The Secret Chamber of the Card Game

Shao Qingge and Ye Qi walked into the town side by side.

The small town in front of them was completely different from the beautiful Qingfeng Town in their impression.If Qingfeng Town 20 years later is a paradise with beautiful mountains and rivers, then Qingfeng Town during the famine period 20 years ago is a devastated purgatory on earth.

There are not many houses in the town, and most of them are dilapidated.

The roads on the ground are potholed and muddy, and the population living in Qingfeng Town is less than 20% of that of Qingfeng Town [-] years later.Coupled with the famine, many people with poor health and poor families have starved to death by the roadside.

The two of them had just walked a few steps when they saw a few crumbling corpses in the corner of the alley. Those corpses were left untreated and piled up like garbage. The surface of the corpses had rotted and emitted a strong stench.

Ye Qi followed Xiao Lou through so many secret rooms, and he was no stranger to corpses, but the smell was a bit unpleasant.He covered his mouth and nose, took a step forward, took a branch and turned it over to check the corpses.

Since it was 20 years ago, any place where clues may appear must not be missed.

There were five corpses in total, and they looked like a family. One of them was a woman who kept her emaciated child in her arms until she died.No obvious scars were found on any of the corpses. Ye Qi said: "This family should have starved to death. Seeing that they are dressed in rags, the family must have no money. It is really difficult to survive in the face of famine."

Shao Qingge frowned and looked at the flies flying around the corpse, and said in a low voice: "Let's go, these corpses discarded by the roadside should not have much meaning, we should find the mysterious organization from 20 years ago as soon as possible."

Ye Qi nodded, turned around and walked out of the alley with Shao Qingge.

All the way forward, scattered corpses can be found on the side of the road almost every few steps. This scene is like the end of the world.There were no animals to be seen in the town, pigs, pigs, cows and other domestic animals must have been eaten up, and perhaps even the rats had been eaten by the frantically hungry people.

The whole town does not smell of any food.The doors of every house are locked tightly. At this time, those who secretly store food will definitely not dare to take it out.

Ye Qi and Shao Qingge became more and more frightened as they walked.

Twenty years ago, Qingfeng Town was like an empty city. Except for corpses, bloodstains and messy tree branches everywhere, there was not a single living person in broad daylight.

Where should I start?

Ye Qi stood in the center of the town with a dazed expression.

Twenty years later, the center of the town is a lake, surrounded by weeping willows, the scenery is beautiful, and there is a "drunken moon pavilion" in the center of the lake for people to enjoy the cool.But at this time, the center of the town is just a wasteland, and the "Fulai Inn" where Xiao Lou and the others live has not yet been built, and there are many corpses scattered around.

Ye Qi looked around: "I have no clue at all, how should we investigate? We can't knock on doors from house to house, right?"

Shao Qingge thought for a while, then suddenly said: "Do you still remember the old man we met when we went to buy rattles?"

Ye Qi remembered the old man who made rattle drums he found not long ago, and his eyes lit up: "The old man lived in this small town 20 years ago. He survived the famine. Our world 20 years ago must have Find him! At this time, he should be... a young man in his thirties, right?"

Shao Qingge nodded: "Yes. According to his description, during the famine that year, more than half of the people in the town died, and he survived by eating sweet potatoes stored in the cellar. I remember that he lived at the east end of the town. We Go look around."

The two identified the direction according to the sunlight, and quickly walked towards the east of the city.

On the way, they saw a mother-in-law and a little girl passing by in a hurry.

The wrinkled mother-in-law seemed to be over 50 years old, and her old hand was tightly holding the girl's left hand.The girl was thin and small, with sallow skin and looked malnourished, but her eyes were very dark and bright.

When passing by, she looked up at Ye Qi.

Ye Qi met her eyes. The little girl should be less than ten years old, holding one hand by her mother-in-law, and putting the other hand to her mouth to bite gently.After meeting Ye Qi and Shao Qingge, she didn't ask them for some food, but her eyes were calm, she only glanced at Ye Qi and then turned her head away.

Finally seeing two living people in the empty town, Ye Qi hurriedly asked, "Little girl, we are from other places, do you know where we can find food?"

He and Shao Qingge dressed up in disguise, their clothes were torn torn, their faces were covered with dust, and some weeds were deliberately put in their hair. They really looked like foreigners who had traveled a long way. Very embarrassed.

The little girl said, "I haven't eaten for three days."

Ye Qi still wanted to ask something, but the old man next to him suddenly coughed and said in a low voice, "Go back quickly, it's going to rain again." The little girl nodded and walked away quickly with the old man.

Ye Qi looked at their backs, thoughtfully.

He noticed that the old woman's left foot was a little lame, and her walking posture was not very neat.Although the little girl is thin and small, her facial features are actually pretty.The two of them don't look like rich people. They can live to this day, but they don't know where they can find food?

Shao Qingge said: "Let's go, I remember that the alley in front is where we buy rattles."

Ye Qi came back to his senses, and followed Shao Qingge into the alley.

Looking up, the two unexpectedly saw a rather familiar shop.

Half of the plaque on the storefront had been smashed, but the words "Dingdang Shop" could be vaguely seen written on it.

Twenty years later, there was a large shop at the end of this alley. It was the "Ding Dang Shop", which sold children's toys. The most popular ones were rattle drums made by the shop owner himself. The house was full.

The shop owner's surname is Ren, and everyone in the town calls him Uncle Ren.

He has superb skills, and the rattles he made by himself are very popular with children.When Ye Qi and Shao Qingge went to him to buy rattles, he even bragged, "Most people in this small town have bought the rattles I made."

Shao Qingge took Ye Qi to a corner where no one was around, and opened the "Talk of Heart".

The man's familiar voice sounded in his mind, this time it was not in a joking tone, but serious: "Uncle Ren who can make rattles may know the murderer, or the murderer will buy rattles from him. Therefore, we must contact him Be cautious. It’s better to have a tacit understanding, and it’s more convenient to communicate with the spirit.”

Ye Qi nodded in agreement, and said in his mind: "This uncle Ren has already mastered the craft of making rattle drums when he was young, and he opened a shop in a small town to sell toys. It's just that his shop was very small 20 years ago. There's no comparison to that store."

Shao Qingge said: "He is very business-minded and far-sighted, and he has made a name for himself by focusing on the 'children's toys' market. Now his business has just started, the store is very small, and he only dares to do small business. Only relying on word of mouth to expand the business. We can hardly see other stores selling toys after 20 years, which shows that he has successfully monopolized the market."

Ye Qi said: "In other words, because he is proficient in a craft and has no shortage of money, when the famine first started, he had the foresight to buy some grain in advance and hide it in the cellar to survive this crisis ?”

Shao Qingge nodded: "Well, hide the food in the cellar, even if someone comes to rob it, they won't be able to find it. Looking at his store, it should have been robbed. But as long as he hides the food, relying on this skill, he will be able to survive if he survives." Can make a comeback."

Ye Qi said: "How should we get close to him?"

Shao Qingge thought for a while and said, "Put on the invisibility cloak and explore the way first."

The two looked at each other, tacitly took out the invisibility cloak from the card bag and put it on, and turned over the wall next to the shop.

There is a small courtyard behind the shop.

The small yard 20 years ago was very dilapidated. The pots and pans in the yard were smashed all over the place. As Shao Qingge said, his house had already been robbed.There are even cobwebs on the walls, it looks like it has been abandoned for a long time.

Ye Qi couldn't help wondering: "Did he not live here 20 years ago?"

Shao Qingge said: "Look carefully."

The two rummaged carefully in the messy yard, but found nothing but weeds all over the ground.

Suddenly, there was a rustling sound behind him, Ye Qi turned his head and saw a hole in the corner of the yard, covered by some messy branches and weeds.

A young man crept furtively out of a hole in the ground.

His eyes looked around like a vigilant mouse, and he was relieved to find that no one was around.

Then, he quickly ran to the dry toilet in the corner of the yard, and there was a sound of urinating in his ears.

Ye Qi and Shao Qingge: "..."

The two were wearing invisibility cloaks, and the other party didn't notice them, but they saw each other's every move clearly.Ye Qi couldn't help complaining in his mind: "This man is too cunning. He dug the cellar in the corner and covered it with various branches and weeds. Is he a rat? He actually dug a hole in the ground!"

Shao Qingge said with a smile: "In order to survive, he is also cowardly to the extreme."

After solving the urgent problem, the man ran back and got into the hole again.

The whole process was smooth and smooth, obviously he did it every day, with extremely dexterous hands and feet.

It seems that during the famine, he lived like a mouse in a hole in the ground.It is precisely because of this that he was able to survive smoothly, and became a well-known toy shop owner in the town 20 years later, renovating and expanding the yard by three times.

Ye Qi said: "What should we do, let's go to the cave to have a look?"

Shao Qingge nodded: "Why don't we play the villain once and grab his food reserves directly. We have so many cards in our hands, he will definitely not be able to beat two of them, so we can only cooperate with us. We can let him be the guide, and check the cards through him. Explore the matter of human sacrifice."

For Qingfeng Town 20 years ago, the two of them were really "unfamiliar with the place". If there is a local to help, the investigation will be much more convenient, at least they can recognize everyone's name.

After agreeing, the two took off their invisibility cloaks.

Ye Qi lifted the branches covering the hole, pretended to be pleasantly surprised and said in a low voice: "Brother, I found a cellar here, maybe there is food hidden in it."

Shao Qingge said: "Go in and have a look."

The man hiding in the cave looked stunned. Hearing this conversation, he immediately picked up his weapon vigilantly——

However, before he came back to his senses, he felt like a gust of wind was blowing around him.

Two strangers suddenly appeared in front of him, one of them was a clever young man who quickly sealed the hole, walked up to him and looked at him curiously, while the other tall and tall young man walked around behind him and gently strangled him with his arm. Holding his throat, he whispered: "Borrow some food, if you want to survive, just listen to us honestly."

The man was stunned: "Borrow?"

Aren't you robbing?