Chapter 21: Relocating the Grave (9)

“Baby…” Who was whispering in her ear?

Jiang Shengsheng, too weak to lift her heavy eyelids, felt her foggy mind realize that she was ill.

Recalling why she was sick, all she could remember was a glaring red and a man’s deep voice.

As for who he was or what he said, no matter how hard she racked her brain, she couldn’t recall, so she chose not to dwell on it.

Subconsciously, her body instinctively adjusted to dull the things she did not want to face.

Xia Junyao had slept soundly the previous night, as if he had taken a handful of sleeping pills and inhaled several strong doses of sedatives, almost indistinguishable from unconsciousness.

Only when he heard rustling sounds outside the window did Xia Junyao awaken, panting heavily as he looked down beside him.

Seeing Jiang Shengsheng lying on her side with her back to him, Xia Junyao let out a heavy sigh of relief.

“Did the baby kick off the covers last night? Why did you suddenly get a fever?” His cool palm touched her burning forehead. Jiang Shengsheng, feverish and delirious, squinted comfortably and raised a hand to cover his, not wanting him to pull away.

Xia Junyao sighed with a mix of tenderness and amusement.

A sick baby loved to act spoiled the most. After patiently coaxing her for a while, he tucked the blanket around her and left the room, intending to go to the kitchen to prepare some light lean meat porridge for her.

As he stepped outside, Xia Junyao turned and bumped into Qi Yiqing walking in from the courtyard.

Qi Yiqing raised an eyebrow. “No bamboo whistle? Looks like nothing happened last night.”

In a hurry to cook the porridge, Xia Junyao gave a perfunctory nod and quickly searched for the kitchen.

Last night, after hearing noises in the corridor, the players all opened their eyes.

Qi Yiqing quietly got up, dressed but still ready for sleep, moving like a nimble black cat, crouching lightly by the doorway.

Pressing his ear to the door, he estimated the distance of the source by the volume of the sound.

Thump, thump, thump.

The familiar sound made Qi Yiqing lick his lips. Slowly lying on the floor, he peered through the door crack and saw a dense cluster of wooden sticks.

Suddenly, a pair of black men’s boots embroidered with gold and red twin lotus flowers appeared in his view.

The owner of the boots seemed to notice him, pausing silently for a few seconds before continuing forward.

Qi Yiqing now understood what those things outside the door were—paper dolls.

Paper dolls couldn’t crawl on the ground; their wooden legs swung as they wandered the corridor.

On the second day of the mission, the death rate wasn’t too high. Qi Yiqing sat cross-legged behind the door, at ease, thinking of his little NPC.

Tsk, wanting to show off his adorable wife he had discovered.

The mystery game offered top-ranking players a generous contract, granting them the choice to stream their gameplay or not.

Previously, Qi Yiqing found it troublesome and troublesome; now, he regretted it.

He didn’t know how much time had passed until his body stiffened and he heard distant screams.

Something had happened at the homestay!

Listening carefully for a while, Qi Yiqing stood up smoothly and opened the door.

The creak echoed countless times in the silent night along the empty corridor.

The sound of the door opening acted like a signal; one after another, players peeked out from behind their doors. Finding no danger, they exhaled in relief and stepped out.

“Who’s in trouble?” Uncle Ma rubbed his tired eyes, his voice hoarse from lack of sleep.

Liu Wanjun, still in a white dress, roughly counted the players present and said softly, “This mission has fifteen players. Eleven of us are assigned the role of returning home to relocate graves. If nothing unexpected happens, the remaining four are at the famous homestay as guests.”

The transparent player, Xiyou, pushed up his slipping glasses and instinctively glanced behind Qi Yiqing.

Not seeing the weak and limp NPC, he lowered his eyelids in surprise and avoidance, evading Qi Yiqing’s sharp, probing gaze.

As expected of Qi Yiqing, whose score was close to his own—his insight and acuity were extraordinary.

Xiyou thought without vanity, “I’m not bad either.”

The group hurriedly ran out of the courtyard.

Qi Yiqing hesitated mid-step, casting a subtle glance at the room deep in the corridor but ultimately didn’t go in.

The little NPC looked delicate and fragile, better off sleeping soundly, like a precious treasure kept close.

He wanted to finish the mission quickly, no matter how many points it cost, he was determined to take the little NPC out...

Ah, just the thought made Qi Yiqing’s blood boil with excitement.

The homestay was quite close to their courtyard.

However, a roadblock appeared halfway.

“Help! Help!”

Uncle Ma, running at the front, stopped with a slight frown, squinting at the figure running closer in the darkness.

When he recognized the newcomer, Uncle Ma murmured, “It’s him. He actually found Stone Village on his own. Truly, among the players, there are hidden experts.”

The ponytailed girl tilted her head, asking Uncle Ma, “You know him?”

Uncle Ma shook his head, calm as ever. “He’s a player, but I remember during the service area he couldn’t keep up. He was the last one.”

The portly man ran while screaming loudly, his eyes squeezed into narrow slits by the folds of his flesh.

“Really lucky, huh...” the ponytailed girl sighed softly.

Standing aside, Qi Yiqing’s gaze darkened as he noticed the pinky finger the fat man raised while running away and clicked his tongue in surprise.

“Qing-ge, what’s wrong?”

The ponytailed girl asked, while Liu Wanjun, Uncle Ma, and Xiyou looked over as well.

Qi Yiqing rubbed his knuckles. “Nothing much. Just a chubby effeminate guy. Curious, that’s all.”

Hearing this, the others looked closely at the fat man again.

Indeed, they noticed his raised pinky and unusually sharp voice, which seemed out of place.

Xiyou twitched the corners of his mouth twice.

He didn’t believe Qi Yiqing’s claim of having no suspicion about the fat man.

Surviving alone in the mission and still energetically running back—it didn’t add up.

But since Qi Yiqing remained silent, he wouldn’t push it. Suspicion was just suspicion; only solid evidence would prove the truth.

Well, Xiyou admitted he just enjoyed the drama.

The fat man clutched his plump belly, bent over in front of the players, gasping heavily.

His state made the players twitch their eyes, afraid he might collapse from lack of breath at any moment.

The fat man’s name was Director Sun. According to him, when he opened his eyes, all he saw was their main group’s backs leaving. Calling out to them failed, so he had to stagger along behind, stopping and resting repeatedly.

“I’m a bit directionally challenged. I got lost in the mountains. Finally, I entered the village, but then suddenly a fog rolled in.”

“Fog?” Liu Wanjun stopped him and asked Director Sun to tell the story again, “Be more detailed.”

As they hurried toward the homestay, they listened to Director Sun panting wildly, word by word bursting out: “...The fog came suddenly, very thick and heavy, so thick you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face!”

“That’s right! I also saw several black shadows flashing swiftly in the fog!”

Director Sun seemed genuinely scared, covering his mouth as he spoke fearfully. He wanted to open his eyes wide, but it didn’t quite work.

Under Qi Yiqing’s investigating, suspicious gaze, Director Sun shyly covered his mouth, fingers habitually pinching his earlobe. “What’s wrong?”

“…Nothing,” Qi Yiqing replied, “Just a bit eye-burning.”

With a blank expression, Qi Yiqing turned his head, wishing he could run back to hold the little NPC and wash his eyes clean.