“Okay.”
Seeing that Xie Lai had agreed to the arrangements and to cover for her, Bai Ci laid out her own plan.
“I plan to find Shen Jiayi to confirm what exactly happened during last year's Honey Rite from her perspective.”
“Once I get back, I'll organize the information and share everything with you in detail.”
With their division of labor settled, Xie Lai suddenly remembered the excuse she had used at the very beginning.
So, she seized the opportunity to ask, “By the way, Sister Bai, did anything happen this morning when you and Sister Qu Ling went to do the makeup trial for this year's Honey Bride?”
Xie Lai thought to herself that she needed to find a way to draw Qu Ling's attention even more. That way, Qu Ling would overlook the fact that an NPC was helping her investigate.
Bai Ci kept it brief and concise, recounting everything that had happened during the makeup trial on the second floor.
The strange, doll-like bride, her extreme emotional threshold, and her bizarre attitude toward the village.
Having finished, Bai Ci packed her canvas bag, tucked the torn half of the report letter safely away, and slipped out of the second-floor guest room after confirming the hallway was clear.
Watching Bai Ci's calm and decisive departure, Xie Lai sat at the table with only one thought left in her mind.
She had hit the jackpot in this instance.
Compared to the other two players, who were guarded and calculating, the NPC Bai Ci was incredibly reliable.
She had a clear head, incredible initiative, and could actively search for the truth and gather clues. She was far more useful than actual players.
Meanwhile, Bai Ci stepped out of the village chief's courtyard gate.
Before leaving, she had specifically reviewed the documents to commit the coordinates of her destination to memory.
Taking the side path behind the village chief's house and heading toward the village entrance, the third house on the way—the one with a mature mulberry tree planted in the courtyard—was Shen Jiayi's home.
Bai Ci stopped in front of the gate. It seemed to be locked from the inside.
Fortunately, she had no intention of knocking on the front door in broad daylight anyway.
Her objective was clear: she only wanted to see Shen Jiayi privately and alone, without interacting with her family or alerting the other villagers.
Scanning the street several times, she saw that the path was completely empty. The surrounding houses were dead silent, with no one paying attention to her.
Bai Ci circled around to the back of Shen Jiayi's house, preparing to scale the wall.
She was glad she had allocated those extra agility points; they hadn't gone to waste. Scaling the wall of Shen Jiayi's courtyard was quite easy for her now.
The courtyard was desolate. Mulberry leaves littered the ground, un-swept. Numerous flower pots sat cracked and dry, overrun with weeds. The entire place exuded a sense of neglected ruin.
Directly beneath the courtyard wall, a figure stood quietly, staring straight at Bai Ci as she climbed over.
Their eyes met.
The woman's messy, long hair hung loose, sticking to her thin, pale cheeks. Her expression was weary and despondent, her eyes bloodshot from chronic insomnia.
She wore loose, faded clothes, but her frame was so thin and frail that she carried the numb aura of a walking corpse.
The last time outside the church, from where Bai Ci had been standing, Shen Jiayi's long hair had completely obscured her face, making it impossible to get a clear look at her.
Staring at each other up close now, she could clearly recognize her.
The woman's features were soft and gentle, her bone structure delicate. She perfectly matched the bright, cheerful girl flashing a peace sign in the photograph from the files.
She was indeed Shen Jiayi.
Unlike an ordinary person who would panic or grow defensive upon catching a stranger scaling their wall, Shen Jiayi's expression remained flat and indifferent.
It was as if, to her, Bai Ci was nothing more than a fallen leaf blown into the courtyard by the wind—entirely inconsequential.
Bai Ci stood up straight, glanced around the courtyard to ensure they were alone, and spoke first to break the dead silence.
“You're Shen Jiayi, right?”
Shen Jiayi's lips parted slightly, but she didn't make a sound, her hollow gaze remaining fixed on Bai Ci.
Bai Ci kept her tone gentle to soften the potential confrontation in her words.
“I've heard some things. The rumors say that Wang Huizong was the one who approached you, but after the truth came out, he blamed everything on you.”
“I want to know, what is your side of the story?”
Still, there was only silence.
Shen Jiayi didn't even raise her eyelids.
Unfazed, Bai Ci reached into her canvas bag, pulled out the torn half of the red-lined letter, and held it up between her fingers.
“I have a letter written by Wang Huizong. Its contents are very different from the rumors I just mentioned. In fact, you could say they're completely different.”
The moment those words left her mouth, Shen Jiayi's vacant pupils suddenly constricted.
Her numbness shattered, and a faint ripple finally stirred in her dead, stagnant eyes.
After a brief silence, she answered in a slightly hoarse voice, “I am Shen Jiayi.”
Bai Ci's attitude was earnest. “I can give you the letter, but I need to hear your perspective first. This is very important.”
Shen Jiayi fell silent again for a brief moment before rasping, “What did he write in the letter?”
“It's a plea for help,” Bai Ci said after a moment's thought.
After all, a letter reporting Tianmi Village to the authorities was certainly a form of a plea for help.
Hearing the words “plea for help,” the numbness on Shen Jiayi's face completely cracked.
Perhaps because of Bai Ci's words, she recalled the past, and a gentle light spread across her eyes.
She leaned back slowly against the mottled wall, closing her eyes and taking several deep breaths.
When she opened them again, Shen Jiayi began to speak.
“He was terrified of bugs.”
“The forests around Tianmi Village are full of insects and pests. Having grown up in the mountains, I've never been afraid of them.”
“He was an outsider—clean, refined, with handsome features and an upright air, yet he was terrified of mountain creepy-crawlies.”
“It was quite cute.”
“The first time we met was on a dirt path in the woods. A centipede had crawled onto his shoe, and he was too scared to move, completely frozen.”
“I happened to pass by and kicked the bug away for him, though I ended up kicking his foot by accident and hurting him.”
“He was so silly. His face went red from the pain, yet he still politely thanked me, saying everything in the mountains made him feel out of place.”
“To thank me, he brought me some candies and pastries the next day. They were things he had brought from the outside, things we didn't have in the village.”
“He was gentle with everyone, very polite and a bit stiff when he spoke.”
“As for his actions, he was upright and helpful. He would carry heavy things for the elderly at the village entrance, and he proactively helped me clear out the clutter in my house. He was polite to everyone in the village.”
“At least before that incident happened, all he ever showed me was pure sincerity and kindness.”
“Gradually, we grew close.”
“Living deep in the mountains traps you for a lifetime. Ever since I was a child, my obsession has been to leave this place and see the bustling city outside.”
“I mentioned to him that I wanted to leave Tianmi Village.”
“He looked into my eyes and solemnly promised me that once the Honey Rite was over, he would take me away from the village and bring me to live in the city.”
“I believed him, waiting with a heart full of joy for the day of our escape.”
“But then... that incident happened.”
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