Fatal Game Syndrome

After bidding farewell to Yu Fu, the five men split into two groups and set off in two directions.

Ruan Lanzhu and Ling Jiushi went east to find the black-robed man's original butcher shop, while Li Dongyuan took Cheng Qianli and Tan Zaozao, the two light bulbs, west to the place where they had offered sacrifices to the river god last night.

"Do you suspect that the key is in the black-robed man's original home?"

Ling Jiushi looked at both sides of the street with interest. He found that although the expressions on these people's faces were different, they were all the same, and their actions were constantly repeated. Maybe they were unimportant NPCs, so the setting was perfunctory.

"The river god and the man in black robes probably won't come out during the day. We might find something else if we go over and take a look."

At this time, Ruan Lanzhu and Ling Jiushi were walking hand in hand on the street, but the people around them were busy with their own things and didn't pay any attention to these two men who were dressed differently.

"Tsk tsk!"

Ling Jiushi stopped and shook his head, "Gao Dawei is too perfunctory. These people keep repeating the same actions. Look at that!"

Ruan Lanzhu looked in the direction Ling Jiushi pointed and saw an old man selling steamed buns under the straw shed next to him kneading dough. He kneaded it twice, turned around, opened the steamer to take a look, and then covered it again. In the next minute, the old man repeated this action twice.

"Too boring! Even more fake than the extras in Hengdian!"

Ling Jiushi walked over, picked up the steamed bun, took a bite and frowned. The steamed bun had no taste at all, just like eating a ball of cotton. However, the old man seemed not to see the two of them and continued to turn around to lift the lid of the steamer at the back.

"Speaking of which, after we get out, I must make the stories of other NPCs more substantial, otherwise no one will talk to us when we go out."

According to the route Yu Fu gave, the two walked along the street to the end, turned right and saw the vegetable market in front of them.

The market is not big and the roads are very narrow. There are shops on the four sides of the market and an open-air stall in the middle. After entering the door, the two walked straight in. The area in the middle is where poultry is sold. Chickens, ducks, rabbits and other things are placed on the ground. The smell of so many poultry together is a bit overpowering.

"Big sister, how many pork shops are there here?"

Ling Jiushi squatted in front of the stall selling chickens and ducks, held his breath and asked the elder sister sitting on the ground. The elder sister looked up at him after hearing his voice, then lowered her head and continued to doze off.

"Is there no line assigned for this?"

Ling Jiushi turned around and glanced at Ruan Lanzhu, "So he's not the NPC that issues quests?"

Ruan Lanzhu raised his eyebrows, scanned the market, and finally locked onto the shop in the far northwest corner. "There's a pork shop in front. Let's go over and ask."

When the two men walked over, this NPC was completely different from the one they had met before. Before they even stopped in front of his shop, the enthusiastic stall owner stood up and began to greet them.

"Would you like to buy some meat?"

Ling Jiushi glanced at Ruan Lanzhu and found the right one!

"That's right, boss. How many butcher shops are there here? We're planning to open a shop, and we want to ask you about it!"

"Open a shop? That's great!" After hearing Ling Jiushi say that he wanted to open a shop, the boss did not ignore them and still enthusiastically took them to introduce it.

"Besides me, the only butcher shop in the market is Zhang Jiuzhi's." The boss wiped his hands on his apron and walked out from behind the stall, smiling.

Zhang Jiuzhi? What a name!

"Hahaha, his actual name is Zhang Gui, but he's addicted to gambling. One time he lost everything and was in debt. He didn't have the money to pay off his gambling debts, so the casino boss chopped off one of his fingers. That's why we all call him Zhang Jiuzhi!"

Ling Jiushi listened patiently, but what did this have to do with the clues they were looking for?

"In addition to your two businesses, I remember there was a butcher shop before. Where is that shop? We can rent it if it's suitable!"

When the boss mentioned this, his face froze and his expression became unnatural.

"You are outsiders and I don't want to hide it from you, but you can't rent this shop! It's a haunted house! A murder happened there!"

Seeing that both of them looked very curious, the boss brought out two long benches and motioned for them to sit down before talking.

"In fact, the proprietress of this shop is Zhang Jiuzhi's biological sister. His sister married the butcher Wu Huai, so the meat for the two shops was sent by his brother-in-law after he slaughtered the pigs."

So, the man in black robe last night was the butcher Wu Huai?

"Zhang Jiuzhi often asked his sister to borrow money to pay off his gambling debts. Wu Huai was tall and strong with a bad temper. Every time Zhang Jiuzhi went to borrow money, he would be beaten. So Zhang Jiuzhi didn't dare to ask him when he saw him at home."

"That was the time when his finger was chopped off. Zhang Jiuzhi went to his sister to borrow money secretly and was heard by Wu Huai. In the end, he didn't get the money and was beaten black and blue and thrown outside the market like a dead dog."

"It's called a loan, but Zhang Gui never paid back the money he borrowed from his sister. Everyone knows his character, so who would dare to lend him money? That's why he had a finger chopped off to pay off the debt."

At this point, the boss sighed a little, "From then on, Zhang Jiuzhi held a grudge against Wu Huai, and his sister also blamed her own man for not wanting to help her brother. Later, the two of them decided that since his sister already had a child, they might as well drug him and kill him."

Isn't this woman too stupid? The two of them frowned as they heard this.

"They planned to strike during the days of offering sacrifices to the river god. Even if the butcher disappeared, they could explain that he was taken away by the river god. Who knew that after being poisoned, the butcher still had the strength to resist, stumbling around with a butcher knife and slashing at the two men."

"Although it was night, there were many people outside offering sacrifices to the river god. Everyone saw the crazy butcher carrying a bloody knife coming out of the market, half-deadly following the people offering sacrifices to the river god, and finally jumping into the river."

"From then on, the river god had one more servant."

"Zhang Jiuzhi and his sister are still alive?"

Can you still live after murder? Don't the butchers come up to take revenge?

"His sister was hacked to death by the butcher at that time, and Zhang Jiuzhi hid in the dog hole outside and escaped."

The boss pointed to the wall at the door. There was indeed a hole less than one meter high. It was pitch black inside and one could not see clearly. It would be difficult to chop the enemy if one hid inside.

"Later, the butcher's son was captured by Zhang Jiuzhi and sacrificed to the river god on behalf of his own son. Damn it!"

All three members of a family died? And the person who started it all is still alive and well?

"No one reported it to the police?"

As soon as I finished speaking Ling Jiushi felt stupid again. This was just a game setting, how could there be so much logic?

"So our mission this time should be to help the butcher get revenge and kill Zhang Jiuzhi!"

Ruan Lanzhu leaned over to Ling Jiushi and whispered something in his ear, then turned to ask the butcher, "Wu Huai comes out every Mid-Autumn Festival, so why doesn't he take Zhang Gui to offer sacrifices to the river god?"

"I don't know this either!"

The boss shook his head. That was all he knew. Besides, after Wu Huai died, he became a servant of the river god. How could they dare to talk to him? If they were dragged to sacrifice to the river god, they would be dead!

"Thank you!"

Seeing that he had said almost everything, Ruan Lanzhu did not ask any more questions. The two of them followed the direction the boss pointed to see Wu Huai's shop. When they passed by Zhang Jiuzhi's shop, they saw him lying on a recliner with a small wine glass next to him.

"Bad guys live more comfortably than anyone else!"

Ling Jiushi turned his head away with a gloomy face. Ruan Lanzhu touched the back of his neck and comforted him, "Don't worry, he won't be at large for long!"

Wu Huai's shop was already full of cobwebs and had a thick layer of dust. The two men were choked and started coughing as soon as they entered.

"Nothing at all!"

The shop was very small, with a small shop in the front and two small rooms and a small kitchen in the back. You could see the end at a glance. Everything inside had been moved away, leaving only black bloodstains on the floor that extended to the street outside.

"Let's go back and eat first. The key must be related to Wu Huai, but we still have to slowly find where it is. If we can help him get revenge, we should be able to get the key directly!"

The key may not be placed in a fixed place, it may be carried by someone. The key is so small that it is difficult to find it without any clue, and the door is so big that it is impossible to move it everywhere, so Ruan Lanzhu decided to find the door first.

When they were returning, Li Dongyuan and the others had also returned. Several other guests were also waiting for dinner around another table. When they saw Ruan Lanzhu and the others coming back, they all looked over.

"Have you found any clues?"

The man who spoke to them in the morning asked first. The two walked to Li Dongyuan's table and sat down without saying anything. Seeing this, the man smiled awkwardly.

"What did you find?"

Ruan Lanzhu sat down before slowly asking the question. Seeing that the man was willing to pay attention to her, the man also breathed a sigh of relief.

"We found Yu Fu in the yard this morning, and she told us about the oil lamp!"

"She said that there is a drug in the lamp oil. Both the sleeping and awake people are safe. Only the confused people will be controlled by the servants of the river god and become sacrifices to the river god."

What the man said was the same as what Yu Fu had told them, and he seemed quite sincere!

Ruan Lanzhu winked at Li Dongyuan. Although he didn't know whether they were hiding anything or not, the clues he gave were also ones he already knew, so it didn't matter if he gave him one in return.

Li Dongyuan thought for a moment and said, "We did find something. The servant of the river god was originally a butcher in the town. He controlled people by manipulating poisonous insects."

After hearing this, several people looked at each other in bewilderment. This clue sounded useless...

"Do you have any clues about the door and the key?"

The girl next to the man saw his gesture and blinked at Li Dongyuan.

"no!"

Li Dongyuan looked indifferent and unmoved. He was in a relationship now. If he was attracted by this woman with just a blink of an eye, Tan Zaozao would definitely complain when he returned!

"We do have more clues than you do."

Ruan Lanzhu smiled and said, "If you have no objection, let's look for the door first. The door is not in this house, and it will be easier to find with more people."

Seeing that Ruan Lanzhu was confident, the few people guessed that he must have a clue note, so everyone agreed without hesitation.

Those three men were obviously experts, and it was better to have someone to guide him than to wander around like a headless fly.

Thanks to Yaofeng, Ai Haiwu Apo, Fuyaozhishangqiwanli, and Lanjiu for sending sweets today. Baby, you are all powered by love. I love you guys.