The sighted Challenger, along with Liu the Fourth and Liu Qing, the two Villagers who were not blind, dug a large pit under a big tree near the farmland and buried the bodies of Old Mrs. Qin and Granny Sun in it.
No monument was erected because no one knew their names.
The fire left the villagers terrified. The children, in particular, were badly frightened, even though they were rescued; some are still crying.
Some of the unfortunate Villagers suffered burns and were in excruciating pain, sitting on the ground howling in agony. Yu Hanjiang's gaze swept across the entire scene, taking in the horrific sight, and he said in a low voice, "Village Chief, let everyone go back and rest first."
Liu the Fourth nodded and called his niece Xiao Qing over: " Xiao Qing, bring all the injured people to me first. You're the only doctor in the village right now, so please treat their wounds."
Xiao Qing, with tears streaming down her face, softly hummed in agreement.
She lost her mother at a young age and was raised by Granny Sun. No matter how heinous Granny Sun was, he treated her very well and patiently taught her a lot of medical knowledge. She always regarded Granny Sun as her closest relative.
Xiao Qing walked to Granny Sun's grave, knelt down and kowtowed three times before wiping away her tears and turning to help.
The uninjured Villagers went home, while Yu Hanjiang and the others helped take the injured to the village chief's residence. Xiao Qing brought some medicine and helped them clean, apply, and bandage their wounds.
After several hours of hard work, the wounded were finally treated, and the previously blind Challengers regained their sight.
As dusk fell and the moonlight enveloped the village, Liuxi Village fell silent once more.
The twelve Challengers gathered at the village chief's house. Liu the Fourth stepped out and said, "I'm sorry everyone, I was too busy earlier and didn't pay attention to you. Haven't you all had dinner yet? Stay at my house tonight, and I'll cook for you."
Just then, Villager knocked on the door and came in.
It was that third sister-in-law. She came over with a wooden lunchbox, placed the food on the stone table in the yard, and said with a smile, "Thank you for saving me and my two children. We don't have anything valuable at home, so I made some food for everyone..."
Following that, other villagers brought over food: stir-fried shredded potatoes, braised eggplant, roasted sweet potatoes, pickled radishes, and apples, pears, and apricots grown in their own yards...
The village chief's table was almost full, so the people who came later had to put their food on the ground.
The Challengers looked at each other in disbelief—they had never been treated like this before.
When they entered the secret room, they were told to avoid the Villagers. Unexpectedly, after they became familiar with the village, learned its secrets, and achieved a perfect ending, the Villagers actually regarded them as benefactors. In just five days, they went from acting like thieves to being treated as honored guests, and everyone was a little unaccustomed to it.
Third Sister-in-law said, "I have a spare room in my house. You can stay at my house for a few days."
The man next to me said, "I have a spare bed at my house, feel free to come and sleep there!" "Come to my house, I have lots of fruit trees!" "Come to my house, my wife is an excellent cook!" "I also have rice wine!"
The villagers eagerly invited everyone to their homes.
Yu Hanjiang was the first to come to his senses and said in a low voice, "Thank you, but there are many of us, so we won't bother you."
He said this because he had been told early this morning that there were still 3 Challengers in Liuxi Village. Of the 8 people who stayed in the village at the beginning and did not get the gems, 3 were left after fighting each other.
These three didn't participate in today's rescue and don't have any gems, so they can't possibly pass the level. If they give up and steal other people's gems, or even massacre the village again, all our efforts will be in vain.
Yu Hanjiang didn't want all his efforts to be in vain, and he couldn't allow any unexpected events to happen.
His gaze swept over the crowd. The other Challengers all followed Yu Hanjiang's lead. When he said he wouldn't stay at the Villager's, everyone immediately echoed his refusal: " Old Han is right, there are too many of us, so let's not bother you." "Don't be so polite, we'll stay outside!"
It's safest for all twelve of us to stay together. If we split up, those three Challengers might steal the gems. It's good to have a strong backer, and you can win without lifting a finger if you follow the police officer. Only a fool would leave the team at this time.
The villagers brought enough food to last them two days. With 12 people together, there was no need to worry about the remaining 3 causing trouble. Just stick with the group, and the rewards for completing Spade 4 were practically within reach.
Seeing that everyone was determined not to go, the village chief had no choice but to smooth things over: "Since everyone doesn't want to be separated, how about this, you all stay at my house. My house is spacious, and I can set up a pavilion in the yard, lay out straw mats to sleep on. I would appreciate it if you neighbors could bring some bedding over."
The neighbors rushed to get their blankets, while the village chief walked up to Xiao Lou and said, "I have something I'd like to ask you for a favor."
Of all the people in this group, Xiao Lou was the easiest to get along with. He always had a smile on his face, and the village chief was closest to him and trusted him the most.
Xiao Lou nodded: "Okay, village chief, please speak."
The village chief said, "Come with me."
He led Xiao Lou into the house, and Yu Hanjiang, worried that something might happen, followed him.
The three went to the bedroom. The village chief picked up his pillow, opened it, and took out a yellowed diary. He said, "This was left to me by my grandfather. I can't read, so please help me see what's written in it."
Yu Hanjiang broke into the village chief's house late at night and searched it, finding a cabinet containing records of past village chiefs.
Yu Hanjiang had the information, but since Liu the Fourth was fast asleep in his bedroom, he didn't search his pillow and didn't expect that there was something hidden inside it.
This is a clue that was overlooked.
Xiao Lou took the diary, opened it, and saw that it indeed recorded the truth of what happened back then.
He glanced through the diary and his face immediately darkened. He turned to Yu Hanjiang and said, "Gather the Villagers and read it to them. It's time for everyone to know the whole story."
***
The villagers from Liuxi Village arrived quickly. It was too crowded here, so the village chief called everyone to gather under the tree in the middle of the village.
Xiao Lou picked up the diary and said loudly, "This is the diary written by Liu the Fourth's grandfather, who is also your old village chief, thirty-five years ago. It records an event. Please listen to it."
He opened his diary and began to read, his clear and gentle voice quickly attracting everyone's attention.
"Today, a young woman came to our village with two men and two women. Her surname is Sun, and she's a wealthy young lady from Sun City. Girls from big cities are different; she has fair skin and is exceptionally beautiful. Everyone in the village was staring at her, and she smiled generously at everyone. Miss Sun came to me and said she discovered rough jade on the western mountain, which could be sold for a lot of money after mining and processing. She wanted to cooperate with our Liuxi Village to process gemstones. I didn't quite believe it. There are only wild fruits on the western mountain; how could there possibly be gemstones?"
"In the morning, Miss Sun's companion cut open a very ordinary stone for me to see. Sure enough, there was something shiny inside. I believed her. We agreed on the profit sharing. Liuxi Village should be able to make a lot of money. Then she will hire someone to help us build a road so that the villagers can go out and see the world. Everyone's life will definitely get better and better."
"This evening, I saw Miss Sun and Xue'er sitting under a tree chatting. Actually, Xue'er has been very smart since she was little, but she is blind and is often bullied by children her age. I didn't expect Miss Sun to not mind that she is blind and actually become good friends with her. The two of them seemed to be having a very happy chat. I haven't seen Xue'er laugh so happily in a long time."
" Qin Xue is missing, and Miss Sun is missing too. The two men and two women she brought caused a huge scene in the village, saying that if they can't find their young lady, the whole village will suffer. They've already notified Miss Sun's mother and the police. I'm very worried. The village is so small. We've searched the mountains and the woods. Where could the two girls have gone?"
"Lin Xiaoming, Sun Yong, Liu Hu, those few bastards actually did such a beastly thing! Qin Xue went out alone, and they dragged Qin Xue to the pond and bullied him. Miss Sun happened to be looking for Qin Xue and saw what happened. She cried for help, and they were afraid of being exposed, so they covered Miss Sun's mouth, knocked her unconscious, and raped her too... Beasts! I'm so angry I could die!"
"What should I do? All three elders came to plead for me to keep this a secret; if I tell, their sons are finished. I watched these children grow up; I can't bear to see them go to jail. But Xue'er and Miss Sun are also pitiful; they were raped and murdered by these beasts, and their bodies were dumped outside the village..."
"I lied today. I told the police that I saw Qin Xue and Miss Sun go outside the village to look for raw materials. The police found their remains outside the village; they had been eaten by wild animals... only bones remained. My God, what a tragedy!"
" Second Sister-in-law Qin returned carrying her daughter Qin Xue's bones. Her face remained expressionless, and she stared at me for a long time. I felt guilty; I suspected she might know something..."
" Second Sister-in-law Qin did find out, someone must have let it slip. Will she tell Ms. Sun the truth?"
" Second Sister-in-law Qin has gone mad. She's actually soaking her daughter's bones in a wine jar and refuses to bury her!"
The diary ends here.
The old village chief's handwriting was messy, clearly indicating that he was also suffering greatly at the time.
Under the tree, the Villagers, having listened to the old village chief's diary, fell into complete silence.
They knew the names of the three people mentioned in the diary—they were their fathers and grandfathers. The " Second Sister-in-law Qin " written by the village chief was the current Old Lady Qin. Her husband died early, leaving behind only a daughter, who was said to be born blind.
Clearly, after learning the truth, Old Mrs. Qin told Granny Sun, and the two began a 35-year-long revenge campaign against Liuxi Village.
Xiao Lou closed his diary, gently closed his eyes, and said as calmly as possible, "The truth is this: your fathers did something worse than animals. They raped and murdered two young girls and dumped their bodies in the wild, where wild animals devoured them."
Xiao Lou couldn't continue. He took a deep breath to calm himself down before continuing, "Their mother, Old Lady Qin and Granny Sun, poisoned all the Villagers who were involved in this incident, destroyed the mountain god temple, buried the Villagers ' bodies in a pit, and then blinded you children who can't remember anything, and fabricated a lie that the village was cursed."
Yu Hanjiang added, "The remains of Old Mrs. Qin's daughter were preserved in a jar of rice wine. Granny Sun's daughter's bracelet was divided into seven parts and placed in the village in a 'herringbone' pattern for you to keep for generations."
Xiao Lou continued, "It must have been Old Madam Qin's idea to poison you blind. Her daughter was bullied by your fathers because she was blind, and she wants your descendants to experience the same thing."
The village was silent; even the children who came to hear the story were pale with fright.
The Challengers around him looked grim when they heard the truth—it could be said that the root of all this misfortune was those three beasts who had been lustful back then.
They took advantage of Qin Xue's blindness, dragged her to the pond, and raped her. Miss Sun happened to be passing by and tried to help.
As a result, the three friends were implicated. Feeling guilty, they killed the two girls after they finished their business and dumped their bodies in the wild, where wild animals devoured them.
Thinking about what the two girls had gone through, everyone felt a tightness in their chests with anger.
Those three beasts deserve to die a thousand times over!
Everyone can completely understand the anger and grief that Mrs. Qin and Granny Sun felt when they learned the truth. If your daughter had encountered such a thing, you would also want to eat the flesh and drink the blood of your enemy!
However, their minds were warped by hatred, and their revenge gradually went astray.
The two not only killed the original murderers and slaughtered the entire Liuxi Village, but they also wanted to perpetuate the hatred into the next generation, and even the generation after that. Those three beasts deserved to be torn to pieces, but what about the other Villagers and their descendants? How innocent were they?
This horrific act of retribution is truly chilling.
The Villagers arrived at West Hill with complicated expressions and burned the human bone pit and the talismans covered with eyes in the dilapidated temple to ashes.
These human bones are their true ancestors.
The grudges of Liuxi Village will be completely destroyed and put to an end with this fire.
***
For the next two days, the Challengers had nothing to do.
Every day, those affected by the blindness buff would stay at the village chief's house to rest, while those unaffected would wander around the village. The Villagers would deliver three meals a day, which were very plentiful. The twelve of them were like a tour group visiting Liuxi Village, enjoying a very fulfilling life.
The three who failed to obtain the gem attempted a sneak attack late on the sixth night, but were discovered and driven away by Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, who were on night watch. The three wept bitterly, and although Xiao Lou sympathized with them, there was nothing he could do.
The competition in the Spade Secret Room is fierce. I can only blame myself for being slow-witted and not quick enough to grab the gems immediately.
Liuxi Village, Day 7.
After dinner, everyone said goodbye to the village chief. The village chief took the initiative to lead everyone to West Mountain and said, "These stones should be the rough stones of some gemstones that Miss Sun discovered back then. We don't know anything about them. Since you came for gemstones, you can take these with you."
The village chief's expression darkened, and he said in a low voice, "Our ancestors were sorry to Miss Sun. We have no right to keep what she liked. After you take it out, process it according to her wishes. Maybe it can be turned into a beautiful gemstone. This should be her wish."
Everyone was shocked—had the village chief come to deliver a luxury gift package?
Everyone looked at Yu Hanjiang, waiting for his opinion.
The village chief offered a gift bag, and Yu Hanjiang, of course, didn't stand on ceremony, saying, "I don't know much about raw materials either, so please choose whatever you like."
Shao Qingge leaned closer and said with a smile, "Jade rough stones aren't necessarily better the bigger they are. If you can't jump, leave it to me."
While the other Challengers went to pick out the larger stones, Shao Qingge squatted down and carefully selected a few smaller ones for Xiao Lou, Yu Hanjiang, Ye Qi, and Liu Qiao.
The group quickly divided up the seemingly ordinary stones, not understanding their value, but thinking they might be able to sell them for a good price in the main city.
The village chief said sincerely, "Since you have other matters to attend to, I won't keep you any longer. Please come visit Liuxi Village again when you have time."
Xiao Lou shook hands with him and said, "I hope you can also live a good life."
***
Liuxi Village, Day 7, 24:00.
In each person's pop-up window, a walkthrough message that only they could see appeared—
Congratulations to Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang for perfectly clearing Spade 4 [ Liuxi Village ] with an S rating!
Please go to the mountaintop and take a helicopter to leave the secret room!
The twelve Challengers were overjoyed. The masked man walked up to Yu Hanjiang, smiling, and said, " Old Han, thank you so much this time. Is your team short of members? How about adding me?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "I'm sorry, we have no plans to add more people at the moment."
The couple had wanted to ask the same question, but seeing Yu Hanjiang's serious expression, they decided not to make a fool of themselves. " Chameleon, " the man said as he approached, "It's a pleasure to meet you. I hope we can work together again in future escape rooms."
Old Qi walked over and said, "We four main cities are planning to choose Sun City. What are your plans for the future?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "Let's go to Moon City."
Curly-haired Woman joked, "Could the two main cities be enemies? If so, we'll choose Moon City too. Being enemies with you won't end well."
Old Qi thought for a moment and nodded: "That makes sense, then we'll choose Moon City too."
Xiao Lou: "..."
Is Captain Yu really that terrifying? One sentence from him changed the choices of these four people.
After everyone left, Liu Qiao came over, and Xiao Lou asked, "Are you going to Plum Blossom 4 next?"
Liu Qiao said, "Yes, I wonder if Plum Blossom 4 will force players to be eliminated?"
Ye Qi laughed and said, "Don't worry, the fourth level, Spade and Hearts, are too difficult. Plum Blossom 4 is a freebie, it's a lottery level, it depends on your luck. CEO Shao and I were lucky and we upgraded all the card skills."
Liu Qiao breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. She nodded to the four of them and said, " Professor Xiao, take care. See you in the main city."
Xiao Lou smiled and said, "Goodbye."
The last four walked side by side to the top of the mountain. There were only two helicopters left at the top, with two identical Ace of Spades waiting for them. Ye Qi complained, "They're picking people up in helicopters again. Ace of Spades really know how to show off."
Ace of Spades, though quite far away, heard his words and said calmly, " Liuxi Village is inconveniently located; I won't come to pick you up by helicopter."
"Why don't you guys climb out yourselves?"
Ye Qi quickly waved his hand with a smile: "No, no, no, I mean, as the most handsome of the four Guardians, your entrance is naturally the most stylish, with a helicopter as your ride, awesome!"
The two Ace of Spades glanced at him simultaneously, but ignored him.
Shao Qingge rubbed his temples and looked at Xiao Lou, saying, "We're going to Red Heart 4 next. Hopefully it won't take too long. See you in the main city."
Xiao Lou smiled and instructed, "Don't rush into action once we arrive in the main city. We'll discuss everything after we reunite."
The two nodded, turned, and boarded the helicopter. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang boarded another helicopter.
The familiar roar of propellers echoed overhead as Xiao Lou took one last look at the quiet village.
Under the soft moonlight, Liuxi Village is like a piece of warm jade nestled in the mountains and forests. A gentle breeze blows across the pond to the north, and the clear water ripples under the moonlight, as if countless silver diamonds have been sprinkled into the water.
Near that pond, a brutal murder had occurred, in which two young girls lost their lives that night.
Now that the feud is over, the pond water has long since returned to its clear state, and it is filled with fresh, plump fish, which are the Villagers ' main source of food.
In the dead of night, the cry of a baby suddenly rang out in Liuxi Village —it was Huihui's newborn daughter.
Xiao Lou remembers that girl; she was thin and petite with very fair skin.
She can see.
Starting with this girl, the descendants of Liuxi Village will regain their light.
Huihui's daughter was born on the same day that the two girls died. As the cycle ends, Liuxi Village will become a brand new Liuxi Village.
This generation of Villagers, affected by long-term blindness, lead simple lives, are honest and kind-hearted.
Knowing that their ancestors had wronged Miss Sun, they gave away all the jade rough stones that Miss Sun liked.
Although they are blind, their hearts are not.
Xiao Lou believes that the descendants of Liuxi Village will live better and better under the leadership of the village chief and Xiao Qing, and they will surely be able to build this place into a true paradise.
[ Liuxi Village · End]
The author has something to say: Hatred distorts people's minds; let everyone judge the events in this village.