Chapter 497 - 20 Years Ago

Ren Yuan said, “In fact, most of the gangsters on the mountain died due to infighting and the town was quiet for a few days. Many people who survived would go out during the day to exchange food with each other while others would go to the forest to search for food, relying on weeds and fruits to survive. Unexpectedly, among the remaining people, some of them went crazy and started to capture people, eating human flesh!”

Ye Qi carefully sorted out the timeline of the story and concluded, “In other words, the famine started and a group of robbers appeared in Qingfeng Town. They broke into houses to loot gold and silver treasures and built a bandit village on the mountain behind the forest. Then the bandit village had civil strife, some people killed their companions and ran away with the treasures. Then the Hounds organization appeared in town?”

Ren Yuan nodded. “That’s right.”

Ye Qi glanced at Shao Qingge and asked in his mind, “Can it be the same group of people?”

Shao Qingge said, “Are you saying that those who killed their companions and ran away with the treasures are the same group of people who set up the Hounds organization?”

Ye Qi carefully analyzed it. “The robbery came first and capturing people to eat happened later. Obviously, the people who robbed the treasures were in civil strife due to the uneven distribution of the loot. A few ruthless people simply killed their companions and stole a lot of money. Now there is a famine everywhere. If they run away with the money to other places, they can be robbed by the bandits at those places. It is best to go back to the town safely. After all, they know best the town where they have lived for so many years.”

Shao Qingge pondered Ye Qi’s words carefully and agreed. “It makes sense. In such a troubled world, running away with money is actually very dangerous. On the contrary, they are very familiar with the people in Qingfeng Town. They know who isn’t easy to mess with and who is soft and can be easily squeezed. Thus, they came back here with money and bullied the old, weak women and children.”

Ye Qi continued, “This also explains the mask they wear when acting. After all, it isn’t good to survive by cannibalism and it will affect the reputation of future generations. They have a large amount of treasures in their hands. Once the famine is over, they can just take off their masks and transform themselves into local rich people.”

If this was the case, the perpetrators were very scheming. They might’ve planned a retreat for themselves from the moment they took people to commit robbery.

Ye Qi thought of this and asked Ren Yuan a question. “Brother Ren, did the people who smashed your store and stole the silver in your store wear masks?”

Ren Yuan was stunned. “How do you know this?”

Ye Qi’s mind became clear and he continued to ask questions. “It is a guess. During the robbery, they covered their faces because they were afraid of being recognized by you. These people must be acquaintances in the town. By the way, are their masks the same as the masks worn by the people of the Hounds organization?”

Ren had a deep impression of these people and he immediately shook his head. “It isn’t the same. The robbers wore black masks with a ghostly face and some strange patterns on it.”

Shao Qingge raised an eyebrow. “Ghost face mask? Can you tell who it belongs to?”

Ren Yuan smiled bitterly. “They were sold everywhere during the Ghost Festival and anyone could buy them. I can’t tell who those people are just by looking at their masks. Besides, their voices weren’t familiar to me. I’m sure they kept it low so it was inaudible.”

Ye Qi and Shao Qingge glanced at each other and continued to communicate through Heart has a Tacit Exchange of Romantic Feelings.

Shao Qingge said, “If your guess is correct, these people are quite clever. They put on different masks so that the residents of the town mistakenly think that the robbery group and the Hounds organization are two different groups of people.”

Ye Qi added, “I don’t think there will be too many people in this Hounds group. After all, they have taken so many treasures. It won’t be easily distributed if there are too many people. Moreover, eating human flesh is something that normal people can’t do. It is very likely that they are friends who usually have a strong relationship. They discussed it and acted together.”

Shao Qingge also thought so. “Why don’t we wait until it is dark and go to personally visit this organization?”

Ye Qi didn’t agree directly. He was silent for a moment before asking doubtfully, “I have a question. How long do we have to stay in this world of 20 years ago? Once it is dark or dawn, will we be teleported back or will we stay here forever?”

Shao Qingge was stunned by Ye Qi’s question. He had ignored this key point.

He remembered that at that time, Xiao Lou arranged for three teams to act separately. Xiao Lou led one group to the ghost town at night, Brother Jiu led another group to the forest to intercept the murderer while he and Ye Qi waited at the gate of the town to use teleportation at any time. Xiao Lou had given him the two Tao Yuanming cards to prevent the teleportation technique from being stuck in cooldown.

Then after coming out from the Peach Blossom Spring, he and Ye Qi traveled 20 years to the past.

Time was completely out of order. The Voice Headset was still in their ears but they never heard the voices of their teammates again.

How could they go back to meet Xiao Lou? Could they even go back?

Shao Qingge frowned slightly. “All questions will have to wait until midnight tonight. This seems to be the time in the secret room when day and night changes. If we aren’t sent back after midnight, it means we are likely to be stuck 20 years in the past.”

Ye Qi was a bit confused. “In this case, how can we contact Professor Xiao?”

Shao Qingge was helpless. “I don’t have a good idea either. Let’s take a look and find out what is going on with the Hounds group first.”

All their worries would be superfluous if they were sent back at midnight.

Ren Yuan found that the brothers were silent and thought the two of them were frightened. He coughed lightly and comforted them, “You two, this incident is indeed shocking but don’t worry too much. I have received your jewelry and will definitely help you. I have a plan and the three of us will never starve to death.”

Ye Qi glanced at the food on the ground. “You can last for several months with these sweet potatoes but if you add us, you can only eat it for a month, right? Do you have another way to get food?”

Ren Yuan nodded, “There is a place to obtain food in the forest outside the town.”

Ye Qi pretended to be grateful. “Then please, Brother Ren.”

After dark, Ren Yuan beckoned for the two of them to act together.

He was wearing old clothes where the color wasn’t clear. He also found some mud and wiped it on his face. He also placed weeds in his hair. Then he sneakily took Ye Qi and Shao Qingge out of the hole.

In order to not be suspected by him, Ye Qi and Shao Qingge didn’t use the teleportation card. They followed him all the way, sticking to the wall while walking forward. It took around 30 minutes for the three of them to leave Qingfeng Town.

The moon hung high in the sky and the surroundings were so quiet that only the three people’s breathing and footsteps were left.

Under the moonlight, Ren Yuan led the two people into the forest.

The trees in the forest had long since dried up and it should be winter. The cold wind was biting and Ye Qi’s teeth shook from the cold. Shao Qingge took his hand and asked in his mind, “Are you cold?”

“It’s fine, I can bear it.”

Compared with the hungry and cold people, at least the two of them weren’t hungry. They were also wearing several layers of clothes.

Some time later, Ren Yuan said, “It is right in front.”

Ye Qi and Shao Qingge followed him forward and found a cliff. Ye Qi looked up and saw the mountain where they first entered the K secret room. He remembered that on that night, it was raining heavily and countless zombies crawled from the mass burial site at the top of the mountain, forcing them to the edge of the cliff.

The cliff was bottomless and they had nowhere to go. In the end, Brother Jiu and Mr Tang rode the vermilion bird down the cliff, found a safe place and teleported everyone. The next time, Brother Jiu and the others went to investigate and found there was originally a forest below this cliff and there was a vine hanging down from the top of the mountain.

According to Xiao Lou’s speculation, the murderer probably relied on this vine to climb the mountain.

Now in front of Ye Qi and Shao Qingge’s eyes, this cliff appeared.

In addition…

There was a thick and long vine.

Perhaps the cold wind was too harsh but Ye Qi and Shao Qingge suddenly felt the blood in their bodies turn cold. It was as if someone had poured a large basin of cold water on their heads in the cold winter.

Ren Yuan knew this place.

He even climbed up slowly along the vine.

Ye Qi shivered violently and said in his mind, “Chief Shao, did you give the sapphire necklace to the murderer again?”

Shao Qingge, “……”

Last time in the Q secret room, Shao Qingge gave the sapphire necklace to Xiao Lou’s sister Xiao Rou. It was finally confirmed that Xiao Rou was also a clone and an accomplice of the big boss behind the scenes.

He wasn’t so unlucky that he would give the necklace that increased favorability to the boss twice in a row, right?

Just then, Ren Yuan looked down at them and smiled. “Don’t be stunned. Climb up with me.”

Shao Qingge and Ye Qi, “……”

Partially proofread: Paranoid Kitten