Card Room

Chapter 104 - Liuxi Village 10

Yu Hanjiang decided to use Liu Qiao’s transformation card to pretend to be the village chief.

After three hours of monitoring the village chief’s home in the afternoon, he had probably mastered the village chief’s personality. The village chief was around 30 years old and was surnamed Liu. Mrs Qin called him Little Liu and he didn’t know the source of the seven gems in the village. He only found out that the distribution of the gems was in a ‘formation’ when Grandma Qin told him today. Thus, it was very reasonable if he went to Grandma Sun for consultation when feeling puzzled.

The Twin Card had a restriction. They had to see the person they wanted to copy within 30 minutes. Thus, Yu Hanjiang had to go to the village chief’s house first to see what he looked like.

Liu Qiao reminded him, “The Twin card will completely copy a person’s appearance and voice. This includes the eyes. Once Group Leader Yu becomes the village chief, you will probably be blind like him.”

Xiao Lou was also worried about this and glanced at Yu Hanjiang. “The village chief has been blind from a young age. He grew up in Liuxi Village and is very familiar with the village. There is no need to worry about falling down when blind. Group Leader Yu, if you become blind and hit something in Grandma Sun’s house, she will surely become suspicious.”

Yu Hanjiang thought about it. “Once I pretend to be the village chief, Professor Xiao will be my eyes.”

Xiao Lou was startled. “You mean, put on the invisibility cloak and help you from beside you?”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “Yes, walk with me so I don’t make a mistake.”

Xiao Lou smiled. “No problem.”

At 24:00, all the card skills were refreshed.

The five people acted separately. Liu Qiao took the lead with the flying card since she could clearly observe movements in the village from the air. In the event of danger, she could raise the alarm in advance. At this time, the Four-way Arrow obtained in 2 of Diamonds was very useful. Liu Qiao found the safest and fastest way and directly marked it for everyone with an arrow.

Ye Qi and Shao Qingge followed using the teleportation card. The three people first came to the village chief’s home. The bug that Ye Qi had placed here earlier confirmed that there was no sound coming from the village chief’s house. The village chief and his dog were asleep. Ye Qi spoke to Yu Hanjiang and Xiao Lou through the heart channel. “The village chief’s home is confirmed safe.”

Yu Hanjiang put on an invisibility cloak and entered the village chief’s house. He first looked at the village chief’ appearance so he could copy it with the Twin Card.

The time of the invisibility cloak was 30 minute so Yu Hanjiang took the opportunity to search the village chief’s house. At this time, the village chief was sleeping. His home only had one bedroom and he didn’t have a wife or children, so he was living alone.

Yu Hanjiang found a map hanging on the wall of the village chief’s house. It was the layout of Liuxi Village and had the four directions of north, south, east and west marked. There was some text next to each house and many raised small dots that looked like Braille. Yu Hanjiang couldn’t read Braille but he speculated that these marks made it more convenient for the village chief to remember the location of each house.

In addition to the west side bedroom, there was a large cabinet against the wall in the east room. Yu Hanjiang stepped lightly into the room and opened the cabinet door to see. The cabinet had several thick folders marked with the year. Was this the historical material left behind by the village ancestors?

The room was too dark and Yu Hanjiang simply grabbed all the folders.

Once he came outside, he saw a garden planted with small white flowers that bloomed in the moonlight. This flower was very common in the village. His eyes swept over the yard and he found some residues in a corner of the garden. Yu Hanjiang squatted down and looked carefully. It seemed to be the residue of traditional Chinese medicine. He picked up several pieces and took them to the door.

The four people were waiting for him outside. Yu Hanjiang handed the folders to Xiao Lou and also showed him the residue. “Professor Xiao, I found a lot of this residue in a corner of the garden.”

Xiao Lou came with him to smell it. “This should be boiled Chinese medicine.”

Liu Qiao jumped down from a tree and looked at the thick folders. “Is this information on the village?”

Yu Hanjiang nodded. “The village chief’s house did have a clue. These materials are written in Chinese characters. He is blind and can’t see, so it should be passed down by his ancestors. The village chiefs of every generation put them in the house for collection.

Xiao Lou opened the first folder. It was indeed a record of the history of Liuxi Village.

Liuxi Village had four surnames: Qin, Liu, Sun and Lin. Many years ago, their ancestors found this fertile land in the mountains, reclaimed the land and settled here. At first, Liuxi Village only had a dozen people. After generations of reproduction, the population of Liuxi Village gradually increased and finally stabilize at more than 100 households.

The previous folders recorded the population of each household, like a household register.

The last folder should be the most recent one and it was more detailed. Some events in the village were recorded e.g. a new baby boy was born to this family, a wedding banquet was held in this family, the old man of this family died of illness etc. These trivial events were recorded with a pen. The handwriting was consistent and printed clearly.

Yu Hanjiang said, “Based on the time, it should be left by the previous generation’s village chief, which is the current village head’s grandfather?”

Xiao Lou looked at the record book and raised his eyebrows slightly. “The slaughter incident happened 30 years ago and this data record is also from more than 30 years ago. We should focus on the last year. Something must’ve happened in the village.”

Yu Hanjiang turned to the last folder. This was a first-person self-narrative.

“This weather this year was favourable and every household got a good harvest. On New Year’s Day, a few young people came to the village. We rarely see visitors and at the beginning, we were very alert to these people. However, they had a good attitude. They taught the villagers many things and gave the children new toys.

I decided to cooperate with them regarding their investigation of the areas surrounding the village. It is said that there are rich jade resources surrounding the village and jade mining can make a lot of money. We don’t know jade but the bracelet that girl is wearing is very beautiful. She says it is natural chrysoberyl. If our village can mind and process the jade, we can also make this beautiful bracelet.

My daughter likes her bracelet very much. If we can cooperate with them in the jade mining and make a lot of money, perhaps later our village can build a road so we can go outside and see.”

The record came to an abrupt end here.

Liu Qiao frowned as she looked at this row of neat writing. “The seven chrysoberyl gems are indeed a bracelet but where did the girl wearing the bracelet go? There is no record afterwards. What happened to the village?”

Yu Hanjiang stated, “That girl may be dead.”

Xiao Lou nodded in agreement. “It is only with her death that the bracelet would be distributed across the village in a human form, protected by the villagers for generations. This type of sacrifice should be done by her relatives, right?”

Strangers wouldn’t keep the dead’s belongings. The girl who appeared in the village chief’s record with the bracelet must be a key figure in this whole affair.

Shao Qingge touched his chin. “The people who came to the village are obviously experts. They inadvertently discovered that Liuxi Village is rich in jade resources. On the surface, many jade raw stones look no different from ordinary stone on the surface, Then once they are opened, there will be pure natural jade that is invaluable after being processed.”

Ye Qi was excited. “I have heard about that! Some people spent thousands to buy the raw stones and once they finally open it, they find pre jade worth hundreds of thousands of yuan and become rich overnight!”

“There are indeed examples of this. If Liuxi Village is really rich in jade resources then the villagers become rich overnight isn’t a dream.” Shao Qingge looked at Group Leader Yu and asked, “What would be the cause of the girl’s death?”

“The reason for murder is love, money or lust. The possibility of a love killing is very small. She is a rich young lady from outside who shouldn’t have emotional entanglements with the villagers. She is wearing a bracelet of seven chrysoberyl gems. Obviously, she is very rich. The villagers might’ve killed her for money. Or she might be beautiful so some villagers are interested in her and have bad thoughts.”

Xiao Lou touched his chin thoughtfully before suddenly saying, “That girl, would she be blind?”

Everyone heard this and their backs became a bit cold. If the girl happened to be blind and the villagers bullied and killed her because she was blind, her relatives might know this and come to the village to retaliate. They even slaughtered the village in an extreme way and spread the girl’s bracelet throughout the village, the villagers’ descendants guarding it as a treasure. Then the consequences made sense.

Grandma Qin once said that bullying the blind would have consequences. Was that girl really blind? They were only speculating and had no way to be sure.

Yu Hanjiang simple said, “Since Grandma Qin and Grandma Sun are definitely insiders, we will investigate Grandma Sun. Grandma Qin has already talked to the village chief.”

Xiao Lou nodded and followed Yu Hanjiang.

Liu Qiao continued to go first. She flew to Grandma Sun’s house and looked for a big tree to hide in. Grandma Sun had been in the kitchen last night and the strange smell of Chinese medicine floated in the air. They thought of the human bones boiling in the medicine and felt cold.

Liu Qiao made a gesture to Ye Qi, who threw the bug on the wall of Grandma Sun’s house. Yu Hanjiang looked at Xiao Lou. “I will become the village chief. Professor Xiao, put on your invisibility cloak next to me so I won’t fall down.”

Xiao Lou nodded. “Rest assured. Once something goes wrong, I will immediately take you back to the Peach Blossom Spring.”

Liu Qiao reminded. “The transformation of the Twin card can currently last 10 minutes. Professor Xiao, be careful.”

Originally, the transformation card could only last 8 minutes. Then Liu Qiao used it yesterday morning and afternoon and the S-grade card’s growth had improved. It could now last 10 minutes.

Time was very precious. Yu Hanjiang no longer talked and took out the Twin card to make himself into the village chief. He looked exactly like the village chief and there were no obvious differences with the naked eye.

Xiao Lou put on his cloak and gently held Group Leader Yu’s arm. To outsiders, the village chief would come to the door alone but in fact, Xiao Lou was helping Yu Hanjiang.

Xiao Lou spoke lightly. “Group Leader Yu, let’s go.”

The ‘village chief’ didn’t move and just frowned.

All four people wondered, “Group Leader Yu?”

Yu Hanjiang whispered, “I can see.”

The group of four, “.......”

Yu Hanjiang gently rubbed his eyes. “The village chief isn’t blind, he can see.”

The unexpected discovery was so surprising that they couldn’t speak.

The Twin card was a ‘perfect’ copy and this had previously been verified. The characteristics of voice, vision and height, including any disabilities, were also copied. If the village chief was blind then Yu Hanjiang who copied the village chief would be blind. Now Yu Hanjiang could see as the village chief. This problem could only be explained with one reason. The village chief himself could see.

The five people fell silent at the same time. A moment later, Xiao Lou said, “The person who can see is actually the village chief?”

Yu Hanjiang made a quick decision. “Time is limited and I will still go and find Grandma Sun as soon as possible. Professor Xiao, follow me and go back to the Peach Blossom Spring if something goes wrong.”

Xiao Lou nodded and continued to follow Yu Hanjiang invisibly. Together, the two of them entered the grandmother’s house.

Yu Hanjiang imitated a blind person’s walking and the imitation was quite similar. Grandma Sun was making medicine in the kitchen. She heard footsteps and looked up at the village chief who came in step by step. She smiled and said, “Village Chief Liu, it is so late. What can I do for you?”

“Grandma Sun, I can’t sleep and have some things I want to ask you.”

Grandma Sun reached out her hands and groped around the room. Yu Hanjiang followed and the two people eventually found stools to sit on.

Outside, Ye Qi’s group pricked up their ears and eavesdropped.

Grandma Sun wondered, “What’s the problem that you have to come find me in the middle of the night?”

Yu Hanjiang calmly asked, “Today, Aunt Qin told me that the seven gems the villagers are guarding create a formation array in the village. She said that as long as we guard the gems well, after seven generations, we can lift the seal and change the fate of the cursed. Brightness can be restored to future generations. Grandma, you and Aunt Qin are both elders of the village. Have you heard about this too?”

“Yes, I’ve heard so.”

Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly. “I don’t believe this statement.”

Grandma Sun smiled. “Why don’t you believe it? Aunt Qin wouldn’t lie.”

“If the entire village is really caused, why can you see and why can I see?”

Grandma Sun, “...”

The three people eavesdropping outside, “...”

Xiao Lou was used to Yu Hanjiang’s straight ball but Grandma Sun obviously wasn’t used to it. She was asked this question and her expression twisted. She lowered her voice and said, “Village chief, what are you talking about? I can see?”

Yu Hanjiang suddenly stretched out two fingers to dig at her eyes and she instinctively flinched back.

Yu Hanjiang retracted his hand. “Are you still going to pretend you can’t see?”

Grandma Sun’s face was extremely ugly. Yu Hanjiang stared into her eyes in a cold manner. “The entire village’s prescriptions are set by you. I usually eat everything you give me. Are you surprised that I’m not blind?’

Grandma Sun’s lips shook as she snapped out, “How could you hide it from me for so long? I watched you grow up and personally gave you those medicine!”

Yu Hanjiang spoke lightly. “Have you ever thought that I was born allergic to some medicine? I didn’t completely eat the medicine you prescribed and threw them up in the garden. That’s why I escaped being poisoned by you.”

Grandma Sun’s face became extremely ugly, her body slightly trembling as she stared at Yu Hanjiang in a speechless manner.

Yu Hanjiang stared sharply at the old lady in front of him. “Grandma Sun, why are you doing this? How did the people in our village offend you that you have to turn all of our children blind?!”

Grandma Sun suddenly laughed and her sharp, shrill laughter was like a ghost in the middle of the night.

She laughed for a long time before saying with a cold voice, “Retribution, your village deserves retribution. Hahahaha!”

Yu Hanjiang immediately captured the key words. “Your village? You aren’t from Liuxi Village?”

Grandma Sun sensed she said something wrong and her face became particularly gloomy. She stared at Yu Hanjiang’s face and said, “Village Chief Liu, how did you suddenly become so strange today? You never said so much to me before.”

Yu Hanjiang was calm. ‘It is because my family’s gem was stolen. I have been very confused about the use of these gems. Is it really to break the seal as you said? I have been the village chief for so many years and want to know the truth.”

Grandma Sun stared at him like a poisonous snake. “You aren’t Village Chief Liu at all.”

Yu Hanjiang’s heart jumped but he was calm on the surface. “Grandma, how can you not know me?”

Grandma Sun was cold. “Village Chief Liu will bring his dog every time. It is his only relative and accompanied him for nearly 10 years. You came to me in the middle of the night without the dog. Tell me who you are!”

Yu Hanjiang hadn’t expected the village chief’s habit to expose him.

Grandma Sun picked up a bell and shook it vigorously. She was apparently trying to wake up the villagers to have everyone seize Yu Hanjiang impersonating the village chief. Then Ye Qi suddenly cried out, “Trouble! Pull out. The real village chief is here!”

Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang, “.......”

During the time when Grandma Sun was turned around, Xiao Lou directly brought Yu Hanjiang back to the Peach Blossom Spring.

The next moment, the village chief led a dog and slowly walked in the door. “Grandma Sun, you are the village’s most senior predecessor. I have somethings to ask you. What are the seven gems for? Aunt Qin said it is to break the curse but I don’t think that’s right.”

Grandma Sun looked ugly. “Isn’t it too late now for you to bring the dog?”

The village chief wondered, “What do you mean?”

Grandma Sun shook the bell and the shrill sound of the bell broke the silence of the night. The people around them awakened and Grandma Sun lied, “This person is posing as the village chief. Catch him!”

The villagers acted immediately, causing the village chief’s face to change as he was tied up. “Are you crazy? I’m the village chief. Let me go!”

Grandma Sun’s eyes were vicious. “He is a stranger. His eyes can see so don’t be deceived by him. Carry him out of the village and feed him to the wolves.”

The villagers listened to Grandma Sun and carried the village chief straight out.

Xiao Lou and the others heard the movements through the bug and looked at each other. Yu Hanjiang said, “Grandma Sun should be aware that this is the real village chief. She is looking for an excuse to remove him because he can see and has started to doubt her.”

Xiao Lou suddenly had a thought. “There is more than one person who can see in Liuxi Village.”

Ye Qi also agreed. “Yes, Grandma Sun can see and the village chief can see. However, the village chief doesn’t seem like a bad person.”

Yu Hanjiang pretended to be the village chief to question Grandma Sun. In fact, he didn’t need to pretend. Tonight, he would’ve come to find Grandma Sun for questioning. However, they made trouble like this and caused Grandma Sun to decide to get rid of the village chief.

The pit he dug himself must be buried by himself.

Xiao Lou spoke helplessly. “Let’s go save the innocent village chief.”

He had an intuition that after Grandma Sun called the villagers to drive the village chief away, the village chief might become a friend who could help them uncover the secrets of that year.