Chapter 24: Relocating the Grave (12)

In the blink of an eye, Qi Yiqing vanished from sight.

Anxious and restless, Jiang Shengsheng sat on pins and needles, repeatedly glancing toward the vermilion door outside the room to see if Village Chief Shi had returned.

Director Sun, sitting not far from her, kept his eyes fixed on her, blinking only when necessary, as if terrified she might disappear if he looked away for a second. A faint trace of a smile and nostalgia flickered in his eyes, and he subconsciously pinched his earlobe.

When they were children, whenever Shengsheng did something wrong, she would widen her round eyes just like that, her every little thought written clearly on her face, fearful that others wouldn't notice.

Meanwhile, Qi Yiqing moved with light steps through the small building. After searching around, he pushed open the door to Village Chief Shi’s bedroom. A single glance revealed a room with extremely austere decor.

Qi Yiqing walked over to a weathered wooden table, tapping his fingers lightly against the surface while scanning the items laid out there at a glance. The paint-chipped fountain pen was quite old; it would be difficult to find anything similar on the market today.

He flipped through a notebook page by page, but found no useful clues. Pulling open a drawer, he took out several yellowed, frayed newspapers one by one. The black printed text was so blurred it was nearly impossible to decipher. After much effort, Qi Yiqing finally understood: in the 1980s, the last group of "educated youth" had arrived in Stone Village.

Tucked into the folds of the newspaper, Qi Yiqing picked up a black-and-white photograph. In it, a group of vibrant young people lifted their pale faces, their simple, sincere smiles frozen in time. As he rubbed the back of the photo with his thumb, he turned it over to find a mass of black ink frantically scribbled over the surface.

He felt the texture carefully for a moment and was shocked to realize that what had been crossed out and blackened were their names. Why would Village Chief Shi want to erase the names of the educated youth?

Setting aside the newspaper, Qi Yiqing picked up the others. In the final paper, he found the cause of their deaths: a flood. That summer had been humid and stifling, with frequent cold and hot air currents colliding, making the pattern of light rain followed by heavy downpours a common occurrence in Stone Village. The locals, accustomed to it, paid little mind until the moon rose, a landslide occurred, and the raging flood waters no longer hid their cold-blooded cruelty, washing away the hillside houses in an instant.

In this highly destructive flood, the death toll soared, and among them, every single educated youth in Stone Village perished.

"Hmm?" Qi Yiqing hummed in confusion, turning back to flip through the previous papers until he finally found the timeline he was looking for. "The national college entrance examination had been reinstated; how could they have all stayed in Stone Village?"

For the educated youth sent to the countryside at that time, the college entrance exam was a rare opportunity to return to the city, receive a higher education, and touch a wider world. Yet, the youth in Stone Village had all abandoned the exam, remaining in the village for over a decade, or even longer.

Linking this to the theme of the current instance:

[What are the names of your parents?]

Clearly, the parents of the players were likely these educated youth.

The usually cynical, red-haired man set aside his nonchalant demeanor, neatly and carefully returning the newspapers to their original places. With his excellent memory, he recalled the exact angle and thickness of the stack, ensuring Village Chief Shi would notice nothing amiss.

Before Qi Yiqing could search the room belonging to the brothers Shi Kai and Shi Chao, a small NPC’s voice, trembling with nervousness, sounded from downstairs: "Vi-Village Chief..."

Sighing with regret, Qi Yiqing resignedly stood in the hallway. He had taken only a few steps when his ears twitched. Someone was coming up the stairs!

*Creak, creak.*

The makeshift stairs, built from dark red wooden planks, groaned under the weight, the sound growing closer and grating against his eardrums. He was extremely close to the stairwell; if the person climbing up looked up, they would spot him instantly.

In a flash, Qi Yiqing’s eyes darted, and he made a bold move that fit his persona perfectly.

"Who’s there?!"

Shi Chao, who had been sneaking upstairs behind his village chief father, felt a soft breeze brush against his forehead. Terrified, his legs trembled, and he whispered a timid, reprimanding shout. He scanned the area nervously, then exhaled in relief. He was just being a bird startled by the mere twang of a bow.

Shi Chao felt his younger brother, Shi Kai, had been acting increasingly strange lately, muttering to the white walls, his neurotic behavior making him break out in a cold sweat. Their family had once prospered, only to suffer a massive landslide that forced them to move to Stone Village. Their mother had died young, and the older siblings above Shi Kai and Shi Chao had died one after another in the great flood.

Village Chief Shi suspected their family had been targeted by someone and had hired a famous feng shui master. The verdict was that their house was a classic layout for attracting misfortune, and the cypress trees outside the courtyard had dwindled to three, corresponding to the three of them—father and sons. If the trees vanished, their lives likely would, too.

Fearing for his brother, Shi Chao had coerced him, finally prying the secret from Shi Kai’s lips: the old story about the 1980s educated youth.

Shi Chao had never been as clever as Shi Kai. Yet, at this moment, he decided to sneak into his father’s room to find the secret chamber and the old wooden box Shi Kai had discovered. Once his father died, he, Shi Chao, would surely be the next village chief; learning about the Mountain God in advance was only natural.

After self-hypnotizing, Shi Chao acted decisively.

***

Minutes after Jiang Shengsheng and her three companions had entered, Shi Chao was crouching under the lush locust tree outside the ancestral hall, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on his family’s vermilion door.

The hallway light was dim, with heavy curtains blocking the sun. Humming a tune, Shi Chao ran light-footedly to the door of Village Chief Shi’s bedroom. Above his head, a tall, dark shadow slowly lowered itself, landing as silently as a black cat.

Qi Yiqing clung to the ceiling, his chest pressed against the cold surface, nearly blending into the darkness. It was Shi Chao’s own overconfidence that led him to believe no one could sneak in under his father’s nose. When he pushed the bedroom door open, Shi Chao was still congratulating himself on his luck. With Jiang Shengsheng and the others there, the Village Chief would certainly be occupied!

Shi Chao pulled the door shut, leaving it slightly ajar—a gap just a finger wide—so he could hear footsteps in the hall. Rubbing his hands together like a fly, he swallowed hard. "Let me see, where could it be..."

Shi Chao wanted to find his father’s secret chamber. The wooden box Shi Kai spoke of was inside.

Full of anticipation, Shi Chao didn't notice a faint, persistent gaze lingering on him. Standing by the door, Qi Yiqing watched through the crack, his mouth twitching as he saw Shi Chao frantically knocking and feeling along the walls.

Just as he was silently mocking him, a crisp "click" sounded from behind the wardrobe.

Qi Yiqing: "..."

The kid actually found it.

Shi Chao clenched his fists, cheering in a hushed voice. Crouching low, he pulled open the two louvered doors of the wardrobe, glanced once more at the perfectly normal doorway, and dove inside.

The mechanism hadn't been reset, and the entrance stood wide open before Qi Yiqing. He followed without hesitation. Since the opportunity was handed to him, he certainly had to take it, right?

At the same time, Jiang Shengsheng, confused as to why Qi Yiqing hadn't returned, had to bite the bullet and continue making awkward small talk with Village Chief Shi.

"And how should we address this young man?"

Village Chief Shi caught a glimpse of the silent, chubby man sitting quietly, and suddenly felt his face was subtly familiar.