The Old Seal is a truly unique entity in the Cthulhu Mythos. Simply put, it's incredibly effective against most mythical creatures, because they view it as filthy, much like the products of the human cycle of food. However, for most mythical creatures, especially evil gods, there's no such thing as good or bad intentions toward humans. Just like humans treat ants, they simply attack them casually. Therefore, many evil gods generally avoid attacking humans holding the Old Seal, fearing dirtying their hands.
For this reason, the Old Seal is considered one of the three sacred artifacts in the Cthulhu role-playing game, capable of saving your life in many situations. Of course, some mythical creatures don't mind dirtying their hands in certain situations, so don't expect the Old Seal to be particularly effective against them.
However, the Old Seal can also form a combo with another of the three sacred artifacts in the Cthulhu role-playing game, but we'll keep this a secret for now and discuss it later when Liu Xing obtains the other artifact.
"It seems this amulet is a valuable asset." Liu Xing took out the amulet with the old seal and placed it in his suit pocket, ready for use.
In Cthulhu role-playing games, obtaining the old seal significantly increases your chances of survival.
Liu Xing then looked at the text messages again, but didn't find anything useful, so he put his phone away.
Although he had obtained the old seal, Liu Xing still hadn't gained much information useful for the side quests, which made him sigh. However, it was still early, and he had nothing else to do, so he took his first serious look at the secret room.
The room was about twenty square meters. In the center was the table where the four of them were sitting. Behind Baiwan, there was a Sailor Moon poster with dark red bloodstains on it, similar to the last photo Liu Xing had seen on Shanhe's phone. Therefore, Liu Xing could tell that this secret room was one of the crime scenes of the massacre.
Besides, behind the rootless grass, there was a small cabinet with a very old-looking desk calendar on it.
At this point, Liu Xing had already formed a bold guess. He felt he was getting closer to the truth. He only needed to confirm two more things to complete the Novice Room quest.
With this thought, Liu Xing began his own actions.
"It seems there might be some clues in that cabinet. Why don't we open it and take a look?" Liu Xing asked the other three.
"There shouldn't be anything in this cabinet," the rootless grass frowned, looking at Liu Xing.
Seeing this, Liu Xing grinned. "How will we know if we don't look?"
After saying this, Liu Xing stood up and slowly walked towards the cabinet. He could feel the other three's eyes on him.
"Why are you all looking at me? Let's take a look. What's in this cabinet?" Liu Xing said with a smile, looking at the three people. Shanhe and the others remained silent, just staring at Liu Xing silently. This further confirmed Liu Xing's guess.
Liu Xing walked over to the cabinet and effortlessly opened it, finding only one item inside—a household registration booklet.
Liu Xing chuckled inwardly; this booklet was exactly what he'd been looking for.
This quest in the newbie's room was truly simple.
"Old Chinese doctor, bring the booklet over here so we can look at it together." At this moment, Wu Gencao suddenly spoke up. "I'm very familiar with this family. I can verify its authenticity."
"Oh," Liu Xing chuckled, picking up the desk calendar and taking a closer look. "Perhaps I won't bother you."
The calendar showed the date—November 2000.
Now, Liu Xin knew that all the clues had connected, and the truth was within reach.
"This side quest is truly simple. It's making me a little overconfident." Liu Xing smiled as he walked back and sat back down at his seat.
Liu Xing placed the household registration booklet on the table, folded his hands, and said with a smile, "There's no need for me to open it now, right?"
At Liu Xing's words, Shanhe and Wugencao's expressions changed, but Baiwan remained with his head bowed.
Liu Xing watched their performance and felt reassured. It seemed the time had come to end this game.
"I'm not targeting anyone, but everyone here isn't a living being," Liu Xing said firmly, pushing his nonexistent glasses again.
Shanhe, upon hearing this, immediately slammed the table and stood up, furiously yelling at Liu Xing, "Who are you calling inhuman? Say it again, you have the guts!"
Wugencao, standing nearby, also stood up, glaring at Liu Xing fiercely.
Liu Xing, however, smiled nonchalantly and said, "Looks like I was right. You're the three ghosts, right?"
After saying that, Liu Xing looked at Baiwan and said with some regret, "As expected, all the cute ones are boys."
Baiwan, who had been keeping his head down, raised his head upon hearing this, staring at Liu Xing with a pale face. Shanhe and Wugencao, standing on either side, also looked at Liu Xing with surprise.
"It seems I was right." Liu Xing held up the household registration booklet. "This should be yours. Take it."
At this point, Wu Gencao could only smile helplessly. He sat down again, took the booklet, and said calmly, "How do you know all this?"
Liu Xing sat up straight and smiled, "Actually, I sensed something was amiss from the very beginning."
"Since the game started, I've been observing you all, and I've noticed you're completely oblivious to my observations. That's clearly not a normal reaction. After all, when faced with undisguised observation by a stranger, normal people will react to some degree, but you didn't."
"Secondly, your outfits are a bit strange, especially Shanhe. He's wearing a hat even though he's indoors." Liu Xing pointed at Shanhe's baseball cap. "Later, when you showed me the photos, I was still wondering what the meaning of your attire was. Then I had a bold guess: your strange attire was to hide the injuries you sustained in your death. Take your head, for example. You're the deceased in the second photo, right?"
Shanhe shook his head helplessly and said, "Does that give me away?"
"No, I was just a little suspicious at the time," Liu Xing continued. "My suspicions really turned into suspicion when Baiwan triggered the side quest."
Liu Xing stood up and stretched. "Generally speaking, in any game, quests are supposed to be handed down by NPCs to players. Baiwan triggered the side quest with just one sentence. That clearly seemed a little off, so I began to suspect Baiwan's identity."
Baiwan looked up at this moment. What Liu Xing thought was a red necklace around his neck was actually a red bloodstain with fine stitching.
"Then, when Wugencao told me about the family massacre that happened ten years ago, I realized you all had clues about it, but I didn't. So, at first, I thought it was my fault. So, I found a talisman and a cell phone on my person," Liu Xing said, placing the phone on the table.
"This is a Nokia 5230. I don't know the exact date of its manufacture, but I used it in high school, around 2010. So, at first, I thought my character was a down-and-out office worker still using this old-fashioned phone," Liu Xing continued, playing with the phone.
"I was about to put my phone away when I realized there was no exact time on it. The text message didn't mention a specific time either. When I noticed this, it suddenly occurred to me that this time might be very important information."
Liu Xing put his phone down and said to Shanhe, "Then I remembered something. The phone you showed me the photos on was a smartphone. I didn't think much of it at the time, but when I noticed the time issue, I started wondering what year is it now?"
Shanhe smiled at Liu Xing but said nothing.
"So, at that time, I was already 80% certain that there was something wrong with all three of you!" Liu Xing said confidently. "However, I still have two unanswered questions. One is what year it is now, and the other is Baiwan's gender—is it a boy or a girl?"
Liu Xing looked at Baiwan, a hint of inexplicable regret in his tone. "At first, the clues you gave me were probably intended to mislead me into thinking the family of three murdered was two boys and one girl. But I still remember Wu Gencao saying that the murderer was a classmate of the family's youngest son. As the name suggests, a youngest son must have an older son, so the family of three must all be boys. So, the person in the third photo that I thought was a girl is actually a boy."
Wu Gencao shook his head and sighed. "Guess that was my mistake."
Liu Xing stood up and walked back to the cabinet.
"Finally, when I saw this cabinet, I knew I could confirm my theory." Liu Xing picked up the desk calendar and waved it at Baiwan and the other two.
"The calendar says 2000, so the time of the massacre is certain." Liu Xing returned to his seat, holding the calendar. "Shanhe said the massacre occurred ten years ago, so it should be 2010 now. Shanhe's smartphone clearly doesn't belong to this era."
Cthulhu role-playing games emphasize authenticity, and therefore have detailed regulations regarding the items that can appear in each era. Therefore, Shanhe's smartphone theoretically couldn't have appeared in 2010, unless Shanhe were from some great clan of account-stealing thieves.
"So my first question is perfectly resolved." Liu Xing looked at the household registration booklet in Wugencao's hand and continued, "And when I got the household registration booklet, your performance has already told me, and my second question is also resolved."
Shanhe suddenly applauded. "Good deduction! You passed, old Chinese doctor."