Arc 3: Luodong Village
Chapter 32: Death
Source: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5039729
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com
The woman turned her head and met Qin Dongwan’s open look of doubt.
“Pingping, which sister are you talking about, did some accident happen?”
She said accident and not a simple trouble, and it showed she heard everything just now. It left no way for Pingping’s mother to cover it. The woman’s lips had just lifted in a peace-making smile, but it fell fast. She hesitated for a moment and sighed.
“Last night a wild beast hurt someone. Wanwan went out to pee at night and she was…”
She spoke halfway and then she realized something. She saw Qin Dongwan and Luo Shu’s faces were fine, so she went on, but she also did not want to talk much.
“In short, that young girl is gone. Your tour guide needs to help set up her funeral. Such a young girl. Her name is Bai Wanwan, right, that is what the person who told me said. Such a pity. You two do not be too sad, hurry and clean up and come eat breakfast.”
The door closed and gave the two of them enough space to change clothes. Qin Dongwan’s doubt did fully fade when the woman could not see it, and a cold look took its place.
"She knows all of us."
The second level was harder than before, and she felt it was hard to deal with.
"What do you mean?"
"It is normal that the messenger came to report the death and said the dead one was Bai Wanwan. It is also normal that she said the name Wanwan before. The strange part is that she then added that the messenger told her this name. Have you heard 'there are no three hundred taels of silver here'*?"
*telling an obvious lie.
No one would notice this tiny detail, but Pingping's mom messed up and showed it to them. But this news did not help their clues move forward. They could only know that the guide planned to bring them to this village long ago.
Luo Shu's face darkened, and she also understood the key point fast. The guide and the people in the village were clearly together. The one called Bai Wanwan was said to be killed by a wild beast, but it was likely only an excuse. There were no family members, so no one would ask to check the body. The cause of death could be made up by them.
After they changed clothes, they went down to wash. Qin Dongwan even looked at the stairs. They were the same as yesterday. There was a lot of noise at night, but the closest ones, the NPC family of three, slept like dead pigs. They acted like they were all deaf.
Downstairs, the three men were already washing up. Lin Fengque and Hua Qingjiu had faint dark circles around their pale eyes, but only Tang Zihang looked full of energy.
Qin Dongwan asked and learned that the three men slept on one bed, which was very cramped. Last night Tang Zihang slept in the middle and kept tossing and turning. He either talked in his sleep or hit people, making it hard for the others to sleep.
Seeing Qin Dongwan safe, Lin Fengque smiled and briefly told everyone about last night’s danger. Tang Zihang, brushing his teeth with foam in his mouth, leaned over and patted his shoulder:
“I didn’t expect you are strong brother, you have such thin arms and legs.
“If you have to go to the bathroom at night, go in pairs. But it’s better to finish before sleep. The best way in this dungeon seems to be sleeping until morning, maybe avoiding some dangers. Last night Qin Dongwan stared at the ghost in the well; that might be the death condition.”
Lin Fengque didn’t bother with him and directly shared his own thoughts, clearly analyzing last night’s danger, making people naturally trust him.
They didn’t stay long. After washing up, they returned to the hall for breakfast. During this, Pingping’s mother had put steaming dishes on the table. There was a big plate of sauce pancakes, and noodles were in the pot for them to serve themselves. Because no one knew what was inside the sauce pancakes, everyone chose the plain noodles, which seemed much safer.
“These noodles are made with the well water from our courtyard. You city folks probably never drank well water. Try it, it’s almost as good as mountain spring water!”
The shadow of death hadn’t fallen over this family. After reporting the death with some regret, Pingping’s mother didn’t show any sadness. She still cheerfully welcomed the guests. Qin Dongwan, who was serving noodles, felt her chopsticks tremble slightly at her words, and she tried to skim all the soup off.
Yesterday’s ghost came from the bottom of the well. After that terrifying chase, even looking at this pot of plain noodles made Qin Dongwan lose her appetite. She casually served half a bowl, then passed the communal chopsticks to Luo Shu behind her and sat back, pretending to taste it under Pingping’s mother's watchful eyes.
The soft, smooth noodles had no taste in her mouth. She chewed like chewing wax for a while until Tang Zihang suddenly shouted, breaking the quiet air. Several strands of black hair stuck in the white noodles, standing out sharply and making him frown in disgust:
“What is this?”
“Sorry, I shed a little hair. You can eat the sauce pancakes.”
The woman leaning casually in the doorway instantly changed her expression. She rushed over, snatched the chopsticks from Tang Zihang, and carried the pot of noodles out. She wasn’t tall but was strong; she lifted the whole pot with one hand and hurriedly turned to leave.
The people inside looked at each other for a moment, then all turned their eyes back to reckless Tang Zihang.
“Damn, is it my fault? How are we supposed to eat that big clump of hair?”
Scratching his messy, non-mainstream yellow hair, Tang Zihang sat down carelessly. He probably thought that with so many people around during the day, nothing would happen, and he grabbed a sauce pancake and started biting right away.
The others were already used to his careless attitude. Only Lin Fengque looked surprised, probably wondering how this guy had survived the previous levels.
The woman who carried the pot out didn’t come back. After simply solving their hunger, the others couldn’t really rest like idle tourists. They greeted Pingping’s father working on the ground floor of the stilted house and went straight out.
The two groups from yesterday agreed to meet at the village entrance to exchange information. They asked several people along the way and finally the five of them arrived.
A thick-limbed locust tree stood at the village entrance. After enduring countless years of wind and rain, its bent trunk was covered with green grass leaves. The old grooves looked like a bunch of ghost faces growing wildly. Even in daylight, a gloomy air lingered around it.
A few people were already standing next to the locust tree. One tall young man looked very bad, his eyes full of restless agitation. After looking around the crowd, Qin Dongwan recognized that the girl who died should be one of the couple. The young man in front of her was Bai Wanwan’s boyfriend.
“Fan Lin, don’t blame yourself too much. Who could have thought a wolf would suddenly jump out from the grass? It’s just bad luck for Bai Wanwan…”
A woman kindly comforted him beside him. Her voice wasn’t deliberately lowered, so people coming from behind could hear clearly.
Was it really caused by a wild beast? Qin Dongwan was secretly shocked.
“Enough! Who the hell said it’s my responsibility? When did I say it’s my fault?”
The young man named Fan Lin was clearly at his breaking point. The woman’s gentle comfort didn’t calm him; instead, it poured fuel on the fire. He shoved her a few steps away and shouted angrily:
“I already said don’t run around at night, don’t run around! But that idiot had to go and run around, almost got me killed too! Fine, you’re all great, saints even. I must be blind to follow such a useless piece of crap as a boyfriend!”
It seemed Bai Wanwan didn’t have a very good relationship with her boyfriend. After all, under life-and-death tests, few couples can remain inseparable. Facing a threat to life only brings out negative emotions.
Bai Wanwan probably triggered a death condition last night, which is why the sudden wild beast killed her.
The stilted house was built fairly high, and wolves usually wouldn’t dare approach places where people live. Though fairy tales often make the big bad wolf a villain, in reality humans hurt wolves far more than wolves eat humans. For the village to stay safe, they must have learned to coexist with wild animals to some extent.
“Sorry, we also heard about Miss Bai Wanwan’s death. Can we ask what happened last night?”
Source: https://www.jjwxc.net/onebook.php?novelid=5039729
This translation was originally posted on https://love4baihe.blogspot.com
After last night, Lin Fengque had quietly established a cooperative relationship with them. Now Qin Dongwan didn’t need to step forward first. A gentle-looking young man went up and asked the woman who was comforting Fan Lin.
The woman, named Zhao Huaqiong, glanced at Fan Lin, stepped back a little, and said:
“Last night, it seemed they went downstairs to use the bathroom. I suddenly heard Bai Wanwan’s scream from upstairs. By the window, I could vaguely see her being grabbed by a wolf… Fan Lin was right there, but there was nothing he could do. Tsk tsk, really pitiful.”
This is a small mountain village. It was normal to encounter wild animals in the remote hills, but Qin Dongwan still found it strange that medium-to-large predators like wolves, tigers, or leopards could appear where many people lived.
However, both Fan Lin, who was involved, and Zhao Huaqiong, who saw it, confirmed it was a wolf. She couldn’t interrupt to ask more, but doubts quietly grew in her mind.
“By the way, was the guide with you last night?”
Seeing the signal from Qin Dongwan, Lin Fengque understood and cleverly hid some of his own information, then asked further. This time Fan Lin answered. His still fairly handsome face was full of gloom, and his eyes toward Lin Fengque carried a trace of resentful hostility:
“Yes, he was with us, having fun talking with that shameless Bai Wanwan.” He thought of something and suddenly raised a strange smile. “Think about it, someone you were happily chatting with last night suddenly dies. I wonder how the guide feels?”
Author's Note:
Brother Fan Lin felt like a green cloud was covering his head*, that’s why he’s so angry. The chaos is about to start, let me brew it up a bit~
*being cuckolded, similar wearing a green hat
