INSIDER Chapter 21

After hearing the elder’s story, the events from twenty years ago seemed to have a definitive conclusion, vividly appearing in Lu Chu’s mind. A plain woman devotedly loved but failed to win the heart of a man, a beautiful woman left for riches, and years later, the man was finally moved by the plain woman and married her, even having a child together. However, it seemed the beautiful woman returned, causing the man to frequently leave the village and become cold towards his wife. Their arguments eventually led to the loss of their child. Most villagers believed the man’s mysterious and strange death was a revenge carried out by his unborn child.

The villagers believed in ghosts and spirits, and the circumstances of Guo Jianping’s death were too bizarre. The house filled with severed snake corpses and the lack of a visible culprit shrouded his death in an eerie mystery. People often attributed things they couldn’t explain to supernatural causes.

However, the elder didn’t know too much about the finer details and repeatedly warned Lu Chu not to delve into such matters, saying they weren’t meant for young people like him to understand.

Whether it was truly the unborn child’s revenge, Lu Chu couldn’t be certain. He felt that the situation wasn’t that simple.

Since it was a dual mission, it wouldn’t be that straightforward.

After finishing his meal and greeting the elder, Lu Chu left the house.

Thinking about the dual mission, Lu Chu finally remembered the missing Song Gui. He was so used to being alone that even without his supposed partner around, he didn’t feel much difference.

Walking along the road, Lu Chu discreetly observed his surroundings. Up to now, his eyes were still in the adaptation phase. He could recognize most everyday objects but couldn’t distinguish colors. The two regrets he had after gaining his sight were not having a photo of his parents and not knowing the color of Luo Bo’s fur.

Under the pretense of playing around, Lu Chu casually chatted with a few people on the road and found the courtyard that had once served as a school.

He wandered over like he was taking a stroll, stood on a few bricks stacked against the wall, and peeked inside. The courtyard was quite spacious, suitable for children to play in. There were three rooms in total, with only one used as a classroom—the village was small, so there were just enough children of school age to fill one classroom. Children aged six to their teens sat together. For the impoverished villagers, having free schooling was already fortunate enough, and they didn’t care about grade divisions. The other two rooms served as an office and a residence for Guo Jianping, who had no place to stay when he first arrived in the village.

After the incident, the village lost its free teacher, and these rooms were abandoned.

Lu Chu had just eaten lunch, and the sun was at its peak. Despite the bright daylight, standing in front of this overgrown former school gave him a slight chill.

With movements not exactly graceful, Lu Chu climbed over the low wall and entered the courtyard.

Besides the overgrown weeds and trees, there weren’t many clues. The office and residence were locked, but the classroom door was open.

Because of what happened back then, the “school” was abandoned immediately, and no one dared to clean it, fearing it was tainted. Over time, people gradually forgot about it. Lu Chu had come here precisely because of this—hoping that something left behind might provide important clues.

After surveying the area, he pushed open the door and walked in. Immediately, a damp, musty smell hit him, causing him to step back.

Once he adapted to the smell, he started searching the classroom.

The classroom was small, with benches and desks made from roughly treated wood. They had long since decayed, emitting a strange odor.

On the teacher’s desk lay a pile of ungraded homework. The notebooks were rough white paper sewn together with coarse thread, now yellowed and falling apart. Lu Chu picked up one and flipped through it, seeing numerous erasures and corrections, understandable given the poverty of the villagers. The children reused their notebooks until they were no longer usable.

The writing was mostly crooked, typical of young children just learning to write.

After flipping through all the notebooks, Lu Chu found another notebook inside the desk, written in fluent cursive. He knew this must be Guo Jianping’s handwriting, likely used as a teaching plan.

“Hmm… what’s this?”

As he flipped through, he found a photograph tucked inside the notebook.

The photo was yellowed, with the word “Guo” written on the back in pen. Flipping it over, he saw a black-and-white photo of a handsome man with glasses holding a beautiful young woman close.

The man was almost certainly Guo Jianping, and the woman, with her sweet appearance, was definitely not Wei Rong. She was likely the girl Guo Jianping had liked, the one who married him but disappeared years later.

The office and residence were locked, and the windows, dirty with years of dust, obscured any view inside. For now, Lu Chu had no intention of breaking in, so today’s exploration ended here.

Climbing back over the wall, his movements were much more agile.

When he returned home, he realized he had been out for a long time.

The villagers went to bed early; they rarely went out after dark except for festivals or major events. Besides the inconvenience of electricity, the elders believed one might encounter evil spirits at night.

Lu Chu returned home just as the elder was about to prepare dinner. He quickly helped, and after they ate, it was getting dark.

Lu Chu made his bed, thinking that without a time limit for this mission and with Song Gui’s whereabouts unknown, he didn’t need to rush. He could gather clues about the events from twenty years ago at his own pace and wait for Song Gui to arrive. Since it was a dual mission, there would naturally be limitations to what he could do alone.

———

He slept dreamlessly, waking to the sound of roosters crowing. Stepping outside, he found the elder already awake, sitting on a mat, burning paper money with a reverent expression, chanting quietly. After a while, she stood up, patted her knees, and bowed to the front.

It seemed to be a long-standing ritual.

Respecting the elder’s piety, Lu Chu also bowed and clasped his hands together. The elder, seeing this, smiled kindly and asked, “Hungry, dear? I’ll make breakfast.”

Lu Chu smiled shyly, “A little bit.”

“Alright then,” the elder headed to the kitchen, “Wait a moment, dear.”

“I’ll help you,” Lu Chu followed her.

After breakfast, they cleaned the yard together. As Lu Chu chatted with the elder, they suddenly heard a commotion outside. Living near the village entrance, they were always the first to know when something happened.

Lu Chu put down his broom and called out, “Grandma, I’ll go check it out and be right back,” before running off.

The elder shook her head with a smile, “Still a child’s temper, always in such a rush.”

Outside, Lu Chu saw many villagers gathered around, with the village head standing in front, smiling warmly and shaking hands with five young people, his attitude very respectful.

Curious, Lu Chu tugged on the sleeve of a boy around his age and whispered, “Do you know what’s going on?”

The boy, with a rough complexion and bright eyes, whispered back, “My mom said some young people came to shoot a movie here. They’re going to stay for a while to… what’s the word… scout locations!”

“Shooting a movie?” Lu Chu looked awed, “That’s amazing!”

The boy was equally excited, “Yeah! I heard they gave the village a lot of money. If they choose someone’s house to stay in, that family might get a lot of money too!”

As Lu Chu chatted with the boy, the village head finished talking with the five young people. Thinking of the money they had given, he was secretly pleased. City youngsters were different, coming up with the idea of making a movie and giving so much money to the villagers.

The village head smiled even more broadly, “Well then, let me show you around the village. We’re poor here, not as refined as you city folks, but everyone is kind and hospitable.”

Although he said that, he hoped the visitors would stay at his house, thinking it might bring him more money.

Regardless of his thoughts, the tour had to proceed.

The five people had come in two large SUVs, carrying their filming equipment, parked at the village entrance.

Agreeing to the village head’s suggestion, they nodded, and one of them said, “Please lead the way, village head.”

The villagers quickly made way for them to pass.

As the crowd parted, Lu Chu saw the five people, and at that moment, he was stunned, standing still with widened eyes.

In the middle stood Song Gui, who also saw Lu Chu, lazily waving. The others didn’t know who he was waving at, but Lu Chu knew it was a greeting for him.

However, what surprised Lu Chu wasn’t the expected meeting with Song Gui, but the tall man at the edge of the group. The man also glanced at Lu Chu, nodded almost imperceptibly, and then looked away.

7…

Number 7 was also here.

Lu Chu’s heart skipped a beat, and his eyes narrowed slightly. He knew that this “game” was likely more complex than he had anticipated.