Chen Kaijie and the others immediately understood what was happening and felt a lingering fear as they looked at Shen Qingqiu.
Xiao Muyu gritted her teeth and coldly tore up the note. Her heart was filled with both anger and lingering fear. If they hadn’t found Shen Qingqiu in time, the last jar would have been prepared for her.
Xiao Muyu carefully examined the other eight jars, each marked with a birth date and time. She read them all and discovered that they all belonged to women with pure Yang life fates.
“He isn’t afraid of being killed by the curse,” Su Jin found it incomprehensible. They had killed the girls, drained their blood into these jars, and placed talismans on them. Clearly, there was a purpose for these actions.
“It seems this explains why these eight girls were chosen. In his belief, women are inherently Yin, and those with pure Yang fates are particularly special. The talismans appear strange as well. They must serve a special purpose, possibly a formation that helps him achieve something. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have harmed these eight girls before coming after Qingqiu and me.”
Although Xiao Muyu didn’t fully understand the strange practices in this setting, she knew that he had chosen such a sinister method of revenge to slowly torture the Shen and Xiao families.
As for how Baihe Langjun, who died many years ago, turned into a fierce ghost, only those involved might know.
After finishing, she removed all the birth dates from the jars and also took down all the talismans.
When the last talisman was removed, a chilling wind swirled out from the eight jars, followed by the sound of wailing and sobbing above them. This made them feel both scared and sorrowful. However, the sounds soon quieted down.
Xiao Muyu couldn’t bear to look at the eight girls any longer and softly said, “Let’s go back. We’ve dealt with the ghosts. The rest can be handed over to the authorities. These eight girls deserve to be buried properly.”
The others nodded in agreement. Xiao Muyu glanced at Shen Qingqiu and then walked over to carry her on her back again, “Let’s go home.”
Just then, the system chimed in, announcing, “Main quest 1 for instance 007: Find the missing girls, progress 1/1. Main storyline progress: 75%. Next, main quest 2 for instance 007: Resolve the grievances and grudges from twenty years ago. Identify the key figures from twenty years ago, 3/? Complete the key figures’ stories of love and hate, 2/.”
Xiao Muyu frowned at the reminder in front of her. The question marks and numbers, 3 and 2, were puzzling.
They pondered over the second quest as they walked.
“Key figures? This probably refers to the main people involved in the Dong family massacre twenty years ago. The game deliberately hides the total number of key figures. Is there some special person not accounted for?” Su Jin wondered aloud as they walked.
They thought they were nearing the end, but suddenly, this new quest appeared.
“We don’t yet know who the key figures from the Dong family are, but from the memorial tablets and our previous encounters, the Dong couple likely aren’t main characters, nor do they have any stories of love and hate. After all, they were completely killed in that massacre and probably don’t know anything,” Xiao Muyu spoke up as she quietly carried Shen Qingqiu towards Yizhou City.
She kept thinking about the previous events and the numbers 3 and 2.
Su Jin and the others nodded in agreement, acknowledging her points.
“But now we need to find the key figures to understand the past. The numbers 3 and 2 seem odd to me. Logically, shouldn’t it be 5 and 3?” Su Jin was perplexed.
She analyzed seriously, “Think about it, we know Xiao’s father, Xiao Qian, and the deputy’s father, Shen Wanlin, were the main culprits back then. Mei Qianqian and Miao Anli were likely the killers. Although some details are unclear, we’ve identified five key figures, haven’t we? As for the stories of love and hate, we should find out everything by questioning them. This quest isn’t as complicated as it seems.”
Chen Kaijie agreed, “Yes, the quest doesn’t seem complicated now. Like Su Jin, I’m unclear about the numbers’ meaning, but it shouldn’t affect completing the quest.”
“Since the system confirmed three key figures, it must be those three. We’ve only figured out two of their stories, meaning there’s one whose story we haven’t…”
Xiao Muyu trailed off, feeling a sudden speechlessness and a tightening in her heart. Here we go again!
Sure enough, the system reappeared to assert its presence, “Please analyze and answer: Which three key figures have been confirmed? Whose stories of love and hate have been clarified?”
“Do not communicate secretly or exchange information. If your brain isn’t working, donate it; this instance’s NPCs like to use brains to make paper dolls. So, think independently. Since it’s been a while since you had an essay question, this will be a Q&A. Please answer and explain your reasons. The team’s scores will convert to NPC favorability, which you should know the value of. Prepare individually and maintain proper spacing, no clustering.”
Chen Kaijie was furious, “What secret communication? Your language teacher must be turning in their grave.”
“Quiet, prepare immediately and maintain normal spacing.”
Xiao Muyu put down Shen Qingqiu, and in an instant, the five of them were dragged to a so-called examination room, following a familiar routine.
“You have three minutes. Think carefully. If you get no points, you will immediately become paper dolls. Wrong answers will be punished based on severity, which you can look forward to.”
Xiao Muyu’s expression changed slightly. She glanced at the others; Chen Kaijie and Su Jin were visibly nervous. Despite their confidence, this life-and-death situation was frightening.
Shen Qingqiu appeared calm, but she still looked unwell. Her poor state might affect her performance.
Shen Qingqiu, aware of Xiao Muyu’s concern, smiled and nodded reassuringly before focusing on the questions. She knew that doing her best was the most helpful thing for Xiao Muyu.
Having gone through many instances, they had reached a consensus: unless the logic was flawless, speculations wouldn’t suffice as answers for the system. Everything needed evidence.
If there is no evidence, there must be established facts, just like in “The Seventh Death Class,” where Xiao Muyu used powerful logical reasoning and keen observation to deduce most of the plot early on. However, to conclude the storyline, all reasoning needed to be backed by evidence.
The system kept throwing obstacles in their way, but it did adhere to the rules; otherwise, it could easily have killed them off.
The numbers 3 and 2 were clearly set as key points from the beginning, yet it did not immediately require them to answer.
Su Jin’s confusion and Xiao Muyu’s silence provided significant hints to Shen Qingqiu, as well as to Chen Kaijie and Zuo Tiantian.
What constitutes a primary character is an established fact or evidence. With this in mind, Shen Qingqiu could piece together the plot.
Regardless of whether Baihe Langjun’s words were true or false, he was definitely a main character, so he had to be one of the three.
Shen Qingqiu unhesitatingly wrote Baihe Langjun Dong Zhongxuan under both questions.
There was no need to overthink the remaining two primary characters. Shen Qingqiu quickly completed the answers.
The unresolved issue was who to fill in for the remaining character, given that two main characters’ love and hatred were already clear.
Seeing Xiao Muyu already making her argument, Shen Qingqiu wrote three words next to Baihe Langjun’s name and began explaining the reasoning.
Su Jin’s mention of five possible people made sense, but the system only showed three. This was based on their team’s knowledge.
Meaning they truly had evidence to prove the involvement of only three people. Among the five, Mei Qianqian and Miao Anli were mere speculations without any proof, so their involvement couldn’t be confirmed, let alone their love and hatred.
Shen Qingqiu easily grasped this point, and so did Chen Kaijie, Su Jin, and Zuo Tiantian.
Chen Kaijie thought it through clearly: out of the five, Xiao Qian and Shen Wanlin’s unknown past was told by Dong Zhongxuan.
If Baihe Langjun lied, then not only was his love and hatred false, but so were Shen Wanlin and Xiao Qian’s experiences.
This meant the remaining two people whose love and hatred were known, as shown by the system, excluded Baihe Langjun, Shen Wanlin, and Xiao Qian.
Thus, Baihe Langjun’s words had to be true, and their evidence came from his testimony.
But why was the love and hatred of only two people complete?
Logically, there should be three: Dong Zhongxuan, Xiao Qian, and Shen Wanlin. Whose experience did they not fully know?
From Chen Kaijie’s memory, among the five, he knew Baihe Langjun the most, followed by Shen Wanlin. Except for Shen Qingqiu, others shouldn’t know more than he did.
Su Jin was just a close friend of the Shen family’s eldest daughter, so her knowledge of others was limited.
Zuo Tiantian was a cousin from the Xiao family, knowing a bit about Mei Qianqian and Xiao Qian.
Of course, Xiao Team knew the most, Chen Kaijie mentally noted, but he suddenly thought of a question and understood why only three main characters were identified, yet only two were fully known for their love and hatred! He then started writing.
Xiao Muyu was the first to stop writing. She looked around and saw everyone else was writing too.
Shen Qingqiu, although slower, still managed to smile at her, indicating confidence.
Three minutes passed quickly, and Shen Qingqiu submitted the final word, sending their answers.
Xiao Muyu immediately supported her. Shen Qingqiu leaned on her, enjoying the pampering, rebelling against the system’s sarcasm about her and Xiao Muyu by sticking close to her.
“So tired, my hand hurts.” She complained coquettishly, albeit exaggeratedly.
Xiao Muyu, understanding her little ploy, smiled and looked at her before softly saying, “I’ll massage it for you.”
Shen Qingqiu offered her right hand, whispering in her ear, “Aren’t we being quite affectionate in secret?”
Xiao Muyu paused, giving her a stern look, “Stop talking nonsense.”
Their open affection was obvious. Chen Kaijie glanced at Su Jin and Zuo Tiantian, “Do Xiao Team and the Deputy Team trust us this much?” without worrying about their performance.
Su Jin snidely remarked, “Your performance is less important than the Deputy Team’s.”
Chen Kaijie had no response.
The system soon evaluated their performance, evidently displeased, “Congratulations, everyone answered correctly.”
Their answers appeared, surprisingly similar, differing only in brevity.
Especially the last point, most answered that Xiao Muyu lacked memory of the Xiao family, thus Xiao Qian’s life was unknown to their team, narrowing the main characters to three but with clear knowledge only of Dong Zhongxuan and Shen Wanlin.
Xiao Muyu pretended to massage Shen Qingqiu’s hand, then held it while looking at the system’s scores.
Their performance was perfect. Five participated, and all answered correctly. Zuo Tiantian and Chen Kaijie lost some points for lack of precision, but no penalties.
Converted to NPC favorability, they saw perfect scores increase favorability by 1 point, with Chen Kaijie and Zuo Tiantian earning 0.8 points.
Favorability was unusually low, and the favorability was individually distributed. They had to choose whom to allocate it to.
Looking at the names Xiao Qian, Shen Wanlin, Shen Yurou, Mei Qianqian, and Miao Anli, they felt overwhelmed.
Favorability conversion rates varied. For Xiao Muyu, favorability converted to Xiao Qian at 200%, Mei Qianqian at 80%, Shen Wanlin at 150%, and only 10% for Miao Anli.
Shen Qingqiu’s favorability for Shen Yurou and Shen Wanlin was 200%, Miao Anli 40%, Mei Qianqian 50%, and Xiao Qian 150%.
The family ties were evident.
For Chen Kaijie, Su Jin, and Zuo Tiantian, conversion was a normal 100%, showing less bias from Miao Anli and Mei Qianqian.
“What do we do?” Chen Kaijie was puzzled.
Shen Qingqiu, with a headache, suggested, “We don’t need to choose now; we have a day. Let’s go back before the system finds a reason to intervene.”
Her suggestion was wise. They were exhausted. This dungeon offered no respite, bombarding them with terrifying mysteries.
Xiao Muyu glanced at Shen Qingqiu, knowing she was even more tired, so she carried her, saying, “Let’s go back.”
Author’s note: Encountered an error due to missing parameters. They deserve a break; this is wrapping up.
