Shao Qingge thought of leaving clues with silver for several reasons. First, silver was the currency in ancient times. Second, although silver oxidizes over time, as long as no one deliberately damages it, engraving on silver could preserve it for 20 years. Third, Old Mr. Shao had previously bought a safe at the bank in the Q Secret Room and left clues using pentagram numbers as Morse code, which gave Shao Qingge some inspiration.
Ye Qi asked in confusion, "Where can we find so much silver in such chaotic times?"
Shao Qingge thought for a moment, took out the ATM card from the card holder, and laughed: "I used to think that the [ATM card] was useless as an S card, but now I realize that it is actually very useful. Not only can you withdraw money anytime and anywhere, but you can also convert it into the corresponding currency according to different Secret Room Worlds."
Ye Qi's eyes lit up: "I remember in the previous interstellar escape room, your ATM could dispense star coins directly. Can it dispense silver directly this time? Silver is such a large amount, how will the ATM dispense it?"
Shao Qingge said, "This S card can change its appearance according to different worlds. For example, right now, when I need to withdraw the silver I need in this world, the ATM's coin slot will enlarge. After I input the data, it will dispense only silver."
Ye Qi: "..."
As expected of an S card, with this card in hand, you'll never lack money in any world.
Shao Qingge had a large amount of money in his account, which would be even more countless if converted into silver. He glanced at the data on the ATM, withdrew several hundred taels of gleaming silver, and said to Ye Qi in his mind, "I plan to engrave all the clues we've found onto the silver, then put the silver into a wooden box and bury it in a place where Xiao Lou and the others might find it."
Ye Qi couldn't help but complain, "What if someone finds the silver you buried and takes it away as treasure after twenty years?"
Shao Qingge was also worried about this. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Let's think back carefully. In Qingfeng Town twenty years from now, what places will Xiao Lou and his friends pass through, but which others are rarely willing to go?"
Ye Qi blurted out, "The Zhao family and the Chen family? Professor Xiao and his team will go to these two places to investigate. As for the residents of other towns, because these two families disappeared inexplicably, they believed the rumors of vengeful ghosts and thought these two places were haunted houses, so they generally wouldn't go near them."
Shao Qingge raised a question: "However, the Zhao and Chen families' houses became haunted seventeen years later, which is three years before Xiao Lou's world. These two families did not disappear in the following seventeen years, especially the Zhao family, who were always inhabited. What if they want to renovate the yard and build a house, and dig up the clues we hid? Wouldn't all our efforts be in vain?"
Ye Qi was stunned for a moment before realizing the issue of time.
Assuming Xiao Lou's world is World 0, and the murder occurred 3 years ago, while he and Shao Qingge are in the past 20 years, then during those 17 years from 3 to 20 years ago, nothing happened to the Zhao and Chen families, so clues are naturally not suitable to be left in their homes.
Moreover, in this world, most of the courtyards in Qingfeng Town are dilapidated, there is no Zuiyue Lake in the center of the town, and no Fulai Inn. It is completely incomparable to the neat and orderly Qingfeng Town 20 years later. In other words, many courtyards were built several years later, which may include the Zhao family and the Chen family.
Ye Qi scratched his head: "Then what should we do? Are there any places that outsiders rarely go, but that Professor Xiao and the others will definitely go to?" He carefully went through everyone's experiences since entering the secret room in his mind, and suddenly his eyes lit up. He said, "I've thought of a place, what do you think?"
Upon hearing Ye Qi's words in his mind, Shao Qingge smiled slightly: "I know what to do."
***
The world three years ago.
Tang Ci and Lu Jiuchuan discovered Qin Yurou, the eldest daughter-in-law, and her son at the Zhao family's residence, confirming that this woman was the one who set up the Zhao family's mourning hall.
In fact, Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang had already figured this out, because the Zhao family's mourning hall had the memorial tablets of their grandparents, parents, and the four younger siblings Zhao Zeping, Zhao Zean, Zhao Zeshun, and Zhao Zesui, but Zhao Zeping's wife and children were missing.
If the Zhao family had been completely wiped out, there would be no descendants to offer them memorial tablets. Since someone has set up a mourning hall for the Zhao family, they must be survivors of the massacre.
Qin Yurou left the Zhao family with the child. Tang Ci and Lu Jiuchuan exchanged a glance and continued their search of the Zhao family's residence.
What puzzled the two was that the rattle drum was not in the room of Zhao Zeping, the eldest son of the Zhao family.
"Three years ago, when the crime occurred, the Zhao family didn't have a rattle drum. But when Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang searched the Zhao family's house, they found a rattle drum with a tiger pattern painted on its surface …" Tang Ci paused for a moment, then analyzed softly, "If that rattle drum was left behind by the murderer, we should have been able to find it too. But Xiao Lou found it three years later, while we didn't find it at the time of the crime. This proves that the rattle drum was deliberately left in the Zhao family's house after the Zhao family members disappeared."
Lu Jiuchuan frowned and said, "The murderer returned and left the rattle drum some time later? Or was it not left by the murderer, but by someone else?"
Tang Ci thought for a moment and said, "It's very likely that it's someone else. We need to continue using Drone to monitor the Zhao family's movements."
Lu Jiuchuan said, "If the rattle drum was placed at the Zhao family's house by someone else, then the one at the Chen family's house is very likely placed there by the same person as well? Why don't we go to the Chen family's house and check?"
Tang Ci nodded and left the Zhao family with Lu Jiuchuan.
Qingfeng Town was bathed in soft moonlight late at night.
It was shrouded in mist; not a single pedestrian could be seen on the street.
The two scaled walls and rooftops with incredible speed, quickly arriving at the Chen family's residence. The house was empty and pitch black. Just as Tang Ci was about to enter, Lu Jiuchuan gently pulled his hand and whispered in his ear, "There's someone in the courtyard!"
Tang Ci was completely unaware of what was happening in the courtyard, but Lu Jiuchuan reacted quickly, spotting the dark figure hidden in the shadows. He pulled Tang Ci behind a large tree, and the two held their breath, barely daring to breathe, their eyes fixed on the Chen family's entrance. They saw the man in black strode out of the Chen family's courtyard and turn to walk towards the end of the alley.
The night was dark, and the person was dressed in all black, so the two could not see the person's face clearly. They had no choice but to follow silently.
The man in black walked very fast, clearly very familiar with the streets of the town. After turning several corners, he disappeared at the end of Xiushui Lane, near Qin Feng's residence.
Lu Jiuchuan looked at Tang Ci and frowned slightly: "Was that man in black Qin Feng just now?"
Tang Ci wondered, "What was he doing at the Chen family's house? Could it be... that he set off the rattle drum?"
Lu Jiuchuan said, "Let's go back and take a look."
The two turned back to the Chen family home and entered the residence of Chen Yu and his wife. Mrs. Chen had just given birth, and there was a cradle in the bedroom, along with many baby clothes. Lu Jiuchuan picked up the luminous pearl and examined it closely. By the faint light of the luminous pearl, the two discovered a familiar rattle drum in the cradle.
—It is the rattle drum with a tiger painted on its surface.
Three years later, Liu Qiao and Lao Mo entered the Chen family for the first time, and Liu Qiao found the rattle drum.
It turns out that this wasn't left by the murderer, but by Qin Feng.
The two temporarily left the Chen family and returned to the inn.
Chu Huaying and Gui Yuanzhang didn't sleep; the four of them summarized and analyzed the clues they had found that day.
Lu Jiuchuan stroked his chin and said, " Qin Feng's actions were very strange. He first questioned Han Ningshuang, then went home, changed into black clothes, and secretly went to the Chen family. In the cradle of the Chen family's newborn child, he left a rattle drum with a tiger painted on its surface."
Tang Ci said, "The Chen family's children are not born in the Year of the Tiger. Qin Feng leaving behind a rattle drum with a tiger painted on it seems to be hinting at something?"
Gui Yuanzhang said, "It is now certain that Han Ningshuang knew who the murderer was. The fact that she flew a white kite on the night of the incident to create rumors of a 'vengeful ghost' was definitely not a coincidence, but rather something she and the murderer had planned in advance. The murderer was outside the town at the time, using a special rattle drum sound to lure the Zhao and Chen families to Mass Grave, while Han Ningshuang stayed in the town to fly a kite and create an air of mystery."
Chu Huaying calmly said, "Grandma must have raised several children back then, and they are very likely joining forces to take revenge. Qin Feng did not participate in this revenge plan, but he obviously guessed who the murderer was and who the murderer wanted to take revenge on. So, over the years, he only recorded those who had been killed and those who might be killed on the list, but did not stop it."
Hua Ying's words suddenly opened up a new way of thinking for Tang Ci.
Qin Feng's register did indeed record the names of many people, some of whom had been killed and some of whom were still alive.
He knew the murderer and the target of the murderer's revenge, which is why he compiled the list. This is a reasonable inference.
Tang Ci carefully recounted the entire sequence of events and said, "During the famine twenty years ago, their grandmother, who raised them, was tortured to death. Those people cut off her hands and feet and ate them, leaving the children with severe psychological trauma. When they grew up, Han Ningshuang and others returned to seek revenge. Qin Feng, having been separated from Han Ningshuang many years ago, was unaware of this."
He paused, then continued his analysis: "However, with the Zhao and Chen families both missing, and the inconsistencies in the ghost's testimony, Qin Feng immediately thought of Han Ningshuang. So he went to Han Ningshuang to verify, and Han Ningshuang confessed to all the crimes in front of Qin Feng. But Qin Feng didn't believe that she was the only one who did it. Now it seems that Qin Feng already knows who the murderer is."
Lu Jiuchuan agreed, saying, "The fact that people are still missing three years later proves that this criminal team is still eliminating the descendants of those who killed Grandma. Qin Feng knew about it but didn't stop them. He must have been conflicted. Judging from his conversation with Han Ningshuang, he personally didn't agree with such an extreme approach of wiping out entire families; on the other hand, he couldn't let go of Grandma's death, and his companions were avenging her, so he had no right to stop them. That's why he did something so contradictory."
Tang Ci looked at him and said, "That's right. Qin Feng is, after all, the child raised by his grandmother. He can't stop his friends from avenging her, but he doesn't want the people of Qingfeng Town to be wiped out one by one. So, he deliberately left the ' rattle drum ' clue in the Zhao and Chen families, probably hoping that one day someone else will be able to find the murderer of the massacre and stop these people from taking their revenge."
He couldn't bring himself to stop it, but he couldn't bear to see the innocent descendants of the town being slaughtered, so he left clues at the crime scene. In this way, Qin Feng's unusual behavior could be explained.
Lu Jiuchuan said, "We need to follow Han Ningshuang to find out how many children Grandma raised. She definitely knows the murderer. Qin Feng has already alerted her, and she might even discuss the next steps with the murderer?"
Chu Huaying calmly stood up and said, "Leave the tracking to me. I'm not sleeping tonight; I'll just keep an eye on her."
Lu Jiuchuan said, "Okay, Hua Ying, be careful."
******