Identical twins, true twins. One is a nobleman, and the other is likely not, so he is very likely an underdeveloped nobleman who was treated as a laborer.
This worker matured because of the impact of the large-scale wedding flight, and found the old soldier, possibly because of his own background.
"My premise for identifying a ghost is that I have screened all male nobles. But in this case, where there are male nobles, and they are all twins, then this newly appeared figure could also be a ghost," Saman thought calmly.
Twins, one of them must be a ghost. If we can find this intruder, we might soon unravel the secrets of the ghost.
Since the lone individual is highly likely to be Shengchun's twin brothers, and it has been confirmed that he is a worker, then...
Samantha stroked his chin, realizing that what he saw outside the window that day was not Gucheng, but this newly matured, solitary nobleman.
However, how can the suspicious points surrounding Gu Cheng be explained?
"You mean one of the twins, Gongmin, whose name is related to water?"
"I only have a vague impression, or maybe I'm remembering it wrong." The old soldier couldn't make a guarantee; eighteen years had passed. At the time, she thought she would never forget such a strange thing for the rest of her life, but after all, human memory is limited, and she couldn't even remember what the couple looked like.
"It's okay if you don't remember," Saman comforted her. "You must have been frightened today. Go to the Sacred Tree with them tomorrow. Take all your household registration information with you. At least it will be a record of the past."
The veterans knew about their plan; it was basically kept secret from everyone.
The migration of one-third of the population cannot be concealed.
She nodded: "Okay."
Most workers and soldiers were unaware of what was happening above them. Their long-established habit of obeying orders led them to follow subconsciously without questioning.
After everyone left, Samantha was alone in the office. He picked up the booklet that recorded the 'Hidden Wings' and flipped through it. There were some other records in the booklet as well.
For example, nobles in their wedding season must be well taken care of, because they are awakening the unique abilities that belong to the nobility.
The specific abilities mentioned above are not detailed, only stating that nobles are particularly vulnerable during this period, more so than usual. Furthermore, nobles in their wedding season should not come into contact with the blue liquid, as the reaction will be severe.
"A violent reaction?" Saman asked thoughtfully.
"Achoo." Ren Yifei felt a chill in his dream. He sneezed, turned over, and the blanket slipped off his body.
[The Fifth Night: The Awakened.]
It was exactly eleven o'clock, and the information was updated. Ren Yifei seemed to sense it and groggily opened his eyes.
It was quiet outside, and the little cave was quiet too.
"We'll talk about it tomorrow." Not sensing any danger, he turned over and went back to sleep.
Nothing happened that night. The attack on the veteran last night was determined to be the work of the player. This was because the veteran was a census taker, and through him, some information about the twins could be found.
Ren Yifei, who had heard about this early in the morning, also had the same suspicions.
"The Awakened One".
The information prompt for this copy and the 'person' just appeared.
The preceding information included: Male Ant, Thoughtful One, Restorer, Twin, and now, the Awakener. That makes three already. There are quite a few titles for this 'ghost,' but I don't know what they all mean.
Honestly, isn't Jiang a ghost?
Male ants, Jiang is a hidden noble.
Jiang is indeed a thoughtful person; he is very intelligent and talented.
The restorationists—this is a point of slight disagreement.
Because restoration is a derogatory term, referring to the reinstatement of a deposed feudal monarch, it evokes a sense of historical regression. Jiang had no intention of letting the anthill return to the past, and he was even more indifferent to the nobility, wishing they could be wiped out.
Jiang only hoped that workers and civilians could have equal opportunities. If one had to describe him, "the fire thief" would be more fitting than "the restorer."
Twins? Ren Yifei needs to unlock further information to confirm this. The anthill's joint custody policy is not conducive to his access to this type of information. As for the household registration officer... unfortunately, she was reportedly frightened yesterday and has already left for the sacred tree.
If we approach the awakened ones from this perspective—that they become fighters in the class struggle after awakening—well, that explains the past.
"Cough cough."
A sudden itch interrupted his thoughts. Ren Yifei touched his throat; he wasn't faking it, his throat really hurt.
He woke up early in the morning and found that something was wrong with his body; the blanket was still on the floor.
Did you catch a cold because you kicked off the covers last night? It's fine not to cover yourself with a blanket in this weather, so how could you catch a cold?
Moreover, the illness came on suddenly; I felt dizzy, had a sore throat, and even drinking water hurt.
"Jiang, what's wrong?" The big boy next door saw him come out of the house and noticed that his face looked strange and his whole demeanor was off.
Ren Yifei waved his hand: "I'm just feeling a little unwell." But as soon as he said it, his voice was hoarse.
"You're sick again. Should we go see a doctor?"
Ren Yifei was unaware that the medicines here, aside from those for treating external injuries, were all local witchcraft medicines. There were no medicines in the Black Cube, and the advanced civilization had not taught the people here any medical knowledge.
So he thought about it, and all that came to mind were Western medicines that were easy to swallow and not too bitter, which he felt he could accept.
"Okay, let's go take a look."
The older boy led him there, but instead of going up to the anthill, they walked out of the anthill, went around a clump of trees, and went to the other side.
There was a hut that looked like a haystack, with things that looked like herbs drying outside, and the distinctive bitter smell of herbs wafting from inside.
"..." I have a slightly bad feeling about this.
"I wonder if Granny Yao is here. Last time, Granny Yao said you didn't need to come for the next ten days or so, but who knew you would come back after only a few days."
The older boy said, pulling him along, "You only have so many contribution points, and you've spent most of them on medicine. It hurts to think about it."
Jiang was indeed portrayed as frail and sickly, Ren Yifei thought to himself.
Stepping into the thatched hut reveals a completely different world inside.
Unlike the black ant nests, this place uses white building materials with a texture somewhere between cement and plaster.
There was a large stove in the house. It was the first time he had ever seen fire here, and it felt quite familiar.
An old woman sat in front of the stove, boiling a black medicinal soup. She was stirring the soup with a wooden spoon, and the room was filled with a bitter smell that made one's nose sting.
There were also two female soldiers and civilians who were sorting through some herbs and dead insects.
Ren Yifei's gaze lingered on the insect's corpse for a second before forcibly shifting to the old woman's face, trying his best not to think about what the soup was made of.
"Jiang is here again?" The old woman seemed to recognize him. "I thought he could hold out a little longer this time." She said to herself, reaching into a pocket and taking out a pinch of powder, pouring it into a bowl, and adding a spoonful of black medicine.
"Give."
Ren Yifei stared silently at the bowl of soup, his hand slowing down by a second as he reached out.
In that instant, the old woman noticed: "Drink it quickly. Without my medicine, you would have died countless times over."
Taking a deep breath, Ren Yifei, with mixed feelings, blew on the medicine and drank it all in one gulp.
"None." Ren Yifei pursed his lips tightly, feeling a mixture of sourness, astringency, and bitterness—even lemon juice and bitter melon couldn't be this anti-human.
The older boy watched as his face turned from white to red, then red to dark, before finally returning to its normal color after a long while. He couldn't help but laugh: "Jiang always takes medicine like this. It's so hard to swallow, why does he still take it all at once?"
Ren Yifei thought to himself that he didn't want to do it all at once either. If it were him, he would dawdle for as long as he could.
But Jiang was a very organized and efficient person. He accomplished in eighteen years what others could do in twenty-eight years. Such a person would usually drink it all in one gulp without batting an eye and would never complain of the hardship.
The old woman took the medicine bowl back and turned to a young girl from the military, saying, "Jiang, remember these two dots."
"Yes," the girl replied crisply and wrote it down. The old woman waved her hand: "Go on, you're always wasting my medicine."
"Thank you." Ren Yifei, whose mouth still tasted sour, nodded and turned to leave with the young man.
"etc."
Ren Yifei stopped and looked back inside.
The old woman didn't look at him, and continued stirring the soup in the pot, as if talking to herself: "You're eighteen years old, aren't you? The night air is getting cool lately, so don't go out. I'm afraid your body, which is as thin as a rag bag, can't hold it in."
These words seem to have a hidden meaning?
"I will, thank you." Ren Yifei hid all his emotions and nodded to the old woman inside.
Are the bodies of nobles different from those of commoners?
Limited by insufficient information, Ren Yifei wasn't sure if the old woman had discovered something. She had watched 'Jiang' grow up and treated his illnesses since he was a child, so perhaps she had noticed something amiss early on.
If she knew Jiang was a nobleman, and the Ant Hill was currently lacking male nobles, why didn't she say so?
With these worries in mind, Ren Yifei said goodbye to the young man and went to the studio alone, where the apprentice was already waiting.
"Hello, teacher." He said respectfully.
"I'm not feeling well today. Cough cough, I'll have you try to select the right resin." Ren Yifei sat on the stool, his face showing obvious signs of illness, and he smelled of medicine.
The apprentice, unsuspecting, began to select the collected resin and apply it to the wood to test its stickiness and toughness after drying.
Some of the tree sap had a pungent smell, and Ren Yifei couldn't stand it after sitting for a while. He stood up and said that he was right at the door, and told the apprentice to continue brushing on the tree sap.
The air outside is indeed much fresher.
In fact, his studio is located in a public activity space next to the den, where some workers who did not go out for various reasons also wander around.
The sudden cessation of the requirement for them to collect a certain number of black stones each day felt strange to everyone. As a result, after collecting one stone each day, they seemed to have nothing else to do.
"Jiang, why don't you make bows and arrows inside? I never knew you could make bows and arrows."
Jiang's return from his disappearance, and his subsequent role as a bow and arrow maker, was a novelty among the laborers. Many laborers came to see what he looked like.
"I learned it by accident... Hmm?" Just as they were talking and laughing, they saw a group of people carrying something in the distance, which looked like an incense burner, emitting blue smoke.
The only thing in this world that felt familiar to him and emitted blue smoke was probably the blue liquid extracted from the Queen's body.
Ren Yifei took a step back. He still remembered the slightly abnormal reaction his body had when he first smelled that thing.
However, there was no way to avoid it, and the group of people walked directly towards him.
He suddenly had a bad feeling that this was aimed at him.
Author's Note: Afei:
Who's targeting me?