Chapter 26: Order of Death

“What clue?” Chu Xihen asked, lying on the sofa without shifting his position.

His indifferent attitude dampened Lingji’s desire to speak by more than half. Yet, he feared that silence might lead to a deadly mistake, costing him his life.

“It’s about a strange path in the small woods on the other side of the village. We wanted to check it out, but the villagers stopped us,” Lingji said, then analyzed aloud, “Judging by the villager’s reaction, that path must hide some secret. We decided to go after lunch…”

“Don’t go,” Chu Xihen interrupted before Lingji could finish. “Go tomorrow at noon.”

“Tomorrow at noon?” Lingji and the two girls asked in unison.

Lingji felt his blood pressure rising again. “Big brother, no, grandpa, do you know what time tomorrow at noon is? It’s our death date!”

Tomorrow at noon marks forty-eight hours. Searching for clues then would be like digging their own graves to lie in and await death.

Chu Xihen offered no further explanation. Annoyed by the noise, he covered his ears and turned to face the inside of the sofa.

The three were speechless.

He Jia turned to ask Lingji, “Ling brother, should we listen to him this time?”

Lingji wasn’t sure.

Meng Jiayi spoke up, “Let’s listen. We’ve already used half our time, but haven’t encountered any real danger yet, which means his judgment is right.”

Without Chu Xihen, relying on their reckless explorations, who knew what the outcome would be?

“But he seems to be slacking off,” He Jia whispered.

Lingji deeply agreed, nodding vigorously. Chu Xihen gave him the impression of someone completely giving up.

“Let’s go out again after lunch, just not at night,” Lingji finally decided.

They hadn’t returned solely because the villagers chased them away; they also hadn’t eaten breakfast and were starving.

Lunch was still delivered by the villagers, but this time their attitude was much worse. They tossed the basket onto the table and warned, “From now until noon tomorrow, you are not allowed to go out. The food is all here.”

“Huh? Why can’t we go out? You’re restricting our personal freedom,” He Jia protested.

Unexpectedly, the villager glared fiercely at He Jia. “Going out means death!”

His gaze was terrifying, and his tone eerie, scaring He Jia to the point of tears.

The villager left with the basket, locking the door on his way out.

“What does this mean?” He Jia patted her chest in distress, while Meng Jiayi patted her back to soothe her.

Lingji said, “If Brother Fox hadn’t told us not to go out, with the deadline approaching, even with the villagers’ warning, we would still have gone out, right?”

“Yeah, the more we’re stopped, the more we want to go out and look for clues,” Meng Xinyi said.

“So the villagers locked the door to deliberately lure us out?” He Jia was shocked. “Isn’t that too despicable? What good would killing us do them?”

Lingji and Meng Xinyi shook their heads. Their only clue was a suspicious path on the other side of the village. How could they possibly guess the villagers’ intentions?

“Anyway, we can’t go out. Let’s eat first!” As Lingji said this, Chu Xihen, unnoticed, had risen and sat at the dining table, nearly finished eating.

Luckily, there was plenty of food, so even arriving late, they wouldn’t go hungry.

After eating their fill, the three imitated Chu Xihen, with one lounging on the sofa, living as if on a retirement vacation.

However, Lingji and the others only mimicked the posture, failing to replicate Chu Xihen’s relaxed state of mind. They were so anxious that their lips were getting blistered, practically counting down the seconds until the next morning.

Chu Xihen first lay on the sofa, then went into the room. Although he didn’t sleep much, he looked quite refreshed, unlike the other three, who not only had dark circles but also looked so haggard they seemed about to collapse.

Just then, a commotion arose outside the gate. The gate was pushed open forcefully as the village chief led a crowd of villagers rushing in.

“Tie them up!” At the village chief’s command, more than ten villagers surrounded the four, pulling out hemp ropes to bind them.

Meng Xinyi knew Taekwondo, having previously fought the scarred man by the river. But now, trying to resist, she found herself without strength.

“Did you drug the food?” Meng Xinyi glared at the villagers.

The village chief chuckled sinisterly, “Don’t talk nonsense. It’s just that you outsiders ate a local vegetable that doesn’t agree with you!”

“What vegetable?” He Jia asked.

They had been cautious about the food for the past two days. Lingji had even meticulously checked each time, ensuring it was poison-free before they ate. Yet, they still fell victim!

The village chief didn’t answer, waving his hand and saying, “Take them away!”

Lingji was escorted beside Chu Xihen, asking, “Brother Fox, did you foresee this situation?”

Chu Xihen replied, “I didn’t eat the vegetables yesterday.”

After delivering enough food yesterday noon, the villagers locked the door and didn’t return. Consequently, they ate the same food for dinner last night and breakfast today.

Throughout all this, Lingji hadn’t noticed Chu Xihen avoiding the vegetables!

“You knew but didn’t remind us?” Lingji was somewhat aggrieved.

Chu Xihen calmly said, “Too much reminding, and I feared you wouldn’t believe me.”

After all, this was everyone’s first time in the instance. If he knew everything in advance, who would believe him?

Lingji thought there was truth to that, but he still felt somewhat stifled.

As they left the room, raising their heads, they could see the mission countdown in the sky, also their death countdown, with only two hours remaining!

“What should we do? We’re tied up now; isn’t this certain death?” He Jia was almost crying.

Seeing her like this, Meng Xinyi felt panicked. She turned to look at Chu Xihen behind them. “Brother Fox, do you have any other solutions? It’s come to this, so don’t hide anything.”

She had started addressing Chu Xihen the same way as Lingji.

“No solutions for now,” Chu Xihen said.

The time wasn’t right yet.

Hearing Chu Xihen’s words, the three turned ashen.

After eking out two days of survival, they were finally about to fail.

“Is that pervert being carried on the stretcher?” Leaving the guesthouse, He Jia noticed two villagers carrying a stretcher with someone lying on it.

The others looked and immediately recognized the man as the scarred face they had knocked unconscious by the river upon arrival.

“Did you poison him to death?” He Jia asked.

The village chief smiled, replying, “No, he’s just asleep. He’ll wake up soon.”

After speaking, he led the way, followed closely by the two villagers carrying the scarred face, then He Jia, Meng Xinyi, Lingji second to last, and Chu Xihen being escorted at the very end.

“Does this order signify something?” Walking ahead, Lingji turned back to loudly conspire with Chu Xihen.

These villagers were NPCs. As long as they didn’t ask about village affairs, they were as deaf as could be.

Chu Xihen looked up briefly, casually replying, “Yes, it’s our order of death.”