Grandma Qin and Granny Sun left the dilapidated temple quickly.
The two women untied the dog's rope and opened the fence around the rooster. A large flock of chickens and dogs followed them out of the dilapidated temple, filling the air with the sounds of "clucking" and "woofing," making it even more lively than a vegetable market.
The dogs all recognize their owners. After being released, they all run to their owners and rub their heads against their legs. The villagers of Liuxi Village excitedly stroke their dogs' heads, as if they had found long-lost relatives. For these blind people, dogs are the best companions. They not only help them guard their homes but also accompany them to find their way, acting as "guide dogs."
The young woman stroked her dog and asked, " Aunt Qin, Granny Sun, are you alright?"
People nearby also inquired about the situation at the temple: "Didn't the outsiders give you any trouble?" "Why did they take our dogs? Why are they keeping all the dogs here?" "I thought they were going to kill the rooster to make soup and slaughter the dogs to eat roast meat, how come all the dogs are fine?"
The crowd clearly didn't understand the Challengers ' thinking, instinctively assuming that the other side was stealing chickens and dogs—to eat them.
Old Mrs. Qin said coldly, "They stole the rooster just so we wouldn't hear it crowing in the morning and wouldn't be able to get up on time; they tied all the dogs up on the west mountain so they wouldn't be discovered when they came into the village to steal things. What they really want is the gemstones in our village. Those stones are priceless and can be sold for a lot of money!"
Granny Sun chimed in, "That's right, there's no one here. They've probably already left with the gems."
A young man suddenly exclaimed, "Oh no! Our jewels were hidden under the bed, but I didn't check them this morning. Could they have been stolen too?! Will my wife be in trouble?"
Granny Sun turned around and said, "Go and check on your wife. She's due to give birth in the next few days. Don't let her upset the baby."
The man immediately took the dog, looked up, and turned to go down the mountain.
The man's name is Lin Er, the same "second brother" who spoke with Niu Niu's mother in the village on the first day they entered. His wife is Liu Hui, the village chief's cousin, and she is due to give birth in a few days. The village chief has already revealed this information to Xiao Lou and the others.
Liu Hui is the only one in the entire village who is about to give birth, making her easy to identify.
As Lin Er descended the mountain, the others followed Aunt Qin and the others slowly down the mountain as well.
A group of blind people were walking dogs, with a rooster following beside them, creating a truly spectacular scene.
The Challengers hiding on the roof of the dilapidated temple finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The young man lying next to Yu Hanjiang asked, "Gentlemen, do you really have gems?"
Yu Hanjiang gripped a dark green cat's eye stone, showed it to him with his palm, and quickly withdrew it.
The other party was relieved: "Then there's no need to worry about you stealing it. Since we all have it, why don't we talk about cooperation?"
Yu Hanjiang's gaze swept over the four people, and he asked, "Do you know each other?"
The man nodded: "Yes, we know each other in real life."
Xiao Lou smiled and reminded everyone, "It's not very convenient to chat while lying on the roof. How about we all go down first?"
Upon closer inspection, everyone saw seven people lying side by side in strange positions, having to twist their necks 90 degrees to look at each other while chatting, which was indeed uncomfortable. The man seemed to have a jump card; upon hearing this, he immediately led his companions to jump off the roof. Liu Qiao used the trees to fly down, while Yu Hanjiang grabbed a tree trunk with one hand, pushed off gently with his long legs, and landed on the ground as well.
Xiao Lou looked at the ground with some difficulty. He had just been pulled up from the tree by Captain Yu, and this roof was more than three meters high. If he jumped directly down, he would definitely twist his ankle. Just as he hesitated, he saw Yu Hanjiang raise his head and reach out his hand to Xiao Lou, saying, "Go ahead and jump, I'll catch you."
Xiao Lou didn't hesitate any longer and jumped down.
Yu Hanjiang reached out and caught him steadily. However, due to gravity, Xiao Lou's jump caused him to fall directly into Captain Yu's arms. Enveloped by the man's familiar scent, Xiao Lou's heartbeat inexplicably slowed down. He quickly took a step back to steady himself and said casually, "Thank you."
Yu Hanjiang gave Xiao Lou a gentle nod before looking at the four strangers.
There were three men and one woman. The man who spoke to Yu Hanjiang was around 25 years old and had a very respectable appearance. Another man, around 40 years old, had a full beard, clearly unkempt, and remained silent, appearing quite composed. The man and woman were likely a couple or partners, dressed in a young and fashionable style.
Curly-haired Woman smiled and said, "The four of us actually work for the same design company. We had an accident during a group trip after the New Year and happened to meet in Spade 4. "
The young man introduced them: "This is our design director, Old Qi. This is Xiao Wu and Xiao Li, a newlywed couple. My surname is Zhou."
Xiao Lou also introduced with a smile: "This is Old Han, my name is Yunxiao, this is Qiao, a college student, and we also have a teammate outside the village."
He once again used the alias he had used in the Spade 3 secret room, also to avoid trouble if his real name were discovered.
After introductions, Xiao Lou asked, "How many leads do you have so far?"
The Curly-haired Woman surnamed Li said, "We found our gem at Lin Er's house at the far east end of the village. His wife was heavily pregnant and about to give birth. While he was taking his wife for a walk, we searched his house and found a gem under the bed."
The young man said, "Our gemstone was found at Old Mrs. Qin's house, and we just happened to run into you at the time."
"You couldn't find Grandma Qin's house, so where did this one come from?"
Xiao Lou said, "We found two in the farmland to the east, one dark green and the other almost transparent white."
The woman explained, "These are cat's eye stones. We suspect it's a bracelet, and each gemstone is a different color. We found blue and brown, but you have dark green and clear. There should also be red, gold, and white ones that haven't appeared yet."
The golden one was in Liu Qiao's hands, but Xiao Lou did not intend to reveal the truth about Liu Qiao's solo operation.
As for the red one, it's the one found in the pond, which was stolen by the Masked Man. The white one was probably taken out of the village by the Chameleon man and the zombie-jumping woman.
Mr. Zhou picked up a twig, squatted down, and drew a diagram on the ground: "The first one should be in the dilapidated temple. Three appear at Old Mrs. Qin's house, the village chief's house, and Lin Er's house where she is about to give birth. Two appear in the farmland outside the village... Don't you think the shape of these six is a bit strange? Where will the last one be?"
Xiao Lou picked up a branch and pointed at the intersection of the Three of a Kind lines: "In the pond. The distribution of the seven gems is in a herringbone pattern."
This was something they had already deduced. The four men, clearly unaware of the situation, suddenly realized after seeing the diagram: "The head is in the western mountains, the feet are in the farmland, and it's a '人' shape lying horizontally in the village?"
Xiao Lou nodded: "That's right. What other clues did you find?"
The Curly-haired Woman said, " Lin Er's wife is named Huihui. Her due date is in three days. She is in poor health and has been taking medication to prevent miscarriage. We checked the dregs of the medicine she dumped in the yard. There were human bones in them, as well as many unfamiliar Chinese herbs. We suspect that these herbs may have caused the fetus to have eye deformities."
Although these four people acted differently from Xiao Lou and his group, they still managed to deduce the problems of Granny Sun and Old Lady Qin. Furthermore, their act of stealing the rooster and dog, tying them up in the dilapidated temple to lure Villager over, and the conversation between Old Lady Qin and Granny Sun in front of the human bone pit revealed a great deal of crucial information. It can be said that the person who suggested stealing the rooster played a significant role in this.
Xiao Lou stroked his chin thoughtfully: "Judging from the conversation between Qin and Sun just now, Granny Sun may have already planned to massacre the village on the day of the Autumn Harvest Festival."
Curly-haired Woman's eyes widened: "A village massacre?"
Yu Hanjiang understood Xiao Lou's meaning and said, "Just now, Granny Sun said that she's tired after all these years, and she'll give everyone a proper ending on the anniversary of her daughter's death. Don't you understand what she means by 'ending'?"
Curly-haired Woman was stunned for a moment. Old Qi, who hadn't said a word until now, suddenly spoke up: " Granny Sun's hatred for this village hasn't subsided. She still can't forget her daughter. She will definitely massacre the village again and make everyone in the village pay for her daughter's death."
The three women's expressions changed. Curly-haired Woman looked on in disbelief: " Old Qi, are you serious? This village has hundreds of households and nearly three hundred people. Even if these people are blind, it would be very difficult for Granny Sun, an old woman, to kill all the Villagers, wouldn't it?"
Old Qi said, "Don't forget her identity. She's the village doctor, and she's the one who brews all the medicine the Villagers drink. She could easily kill all the Villagers by poisoning them."
The woman realized this, and her expression turned even uglier.
Xiao Wu asked, "Would Granny Sun poison the spring to kill the entire village?"
Xiao Lou shook his head: "Poisoning the spring water doesn't guarantee that all the Villagers will die on the same day of their death. Many families would store two buckets of water in advance, which would last a long time. I think it's more likely that she and Old Madam Qin conspired to poison the rice wine to be drunk on the Autumn Harvest Festival."
Yu Hanjiang agreed, saying, " On the day of the Autumn Harvest Festival, everyone drinks wine to worship their ancestors. This is a tradition in Liuxi Village. If someone drinks poisoned wine, they will be poisoned to death immediately and buried with her daughter."
Everyone fell silent.
Actually, everyone can understand Granny Sun's mentality. Anyone would want to chop their enemy into mincemeat after their daughter's tragic death. If her daughter was indeed killed by the villagers, as a mother grieving the loss of her beloved daughter, it's understandable that she would want to massacre the village in revenge.
But hatred gradually warped her mind. She not only massacred the village, but also sought revenge on the descendants of the Villagers.
The descendants were not involved in what happened 35 years ago. Babies like Lin Er and Liu Hui, who were born later, knew nothing about it. From birth, they were blinded by Granny Sun. How innocent they were! Why did they have to endure more than 30 years of revenge? Not only did they grow up in darkness, but they also had to drink soup made from the bones of their parents and grandparents every day.
In ancient times, someone who made a mistake would have their entire family, numbering nine generations, punished. This cruel system has long been abolished in modern times. For a few people to commit a crime and have over a hundred households in the village executed along with them, even their descendants, suffer retribution... that's going too far.
If Granny Sun really intends to massacre the village, then Challenger will face two choices.
The first option is to ignore it. Spade 4's completion requirements don't include "rescuing the Villagers," but rather finding the gem and surviving in the world for seven days. As long as Liuxi Village is wiped out again, Challengers can stay in the village for seven days and even stay in the Villagers ' homes to avoid being exposed to the elements. For Challengers who find the gem, it's practically an easy win.
The second option is that Challenger, having learned the truth, intervenes with Granny Sun and Old Lady Qin to prevent the massacre from happening again. More than three hundred innocent Villagers will be saved, and their descendants will no longer be affected by blindness.
But this choice will be very difficult. First of all, the Villagers will not trust these "outsiders" and will trust Grandma Qin and Granny Sun more. Once the Villagers drink the poisoned wine on the day of the Autumn Harvest Festival, they will all be wiped out.
Xiao Lou looked at the four people and said, "Personally, I think that to achieve perfect success..."
"Gate, we have to save Villager."
The four people looked at each other and all agreed with this statement.
According to the timeline, the Autumn Harvest Festival and Lin Er's wife's due date were both five days after they entered Liuxi Village, which is three days later.
By the fifth day, the Challengers must have found all the gems. Some who hadn't found them or tried to steal them were eliminated after fierce infighting, either dead or injured. The remaining Challengers should keep the gems safe and simply ignore the situation. Once the Villagers are wiped out, the Challengers can clear the game directly.
This is the simplest way to complete the game, which is basically the same as the description when entering Spade 4 —avoid Villagers, find gems, and then avoid other Challengers, trying your best to protect your gems from being stolen.
To achieve a perfect playthrough, you'll definitely need to save Villager, which significantly increases the difficulty.
However, thinking of the innocent children, Xiao Lou couldn't stand idly by. He looked at Yu Hanjiang and said, "We have to find a way to stop Granny Sun's actions."
Old Qi stroked his beard and said, " The Autumn Harvest Festival is on the fifth day, right? Let's try going straight into the village on the night of the fourth day and stealing all of Granny Sun's medicine."
Xiao Lou: "..."
These four are practically a "theft gang"—last night they stole roosters and dogs, and now they're stealing medicine.
Xiao Lou didn't object to this approach. He smiled and said, "We can give it a try. After all the card skills refresh at 24:00 on the fifth day, we'll all act together. You guys go to Granny Sun's house and steal all her medicine, while we'll go to Old Lady Qin's house and replace her rice wine."
"I hope it goes that smoothly," the Curly-haired Woman said with some concern.
Her jinxed words made Xiao Lou's heart skip a beat. Could it really go so smoothly? He wasn't sure.
The seven people separated in the ruined temple, and Old Qi warned them, "There are still Challengers in the village who haven't gotten the gems yet, and they'll definitely try to steal them from you. Be careful."
Xiao Lou nodded: "You too."
The four went up the mountain, while Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang, and Liu Qiao returned to the farmland east of the village.
Two girls were chatting with Ye Qi under the tree when their soft voices reached Xiao Lou's ears: "We found a gem. Did you find one? Want to work together and try to get a perfect score?"
These two are the girls who were robbed after fishing for the wooden box by the pond earlier; they are clearly lying to get information out of the other person.
Just as Ye Qi was about to speak, Shao Qingge suddenly blocked his way, narrowed his eyes, and said with a half-smile, "We haven't found the gem and are worried about what to do. We didn't expect you two to deliver yourselves to our doorstep. Just leave the gem behind."
He winked at Ye Qi, who understood and immediately used the teleportation card to get behind the girls. Balance trapped them, then took out the guitar and started playing. The two girls immediately felt sleepy and became drowsy.
The two men were terrified and hurriedly said, "We don't have any gems! Don't do it!"
Ye Qi put the guitar away, and Shao Qingge smiled and said, "I know you're testing us to see if we have any props so you can try to steal them from us, right? Unfortunately, we don't have any either. You two should go look elsewhere as soon as possible."
The two girls slunk away.
After they left, Xiao Lou and the other two came to the tree.
Ye Qi asked excitedly, " Professor Xiao, what have you discovered?"
Xiao Lou briefly recounted the conversation he overheard in the dilapidated temple and told Ye Qi about the next steps.
Ye Qi said, "Of course we have to save him! The condition for a perfect completion should be saving Villager. It's just like the Liuxi Village dungeon in single-player games. After entering the village, the first task for players is to avoid Villager and find gems. In the process of finding gems, players discover the secrets of the village and then trigger a hidden quest to save Villager."
Liu Qiao glanced at him: "Do you often play single-player games?"
Ye Qi chuckled and said, "Well, but I'm playing a fantasy RPG game. According to the game's formula, once you collect all seven gems, you can open the village's mechanism and summon the dragon."
Although this secret room doesn't actually involve "summoning a dragon," Ye Qi's understanding is similar. It does resemble a story village in a game, where players must come to the village, discover its secrets, and save Villager to complete the game.
Moreover, Xiao Lou recalled the village chief's words: "As long as you are willing to help me, you can take all the jade resources in the village with you."
Perhaps those jade resources are the reward for a perfect completion of the game?
Thinking this through, Xiao Lou said, "Since everyone agrees, let's plan our next move." He looked at Yu Hanjiang and said, " Captain Yu, you're more of an expert in this area, what do you think we should do?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "Currently, four people on West Mountain are grouped together with two gems; five of us are grouped together with three gems; a couple escaped the village with the gems; the last gem was stolen by a masked person who is very strong and can move objects from a distance. Those who have already obtained the gems are not easy to mess with, and the other Challengers who haven't obtained the gems will definitely try to steal them, and they will likely form a team."
Although Xiao Lou felt bad, there was nothing she could do; Spade Secret Room was destined to eliminate people. Those who couldn't get it could only blame themselves for being too slow. Those whose prizes were taken could only mean they weren't good enough.
Shao Qingge narrowed his eyes and said, "Those two girls were trying to get information out of us. After the secret room refreshes at 24:00 tonight, the system will notify everyone that there are 0 gems remaining in Liuxi Village."
Ye Qi said nervously, "In that case, those who didn't get it might team up to steal it tomorrow! We need to be careful not to have our gems stolen, after all, we have three!"
Yu Hanjiang took a deep breath and said, "I don't want to clash head-on with the other Challengers. If they get pushed too far, they might kill us."
If forced to, perhaps killing will be necessary, so…
Xiao Lou understood his meaning: "Why don't we just leave the village?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "Although it's dangerous outside the village, it's not a dead end. We have five people and a lot of cards. I believe it will be easier to deal with a group of mindless beasts than with other Challengers."
Everyone exchanged glances and agreed with Captain Yu's opinion.
Xiao Lou smiled and said, "Then let's stay outside the village for two days and come back when the Autumn Harvest Festival is about to start on the fifth day. Liuxi Village will definitely be very chaotic these two days, so let's not get involved and go out to avoid trouble."
The five people prepared to turn and leave.
The neglected village chief didn't quite understand what everyone was talking about—games, dungeons, rescuing Villager —but when he heard that they wanted to leave the village, he immediately interrupted them in a trembling voice, "There are many wild beasts outside the village. You...you don't want to live!"
Xiao Lou turned to look at him, her gaze gentle: "Human hearts are more terrifying than wild beasts."
Ye Qi laughed and said, "Village Chief, do you want to come with us?"
The village chief's expression was complicated. He subconsciously shook his head, but remembering that he had been driven out of the village, he finally forced himself to nod.
The group of six walked away side by side.
On the western hill, Old Qi, who was holding binoculars, suddenly said, "They've left the village?"
Xiao Wu, standing nearby, couldn't help but say, "Staying in the village means we'll be targeted by the Challengers who didn't get the gems. It's actually not safe. What if one of the Challengers decides to drag us down with them?"
Old Qi nodded seriously: "How about we go out and avoid this place for a couple of days?"
The four exchanged a glance and quickly descended the mountain.
A masked man suddenly emerged from behind a tree.
He twirled a red gem in his hand and followed silently.
24:00 AM.
A notification popped up simultaneously in everyone's floating window—
Liuxi Village, Day 3, 24:00.
Number of gems remaining in the village: 0.
Number of Challengers remaining in the village: 8.
Upon seeing this notification, Xiao Lou couldn't help but sigh: "This morning there were 18 Challengers, but now there are only 8 left. It seems that Old Qi and the others have also left the village. The remaining 8 people in the village will fight each other, but in reality... all the gems have already been taken out of the village."
The howling of wolves echoed in my ears, and the rustling sound of venomous snakes crawling on the ground came from below.
The wilderness is dangerous, but taking gems into the wilderness at this time actually increases the survival rate.