Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 5 Pool Water
Jiang Jin realized that this must be the power of this powerful reincarnation system. Although he could understand some Cantonese before, he couldn't speak it very well, but now he could speak Cantonese fluently!
It seems that this is to solve the problem of language communication.

Jiang Jin carefully observed the old woman and continued, "Grandma, I came to your village on foot. I just saw the sign outside; there are quite a few guesthouses here, is that right?"

The old lady squinted at Jiang Jin, then said, "A guesthouse... a guesthouse is nice."

The old lady appeared to be mentally unstable.

"Grandma, I also saw a notice that said..."

"Wearing blue clothes means you can't go near the pond..." The old lady's words were incoherent, "Old Chen's char siu is the best..."

Old Chen's char siu?

He slowly approached the old lady and said, "Grandma, I just wanted to ask about the guesthouse..."

The old woman suddenly exclaimed in terror, "We mustn't go to the pond! We mustn't go!"

Then, she slammed the window shut! The flowerpots on the windowsill were almost knocked over.

Jiang Jin had no choice but to leave temporarily, following the memory on the map and making several more turns.

Based on the village map on the notice board, he planned to first visit the so-called "ancestral hall".

After walking for a long time, the ancestral hall appeared in front of me.

The plaque above the ancestral hall reads "▇▇ Village Ancestral Hall." The vermilion gate is tightly closed, and two villagers in long gowns are guarding the entrance.

As Jiang Jin approached, the guard immediately shouted, "Halt! What's the matter? Outsiders are not allowed to enter the ancestral hall unless there are special circumstances!"

The other guard was slightly more amiable and said, "Are you a tourist? Please leave quickly."

Clearly, there must be some great secret hidden inside the ancestral hall.

"I'd like to ask, where are the guesthouses around here?"

Jiang Jin took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He didn't smoke himself, but his father bought these cigarettes for him so that he could build good relationships with the leaders and colleagues in the bureau.

He offered the cigarettes to the two guards and said, "I'm just a tourist here in the village, and I'd like to experience a rural homestay. Could you two please give me a tour of the village?"

This terrifying instance is shrouded in mystery, and the first thing we need is intelligence.

“We’re on duty, we don’t smoke,” the more serious guard refused the cigarette Jiang Jin offered. “You should leave quickly. There are signs with maps at the village entrances. Didn’t you take pictures? There are guesthouses all around here, just pick one.”

“Outsider,” another, somewhat more amiable guard reminded us, “remember, don’t go near the pool. You should have clearly seen the visitor rules written on the sign, right?”

Jiang Jin nodded and said, "I saw them all."

The guard next to him added, "That's good. Remember to follow the rules. Don't ask the villagers why these rules were written; no one will answer you."

When the guard said this, his voice sounded unusually cold, and his gaze toward Jiang Jin was also filled with a hint of malice.

Jiang Jin could only put away his cigarette and turn to leave.

Now, he's worried that someone might be guarding the pool; if so, it would be troublesome.

Following the map, Jiang Jin began to head towards the pool.

The guard just now said that the villagers wouldn't tell him the secret about the tourist rules on the sign. So, we'll have to find another way to get the information.

On the way, Jiang Jin tried to call his parents and brother with his phone, but sure enough... both numbers were not in service.

This is truly another world.

After many twists and turns, he finally arrived at the location of the village's pond.

The pond is located in a low-lying area of ​​the village and is surrounded by a fence.

A wooden sign reading "No Entry" hung on the iron gate. The sign was covered in dark red stains, which looked almost like bloodstains in the sunlight.

The fence wasn't high, and it looked old and dilapidated; it couldn't stop anyone at all. Jiang Jin looked around; there was no one there.

So he climbed over the fence and went down to the pool below.

The pool wasn't turbulent, and the water looked crystal clear, giving the impression that it was drinkable.

Jiang Jin gritted his teeth and muttered to himself, "I'll fight to get back alive!"

After looking around one last time, he lowered his head and was about to scoop up water when he suddenly heard a voice behind him.

"You, you really want to drink it?"

Jiang Jin turned around and saw that Lu Zhao was right outside the fence behind him!
"It's you?" Jiang Jin quickly walked over and asked, "Where did you come from?"

“I was hiding behind that tree over there. I figured you probably got the same mission and would come here too.” Lu Zhao asked nervously, “Are you stupid? Drinking this water will definitely cause a big problem! Didn’t you see the notice board at the village entrance?”

“I’ve seen it.”

"You saw it? From where did you enter the village?"

"It came in from the east." Jiang Jin could easily determine the direction by observing the position of the sun.

Hearing Jiang Jin say that, Lu Zhao pointed to the south: "I came in from there. It seems there are tourist rules signs at the village entrance. Listen, the villagers all say this pool of water is undrinkable. I feel like this is the same as the rules we have to follow every month. If we drink this water, will it cause our SAN value to drop again?"

"Did you notice? It says that if you don't perform your duties, you'll be removed by the cleaners."

"Aren't the cleaners the ones who are responsible for treating patients with meme contamination in the Meme Contamination Monitoring Department?" Lu Zhao continued, "Their job is special, and their identities are kept confidential, but in the end, they are still government employees, right?"

Do you think Liang Qin qualifies as a civil servant?

“I know the situation is…special, but I really don’t dare drink this water. If I do, there’s no telling what might happen. The cleaner is still getting paid, so at worst, I can just pay him to turn a blind eye. I drive a transport truck, and I know these people very well. They take a little power and then act like they own the place. In the end, as long as you have money, you can always get away with something. I always carry some cash with me because some money can’t be traced through mobile payments.”

Jiang Jin shook his head: "Do you think they can be bribed with money? Would the Reincarnation System leave such a bug?"

"If we can't bribe them, it's not too late to drink later." Lu Zhao was clearly still not quite ready to come to his senses.

"I don't think it's that simple." Jiang Jin has the special profession of a cunning lawyer. If an uncontrollable situation really occurs, he can find a way to survive by tampering with the rules once the cooldown period is over.

"Since that's the case, I won't try to persuade you anymore. You'd better take care of yourself."

Jiang Jin, who adheres to the principle of "letting go of the desire to help others and respecting the fate of others," walked to the pond, squatted down again, and put his hand in.

The water felt extremely cold to the touch. Jiang Jin scooped up some water and shoved it into his mouth.

As the water entered his throat, he suddenly felt that it wasn't like drinking water at all. This feeling... he thought about it for a long time, and it seemed as if countless cold fingers were scratching inside his throat. Even his vision seemed to begin to distort.

At the same time, his watch started sending an alarm signal.

SAN value...starts to drop!
He checked and found that almost the instant he drank the water, the SAN value dropped to 99.99%!

Although the decline was very slight, Jiang Jin realized that this decline was probably only the beginning!
After confirming that he had drunk 300ml of water, Jiang Jin wiped his mouth and stood up again.

Now, just wait an hour for the newbie gift pack to be airdropped!

Hearing the alarm on his watch, Lu Zhao hurriedly asked, "What happened?"

Jiang Jin came back, climbed over the fence, and said, "The SAN value has decreased by 0.01%."

"It dropped? See? I told you we shouldn't have drunk it!" Lu Zhao pointed at Jiang Jin and said, "Officer Jiang, how could you be so stupid? We finally recovered our SAN levels, and you still..."

Jiang Jin was too lazy to pay attention to him anymore and asked, "What career did you finally choose? Tell me."

"I still chose the Soul Stealer class." With that, Lu Zhao waved his arm. "I want to see just how the cleaners are going to clean me up!"

(End of this chapter)