Sheriff Uncle, open the door quickly! I've come to solve a case!

"Hey young folks over there—yes, you guys—want some watermelon?"

An old woman waved and called to Qin Qingzhou and Bai Zhizhi.

They were planning to walk around the village to see if they could find the missing person.

Upon hearing the old woman's voice, Qin Qingzhou tightened her grip on Bai Zhizhi's hand.

The old woman was just an ordinary villager, wearing a blue square scarf on her head and dressed very simply.

She was cutting a watermelon before Qin Qingzhou appeared, and an early Qiong Yao drama was playing on TV.

"No need, Auntie, I'll take the child to play in the mountains."

Qin Qingzhou slightly curled the corners of her lips, appearing more amiable.

Bai Zhizhi hid behind Qin Qingzhou's legs, cautiously peeking out a tiny bit of his eyes, just like a father with his child.

"It's alright, it's so hot. Have a watermelon, it's from my own garden, it's sweeter than the ones in the city." The old woman said as she went up to them.

Qin Qingzhou wanted to pull Bai Zhizhi away, but the movement was too awkward, so he could only slightly pull Bai Zhizhi back.

In the old woman's eyes, it looked as if the timid child had shrunk back a little.

The old woman smiled kindly: "Don't be afraid, child, Grandma will treat you to watermelon."

"Really, you don't need to..."

The old woman pushed the two of them to the doorway and, without saying a word, stuffed a piece into each of their hands.

The watermelon in my hand had been soaked in ice water, and it was still cool to the touch. The flesh was bright red, and you could tell from the smell that it was a very sweet watermelon.

Bai Zhizhi's mouth was practically watering.

"Eat up, eat up. Look how hungry the kid is. There's more if you want. My child is sleeping. I'll cut him a fresh one when he wakes up."

Qin Qingzhou looked down at Bai Zhizhi, her words carrying a hidden meaning: "Zhizhi, do you want to eat?"

Bai Zhizhi remembered the warnings from her uncle and aunt, and resisted the urge to eat.

He subtly activated his senses in his palm, confirming that the watermelon was not poisonous before nodding: "Zhizhi wants to eat it."

"Eat if you want, and say thank you to Grandma." Qin Qingzhou silently patted Zhizhi's head.

Bai Zhizhi took a bite of the watermelon, the juice bursting out with every bite. She squinted her eyes in satisfaction: "So delicious~ Thank you, Grandma~"

A few people were eating watermelon at the door, and the old woman brought out some bamboo chairs for them to sit on.

"You just arrived today, right?"

"Mmm." Qin Qingzhou took a small bite of watermelon.

The old woman looked on with envy: "I saw you all when you came today. You're all young people. It's good to be young. When I was young, I also wanted to travel around. So I came here to play and ended up staying."

This statement just doesn't sit right with me.

Qin Qingzhou glanced at her subconsciously: "So you're saying you're not a native of this village?"

"Yes, I used to be... where was it again? I'm too old to remember, but I'm from this village now."

As if she had said something she shouldn't have, the old woman chuckled, cut a slice of watermelon and handed it to Bai Zhizhi, then abruptly changed the subject.

"But young man, you look very young. How come you already have such a big child at such a young age? Don't young people get married late these days? Where's the child's mother?"

Qin Qingzhou lowered her head slightly, looking somewhat forlorn: "The child's mother... has passed away."

The old woman immediately slapped her mouth: "Oh dear, look at my mouth! I didn't mean to ask that."

"fine."

Upon learning of Bai Zhizhi's mother's passing, the old woman visibly became happy, even humming a tune while eating watermelon.

"Are there many tourists here usually?" Qin Qingzhou asked.

"Not much, it's summer vacation now, so there are just a few more."

Were there other tourists before we arrived?

The old woman's face stiffened, and her smile became somewhat rigid: "Why are you asking this?"

"I just want to know if we have good taste, or if someone else has better taste and already knew how beautiful this place was before we came."

The old woman breathed a sigh of relief.

There's really no need to be nervous. They may look silly, but they're just clumsy young fathers taking care of their child.

"Yes, there was a group of people before you, a bunch of students, they stayed for two days and then left."

Bai Zhizhi's belly was round and full from eating. She clutched her stomach and frowned. As soon as she got some cold air, her stomach started to upset.

I really want to poop...

She slowly climbed down from the stool and went inside to find the toilet.

Qin Qingzhou and the old woman were unaware of what was happening and continued chatting.

"What games did they play? Students are more adept at playing games; I'll take a look."

"There's a shrine on that mountain over there, the scenery is quite beautiful, a girl went there. Also, just outside the village to the right, there's a lake, surrounded by mountains, it's quite pretty too..."

After Bai Zhi finished using the restroom, she looked around curiously.

How strange, even the room is filled with spiritual energy.

Why?

Could it be that there are other knowledgeable people here?

Thinking this, Bai Zhizhi suddenly became excited and began looking for her kind.

There is a room to the right of the living room, and the door is ajar.

She quietly walked over and pushed open the door.

There was a wooden bed in the room, with a flowered quilt that was puffed up, as if someone was lying on it.

Why... has this house lost its spiritual energy?

Every living being possesses spiritual energy, so why would the person lying in bed lack spiritual energy?

She wanted to go in and see what was on the bed, and had just lifted her foot.

"Little friend, how can you just go into someone else's room like that?"

"what!"

Bai Zhizhi was startled and fell to the ground with a thud. She saw the old woman with a strange smile and Qin Qingzhou rushing over behind her.

"Bai Zhizhi! Come here!"

Bai Zhizhi bit her lower lip to suppress the urge to cry, and her short legs immediately ran to Qin Qingzhou's side.

"How can you just barge into someone else's room?" Qin Qingzhou pretended to scold her, but actually slowly pulled her out of the room.

"I'm sorry..."

Bai Zhizhi pouted and burst into tears.

"Don't scare the child. It's nothing. My child is sleeping inside. As long as you don't disturb the child, it's fine."

The old woman carefully looked around the room, and after confirming that there was nothing wrong, she closed the door behind her.

"You can't do that again, understand?"

"Heh... Zhizhi... I know..." Bai Zhizhi cried, her nose twitching.

Qin Qingzhou then picked up Bai Zhizhi and stuffed a hundred yuan into the old woman's hand: "This is for the watermelon. My child is too naughty and has caused you trouble. The watermelon is delicious."

The old woman pushed him, trying to return the money.

"I can't just eat your watermelon for free. Growing watermelons isn't easy for you either." Qin Qingzhou took a few steps back, turned around, and left. "Take it. It's getting late. I'm taking the kids to see the scenery."

After Qin Qingzhou left, the old woman put the money away.

Watching them leave, her expression instantly turned icy.

I slowly walked to the door of the room, opened it, and found the child lying "quietly" asleep in bed, but the blanket did not move at all.

"Baby...did I disturb you?"