Yu Hanjiang decides to use Liu Qiao's transformation card to impersonate the village chief.
After listening to the village chief's house for three hours that afternoon, he roughly grasped the village chief's personality. The village chief was around thirty years old, surnamed Liu, and Old Mrs. Qin called him "Little Liu." He was unaware of the origin of the seven gems in the village, and Old Mrs. Qin only told him today that the gems were distributed in an "array." Therefore, it was perfectly reasonable for him to have doubts and go to Granny Sun for consultation.
The twin card has a limitation: to impersonate someone, you must have seen them within half an hour. Therefore, Yu Hanjiang must first go to the village chief's house to see what he looks like.
Liu Qiao cautioned, " The twin card will completely replicate a person's appearance and voice, and this appearance will definitely include the eyes. Once Captain Yu becomes the village chief, he will likely become blind like him."
Xiao Lou was also worried about this, and looked at Yu Hanjiang and said, "The village chief has been blind since childhood. He grew up in Liuxi Village and is very familiar with it. He doesn't have to worry about falling when he walks. But if you, Captain Yu, copy him and become blind, and then knock over things at Granny Sun's house, it will definitely arouse Granny Sun's suspicion."
Yu Hanjiang thought for a moment and said, "How about this, when I'm pretending to be the village chief later, Professor Xiao, you can be my eyes."
Xiao Lou was slightly taken aback: "You mean, you want me to wear the Invisibility Cloak and assist you from the side?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "Yes, you lead the way so I won't make any mistakes."
Xiao Lou smiled and said, "No problem."
At 24:00, all card skills will be refreshed.
The five split up, with Liu Qiao leading the way with her flight marker. From high above, she could observe the village's movements more clearly and issue an early warning if danger arose. Meanwhile, the Four-Way Arrow they obtained from the Square Block 2 Escape Room proved invaluable. Liu Qiao found the quickest and safest route and marked it with arrows for everyone.
Ye Qi and Shao Qingge followed closely behind with their teleportation cards. The three of them first arrived at the village chief's house. Ye Qi threw a listening card over to confirm that there was no sound coming from the village chief's house and that the village chief and his big yellow dog were fast asleep. Only then did Ye Qi call Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang through the Telepathic Connection channel: "The village chief's house is confirmed to be safe."
Yu Hanjiang put on an Invisibility Cloak and entered the village chief's house.
He first looked at the village chief's appearance, which would activate the twin card's copying function.
The Invisibility Cloak gave Yu Hanjiang 30 minutes to search the village chief's house. The village chief was fast asleep. His house had only one bedroom; he was unmarried and lived alone.
Yu Hanjiang discovered a map hanging on the wall of the village chief's house. It was a floor plan of Liuxi Village, marked with the four directions of east, south, west, and north. Next to each household were some words, many of which were raised dots that looked like Braille. Yu Hanjiang couldn't read Braille, but he guessed that these markings were to help the village chief remember the location of each household.
Besides the bedroom on the west side, there was a large cabinet against one wall in the room on the east side. Yu Hanjiang quietly entered the room, opened the cabinet door, and saw several thick folders inside, marked with the year. These should be historical materials left by the village's ancestors.
It was too dark in the room, so Yu Hanjiang simply pulled out all the folders.
As he went outside, he saw a garden with small white flowers blooming in the moonlight. Many people in the village grew this kind of flower. His gaze swept across the yard, and in a corner of the garden, he found some remnants. Yu Hanjiang squatted down and took a closer look. They seemed to be some remnants of Chinese medicine. He picked up a few pieces and took them outside.
The four people were waiting for him outside the door. Yu Hanjiang handed the folder to Xiao Lou and showed him the scraps he had found: " Professor Xiao, a lot of scraps were found in the garden and were thrown in a corner."
Xiao Lou leaned closer and smelled it, saying, "It should be boiled Chinese medicine."
Liu Qiao jumped down from the tree and looked at the thick folder, asking, "Is this the village's information?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded: "There are indeed clues in the village chief's house. These materials are all written in Chinese characters. He is blind and cannot see them, so they must have been passed down from his ancestors and kept in the house by successive village chiefs."
Xiao Lou opened the first folder, which indeed contained the history of Liuxi Village.
Liuxi Village is home to four major surnames: Qin, Liu, Sun, and Lin. Many years ago, their ancestors discovered this fertile paradise in the mountains, reclaimed the wasteland, and settled here. Initially, Liuxi Village had only a dozen or so people, but through generations of reproduction, the village population gradually increased, eventually stabilizing at over a hundred households.
The first few folders record the population of each household in Villager, like a household registration book.
The last folder, which is probably the most recent, contains more detailed records, mostly of events in the village: on what day, whose family had a new baby boy; whose family held a wedding banquet; whose elders passed away... These trivial events were all recorded with a fountain pen, the handwriting consistent and neat, just like printed text.
Yu Hanjiang said, "Judging from the time, it should have been left by the village chief from the previous generation, who is the grandfather of the current village chief?"
Xiao Lou looked at the notebook, his brows furrowing slightly: "The massacre of the village happened more than 30 years ago, and the records also stop more than 30 years ago. We should focus on the last year. Something must have happened in the village."
Yu Hanjiang flipped to the last page of the folder, where there was a first-person narrative.
"This year has been blessed with favorable weather and a bumper harvest for every household. At the start of the New Year, a few young people came to the village, saying they had come here..."
They were there for an inspection. We rarely see outsiders in our village, so everyone was initially wary of these people. However, they were very kind, taught Villager a lot, and gave the children many new toys.
I decided to cooperate with them in surveying the area surrounding the village. It's said that the area around this village has very rich jade resources, and mining jade could be very profitable. None of us know anything about jade, but the little girl's bracelet was very beautiful; she said it was a natural cat's eye stone. If we could mine and process the jade from our village, we could also make such beautiful bracelets.
My daughter loves her jade bracelet. I'm thinking, if we could cooperate with them to mine jade and make a lot of money, maybe one day our village could build a road so everyone can go out and see the world.
The record ends here.
Liu Qiao frowned as she looked at the neat penmanship and said, "The seven cat's eye stones are indeed a bracelet, but where did the girl wearing the bracelet go? There are no records after that. What exactly happened in the village?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "That girl is probably dead."
Xiao Lou nodded in agreement: "Only after she died would her bracelet be distributed throughout the village in a way similar to a memorial, forming a human shape, to be guarded by the Villagers for generations. This memorial practice must have been done by her relatives, right?"
Strangers have no obligation to keep the deceased's belongings. The girl wearing the bracelet who appeared in the village chief's records must be the key figure who triggered the whole incident.
Shao Qingge stroked his chin and said, "The people who came to the village are obviously experts in jade. They accidentally discovered that Liuxi Village has abundant jade resources. Many of the rough jade stones look no different from ordinary stones on the surface, but when they are opened, they contain pure natural jade, which, after processing, is priceless."
Ye Qi said excitedly, "I've heard of it too! Some people gamble on rough stones, spend a few thousand yuan to buy them, and end up opening them up to find precious jade worth hundreds of thousands of yuan, becoming rich overnight!"
"There have indeed been such cases. If Willow Creek Village truly possesses abundant jade resources, the Villagers could easily become rich overnight." Shao Qingge looked at Captain Yu and asked, "What could be the cause of this girl's death?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "The reasons for murder are nothing more than love, money, or lust. It is unlikely to be a crime of passion. She is a young lady from out of town and she should not have any romantic entanglement with the Villagers. She was wearing a bracelet with seven natural cat's eye stones, so she was obviously very rich. The Villagers may have killed her for money; or she was very beautiful, and a Villager took a fancy to her and had wicked thoughts about her."
Xiao Lou stroked his chin and thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "That girl, could she be blind?"
Upon hearing this, a chill ran down everyone's spine.
If the girl happened to be blind, and the Villagers bullied or even killed her because of her blindness, then it would make sense if her relatives, upon learning this, came to the village to take revenge, or even went so far as to massacre the entire village, and scattered the girl's bracelet throughout the village so that the Villagers ' descendants could treasure it and guard it.
Grandma Qin once said that those who bully the blind will be punished.
Was that girl really blind? Everyone could only speculate; there was no way to confirm it.
Yu Hanjiang said bluntly, "Grandma Qin and Granny Sun definitely know each other. Grandma Qin has already talked to the village chief today. Next, we'll go to Granny Sun's house to investigate."
Xiao Lou nodded and quickly followed Captain Yu.
Liu Qiao continued to lead the way, flying first to Granny Sun's neighborhood and hiding under a large tree— Granny Sun was still brewing medicine in the kitchen, just like last night, with a strange smell of Chinese medicine wafting through the air.
The thought that human bones had been boiled in that medicine pot sent chills down everyone's spine.
Liu Qiao gestured to Ye Qi, who then tossed the eavesdropping device against Granny Sun's wall. Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou and whispered, "I'm now the village chief. Professor Xiao, put on your Invisibility Cloak and help me inside so I can't fall because I can't see."
Xiao Lou nodded: "Don't worry. If anything goes wrong, I'll teleport you back to Peach Blossom Spring."
Liu Qiao warned, " The twin card's transformation can only be maintained for 10 minutes at present. Professor Xiao, please be careful."
Originally, the transformation could only last for 8 minutes, but Liu Qiao transformed once yesterday morning and once yesterday afternoon, and the growth rate of the S card has increased, so it can now last for 10 minutes.
Time was precious, so Yu Hanjiang stopped talking and immediately took out the twin card to transform himself into the village chief. The clone he created was exactly the same as the village chief, indistinguishable to the naked eye.
Xiao Lou put on the Invisibility Cloak, gently took his arm beside him, and led him away.
To outsiders, it appeared that only the "village chief" had come to Yu Hanjiang's door, but in reality, Xiao Lou had been helping to guide him all along.
Xiao Lou said softly, " Captain Yu, let's go."
The "village chief" didn't move; instead, he frowned deeply.
All four of them were somewhat puzzled: " Captain Yu?"
Yu Hanjiang said softly, "I can see it."
The four people: "......"
Yu Hanjiang gently rubbed his eyes and said, "The village chief is not blind; he can see."
This unexpected discovery left everyone speechless with surprise.
The twin card is a "complete copy," a fact previously verified by Liu Qiao. Voice, vision, height, body type, and even disability characteristics are copied. If the village chief is blind, then the village chief copied by Yu Hanjiang will also be blind.
The fact that Yu Hanjiang can see now that he has become the village chief can only mean one thing—the village chief himself can see.
The five fell silent at the same time. After a moment, Xiao Lou said, "The person who can see is actually the village chief who has never shown his face before?"
Yu Hanjiang quickly made a decision: "Time is limited, I'd better go in and find Granny Sun as soon as possible. Professor Xiao, you stay with me. If anything goes wrong, we'll teleport back to Peach Blossom Spring."
Xiao Lou nodded and continued to follow Yu Hanjiang invisibly.
The two entered Granny Sun's house side by side.
Yu Hanjiang imitated a blind person's walk quite well. Granny Sun, who was brewing medicine in the kitchen, heard footsteps, looked up, and saw the village chief walking in. She smiled and said, "Village Chief Liu, it's so late, is there something you need?"
Yu Hanjiang said, " Granny Sun, I can't sleep. I have some questions for you."
Granny Sun reached out and groped her way into the house. Yu Hanjiang followed, and the two found stools to sit down inside.
Outside, Ye Qi and his friends were eavesdropping.
Granny Sun asked, "What's wrong that you have to call me in the middle of the night?"
Yu Hanjiang calmly asked, "Today, Aunt Qin told me that the seven gems guarded by the Villagers have formed a pattern in the village. She also said that as long as we protect the gems well, after seven generations we can break the seal, change our cursed fate, and our descendants can regain their sight. Grandma, you and Aunt Qin are both elders in the village, you must have heard about this, right?"
Granny Sun said, "Yes, that's what I heard too."
Yu Hanjiang said calmly, "I don't believe that."
Granny Sun smiled and said, "Why don't you believe me? Aunt Qin didn't lie to you."
Yu Hanjiang said, "If the entire village is truly cursed, then why can you see it, and why can I see it too?"
Granny Sun: "..."
The three people eavesdropping outside: "..."
Xiao Lou was used to Yu Hanjiang's straightforward approach, but Granny Sun was clearly not. She was taken aback by the question, and her expression immediately became somewhat distorted. She lowered her voice and said, "Village Chief, what are you talking about? I can see it?"
Yu Hanjiang suddenly extended two fingers, pretending to gouge out her eyes, and she instinctively dodged backward.
Yu Hanjiang withdrew his hand: "Are you still pretending not to see it?"
Granny Sun's face was extremely ugly. Yu Hanjiang stared into her eyes and said coldly, "You are the one who prescribes the medicine for the whole village. You have complete control over what medicine I take. Isn't that surprising? How come I'm not blind?"
Granny Sun's lips trembled violently, and she said sharply, "How could you have kept this from me for so long?! I've watched you grow up since you were a baby, and I personally got all those medicines for you!"
Yu Hanjiang said calmly, "Have you ever considered that I am naturally allergic to some medications? I didn't take all the medicine you prescribed; most of it ended up in the garden. That's why I escaped—I wasn't blinded by your poison."
Granny Sun's face suddenly turned extremely ugly. Her body trembled slightly as she stared intently at Yu Hanjiang, unable to utter a word.
Yu Hanjiang stared sharply at the old woman in front of him and said, " Granny Sun, why did you do this? What did the people in our village do to offend you that you would be so heartless as to blind all the children?!"
Granny Sun suddenly laughed, a sharp, piercing laugh that sounded like a vengeful ghost in the dead of night.
She chuckled for a long time before saying coldly, "Retribution! People from your village deserve this retribution, hahahaha!"
Yu Hanjiang immediately caught the key point in the question: "Your village? You're not from Liuxi Village?"
Granny Sun realized she had let something slip and her face turned extremely gloomy. She stared at Yu Hanjiang's face and said, "Village Chief Liu, why are you acting so strangely today? You rarely talk to this old woman like this before."
Yu Hanjiang calmly said, "Because my family's gems were stolen, I've always been curious about what those gems were for. Are they really for breaking the seal, as you say? I've been the village chief for so many years without really knowing what they are, and I just want to know the truth."
Granny Sun stared at him with eyes like a venomous snake: "You're not Village Chief Liu at all."
Yu Hanjiang's heart skipped a beat, but he pretended to be calm on the surface: "Grandma, how come you don't even recognize me?"
Granny Sun said coldly, "Village Chief Liu always takes his pet dog, Big Yellow, with him whenever he goes out. That dog is his only family member and has been with him for nearly ten years. You come to see me in the middle of the night without the dog... Tell me, who are you!"
Yu Hanjiang didn't expect that Village Chief Liu had this habit, and he actually revealed his true colors in this detail.
Granny Sun picked up a bell and suddenly shook it violently, clearly trying to wake the Villagers so they could arrest Yu Hanjiang, the imposter posing as the village chief. Just then, Ye Qi exclaimed, "Oh no! You all need to retreat! The real village chief is coming!"
Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou: "..."
While Granny Sun turned around, Xiao Lou teleported Yu Hanjiang back to Peach Blossom Spring.
The next moment, the village chief walked slowly in from outside the door with a dog on a leash, and said, " Granny Sun, you are the most senior elder in the village, and I have some questions for you. What is the purpose of those seven gems? Aunt Qin told me they were to break the curse, but I don't think that makes sense."
Granny Sun's face darkened: "Isn't it too late for you to go and bring the dog over now?"
The village chief paused, then asked, "What do you mean?"
Granny Sun suddenly shook the bell, the piercing sound breaking the silence of the night and waking everyone around. Granny Sun shouted, "Arrest this guy who's impersonating the village chief!"
The villagers immediately sprang into action, and the village chief, who was bound hand and foot, changed his expression drastically: "Are you all crazy? I'm the village chief, let me go!"
Granny Sun's eyes turned sinister: "This is..."
Outsider is in disguise; he can see. Don't be fooled, carry him out of the village and feed him to the wolves.
The villagers listened to Granny Sun and carried the village chief out.
Xiao Lou and the others looked at each other in surprise when they heard the noise from the eavesdropping device.
Yu Hanjiang said, " Granny Sun must have realized that this is the real village chief. She's looking for an excuse to get rid of him because the village chief can see it and has already begun to suspect her, discovering her secret?"
Xiao Lou thought for a moment and then suddenly said, " There's more than one thing that can be seen in Liuxi Village."
Ye Qi also realized: "That's right, Granny Sun can see it, and the village chief can see it too, but the village chief doesn't seem like a bad person."
Yu Hanjiang impersonated the village chief to try and extract information from Granny Sun. In fact, even if he hadn't impersonated her, the village chief would have come to question Granny Sun that night anyway. However, their actions only made things worse, prompting Granny Sun to make the ruthless decision to eliminate the village chief.
You have to fill the hole you dug yourself.
Xiao Lou sighed and rubbed his forehead in exasperation: "Let's go rescue the innocent village chief."
He had a hunch that Granny Sun had gathered the Villagers and driven away the village chief, and that this unsuspecting village chief might be an ally who could help them uncover the secrets of that year.