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nChapter 97

nYu Hanjiang was a typical action person. Once he finished speaking, he took a step forward and directly pushed open the broken door of the temple.

nThere was a squeak as the broken wooden doors were pushed open. It was especially loud in the middle of the night.

nA gust of wind swept through the temple as the door was pushed over, causing dust to rise everywhere. The yellow paper painted with strange symbols was blown to the ground and the strange atmosphere made Xie Qi’s body tremble.

nRecalling the various temples in horror movies, Xie Qi couldn’t help trembling. “There should be no ghosts here?”

nShao Qingge looked back at Xie Qi with a smile. “Little Xie, do you feel like 4 of Spades would suddenly become a secret room with a different theme? Are the villagers all ghosts? Will there be ghosts in this temple?”

nXie Qi shrank back, his scalp numb. “I heard that ghosts have no shadows. The villagers walk around with shadows and there shouldn’t be ghosts. Still… I’m not sure there will be no ghosts in this temple. Perhaps there is a curse on the villagers, making the entire village be born blind?”

nYu Hanjiang spoke calmly. “Don’t think about scaring yourself. These charms are man-made.”

nXie Qi stuttered, “G-Group Leader Yu, are you sure?”

nYu Hanjiang picked up a charm from the ground and touched the red lines on it. “The blood on the charm hasn’t dried out so it should’ve been painted just now.” He handed the charm to Xiao Lou. “Professor Xiao, you should be able to judge if it is human blood or not?”

nXiao Lou took over and sniffed. “It is different from human blood. There is a strange smell so it should be pig blood or duck blood.

nIn the middle of the night, a cold wind blew on the wild mountains and the atmosphere was very creepy. The charms in the broken temple flew everywhere. The fact that Xiao Lou could analyze the bloodstains so calmly really shocked Xie Qi.

nXie Qi took a deep breath to calm down and looked at the charm together. “The blood of animals was used to draw eyes and attached to the temple. Is this supposed to mean that the villagers being blind is a curse?”

nXiao Lou nodded. “On the surface, yes.”

nYu Hanjiang took two steps forward before suddenly stopping and frowning at a tree. The tree was shaking in the wind, making a creaking sound. Several branches were broken and fell to the ground.

nXiao Lou saw him frown and stepped forward, asking softly, “Group Leader Yu, what have you found?”

nYu Hanjiang stated, “Someone has come.”

nHis sharp eyes were on the broken temple in front of them and his voice was calm and cold. “The person hiding in the temple, come out.”

nThere were no reactions from the house.

nYu Hanjiang whispered, “This friend, we have no malice. We only intend to stay in the temple tonight. We won’t disturb you so why don’t you come out to meet us? Or do you want us to break in?”

nA moment later, the sound of footsteps rang out in the ears of the crowd. It was a girl less than 1.4 metres tall, wearing a red hood and red cloak. Xie Qi couldn’t help whispering to Xiao Lou, “Are there children in the Card World?”

nXiao Lou also felt it was strange. This little girl’s height only went up to his waist and she looked like a schoolgirl. Her head was down and her entire face was buried in the huge red hood. Her clear child’s voice said, “Big brothers, since you want to sleep here, I’ll find another place. However, this temple is strange. You should be careful.”

nShe spoke this sentence and turned away. Xiao Lou looked at the girl’s back and always felt that something was wrong.

nYu Hanjiang suddenly turned back. “The sky lantern, did you release it?”

nThe little girl’s steps slightly paused.

nXiao Lou was also stunned. He turned back to Yu Hanjiang and saw the latter giving him a definite expression.

nAt that time, Xiao Lou needed to deal with the Tibetan mastiff and temporarily ignored the sky lantern. By the time he controlled the mastiff, the sky lantern had disappeared. Yu Hanjiang often investigated cases and was particularly sensitive to the location of clues. This might be a labyrinth like Liuxi Village but he still remembered the location of the sky lantern instantly. It was to the west.

nOn the mountain to the west, the four people had come all this way and hadn’t met any other challengers. They only saw the little girl in the temple. That’s why Yu Hanjiang asked.

nThe girl didn’t look back, a trace of innocence in her voice. “Sky lantern? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

nYu Hanjiang’s voice was cold. “The trees in this temple show signs of the branches breaking from top to bottom. The direction of the wind is from east to west so these branches are more likely to be broken by someone.”

n“Before entering the village, we saw a woman running between the trees? She should’ve drawn a card that allows her to move with the help of trees. The temple door was closed and showed no signs of being opened. Obviously, you jumped through the branches of the tree and accidentally broke the branches.”

n“It is hard to pass a secret room and you can’t pass it alone as a child. Therefore, your present form definitely isn’t your own. Besides the flight card, you also have a card that allows you to change form.”

n“The transformation card has a cooldown time. Are you in a hurry to leave? Am I right?”

nThe little girl was silent.

nXiao Lou, Xie Qi and Shao Qingge faced each other. Group Leader Yu really deserved to be a policeman. The other side was completely unable to refute his words.

nHe was able to find so many clues at the scene and make a logical reasoning based on broken branches, determining that the little girl’s appearance wasn’t her original form. She was actually the female who possessed the ‘light footwork’ skill. The other side didn’t admit or deny it, which was an obvious confirmation of Group Leader Yu’s words.

nXiao Lou smiled. “Rest assured, we have no malice. If you tell us the clues you found, we will give you a map of Liuxi Village in exchange, how about it?” He paused and added, “You just placed the sky lantern on the mountain. Surely you didn’t have time to go to the village to check it? This map should help you.”

nPresumably, Xiao Lou’s attitude was too gentle and the girl finally took off her hood.

nShe took off her hood and her face and physique instantly changed. She became a pretty girl with a hint of indifference on her face. Her ponytail swung over her shoulders and she wore casual clothing and white sneakers.

nHer height was around 1.5 or 1.6 metres. She was a whole head shorter than Xiao Lou but her eyes were calm as she looked up at Xiao Lou and spoke in a cold voice, “You first give me the map and I will give you the information you want to know.”

n“We only drew one map. Do you have a pen or paper or something? I’ll make a copy for you.”

nThe girl handed over a white handkerchief. “This handkerchief is very special and you can write directly on it using your hand. You can also enlarge it at any time. The ribbon on the sky lantern was changed with it.”

nIt seemed this was a special function of the transformation card. Xiao Lou touched his index finger to the handkerchief and quickly drew the map of Liuxi Village. He smiled and handed it to her. “Can you tell us now? Why did you turn on the lantern to lead the challengers?”

nThe girl carefully checked the map on the handkerchief before saying, “I found human bones in the temple.”

nXiao Lou was surprised. “You mean the bones of the dead? How many?”

nThe girl was expressionless. “I accidentally dug out a lot.”

nXie Qi’s spirit was fiercely hit. “My god! How could there be a dead person’s bones? Were they killed and buried like Maple Forest High School? Is this the Spades secret room or the Hearts secret room?!”

nThe girl glanced at him and continued calmly. “I wanted to bring challengers over because of this. I don’t know what it means to have human bones in the temple, but my guess is that in order to perfectly clear 4 of Spades, it isn’t only avoiding villagers and finding gems. We might have to solve the riddle of the villagers’ blindness and the bones of the dead people in the temple.”

n“Why are you digging in the temple?” Yu Hanjiang whispered, “Is it to look for a gem?”

nThe girl nodded. “I went west after entering the village and went up the stream. I found the spring water and this deserted temple. This temple is strange and I wanted to see if I could find a gem. There is only one room in the temple dedicated to the mountain gods and there was some earth behind it that wasn’t quite right. I dug it and found a big hole filled with dead bones.”

nYu Hanjiang asked, “So you led the challengers over in the hope of solving the puzzle?”

nThe girl spoke quietly. “I only want to clear the instance and survive this secret room. If you want to pursue a perfect clearance, you can try to solve the puzzle.” She waved. “I’m going. You can help yourselves.”

nShe jumped and flew to the treetops in the distance.

nAfter several successive jumps using the trees, the girl soon disappeared into the night.

nXie Qi couldn’t help saying, “This girl is very strong. She is like a master in a martial arts novel.”

nXiao Lou looked in the direction she disappeared in and spoke appreciatively. “A person who can reach 4 of Spades isn’t simple. She should have many good cards in her hand, such as the transformation card just now. It is really easy to get rid of wariness after becoming a little girl around 10 years old.”

nShao Qingge touched his chin. “Perhaps in Financial Crisis, she relied on this disguise to escape the murderer’s pursuit.”

nYu Hanjiang suddenly said, “Xie Qi, the question just now was very critical.”

nXie Qi was surprised. “I… what question did I ask?”

nYu Hanjiang repeated, “Is this the Hearts room or the Spades room?”

nXiao Lou understood. “This should be a joint secret room.”

nXie Qi stared. “You mean that Liuxi Village is actually a Spades and Hearts linked secret room?”

nYu Hanjiang nodded. “Yes.”

nShao Qingge agreed. “It makes sense. Financial Crisis was a linked Spades and Clubs room. The survival involved the gold coins of the Clubs room. Liuxi Village has a link between Hearts and Spades and is a survival puzzle. It appears that the fourth level will eliminate a large number of challengers.”

nXiao Lou remembered A of Hearts’ words. “The elimination rate is more than 80%.”

nYu Hanjiang remembered the hints when entering the secret room and frowned. “Not being able to kill villagers… 3 of Spades didn’t have such a restriction and challengers could freely kill people. I thought it was strange that 4 of Spades suddenly wouldn’t let the villagers be killed. It seems Hearts added this ban.”

nIn 4 of Hearts, the suspect had to be turned over by the challengers. 4 of Spades was a mystery and survival linked room. The challengers not only had to hide from villagers and looked for gems, but we also have to resolve the mystery of the bones and charms in order to get a perfect clearance.

nIt seemed that the elimination rate was quite high since the fourth level was right before entering the main city.

nYu Hanjiang spoke simply, “Go to the back of the room to see. It would be best if we can perfectly clear 4 of Spades but don’t force it.”

nTogether, the four of them bypassed the dilapidated building and came to the back.

nAs the girl said, there was a part of the ground that wasn’t normal. The grass grew in an extremely lush manner and the comparison with the surroundings was obvious. She was probably looking for gems and dug a pit here. As a result, a huge pit was dug.

nA large number of human bones were piled up in the pit. They gave off a cold lustre in the moonlight and made people’s hairs rise.

nXie Qi and Shao Qingge had ugly expressions and turned their heads stiffly.

nXiao Lou stepped forward and knelt down, using the branches to stir up the bones in the pit and observing them carefully. Moments later, Xiao Lou concluded, “The degree of decay on the bones is similar. The time of death should be more than 30 years ago. It is likely that something happened and they were collectively buried here.”

nYu Hanjiang roughly counted the number of pelvises. “There are more than 40 people.”

nShao Qingge felt his temple twitching. “So many people died, is this a butcher’s village?” As a Hearts room scum, he had a headache when he saw murder, corpses etc. There were so many bones and he suffered from intense phobia. He had to hold his breath to prevent himself from running away.

nYu Hanjiang thought about it. “The charms on the temple, the buried bones and everyone being collectively blind… the village’s forefathers must’ve offended someone and were cursed or artificially punished.”

nXiao Lou added, “Since this is a secret room where Hearts and Spades are linked, it is more likely to be man-made.”

nYu Hanjiang added, “The murderer might still be in the village.”

nXiao Lou nodded. “Finding the murderer will solve the reason why the villagers are blind.”

nXiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang glanced at each other.

nShao Qingge and Xie Qi, “……”

nThey wanted to ask, ‘Who am I? Where am I? What should I do?’

nShao Qingge decided to give up thinking and looked at the moon.

nXie Qi actively joined the discussion. “The strangest thing about this secret room is that we can’t talk to any suspects, let alone interrogate them. We have to hide from villagers all the time. How can we figure out what happened 30 years old?”

n“Investigating will be difficult but this doesn’t mean there are no clues. The murderer will show their feet.” Yu Hanjiang stood up and turned to the dilapidated building. “Just now, the girl released a lantern. There might be other challengers coming to the temple. We should first look inside the temple for clues.”

nThe crowd agreed to the team’s opinion and walked into the temple together.

nThe deserted ancient temple hadn’t been visited for a long time. The two arms of the statue in the temple had fallen off into pieces. The statue had been painted in a colourful manner. Due to the old age, it had lost colour and the wooden statue was mossing corners and layers. It looked broken.

nYu Hanjiang carefully observed fora moment. “This should be a mountain god. Many people serve the mountain god and pray for the mountain god’s protection to let the coming year’s wind and rain be smooth. The statue of the mountain god is destroyed. It seems that the other side has a deep hatred with the villagers.”

nJust then, the sound of footsteps was heard outside. The four people were alert and moved outside, only to see several challengers walk into the temple.

nThe middle-aged man asked, “Was it just you who sent the light?”

nXiao Lou shook his head and smiled. “We also saw the sky lantern and followed the direction.”

nThe man looked suspiciously at Xiao Lou. “What did you find?”

nXiao Lou pointed to the back of the building.

nThe several people walked over together to check and there was soon a panicked scream in his ears. “Ah—there are many dead bones!”

nIt was a girl’s cry and her mouth was immediately covered. “Lower your voice!”

nThe middle-aged man’s voice trembled slightly. “What is this situation? Who led us to this broken temple to see the bones of the dead?”

nThe woman next to him spoke nervously, “Let’s find a place to spend the night first. This village had many oddities and we shouldn’t worry about it!”

nThe man took a deep breath. “Yes, in any case, the Spades room has seven days to find the gems. Finding the gems is the most important.”

nSeveral people turned back to Xiao Lou with guarded faces. “Did you find a gem?”

nXiao Lou smiled. “We also just came and saw the human bone pit at the back. We didn’t want to continue to investigate.”

nThe other side obviously didn’t believe his words but it wasn’t good to act directly. They had to leave with ugly faces.

nNext, there were successive challengers arriving. After checking the village, they ran to the mountain. They found the bones in the temple and turned away. Obviously, most people didn’t want more trouble and just wanted to clear the instance.

nHowever, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang had no intention of leaving and were still seriously investigating.

nXie Qi asked weakly, “Are you sure we should sleep in the temple tonight?”

nXiao Lou spoke optimistically. “This building might be a bit broken but we can shelter from the wind and rain. It is very good.”

nXie Qi, “……”

nA pile of dead bones behind the building! This was good? Professor Xiao was too calm.

nHowever, Group Leader Yu looked at Xiao Lou with approval. Xie Qi saw Shao Qingge staring at the moon and had to gulp. “Okay… let’s go… sleep here.”

nWith these teammates, Xie Qi felt that he would slowly become abnormal. Perhaps in the future, he could sleep very sweetly on a pillow of skulls.

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