The candle was brought to the dining table by the woman, emitting a faint white light that dimmed the once vibrant colors of the dishes.

The village chief's words exploded in the hearts of several people.

"In the coffin? Are you saying... Zhou Yongsheng is dead?" Ju Lan asked tremblingly.

"Huh, when did he die? Village chief, are you mistaken? I had contact with him just a few days ago," Carlos said without much surprise, a hint of probing in his blue eyes.

The village chief looked surprised. "Contact? Then I don't know. A few days ago, there was a heavy rain in this area. Xiao Sheng and his friends went up the mountain to play and accidentally got buried there. The villagers went through a lot of trouble to dig him out."

He said it with certainty, which meant that all the recent messages they received from Zhou Yongsheng were from a dead person.

As Yu Xing listened, his gaze swept over the fish in the plate. The aroma of the braised fish wafted into his nose, arousing his appetite.

From the current situation, Zhou Yongsheng was not an NPC advancing the plot, but a ghost.

So why did he lie and pretend to be a fan to bring him here?

Also, Ju Lan mentioned that her "boyfriend" and Zhou Yongsheng were classmates. If Zhou Yongsheng is confirmed dead, what about her boyfriend?

Licking his lips, Yu Xing felt a great regret. A tinge of sadness and sympathy appeared on his pale face.

"Zhou Yongsheng was a good person, quite cheerful. I didn't expect him to encounter an accident this year. I think since we knew each other, we should come and send him off."

Following the village chief's words, Yu Xing cleverly changed the purpose of his visit. Since so many people had a connection with Zhou Yongsheng and all the clues pointed to him, he believed that the main quest should also be related to him.

It was time to extract the main quest.

"It's great that Xiao Sheng has friends like you who came specifically to attend his funeral. I think he would be very happy to see you all in the coffin." The village chief liked Yu Xing a lot. This young man was fair-skinned, polite, and spoke well.

"Then, then what about the friends who went up the mountain with Zhou Yongsheng?" Ju Lan widened her eyes.

"Those young people... have all been found and dug out. However, they didn't look good, many parts of their bodies were rotten when they were dug out, not good-looking at all," the village chief shook his head.

Ju Lan's face changed.

"Don't feel regretful, it's a good thing you didn't come with them. Otherwise, you would have rotted too, not good-looking at all," the woman smiled, her face covered in flickering dim light.

Her words made everyone lose their appetite, whether it was because of the content of her words or the eerie expression on the village chief and the woman's faces when they talked about dead people.

Even though Ju Lan, Wei Fan, and Xu Hong didn't follow them to the kitchen, they could still sense that something was wrong. The village chief and the woman's logic was not like that of normal people.

Was it just these two, or was the whole village like this?

The food in their hands suddenly lost its appeal.

"Eat, it'll get cold if you don't." The village chief noticed that no one was touching their chopsticks and hurriedly urged them.

They couldn't eat this meal. What if eating triggered some death condition...

The few people who entered the kitchen thought this way and secretly exchanged glances with the others who were unaware, silently preventing them from eating this food of unknown origin.

Just then, a pair of chopsticks reached out in front of them and picked up a piece of scrambled egg.

"...?"

Everyone looked at it in surprise. They saw Wen Wenjing quietly putting a large piece of scrambled egg into her mouth, then picking up a piece of braised fish. Her cheeks bulged like an unguarded hamster.

"..."

Was she so hungry?

Was she so hungry that she didn't care about her life?

Xiao Xuechen frowned, inexplicably worried for him. She and San were separated by Ju Lan, so she reached out her hand under the table and discreetly pulled a tuft of fur from Yu Xing's plush coat, ignoring Ju Lan's astonished gaze.

Yu Xing was eating with gusto and felt his coat being tugged, but he pretended not to notice and smiled, "This dish is really delicious, you should all try it."

Xiao Xuechen retracted her hand and sighed. What should they do if their teammate spoke for the specter? She was waiting online, feeling quite anxious.

However, maybe he had a sacrificial item that could detect the authenticity of food...

Thinking this, she reluctantly extended her chopsticks and picked up a piece of bok choy to taste.

It was just average.

With them taking the lead, the other deductionists were half-believing, and since the village chief and the woman were watching, they casually ate a little.

Yu Xing swallowed the food in his mouth and casually asked, "When is the funeral?"

The village chief slapped his thigh. "Haha, Xiao Sheng hasn't been dead for long. Today is the seventh day, and the funeral will be tomorrow night. I'll take you all there."

Several death flags were raised in that sentence.

The seventh day and the funeral tomorrow, both didn't sound like safe time points.

[Main quest triggered: Attend Zhou Yongsheng's funeral and leave Guanjia Village alive.]

The main quest became clear at this moment, just as Yu Xing had speculated.

"We will stay and attend. Village chief, where will we stay tonight?" Wei Fan, the oldest deductionist at the table, looked at the rooms around the courtyard. It was obvious that there weren't enough rooms for all seven of them.

This meant that they would be separated tonight.

"These past few days have been a bother, we will pay for the accommodation," Xiao Xuechen quickly added. She had never mentioned her profession, although she and Wei Fan were colleagues, she didn't seem like an engineer.

Yu Xing had observed her carefully and guessed that she should be at the level of a boss, with a high social status in reality. Her tone, accustomed to being in a superior position, couldn't deceive anyone.

"No problem, I'll arrange the accommodation! Almost every household in our village has empty rooms. I'll find two reliable ones for you. Oh, right, our house can accommodate two people, there's an empty room with two beds inside!"

The village chief displayed his hospitable qualities and then eagerly looked at Yu Xing. "Young man, you can stay at our house. I think you have a good affinity, I really like you."

"Sure." Yu Xing smiled and agreed readily when he was singled out.

"Then I..." Carlos's eyes lit up, but he was interrupted by the woman.

The woman's dark eyes stared at Xiao Xuechen, giving her a sense of foreboding. "I think my daughter and you also have a good affinity. Little girl, you can also stay at our house."

Hiss...

Xiao Xuechen bit her lip quietly. She felt a surge of unease because she had seen the appearance of the woman's corpse earlier. Did that mean the ghost had marked her?

The tone sounded subtly sinister, like a threat.

It was almost telling her that something would happen to her tonight!

She wasn't sure if the village chief was a human with a problem in his brain or if he was also a specter, but what she could be certain of was that San's luck was not good, just like hers.

Being targeted by a ghost.

"But Aunt, Xiao Xuechen is a girl. It's not appropriate for her to stay with boys in the same room, right?" Carlos objected, his intention seemed to be to stay at the village chief's house.

"That's right, Aunt. I'm also a girl. I want to stay with Sister Xiao," Ju Lan, with her talent as a little girl, spoke with a hint of uneasiness after leaving home.

"Oh, there's no need for so much fuss in our village. What's wrong with a boy and a girl sleeping in the same room? It's not like they're sleeping on the same bed," the woman seemed determined, as if she had set her sights on Xiao Xuechen. Xiao Xuechen snorted inwardly.

"Alright, I don't mind." She was stared at by the woman one after another, and she was a little annoyed.

Did they really think she was easy to bully?

Also, sleeping in the same room as San... eye-catching!

Explore the extended edition on pawread dot com.

Yu Xing didn't mind either. In fact, it didn't matter who he shared a room with.

It wouldn't affect him.

Most of the people at this meal were not happy, except for Yu Xing, who had a particularly good appetite.

After dinner, the sky had completely darkened. Yu Xing remembered asking before that the villagers would come out to do activities after dusk.

He suggested going out for a walk, and since the village chief was also going to take them to other villagers' houses, they all went out together.

His accommodation had already been decided, so he didn't follow the group but walked in another direction as if he were strolling casually.

This village was really strange, without any disguise, almost openly strange. It was as if the words "something is wrong" were written on the surface.

As night fell, scattered white lights began to wander around the village.

The wind rustled the branches of the withered trees in the village, making a rustling sound. Other than that, there were no insects, no animals, no signs of life.

Only those white lights, as they approached, revealed some human figures and voices.

They were villagers holding white candles!

Yu Xing felt a chill down his collar and behind him. He lingered around a few villagers for a while and heard their conversations, which were mostly about—

"Coming out to enjoy the cool air?"

"Yes, it's too stuffy at home. Just coming out to get some fresh air."

"Do you know about Xiao Sheng's funeral tomorrow?"

"Yes, I'll definitely go."

Listening further, Yu Xing became interested.

"Today, a few outsiders came to the village, and the village chief is taking them to find accommodation!"

"Wow, which lucky families?"

"I don't know, maybe those families in the west of the village."

As he listened, a bold idea emerged in Yu Xing's mind.

Unfortunately, before he could take any action, footsteps came from behind him. Then, a girl's voice, very low, asked, "San, what are you planning to do tonight?"

"Hmm?" Yu Xing turned around. It was Xiao Xuechen, who had also distanced herself from the group. She was probably here to discuss countermeasures.

He lowered his head slightly and looked at her. "What's wrong? Do you think the village chief's wife is going to gank you tonight?"

"...I think it's possible. Her gaze towards me wasn't as friendly. I feel like I'll be the first target," Xiao Xuechen said calmly, her face free of makeup, her curly hair loose. She appeared composed, and she didn't forget the nature of this deduction, "San, you're an artist. I don't know if you believe in things that science can't explain. Wei Gong and I... we're actually members of a studio that investigates paranormal events."

"Oh~" Yu Xing looked at her with a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

"Perhaps you don't believe in these things." Xiao Xuechen thought that deductionists wouldn't disbelieve in these things, but for the sake of logical consistency, she still explained seriously.

"I and Wei Gong came here to investigate the paranormal events. Also, from what we know, Ju Lan's so-called boyfriend is actually an investigator as well. He just went missing during the last mission. I have reason to believe that Ju Lan is one of us." Xiao Xuechen was quite considerate. By saying this, she exposed their identities as "veteran players."

"So?" Yu Xing looked at her with a half-smile.

"So, if you also came here disguised as an investigator, please help..."

"Ah, I really am just an artist." Yu Xing innocently looked at the stunned young lady. "How can I help? At most, if you're scared, I can sleep while hugging you."

Sorry, the little devil in his heart couldn't resist teasing his dear teammate.