waaah... the adult is so fierce...
Seeing this, Rou Rou quickly picked up the little dumpling and said, "Let's go, baby. Let your brother talk to the adults first. Let's go outside and wait for a while."
Soon only the two people remained in the room.
Suddenly regaining his memories, Li Su felt a little awkward when he saw Qi Wujin, who had always been by his side, for the first time.
"you……"
"Bang—" The door was pushed open from the outside. Li Su subconsciously turned around and met the gaze of Doctor Qi.
Li Su suddenly froze, glancing at Qi Wujin and then at Qi the Witch Doctor. He had overlooked the fact that Qi the Witch Doctor's voice was the same as Qi Wujin's.
So who is the real system?
No, will the system in his brain detect that he has now regained his memories?
Li Su's face suddenly turned pale.
He was certain he was dead. Had the AI restored his data? Had the AI saved him? Did that also mean the AI already knew about him? Knowing that he had chosen to betray?
"What's wrong? Is there anything else that's bothering you?" Qi Wujin noticed Li Su's unusual behavior immediately and quickly pulled her into his arms, his brows furrowed as he asked softly.
Doctor Qi also quickly stepped forward and sat down by the bed, looking nervous.
"Who are you?" Li Su asked tentatively.
Qi Wujin's expression changed, his already pale skin became even more colorless, and his voice trembled slightly: "Su Su?"
"Then what do you remember?" Doctor Qi's face was also pale, his green eyes fixed on Li Su, afraid of missing a single reaction from him.
Is it that they are unwilling to say it or unable to say it?
Li Su lowered her eyes, pondering to herself, and when she looked up again, she answered Doctor Qi's question in a evasive way, "I'm fine, it's just that your voices sound very familiar, like a friend of mine from the past."
The two paused for a moment, their expressions showing surprise.
Qi Wujin met Li Su's gaze and subconsciously lowered his voice, "Su Su's friend?"
Qi Wujin immediately thought of the days when he was a system accompanying Li Su, but he quickly cut off the thought as soon as it came to mind.
Has Su Su regained her memory?
Qi Wujin quickly denied it, saying it was unlikely. Although Li Su looked exactly the same as before the incident, she had lost all her memories.
Once an NPC betrays another, the only outcome is the removal of their data by the mainframe. Li Su's data was only handed over to Qi Wujin for destruction because the mainframe trusted him.
“Yes.” Li Su nodded. “He’s a very important friend. I like him very much.”
The two men fell silent.
At the same time, the brain begins to work at high speed.
SuSu has someone she likes?! When? Who is it?
Qi Wujin's expression was solemn.
Only two worlds have passed since he restored Li Su's data. Which scoundrel has Su Su taken a liking to?!
"This episode makes me jealous of myself~"
"Handsome guy, you're cheating on yourself? You have some kind of fetish?"
"Hahahaha, I'm laughing so hard I'll get rich! Hahahaha..."
"The position of the main wife, the behavior of the mistress (covers mouth)"
Li Su, however, did not notice the expressions on their faces. He was worried that the system would notice that he had regained his memories, so he put aside all his thoughts, tapped the system in his mind, and tentatively asked, "System, can you see what I remembered after I lost consciousness?"
System: [Unable to view. The host's consciousness is blurred after fainting, making it impossible to view.]
Hearing this answer, Li Su quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
While it cannot be definitively confirmed whether the system is actually serving the main brain, it at least proves that no one should know that he has regained his memories.
The task is 80% complete. What's missing?
Li Su wanted to figure everything out as soon as possible, and then send Xia Liqiao and the others out of the game. More importantly, he wanted to be with Qi Wujin; he still had many questions for him.
"I'm going to find Little Dumpling." Li Su looked at Qi Wujin.
A hint of displeasure flashed in the man's handsome eyes, but he still patiently and gently advised, "Aren't you feeling unwell? Why don't you rest here for a while?"
Li Su shook his arms and moved his legs; he felt no discomfort whatsoever. Li Su shook his head. "I want to go find Xiao Tuanzi; I have something to ask him."
"What does a child know?" Even as he said this, Qi Wujin still got up. "I'll call him over. You don't need to get up."
After Qi Wujin left, Qi the witch doctor finally stepped forward.
Thinking of the necklace that Doctor Qi had given him, Li Su felt a little guilty and apologized, "I'm sorry, I accidentally lost your necklace..."
Before he could finish speaking, a faint herbal scent wafted over, and a new necklace appeared on his chest.
Li Su looked down and found that it was a very smooth crescent-shaped pendant, with both ends polished very smoothly and with a lustrous sheen.
"If you lose that one, just keep it." Doctor Qi put the necklace on him.
Qi the witch doctor seemed to want to say something more, but Qi Wujin had already brought the little dumpling in.
"Brother! Do you want to play with me?" The little snake's tail tip sticks up happily, like a little puppy.
Li Su couldn't help but smile, nodded, and put her hands under the little dumpling's armpits to lift him up and sit him on the edge of the bed.
The little dumpling was startled. After realizing what had happened, it cautiously looked at Qi Wujin. Seeing that he wasn't angry, it felt relieved and moved its little bottom to sit next to Li Su.
"Aren't you going out?" Li Su asked, looking at the two people standing motionless in the room.
The two men's gazes fell on the little dumpling next to Li Su, and their expressions were not good.
What's the point of talking to a kid?
But seeing Li Su's expression, the two had no choice but to obediently leave the room.
The little boy carefully touched Li Su's hand, his tone sincere: "I'm so sorry, brother..."
Li Su gave him a big smile, "It's really okay, I'm not hurt."
The little dumpling carefully observed Li Su's expression before finally feeling completely relieved.
"Then we're good friends! You can call me Little Dumpling!" Little Dumpling's eyes curved into tiny slits.
Li Su rubbed his head and asked, "Little dumpling, can I ask you a few questions?"
"Okay!" The little dumpling rubbed its head against Li Su's palm, looking more like a cute puppy than a snake.
Li Su asked, "Why are there so few people in the village?"
According to the information provided by Rou Rou and the system, there are many people who come here wanting to have children, so there should be a lot of people in the village. However, he has only seen a few people from the village so far.
Furthermore, if what Rou Rou said is true, the village chief shouldn't harm the women who come here, so why are there so many female ghosts?
The little dumpling, who was all smiles just a moment ago, suddenly lowered its eyes, its voice forlorn: "Grandpa Village Chief and many uncles in the village are gone..."
Gone?
"Mom said they went to a very far place and won't be back for a very long time."
Before Li Su could figure it out, the system's voice sounded again: [Congratulations to the player for successfully uncovering the secrets of the Witch Village. Game livestream is now closed.]
Players are asked to answer questions based on the information provided. If the questions are answered correctly, the second instance, "Strange Tales of the Deep Mountains," will end, and the player will be sent out of the game instance. If the questions are answered incorrectly, the player will be eliminated by the system.
Players have only one chance to answer each question. Please take note.
[The quiz has begun. Players, please answer the questions.]
[Question 1: Where is the village chief of Wuzhai Village now?]
Unlike the first Q&A session, this time the questions were not multiple-choice, but short-answer questions.
Li Su saw a large blank space on the screen in front of him, the area reserved for his answer. There was also a red countdown timer in the upper right corner, with a total of five minutes remaining.
Without much hesitation, Li Su wrote down his answer on the system panel.
[Dead.]
The countdown in the upper right corner paused, and a line of small red text popped up on the screen: 【The system is processing your request; please wait patiently.】
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