It's already quite late, and there's not much to do outside. Most people are going to sleep after resting.
Jiang Shaobo, now a Saman, went to take a shower in the small washroom that had been partitioned off. Hearing the sound of running water inside, Ren Yifei also made a move. He found a thin wire and pried open the lock on the suitcase. The combination lock inside could be unlocked by pressing against one of the small holes.
When he opened the box, he was actually worried for a while, worried that there might be something extra inside, like... a bomb or something.
Fortunately, there was only a laptop, a notebook, a black bag, and a change of clothes inside.
Everything else looks ordinary; if there's anything wrong, it can only be... the black bag.
Ren Yifei opened the black bag and saw a small booklet, a cell phone, a bottle of clear nail polish labeled "peelable nail polish," and a pack of cigarettes...
Although there weren't many items, they all looked like they had a special purpose. The original owner had indeed come with a specific objective.
The sound of water in the bathroom had stopped; it sounded like someone was applying shower gel. Ren Yifei didn't have much time to waste. Saman was a very alert person.
He took out a change of clothes and a computer, plugged the internet card into the computer, connected the other end to his phone, and began cracking passwords.
In fact, Saman, who was in the bathroom, was also having a hard time calming down.
The boy in the same room as him was slightly younger than he remembered, but... that's right, he was one of the top ten, codenamed 'Mountain and River'.
Did I accidentally stumble into a world instance where mountains and rivers once existed?
Although he had only observed for a short while, he still noticed a slight inconsistency beneath that innocent facade. Could someone who appears so innocent be among the top ten?
Saman can say without hesitation, no, none of the top ten are good people.
Although this instance doesn't feature real mountains and rivers, but rather a simulation of the desolate corner, the essence remains the same. This roommate might be a crucial variable in this instance.
When Saman came out, Ren Yifei had already unlocked his phone and reset the password. He deleted the message and opened a very ordinary news webpage.
"Jiang Shaobo," he greeted Saman as she came out of the bathroom, his tone somewhat stiff, as if they were not very familiar with each other.
"Hmm." Samantha dried his hair and sat down on his bed. He glanced at Ren Yifei's computer, which was empty.
When it was Ren Yifei's turn to take a shower, Saman opened his travel bag. He had already checked his bag before the rest of the group arrived. Inside was a change of clothes, some travel-sized toiletries, a gift box that was probably for giving away, a box of chocolates, a pack of cigarettes, and that was it.
This guy is probably a rich young master. He knows he's come to such a remote mountain, yet he didn't even bring mosquito repellent.
Samantha arrived early and had already explored the area. Most of the able-bodied young people had gone out to work, leaving behind only the elderly and children. Occasionally, one or two young men would be seen in the village; they were just visiting.
However, those people weren't players. It was the three people in the guesthouse he was currently staying at who were players.
The player has a special aura; you can find clues if you observe carefully.
There are nine players in total. Leaving aside the 'ghost' who is familiar with the environment, who has now been identified, there is one tourist, five students (three girls and two boys), Samantha himself is one, and the rest... Afei.
The mere mention of that name softened Samantha's heart.
I don't know who he's pretending to be. I haven't met enough people today to make it hard to tell.
Thinking of this, Samantha glanced again at the roses in the trash can. There was a small card sprinkled with gold leaf inside that read: "To Xiangxue," with a cringeworthy poem on the back.
Fortunately, it was just a pursuit; if it turned into a man with a girlfriend, that would be a real problem.
Ah Fei seems to have a special way of recognizing him; I wonder if he has already discovered him?
Even if he were hiding in someone else's body, those beautiful, watery eyes would tell him which one he was looking for. Samantha's heart itched with longing at the thought.
"Click." The bathroom door opened, and Ren Yifei came out. He was wearing glasses, which were fogged up with water. He and Saman exchanged a glance through the fog.
The two stared at each other for a while, making Ren Yifei feel uneasy. He hesitated and asked, "Do you need to use the bathroom?"
"No."
"oh."
They each sat on their own beds. Ren Yifei sat cross-legged with a laptop on his lap and then looked for his recent browsing history.
A map of Wutong Village, and... news?
"What kind of news is this?" Ren Yifei clicked on it and found that it was a local social news story.
A small criminal gang was arrested while engaged in a brawl. One of the men was accidentally slashed on a major artery and died due to lack of timely medical attention. The others were sentenced.
The only thing that's special is that this is a social organization dominated by minors, many of whom are not yet adults, so they have to be put in juvenile detention centers.
Ren Yifei looked at the charges of extortion and rape and immediately searched for details about the case, such as the specific location, time, and process.
In the online world, as long as a trace is left, it can always be found if you're determined. Ren Yifei quickly found the specific name of the deceased person and the area of activity of this gang.
This gang operated near Jiangcheng No. 3 Middle School, and while their trial took place a few days ago, their arrest occurred a month ago. The deceased was a minor leader within this small group, primarily active in the Jiangcheng No. 3 Middle School area.
After thinking for a moment, Ren Yifei went to the local and school forums and searched for keywords. Besides the dead person and his nickname, there was also the original owner's sister, Han Feifei.
There are many posts about the person who died. He was a student from Jiangcheng No. 3 Middle School and continued to manage this area. It is said that he even had a girlfriend from school. Later, there were rumors that he had his eye on the school beauty, but whether it was true or not, nothing came of it.
The second-year middle school students crave unusual experiences. They are not all repulsed by this person, even if they know that he is a thug. But when they talk about him, they actually think he is handsome?
Ren Yifei felt he might be getting old and didn't quite understand students his age. A low-level hoodlum, with a 70/10 face after cutting his hair—where was the handsomeness?
In short, most people feel that this person is a social scourge, but he wasn't that old, and he still had a chance to turn over a new leaf. It's a pity that he died like this.
He may be able to turn over a new leaf, but do the people who suffer because of his "prodigal son" deserve to be harmed?
That doesn't make sense.
As for Han Feifei, many of her posts were probably deleted due to her significant influence, leaving only a few. However, the students had their own way of avoiding deletion; they created new posts using the abbreviation "hff".
Ren Yifei searched for the three letters "hff", and two pages of posts appeared before him.
The post was full of malicious speculation. Some said she was involved in prostitution, some said she was selling herself, and others said she was dating men from outside the marriage and had a messy private life.
It's unclear who the source of these claims is, but it's known that a female classmate discovered she was pregnant and accidentally let it out. That's how these rumors started.
The pregnant woman was indeed the original owner's younger sister, and was her suicide caused by these rumors?
Who is the father of the child? Was it voluntary or forced?
In addition, it is a very private and confidential matter for a younger sister to buy pregnancy test strips. Even if she accidentally finds out, it can only be her best friend or someone in the same dormitory.
Who could it be?
Ren Yifei lowered his head and clicked the mouse on an icon for a social space, where two accounts that could be logged into popped up.
Using some illegal software, he cracked the passwords of two accounts and opened them one by one.
The first account belonged to the original owner and was completely empty, even the identity information was fake. With virtually no useful information, Ren Yifei turned his attention to another account.
This is my younger sister's account, decorated with lots of cute pink items. The little girl has written some of her 'feelings' on it, visible only to herself.
He went directly to the diary from the period before the incident, and found very few entries, only five in two months.
"I saw the invitation. Since she's not going, could I go?"
"I'm so dirty."
"I'm pregnant, what should I do? My mom doesn't know yet, she'll kill me."
"The school said it would have a bad influence and I would have to drop out. I'm not a prostitute, I don't sell myself!"
"I want to die."
These individual words combined to form a young face pleading for help, which was reflected in Ren Yifei's eyes.
Suddenly, a memory surfaced: there really are many corners in this world that the law cannot protect. In such times, you have no choice but to try your best to protect yourself, right?
Ren Yifei's finger hovered over the mouse: Who wrote the invitation letter that asked her to go out?
On the second-to-last page, and the third-to-last page, a name jumped into his eyes.
'Jiang Shaobo'.
Clearly, the girl's heart belonged to the handsome and wealthy school bully, so the invitation letter was also from the school bully.
The school bully is pursuing the school beauty, and thus 'her' identity is revealed.
The matter is already quite clear.
One day, the younger sister accidentally learned that the school bully had invited the school beauty to a date or meet up somewhere. However, the school beauty did not agree, and the younger sister went there anyway.
Then some unfortunate things happened.
'Dirty' is a kind of physical aversion to oneself, an aversion to sex, and is 100% a result of being forced into sexual relations.
He cannot yet determine whether this misfortune was brought upon her by the school bully or by someone else.
The reason I suspect it's someone else is because if the person my sister encountered was someone she secretly loved, she wouldn't have come back and written 'dirty'.
Even if the school bully is despicable, he still represents a youthful and ignorant crush.
After that, she went through a very turbulent time, but perhaps she had tried to accept the reality of her misfortune. However, at this time, another accident occurred.
My sister found out she was pregnant, and she must have been terrified, so she had to buy pregnancy tests online.
She must have felt very helpless too.
Perhaps she chose to tell someone she trusted, or perhaps she forgot to destroy the pregnancy test. Her best friend or roommate found out and let it slip, and her sister became the subject of gossip as a promiscuous woman.
She must have suffered immense psychological trauma and humiliation, and even her normal life was disrupted.
Then came that jump.
The school beauty, the school bully, the person who forced her, the person who spread the secret, the person who humiliated her, the indifferent onlookers who pointed and whispered...
The black flames flickered in his eyes.
Throughout, Ren Yifei maintained a calm expression. Judging solely from his facial expression and not from the content on the computer screen, no one could tell what he was thinking.
On the other bed, Saman took out the original owner's phone and began to check the previous message history to sort out the relationship between this person and this class.
He had already seen most of them before, but back then he only saw names and code names, and couldn't match them with real people one by one.
This instance is highly restricted; it's neither supernatural, fantasy, nor monster-based… it contains no unscientific elements. The key to solving this instance lies in understanding the most basic information.
The word 'caged bird' literally means a free creature that is bound in some way.
The village is named Wutong Village, because the phoenix is attracted by the phoenix tree. However, there are four chastity arches at the entrance of the village, which are also things that restrict women.
Could "caged bird" mean restricting or imprisoning women? Does it refer to the village buying and selling women, or is it a remnant of feudal customs?
Samantha instinctively guessed in this direction and began to search for information about Wutong Village, a remote tourist destination.
"Achoo!" The sudden chill made Samantha sneeze. He brushed his fingers across his nose and, as if possessed, glanced at his roommate's calm face.
Strange, why do I feel a chi
ll down my spine in the middle of summer?