Chapter 39 The Ancient Town Wanderer - Assimilation

They watched helplessly as Han Yadong's figure vanished into the back alley; ten people had come, but now only three remained.

The return journey was silent, a chilling sense of shared grief and dread permeating everyone's hearts.

Upon reaching the main street near the town entrance, that elusive Guide appeared once again near the Shrine.

Seeing only Bai Xiao and the other two return, he didn't seem surprised at all; strictly speaking, over the past two days, his eyes hadn't shown the slightest change regardless of who died or who left.

After the three of them returned the statue to the Shrine, he said eerily, "Today, the clan elder and Townfolk watched the Procession Rehearsal. They are very dissatisfied. You actually failed to return the statue to the temple to receive the Clan Head's incense offerings. The Clan Head is very angry. Tomorrow at eleven o'clock, the Procession Assembly officially begins. If you cannot return the statue to the temple by high noon, you will stay here forever to serve the Mountain God."

After the Guide left, the three remained standing where they were, unmoving.

Looking at the slightly dazed expressions of Ma Huilin and Huang Xinxin, Bai Xiao reminded them, "Tomorrow we only have one hour to find the Divine Path and the temple. If we exceed the time, we might never be able to leave this place."

"When we were by the Sacrificial Altar earlier, I counted; there are eight passages on each side of the Square. We already tested one today, leaving fifteen more to try," Ma Huilin analyzed.

"Sister Ma, we might not necessarily have the chance to try every path." Huang Xinxin felt Ma Huilin was being too optimistic, as her words suggested she wanted to try them all.

Bai Xiao analyzed calmly, "Huang Xinxin makes a good point. From starting at the town entrance, going to the Square to bestow blessings on the Townfolk, and then choosing a Divine Path to pass through—this will take at least twenty minutes, and that's if things go smoothly. Even if we can be faster and escape in time after choosing the wrong path, we can only complete three attempts at most in one hour."

She thought that if the goal of the previous game was extremely clear—requiring only observation without searching, where the answer could be found by breaking out of fixed thinking—then this round was more like a script-based murder mystery, with many small tasks, numerous scenes, and even more complex characters.

Where was the breakthrough point of this game?

The light rain was still falling, having lasted the entire day. The night wind was cool, and the three of them couldn't analyze anything further on the spot, so they each returned to their rooms in the Guesthouse to rest.

Bai Xiao took off her hat and coat. Although the coat was leather, it wasn't completely waterproof; it had been soaked through after a day's work, so she hung it on the chair at the foot of the bed to dry.

Fortunately, the clothes underneath were only damp, not soaked. Bai Xiao made do without taking them off, sitting quietly on the edge of the bed with her head down in thought.

Water had gotten into her boots, and it was truly uncomfortable for her feet to be soaked inside, so she took off her shoes and socks and set them aside to dry.

Looking at the mud splattered on her boots, she couldn't help but recall the disgusted looks of the Townfolk when she returned.

From the first day, she had noticed that the people here seemed exceptionally fond of cleanliness.

Immaculate shops, neat and clean streets, even the Shop Owner selling snacks was fully geared up—but what could these things indicate?

Bai Xiao slowly fell asleep with these questions.

That night, the rain outside grew heavier. The wooden house had poor soundproofing, and Bai Xiao spent the night half-asleep and half-awake. If she hadn't taken the enhancement potion before, she wouldn't have been able to recover at all.

Putting on her still-damp shoes and clothes, Bai Xiao took out a portion of food and water from her game backpack and began to eat as usual.

When she went downstairs, there was no one there. She opened the Guesthouse door; the pitter-patter of light rain outside had turned into a splashing moderate rain. Perhaps because the town entrance was on high ground, there wasn't much standing water on the road. The rainwater flowed away along the town's only main street, in the direction of the Square.

The water in the Square and alleys would definitely be deeper than yesterday. More water meant more resistance when running, so people wouldn't be able to run fast. It was truly a case of making a bad situation worse.

The situation was even more severe than she had thought yesterday. During that one hour of the procession ceremony, they might not even get a third chance.

About half an hour later, Huang Xinxin and Ma Huilin dragged their tired bodies downstairs. The two had been woken up by hunger, but it was still early and the town's shops hadn't opened yet.

Their clothes weren't waterproof and had been soaked after being in the rain all day yesterday. After hanging for a night, they were only half-dry. The two went to the backyard again to pick large tree leaves, wanting to see if they could make ponchos.

Bai Xiao hadn't taken off her inner layers last night, and her body heat had already dried them. Her leather coat was only damp and not completely soaked, and it was basically dry after hanging all night. She didn't need a poncho for now, so she just watched the two of them get busy.

Around nine o'clock, the three of them went out together again.

At this hour, shops in town were starting to open one after another, but not many were open, and there weren't many people.

Passing by the Braised Meat Shop, they saw the Shop Owner had only opened half the door. At this time, the Shop Owner was still cutting meat to prepare for braising.

This time Bai Xiao saw clearly; the meat he was using was the same as the meat offered to the Mountain God the day before—crimson and bloody. When he flipped it over to cut it, Bai Xiao clearly saw what looked like fine hairs on the skin, making it even harder to identify what kind of meat it actually was.

After a while, Han Yadong suddenly came out from the back of the shop carrying a large jar. Bai Xiao and the others were shocked to find that Han Yadong wasn't wearing his shirt and trousers; he had changed into a blue jacket and long pants just like the men in town. If they hadn't spent two days together, his attire would have made it impossible to recognize that he wasn't a local.

"Han Yadong?" Ma Huilin called out to him.

He seemed to freeze for a moment upon hearing the name Han Yadong, but it was only for a few seconds. He shook his head and continued walking into the shop as if he hadn't heard anything.

"Han Yadong, don't forget we have to participate in the Procession Assembly at eleven o'clock," Ma Huilin continued shouting when she saw he didn't stop.

But he still turned a deaf ear, only caring about going into the shop.

"What's the deal with him?" Ma Huilin said in a low voice.

Seeing this, Huang Xinxin also said, "It's like he doesn't know us."

"Let's go for now. He probably won't be participating in our mission anymore," Bai Xiao said, stopping the two who intended to go forward and demand an explanation.

Ma and Huang had no choice but to give up and follow Bai Xiao forward.

Passing by a Vegetarian Noodle Shop, Ma Huilin suggested having a bowl. Huang Xinxin nodded; since they couldn't eat meat, there weren't many options left in town—only fruit and one or two noodle shops were edible.

"You guys go ahead and eat. I haven't finished the fruit I bought yesterday; I'll eat when I get back. I'll go check how deep the water in the Square is first." Bai Xiao pointed in two directions, suggesting they split up.

The closer she got to the Square entrance, the more the water flow increased, gradually submerging her heels. Reaching the Square entrance, she saw that sure enough, the water flow here had already become rapid. The depth was enough to cover the tops of her feet, and there was no telling how deep the water in the surrounding alleys would be.

She didn't dare to enter the Square's alleys to check on her own, so she could only return the way she came.

Passing the Braised Meat Shop again, the Shop Owner was away doing something, leaving only Han Yadong stirring the meat pot with a glint in his eyes.

"Han Yadong, do you still recognize me?" Bai Xiao went forward and asked him.

Han Yadong's gaze moved from the meat pot to her face. He stared at her intently, as if he had discovered something even better. He took a deep breath and said, "You smell so good, even better than the meat in the pot."