Yes, of course that's fine.
It is a complete seller's market now. Who among the players dares to say no
At first, there were a few players who quickly decided to pay their points to save their lives yesterday afternoon. They were also the first group to decide to pay their points and go to the lake together today.
Once these people left, there were even fewer people in the inn. Under this circumstance, the remaining players naturally decided to go together one after another.
Everyone still remembered yesterday's scene vividly, and they were afraid that Zhang Daoan would suddenly ask for extra money because of the overtime. After all, this man was not Nie Shuangshuang. He really would watch them die without blinking an eye if he didn't save them. So everyone made the decision very quickly, and even Sun Yan asked to hand in his points without saying a word.
So without wasting a few minutes, a team of sixteen people headed towards the lake west of the city.
The city was deserted, the streets were deserted, and outside the city there were dead branches and fallen leaves, a scene of desolation.
After arriving at the lake, Zhang Daoan put his hands in his pockets and just looked at the lake quietly.
He looked at him without saying anything. Nie Shuangshuang was very curious about how such a smart person could pass the level, so she turned her head and looked at him.
Aunt Li originally needed to adapt to the copy, and was also looking for clues at this time. Not to mention Sun Yan, who now hoped to infiltrate Jie Fangcheng and his group, so he also followed in unison, looking left and right, trying to find some clues to prove that he was still useful.
Only Jie Fangcheng was there, with a blank expression, leaning against a tree by the lake, and it looked like he would fall asleep if he continued watching for a while longer.
The new players didn't know what the old players were looking at, and they were whispering behind their backs.
"What are they looking at now? Is there anything special here?"
"I can't tell, but these old players are all looking at it this way, so they must have their reasons. Let's learn from them."
For these new players, they have already spent their points, so it’s not like they came here for nothing, so every bit they learn counts.
So the fourteen players by the lake were like the sunflowers in "Plants vs. Zombies", moving their heads irregularly on their necks, looking for clues that they didn't even know about.
Soon, Zhang Daoan finished reading and said, "Let's go."
"ah?"
Everyone looked confused, and Nie Shuangshuang quickly asked, "Have you finished reading it?"
"Um."
"What did you find?"
Zhang Daoan said calmly: "The lake is very big, and there are no fish in the lake."
"…Ah, what's wrong?"
Zhang Daoan glanced at her. Although his words were calm and his tone of explanation was normal, Nie Shuangshuang inexplicably felt a little despised.
"There are aquatic plants in the lake, and the water quality seems to be good, which is very suitable for fish and shrimp to live. But there are no fish in such a large lake, which means there is something in the lake, which proves that my guess should be correct. Similarly, the lake is so big, it is not easy to find the city lord and the heavenly master. It is unrealistic to go down and look for them by yourself."
Nie Shuangshuang opened her mouth, but she reacted quickly at this time: "What you said makes sense, but even if we go into the water to look for it, shouldn't it be me and Brother Jie who look for it together?"
Zhang Daoan glanced at Jie Fangcheng, who was daydreaming, and then turned his gaze back: "He's not going."
"?" Nie Shuangshuang asked, "Why?"
Zhang Daoan turned his head and said, "Let's go to the city to find Manager Han."
"??? Hey!" Nie Shuangshuang was shocked, "Brother, you are serious, right? You can't be so blatant with double standards, right?"
Zhang Daoan pretended not to hear.
Xie Fangcheng heard it, and Manager Xie breathed a sigh of relief.
The lake does look quite clean, but no matter how clean it is, it is still lake water. It had to be washed into the ground yesterday. But if he had a choice, he would not want to go swimming in the lake. This is not a water park.
It doesn't matter whether he has double standards or not, just don't let him do such unexpected work.
But this teacher Zhang is really a good brother!
It was worth it... uh, using Nie Shuangshuang's precious item to summon him out.
I feel even more fortunate when I think about this.
Fortunately, the points I spent were not my own...
Nie Shuangshuang couldn't understand Jie Fangcheng's mood at all, but her emotions came and went quickly. She started asking questions before she even walked into the city gate.
"Hey, why are we going to find Shopkeeper Han? Are we going to ask him to exchange candles? We don't need candles at night now, right? By the way, do you know where Shopkeeper Han is? Do you need to ask? Hey! There is an NPC there, let's ask him?"
As he spoke, Nie Shuangshuang had already gone to ask, and soon came back.
"The NPC said Xiong Si is in the east of the city. Isn't that the direction we went to when we went to look for the Heavenly Master? Did you see Xiong Si on the road?"
As she spoke, Nie Shuangshuang looked at Jie Fangcheng.
Jie Fangcheng pulled her back and said, "What you said makes us two not even count the word 'right' down there."
If he didn't remember such a special clue, who else could he expect to remember the murderer? Isn't this just asking for trouble
Aunt Li spoke up: "I did see a shop on the road that day, with white cloth and paper money hanging outside, so that should be it."
Zhang Daoan nodded: "This clue is very useful. It's better to remember clues like this next time."
Nie Shuangshuang touched her nose.
Jie Fangcheng looks at the sky.
The crowd marched in a mighty procession from the west of the city to the east, and along the way they once again gained an objective understanding of the desolation of Fulai City.
There were no pedestrians on the street, and no sounds could be heard. If you looked closely, you would see white cloth strips tied on the doors of many houses, and some even had coffins on their doorsteps. On the quieter streets, there was even paper money that was blown up by the wind and then fell down again.
There are still some shops on both sides of the wider streets, but they are basically closed at this time.
It was clearly noon, but it was as quiet as dusk.
When they arrived at the east of the city, they saw a shop with white cloth and paper money hanging on the street next to the east city gate. There were two paper figures at the door of the shop, and next to the paper figures was a large water tank filled with water. Jie Fangcheng suddenly whispered, "Someone is watching us."
"Who? Where? Is it the city lord or the heavenly master?" Nie Shuangshuang immediately perked up and placed her hand at the entrance of the system backpack.
Jie Fangcheng shook his head: "I don't know, it's too weak."
Nie Shuangshuang tried to understand the level of this "weakness": "Compared with Aunt Li? Compared with Sun Yan? Compared with me? Which level?"
Xie Fangcheng hesitated for a moment.
Nie Shuangshuang asked: "Why don't you speak?"
Jie Fangcheng said honestly: "It's hard to compare, they feel similar."
It took Nie Shuangshuang a while to react.
She flew into a rage: "Are you implying that I'm weaker too? Huh?"
"No, no, no." Jie Fangcheng said, "Everyone is the same anyway."
Nie Shuangshuang asked, "You think I'm weak, so who do you think is stronger? Brother Zhang?"
Just as Xie Fangcheng was about to hesitate, Zhang Daoan had already knocked on Xiongsi's door. The knocking sound was clearly audible in the quiet street.
There was no answer from the door, but after a few seconds, it opened.
A thin middle-aged man with half-white hair, a sallow face, sunken cheeks, and dark eyes opened the door. He looked somewhat eerie in this environment.
"Who are you looking for?"
"Manager Han?"
Shopkeeper Han nodded. His dry lips looked as if he had not had water for a long time, and he looked like he was about to die.
"We came to you to buy candles."
Hearing what Zhang Daoan said, Manager Han's eyes rolled. He stood there like a dead tree, and even his voice was harsh and dry. "Oh, okay."
As he spoke, Shopkeeper Han opened the door and turned to walk into the house.
The players also came in one after another.
cold.
The first feeling was that it was cold. It didn't feel like being in a house at all. It felt more like being in a puddle of water. It was damp and chilly.
The room was pitch black, without a single light.
Although it was very cold outside in Lai Fu City, it was still broad daylight. Near noon, the sun was shining brightly outside.
But this shop seemed to have no windows, and not even a ray of sunlight could get in.
"We don't charge money in this store. If you want a candle, bring something to exchange." Shopkeeper Han walked to the counter, took out a candle from the cabinet, put it on the counter, and looked straight at Zhang Daoan, "Exchange your clothes for a candle."
Zhang Daoan didn't say anything, just looked around.
Shopkeeper Han waited for a while, then asked impatiently: "Do you want to change it?"
The surrounding environment was too dark. Zhang Daoan had only passed the level twice and could not see clearly what was around him.
He listened carefully to the sounds around him, and finally, Zhang Daoan turned his head suddenly.
"there!"
After working with him on a copy once, Jie Fangcheng has become very proficient.
He had already held the baseball bat in his hand before entering the murder room. As soon as Zhang Daoan opened his mouth, Xie Fangcheng rushed out like an arrow.
Shopkeeper Han was stunned for a moment, looked at the direction he was rushing towards, and immediately stopped in horror and called out "Nannan"!
Jie Fangcheng had already smashed a wall with a stick.
After a loud "bang", the wall collapsed.
Nie Shuangshuang was a little slow to react. She reached out to stop Manager Han, then looked in the direction where Jie Fangcheng went and remained silent.
"What are you going to do? I'm going to fight you!" Shopkeeper Han said as he took out a knife from his waist. Nie Shuangshuang quickly knocked the knife to the ground.
The new players have never experienced system enhancement. Now the room is so dark that they can only see vague outlines and nothing else. At this time, they are whispering to each other, asking "What's wrong? What happened?"
Nie Shuangshuang snapped his fingers, and a cluster of flames ignited in his hands.
With the help of the firelight, everyone finally saw the scene in front of them clearly, and someone immediately retched twice in nausea.
"What is that… "
Behind the wall that was smashed open by Jie Fangcheng, there was a huge pool on the ground.
In the pool, a little girl of three or four years old was suspended in the water. Only half of her body was left, and she was staring blankly at the players with one eye.
"Nannan!" Shopkeeper Han was at a loss as to what to do and wanted to rush towards his daughter in the pool, but was stopped by Nie Shuangshuang again.
Nie Shuangshuang looked at Zhang Daoan inquiringly, and Zhang Daoan nodded at her.
Nie Shuangshuang asked: "Why are you nodding at me? Speak, how can I know what you mean if you just nod?"
Zhang Daoan paused for a moment, which was rare. "It means to let him go."
"Oh oh." Nie Shuangshuang let go, but did not forget to give him advice, "Next time just say it directly. We have never played together before. I am not like Brother Jie who can understand what you mean."
Zhang Daoan looked at her again and sighed.
Over there, Shopkeeper Han stumbled to the side of the pool and reached out to touch his "daughter" in the pool: "Don't be afraid, Nannan, Daddy will come over to feed you after he finishes dealing with them, ah."
Shopkeeper Han was frighteningly skinny, and his hands were more like dead branches. After being bitten by his "daughter", his palm was bitten and only a few drops of blood dripped into the water.
The "daughter" sucked the dripping blood, and when she could not suck any more, she dived back into the water, as if to look for the blood that had spilled into the water.
Shopkeeper Han only groaned when it bit him, and then just let it suck his blood.
After it dived back into the water, Shopkeeper Han stood up and faced the players.
"You're looking for death! I won't sell you my candles!"
After hearing this, Jie Fangcheng asked, "You said you don't want to sell it, so what?"
Shopkeeper Han just sneered.
Over there, Nie Shuangshuang had already expertly rummaged into the counter. After searching, she stood up in a daze.
"These are the only candles."
She took out the candle she had found and placed it on the counter.
Sixteen.
It was as if they had known how many people would come, sixteen people and sixteen candles, no more, no less.
Shopkeeper Han sneered: "These sixteen candles are the last ones you can buy. Go away!"
In this city, only with candles can one avoid being attacked by resentful babies at night. Without candles, one will die. It is equivalent to him controlling the lives of the people in the city.
This is the "privilege" he gained after cooperating with the city lord.
Normally, whenever he said this, those people would immediately obey him. But at this time, seeing that there were only sixteen candles, the people who came to buy candles didn't care at all. Their attention was still on Shopkeeper Han and his "daughter" in the pool behind him.
"Evil babies? Are they the same as those in the courtyard?" Nie Shuangshuang asked.
Jie Fangcheng nodded: "Almost. The one in the pool still has a breath left, but he is dead."
The soul is gone, or it has been eroded by negative energy, but it is not strong enough, so it has not turned into an evil ghost, but only into a resentful baby.
But because it has been nourished by flesh and blood, half of its body is still alive.
Shopkeeper Han opened his eyes wide: "You are talking nonsense! Nannan has been moving faster recently! She will be back soon!!"
"He won't come back." Jie Fangcheng stated the facts calmly. "When a person dies, it's like a light goes out. He will never exist again and there is no way he can be resurrected. Even if he can be resurrected, he won't be the same person anymore."
Zhang Daoan suddenly turned around and looked at him, his eyes seemed a little complicated.
Jie Fangcheng looked at him, not understanding why he had that expression, but before he could open his mouth to ask, Zhang Daoan had turned his face away again.
Shopkeeper Han was furious: "What do you know?! You don't understand anything at all!!!"
"The water in your pool comes from the well, right? The city lord told you that?"
The overall layout of the inn and the city lord's mansion is a square courtyard with a patio in the middle. When it rains, rainwater falls from the eaves into the patio, with the idea of "gathering water and wealth".
But in this place, what is gathered is not wealth.
Manager Han looked at him grimly: "Don't talk nonsense! Of course this is useful! I know... I know! The city lord's son was saved this way... It was clearly a dead baby, but he survived! This method is useful!!"
Zhang Daoan said, "So how did your daughter die? Do you not care about it?"
Shopkeeper Han looked at him suddenly.
Zhang Daoan looked at his expression and understood.
"You knew that the city lord killed all the children in the city, including your child, of course. But you listened to the city lord and helped him 'manage' the people in the city in exchange for your daughter's resurrection. Right?"
"So what? I can do anything for my daughter!"
Zhang Daoan sighed deeply: "How stupid."
"What did you say??"
Zhang Daoan looked towards the pool.
"You actually believed the murderer who killed your daughter, and believed that he would show mercy and tell you how to revive her... Have you ever thought about why the city lord killed so many children?"
Shopkeeper Han was stunned.
Zhang Daoan continued, "To revive his own son, he needed so many lives, but to revive your daughter, he only needed her to soak in water? Have you never thought about such a simple question?"
Shopkeeper Han's dry lips trembled.
The sound of Zhang Daoan's sigh continued to be heard.
"You think there's something wrong with this water, so you refuse to drink the water from the well, nor the water from the lake, and only dare to drink rainwater. It rained the day before yesterday, and the water tank at your door was filled with water, but relying on the weather for food is unstable after all, so you dare not drink too much, so you've been thirsty. I saw that there were white cloths hanging on your door and in your house, and the paper figurines at the door were also newly made. Since you think your daughter is not dead, it seems that someone else in the family has passed away. Is it your madam?"
Shopkeeper Han was speechless.
"The city lord caused your family to be destroyed and your life to be miserable. Of course you hate him, but you dare not resist. You even believe his lies, thinking that he is really kind and will help you revive your child? Look at this thing in the pool—"
As he spoke, Shopkeeper Han slowly turned around.
He told himself every day that this was his daughter.
Although only half of her body was left, it didn't matter. Look, her eyes could still move. As long as she helped the city lord manage the people in the city as he said, her child would be resurrected like his son.
But at this moment, when looking at her "daughter", the thing in the pool's only remaining eye was rolling around, and its mouth was half open, but it was not acting coquettishly towards her or asking for candied haws like before.
Instead, he made chewing movements, as if he was not satisfied with the flesh and blood he had just eaten and wanted to eat some more.
Would my innocent and lovely daughter be like this
"Impossible... Impossible!" Shopkeeper Han's legs softened and he fell to the ground. "That's how the city lord's son was resurrected... That's how it was resurrected!"
"How did it come back to life?" Zhang Daoan asked patiently, "Could it be that it also came back to life by soaking in such a narrow pool?"
"No..." Shopkeeper Han came back to his senses, "He's in the lake! The city lord's child was stillborn, a freak with only a brain! But the city lord put it in the middle of the lake... There are many dead bodies of children in the lake, and he slowly opened his eyes and slowly grew hands in the lake! All we have to do is go to the lake!!"
Shopkeeper Han seemed to have finally found a way to revive his daughter. He looked at Zhang Daoan in front of him with great determination and said, "You are very smart. As long as you agree to help me revive my daughter, I will teach you how to make candles! Only I know this method!!"
Zhang Daoan shook his head: "Why do you think the city lord brought you to the lake to let you see how he resurrected his son?"
"What?"
Zhang Daoan said softly, "Would he be so kind as to let you, who lost your daughter, know how he used the lives of so many children to exchange for his own son's life?"
Shopkeeper Han was stunned.
"You said it yourself, his son's head has grown."
Shopkeeper Han looked into the pool.
In the pool, his daughter was missing half of her body and her head was incomplete.
"What if... What if it works?! I want to try... I, I want to try!"
Shopkeeper Han's eyes were filled with tears of blood and he held his head in pain. Although he said so, he knew in his heart that what this overly clever man said was very likely true.
Zhang Daoan continued to just sigh, sounding very compassionate.
"My condolences."
After saying that, he turned around and seemed to remember something: "But there is one more thing, maybe I can tell you."
"… What?"
Zhang Daoan looked at him with a sincere expression: "The reason we came here is to kill the city lord. We really need your candle-making skills. If you figure it out and are willing to help us, maybe you can avenge his wife and daughter before the city lord escapes."
Manager Han was stunned for a moment and didn't react: "What did you say? The city lord escaped?"
"Yes. We caused a big commotion at the City Lord's Mansion yesterday. The City Lord has been scared by us and dares not show up. He may run away soon. So if you decide to avenge your relatives, please contact us as soon as possible."
After saying this, Zhang Daoan nodded politely at him: "Excuse me."
Then he led the players away from the murder room.
As soon as she left, Nie Shuangshuang wanted to say something, but Jie Fangcheng gently retorted: "Someone is following us."
Nie Shuangshuang let out an "ah" and held back a lot of words, but she didn't ask them in the end. The sixteen people returned to the inn again. When they were near the inn, Jie Fangcheng spoke again: "No one is there."
Nie Shuangshuang's questions immediately popped up in her mind.
"The shopkeeper is the city lord's man? Will it be useful for you to tell him that? The city lord ran away? Who is following us? How did you know what you said to him?"
Zhang Daoan said implicitly: "Can you use your brain?"
Jie Fangcheng couldn't help but ask, "But why are you looking for him? What use is this NPC to us?"
Zhang Daoan explained: "This shopkeeper Han is ostensibly the city lord's man, but in fact he hates the city lord. He knows how to make candles to drive away evil babies, and we need them."
"Ah? Why do we need candles?" Nie Shuangshuang asked.
Jie Fangcheng also looked at him.
Zhang Daoan said, "Because we need the help of these NPCs in the city. There are so many of them. You alone can't protect so many people, right?"
“Ohhhh!”
Jie Fangcheng understood.
He and Nie Shuangshuang can capture the leader first, but they can't capture so many resentful babies at the same time, there are too many of them.
But if there is Shopkeeper Han's candle, at least the NPCs and players don't have to worry about being harassed by the resentful babies.
Nie Shuangshuang still didn't quite understand: "Although there are many NPCs in the city, they are not strong enough, right? How can we use them to deal with the city lord?"
Indeed, when the city lord and the Taoist priest saw that the situation was not good, they retreated directly into the lake. If they were on land, Nie Shuangshuang's speed could still catch up with the two NPCs, but the resistance in the water was great, and most of Nie Shuangshuang's skills were fire-related, which greatly restrained her.
Could it be that the people in Fulai City have any good idea
Zhang Daoan asked: "What else did you see in the east of the city?"
"Ah?" Nie Shuangshuang was at a loss, "What else is there in the east of the city?"
“There are mountains.”
"Shan? What happened to Shan?"
Zhang Daoan looked at the patio in the middle of the inn. The patio was so deep that it seemed bottomless - but no matter how bottomless it was, it still had a bottom.
“Have you ever heard of Yugong moving the mountains?”
"?" Nie Shuangshuang seemed to have a premonition. She opened her mouth wide and even felt a sense of confusion.
What's going on? Is she clearing a horror dungeon? After all the intrigues, coups, and rebellions, is there still infrastructure and lake filling waiting for her? ?
The next second, Zhang Daoan's words confirmed her guess.
"It's just a bigger lake." Zhang Daoan laughed, "There are so many people in this city, it can't be filled up, right?"
(End of this chapter)