Chapter 26: Relocating the Grave (14)

Jiang Shengsheng’s almond-shaped eyes gradually turned into spirals, circles spinning in her pupils.
Help, this was even more dizzying than her academic studies.
Xia Junyao pinched the tip of her dainty, upturned nose, a mix of amusement and annoyance in his expression: "My baby is such a little airhead."
But even a dizzy baby was adorable.

Xia Junyao and Qi Yiqing worked with high efficiency; in less than half an hour, they had mapped out the names on the spirit tablets and the three-generation lineage. Knowing more than the others, Qi Yiqing focused his attention on the period between fifteen and thirty years ago. Silently committing the names to memory, he glanced at the time—it was exactly noon, time for lunch.

The downpour had gradually ceased, replaced by a light, lingering drizzle. The red brick walls and blue-tiled roof of the self-built house were drenched, and the air was thick with the scent of damp earth. They had a quick, casual lunch before heading back out in the afternoon.

Just before they left, the other players arrived. Seeing them swarm into the living room, making the space feel cramped, Xia Junyao took Jiang Shengsheng’s hand and stepped out. Now was time for the players to discuss things among themselves.

"Where is Director Sun?" the girl with the ponytail scanned the room, noticing the absence of the fake director, and asked in a low voice.

Having lost his little NPC companion, Qi Yiqing’s mood had plummeted. He slumped onto the sofa and replied flatly, "He left on his own after lunch."

"Why didn't you restrain him?" the ponytail girl pressed.

Qi Yiqing’s expression soured, his tone even harsher: "Why should I? If you wanted to do it, you should have done it yourself. What does that have to do with me?"

The girl’s face flushed red from the retort. She opened her mouth to argue, but Liu Wanjun patted her shoulder from behind: "Now is not the time for this."

She swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue, frustrated and unwilling, but fell silent.

Liu Wanjun turned toward the red-haired man, who was lounging carelessly on the sofa, and said softly, "We are all players here to solve this mystery; we should help each other. Infighting is counterproductive." Her voice was gentle, and the ponytail girl’s expression visibly improved, clearly taking the advice to heart. Liu Wanjun sneered inwardly, satisfied.

To show her sincerity, Liu Wanjun took the initiative to share the clues her group had found: "The most recent dates on the spirit tablets in the ancestral hall are from nearly twenty years ago. We speculate that a catastrophic, uncontrollable event occurred twenty years ago, leading to the death of most of the men in Stone Village."

The number of spirit tablets from twenty years ago was the highest. Even though Stone Village’s economy had seen some development, their ideology remained backward—women were not allowed in the genealogy, women were meant only to serve their husbands and raise children, women without talent were considered virtuous... This was the tragedy of the era, and the tragedy of Stone Village.

Seeing that someone had broken the ice, the others looked at each other and began to speak up after a few seconds of silence:
"We found a shrine embedded into the mountain behind the village. The figure worshipped inside... it had no facial features, it was extremely twisted. Just looking at it made my head feel like it was splitting."
"The villagers are very hostile toward us and don't want to talk. I’m certain they know the truth about the matter."
"It's a pity we were driven out; we couldn't get a word out of them."

It was all information Qi Yiqing already knew. Feeling irritated, he rubbed his short hair, his thoughts drifting toward the hallway where he had been blocked earlier.

"Hey, we’ve all shared our findings. Are you trying to get a free ride? You look decent enough, but—"

The man who was shouting choked on his words when he met Qi Yiqing’s sharp, hawk-like gaze. Qi Yiqing, wearing a sour expression on his handsome face, dumped all the clues he had collected, then retreated back onto the sofa to sulk.

He couldn't take it anymore. If he told the little NPC he was willing to be her "1+2," would she spare him a glance? Even if—even if it was just a little!

The man who had been complaining earlier looked even worse when he realized Qi Yiqing had sneaked into the village chief’s house to find such important clues. He had assumed Qi was just a pretty face, but it turned out he actually had the skill to obtain vital information.

Liu Wanjun, sitting quietly to one side, felt a gleam of malice in her eyes. Just as she was about to clap her hands and stir up the others, a nondescript man with glasses sitting in the corner spoke up. He seemed shy and timid, dressed in a stiff suit and tie—the perfect image of a weary office worker—yet he had been so unassuming that the players had ignored his presence entirely. Even Liu Wanjun and Qi Yiqing found him unfamiliar.

Xie You had, of course, used an item: [Invisible Person Aura - Auxiliary Item].

Xie You pushed up his glasses and feigned timidity, shrinking his neck: "I found this in an abandoned house at the edge of the village." He pulled a rusty locket and a stack of reflective papers from his pocket.

The players took turns examining them. Qi Yiqing pulled himself together, his slender, well-defined fingers hooked the locket open to reveal the intricate filigree cover. The oval black-and-white photograph inside made his brow furrow, his expression turning serious.

Xie You, who had already seen the photo, curled his lips. He was curious: if the NPC saw this, how would she react? Oh, how he wanted to see it with his own eyes...

In the photo, a woman with soft, delicate features wore a high-neck sweater. Beside her, a man with sharp, striking features wore a stern expression, though his eyes betrayed his nervousness and shyness.

The two looked directly at the lens; they were the embodiment of a golden couple. What caught Qi Yiqing’s attention was the woman’s appearance—Jiang Shengsheng looked eighty percent like her!

Were they the little NPC’s parents?!

The photo acted like a missile, causing Qi Yiqing’s brain to buzz. The locket’s casing was still stained with mud, and the edges of the picture had faded to white, leaving only the man and woman relatively intact.

Passing the locket to the players who were watching eagerly, Qi Yiqing took the yellowed paper the previous person had been holding.

"...Vigorously promote the development of the rural economy... if you want to get rich, build roads first..." Qi Yiqing murmured the bold headlines on the newspaper. Though the font was a bit different, he grasped the general meaning—the nation was pushing for economic development, and the winds of road construction had reached this self-sufficient little village.

"Look at this too!"

Hearing the players’ successive cries of shock, Qi Yiqing steadied himself and unfolded the papers, which were so fragile they seemed ready to crumble at the slightest touch.

[I, Jiang Luo, voluntarily give up participating in the college entrance examination and am willing to remain in Stone Village to work hard for its development! I will strive for a beautiful tomorrow for Stone Village!]
[I, Shi Yusheng, voluntarily give up participating in the college entrance examination and am willing to remain in Stone Village, for...]
[...]

Every page contained the same text. It had been written by the educated youth who stayed in Stone Village back then, complete with dates, signatures, and fingerprints.

Qi Yiqing flipped through a few pages with a complex heart, unable to stop himself from cursing under his breath. It was so uniform he almost suspected the youths had been possessed. The other players leaned toward the theory that the educated youth had encountered an unsolvable problem, their weaknesses held by the village chief, forcing them to write these letters of voluntary withdrawal.

Jiang Luo, Shi Yusheng...

Qi Yiqing kept repeating the names in his mind. There was no doubt—these were Jiang Shengsheng’s biological parents. Her father’s surname wasn't "Shi" (stone), but the homophonous "Shi" (time).

An indescribable excitement coursed through his veins, the rising thrill making Qi Yiqing squint with pleasure. Look, he was the first to know the little NPC’s parents' names. Did that not mean he and the little NPC had an unbreakable bond?

It had to be!