READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 83
[Countdown to mission completion: 00 hours: 22 minutes: 08 seconds]
“???”
With a slight frown, Yu Qing subconsciously looked toward the live broadcast room. Before he could process the situation, he noticed that the task [Seducing the Statue] had appeared on the task bar in the upper left corner.
Because the completion time was urgent, it was ranked even above [Saving Lin Xiaojing’s Children].
Crazy…?!
For a moment, the young man’s gaze darkened as he searched his mind for every curse he knew, ready to unleash them all when he saw the statue of the deity!
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Yu Qing finally suppressed his rising emotions and answered, “Because after breaking the pottery statue, I saw a trace of unburned plastic next to the blood. I can recreate the shape based on the melted outline of that item. Look, it should be a tie. The kind little girls wear.”
He continued, “My current identity is Lin Xiaojing’s college boyfriend. My information says that Lin Xiaojing bought a similar hair tie, probably for her daughter.”
“If the tie melted into the pottery statue, it proves that her daughter is either dead or has been sold.”
“Oh~” Qian Lai nodded, but couldn’t help his curiosity. “Then why did you say that Lin Xiaojing’s daughter is inside?”
The live broadcast room perked up.
On the screen, Yu Qing took a deep breath and continued, “Based on the clues we found, I’d guess the truth of the matter is probably this.”
“This mountain village is located in a remote area and extremely unfriendly to women. Lin Xiaojing had long been married to Liu Laizi and was beaten by him every day.”
“But she was a girl with dreams. She wanted to study and leave the village. Liu Laizi agreed, but on the condition that she first give him a child.”
“Later, Lin Xiaojing gave birth to a daughter in exchange for the opportunity to leave the village.”
“In the years Lin Xiaojing was away, Liu Laizi often abused his daughter. Once, he even beat his four-year-old daughter until she was on the verge of death and passed out in the mud. The girl’s hair tie fell into the mud together—in the clay at home.”
“Later…”
Yu Qing explained, “Liu Laizi used that clay to bake a Snake Deity statue, the one I broke.”
“Oh~~” Qian Lai nodded again. “No wonder you’re wearing a chain.”
After a pause, he added, “I don’t want to say it, but your chain… is pretty intense.”
“…”
Everyone in the live broadcast room: [Hahaha, Qian Lai is just like me!]
Ignoring the other’s inappropriate comment, Yu Qing continued to explain, “Your clues indicate that the little daughter is imprisoned here. Do you know what this is?”
Qian Lai shook his head.
He didn’t know, but just hearing the name gave him a deep chill, making his hair stand on end.
Yu Qing said, “When I was listening to the tether this morning, I overheard the villagers at the next table saying that the limbs of a four- or five-year-old girl, once she’s just starting to understand the world, should be broken off and sealed in a pottery jar, leaving only her head. Then they throw in snakes, insects, rats, and ants to bite her, creating ‘the imprisoned lady’ to bless the family with fortune.”
“So, this village generally doesn’t raise girls. If they do, they only keep them until they’re four or five years old, not a day longer.”
“Gulp.”
Qian Lai’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly, and he felt a wave of revulsion.
His breathing gradually grew heavier, and after a moment, he couldn’t help but kick the wall and shout, “Damn! Is this game specifically made to provoke people? What kind of garbage thinking is this?! What kind of sick method is that?! What kind of serious issue is there in these people’s heads?!”
“You might as well take out your damn brain and package it—it’s just so damn************”
The curses became more intense, and his breathing grew heavier and heavier.
Yu Qing continued to explore the mechanism to open the door. After a while, he heard the person next to him say, “Do you know why there are so many female ghosts in horror movies?”
Yu Qing looked at Qian Lai, leaving one hand to continue tracing the door’s grooves.
Qian Lai finally calmed down, though his tone remained aggressive. “Because people know themselves how unfairly women have been treated, and they’ll feel guilt when they see female ghosts. Damn! This…”
“Qian Lai, don’t you think something’s wrong?”
With rare intensity in his voice, Yu Qing continued moving his hand across the door in front of him, carefully feeling its uneven grooves, and interrupted Qian Lai, asking, “The name of this dungeon is ‘Tingying Mountain Village,’ but we’ve already uncovered 73% of the clues… So, where’s the baby?”
Where was the crying baby…?
After finishing his words, Qian Lai paused in his thoughts and felt a chill run down his back. He had been thinking along Yu Qing’s lines when Yu Qing suddenly exclaimed, “Found it!”
In front of him, the young man suddenly said, “Found it!”
Shaking off the coldness that had overtaken him, Qian Lai stepped forward. “What… did you find?”
“Rules for entering.” Yu Qing withdrew his hand and motioned for him to step forward. “Feel it. There’s a line of words engraved here. It’s obviously reserved for the host.”
Qian Lai carefully felt the surface. The lines were uneven, and what was engraved on them read: [If a single person’s physical strength reaches 1000, the door can be opened. (Remember: it must be a single person.)]
“Damn… it!”
The young man’s anger hadn’t subsided, and he muttered, “Just say you won’t be allowed in. This game really knows how to embarrass people! Just like the dungeon, it makes you want to tear it apart!”
But Yu Qing remained quiet.
Ignoring the anger, the young man lowered his head and fiddled with the system.
Ten minutes ticked by, and the crying inside grew softer, but the sound became more eerie and terrifying.
Qian Lai paced around, restless. His mood had shifted from initial fear to frustration with nowhere to vent it.
Finally, unable to hold it in any longer, he looked at the young man. “I said, why did you click on that broken system? You…”
Squeak—
Before he could finish, he saw that Yu Qing had easily opened the door in front of them.
Qian Lai froze, his pupils dilating in disbelief.
How… how…?
He was utterly shocked. “You only have 15 points of physical strength. There’s no medicine in the system mall to change your physical strength. How did you…?”
Yu Qing stepped back to the left and motioned for him to look at his system panel.
Lowering his gaze, Qian Lai’s mood swung upward, and his eyes widened in shock. “You… raised the system’s data threshold?!”
In Qian Lai’s sight, Yu Qing’s system panel was dimly lit.
The physical strength value on the attribute panel, originally [15/100], was now changed by Yu Qing to [1500/10000]. The physical strength value far exceeded 1000, which was why he had been able to open the door with ease.
“You…” Qian Lai’s voice grew rough. “You…”
Yu Qing explained, “When my luck value fluctuated to negative numbers or two hundred before, I realized there was a loophole in the attribute panel of this system. It just so happened that I’m a programmer, so I changed it temporarily.”
After the words fell, Qian Lai watched in shock as the two of them walked indoors one after the other.
The two continued to move forward, and the live broadcast room was stunned for only a moment. Then, a [hissing] comment filled the screen:
[Hiss… did I read that correctly? Ah? Did I read that correctly? He said there is a loophole in the system, so he tampered with the live broadcast system?]
[Fuck! So brave! Isn’t he afraid of retaliation after being discovered by the main system?]
[A routine I never imagined. I remember the last time Qin Yu passed this level, he had to put the system into sleep mode and get a bunch of people to break open the door together!]
[Hey… new here, I kind of like the host, but… but I bet 1 million on his death! I’m a little confused.]
The live broadcast flooded in as Yu Qing and Qian Lai walked step by step. Sure enough, they found that the room was filled with a group of little girls, all from four to five years old, locked up inside.
What was even more disturbing was that the little girl, who was very tall for their age, had all the bones in her body broken and stuffed into a jar the size of a watermelon.
Nearly a hundred of these jars were placed around the entire room, from far to near…
“FUCK!”
Seeing this, Qian Lai’s pace unconsciously slowed, and his breathing became rapid once again.
He felt a dull ache in his chest. Halfway through, he saw a little girl who was delirious and helplessly called out to him, “Daddy…”
“Dad… save me…”
But obviously, it was her father who had sold her here…
His footsteps faltered, and the young man’s eyes suddenly turned red.
He couldn’t help but squat down, his gaze softening as he looked at the poor child.
His thin lips trembled, and he murmured for a long time, “Don’t be afraid, daddy is here.”
“…Dad will save you.”
This sentence immediately caused a stir around him. The pale-faced girls raised their heads, their eyes shining as they called out to him.
“Dad! Dad!”
“Dad, save me too! Dad!”
The cries echoed in the room, each one more desperate than the last. Yu Qing’s eyes darted quickly around, scanning the girls’ faces. He compared them to the data on Lin Xiaojing’s daughter, mentally checking for any familiar features.
But… no!
His gaze moved over each pale face, passing them one by one. There was nothing.
How could it be… not here?
It shouldn’t be…
Liu Laizi said it all while trembling with fear. It was impossible for him to have lied while kowtowing; he must have sold his daughter here!
She must be here!
Not among these shouting girls—then…
Ding!
Suddenly, Yu Qing’s heart skipped a beat. His eyes froze for a moment, and then, as if a realization had struck him, he slowly turned his gaze toward the dark corner not far away.