Buddhist player

The rain poured down, threatening to submerge the entire world.

The headlights tore through the thick rain curtain ahead, illuminating the scene around the corner in the distance. Driving on the wet mountain road, Tiger King felt a strange sense of peace.

After getting away from that haunted villa complex, he suddenly felt much better. Before, when they were talking about how the light was being suppressed, he was a little worried, but now, the bright headlights in front of the car gave him enough confidence.

And besides that...

Turning his gaze to the side, Tiger King looked at Falling Maple Leaf sitting in the passenger seat beside him.

They had run into the car in the pouring rain, so their clothes were soaked and clung to their bodies. He had initially thought the woman named Yuan Qing had a good figure, but now it seemed the one next to him wasn't bad either.

A hint of greed flickered in his eyes.

He had suffered too much injustice before, and now he desperately needed to vent.

"...What's your real name?"

It was tilted like a head, and a maple leaf fell from its lips as it turned to look at him, a strange smile faintly curving upwards at the corner of its mouth.

"Why are you suddenly asking this?"

"Of course, it's to make friends."

Sitting up straight, the Tiger King had a majestic and righteous look on his face.

"After all, you saved me in this instance. A small kindness should be repaid with a great one, let alone a life-saving one. Naturally, I should repay you with my body."

"What if I'm actually very ugly?"

Seemingly intrigued, she reached up and brushed a strand of hair behind her head, rested her chin on her hand, blew a maple leaf, and blinked.

"In that case, you'd also offer yourself in return?"

"certainly."

Seeing that there was hope, the Tiger King was overjoyed and hurriedly expressed his support.

"My name is Wang Hu. I'm a fitness coach in real life. Come to the gym and find me. I'll teach you how to work out step by step."

As he spoke, Wang Hu gripped the steering wheel and patted his chest forcefully.

"I'm a gold medal coach, the really awesome kind!!"

"Reality... that's too far away. Why don't we try it in town first?"

After pretending to think for a while, he blew a maple leaf into his mouth and chuckled softly.

"I know this town well. How about we check into a hotel first, then take a hot shower?"

"Alright, then I'll risk my life to keep you company!!"

Unaware of the unusual tone in the other person's words, and forcibly suppressing his overwhelming joy, Wang Hu slammed on the gas pedal.

—Beyond the thick curtain of rain, the town's hazy lights were already within reach.

....................................

"From the very beginning... were there really only five people?"

While helping to dress the last corpse of his men in new clothes, the bard couldn't help but ask again.

"Um."

"...Excuse me, could you please explain in more detail?"

Looking at the girl in front of him who didn't seem to want to say anything more after responding, he twitched his lips slightly and asked the question on behalf of the bard.

This time, the girl finally reacted.

"The quantity is incorrect."

Yuan Qing glanced up at them, his face expressionless.

"The number... is it the few white candles taken from the corpse's stomach? After all, there were only five white candles, and we have six people... But if we include the very first white candle, doesn't it match up?"

The Dao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Dao. He frowned.

"Even if there are five marked villas, including the one we're in, that makes six, right? It makes sense, doesn't it? It's impossible that our numbers correspond to these five corpses..."

"It's a backpack, right?"

Looking up at the distant blue sky, the bard suddenly spoke.

"Did you go upstairs earlier to look for and double-check the number of our lost backpacks?"

"They cannot leave their floor."

Standing up from the ground, Yuan Qingping looked at the corpse in front of him, which had been dressed in new clothes, and spoke.

"Yes, just like a bound spirit. Otherwise, we wouldn't have needed to go through so much trouble to reunite their family... Is there a problem?"

Looking up at her, he was completely bewildered.

Yuan Qing: "………"

...She suddenly felt a little tired.

"Unable to leave... Wait, if they can't leave their floor, then who hid our lost backpacks on the second floor?"

Suddenly, the bard realized what was happening.

"Swing it up from the stairwell."

The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao, as if it were perfectly natural.

"Just aim carefully, it's very easy."

The bard: "..."

"...The first white candle has already proven that it was lit by my father on the coffee table."

After a brief silence, he decided to ignore the other person.

"Given that it needs our help, it has no reason to hide the backpack containing crucial information about the villa; that would only cause it trouble."

"So, the backpack we lost at the beginning was hidden by that thing that infiltrated our team?"

At this moment, the Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao also realized what was happening.

"more than."

The bard touched his forehead and sighed.

"I didn't think so before, but now that I think about it, Blowing Maple Leaf does have a lot of problems. For example, at the very beginning, she was the one who opened the gate, which led to the topic of the cars parked outside and the town at the foot of the mountain. Later, she and Tiger King were attacked many times, but every time it was Tiger King who suffered, while she was unscathed... It's just the thief crying 'stop thief!'"

At this point, the bard gave a wry smile.

"Not only did we not see her take anything out, but she was also the closest to the Tiger King when he went berserk for the second time and tried to take the opportunity to attack Chen Bai."

"Wait a minute, now that you mention it, it does seem to be true."

After pondering for a moment, the expression on Dao Ke Dao's face changed slightly.

"She was deliberately steering the conversation, trying to get us to take a car directly to the town. When this body fell from the first floor, she was the first person to enter that room and that's when she found the note..."

He adjusted his glasses and looked at the corpse on the ground with a serious expression.

"If that's the case, the reason this corpse hid its left hand inside its abdomen was probably to protect itself from her... She wanted to take the five white candles and the map as soon as possible!!"

If you understand one method, you understand all methods.

After figuring out the details, all the subtle inconsistencies I had felt before suddenly became clear.

Yuan Qing didn't interrupt the question-and-answer session between the two people, but silently sat back down by the fire... while peeling a piece of fruit candy for himself.

"Wait a minute, I still don't quite understand."

Looking up at the bard, the Dao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Dao, his face full of confusion.

"Why did she go to all that trouble to guide us to town? Was she planning to kill us on the mountain road halfway there?"

"Probably, but Tiger King is probably in grave danger. We need to be careful from now on."

The bard sighed, pressing his temples forcefully as if he had a headache.

"Going to town is probably just an excuse; their real purpose is to get us to leave..."

"No, that's not an excuse."

Before the bard could finish his sentence, a slightly weary voice suddenly rang out from the doorway.

"This is not a world for the living."