The baseball cap young man straightened his hat brim and said calmly, "I just want to know how that woman died."
Although his face revealed little emotion, everyone could still faintly sense a restless agitation deep beneath his calm exterior.
The long dress girl lowered her head as if recalling, then after a moment slowly spoke, "After we returned to our lodgings last night we each went to our own rooms. If there was anything unusual… she took a shower."
Took a shower?
The suited man asked, "Did she ingest anything?"
The long dress girl shook her head regretfully, "I don't know about that."
She couldn't have been with the curly-haired woman every moment.
The suited man did not show any obvious disappointment.
Whether touching poisoned water during a shower could cause poisoning, none of them knew.
But compared to the idea that contaminated water from a shower was the cause, he leaned toward the possibility that the curly-haired woman had unknowingly ingested something containing toxin.
"Why are you all so sure she was poisoned?" the baseball cap young man suddenly cut in.
Everyone else froze.
Why assume the curly-haired woman was poisoned?
Their gazes turned to the hoodie-wearing young man who had been quietly listening to the conversation the whole time without saying a word.
Xu Xi hesitated for a moment.
Because he had died from poisoning once, he was familiar with the curly-haired woman's symptoms.
But he obviously could not reveal that.
So he countered, "Then how do you think she died?"
In the first two instances they had encountered many inexplicable incidents, and Xu Xi had grown fairly experienced with them.
An explanation? He didn't need to explain.
Smart teammates would deduce a reasonable theory on their own.
To the other players, the hoodie-wearing young man looked indifferent, as if he did not care whether his conclusion was refuted, merely asking back with curiosity to see what the challenger would say.
Although the young man rarely, or almost never, spoke with them, they did not underestimate him for it.
Those who survived instances might have many flaws, but they would never be fools.
Besides, he carried a contradictory air.
His presence was subtle, yet that composed bearing was striking.
Either he had confidence in his own strength, or he had some security—like a precious life-saving item.
Either way, it proved he was no simple player.
The baseball cap young man quickly responded.
"Bro, you misunderstood. I'm not questioning you, it's my fault for not expressing myself clearly."
After a pause he continued, "What I mean is, why are you all convinced she poisoned herself?"
The long dress girl frowned slightly, "What are you trying to say?"
The baseball cap young man smiled helplessly, "Have you forgotten the Mountain God Temple?"
Although he did not state it outright, everyone instantly understood his implication.
They had all been manipulated in the Mountain God Temple.
"So you suspect she died because she made a related wish to the Mountain God?" the suited man asked to confirm.
The baseball cap young man nodded, "Old Man Liu who knocked on doors at night made a wish and the next day he was dead, right? The timing fits perfectly."
It made a certain kind of sense.
After these two days of interaction, they did not think the curly-haired woman was the type to be careless and ingest things casually inside an instance.
From the three villagers who had died half a month ago, it was clear making wishes to the Mountain God required a price.
If the Mountain God collected that price and the curly-haired woman died from poisoning as a result, it actually sounded plausible.
"We could borrow a chicken from Village Chief Zhu's house again, and test whether contact with the poisoned well water causes poisoning," the long dress girl suggested.
The suited man directly rejected her suggestion, "The exact cause of this player's death isn't really important right now. What we need to focus on is the spirit medium and that doctor named Gao Zhuang."
"It's already the second day, time is running out."
Hearing that, everyone instinctively felt a sense of urgency.
Xu Xi recalled the medicine cabinet he had last glimpsed before leaving the clinic.
Poisoned well water and a doctor with medicines.
Where did the poison come from? Could it have been provided by this doctor?
Maybe the doctor was the one who poisoned them?
Although there was no evidence, there was no harm in guessing.
In instances you had to boldly speculate and carefully verify.
Clearly everyone thought the same, otherwise they wouldn't have found Gao Zhuang suspicious.
Besides, Gao Zhuang had been subtly guiding them to find the spirit medium from time to time.
Everything about it felt wrong.
They stood there for about twenty minutes before Village Chief Zhu arrived with several villagers carrying a stretcher.
After Village Chief Zhu and the villagers performed a simple burial for the curly-haired woman, it was already noon.
With Village Chief Zhu's assurances, the group finally managed to eat again.
Their food had been poisoned last night, they had been busy testing the water quality, and this morning they didn't even have time for breakfast before the curly-haired woman had her accident.
By their count they had missed two meals.
In the player space they did not feel hunger, but inside an instance players experienced physiological states just like in the real world.
Even without an appetite, everyone ate a little to fill their stomachs.
The suited man asked Village Chief Zhu for some information about Gao Zhuang.
Gao Zhuang usually stayed at the clinic during the day, went home around five in the evening, and never remained until dark. He always made sure to lock the clinic door before leaving.
Although Village Chief Zhu did not want to believe Gao Zhuang would do such a thing as poison people, he still brought them the clinic's spare key when he learned the experts suspected Gao Zhuang and intended to search the clinic.
It was worth noting that in the afternoon a villager had come to speak to the players, saying something on behalf of the spirit medium.
The gist was that all the players had been cursed by Ah Wang's mother, and that if they wanted to lift the curse they should go to the Mountain God Temple that night to see the spirit medium.
"Looks like it's connected to the spirit medium."
The five temporarily gathered at the long dress girl's residence, and the other four agreed with her observation.
One of them had just died, and the spirit medium had immediately reached out—there was no way it was a coincidence.
There are no coincidences in instances.
The curly-haired woman's death must involve the spirit medium.
And Gao Zhuang, who kept hinting they should see the spirit medium…
It was possible these two were in cahoots.
They had even told them to go to the Mountain God Temple at night, the time and place both looked suspicious.
"At least we know the spirit medium will be at the Mountain God Temple tonight, and Gao Zhuang won't be staying overnight at the clinic."
The suited man glanced around at everyone.
"For efficiency, I suggest we split into two teams. One team searches the spirit medium's residence, the other searches the clinic."