Ren Yuan said, "Actually, after most of the bandits on the mountain died in their infighting, the town was peaceful for several days. Many of the survivors would go out during the day to exchange food with each other, and some would go into the woods to find food, surviving on wild grass and fruits. Unexpectedly, some of the remaining people became so depraved that they started capturing and eating people!"
Ye Qi carefully sorted out the timeline of the story he had told and summarized: "In other words, at the beginning of the famine, a group of bandits appeared in Qingfeng Town, breaking into homes and robbing gold and silver treasures. Those people went to the mountains outside the forest to build a bandit camp, but the camp was in turmoil, and someone killed his companions and ran away with the treasures... Then, a hunting dog organization appeared in the town?"
Ren Yuan nodded and said, "That's right."
Ye Qi glanced at Shao Qingge and asked in his mind, "Could it be the same group of people?"
Shao Qingge said, "You mean, the people who killed their companions and ran away with the treasure are the same group who founded the Hound Organization?"
Ye Qi analyzed carefully: "Robbery came first, followed by arrests and cannibalism. Obviously, those who stole the treasure were in turmoil due to disagreements over the distribution of the spoils. Some ruthless individuals simply killed their companions and pocketed a large sum of money. However, there is famine everywhere now. If they take the money and run away to other places, they may be robbed of everything by bandits in other places. It would be safer to return to the town. After all, they know their hometown best, where they have lived for many years."
Shao Qingge carefully considered Ye Qi's words and agreed, "That makes sense. In such chaotic times, running away with money is actually very dangerous. On the contrary, they know the people of Qingfeng Town very well, and they know who is not to be trifled with and who are easy targets. So, they bring the money back here and bully the elderly, weak, women and children who are powerless to resist."
Ye Qi said, "This also explains why they wear masks when they move around. After all, living by eating people is not a good thing, and it will also affect the reputation of their descendants. With a lot of treasure in their hands, they can take off their masks and transform into local wealthy and influential people once the famine is over."
If that's the case, the perpetrator is extremely cunning. Perhaps from the moment he took a few brothers to commit the robbery, he had already planned his escape route.
Thinking of this, Ye Qi looked at Ren Yuan and asked, "Brother Ren, were the people who smashed your shop and stole your money also wearing masks?"
Ren Yuan asked in surprise, "How did you know?"
Ye Qi understood immediately and continued, "I guessed. They wore masks during the robbery to avoid being recognized, right? These people must be acquaintances from your town. By the way, are the masks they wore the same as those worn by the Hound Organization?"
Ren Yuan had a deep impression of these people and immediately shook his head, saying, "They're different. The group that robbed us all wore black face masks; but the ones who arrested us that night wore black ghost face masks with strange patterns on them."
Shao Qingge raised an eyebrow and said, "A ghost face mask? Can you tell whose it is?"
Ren Yuan smiled wryly and said, "They are sold everywhere during the Ghost Festival, and anyone can buy them. Just by looking at the masks, I don't know who those people are. Besides, their voices don't sound familiar. They must have deliberately lowered their voices so that people couldn't hear them."
Ye Qi and Shao Qingge exchanged a glance and continued communicating via Telepathic Connection.
Shao Qingge said, "If your guess is correct, then these people are quite clever. They deliberately wore different masks to mislead the townspeople into thinking that the robbery gang and the later Hound organization were not the same group of people."
Ye Qi said, "I don't think there are too many people in this 'hound' team. After all, they swallowed so much treasure, it would be difficult to distribute it if there were too many people. Besides, normal people can't do cannibalism. It's very likely that they are a few close friends who discussed it and acted together without prior agreement."
Shao Qingge thought so too: "Why don't we wait until dark and go investigate this organization ourselves?"
Ye Qi didn't agree immediately. He was silent for a moment, then asked with a puzzled look, "I have a question. How long can we stay in this world from twenty years ago? Will we be teleported back after dark or dawn, or will we have to stay here indefinitely?"
Shao Qingge was taken aback by Ye Qi's question—he had overlooked this crucial point.
I remember back then, Xiao Lou arranged for three teams to split up. Xiao Lou led a team to Ghost City at night, Jiu Ge led a team to the woods to ambush any potential killers, and he and Ye Qi waited at the entrance of the town to teleport at any time. Xiao Lou also had two Tao Yuanming cards. I gave him all the cards so that his teleportation skill wouldn't be on cooldown later.
However, after leaving Peach Blossom Spring, he and Ye Qi found themselves in a world twenty years in the past.
Time was completely messed up. The team's voice headset was still in his ears, but he never heard his teammates' voices again.
How are they going to get back and meet up with Xiao Lou? Is it even possible for them to get back?
Shao Qingge frowned slightly and said, "How about this, we'll have to wait until midnight tonight to find out all the answers. It seems the scene in this secret chamber changes at the moment of day and night. If we're not teleported back after midnight, it means... we're likely stuck twenty years in the past."
Ye Qi was a little confused: "But how are we supposed to contact Professor Xiao and the others?"
Shao Qingge said helplessly, "I haven't come up with any good ideas either. Let's take it one step at a time and find out what's going on with the Hound Organization first."
That's all they can do. If they can be teleported back at midnight, their worries will be somewhat unnecessary.
Ren Yuan noticed the two brothers had started to stare blankly into silence and assumed they were frightened.
He then coughed lightly and comforted them, "You two, this is indeed shocking, but don't worry too much. I've accepted your jewelry, and I'll definitely help you. I have a way; the three of us together will definitely not starve."
Ye Qi glanced at the food on the ground and said, "These sweet potatoes could last you several months, but with us brothers, they'd probably only last a month, right? Do you have any other way to get food?"
Ren Yuan nodded: "There's a place in the woods outside the town where you can find food."
Ye Qi feigned gratitude and said, "Brother Ren, then I'll leave it to you."
After dark, Ren Yuan invited the two of them to go together.
He was already wearing old clothes whose color was hard to discern, and he smeared some mud on his face and put some weeds in his hair. Then, he secretly led Ye Qi and Shao Qingge away from the cave.
To avoid arousing his suspicion, Ye Qi and Shao Qingge did not use their displacement cards. They followed him closely, crouching low and tiptoeing along the wall. It took them about half an hour to finally leave Qingfeng Town.
The bright moon hung high in the sky, and the surroundings were so quiet that only the breathing and footsteps of the three people could be heard.
By the moonlight, Ren Yuan led the two into the woods.
The trees in the forest were already withered, indicating it was winter. The wind was biting, and Ye Qi's teeth chattered from the cold. Shao Qingge gently squeezed his hand and asked in his mind, "Are you cold?"
Ye Qi said, "It's...it's alright, I can tolerate it."
Compared to the starving and freezing people, at least the two of them weren't hungry, and they were wearing several layers of clothing.
After a moment, Ren Yuan said, "It's just ahead."
Ye Qi and Shao Qingge followed him forward and found themselves on a cliff face. Ye Qi looked up and saw the same mountain they had entered the K Secret Chamber on that stormy night when Mass Grave at the summit suddenly turned into a zombie apocalypse, with countless zombies crawling out of their graves and forcing them to the edge of the cliff.
The cliff was bottomless, and they had nowhere to retreat. Finally, Ninth Brother and Mr. Tang rode the Vermilion Bird down the mountain, found a safe place, and used the Peach Blossom Spring Teleportation to take everyone away. The next day, when Ninth Brother and the others went to investigate, they discovered that there was actually a forest below the cliff, and a vine was hanging down from the mountaintop.
Xiao Lou speculated that the murderer likely used this vine to climb the mountain.
And now, Ye Qi and Shao Qingge are standing before this cliff.
There's one more...
Thick and long vines.
Perhaps it was because the cold wind was too biting, Ye Qi and Shao Qingge suddenly felt their blood run cold, as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water over their heads in the dead of winter.
Ren Yuan knew this place.
He even slowly climbed up the vine.
Ye Qi shuddered and thought to himself, " CEO Shao, you didn't give the sapphire necklace to the murderer again, did you?"
Shao Qingge: "..."
At the time in Q Secret Room, Shao Qingge gave the sapphire necklace to Xiao Lou's sister, Xiao Rou. It was later confirmed that Xiao Rou was also a clone and an accomplice of the mastermind.
Surely he couldn't be so unlucky as to give the "favorability-boosting" item to the Boss twice in a row?
Just then, Ren Yuan turned around, grinned, and said, "Don't just stand there, come and climb up with me."
Ye Qi and Shao Qingge: "..."
******