Chapter 13

Chapter 12 Changming Town 12

At 11:30 a.m., Shi Zong and Zuo Sanqiu returned to the central square.

Before noon, several NPCs had already arrived ahead of time.

After having them report their identities and briefly describe the information they possessed, Shi Zong first became interested in one of them.

—It was a midwife.

“These young masters and young ladies, I delivered them all! I’ll tell you everything I know! Please, don’t kill me!”

The midwife said.

Shi Zong asked, “Do you know the birth years of Li Eldest, Li Second, Fourth Miss, and Wang Zhien, Zhang Ye?”

“I know!”

The midwife said, “Li Eldest was born in 1914, Li Second in 1915, the Wang family young master in 1917, Zhang Gongzi in 1916, and Fourth Miss was born in—”

For some reason, the midwife suddenly stopped, as if afraid to continue.

Shi Zong seemed to guess why she hesitated.

He glanced at her and immediately asked, “What year is it this year?”

The midwife looked troubled.

Shi Zong said, “It’s 1948. Actually, all of these people are in their thirties, right?”

Hearing this, the midwife trembled and lowered her head, meekly saying, “The four young masters are indeed in their thirties, but… Fourth Miss Li is only 10 years old.

“She was born late to the Li family patriarch, and everyone dotes on her.”

The midwife couldn’t help but sigh: “When Madam Liu Jinhua gave birth to her, it was difficult, and both mother and daughter nearly died. The patriarch cared for Madam and told me to prioritize her. I followed his instructions to save Madam. Later…

“When Fourth Miss was just born, she didn’t breathe for a while. Luckily, she survived. I was richly rewarded for this…”

Shi Zong nodded. “So Fourth Miss Li was born in 1938. This year is 1948, so she’s exactly 10 years old.

“But I had always thought it was 1938. I lost ten years of memory. That was Elder Gong’s spell. All of you were lying to me.”

Hearing this, the midwife immediately turned pale and knelt before Shi Zong.

“This was at the request of the three family patriarchs!

“Miss Jiang, I’ve told you everything I know. Don’t kill me! Please spare me!”

“Why lie to me? Did they want to get rid of me?”

“I really don’t know! You should ask the patriarchs. But the three patriarchs and their wives are not here; they went outside to summon…”

All who knew the core secrets had left town to bring in experts and couldn’t be threatened like ordinary NPCs.

Shi Zong no longer questioned the midwife and turned to the second NPC of interest.

It was a medicine curse master.

The love curse had originated from him.

Through talking to him, Shi Zong learned that he had once wandered in Southeast Asia, accidentally killed someone, and came to the relatively closed Changming Town to escape revenge.

With his exceptional skills in medicine, the three families took him in.

He had countless bizarre prescriptions—

【Medicine: Disguised Pneumonia】

【Ingredients: Dew from the Day of Awakening, perilla leaves…】

【Oral; causes immediate uncontrollable coughing, requires bed rest, mobility by wheelchair, no real internal injury】

【Medicine: Thin to the Bone】

【Ingredients: tears from heartbreak, tangerine peel…】

【Oral; appears extremely thin and pale, as if starving for days, no real internal injury】

【Medicine: Like a Ghost】

【Ingredients: corpse oil, grave soil…】

【Oral; face turns ashen, eyes wax yellow, ghostly appearance】

【Medicine: I Want to Be Young】

【Ingredients: peach blossom petals, apricot leaves】

【External; applied to the face to look younger, from 40 to 30】

…

These strange prescriptions were astonishing.

But as Shi Zong examined them, all prior speculations were confirmed—

From Jiang Wan’er’s perspective, she was first pursued by Li Eldest. After marriage, Eldest immediately fell ill, suspected liver problem.

Eldest treated her poorly, even telling her to “go away,” giving Li Second a chance to care for her.

Later, Jiang Wan’er was expelled by Liu Jinhua from the Li household, stayed with Wang Zhien until he died, and then was found by Li Second, who looked frail and claimed to resist his mother through fasting.

Now it seemed that both Eldest’s liver disease and Second’s frailty were caused by medicine.

Of course, they were unaware of the truth, like Zhang Ye.

Eldest, drugged by Liu Jinhua, truly believed he had liver disease.

Second, under the love curse, longed for Jiang Wan’er, and likely, under Liu Jinhua’s instruction, was given the medicine by his confidants.

“Take this medicine, and you can act pitiful in front of Wan’er; she’ll feel for you and return to your side.”

Until the wedding ceremony ended, they regained their memories, changed their behavior toward Jiang Wan’er, and faked death to leave her.

In fact, they had to act this way; some ritual needed to proceed.

Otherwise, if Li Eldest didn’t die, how could Li Second marry Jiang Wan’er?

After questioning the midwife and medicine master, Shi Zong turned to the other NPCs and their clues.

He discovered many interesting things.

A Li family maid had kept very detailed records.

“Made handmade bead flowers for Li Second, engraved with the character ‘Wan,’ cost 0.5 yuan.”

“Made peach blossom soup for Li Second, cost 0.3 yuan.”

…

All items Li Second claimed to have made for Jiang Wan’er were actually made by others.

To win her heart, the entire Li family cooperated in acting.

The situation with Wang Zhien was similar.

After being expelled from the Li household, Jiang Wan’er returned to her maternal home and was beaten out by her father.

That was because her father accepted money from the three families.

She could only hide in the Wang household.

After hiding there for a long time, bored, she thought the danger had passed, went out, but was immediately discovered and attacked.

Shi Zong now confirmed these events were orchestrated by the Wang family.

“She will soon be Madam Wang. No one can say otherwise!”

At the time, Wang Zhien’s words touched Jiang Wan’er.

She believed that when everyone abandoned and attacked her, only Wang Zhien showed genuine concern.

But now it was all a setup.

Those who insulted and attacked Jiang Wan’er were actors hired by the Wang family.

Her so-called love at first sight was actually drug-induced.

The coincidences and chance encounters she believed in were all carefully designed tricks.

What she thought was true love was nothing but premeditated empty dreams.

With no other NPCs arriving, Shi Zong and Zuo Sanqiu temporarily left and crossed the Four-Leaf Clover River again.

The three coffins had been dug up.

They were all empty.

Shi Zong had already suspected these three were in a faked death.

The “Like a Ghost” medicine confirmed his suspicion.

Last night, Jiang Wan’er came to the graveyard. The three men, under the effect of the medicine, appeared ghostly in front of her to scare her and prevent her from discovering the secret hidden across the river.

What was hidden on the other side of the river?

Leaving the graveyard, they walked about a kilometer further and saw densely packed houses ahead, smoke rising from chimneys.

The distant sound of bustling people suggested many residents there.

But just as they tried to investigate, a system alert appeared in their minds—

【The area ahead is inaccessible】

So they had no choice but to turn back.

Zuo Sanqiu noticed that Shi Zong didn’t immediately return to the square, but walked around the graveyard, seemingly inspecting the gravestones.

“Any findings?” Zuo Sanqiu asked.

Shi Zong said, “Remember that suicide note?”

“Thanks to that Jiang woman’s wickedness, no one in Changming Town lives past 35…”

Thinking of it made Zuo Sanqiu feel uneasy.

He also found it strange that both his mother and the mothers of Li Eldest and Second, Liu Jinhua, were clearly over 35.

What exactly was this curse?

With questions in mind, Zuo Sanqiu followed Shi Zong as he walked around the graveyard.

He quickly discovered the problem—

【Li Hongcai, born 1912, died 1947】

【Wang Dawei, born 1909, died 1944】

【Zhang Yuyu, born 1908, died 1943】

【Wang Li’en, born 1911, died 1946】

…

All of them died at the age of 35!!!

Realizing this, Zuo Sanqiu’s hairs stood on end.

On the way back from the Four-Leaf Clover River to the central square, he couldn’t help but fall several steps behind Shi Zong.

He was truly terrified of Jiang Wan’er’s character and didn’t dare get close to her at all.

After catching his breath for a long time, he cautiously asked, “That area the system just said we couldn’t explore… what’s in there?”

Shi Zong said, “Think carefully. Those three ‘died’ in Changming Town, but they have to live somewhere else, right? They probably have another home over there.

“Their weddings with Jiang Wan’er were staged. Over at the graveyard side, they likely have real wives and children.

“They’re just afraid Jiang Wan’er would find where they truly live.

“I guess the three families assigned people to watch this side of the river. If Jiang Wan’er crosses, they notify the three men. Then the three men act as ghosts to scare me.

“Of course, there’s a huge flaw. Such a large graveyard, why are there only three ‘ghosts’?”

Shi Zong glanced at Zuo Sanqiu with a faint smile. “So, what’s your guess now?”

“I… I’m a bit confused.”

Zuo Sanqiu shook his head. “Let me sort this out first!”

After a moment, Zuo Sanqiu felt he’d grasped the key point. He immediately looked at Shi Zong and said, “I got it. You cursed everyone to die before 35. From these tombstones, the curse did take effect. But many people lived past 35…

“This means the curse targeted the young who hadn’t reached 35 yet. Those over 35 didn’t die immediately because of it.

“Hiss… So ten years ago, in 1938, this year was crucial!

“This was the year you died, became a vengeful ghost, killed the entire Ye family, and cursed the town’s residents not to live past 35!

“At first, people might not have believed the curse—after all, those already over 35 didn’t die…

“But over the next ten years, those approaching 35 died one by one, and only then did the three families realize the curse was real and start to panic.

“They found Elder Gong last year and brought him into Changming Town… then the story we know began.”

Zuo Sanqiu had initially wondered why, in such vast three families, only Li Eldest, Li Second, Wang Zhien, and Zhang Ye were left among the younger generation.

It turned out that all other young men died at 35, leaving only these four eligible to inherit.

Their actual ages were 34, 33, 31, 32—on the verge of 35.

Under the influence of the “I Want to Be Young” medicine, they appeared to be in their early twenties.

On top of that, the three families enlisted the entire rich district to act so that Jiang Wan’er would fall in love with them, likely to break the curse and allow them to live past 35.

Normally, those four men would fear Jiang Wan’er as a vengeful ghost and certainly wouldn’t want to marry her.

They weren’t natural actors; living with Jiang Wan’er day by day, they would inevitably slip up.

But winning Jiang Wan’er’s genuine heart couldn’t afford a single mistake.

The three families simply erased their memories temporarily and cast a love curse on them.

Only after the wedding ceremony would their memories be restored.

Zuo Sanqiu felt confident in his theory and happily shared his thoughts with Shi Zong.

“So… whoever wins Jiang Wan’er’s genuine heart and completes the special marriage ceremony with her will live past 35?”

Zuo Sanqiu looked at Shi Zong. “You went mad because you couldn’t have Ye Yunfeng. Only the man who genuinely loves you and moves your heart can be forgiven. You’re really terrifying!!

“Wait, no…”

Zuo Sanqiu’s face suddenly paled.

“The three men completed the ceremony… but I didn’t! I didn’t marry you—does that mean I’ll die instead?!

“Damn, can we just get married right here and now?”

Hearing this, Shi Zong was silent for a moment, his gaze toward Zuo Sanqiu almost pitying.

Zuo Sanqiu immediately said, “Don’t look at me like that! You’re making me nervous!”

But Shi Zong said faintly, “Elder Gong is dead. No one will perform such a ceremony. It seems your death is inevitable.”

Zuo Sanqiu’s face turned even whiter, his eyes reddening at the same time.

He couldn’t even stand, his legs gave way, and he sat down. Then he looked up at Shi Zong with terror in his eyes, and after a long pause, rasped, “…Can I tell you a few things about my affairs after I die? When you leave this game and return to reality, please help me—”

Tsk, he seemed to have teased the kid a little too much.

Shi Zong stepped forward, his gaze showing a trace of affection.

“Did you forget something? You’re only 32 this year. Even if you die at 35…

“You plan to stay in this dungeon for three years?”

Right, as long as the murder votes are cast, all death risks disappear. The system explicitly stated this.

So I…

Zuo Sanqiu was stunned for a moment, then jumped up and glared at Shi Zong. “You lied to me again!!!”

Shi Zong said lightly, “Besides, your theory might not even be correct.”

Zuo Sanqiu immediately got distracted by this. “Where did I analyze it wrong?”