Chapter 262: Wraith (IX) Where Are the Old Friends Now?

The little old woman who took over the Residence after the old man nagged Tang Yu a few more times before leaving with the keychain.

When the players gathered, they realized that nearly half of them were missing after just one night.

Luo Haihua and her husband disappeared due to an invisible fire caused by an overturned lantern, and it was likely they had met a terrible end.

Qiu Xin climbed out the window and should still be alive, but it was confirmed that she was in a different faction from the other players.

“Qiu Xin is a Wraith. She climbed out the window before the Zi Hour, likely to kill a townsfolk and complete her daily killing mission.”

Tang Yu calmly speculated while fiddling with the lantern in his hand: “There’s no light at night, so she couldn’t see the townsfolks’ shadows. She could only use her daytime observations to determine that the old man managing the Residence was human. To be safe, she most likely chose to target that old man.

“She succeeded, which is why the old man disappeared and was replaced by an old woman managing the Residence. Comparing this to the situation yesterday evening, it shows that only players in the ‘Wraith’ faction can truly kill the townsfolk.”

Although Tang Yu usually seemed careless, his overall quality was quite good, as a former core member of the Jiuzhou Guild.

Especially when it came to reasoning and analysis, his thoughts were clear and effortless; he clarified the entire sequence of events in just a few sentences.

While he was speaking, Qi Si abruptly reached out and patted Lin Chen’s shoulder, lightly, like a breeze passing by.

Lin Chen jumped in surprise. Turning around, he saw Qi Si retract his hand, his palm still holding a narrow, elongated leaf.

Qi Si dropped the leaf on the ground and looked up at him: “You probably picked it up in the Bamboo Forest last night. I don’t know why it hasn’t fallen off yet. I just noticed it too.”

He had clearly tidied his clothes yesterday, so how could a leaf still be stuck? And reaching out without a word—did he have to be so scary?

Lin Chen muttered inwardly, opening his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the cold system broadcast:

【The side quest “Find all the Wraiths hidden among you” has been completed.】

On the system interface, the text in the side quest column dissolved into silvery-white light particles, vanishing in a few seconds.

All players who had this quest received the prompt, and Tang Yu naturally saw the change on his panel.

“This dungeon looks quite complex. Why was the side quest completed so easily?”

He complained, but didn’t dwell on it for long, quickly returning to the main topic: “It’s now confirmed that Qiu Xin is a Wraith. This is a team dungeon, and having divided factions clearly contradicts the main theme. I suspect this is related to the subsequent mystery solving.

“I have another conjecture: our identity is ‘Human,’ but we may not actually be human.”

Tang Yu took out a Long Scroll from his inventory and continued: “The effect of this item of mine is to open a door that only spiritual entities can enter. But last night, due to a coincidence, I discovered that I could actually walk through it.

“The item’s effect won’t be wrong. That means I am currently in a spiritual entity state, and I estimate it’s the same for you.”

He pulled out another yellowed Paper Page from his pocket, showed it to Qi Si and Lin Chen, and pointed to the last line: 【Floating lightly, one suddenly realizes that the soul has left the body, wandering in the Great Void.】 “It is highly possible that ever since we entered Yanghua Town, we have been in an out-of-body state. Our physical bodies must have been discarded somewhere.”

Qi Si listened patiently to Tang Yu’s deduction and nodded slightly: “The preliminary prompt mentioned three forms of spiritual entities: ‘Ghost,’ ‘Zhan,’ and ‘Nothingness.’ We might be one of them.

“Our bodies might be in that Bamboo Forest where we first entered the dungeon, and as far as I know, that place is not safe. If we can’t complete the main quest quickly, I’m afraid we’ll only be able to leave in the form of Ghosts…”

He didn’t spell it out, but Tang Yu’s eyes showed understanding, and he nodded seriously.

Some things were no secret within the large guilds, especially the Jiuzhou Guild, which was closely associated with the Eerie Investigation Bureau that frequently hunted down players offline.

Lin Chen’s understanding of the Eerie Game was based on forums; although extensive, it was not profound.

Regarding players being transformed into Eerie entities and invading reality, he had only heard rumors and had no distinct impression.

Hearing Qi Si’s words, he recalled the miserable state of the young man in the later stages of Frog Hospital and couldn’t help but ask, “Brother Lin, what’s the difference between leaving the dungeon as a Ghost and clearing it normally?”

“I haven’t experienced it, so I don’t know,” Qi Si said, his expression unchanged, showing no flaws. “You probably won’t live long before dying. I once read a post about clearing the ‘Dialectical Game’ with an NE ending. The poster cleared it as a Ghost, and there was no news from them a few hours later.”

Lin Chen: “Oh, I see!”

Skipping the unpleasant topic, Qi Si handed Tang Yu the two Letters he had found in his and Luo Haihua’s room, briefly explaining what happened last night and the conclusions he and Lin Chen had reached this morning.

“The main quest is the key. Whether it’s curing an illness or fighting a tiger, we must find a reason to leave Yanghua Town and go back to the Bamboo Forest.”

He lowered his eyes, looking at the lantern in his hand: “Even in the worst-case scenario, as long as we have the Guiding Green Lantern, we won’t be afraid of losing our way back.”

Tang Yu placed his hand on the Saber at his waist, nodded intently: “After we meet the so-called Master Meng today, we will leave the town to explore.”

The two spoke without stopping, steadily walking down the stairs.

Lin Chen couldn’t interject. He carried his Medicine Box and lantern, silently bringing up the rear.

When the three reached the first floor, a figure in green robes and a cloth cap approached the Residence from outside. With a pale face and dark eyes, he looked familiar—he should be the scholar who had sternly informed the players of Yanghua Town’s rules yesterday.

The scholar carried a Meal Box and entered the Residence. Seeing the players, he smiled kindly: “Gentlemen, I apologize for offending you yesterday when I suspected that Wraiths had mixed in among you. I have come specifically to make amends today.”

His expression was still stiff, like a mannequin, but his attitude was much more polite and enthusiastic, making him seem like a completely different person from yesterday.

“I brought your meals for today on my way. The old woman here at the Residence is old and doesn’t handle cooking, so please make do with this food. If you need anything else, just tell me.”

Lin Chen looked around and indeed saw no signs of a fire being lit for cooking.

He couldn’t help but ask, “Do all outside guests staying here have to bring their own food from outside?”

“You can also go eat outside,” the scholar said. “No fire has been lit here at the Residence since it was built. The food for outside guests is always brought by me.”

“Is that so?” Qi Si feigned disbelief and seized the opportunity to ask, “Then tell me—when was this Residence built?”

“I don’t remember, it was built a long time ago…” the scholar said, recalling.

His eyes grew hazy, and his voice became indistinct, like sleep-talking: “When we moved here, it was already like this… there was the County Office, houses, the Buddhist Temple, and the Residence. We just moved in…”

His face twisted into a grimace for a moment, and a struggle flashed in his hazy eyes, as if tormented by past memories.

Amidst the swirling dust, the shadow cast by the morning light trembled incessantly on the ground, swaying between the shape of a tiger and a human.

They could not continue this topic.

Qi Si stared into the scholar’s eyes and said deliberately, word by word: “Stop talking. We don’t want to know. We are all hungry and just want to eat breakfast quickly.”

The scholar’s murmur was interrupted. Startled awake from a dream, his turbulent expression calmed down in two seconds, as if nothing had happened.

“Please enjoy your breakfast, gentlemen.” He smiled kindly, like a robot just recovering from a malfunction, holding the Meal Box with a stiff arm as he walked deeper into the Residence.

The lobby of the Residence had over a dozen tables scattered neatly, suggesting a past scene of bustling activity, but now they lay cold, lonely, and unused. Although there was no significant damage or dirt, the place still appeared desolate and dilapidated.

The scholar picked the largest table, placed the Meal Box down, and opened the lid.

Round, plump Qingming rice ballss were packed inside, green like jade and glistening with a damp sheen.

The balls didn’t look fresh; their surfaces were covered with moss-like markings. It was unknown where they came from, but they strangely reminded one of offerings placed before a tomb.

The scholar made a gesture of invitation, signaling the players to sit at the table.

Qi Si and Tang Yu didn’t move. Seeing this, Lin Chen quietly lowered the foot he had raised.

Tang Yu looked at the scholar and snapped, “You said this is today’s meal. Are we really supposed to eat this junk all day? What if I don’t like sweets?”

This looked like blatant badgering, but he was actually trying to test the NPC.

The scholar wasn’t annoyed. His smile, fixed like a painting, remained on his face: “Yes, this is today’s meal, and it will be the meal for the future as well. We only have these here, nothing else. And these are not sweet.”

As if to confirm his words, he reached out, picked up a rice ball, and took a bite.

His hand was withered like a straw, making the Qingming rice balls look like a pebble. A “shasha” sound came from his mouth, suggesting the food he was eating was utterly flavorless.

If the Qingming rice balls wasn’t sweet, what did it taste like?

Lin Chen looked at the Qingming rice ballss of unknown flavor in the Meal Box, then at the scholar mechanically chewing the ball, and had no intention of trying a bite himself.

He tentatively asked, “If I’m not hungry, can I skip eating?”

This wasn’t a random excuse. Although the players hadn’t eaten a single grain since entering the dungeon yesterday, none of them actually felt hungry.

To be precise, they felt nothing, as if the organ known as the stomach had vanished into thin air—it didn’t matter whether they were full or empty.

“If you’re not hungry, you don’t have to eat.” The scholar nodded, then shook his head. “Aside from you outside guests, we generally don’t eat.”

As he said this, he finished one rice ball, picked up another, and began chewing it methodically.

The players: “…”

In any case, the players had no intention of eating something that looked strange in the dungeon, especially without a mandatory requirement.

After all, common sense dictated that a spiritual entity couldn’t starve to death by not eating.

Seeing that the people in front of him had no intention of eating, the scholar merely smiled indifferently and closed the lid of the Meal Box.

“If you gentlemen are done, please come with me to see Master Meng. You are honored guests invited by Master Meng, and he has been eager to meet you since he learned of your arrival yesterday.”

Having said that, he turned and walked toward the Residence entrance, seemingly certain that the players would follow.

This time, no one moved.

Tang Yu said loudly, “Wait! We need to go upstairs first to grab some things and prepare, saving us a trip back later.”

He paused, then deliberately asked, “Are you coming up with us, or will you wait for us down here?”

The scholar stopped, looked back, and scanned each person: “I will wait for you here, gentlemen. Please be quick.”

Having received permission, the players ignored the scholar and ascended the stairs one by one.

The scholar stood quietly the entire time, watching the players’ backs, unmoving like a scarecrow in a wheat field.

Upon reaching the second floor, Qi Si pulled Lin Chen, walked straight past Tang Yu, and entered the empty room left by Luo Haihua and her husband.

Tang Yu understood the hint, followed them in, and closed the door behind him.

The soundproofing in the Residence must be decent. Otherwise, the commotion in their respective rooms last night would have been noticed earlier, and they wouldn’t have had to wait until today to exchange information.

Tang Yu estimated that the scholar couldn’t hear their conversation and whispered, “The scholar has a problem.”

Of course, dungeon NPCs have problems. The question is, what kind of problem?

Lin Chen blinked and looked at Qi Si.

Qi Si continued where Tang Yu left off: “The scholar who came today is not the same person as the one yesterday. Although their appearance and physique are generally similar, I frequently make human specimens, so I can spot subtle differences.”

He stopped there, and Lin Chen automatically called up the images in his memory for comparison.

Before noticing the anomaly, the brain automatically corrects inconsistencies in details; but once the error is realized, flaws appear one after another.

Lin Chen recalled the details and agreed: “Hey, now that you mention it, that’s true. He’s two centimeters taller than yesterday’s scholar, has a small mole under his right ear, narrower eyes, and thicker lips… Haha, I originally thought his eye bags were just bigger because he didn’t sleep well last night.”

As Lin Chen spoke, he frowned: “But he clearly told us that he was the one who spoke to us yesterday. Judging by his tone, it didn’t sound fake…”

“NPCs can lie, and memories can deceive, but we don’t know which category he falls into,” Qi Si said blandly. “What we need to figure out now is where the scholar from yesterday went and why the’scholar’ Profession was replaced.”

“Profession?” Tang Yu caught the keyword in Qi Si’s speech, raising an eyebrow. “Are you suggesting…”

Lin Chen remembered the corresponding information and murmured: “The old woman who took over the Residence said that in Yanghua Town, a set of clothes represents a Profession, and her Profession is managing the Residence. Could’scholar’ also be a Profession? Does the NPC’s memory follow the Profession?”

Qi Si didn’t answer directly but continued on his own: “I wonder if you noticed yesterday that townsfolk of the same identity—or Profession—wear identical clothing.

“Common men wear gray clothes, common women wear yellow clothes, literate scholars wear green clothes, and the old man managing the Residence wears black clothes.

“When we leave the Residence later, we should pay close attention to the townsfolks’ attire and faces, and then compare them tomorrow morning to see if the change in Profession is accidental or follows a pattern.”

As he spoke, Tang Yu bent down and picked up a Paper Lantern still lying on the floor.

Since Luo Haihua and her husband’s Paper Lantern was overturned, the Candle inside had disappeared, leaving only the light, fluttering Paper Shade, which trembled slightly with the invisible wind and occasionally rolled a few centimeters.

After being picked up by Tang Yu, the Paper Shade still trembled, but unlike its previous aimless shaking, this time it clearly swayed toward the Nightstand.

It was as if… it was pointing the way.

Qi Si seemed to sense something and walked straight toward the Nightstand placed by the bed.

On that Nightstand, the Paper and Pen he had used earlier to organize his thoughts were still neatly placed, covered in his scribbled deductions about the world view and clues.

And below the original paragraphs, a line of neat, small text had strikingly appeared:

【Lin Wen, Lin Ya, I am Luo Haihua. Old Luo and I are still in the dungeon…】