The village chief spoke while turning his eyes towards Chu Tianshu and the other person, hoping they could help smooth things over. Unexpectedly, Lin Huai, who seemed to be smiling, was actually toying with the sickle in his hand, bending the blade into an ‘S’ shape one moment and an ‘L’ shape the next, not sparing a glance at him. Standing in front of him, Chu Tianshu clearly didn’t play along either. He looked as if he had been greatly insulted and angrily said, “A misunderstanding? How can such a thing be a misunderstanding? Who saw me robbing him? Is there any evidence?”
“There is evidence, of course, there is evidence!” The leader, taken aback by his shamelessness, urgently said, “Who didn’t see it? You took that little bastard Ren Qiu and moved everything back to the Ren family…”
“You say you saw it, but do you have any video?” Chu Tianshu retorted, “As everyone knows, pictures can be photoshopped, and videos can be edited. So tell me, what exactly did we take? Moreover, we absolutely cannot tolerate such slander against our reputation.” Chu Tianshu lamented, “How could two weak men like us rob over a dozen households? Are the men in their families all dead, raised on porridge?”
“That’s right, this is a serious insult to our character,” Lin Huai said with a smile, “I can testify that those households voluntarily gave us their belongings yesterday.”
“The pure friendship of the villagers, interpreted by you as a robbery, is truly heartbreaking…” Chu Tianshu said, “Didn’t your nine years of compulsory education teach you the values of truth, kindness, and beauty? Have you been selfish and devoid of humanity since childhood, imagining everyone to be as despicable as you? No, I must tell you, those villagers yesterday are not like you, because they possess great, kind souls.”
The villagers: …
“Thank you for the watermelon,” Chu Tianshu said as he hoisted the watermelon onto his shoulder, “Amid such slander, only this watermelon allows me to feel the beauty of humanity. Lin Huai, let’s go, let’s retreat to a dark corner to lick our wounds.”
“Wait a moment,” Lin Huai grabbed a handful of green onions from the side, “Let’s consider this compensation for the mental distress caused by your gossip.”
Then, he casually threw the bent sickle to the ground. Everyone stared in shock at the sickle, watching the two bullies leave.
However, at that moment, a frantic cry came from the crowd: “Don’t be fooled by them! These two people… these two people are Ghosts!”
Lin Huai turned towards the sound and saw the villager from the third household yesterday, panting heavily, holding a yellow talisman: “I brought the talisman from Priest Qingxu! Under this talisman, they will surely reveal their true forms!”
The talisman glowed with radiant light. Lin Huai looked at it, and his eyes hurt.
—How could there be such a powerful item here?
At his words, the crowd erupted in chaos, scattering in all directions. Chu Tianshu stood in the vacuum zone, utterly confused: “Why do you say we’re Ghosts?”
“Because… because…” The villager struggled for words but suddenly lunged at Chu Tianshu, “Ghosts! Hand over your lives!”
Chu Tianshu, with a yellow talisman stuck to his face: …
The villager, shouting “This can’t be!” was dragged away by others. Chu Tianshu peeled the talisman off his face and exclaimed in surprise, “Wow, it’s a blue-tier item. This breaks the Game balance…”
After saying that, he unceremoniously pocketed the talisman and said to Lin Huai, “Let’s go back. The people here are all crazy, thinking we’re Ghosts.”
Lin Huai: …
Just as the two walked out of the market, the village chief caught up with them: “I heard you two… how could you go to the Ren family? Don’t you know they are…”
Before he could finish, Chu Tianshu’s cold gaze silenced him. Then, Chu Tianshu said icily, “Sometimes, you so-called living people are much more disgusting than terrifying dead people.”
“By the way,” Lin Huai added, “We’ve already figured out everything you’ve been hiding. Instead of hoping for the taskers to solve your problems, you should think about how to improve the moral education in the village.”
“This is also within the Game,” Chu Tianshu complained, “In the real world, half your village would be behind bars for aiding and abetting.”
The village chief, unwilling to give up, tried to follow, but Lin Huai, walking ahead, turned back and said, “Do you know how many steps it takes to kill a person?”
“One, slit the throat. Two, death. Three, the system selects a new executor.” He made a throat-slitting gesture, “Instead of worrying about our freedom of action, worry about your own head. Thinking you can hinder us, do you think having a zero on your head makes you the Zero Executor? Without popularity, trying to play the villain will only get you quickly written off…”
“What on earth are you talking about…”
After saying that, he chuckled lightly and disappeared into the alley with Chu Tianshu.
The two brought all the items to the Ren family, but to their surprise, Ren Qiu was not inside.
After losing the young boy who lived there, the already dilapidated courtyard now felt even more desolate. A cold wind whistled through the fallen leaves, and for a moment, the entire house seemed like a haunted mansion. Lin Huai walked around the courtyard, directing Chu Tianshu to put down the food.
‘…There’s a strange smell in this courtyard.’
Chu Tianshu thought this as he was in the kitchen, when a small piece of paper was blown by the wind into his sight. He snatched it with lightning speed, like a cat catching a mosquito.
Then, he unfolded it.
‘…Another pair of little hand-holding figures.’
What appeared in his hand was clearly one of the many paper-cuts made by Ren’s mother. Chu Tianshu examined the figures, thinking the craftsmanship was not even half as good as his own, when he suddenly felt a gaze upon him, coming through a hole in the wall.
He vaguely remembered that the house next to the Ren family was where the two women, Ruan and Yan, were staying with Grandma Sun. He looked over and saw a green skirt corner fluttering by the haystack in the opposite courtyard.
‘It must be that girl Du Xiaoran peeking at me… Speaking of which, she seems to be the fifth victim.’ Chu Tianshu stroked his chin, ‘It’s normal for a girl her age to be curious about strangers. Since that’s the case, I’ll go over and satisfy her curiosity…’
On the other side of the hole, Du Xiaoran hid behind a tree, timidly observing the Ren family across the way.
‘…Those strange people again, no, this can’t go on!’ She thought, ‘…I must find a way, a way to escape from here… I saw it, it will surely come for me…’
Thinking of the terrifying scene she witnessed that night, her fingers clutching the pillar turned even whiter from the force. No matter what… Whether she had done those cruel things to Ren Chun before her death or not, she didn’t want to stay here anymore… She tried to tell her mother to move out of the house… But where could they move to? Moreover, her stubborn mother wouldn’t listen to her.
‘That’s right, Ying Xia!’ A spark of inspiration flashed in her mind, ‘I’ll go tell him, he’ll surely have a way!’
As soon as the thought settled, she decided to stand up from her hiding place in the haystack and head to the Ying family. Unexpectedly, as soon as she rubbed her legs, the young man in the opposite courtyard holding the paper-cut figure disappeared.
“…Huh?”
Du Xiaoran rubbed her eyes, unable to believe what she was seeing. The young man’s figure had indeed completely vanished. She took a step back, but her foot stepped on something soft, causing her to scream.
However, before she could make a sound, a cold hand covered her mouth. The young man’s voice whispered in her ear, “So it’s you who’s been watching me?”
Her voice completely stifled, Du Xiaoran’s eyes rolled back, almost fainting. Another hand pressed hard on her philtrum: “Hey hey, don’t faint yet, you stepped on my shoe.”
“…You! You!” After a while, Du Xiaoran, now free to speak, pointed at Chu Tianshu in shock and anger, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”
Facing her accusation, Chu Tianshu looked a bit aggrieved: “I came to satisfy your curiosity.”
Du Xiaoran: …
“I don’t care who you are, if you come closer, I’ll call for help.” Du Xiaoran pulled out a wooden stick from behind the haystack, trembling as she pointed it at Lin Huai, “What are your intentions? Why are you in my house? What do you want?”
Facing her wary demeanor, Chu Tianshu raised his hands and said, “Young lady, I see a dark aura around your forehead, indicating an impending disaster. Recently, have you seen something unclean?”
He said this casually, but the girl’s face turned pale. She lowered the stick, cautiously looked around, and whispered, “…How do you know?”
“Not only do I know you’re facing a disaster, but I also know that what’s haunting you is a Female ghost. If I’m not mistaken, it’s Ren Chun from the Ren family next door.” Chu Tianshu spoke while raising his hands, observing the girl’s face growing paler, “But you’ve had no grudges with her recently, so how did she come to haunt you? Unless…” His expression turned cold, “You saw something you shouldn’t have?”
“…I didn’t see anything.”
“What?”
“I didn’t see anything, I know nothing, past or present…” A look of terror and distortion spread across the girl’s face, “Don’t come for me, all of you, don’t come for me…!”
Lin Huai sat on the doorstep, yawning and rubbing his eyes.
‘It’s been thirty minutes…’ He checked his watch, ‘Where did Chu Tianshu go?’
Just as he was about to go into the neighboring courtyard to check, footsteps came from behind. Lin Huai turned to see Ren’s mother, her hair gray, standing there with a dazed expression, holding a bunch of yellow paper in her hand.
“Aunt Ren? Why are you out here?” Lin Huai held her shoulders, trying to guide her back into the house. But the usually madwoman suddenly gripped his hand tightly, muttering, “Save him…”
“Save what?”
“Save my son, save Ah Qiu!” Aunt Ren grabbed his hand, “Save Ren Qiu!”
In her madness, she reached for Lin Huai’s head. Lin Huai dodged awkwardly, mindful that she was a woman, and had trouble breaking free. At that moment, Ren Qiu’s voice came from the courtyard entrance: “Mom!”
He put down what he was carrying and ran towards them. As soon as he appeared, the previously frantic Aunt Ren immediately calmed down. She was hugged by her son, trembling and silent.
After comforting his mother, Ren Qiu came over to apologize to Lin Huai: “…I’m really sorry, my mom, sometimes when she has an episode, she gets like this…”
“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Lin Huai rubbed the back of his head, lying through his teeth, “Anyway, she grabbed the hair at the back of my head, not the hairline…”
As he spoke, he awkwardly let down a few strands of his bangs, feeling a lingering fear.
Aunt Ren fell asleep in the room. When Ren Qiu came out, Lin Huai was staring at a photo on the wall that was turned backward. Seeing his puzzled expression, Ren Qiu smiled and explained, “That’s our family portrait.”
He turned the photo around: “This photo was taken five years ago, when Dad and Sister were still here… Now, it’s just the two of us.”
The photo was taken on a sunny day, with Ren’s father and mother standing in front of their newly built house, smiling brightly. In front of them were a boy and a girl, hand in hand, looking very close.
