Just as she was wondering, Zuo Meng caught a glimpse of a black cat crouching in a narrow alley in the funeral district, its purple pupils fixed intently on them. It was
only a fleeting glimpse, but the familiar purple cat eyes left a deep impression on Zuo Meng.
"Brother Ye, I just saw a black cat! It looks like the one Lady Ye usually holds in her arms!" Zuo Meng quickly tugged at Ye Tianxuan, reminding him, but when he looked again, the cat was gone.
Ye Tianxuan glanced indifferently into the depths of the alley, his brow furrowing slightly. "There's nothing strange about cats in the village, and all black cats look the same."
He said this, but still quickly pulled Zuo Meng away.
Under the extremely vigilant gaze of the villagers in the funeral district, the two leisurely and smoothly stopped in front of a house.
Zuo Meng looked up, staring at the door in front of her.
He had been wondering how players would normally find the bride's house—whether by befriending the villagers and gaining their trust, or by searching for some records. But upon actually entering the area, he immediately noticed the difference between this house and the others. The
house was small, and compared to the surrounding houses that were gradually becoming wealthier with their additions, this house clearly remained in the old era.
The door was ajar, but the dust at the entrance was thick, with no trace of anyone having entered or left.
The double happiness characters on the wall for the New Year were faded and peeling off. Compared to the other houses with a sense of life, this house clearly belonged to someone who had long since passed away, and the other villagers dared not approach it.
"Go inside and find a photo. It's in the cabinet on the floor. It's the bride's wedding photo; it's not very big." Ye Tianxuan reached the door but didn't intend to go in. He paused, then began directing Zuo Meng to step into the dusty house.
"Me, go find it by myself?" Zuo Meng glanced at the gloomy, desolate house in front of him. It was dark and shady; even at midday, a chill seemed to emanate from the house. Peering through the window, all he could see was darkness; the eerie atmosphere practically screamed "dead people have been here.
" Ye Tianxuan stood unmoved at the door, lighting a cigarette and smiling, "But you insisted on coming along. I'll keep watch for you. Go in."
"Won't it be haunted in broad daylight?"
"No."
"Okay." Zuo Meng choked back a sob, took a deep breath, and pushed open the slightly ajar door.
The old wooden door creaked, its fragile sound sending a chill down his spine in the quiet alley. Zuo Meng clenched his fists and stepped into the dimly lit room, even at midday. As
soon as he entered, he felt the chill from all sides. The dark corners of the room seemed moldy, smelling of moss, and layers of spiderwebs blurred his vision.
"Boss Ye, why don't you talk to me at the door? Otherwise, I feel like a ghost could jump out of this house anywhere."
"You're holding hands with someone to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and you need someone outside to answer you?" Ye Tianxuan's chuckled voice drifted in from outside the door, which reassured Zuo Meng.
He immediately began to quickly search around for the cabinet that Ye Tianxuan had mentioned lying on the ground, while casually asking Ye Tianxuan questions at the door.
"Boss Ye, why was Boss Li Mo at the cemetery last night? In my memory, his human form was always by Xiu Ge's side."
"Oh, him… he was going to the cemetery too." Ye Tianxuan replied softly.
"One of the bride's grievances was the word 'love,' but that word has nothing to do with me. So I called Zhong Mu and Li Mo, who were talking to you, to come find you. If it were just the two of us, we would be trapped there."
"Huh?" Zuo Meng turned around blankly, and after thinking about it carefully, he realized that he hadn't encountered any trouble at the bride's place last night. The bride had only let him go after showing him her past.
Was someone else bearing the burden for him?
"After the bride unearthed the red thread under the tombstone, there had to be... how should I put it... someone who firmly believes in love and destiny to release her resentment. Ideally, this person should be someone currently in love."
"Just in case, I called both of them. It's safe."
"Oh... is that so?" Zuo Meng was stunned. He thought that last night he had been circling around in circles, just passing by and taking Boss Ye to the cemetery along. Actually, the cemetery was planned from the beginning, and the big shots were going there anyway...
but why did they go there in the middle of the night to resolve the cemetery issue?
A new big question mark popped into Zuo Meng's head.
Ye Tianxuan's voice continued slowly at the door, "Her resentment needs someone with love to release it, but the destiny on her body needs someone without destiny to release it. In short, getting a five-star rating is quite troublesome."
"Someone without destiny?" Zuo Meng thought of the red thread in his pocket, which was to be hung on the tree tonight, and Boss Ye had specifically ordered him to hang it. In other words, he was the one without destiny.
"Why can't Boss Ye hang it up? Boss Ye doesn't have any luck with love either!" Zuo Meng lifted the cabinet that had fallen to the ground and opened the drawer.
Ye Tianxuan's light voice came from outside the door, "…One-sided love is also a kind of fate."
"One-sided love?" Zuo Meng searched his mind. Boss Ye was so outstanding, there must be a ton of people who liked him, so there was really nothing he could do.
Speaking of which… does "unlucky" mean someone like him who has no one he likes and no one likes him?
Zuo Meng felt a little like crying for a moment.
He slumped his shoulders, opened the dusty drawer, and easily found the old photograph inside.
It showed two people, a handsome man and a beautiful woman, looking very well-matched. Amidst the sound of firecrackers and surrounded by people, they held hands and showed their happiest smiles in front of the camera.
Those two bright and radiant faces had lost their original color after the long years, and their smiles had become dull.
"Found it, Boss Ye."
Zuo Meng brushed off the dust, carefully took the notebook from his pocket, tucked it between the pages, and then put it back.
After doing all this, Zuo Meng suddenly realized there was no sound outside the door.
"Boss Ye?"
Zuo Meng turned back to stare at the doorway, slowly stood up, and tentatively called out again, but still received no response.
Panicked, he quickly turned, pushed open the door, and rushed out of the house, his gaze rapidly scanning the alleyway. In his tense state, he caught sight of the white figure standing at the corner.
It was Ye Tianxuan.
But at the same time… there seemed to be a huge figure crouching opposite him.
The figure, sensing his arrival, instantly retreated and disappeared, leaving Ye Tianxuan standing alone.
That familiar silhouette...it looks like Lady Night?
Zuo Meng twitched the corner of his mouth, his mind a little dazed. After the black cat's figure, Lady Night appeared again? Shouldn't the managers of these two towns and the dungeon be gathered in this dungeon? Did he see wrong again?
He nervously walked quickly towards Ye Tianxuan, "Boss Ye, why did you come here without saying a word? You scared me to death."
"Nothing much, just saw some villagers coming and went to chase them away." Ye Tianxuan slowly puffed on his cigarette, his face calm, seemingly not intending to mention anything about the figure he'd just seen.
Zuo Meng pursed his lips. If Boss Ye wasn't going to talk about it, he wouldn't ask.
He wasn't really stupid; several people were secretly clearing the dungeon in the middle of the night, and Black Cat and Night Goddess had both come to this dungeon—Boss Ye was definitely planning something.
But none of that concerned him; Boss Ye had his reasons for doing this!
"Boss Ye, don't just disappear without a word next time, I'm really worried." Zuo Meng wiped away his cold sweat. He'd suddenly realized that when
Boss was silent, he'd already thought about where he should bury himself when he got back.
He'd definitely be torn to pieces by the townspeople.
Whoever encountered Boss Ye in the dungeon had to secretly protect him.
This was a private agreement among all the players in Town 35.