Chapter 28: The Secretary

Mo Qi waved his hand dismissively. “I’m just a small businessman who knows a few characters, far from being a sir. I just hope to contribute what little I can to the town. After all, if things continue like this, none of us will survive.”

The gatekeeper, visibly concerned, nodded in agreement. “Indeed, fortunately, each household’s food reserves are sufficient for a few days. But if this continues, even armed forces might not be able to control the people.”

Seeing that the gatekeeper was willing to share some information, Mo Qi paused and asked, “In this situation, it would be excellent if the officer could stabilize the order in the town.”

“It’s the secretary and the deputy commander who are in charge. We just follow orders,” the gatekeeper explained.

So the town is currently managed by the secretary and the deputy commander. With two people handling things in such a critical situation, it seems the Shuai Mansion isn’t very stable either.

The gatekeeper didn’t know much about the details regarding the General’s death or the current whereabouts of the jade pendant. After asking a few questions to no avail, Mo Qi let it rest. They arrived together at the side hall.

A man in military attire with glasses sat at a desk. When he saw Mo Qi, he pushed his glasses up.

Seeing this person, Mo Qi couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on. This was none other than Liao Ruxue.

Mo Qi’s current appearance closely resembled his real-life self, albeit a bit older, and Liao Ruxue naturally recognized him at a glance. However, there was no change in his expression. He crossed his hands on the desk, assuming the posture of someone in authority, and asked, “What is it?”

The gatekeeper immediately spoke up, “Secretary Liao, this is Mr. Mo, the owner of the town’s bookstore. He claims to have found some ancient books related to burial items and has brought them here in hopes they might be helpful.”

“Is that so? Bring the books up here for me to see,” Liao Ruxue glanced at the gatekeeper and said, “You may go.”

Once the gatekeeper left, the room was left with only Mo Qi, Liao Ruxue, and Mo Xiaohong. Liao Ruxue looked at Mo Xiaohong and remarked, “You’re here to deliver books, so just deliver books. Why bring along everyone and their cat?”

Mo Xiaohong didn’t nibble her fingers this time. She hid behind Mo Qi, peeking quietly at Liao Ruxue with one eye, seeming wary of him.

“This is my daughter,” Mo Qi said calmly.

“Let’s get back to business. Having a child here is inconvenient. Someone, take this child away,” Liao Ruxue said loudly.

A soldier entered and moved to pull Mo Xiaohong away. She clung tightly to Mo Qi, refusing to leave.

“How deep the father-daughter bond is,” Liao Ruxue chuckled. “The child looks thin and poorly dressed. Food is scarce in town now, even if you have money, you might not find anything to buy. Are you both hungry? I’ll have the soldier take the child downstairs to eat something, and I’ll bring you some food. How does that sound?”

Upon hearing about food, Mo Xiaohong relaxed her grip but continued to glare at Liao Ruxue with hostility.

“Dad and this officer have some business to discuss. You go with the soldier and have something to eat,” Mo Qi reassured Mo Xiaohong.

Mo Xiaohong nodded slowly and hugged Mo Qi’s leg, whispering softly, “Hurry back to get me.”

Mo Qi said to Liao Ruxue, “Please take good care of my daughter.”

Liao Ruxue instructed the soldier as well, “Understood? Treat them well as honored guests.”

“Yes!”

Liao Ruxue squinted and remarked, “This kid is really annoying. When did you adopt a daughter?”

“It was assigned by the system,” Mo Qi replied.

“Well, having her around provides some cover. I also have three aunts living in a large courtyard not far from the mansion. They cause a ruckus in the backyard every day,” Liao Ruxue rubbed his temples. “I’ve never even had a girlfriend, and now I’m stuck with three aunts. It’s really a headache.”

Facing Liao Ruxue, Mo Qi remained cautious, but upon hearing about his three aunts, Mo Qi couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly.

Liao Ruxue noticed Mo Qi’s faint smile and instinctively touched the sidearm at his waist.

He clenched his fist briefly, keeping his hand away from the weapon, and said to Mo Qi, “You better not laugh. Also, you look pretty good right now. Getting a bit older and uglier would suit you even better.”

Mo Qi looked at Liao Ruxue with some surprise. “Are you trying to suppress your urge to kill?”

“Are you still controlling yourself?” Liao Ruxue pressed his right hand over his left hand, which kept twitching. “If I hadn’t been restraining myself, I would have come looking for you back in school. Why do you think I haven’t seen you in over a month?”

Mo Qi replied, “… I thought you wouldn’t be influenced by game skills in real life anymore.”

It turns out that Liao Ruxue is still influenced by the skills, which is unexpected. This really shouldn’t be the case.

“Who knows,” Liao Ruxue stared straight at Mo Qi. “When I can’t see you, I miss you. When I see you, I want to kill you. Besides killing you, is there any other way to resolve this dilemma?”

“Reason, calmness. I get angry too, but I still have to control myself. Adults shouldn’t let such troubles get to them,” Mo Qi encouraged Liao Ruxue for his own safety.

“Enough, let’s talk about the task first. Where have you been these past three days? Did you find any clues in town?” Liao Ruxue asked.

Mo Qi looked bewildered. “What are you talking about? Three days?”

“Is there a problem? Could it be the timing?” Liao Ruxue looked at Mo Qi, puzzled.

Mo Qi replied earnestly, “I just entered the game this morning. How could you say it’s been three days?”

Liao Ruxue’s expression turned serious. “Three days ago, I was woken up by a soldier in my own courtyard on a rainy night. I went to the Grand Marshal’s mansion, where the Grand Marshal had just died mysteriously. To prevent panic among the townspeople, the Vice Marshal and I kept the Grand Marshal’s death a secret. However, news of being unable to leave the ancient town began spreading outside, causing unrest among the troops at the mansion. Someone leaked the news of the Grand Marshal’s death, and chaos ensued in the town. It took considerable effort on my part to calm down both the mansion and the townspeople.”

Mo Qi pondered for a moment before asking, “So, am I actually three days late entering the game, or have I lost the memory of these three days?”

“I lean towards the latter,” Liao Ruxue replied. “As the initiator of the mission, you are the link between this ancient town and the game world. If you didn’t enter the game, how could it begin? You could only have entered the game before us, not after. So, either a player has altered your memory, or you discovered some crucial clues in the game but lacked the conditions to resolve them, hence your memory was wiped.”

Mo Qi remained silent. He still remembered that when he first entered the game, his gaming app was still on his phone, activated in smart mode with 100 points. If a player had erased his memory, there was no way they could have restored his phone’s settings to their original state as well. But if it was the game that wiped his memory, why would it do so completely, restoring him to the exact state he was in when he first entered the game? What had he discovered that was so crucial?

He remembered the moment when he became aware of being in the game, standing in the commercial district and getting drenched in rain. It took half an hour to walk from the commercial district to the bookstore. The rain had started at midnight and continued until noon. He hadn’t brought an umbrella, yet there he was, soaked in rain, appearing in the commercial district half an hour away from the bookstore.

Liao Ruxue chuckled with interest, “You’re not someone who would have their memories altered by players. I think it’s the game’s doing. This mission is really intriguing. I initially thought it was just a simple game of finding clues to break a curse, but now it seems finding clues also leads to memory loss. Mo Qi, why is your game so fascinating?”

“Because he’s SSR level,” he continued. “The mission difficulty level matches the level of its initiator.”

“I can’t remember much now either. But never mind me, have you found any clues over there? Any trace of other players? Do you know where Xiang Zhuo is?” Mo Qi asked.

“I’m not sure where Xiang Zhuo is, but so far, no player has died in the game, so he should be safe for now. As for other players…” Liao Ruxue chuckled, “I suspect my second aunt might be a male player.”

Liao Ruxue was a cautious person. Upon entering the game, he immediately checked for any players around him to avoid being caught off guard.

First, he thoroughly inspected his personal guards and servants to ensure no players were present. Then, under the pretext of closeness, he subtly probed his three aunts.

On the night General Shuai died, he woke up in bed with his second aunt. Upon seeing a man sleeping beside her, his second aunt almost screamed, but “she” quickly regained composure. Swiftly getting out of bed, “she” fetched Liao Ruxue’s clothes and hurried him off to the General’s Mansion to investigate.

Liao Ruxue suspected at that time that the person was a player. He secretly instructed his guards to watch over the three aunts in the mansion, forbidding them from leaving. Anyone daring to escape would be shot.

Upon returning from the General’s Mansion, Liao Ruxue attempted to get closer to his eldest and third aunts. Instead of resistance, they warmly scared him off. Only the second aunt, upon hearing that Liao Ruxue wanted to sleep in “her” room, paled with fright. She claimed inconvenience and forcefully pushed Liao Ruxue toward someone else’s room.

Liao Ruxue casually tested the waters by hinting at matters concerning the General’s Mansion. The second aunt unwillingly leaned in to eavesdrop, prompting Liao Ruxue to swiftly knock her unconscious, administer medicine, and tie her up before tossing her into the woodshed.

“I’ve instructed them to feed her medicine every two hours. Her abilities probably have little to do with her resistance to it; she’ll likely remain unconscious for the rest of this game,” Liao Ruxue chuckled.

“How did you know ‘she’ is a male player?” Mo Qi asked.

“Her way of speaking, her posture when walking, and the first thing she did upon waking up—checking her equipment—everything pointed to her gender,” Liao Ruxue explained.

“Did you only discover this one player? Are there no other players in the General’s Mansion?” Mo Qi inquired.

“This matter ties closely with the General’s death,” Liao Ruxue said. “Mo Qi, we’re not teammates. What benefit do I gain from sharing this information with you?”

Mo Qi replied, “Aren’t you curious why I lost three days of memory? Although I don’t remember, I have a direction for investigation. If my memory was indeed forcibly wiped by the game, what I uncover must be closely related to the truth of this incident.”

“Are you using information that you don’t even have to fish for my intelligence?” Liao Ruxue said. “Well, alright. I’ll tell you about the Grand Marshal’s Mansion. But if you find anything later on, you’re not allowed to hide it from me. Not even a bit.”

“Deal,” Mo Qi nodded.