Ita Era

Chapter 121 Gold Ingot

Ding Shi walked a little further and entered the bamboo courtyard.

"Shh, shh!" A voice came from the darkness behind us.

Ding Shi turned around and looked with his lantern. He saw Niu Lang hiding outside the bamboo courtyard, behind a rockery about five meters from the gate. Ding Shi moved closer and saw that blood was seeping from Niu Lang's shoulder. Before Ding Shi could ask anything, Niu Lang spoke first, "Let's go to your room first."

Back in the side room, they lit an oil lamp. Ding Shi fetched some water from the bathroom and let Niu Lang clean his wounds himself. He helped tie a bandage around them. The wounds weren't deep or large, and the problem wasn't serious. After Niu Lang finished recounting his ordeal, Ding Shi realized the problem was much bigger.

The male prostitute was attacked and injured in his room. Facing soldiers attacking from both the window and the door, he cried for help, but no one answered. Finally, he opened the door and ran out.

Ding Shi asked, "Did the paper soldier stab him?"

The Cowherd nodded firmly.

Ding Shi asked, "You shouted for help, but no one responded?"

Niulang nodded and added, "When I escaped, I saw that Er Yi's door was ajar and she was looking out. As soon as she saw me, she closed the door tightly."

The dockworker died, and it's believed he followed after the man left. Calculating the time of the attack on the Cowherd, there were the woman in the cheongsam, Ziqing (21), Dengyue (22), and the Cowherd (23) in the bamboo grove at the time. Why was the Cowherd attacked, and not the others? Was it because he was the only male among them?

After thinking for a long time, Ding Shi asked, "Do you have something on you?" Reasoning process: He would only chase after someone who had stolen his goods.

The Cowherd was startled, then his expression turned strange. He touched his left pocket, and his expression became even stranger. He then rummaged through his right pocket and took out a piece of jade, which cracked in two. The Cowherd's expression became strange threefold: puzzled, surprised, and confused.

Ding Shi wasn't in a hurry; he watched the Cowherd's performance.

The cowherd stood up, paced anxiously around the room for a long time, and finally sat down, saying, "I am not the cowherd."

Ding Shi: "I know." As a gigolo, he wouldn't tell others that he was a gigolo. As a male prostitute, he wouldn't tell others that he was a male prostitute.

The cowherd gestured for him not to interrupt and said, "My profession is temple keeper, and this jade is a talisman given to me by the system."

The Cowherd said, “After lunch, I went back to my room. On the table was a brownish-yellow piece of paper, clearly a treasure map. It depicted our bamboo courtyard, and the treasure was by the well. I took the opportunity to flip over the stone, and inside was a gold ingot, very beautiful, worth $150, but it can't be deposited into the bank; it can only be used for dungeon settlement.” If you still have this gold ingot when you finish the dungeon, it will add $150 to your account at settlement.

The Cowherd said, "I guessed this was a treasure hunt instance, so I kept quiet." He explained why he didn't share the information.

Ding Shi asked, "Is the gold ingot missing?"

The Cowherd nodded: "It's gone. It was still there before I was attacked by the paper doll when I went back to my room. I even took it out and looked at it for a while because it was so beautiful. It was probably left in the room or in the yard when I was attacked by the paper doll."

Ding Shi speculated, "The gold ingot is probably a marker; the paper figures will attack whoever holds it." He wasn't sure, though, since paper figures are physical units, how could they possibly find the gold ingot?
The Cowherd agreed: "It seems so. I lost my gold ingots, and they've stopped chasing me. But when did my protective jade break?"

Ding Shi said, "Logically speaking, the paper doll is a physical attack. Your protective jade can only block magical attacks." The protective jade and the heart-protecting mirror belong to two different systems.

The cowherd asked in confusion, "I wasn't attacked by magic."

Ding Shi said, "But there are evil spirits in the Wang residence."

The Cowherd was surprised, then his eyes lit up: "Gold ingots will attract attacks from evil spirits and paper figures?"

Ding Shi thought for a while: "It's more like the evil spirit and the paper figure fighting over the head. Logically speaking, it seems the paper figure doesn't want the evil spirit to take the head." Unsure.

The Cowherd asked, "Why?"

Ding Shi said, "Each courtyard has a treasure map and a gold ingot. You should have died, but you didn't. People in the other courtyards should have died. Because of your protective jade, the Bamboo Courtyard is the only one that didn't have any deaths due to the gold ingots."

The Cowherd asked, "What if I die too?"

Ding Shi shook his head: "I don't know, but it's definitely not a good thing. We have to find the gold ingot. This thing may be the key to solving the mystery."

The two carried lanterns and wandered around the bamboo courtyard. There was no main hall, no corridor, no courtyard. Finally, they looked at the well. Ding Shi asked, "You stepped over the well?"

The cowherd shook his head: "I don't know, I was being chased too hard at the time."

"What are you doing?" The woman in the cheongsam appeared at the door of the main house, looking at the two men who were watching the well with suspicion.

Ding Shi replied, "It's none of your business." He glanced at Niulang and thought, "Never mind, I'll talk about it tomorrow."

The Cowherd nodded, and the two tacitly returned to their respective rooms.

Ding Shi lay in bed pondering. The paper figure was equivalent to Madam Wang. Madam Wang attacked those with gold ingots, and evil spirits might also attack those with gold ingots. The old man asked the player to attack Madam Wang.

Suddenly, a scream shattered the stillness of the night. Ding Shi jumped out of bed and went outside. The screamer was a woman in a cheongsam. She covered her mouth with her left hand, pointed at the well with her right hand, and looked at Ding Shi in terror, hoping that he would understand what she meant.

The second person to go out was Niulang, followed by Er Yiziqing, who asked in unison, "What happened?"

The woman in the cheongsam pointed at the well, and after a long while, she finally caught her breath and said, "Er'er jumped into the well."

The woman in the cheongsam noticed Niulang and Ding Shi acting suspiciously, so she hid behind a pillar, hoping they would continue their clandestine behavior. Suddenly, she sensed movement behind her, turned around, and saw Er'er with disheveled hair, wearing a white nightgown, silently approaching her.

The woman in the cheongsam was quite bold; she didn't scream out loud, but instead covered her mouth, widened her eyes, and slowly backed away. Er'er continued walking forward, stepped onto the edge of the well, and jumped in. The process was incredibly smooth and without hesitation.

After listening to the woman in the cheongsam's account, the cowherd took a few steps to the well, listened for a while, and said, "There was no splashing or calling for help."

Ding Shi held a stone in his hand and hesitated, saying, "I want to use this stone to measure the depth of the well and the water, but I feel that doing so would be like kicking someone when they're down. What do you think, should I throw it or not?"

They had no flashlights, only lanterns. They couldn't even see the water surface in the well during the day, let alone at night.

Salvage is out of the question. The woman in the cheongsam knocked on the servant's door, but he ignored her. Finally, they looked at each other, went home, and decided to talk about it tomorrow.

The woman in the cheongsam didn't go to bed immediately. She opened the door a crack and looked out; she had her own work to do. Sitting to one side, watching the well, she felt a little sleepy when, sure enough, the well stirred—something came out of it.

First came the head, wet hair plastered to the face, obscuring features. The woman in the cheongsam knew, however, that this was Er'er. Er'er had crawled out, proving herself through sheer will to survive, and everyone applauded.

The wet Er'er crawled out of the well, slowly stood up, and turned to look at the woman in the cheongsam. The woman in the cheongsam hurriedly closed the door, and before she could even open it, she flew into the quilt and wrapped herself up tightly. Only when the shaking stopped did the woman in the cheongsam peek out.

Under the oil lamp, all that could be seen was Er'er's deathly pale face, with well water dripping continuously, less than a meter away. The woman in the cheongsam didn't cry out, whether because she couldn't speak or because she was captivated by the gold ingot Er'er was holding, it was unclear.

It was an exquisitely crafted and beautiful gold ingot, shimmering with a subtle golden light. It was so captivating that one couldn't bear to part with it, wanting nothing more than to hold it in their hands. Er'er gently put the ingot down, stood up, turned, and walked out the door.

The woman in the cheongsam didn't close the door; her attention was already drawn to the gold ingot. Under the oil lamp, the gold ingot reflected the light, like a pearl in the darkness. Uncontrollably, she reached out her left hand to touch it.

……

At 7 a.m. on the second day of the dungeon, Ding Shi went out to stretch, having slept quite well. Then he froze, because Zi Qing was staring at him intently, as if she had something to say. After all, the well-jumping incident had happened the night before, and Zi Qing was somewhat inclined to communicate.

Seeing that Ziqing was about to speak, Ding Shi pulled out two cotton balls from the quilt and stuffed them into her ears. Ziqing's eyes widened in fury; did he really think he was so hateful?
Ding Shi turned around and went back to the bathroom to wash up. He gave Ita a thumbs up for the bathroom's helpful feature. There was water and a toilet; if he also had a cell phone, he could sit there for two hours.

When he went outside again, he saw Niulang and Ziqing standing around Er'er's door, talking loudly to him and gesturing. Ding Shi walked over, made a shushing gesture to Ziqing, and then removed the cotton from his left ear: "What's going on?" He peeked out and saw Er'er lying flat on the bed, her hands folded over her abdomen, sleeping peacefully.

But the soaked bedding and water stains on the floor indicated that Er'er was not sleeping peacefully, but dying peacefully.

Ding Shi removed the cotton from his right ear and turned to look at Zhu Da and Zhu Er, who were washing their faces by the well: "Zhu Da, could you please call the butler?"

Zhu Da politely replied, "Young Master Nineteen, is this what Miss Eighteen means?"

Ding Shi said, "Can we also ask you to do things?"

Zhu Da replied, "No, Nineteenth Young Master, small matters are of course small. But there are many people in the house now, and without the Eighteenth Miss's order, we dare not disturb the steward rashly."

Ding Shi strode to the door of the woman in the cheongsam, pushed it open, and without looking at the door, pounded on it with his fist: "Eighteen, eighteen, eighteen!" There was no response, no movement.

Ding Shi turned around and exchanged a glance with the other two, then continued knocking on the door, but still received no response.

The Cowherd stepped forward, took a bamboo strip, and inserted it into the crack in the door to pry open the bolt. His technique wasn't very skillful, but he still managed to pry the bolt aside. He then pushed the door open and entered. After only one glance, the Cowherd stumbled backward, forgetting the drop, and fell hard on his backside. He turned to Ding Shi in disbelief: "Couldn't you have helped me up?"

Ding Shi shrugged and explained, "I don't have the habit of hugging men."

Ziqing couldn't help but sneer, "You can't hold a woman for long either."

Ding Shi dared not answer, because he knew that not answering would not be wrong, while answering would definitely be wrong, since he had no idea what the correct answer was.

The Cowherd interrupted their argument, saying, "No, look."

The cowherd's body blocked the way, so Ding Shi had to go around to the side and peek inside. He saw the woman in the cheongsam swaying in the wind. That's right, she had hung herself up with a bed sheet and a roof beam, swinging on her neck like a swing. Commonly known as hanging.

Why not just say she hanged herself? Because the woman in the cheongsam was smiling, looking very happy and content. The cowherd wasn't afraid of the woman who was hanging herself; he was frightened by her expression.

Ding Shi entered the room and saw the gold ingots on the dressing table. He was quite surprised and said, "There's a dressing table in the main room?"

Ziqing entered the room and immediately saw the gold ingot. She reached out to take it, but Ding Shi pushed her hand away. She reached out again, but Ding Shi pushed her away again. Frustrated, Ziqing slapped Ding Shi, who flicked his finger at her palm. Ziqing's palm went numb, and she said angrily, "You're using that trick again." She kicked him, but only ended up humiliating herself.

The Cowherd walked in: "Gold ingot."

Ziqing saw two men squatting in front of the gold ingot, looking it up and down. She reached out to take the gold ingot for the third time, but Ding Shi slapped her hand away again.

Niulang didn't understand what these two were up to with their 'breakup,' nor did he know that Ding Shi was afraid to speak to Zi Qing, so he didn't explain. It wasn't until Ding Shi kicked Niulang's shoe and said, "You explain it to her," that things changed.

Cowherd: "She doesn't know?"

Ding Shi: "She doesn't know."

Ziqing grabbed Ding Shi's shoulder and asked angrily, "Can't you say what you want to say?"

Ding Shi dared not answer, and said to Niulang, "Speak."

The Cowherd felt superfluous, but still explained the situation regarding the gold ingot.

So Ziqing squatted down as well. Compared to the two men, Ziqing quickly saw the problem: "This gold isn't the kind of gold we usually see. Even polished gold can't produce such a bright color. It feels attractive, not just purely physical allure." Ziqing was the only daughter of a wealthy family and had seen countless pieces of gold jewelry, including limited editions, designer pieces, and trendy designs. In comparison, the allure of this gold ingot was incredibly strong.

To use an inappropriate analogy, Ziqing views gold as if he were looking at men, and Ziqing views gold ingots as if he were looking at men after taking aphrodisiacs.

Ziqing concluded, "The gold ingot has the power of evil magic." Knowing that the gold ingot was a scourge, Ziqing, like Ding Shi and the others, could resist its temptation, but he still felt the urge to take it for himself.

The Cowherd asked, "What should we do?"

Ding Shi said, "When I was chatting with a friend, he said that the best way to deal with evil spirits is to burn them with fire. If you can't burn them, you should throw them into the septic tank."

Cowherd: "There is no septic tank."

Ding Shi: "Toilet."

Cowherd: "Aren't you afraid of getting stuck in traffic?"

Ding Shi: "Use someone else's toilet."

Without hesitation, Ding Shi picked up the novel the woman in the cheongsam was reading, poked a gold ingot with a page, and threw it into the toilet. Just as he was about to flush, he saw the gold ingot float on the surface and unfold—it was actually a piece of gold foil. With the sound of flushing, the gold foil was rolled into the sewer.

Ding Shi pondered: Considering the deaths of Er'er and the woman in the cheongsam, and the cowherd's plight, the gold ingot was clearly directly related to the murder rules of the evil spirit in the Wang residence. But essentially, it wasn't a real gold ingot; it was a gold ingot folded from gold foil. Evil spirits couldn't fold gold ingots; only humans could.

Did Ersi die because of Jin Yuanbao? Was Ersi's body brought back so that Jin Yuanbao could be buried?

The question now is: Is someone able to control evil spirits? Or can evil spirits control someone?

Ding Shi walked out of the woman in the cheongsam's room, looked up at the sky, and saw that yesterday's gray sky was now covered with dark clouds.

Ding Shi said, "I'll go find the steward."

Five minutes later, Ding Shi returned to the Bamboo Courtyard with the steward, the physician, and the guards. The steward had the physician examine Er Er and the woman in the cheongsam, confirming that they were both dead. The guards then carried the two bodies away on stretchers.

The housekeeper seemed to have slept poorly last night, looking exhausted. He barely answered any questions, and left in a hurry after finishing his business, only reminding the servant before he left that breakfast was served.

(End of this chapter)