This bug is amazing!

Chapter 254 Missing
"what happened?"

Ji Yi pressed for more information out of curiosity.

"Although the villagers all found a note with writing on it under their pillows that night, but..."

"They are all illiterate."

Ji Yi: "."

This turn of events really strained my back.

"However, there was a literate teacher in the village at that time, and some villagers curiously took the note over to ask him questions. But this action did not seem to be what the deity wanted to see."

That night, both the gentleman who read the note and the villager who showed it to others disappeared without a trace. Only then did the remaining people realize the seriousness of the problem, and they understood that what the person with the porcelain doll head said might all be true.

“Every day that followed, strange things happened in the village. Every night, at least one person who received the note with the word 'death' would randomly disappear into thin air. In addition, even more bizarre natural and man-made disasters followed.”

"For example, some people have witnessed missing persons appearing at night accompanied by black fog, demanding lives from the living; others claim to hear inexplicable crying in the middle of the night, and then go insane and die after a few nights."

"For example, someone mysteriously disappears at night, but the scene is very messy, as if a fight had taken place. The next day, a young man in the village has injuries on his face. When asked what happened, he only said that he fell."

Ji Yi immediately realized something was wrong:
"It was indeed a natural disaster and a man-made calamity. Besides the bizarre events, the villagers also believed in the words of the 'gods.' In order to survive, some people secretly killed others, just to find the person who drew the 'live' slip of paper. They even planned to use the name of the 'gods' to cover up their actions."

"Yes," Xie Ping said calmly.

"No one knows the specific circumstances at the time. The only clue left is that strange, nameless ballad."

"In short, the village went through a period of extreme chaos and disorder, with strange events occurring one after another, and villagers disappearing or dying one by one—until only one person remained. This is the origin of the calamity in Sanshi Village."

Ji Yi noticed something suspicious:

"Has this been happening for thousands of years? But if only one survivor remained in Sanshi Village, how could it have survived to this day?"

Xie Ping sighed and turned to face Ji Yi.

Feeling the other person's breath blowing towards her ear, Ji Yi squeezed further into the bed.

Could this woman have a crush on him?

Fortunately, Xie Ping did not further encroach on his personal space, but instead gazed at Ji Yi in the darkness and said:

“After all, a village is not a closed country. People inside may die, but they will always have relatives or blood relatives outside. For various reasons, they will return to their ancestral homeland, and then, after a period of time, the same history will repeat itself.”

Ji Yi suddenly realized: "I see. So that's why you and An'an returned to the village. Is it fate's arrangement?"

There was a moment of silence in the darkness.

"Well, that should be it."

Ji Yi didn't speak again, but fell into thought.

Based on this setup, is the character he plays also related to Sanshi Village? Otherwise, he wouldn't have accidentally entered the village due to being "lost in a maze".

To clear the dungeon, you might also need to resolve your identity issue; you never know which family you might be related to.

"This is a thousand-year-old cause and effect, a curse that cannot be escaped or resolved."

Xie Ping suddenly spoke again.

"Unfortunately, many people in the village don't believe it anymore. After all, this 'disappearance' curse takes anywhere from a few decades to a hundred years to occur. At least in my grandmother's generation, it was passed down from my great-grandmother's generation."

Ji Yi recalled An An's words: Everyone in the village knows the folk songs, but they are all very taboo about them and even unwilling to mention them.

From this perspective, perhaps it's not that they don't believe it, but rather that they dare not believe it.

After all, the power of the gods is irresistible, and the gods are forcing only one villager to survive. What a cruel and perverse hellish game this is.

"So, Sister Xie, you're one of the minority who believe this story. If only one person can survive, you..."

"I don't know," Xie Ping interrupted. "I've said so much, but I wonder if you, the great detective, have come up with a solution?"

Ji Yi shook her head slightly in the darkness, though Xie Ping was unlikely to see it:

"Not for now, but don't worry, I'm a pro at exploiting game vulnerabilities."

"Okay, Mr. Egg."

"."

Ji Yi was silent for a moment, then asked the last question:
"Since many people don't believe it, yet they all seem to follow the rule of going to bed at 10 pm, why is that?"

Xie Ping tossed and turned, turning her back to Ji Yi, seemingly already feeling sleepy:
"Even if you, Detective, don't believe in ghosts and spirits, wouldn't you still feel uneasy stepping on other people's burning paper money during the Ghost Festival? Besides..."

Before Xie Ping could finish speaking, Ji Yi heard a soft snoring sound coming from the side.

Tsk, it's unbelievable that someone can fall asleep while talking.

Ji Yi wasn't so devilish as to shake someone awake and interrogate them. She reviewed the clues from earlier in her mind and, without realizing it, fell into a peaceful sleep.

the next day.

As sunlight streamed through the window and illuminated the dilapidated little house, Ji Yi heard rustling sounds, as if someone was busy in the living room.

Along with this came An'an's bouncing and shouting:
"Wow~ Sister, you slept in the same bed with brother yesterday, are you going to have a baby?!"

Snapped! Bang bang!

"Hey, stop hitting me! An'an won't go around telling everyone. An'an will keep your secret, sister!"

Ji Yi opened her eyes sleepily:
"Did I survive?"

He raised his hand straight up, and in his field of vision he could see the dilapidated ceiling of the four-poster bed and his hand that gripped it freely.

Why did I survive this time?
Compared to the first time entering the instance, the process seemed no different. The biggest change was that I ended up sleeping in the same bed as Xie Ping.

Could this be related to the rules of the God of Disappearance?

Ji Yi sat up silently, and then, as if remembering something, he reached under the hard pillow and touched something.

There was a note there.

Ji Yi picked it up and found that the note was folded in half. He slowly unfolded it.

A striking character for "death" was printed on the note.

"hiss"

Ji Yi gasped, goosebumps instantly rising on her skin. A bone-chilling cold shot straight to the top of her head.

"Based on Xie Ping's explanation yesterday, we can derive two new rules."

Ji Yi murmured.

"The first rule is that anyone who receives the 'death' character will be randomly 'disappeared' every day. However..."

"This should follow some kind of pattern, rather than being a purely random event. I tend to think that the fewer rules you break, the easier it is to survive to the end."

"Secondly, some rules are absolutely forbidden. Anyone who triggers them will die in various ways. The first five lines of those six songs should each correspond to a strange event."

"Therefore, folk songs are also one of the clues used to distinguish between 'natural disasters' and 'man-made disasters'."

Given that only one person can survive, it is highly possible that someone might take the risk and become a serial killer.

"But I always felt that Xie Ping was hiding something. Although she told me the story of the beginning of the calamity, she should also know something about each of the disappearances over the past thousand years."

It could even be said that if one person could be ensured to survive each time, and as long as they passed on their experiences, the amount of experience and patterns that could be summarized would be enormous.

"Dinner's ready, Detective."

Just then, Xie Ping knocked on the door. She had changed into an elegant black dress, and a delicate silver necklace adorned her slender white neck, finally making her look like a modern city dweller.

Otherwise, Ji Yi would really have doubts about the authenticity of the year 2025. Xie Ping and An An are both from the city, and the electric lantern An An carried at night must have been bought in town and brought to the countryside.

There is a highway not far away, which means the village is not isolated. However, Xie Ping's elderly family lives in a shabby house, while other villagers live in cement or red brick houses.

"Sister Xie, may I not call you 'Detective'?"

"Okay, I remember your surname is Ji, so I'll call you Xiao Ji."

"."

"Oh, wait a minute." Xie Ping's gaze shifted downwards. "Should I still call you Daji?"

"."

Ji Yi adjusted her pants with a slightly embarrassed expression, but she didn't lose out verbally at all:

"I'll pour the tea into your mouth and you'll behave."

Xie Ping was taken aback. What did that mean? Wait, Daji, bring the tea.
Her pretty face flushed red, and her gaze towards Ji Yi was filled with tenderness.

Ji Yi felt a chill run down her spine at the sight.

This girl... she really is a female hooligan!
But when you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. Guan Yu didn't bow his head, but Ji Yi had to.

He stood up, pretending nothing had happened, put on his shoes, and went straight to the living room.

Three bowls of porridge, along with some pickled vegetables and cured meat, were already laid out on the square table.

An An was sitting on the bench with an excited expression, holding an iron ladle in her hand. When she saw Ji Yi come out, she giggled.

Recalling what she heard when she woke up, Ji Yi felt a little helpless. It was amazing that a child this age could be so gossipy.

Ji Yi sat down on the bench opposite An An, picked up a bowl of white porridge and blew on it; the porridge was still very hot.

"It's just simple food, please don't mind it."

After Xie Ping finished speaking, she sat down on the bench near the door. The three of them sat on opposite sides, and there was a somewhat awkward silence.

"Looks like no one disappeared last night; it's a peaceful night."

As Ji Yi spoke, she picked up a piece of pickled mustard tuber with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth, making a crisp sound.

Upon hearing this, Xie Ping glanced at Ji Yi, her eyes filled with scrutiny.

Ji Yi continued calmly, "Otherwise, in such a small village, the news of someone's death would have spread by early morning. How could things be peaceful until you finish cooking?"

The voice just fell.

An old woman's voice came from outside:

"What a disaster! Old Zhang has disappeared!"

Ji Yi: "."

Wow. This is a bit too fast for my opinion.

Ji Yi put down her chopsticks and met Xie Ping's gaze. The latter calmly said to An'an, "An'an, be good. Eat by yourself. It's not safe in the village right now. Remember to lock the door."

An An was a little disappointed upon hearing this, but still nodded.

Ji Yi and Xie Ping immediately got up and ran towards the source of the noise.

Looking across the fields, a house that looked just as dilapidated as Xie Ping's was now surrounded by four or five people.

Ji Yi stepped over the fence and found the ground was very wet.

Did it rain in the latter half of last night?

Muttering to himself, Ji Yi quickly stepped across the ridge of the field, then over several slippery stone steps, and soon arrived at the front of the house.

"This old Zhang is a single old man who lives alone. He is over sixty years old and has never married. He is introverted and has relatively little social interaction. He doesn't go around the village much and usually makes a living by farming."

Xie Ping quickly introduced Ji Yi from behind.

“There are only a dozen or so households in Sanshi Village now, so I’ve gotten to know them all in just a few days since I came here.”

When Ji Yi and Xie Ping arrived, one or two elderly people curiously looked at Ji Yi, who was a stranger, but most of the crowd's attention was focused on the room.

"I've searched everywhere, and he's definitely gone!"

At that moment, a young man suddenly darted out from inside the door.

He had dyed his hair orange, shaved his head, and his neck was covered in tattoos, making him look out of place in the backward rural area.

"What kind of bullshit disappearance is this? Old Zhang was just scared and ran away on his own, wasn't he?"

As he spoke, he raised his fist and began to pound on the wooden door.
"If this is really a supernatural event, why is the door broken? What, do gods need to break down doors to arrest people?"

"Oh my god, what a sin!"

An elderly couple, who appeared to be husband and wife, clasped their hands together and bowed to the sky, clearly frightened by the orange-haired man's disrespectful words to the gods.

A middle-aged man on the field remained silent, his expression complex, lost in thought.

The last one was a quiet, well-behaved girl, about seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a white shirt and jeans, with long hair and bangs, and glasses.

Her face showed a look of doubt, and she was the first to speak:
“My dad is a criminal investigator. When he comes to the scene, he should be able to figure something out.”

"Tch, cop."

The orange-haired thug tilted his head dismissively and sat down on a wooden stump by the door:
"It's good to have a powerful dad, you can speak with more confidence." Orange-haired guy stretched his neck and looked at the girl with a mocking expression, "You can learn all that official airs, but you may not have any real skills."

"you"

The girl choked, but had no choice. After a long while, she finally spoke:

"I've already messaged my dad, he'll be here soon."

As she spoke, she picked up her phone and quickly let out a soft "hmm":
"What's wrong? My phone has no signal?"

Just then, Ji Yi suddenly took a step and went straight into the house.

"Wait a minute!" the girl called out, "Don't keep ruining the scene. Let's wait for my dad to come."

Upon hearing this, Ji Yi turned her head slightly and said, "Don't worry, it's the same whether you ask your dad or I come."

The girl asked in confusion, "Are you a police officer too? You don't look like one."

"of course not."

Ji Yi said, "I'm a great detective."

"."

The entire room fell silent for a moment.

"Tsk, doesn't it look like it? Never mind, I'll hurry up and finish my work, young lady. You should try to find a cell phone signal first. By the way, did you see what was written on the note under your pillow this morning?"

"A note?" The girl thought for a moment. "I remember it said... Hmm!"

Before she could finish speaking, the orange-haired thug quickly stood up, rushed forward, and covered her mouth with his hand.

Ji Yi was taken aback when she saw this, then chuckled softly, feeling as if she had gleaned quite a bit of information.

However, for now, let's investigate Lao Zhang's disappearance first.

After glancing at the broken door bar at the entrance, Ji Yi pondered for a moment before heading straight to the bedroom.

(End of this chapter)