CH 8.3

The ancestral home was not far from where Bai Lixin bathed. This ancestral home held the memorial tablets of the village heads and their families, and Bai Lixin and Li Cancan’s task was to clean them.

Whether they could clean it or not was secondary. The important thing was to use this opportunity to enter the ancestral home.

The ancestral hall was usually blocked off, even during the afternoon free time. So the only chance to enter the ancestral hall should be now.

Dozens of rows were neatly laid out. They were covered in dust, and the fruits on the case were wilted. It seemed that few people came over to clean or pay respects.

Li Cancan did not look well ever since they entered the ancestral hall. The high fever had burned most of her foundation.

Bai Lixin told her to rest on the side, and he started to look around by himself.

It was not a big ancestral home, and the decor was not different from other ancestral homes.

The memorial tablets were all very normal and nothing out of place could be found.

A low voice rang in his ears again, “Do you want me to help you?”

Bai Lixin’s hand against the wall paused slightly, “The kind that charges interest?”

Dijia, “Well, of course.”

Bai Lixin sneered, “No, thanks.”

Li Cancan’s voice came from a short distance away, “Are you talking to me, Bai Lixin?”

Bai Lixin, “Oh no, I was talking to myself, sorry.”

Li Cancan shrank back and wrapped herself into a ball as best she could. She looked around with averted eyes, “But you seemed to be conversing. Is there someone else around?”

Bai Lixin secretly cursed this game.

It said that it summoned players for the sake of granting their wishes, but it didn’t care if others were willing to do so, look how scared the little girl was!

Bai Lixin, “Of course not. Didn’t I say I was an administrator? I usually like to read books, and when I’m nervous I recite lines from them.”

Li Cancan’s face then eased a little, “Oh, so that’s how it is.”

A slightly threatening low voice rang out, “So, I’m now a line?”

Bai Lixin, “Am I the only one who can hear your voice?”

Dijia, “I use the moisture in the air to produce echoes in your cochlea; only you can hear my voice. But if you want, I can make it audible to everyone.”

He paused and added, “But there is an interest charge.”

Bai Lixin had a cold look on his face and said, “Oh, thank you.”

He was sure there must be some clue for him in this ancestral hall. If the things placed outside did not provide a clue, then there might be a hidden compartment.

As for the switch to the hidden compartment…

Bai Lixin looked around the ancestral hall and quickly locked on to a place.

He walked over to the memorial tablets, grabbed one of the candlesticks and twisted it.

The candlestick was turned, and a hidden door slowly opened in the otherwise airtight wall.

Li Cancan’s jaw dropped, “How did you know this was a switch?”

Bai Lixin, “You can tell at a glance. Everything else in the room was dusty, but this candlestick was clean, so it must have been touched recently. Do you want to come in with me or wait outside?”

Li Cancan stood up without hesitation, “I’ll follow you!”

Bai Lixin took a candlestick and shielded Li Cancan behind him before walking into the secret door.

There was a flight of steps that stretched downwards. They went so deep and it was so dark that even the candlelight could only make out the first few steps.

Bai Lixin picked up a small stone from the ground and threw it down.

The sound of stones hitting the steps came one after another, and only after a few seconds did it gradually stop.

He estimated a depth of more than three meters. Standing at the entrance, he could vaguely feel the wind flowing, and the oxygen concentration also seemed sufficient.

Bai Lixin asked Li Cancan, who was shivering behind him, “Are you sure you want to go down with me? You can wait up there.”

Li Cancan’s voice trembled, “I… Take me with you, Bai Lixin. I won’t give you any trouble. I’ll protect myself.”

She gulped, “And, and shout *666.”

Bai Lixin, “Well then, this is for you, for self-defence.”

Bai Lixin picked up something from the ground and handed it to Li Cancan. She took it and saw that it was a dark blue brick.

The four corners of the brick were blunt, and there were small uneven holes on the surface.

Li Cancan hugged the brick in her arms and said, “Thank.. thank you.”

After descending the stairs, they found a long, dark tunnel. It was surrounded by rough stones, and there was no end in sight.

The tunnel was narrow. It was just right for one person to pass through, but a little crowded for two people side by side.

Bai Lixin walked ahead.

In the dark tunnel, Bai Lixin’s cool and lazy voice slowly reached Li Cancan’s ears.

“Your speed has increased by 300%. Even the red spiders can’t catch up with you. Run away in an S-shape once there is danger. Although the red spiders are fast, they are poor at making turns. We’ve been in this game for almost forty hours and all the characters that should have appeared have been exposed. There won’t be a more dangerous existence than the Red Spiders.”

Dijia’s low sneer came to his ears, “Are you pacifying her?”

Water quietly crept onto Bai Lixin’s wrist, wrapping around it like a viper several times before slowly climbing upwards.

“Who says there is no more dangerous being than a red spider?” The voice caressed his eardrums like a lover’s whisper, “Isn’t there me?”

Bai Lixin’s eyes flickered, and the hand hidden in his sleeve fiercely pinched the unbridled current.

The current flexibly moved away from the slender fingertips and curled up on them in reverse.

Bai Lixin glanced at the frightened Li Cancan, took a deep breath, and finally did not speak.

The sound of unrestrained laughter rang out in his ears.

It tickled Bai Lixin’s eardrums, provoking his sanity and nerves.

“I used to think about what I would do if I became human. I finally figured it out after meeting you. I want to be a collector.”

The tips of his fingers were wrapped in a soft stream of water; tiny streams of water burrowed in and out of them, leaving no stone unturned.

“You have beautiful fingers. They are rounded with crystalline ends. I like them very much.”

Bai Lixin suddenly tensed his shoulders.

Li Cancan asked worriedly, “What’s wrong, Bai Lixin?”

Bai Lixin looked at Li Cancan with embarrassment and his voice was a little hoarse, “I’m fine, a bug flew into my clothes.”

Inside the wide sacrificial robe that no one else could peek into, a stream of water silently attached itself to Bai Lixin’s beautiful collarbone and fell onto his waist like it was in no man’s land.

The stream of water curled up to the slender waistline.

“The waistline is also very slender and tight.”

The water continued to slide down, curling around the good-looking calf to land on his ankle. Finally, it slowly gathered up and fell back to wrap around Bai Lixin’s wrist in what looked like a string of water-made bracelets.

“Good, I’ve checked it all out. You really are perfect, and I love your whole body. You’ll be my most precious and only collection.”

The laughter gradually stopped and seemed to fade away completely.

But Bai Lixin knew that he was always there.

He was hiding in the shadows… No, he didn’t need to hide at all; he could appear anywhere he wanted to, and no one could stop him.

The two walked for about ten minutes, and the tunnel in front of them gradually began to widen and forks on either side of the path appeared.

Bai Lixin did not choose a fork in the road but continued, and Li Licancan hurriedly followed behind.

After another two minutes of walking, they were stopped in their tracks.

In front of them was a door with two fierce beast heads painted on it. Their eyes were wide open, their fangs visible and their manes exploding.

There was a lock on the door, and Li Cancan was a little disappointed, “What should we do? There’s a lock, but no key.”

Bai Lixin tried to break it. The lock was made of copper and was very strong. If he didn’t have that 95% reduction in force value, this lock would have been completely easy to break. But the current him was still a bit short.

Just as Bai Lixin was studying whether to pick the lock or not, a stream of water burrowed into the keyhole. The copper lock, which had been sturdy just a moment ago, opened with a “click”.

Li Cancan, “Hey, how did it open? Did you do it?”

Bai Lixin laughed dryly, “No, it wasn’t locked, it was just falsely buckled.”

Li Cancan’s eyes lit up, “So it was unlocked? We are so lucky, Bai Lixin.”

Bai Lixin, “Oh, yes, what luck.”

A husky laugh echoed in his ears, “it’s obviously because I’m good. No need to thank me; consider it payment for the physical examination just now.”

Bai Lixin: “….” How do you write the word “thank you”?

The two pushed the door open and walked in. In the dim light of the candle flame, they could vaguely see a blurred scene.

There were several torches set up on the wall, and Bai Lixin lit them in turn with the candle in his hand. Under the illumination of the torches, the blurred scene finally revealed its original appearance.

It was a small ancestral hall, with the same decor as the one on the ground, only smaller.

There was a lone memorial tablet standing in the middle of the altar.

Besides it, three stone statues were kneeling in worship.

Bai Lixin walked over to them with the candlestick in hand. He noticed that the stone statues were beautifully carved and clothed.

The stone statues were placed at a slight angle where they faced the altar. Their hands were tied behind their backs and they had expressions of devotion.

The first one was thin and wore a black outfit with a hat on his head, looking very much like the current attire of the village head.

On his forehead were carved four words: Li Chong, the sinner.

The second man had a big head and big ears. He was dressed in clothes that were a little worn from age, but you could still see the luxury in them. There was a necklace around his neck, and the hat on top of his head was embellished with pearls and agates.

He also had words engraved on his forehead: Huang Youcheng, the evil merchant.

The third man was much smaller. He was only one and a half metres and had a hunched back. His face was shrunken, and he was wearing a black sackcloth.

Bai Lixin looked at this stone statue and felt it was familiar, but he could not recall where he had seen it.

When he saw the words carved on the forehead, he froze slightly.

He finally remembered what the stone statue looked like.

Because the words carved on the forehead read: Stupid Grandma Sang.

These three stone statues were kneeling and worshipping that altar. Their clothes were slightly torn, like redeemed prisoners.

Li Cancan held the brick in her hands and carefully followed behind Bai Lixin like a shadow, unwilling to move a step ahead.

Bai Lixin held up the candlestick and walked to the altar.

The melons and fruits in front of the altar were fresh, and the table was cleaned. Even the ashes in the incense burner were cleaned up.

The incense burner still had a burning incense stick with a little red light at the end, and a leather whip was placed next to it.

Bai Lixin brought the candle closer to the tablet and finally read the words on it clearly.

Beloved Wife Sang Bao’er

Signed: Li Yizhi

‘Li Yizhi? The name of the current village head?’

[Ding! Congratulations to the player. You have gained 10% of the clues to the River God’s Curse. Progress in the additional task, finding the truth of the River God’s Curse has reached 40%.]

“The village head is Sang Bao’er’s mysterious lover?!” Li Cancan’s voice trembled a little, “And who are Li Chong and Huang Youcheng?”

“And that Grandma Sang, isn’t she Bao’er’s mother? She’s been looking for Bao’er, but why did the village head make her kneel as well? Is she the one who gave Bao’er to the River God?”

Bai Lixin, “I don’t know. I know as much as you. But one thing is for sure, we are getting closer to the truth.”

Li Cancan took a deep breath and looked at the altar again, “But this village head seems to love Sang Bao’er quite a bit. The place is so clean that it seems like he comes and cleans it every day.”

Wait a minute.

‘Comes and cleans it every day?!’

Bai Lixin and Li Cancan snapped their eyes towards the incense stick that was about to burn out.

And in their ears, the sound of heavy footsteps stepping on the stone pathway rang out!