Chapter 1 After the Rain

After agreeing on a plan, the group headed towards the ancestral hall in the back garden of the Zhang manor, as recorded in the walkthrough. The paper effigies of servants that appeared along the way only served to heighten their fear and anxiety.

Even Lu Xiaoyao, who had been shrieking nonstop, finally started using her brain and asked, "These are all paper figures. What about the real people?! Didn't anyone notice something was wrong?!"

...

"So, the reason no one cared when she dragged me around during the day wasn't because the NPCs weren't smart enough, but because they're not even smart NPCs at all?"

Mingmei stood on a rooftop, watching the mindless "people" milling about the streets after the rain. The water stains on the ground tinted everyone's feet, revealing them to be made of paper.

Seeing this, Mingmei couldn't help but massage her temples.

She couldn't help but complain to the system again, "This is the so-called newbie village? Just because I didn't go to school in space doesn't mean you can trick me like this."

Mingmei had gotten this job through connections, after following her parents from a cultivation plane. She hadn't expected things to be so tricky right from the start, and didn't know what to say.

Wasn't she supposed to be able to slack off and relax here?

【Didn't the antagonist tell you not to go out at night? You insisted on following them out to see what was happening.】

The system, Guigui, reminded Mingmei not to meddle in things. They weren't the kind of people who needed a script to get involved in the plot; their only goal was to sell boxed lunches.

Of course, she knew that. Mingmei stood on the rooftop, hands behind her back, gazing towards the Zhang manor, her eyes full of a gossipy light. "I'm just watching. Can't I do that? Why watch someone else's livestream when I'm right here?"

System: ??

So that's the kind of host you are?!

Guigui had been about to remind Mingmei not to be a busybody, but what was her reason?

"This plot has changed so much I wouldn't recognize it in eight hundred years. Is the game plot you gave me not updated?" Mingmei jumped and moved across the rooftops as easily as walking on flat ground, following the direction of the moving crowd. "It's too troublesome to look for the truth through Lu Xiaoyao's livestream. I'd rather watch it myself. I can't even enjoy my gossip properly."

System: 【...】

Hmph, usually putting on a cool front, occasionally throwing a tantrum, but turns out she's just a gossip-loving busybody.

It had to be said, while the system played Lu Xiaoyao's perspective from inside the manor for Mingmei, Mingmei herself was also observing the "residents" on the rooftops, who were moving along the streets without any awareness.

Watching this dual-perspective story unfold, seeing everything from a god's-eye view, Mingmei finally realized that the plot was indeed getting weirder and weirder.

These paper residents were all gathering in front of the Bai manor.

Watching the middle-aged man and woman dressed in fine clothes walk out of the Bai manor, Mingmei noticed that their eyes were bright and alert, unlike the soulless residents wandering the streets.

"I remember Lu Xiaoyao telling me later that the NPCs were too smart nowadays, and she was almost persuaded not to go through with the engagement annulment when she argued with the Bai family parents..."

Mingmei's eyes flickered. Could it be that after the changes to the newbie village's plot, something was different about the Bai family as well?

By the time Lu Xiaoyao and her group actually rushed into the Zhang family's ancestral hall, the four players were already battered and exhausted. Fortunately, thanks to Mingmei's boxed lunches, they weren’t hurting from the frightening scars on their bodies.

"Hurry! The Zhang family's young master still hasn't shown himself. Who knows what he's planning? Quickly find the contract and destroy it with a brush dipped in black dog blood!"

Hu Yue slammed the ancestral hall doors shut, bolted them, and urged everyone to hurry.

They just needed to find the contract hidden in the offerings in front of the memorial tablets!

With that thought, everyone's eyes gleamed with the passion of wanting to clear the game. Yes, just one last step, and they would—

"So many memorial tablets?"

Looking at the pile of memorial tablets with square characters, Hu Yue and Bai Xiao, who had the best memories, had a moment of blankness.

"Does... anyone recognize ancient Blue Star's writing?"

Bai Xiao asked softly, making it clear that she didn't.

To Bai Xiao's disappointment, the other three "illiterates" stood in a row and shook their heads quickly.

Bai Xiao: ...

Well, she thought, maybe she should prioritize learning this language in the future, since this game had already partnered with them.

"There are so many tablets, it’s true. But, have you big shots carefully checked which tablet has the contract hidden under it?"

Lu Xiaoyao had pinned her hopes on Hu Yue and Bai Xiao. She firmly believed that even if they didn't recognize them all, they were still better than ordinary people like them.

"I remember some, but..."

Hu Yue looked at the pile of tablets, almost half of which seemed to have the same characters. Her expression turned unpleasant as she took two tablets and held them in front of everyone, asking, "Can you see any difference between these?"

Hilarious!

They were all square blocks, what difference could there be?

Most of the netizens in the livestream hadn't seen these two tablets either. Only a few netizens from Hua Blue Star gave a brief explanation.

【First Wife Bai, maiden name Yunxiang, born Xi Lian position; First Wife Bai, maiden name Jiuying, born Xi Lian position; First Wife Bai... Holy crap, has the Zhang family always been marrying women from the Bai family?!】

【Upstairs big shot, wait, what are you talking about?】

【Isn't the main point that they've always been marrying women from the Bai family?】.oΓg

【Yeah, they all have the surname Bai!】

Watching the densely packed messages scrolling across the screen, Mingmei stood on the rooftop, gazing at the Bai family couple, and murmured, "It's more than just all Bai family daughters. These tablets are all for wives who died without any children, and are worshipped by their husbands. How could the Bai family not know about the Zhang manor's abnormalities?"

Unlike the "four illiterates" in the ancestral hall who were being forced to rummage through the tablets one by one, Mingmei had already seen many differences just by looking at the tablets.

"These tablets are all for women who died without leaving any children after marriage, erected by their husbands. And these Bai family wives, since they had no children, who were the later Zhang family masters born to? After they were born, why isn't there a memorial tablet for their birth mothers?"

If there were descendants, then the tablet written by the husband would be "First Wife Zhang Mother Bai, maiden name... born Xi Lian position."

Mingmei then looked at the servants behind the Bai family couple, who were holding everything in their hands: a phoenix coronet and ceremonial robes, and a wooden box tied with red silk and pasted with a "double happiness" character.

A flash of surprise crossed Mingmei's face, which then turned into mockery as she asked, "The Zhang family's wives have always been from the Bai family for generations. The Bai family can really send their daughters to marry without any burden every time, which is quite... heh~"

A sound of "heh" was full of sarcasm.

What was the Bai family doing all this for?

Mingmei mocked inwardly, when suddenly, she felt a drop of cold liquid splash on her face. She looked up and saw that large raindrops were falling once again.

"It's raining..." Mingmei reached out her hand, looked up at the sky as the rain started again, only to see an oil-paper umbrella appear above her head.

"I told you, don't go out at night~"

Hearing the man's soft sigh, Mingmei turned around. He was standing in front of her, with one hand behind his back and the other holding the umbrella, still smiling. His dark pupils were filled with her reflection...