Card Room

Chapter 507 – The Method to Leave Clues

The method that Lu Jiuchuan’s group used to leave clues for Xiao Lou was to engrave a spider mark unique to Chu Huaying on the beam of the Zhao house’s roof. Then they hid a letter in the gap between the beams. In addition to the letter written by Senior Gui, there was also Tang Ci’s drone card. This contained a large amount of content that Brother Jiu and the others had captured.

Lu Jiuchuan and the others were located in the world after the Zhao and Chen families disappeared three years ago. They left clues on the roof of the Zhao family since this place wasn’t easy for outsiders to find. Meanwhile, Xiao Lou’s group would definitely go to the scene of the crime to investigate. It could be called the safest method.

However, Brother Jiu and the others were only three years in the past. It was easy to think about the Zhao and Chen houses. Shao Qingge and Ye Qi were different. 20 years ago was the most chaotic time for Qingfeng Town. It would take a full 20 years for the clues to be found so it wasn’t easy for Xiao Lou to find them.

Xiao Lou looked at Yu Hanjiang. “If they left the clues in the houses of the Zhao or Chen families, there is a chance it will be easily discovered by the members of the two families in these 20 years. I think that with Ye Qi’s cleverness and Chief Shao’s caution, they will definitely take into account the safety of the clues and ensure the clues can be passed to us. What is a place that existed 20 years ago and is rarely visited by people?”

The fewer people who went there, the lower the probability that the hidden clues would be discovered.

Yu Hanjiang frowned and thought about it carefully. Suddenly, he thought of a place.

Xiao Lou obviously thought about it too and the two of them spoke in unison. “Mass burial site?!”

20 years ago, a famine broke out in Qingfeng Town and killed many people. After the famine, the bodies that weren’t handled were collectively buried on the top of the mountain. This was also the origin of the mass burial site at the top of the mountain.

The location happened to be the mass burial site where Xiao Lou’s group entered the secret room.

Over the years, the mass graves had been scattered everywhere and no one had taken care of them at all. Many graves had weeds grown in front of them and some of the corpses didn’t even have gravestones.

Three years ago, the collective disappearance of the Zhao and Chen families and the appearance of the ghost in white meant there was a legend of a fierce ghost seeking lives in the small town. Everyone believed that the ghost came from the mass burial site and no one dared to go to a place filled with such heavy yin.

Yu Hanjiang said, “If the clues are at the mass burial site, the possibility of them being taken away by outsiders is low. Most people won’t dare to go there. After all, those buried at the mass burial site are poor people and there is no way for them to have valuable burial goods.”

Xiao Lou said, “I wonder if Chief Shao and Ye Qi also thought of this? We should go to the mass burial site as soon as possible to check.”

The two of them clicked together and the teammates who heard their conversation agreed. Liu Qiao asked, “Are we going together?”

Xiao Lou thought about it. “The murderer might be near the mass burial site and it will be too noisy if the six of us go together. Why don’t the four of you stay at the inn? Hanjiang and I will go to investigate. Teacher Qu will take a Li Qingzhao card. The moment we run into trouble, you can use Li Qingzhao’s mark to pull us back.”

“No problem. It is just that Li Qingzhao’s mark has a five minute delay so you need to tell me in advance to set the mark.”

Xiao Lou said, “Don’t worry. My compass’ invincibility circle can last for 10 minutes. If we really encounter danger, it is enough to hold off the other side.”

Qu Wanyue was relieved and took the Li Qingzhao card from Xiao Lou.

Long Sen asked, “Do you want the Chameleon card?”

Yu Hanjiang replied in a low voice, “No, you keep it for an emergency. Xiao Lou and I will wear the invisibility cloaks and rush over with the light footwork card. Half an hour should be enough.”

After discussing it with the team members, the two of them set off for the mass burial site before sunset.

The vine on the edge of the cliff had been cut so they had to walk along the mountain road.

After passing through the forest, there was a winding path leading to the top of the mountain. This path was also the path that the Zhao and Chen families took when they disappeared a few years ago. Those people were controlled by strange sounds, and walked along this road to the mass burial site where they finally died tragically.

Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang wore the invisibility cloaks and Yu Hanjiang used the light footwork card to fly all the way with Xiao Lou.

It happened to be windy in the evening so the two of them moved quickly using the trees on the side of the path. Even if there were people around, they wouldn’t be able to see the two people. They would only think that the trees were shaking slightly because of the wind.

Five minutes later, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou arrived at the mass burial site.

Last time when Yu Hanjiang, Xiao Lou, Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci came to the mass burial site for an autopsy, the murderer was nearby. They cut the vine used to climb down the cliff and used magic to control the corpses to attack them. So this time, Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou were extra careful and deliberately put on their invisibility cloaks.

There were rotting corpses all around them as well as many gravestones.

Xiao Lou tried to avoid the corpses on the ground as much as possible and focused his investigation on the gravestones.

Last time, they came in a hurry and only dissected the body of the maid of the Zhao family to analyze the cause of death. They also found that there was a grave with no characters in the shade of a tree in the distance. It was cleaned very well and someone offered incense regularly. Xiao Lou speculated that this gravestone was a relative of the murderer. As for the other gravestones, they were besieged by zombies so they didn’t have time to investigate.

This time, they were wearing invisibility cloaks and could take a closer look.

‘The grave of my late father Chen X’, ‘The grave of my loving mother Lin XX’…

Most of the gravestones here were engraved with words that were obviously from family members. They should be passersby who died in Qingfeng Town and didn’t need special attention. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang split up to investigate. Suddenly, Yu Hanjiang’s soft voice came from Xiao Lou’s earpiece. “Look ahead, 2 o’clock.”

Xiao Lou immediately followed Yu Hanjiang’s instructions.

He saw that in the middle of many messy graves, there was a grave that wasn’t very different from the surroundings. It was made of ordinary stone but the characters engraved on it surprised Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang.

‘The grave of Shao Qingge and Shao Yeqi.’

Xiao Lou, “……”

Yu Hanjiang, “……”

Xiao Lou almost instinctively opened the contract book to take a look.

Shao Qingge and Ye Qi’s names were still present, indicating that these two people were still alive. So the two of them made a ‘joint grave’ at the mass burial site. Wasn’t it obviously to leave clues for their teammates?

Xiao Lou helplessly held his forehead. “A joint grave? This must be Chief Shao’s idea.”

Even if Ye Qi used the grave to leave clues, it was impossible for him to bury the two of them together. It would only be ‘Ye Qi’s grave’.

Yu Hanjiang was expressionless. “Ye Qi changed his surname to Shao again. It seems that the two of them did travel 20 years in the past and found some clues. Since that timeline is so far away from the present time, they could only think of burying the clues at the mass burial site?”

Xiao Lou didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Dig it up and take a look?”

The spider mark left by Chu Huaying, the letter from Senior Gui and Tang Ci’s drone were fairly normal methods to leave clues. Meanwhile, Chief Shao and Ye Qi were so exaggerated that they directly made a grave.

They had to dig up the grave in order to find the clues.

Yu Hanjiang acted decisively. He heard Xiao Lou’s suggestion of digging it up and started without hesitation.

He found a wooden coffin in the grave. Due to its age, the surface of the coffin was partially damaged. Yu Hanjiang took out his sharp saber and slashed the coffin with it.

Sure enough, there were no bones in the coffin, only a large box.

Yu Hanjiang took out the box and said in a low voice, “Shao Qingge left a treasure chest.”

Xiao Lou, “……”

It was like playing a single player game and finding a treasure chest given by an NPC.

Digging a grave to find a treasure chest—it was truly something Chief Shao would think of.

Xiao Lou looked around for a moment. He was worried about being discovered so he hurriedly said, “Let’s go back first.” He pressed down on the earpiece and notified Qu Wanyue. “Teacher Qu, please open the teleportation.”

Qu Wanyue immediately placed Li Qingzhao’s teleportation mark in the inn.

The time for the invisibility cloak had just ended. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang hugged the treasure chest and prepared to go back down the mountain.

At this moment, a strange sound was heard in their ears. They had heard the exact same sound when doing the autopsy at the top of the mountain. It was a pleasant sound that was exceptionally clear when it appeared at the quiet mass burial site.

Xiao Lou was shocked. He immediately took out the compass and drew a large circle on the ground. “Be careful!”

At almost the same moment that he took out the compass, the corpses around him suddenly appeared. They looked like manipulated puppets as they climbed up one by one and surrounded Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang.

Yu Hanjiang held the treasure chest in one hand and raised the saber with his other hand, slashing sharply at those corpses around him. A white light flashed and all the zombies nearby were cut down by Yu Hanjiang!

There were limbs flying around as Xiao Lou entrusted his back to Yu Hanjiang and took the time to draw the circle.

Fortunately, the compass card was now at full level and the drawn circle could be used immediately. The invincibility circle was created within two seconds and Yu Hanjiang quickly retreated to Xiao Lou’s side. The zombies jumped at the invincible barrier created by the compass only to be thrown back.

The roars of the zombies were heard all around them.

However, there was the compass protecting them for the next 10 minutes. They weren’t afraid even if they were surrounded by a large number of zombies. Moreover, Qu Wanyue had already set the mark and they would soon be able to return to the inn in the small town.

Xiao Lou stayed in the barrier and was slightly relieved as he watched the zombies around him.

Yu Hanjiang’s expression was cold and his eyes quickly swept around. He guessed that the person at the mass burial site might be Ah Ran or Han Ningshuang but he didn’t directly call out to the two suspects. The revenge plan of these two people wasn’t over yet. There were still people in the town who were descendants of those who killed their grandmother. Xiao Lou whispered in Yu Hanjiang’s ear, “We have to find a way to catch the murderer.”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “Yes, let’s go back first and see the clues left by Shao Qingge before talking.”

Zombies constantly attacked the invincibility circle while Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou stood calmly inside the barrier. Five minutes passed quickly and Li Qingzhao’s teleportation mark was activated. Their vision flickered and the two of them returned to a room on the second floor of the inn.

Qu Wanyue greeted them with worry. “Are you okay? I seem to have heard the roars of the zombies from my earpiece.”

Xiao Lou told her, “We’re fine. We were besieged by zombies again but fortunately, we found the clues that Chief Shao left behind.”

Yu Hanjiang placed the treasure chest on the table and opened it to take a look.

He saw that there was a box full of silver that was engraved with words. It started from the first row and reading the characters together would reveal the clues that Shao Qingge wrote to everyone.

Long Sen couldn’t help saying, “The style of rich people leaving clues is really different from other people.”

Qu Wanyue’s expression was complicated. “It seems that Chief Shao was inspired by his father in the Q secret room who left clues using the banknotes? Now he left us a treasure box full of silver?”

Xiao Lou chuckled. “He buried the treasure box in a grave and it was also the joint grave of Shao Qingge and Shao Yeqi.”

The team members, “……”

Partially proofread: Paranoid Kitten