With his decades of life experience, the old Daoist could tell that what Zuo Lin'an had just said didn't seem to be a lie.
In other words, the younger brother truly loved his elder brother.
So, did the younger brother feel like he was a burden, holding his brother back, and thus ran out to commit suicide?
He felt a bit conflicted.
Speaking of which, once the main quest was completed, shouldn't there be some kind of notification?
Just like when they first entered the dungeon, a dungeon notification should have popped up.
But right now, there was no reaction at all.
Did that mean his guess was wrong?
Or did he have to investigate everything thoroughly without leaving out a single detail?
Did he even have to get the NPCs here to admit it?
Just like in TV dramas, forcing the culprit to confess to their crimes?
Thinking of this, the old Daoist suddenly spoke up.
“Could your younger brother have felt that he was holding you back, and so...”
Zuo Lin'an's expression didn't change in the slightest; he merely remained silent.
However, he quickly replied.
“Xingyun often said that a few days ago.”
“I wanted to say...”
“If it were him, he would indeed do such a thing.”
He looked up at the old Daoist.
“If that's really the case... then he was truly too foolish.”
“He clearly didn't have much time left, yet he still threw away his life like that.”
The old Daoist listened intently, but secretly observed Feng Xingyun's movements through the eyes of his paper puppet.
The two brothers had a great relationship.
It was highly unlikely that the elder brother was the culprit.
Then the culprit could only be Feng Xingyun, the butler.
However, the brief exchange of looks between Zuo Lin'an and Feng Xingyun when Zuo Lin'an left his brother's room earlier made the old Daoist feel that this guess wasn't quite right either.
It was so messy.
Just what was going on?
Zuo Lin'an watched the old Daoist sink into confusion and didn't say anything more.
Right now, he only wanted to stall for a little more time and start killing once it struck exactly 8:00 PM.
Moreover, he felt that there were still too few NPCs in the dungeon, making many things inconvenient to do.
For instance, cooking, cleaning, and most importantly, interacting with players.
Although Feng Xingyun could handle these tasks, it was only because there were few players this time. When the dungeon opened again in the future, the number of players would definitely increase gradually.
When the player count reached ten or even twenty, what would he and Feng Xingyun do?
Prepare meals for twenty people?
Even if he used the dungeon to obtain many puppets from the 【Paranormal World】, he wouldn't be able to use them in the short term; he would have to wait until the next world.
So he either had to spend Contribution points in the system's mall to purchase puppet NPCs, or spend money to hire them.
He still needed to spend money, after all.
“Mr. Yao.”
The old Daoist stood up with Lin Xiaolei.
“It is getting late now. My grandson and I will head back to rest first.”
He had already made his plans, and staying here wouldn't yield any results.
As for the specter lurking in the dark... he felt that even if they stayed by the NPC's side all the time, it would be useless.
When a specter wanted to kill, it certainly wouldn't care if there were other people around them.
Hearing this, Zuo Lin'an snapped out of his thoughts.
“Alright, please rest well. I will visit you two tomorrow morning.”
After all, they had agreed that the old Daoist would perform a daily divination tomorrow morning.
To divine where his younger brother was.
Since Zuo Lin'an had already confirmed that the old Daoist couldn't actually divine, he wasn't in a hurry now.
After the two left, he returned to his brother's room once more.
Feng Xingyun understood immediately. “Young Master, are you going to rest here tonight?”
Zuo Lin'an said, “Yes.”
His gaze swept over the vase on the table.
This thing absolutely could not be lost.
There was still half an hour left before 8:00 PM. It would be over soon.
On the other side.
The old Daoist and Lin Xiaolei walked carefully along the way, but they did not return to the guest rooms. Instead, they quietly scaled the wall and left.
Once outside, after confirming there was nothing unusual around, the old Daoist finally began his work.
He tore off another piece from his half-missing paper talisman clothing, cut it into three equal-sized pieces, and began to draw talismans using his own blood.
Lin Xiaolei looked on with confusion.
“Grandpa, is this the Fi—”
“Quiet!”
Lin Xiaolei immediately shut his mouth.
Only after finishing the first talisman did the old Daoist draw the remaining two.
It was clearly visible that the first talisman was far more complex, while the subsequent two were slightly simpler.
They were obviously two different types of talismans.
Holding the first talisman, the old Daoist wore a solemn expression as he muttered incantations. Soon, the talisman caught fire without any wind, rapidly burning away in his hand.
Although Zuo Lin'an was already lying in bed resting, he kept monitoring the old Daoist and his grandson using his God's-eye view.
Seeing this, he also felt a bit strange.
What are they doing...
Huh?
Less than five seconds after the talisman burned itself out, five tiny, palm-sized dark shadows appeared before the old Daoist, carrying a vase.
This vase... looked extremely familiar.
Wait a minute.
Isn't this...!
He abruptly opened his eyes and sat up. The vase on the table inside the room had already vanished.
So that was it.
Earlier, when Lin Xiaolei saw the talisman, he had said the word “five.”
At the time, Zuo Lin'an had thought it was some kind of Five Thunders Talisman or Five Thunders Righteous Law, but he hadn't expected it to be the Five Ghosts Transporting Wealth technique!
He took a deep breath.
Forget it, even if he wanted to stop them now, it was too late.
He would wait and see how things developed first.
Zuo Lin'an sighed.
“Don't tell me I'm going to fail my very first dungeon?”
“If I had known, I wouldn't have tested the storyline.”
“After advancing to a Two-Star dungeon, I got a bit ahead of myself. I need to learn my lesson for the future.”
He had previously said that Xu Youyou had gotten ahead of himself, but looking at his own situation, he was no better.
If he really failed...
Then he would have to wait until Xu Youyou advanced to a Two-Star dungeon and piggyback on his dungeon.
How embarrassing would that be?
After getting the vase, the old Daoist examined it up and down, left and right, for a long time. The vase was very new and not some ancient artifact, just a very ordinary piece of modern art.
Lin Xiaolei grabbed the withered tree branch inside, pulled it out, tossed it aside, and then turned the vase upside down.
“Grandpa, there's nothing inside. By the way, why did you use Five Ghosts Transporting Wealth to get this thing out?”
The old Daoist was also somewhat unsure.
“Could it be that I guessed wrong?”
Just then, his gaze fell upon the withered tree branch that Lin Xiaolei had thrown on the ground.
“Could it be this thing...”
He picked up the branch and examined it for a long time, but still found nothing.
Lin Xiaolei suddenly remarked.
“All the trees here are withered, and not a single leaf grows on them. Yet, this branch actually has one leaf on it.”
Hearing this, the old Daoist casually plucked the leaf off.
Huh?!
【Withered Leaf: Consumable specter item, passively triggered. Saves your life after suffering a lethal attack, maintaining an extremely weakened state for three days. During this period, you cannot be attacked, but you will die suddenly after three days. Can be used once.】
The old Daoist widened his eyes. Refusing to believe it, he checked it several more times before finally confirming it.
“A specter item?”
Lin Xiaolei leaned in.
“Grandpa, what did you just say? A ghost item? What's that?”
The old Daoist placed the Withered Leaf into his hand.
“See for yourself.”
Rate on N.U.
