"Let's continue gathering information separately this morning. I'll go find out about the identities of the three people who died half a month ago and the old man from last night."
After the Suited Man stated his plan, the two girls also indicated they would go ask the villagers about the tribute offerings again.
"Then this guy and I will go take another look at the wheat field later." The baseball cap young man took a bite of cornbread, speaking with his mouth full. "We need to figure out if last night's abnormality was caused by that smell."
Finally, the tall, skinny guy spoke concisely: "I'll go follow Ah Wang."
Everyone subconsciously looked at him.
Wow, this guy really doesn't follow the usual path.
First, he went straight to the cemetery, and now he's going straight for the instance boss's child.
Although Ah Wang's mother might not be the final boss, anyone who can make the entire village fear her probably isn't simple.
However, the tall, skinny man seemed oblivious to the others' subtle glances, quietly drinking his porridge, appearing aloof and gloomy.
"Alright, that's decided then. We'll meet at the village chief's house at noon." The Suited Man made the final decision.
The players all had clear objectives. After finishing breakfast, they each headed toward their destinations.
Xu Xi and the baseball cap young man borrowed some plant ash from Village Chief Zhu to sprinkle on themselves, then followed yesterday afternoon's path toward the farmland.
This time, they didn't see the chatting villagers from yesterday on the field ridges, which disappointed them both. They had originally hoped to ask those villagers if the old man who knocked last night was related to that abnormal wheat field.
Xu Xi looked at the exceptionally golden wheat field but didn't get too close. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but the bloody smell seemed stronger, even though he was standing farther away today than yesterday.
...No, it wasn't an illusion.
He could confirm that the soil today was more moist than yesterday, and the color was more vivid.
The baseball cap young man quickly noticed this too.
"Did someone come to irrigate it again last night? Didn't they say you can't go out at night?"
Suddenly, he shook his head.
"No, wait. It could have been after we left."
It wasn't dark yet then.
Xu Xi was also thinking to himself.
Who kept irrigating this wheat field with blood? And for what purpose?
...
Noon, Village Chief Zhu's house.
"Masters, it's time to eat." Wu Cuifen brought the dishes to the table, wiped her hands on her apron, and warmly called out to the six people gathered nearby.
"Alright, thank you, Auntie." The Suited Man replied with a smile.
The group walked to the table and sat down.
Although the previous two meals had been fine, everyone remained cautious and didn't immediately start eating.
Only after Wu Cuifen went into the kitchen did they begin to talk.
The Suited Man subtly glanced at the hoodie-wearing young man, who was once again the first to eat. Seeing no issues, he withdrew his gaze and spoke seriously:
"I found out that among the three people who died half a month ago, one of them committed suicide by swallowing gold."
Hearing this, everyone was stunned.
"Swallowed gold to commit suicide?" The other three subconsciously looked at the hoodie-wearing young man and the baseball cap young man nearby.
Only these two had opened the door when they heard knocking last night, and the old man who knocked had asked, "Do you have any gold?"
The baseball cap young man said in surprise, "So that old man was one of the three villagers who died half a month ago?"
The Suited Man nodded: "Most likely. And notably, the day before he died, he dug up a piece of gold in the field."
"..." Everyone fell silent upon hearing this.
The Curly-Haired Woman guessed casually: "Don't tell me he dug up his gold in that abnormal wheat field?"
The Suited Man said helplessly, "I don't know about that. Those aunties wouldn't go into detail."
The Curly-Haired Woman glanced out of the corner of her eye at the hoodie-wearing young man, who was eating just fine after having the food. She then picked up a bite of food with her chopsticks. Suddenly remembering something, she said quietly, "No wonder there's no tombstone. So that's the reason."
A villager who died by swallowing gold half a month ago was now going door-to-door at night asking if people had gold.
Who would dare erect a tombstone for that?
Probably the other two who died also experienced similar corpse transformations.
The Curly-Haired Woman added, "Judging by the villagers' reactions, they seem used to it."
"As long as you don't open the door, he'll knock for a while and then move to the next house. Even if you open the door, as long as you answer that you don't have gold, he won't do anything." The Long Dress Girl summarized, combining it with last night's events.
At this point, she turned to Xu Xi and the baseball cap young man: "By the way, did you find out why you were targeted last night?"
The baseball cap young man sighed: "No. We're still not sure if it's related to that smell. But we discovered something else."
He told them about how the wheat field had been irrigated last night.
"Later, we waited there for a long time, but didn't see anyone suspicious."
After hearing this, everyone fell into thought.
"Then this doesn't quite make sense." The Suited Man suddenly spoke up. "If it was really because of that bloody smell that made the old man target you so much, then last night someone carrying a large bucket of blood to irrigate the wheat field should have attracted the old man even more, right?"
That makes sense.
"Then what's going on? Could it really be because of the house?" The baseball cap young man frowned, his tone full of confusion.
The Suited Man couldn't explain it either and could only say, "Let's see if he comes looking for you again tonight."
Xu Xi kept his head down, eating by himself without speaking, because he suddenly realized that the old man seemed to be targeting him...?
Last night, after he opened the door, the old man's eyes seemed to only see him, not even glancing elsewhere.
Although part of it was because the baseball cap young man had quickly hidden in the room when he opened the door, he still felt something was off.
If it was a problem with the house, the baseball cap young man was staying in the same room with him. Even if he hid in the inner room, the old man shouldn't only knock on the main door and not the inner door.
If it was a smell problem, even less needs to be said—the old man should have treated them equally.
Could it be because he directly answered the question and sent the old man away?
But based on his years of reading horror novels, his answer didn't satisfy the old man. Shouldn't the other party have then targeted the other person in the house? Why did he leave so easily?
And the old man's look of utter reluctance as he left gave him the feeling that he had been marked by him.
It seemed that as long as his answer didn't meet the old man's expectations, the other party would keep watching him.
So... what exactly did the old man see in him?