Chapter 38 The Sleeping Curse (2) "Guessing the Main Characters"...
These past few days, the travel agency has been organizing their reckless team-building activity of exploring an abandoned music theater at night, while Xie Tan has been heading straight to the library.
Every time the comic is updated, Xie Tan reads the comic, the reaction post for the new chapter, and other posts all at once.
The elevator story has ended, and new posts have appeared. Long-running posts have also been pushed to the top again, such as the intelligence summary posts and irresponsible analysis posts from both major factions.
Dida originally had a thread that recorded some episodes related to her, but Dida wasn't the main focus before. It was only recently brought back up, and comic fans who are scrutinizing it with a magnifying glass are continuing to add to it.
Xie Tan found Director Jiang through this post; she had helped clean up the mess for students who had been involved in the ghost incident.
Other members of the travel agency had actually appeared before. For example, in the story of a college student jumping off a building, Sun Enze was acting as a backdrop for the bullying when the student suddenly fell, scaring away the bullying group.
For example, Chang Mingai, who went to high school with Xi Rui, and the young lady who is a regular popular character like Xi Rui, are the ones who invested money to start the travel agency.
After all, we can't expect the school to be a sucker and pay for their entertainment every time.
Furthermore, the club must submit a report on the scenery and local customs at the end of each trip.
Popular characters all have their own discussion threads, and after the new series started, Xie Tan also had his own thread.
There were many familiar IDs who helped him fill in the gaps in the forum's imagination and boosted his visibility. Xie Tan called them his "list of benefactors."
There are also special posts that record recurring characters and elements.
As the new series unfolds, another post appears titled "Guessing the Main Characters," which is a collection of speculations by readers based on the previous series, focusing on Lu Jinzhao, the true protagonist. These speculations include members of the club and even his neighbor.
Choosing to live opposite the main character from the start was definitely the right decision. Xie Tan and Cat Number 7 high-fived.
There are two other characters: one is a miserable, unlucky office worker who has received help from Lu Jinzhao on several occasions.
The pairing of a carefree, youthful man and a hard-working man who has been through the harsh realities of society for years and is covered in the smell of a factory worker is quite interesting.
Although the latter is older, when they get together, it is Lu Jinzhao who comforts and encourages the other, while the latter listens attentively like a junior and is moved by him.
Once, a corporate slave got drunk after being laid off, and Lu Jinzhao stayed with him until dawn. When the slave heard the last part, he was in tears, crying out that Lu Jinzhao was an angel, a rare normal person, a good person, and the only brilliance in his life.
There was another person, someone Xie Tan knew, Xue Hong, who was originally a criminal police officer in the Criminal Investigation Detachment of Diqiu City.
In one story, he was knocked unconscious and locked in a car, which was then pushed into an empty reservoir.
He regained consciousness halfway through the journey, but his left arm was severely injured and he couldn't lift it. His right hand was handcuffed to the car, and his legs and feet were also slightly fractured, making it difficult for him to break free, while the car was sinking rapidly.
Lu Jinzhao, who was staying at a nearby resort, had recently become obsessed with fishing and happened to be going to the reservoir these past few days. Hearing his cries for help, they found him and rescued him.
Subsequent investigation revealed that no one pushed the car, nor had the car been tampered with; it malfunctioned on its own and slowly drove towards the reservoir. The robbery gang that had knocked Xue Hong unconscious locked him in the car and then fled.
The truth of the story is that the water ghost pulled the car into the water.
After the accident, Xue Hong's left arm was left with a minor problem. Fortunately, it wasn't his right hand, which he uses for writing. He voluntarily applied to leave the front line and was transferred to a police station to take a less demanding job.
Forum analysis suggests that Xue Hong was actually going with the flow; he appears to be investigating both major forces.
Lu Jinzhao was his savior, and he was always getting involved in cases. Over time, Xue Hong became even more familiar with him.
In this way, the main character group is quite rich. The universally acknowledged protagonist is Lu Jinzhao, Xi Rui from the Mirror Cult, Chang Mingai and Sun Enze from the Diqiu University, and the young lady provides funds and other conveniences, making the main character group's actions more logical. The difficulty is not the lack of money, and the wealthy family inevitably has to deal with the two major forces of Diqiu, which can also provide information on the actions of the two major forces outside of metaphysics, providing another perspective.
There are also office workers who have entered the workforce, and experienced retired frontline criminal police officers.
And his mysterious neighbor.
But Xie Tan realized one thing: the forum had previously stated that there were no characters with the "Black Goat Family" attributes in this team.
In fact, the Black Goat family has not appeared in two series of Kitan. When they are mentioned occasionally, it is because of the lingering influence of the family, and they are even ridiculed for their declining fortunes.
But there have been no new developments, as if the family has vanished without a trace.
It wasn't until this series that such a side branch appeared.
Xi Rui's words also indicate that the Black Goat family is not simply living in seclusion, but rather lying dormant for the sake of their family prophecy.
The story of this family is about to unfold once again.
As one of the two major forces in the main storyline, how could it be completely absent from the main characters' group?
The forum members already had their choice: him.
He casually disrupted the Black Goat's summoning ritual, used a scapegoat to kill a collateral branch of the Black Goat family, took the collateral branch's hair ornament, claimed to hate goats, and lured out the hidden traces of the Black Goat family. Furthermore, the cult's main force and vice-leader, who both disliked the Black Goat, endorsed him, suggesting that he intended to join forces with the cult.
This is the character representing the Black Goat family's storyline!
Many readers speculate that he is a descendant of the Black Goat, but further speculations are varied, such as he is the new generation heir of the family, an abandoned son, or a bloodline that has been left behind.
Xie Tan rested his face on his hand in distress. These directions were all very good. In terms of identity, he was already distinguished from other important characters, and there was also the story of the entire family waiting for him to take advantage of.
The problem is that he doesn't have the blood of a black goat and knows nothing about his family.
Everyone believed that he had a deep entanglement with the Black Goat family, which allowed them to lie dormant for many years and then suddenly appear for him. He also knew the prophecy concerning the truth of the family's dormancy and its key fate.
Putting aside his currently nonexistent purpose, the most urgent task is to find out where he is and what the prophecy is.
Isn't this on the verge of being exposed at any moment?
Xie Tan sat in the library, books spread out on the table, still expressionless, but his mind was already blank.
The cat didn't understand, but actively comforted Xie Tan, allowing him to barely recover some health.
He reread the comic and combined it with the forum analysis.
There are several tracks of the black goat, and he needs to find the one that the vice-leader is about to send Xi Rui to.
Although Xi Rui was eager to know where he had gone, the cult wouldn't rely entirely on an outsider; they must have their own leads.
The first step the travel agency took was to test the waters by not setting a specific beach vacation location.
Xi Rui wanted to find out where he was going so that he could use his intelligence to further confirm the accuracy of the Mirror Cult's information.
Fortunately, he maintained his persona of having a bad temper and ignored Xi Rui.
Furthermore, Xi Rui did not expect to be sent, so the vice leader must have had deeper considerations in choosing him.
His brilliance lies in his other identity as a college student, which allows him to conveniently go to the mission location under the guise of a club vacation.
That means not only finding out about the Black Goat family, but also monitoring and testing him.
Since he can use group tours as a shield, this place can't be so remote that it's unknown or an unpopular tourist spot.
The vice-leader also said, "The ghostly figure in the rain, used by the Black Goat bloodline, is no accident."
Xi Rui's understanding is that this is of course related to Xie Tan, and Xi Rui clearly also guessed that he was of Black Goat blood.
But Xie Tan knew that wasn't the case, so the "black goat bloodline" mentioned by the vice leader referred to a collateral branch of the family.
A collateral branch easily wrested control of the vengeful spirit from the capable followers.
The young master didn't seem to be hiding his abilities, otherwise he wouldn't have been marginalized and easily killed by the bubble clone.
That's because they benefited from their family's influence.
The painting of Bubble likely originally belonged to the Black Goat family.
Therefore, Xie Tan has been collecting information about the Reef Art Museum to find the source of the paintings.
Bubbles are related to water, and the eastern side of Fueyuu City is bordered by the sea, which is the source of the river that flows through Fueyuu City and Fueyuu University.
And the wind chimes from Sun Enze No. 2 were very timely; they were a gift from the young master to the sacrificial offerings, and it's impossible that he had good intentions.
The young master has also been to the beach for vacation and can use bubble painting. His vacation spot is very likely the place Xie Tan is looking for.
The wind chimes are made of seashells and obsidian with strange characters and unique craftsmanship. They are definitely not cheap souvenirs sold in tourist areas, but rather products made with local craftsmanship and have folk cultural significance.
Xie Tan couldn't be found online, but fortunately, Director Jiang was a librarian and very familiar with the library's books. He happened to see Xie Tan frowning at the empty spaces on the bookshelves and pointed him to another section of the bookshelves.
"Go take a look over there. People often put the books on these two bookshelves upside down. They're mostly geography books. You can also look at the books on the other side, which are more about folklore."
"Thanks."
Jiang Linji smiled and said, "Your courses will be a bit more intensive after the holidays. Take advantage of the holidays to have a good vacation. In the summer, everyone goes to the beach and seaside to relax."
Xie Tan lazily flipped through the book: "If I could, I really wouldn't want to go to that kind of place."
This is the truth, it was so sunny and I was so tired.
During his holidays, he still prefers to sleep in at home for long periods. When he wakes up, he orders takeout, and after eating, he reads comics, reads novels, and plays games.
Jiang Linji smiled, shook his head, and returned to his office.
Xie Tan indeed found the book he was looking for, and following Director Jiang's advice, he also borrowed two books on folk customs.
He searched for tourist attractions near the sea, compared them with several books, and finally identified his target.
The eastern side of Diqiu is bordered by the sea. Due to its special geographical location, it has had many exchanges with overseas cultures since ancient times. The southeast corner is known as the Art Harbor, where art exhibitions and small-scale special festival celebrations are frequently held.
The Art Harbor happens to be the direction pointed to by one of the goat's horns in the goat painting.
Reef Art Museum is too niche, and its founder is just a private collector driven by interest, so there is not much media coverage.
Because of the deep collaboration with Fuechu University, I was interviewed by the university's news department in the form of a written conversation.
The founder said that he originally wanted to renovate a closed art museum in a small town in the Art Harbor, so he chose this name, but they couldn't reach an agreement, so they chose the city instead.
Xie Tan suspected that the painting belonged to that closed art museum.
During the upcoming holiday, Art Harbor will also host a grand and unique Water Splashing Festival, which is also a commemorative day for cultural exchanges between the area and overseas.
Art Harbor is a general term for the southeastern coast, covering a wide area with many scenic spots and villages. Xie Tan searched through reports and articles from recent years but found no art museums with bubble paintings, nor any news about murders in the rain.
But he found news reports about missing passengers.
A family of four drove to "The End of the Sunset," the last scenic spot on the coastline, but never returned.
After the holiday ended, the couple did not go to work, and the company could not contact them at all, so they reported it to the police.
When the police arrived at the house, they found that the family had not returned.
Contacting the Yuhui Jintou Scenic Area to search for the family's whereabouts, reviewing surveillance footage, and interviewing many merchants and tourists from the same period, it was discovered that the family had not entered the scenic area at all.
Highway surveillance footage showed that their car passed the penultimate scenic spot, "Sparkling Waves," but never reached the end of the afterglow.
The car disappeared between the two scenic areas.
Xie Tan guessed there were more details in the case, but it was just an ordinary missing person case, too common in Diqiu, and there was no further reporting.
The end of the sunset is not the end of the coastline, but there is only a road further ahead in the scenic area, which is suitable for driving to watch the sunrise and see the sea. Xie Tan originally thought that the family had made this decision on a whim, but did they disappear before the sunset ended?
However, there is only one road between the last two scenic areas, unless you drive into the boundless forest outside the road.
The vast forest has no roads, and it is difficult to reach the scenic area even by walking along the coast.
Xie Tan repeatedly compared the map and discovered that the main road leading away from the end of the afterglow, deeper into the forest to the end of the sea, was the exact southeast corner, which also best matched the direction of the ram's horn.
Is there really only forest here?
The last two scenic spots do have similar seashell wind chimes, but they are different in terms of craftsmanship and texture.
Xie Tan finally decided on the location, bought the earliest bus ticket to the end of Yu Hui during the holiday, and also got a student discount.
He planned to go to the scenic area first to see what was going on, and then find an opportunity to go deeper into the forest.
Xie Tan took a sip of his cold drink and slumped weakly onto the table.
There's nothing he can do about it now; otherwise, he'll be spending a beautiful holiday alone by the sea.
He flipped through the comics; the new story was called "Sleeping Beauty".
The story opens with a group of people from a travel agency entering the gates of an unfinished musical theater in the night fog.
Their figures were hazy and lost in the fog, and with the help of light and shadow, they were somewhat difficult to discern.
Xie Tan noticed that Xue Hong also had a scene. He was quite old and it wasn't a whim for him to join the young people on their adventure. He just had something he wanted to ask Lu Jinzhao and Chang Mingai, and he happened to see them acting suspiciously while driving, so he followed them.
During a break from the haunted theater, Xue Hong also took the opportunity to ask them more about bubble paintings.
They were also shown a photo of Zhu Fengliang and asked if they had seen the fugitive.
Chang Ming hesitated whether to tell the truth, but Lu Jinzhao directly answered Xue Hong's confusion, saying that he was already dead.
Hearing Lu Jinzhao's bizarre story and learning that Zhu Fengliang had been burned to death by a strange fire, Xue Hong was not surprised, and even somewhat used to it.
Because he knew that what he was investigating was not a normal event.
To Xie Tan's surprise, Xue Hong asked about the bubble painting because he was investigating cases that seemed to create ghostly figures in the rain—those who, according to rumors, entered the rain after despair and wandered there forever.
The earliest rumor he could trace back was about a photographer who was disappointed in a competition. People around him said he had no talent and advised him to give up, but the more they said that, the more his unwillingness to accept defeat intensified.
So, to prove himself, he braved the rain and drove out alone, hoping to capture a perfect sunrise over the sea.
Then he disappeared. The police eventually found his broken-down car on the roadside in front of the scenic area, but he was nowhere to be found.
And the place he was heading towards was the end of the afterglow.
A pillar in the theater collapsed. Xue Hong was a step too slow, but his reaction was quick enough to escape unharmed. He was then immediately led away from the danger zone by the quick-witted Chang Ming'ai.
As they left the theater, Xue Hong joked to himself, "I'm really getting old. Shall I take you home?"
Chang Mingai said worriedly, "Uncle Xue, are you really not hurt? Don't worry about us, go back and rest."
"I've taken several days off and enjoyed a short holiday, so I have plenty of time to rest." Xue Hong opened the car door. "I'm also planning to go out for a stroll. Don't worry, I'm not that useless. Get in the car."
"We're also planning to go on a trip. There are only three days left until the holiday. We want to see the sea in the summer."
"It seems my thinking is still very youthful."
"Is Uncle Xue going to the beach too?"
"Yes, we're leaving tomorrow night. You'll be taking the bus?"
"No, we have Miss's chartered car, thank you Miss," Chang Mingai said with a smile. "We might even run into each other again!"
I'm taking leave to go on a long trip to the seaside.
Is it a vacation or an investigation at the Art Harbor?
They are all members of the main cast.
Xie Tan calmly exited the interface, no longer needing to wait for the preview image of the new story; he had chosen the right place.
The bus he booked is also leaving tomorrow night, while Xue Hong is probably driving himself; they might run into each other first.
But before setting off, Xie Tan thought he should go and meet this policeman.
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