CHAPTER 68: MUSHROOM VILLAGE 18

After a while, Hao Shijun left Fang Minglan’s room and returned to his own.

Xie Jia and Wang Hui were sitting on the edge of the bed. It was the first time either of them had entered the haunted realm. Although they had read about it in the news and in various official manuals released by the government, they had no actual experience in dealing with it.

All they could do was minimize their movements and follow Hao Shijun’s instructions.

When Hao Shijun returned, Wang Hui stood up from the bedside, rubbing her hands together, and called out somewhat hesitantly, "Officer Hao."

Hao Shijun looked at Wang Hui. It was hard for most people to imagine that a seemingly honest and timid woman in the real world could have committed the act of killing her husband.

However, Hao Shijun knew the truth. His gaze fell on her wrists, where bruises in shades of blue and purple were clearly visible. In prison, most women convicted of murdering their husbands had been victims of long-term domestic abuse.

As Hao Shijun looked at Wang Hui, Xie Jia suddenly stepped in front of her, blocking his line of sight.

"Officer Hao," Xie Jia’s voice carried a calmness that seemed far beyond her high school age, "is there anything we can do today?"

Hao Shijun thought for a moment before saying, "I’ll be heading out later to look around and see if I can find any clues about the God Worship Festival. You two can come with me if you want."

When they had first entered the village, the man in the suit had already mentioned that the God Worship Festival would be held soon. It was likely that safely making it through that day was the key to escaping the haunted realm.

Xie Jia nodded, then seemed to remember something. "Officer Hao, the two men who entered the village with us yesterday—there’s been no sign of them all day."

Hearing this, Hao Shijun immediately led Xie Jia and Wang Hui to the rooms of the two men.

He knocked on the door, but no one answered. Left with no choice, he kicked the door open and entered.

The moment he stepped in, he was stunned. The room was exceptionally cold, as if it were the dead of winter during the coldest days, and he shivered repeatedly. The blanket on the bed was oddly lumpy, as if someone was lying there.

Suppressing the chill, Hao Shijun stepped forward and yanked the blanket away. The ear-studded man was lying there, his eyes wide open, face pale with a bluish tinge, his body cold and stiff—clearly dead.

They then checked the room of the yellow-haired man, and it was the same situation.

Hao Shijun recalled that the previous night, Wan Qian had given him some hot water.

He hadn’t wasted the water—instead, he brought it back and used it together with Xie Jia and Wang Hui to wash their faces and feet.

What they hadn’t expected was that this turned out to be a part of the rules. By pure luck, the three of them had survived. However—Hao Shijun narrowed his eyes and stepped outside.

Fang Minglan was standing not far away, her expression calm, as if she had expected all of this. She had been the first to discover this rule. But last night, she hadn’t told the two men about it.

Hao Shijun walked up to her, his tone calm but with a hidden edge of anger.

"Yesterday, you all went out together. No matter what, that made you companions, didn’t it?"

Fang Minglan lit a cigarette, took a drag, and slowly exhaled a puff of grayish-white smoke.

"It was my oversight. I didn’t expect something like this to happen."

In truth, it hadn’t been an oversight at all— it was intentional on her part. After all, at that time Fang Minglan believed that these two had already lost any value as assets.

Now that she saw Wan Qian return safely, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret. If she’d known, she would have kept the two men alive a little longer.

Wan Qian slept all the way until the afternoon before she finally woke up. Still groggy and not fully awake, she sat on the edge of the bed in a daze for quite a while.

When she looked down and saw the traces of blood and bits of flesh on the floor, she jumped in fright. Looking closer, she noticed that her pant cuffs and shoes were also stained.

Had she gone out to kill someone last night?

"Hmm..." Wan Qian rubbed her chin and thought hard for a while before remembering that a snake had entered her room the previous night. The mess on the ground must have been the aftermath of her fight with the snake.

At that moment, Wan Qian’s phone suddenly rang. When she answered, the voice of the butler came through. Amid the "zzzz" static of the connection, his voice sounded slightly distorted.

"Ms. Wan, how was your stay in Mushroom Village last night?" The butler’s voice remained as gentle, considerate, and courteous as ever.

Hearing the familiar voice, Wan Qian couldn’t help but complain, "Everything else was fine, but for some reason, a snake managed to slither into the room."

The butler paused in surprise, "That snake...no, you weren’t hurt, were you?"

Hearing his concern, Wan Qian felt a trace of warmth in her heart. Although her great-uncle was no longer around, the people he had left behind still cared for her on his behalf.

"I’m fine, I’m fine, it didn’t bite me," she quickly replied.

On the other end of the line, the butler’s voice seemed to relax a little. "That’s good."

After a brief pause, he continued gently, "But since there was a snake, I’d recommend you sleep in a different room tonight."

Wan Qian nodded and, remembering that the butler couldn’t see her through the phone, replied, "Got it."

"Everything on the farm is in order. The first batch of rice produced yesterday has already been sold, and I believe you will see the results when you return," the butler reported smoothly.

"Great!" Wan Qian was very pleased with the butler’s efficiency and didn’t forget to lavish him with praise. "With you handling things, I’m at ease."

Most importantly, now that they’d sold their first batch of rice, the farm had its first income. She would no longer have to worry about not being able to pay wages or hire people.

After hanging up, Wan Qian walked out of the house, her posture unconsciously a bit straighter.