Chapter 45:

Expert among the people

Following Jin Guijuan’s words, Manman slightly furrowed her brows and asked, “Then what about Xu Erya? Her power counteracts the oil pan hell. Why does she want to stop Xu Siya?”

Jin Guijuan did not respond to Manman’s doubts and only smiled bitterly as she said, “Actually, I can understand Xu Siya’s feelings. When I was a child, I also thought about death… However, maybe it was the survival instinct at play because I only thought about it, yet in the end, I just kept on living.”

“But you have never thought about hurting your parents, right?” Yan Hong suddenly asked.

Jin Guijuan froze. “Yes… you’re right! When I was little, the thing I wanted most was to grow up, so I could escape everything…”

Yan Hong stated, “Actually, Guijuan’s desire to escape is normal and Xu Erya’s desire for her parents’ love is also normal. If you think about it, your family backgrounds are quite similar but your thoughts are different. If I’m not mistaken, Guijuan’s mindset and actions are somewhere between Xu Erya and Xu Siya.”

Listening to Yan Hong’s analysis and the fact that he said both Jin Guijuan’s and Xu Erya’s thoughts were normal, it wasn’t hard to deduce that Yan Hong probably believed Xu Siya’s actions were somewhat abnormal…

Jin Guijuan hesitated for a moment and asked, “Hmm?”

“Usually, ordinary people have very strong empathy. When two people have a conflict and start fighting, their emotions are aroused and they act aggressively in the heat of the moment. However, to repeatedly make plans and schemes to harm others while being completely calm and rational is something that most ordinary people simply cannot do,” explained Yan Hong.

Jing Qizhen blinked. When they first entered the erosion area, Yan Hong was dressed as Gold Chain Brother. Even though he knew Yang Hong was a police officer, Jing Qizhen would subconsciously overlook that fact.

At that moment when Yan Hong suddenly raised the issue of criminal psychology, Jing Qizhen suddenly realized that their companion, who looked like a gangster, was actually a police officer and had specifically studied criminal psychology…

Yan Hong continued, “This is a very common situation in criminal psychology. Almost all criminals must have undergone some kind of psychological change. It’s very hard for normal people to truly understand a criminal’s thought process.”

“You’re talking about Xu Siya?” asked Jing Qizhen.

Yan Hong nodded. “Yes, because of the abuse she suffered as a child, Xu Siya’s psychological state is deeply distorted.

“—That’s not right,” Yan Hong suddenly corrected himself. “According to the village chief, when Xu Erya was still alive, she was the one taking care of her younger sister. If Xu Erya was a very kind and gentle person, then Xu Siya should be able to feel familial love at the beginning, no matter how faint that love was, considering it only came from her older sister, Xu Erya.”

Yan Hong continued, “Later when Xu Erya had an accident, the still-young Xu Siya’s life changed dramatically. After all, their parents were always like that…”

“There’s one more thing. Although Xu Erya was only fifteen years old at the time, she already had a boyfriend from a neighboring village. In the relatively isolated rural villages of the 1990s, something like music boxes were probably not common, right?” added Manman.

“Hmm, that’s right. In my hometown, exquisite music boxes are still rare even now. Most people in the village would think those things are useless and a waste of money,” replied Jin Guijuan, “Buying one would be seen as a sign of ruining the family.”

“The village chief also mentioned that the young man from the neighboring village who liked Xu Erya came from a well-off family compared to others around, which was why he could give Xu Erya a music box that was considered a very precious gift at that time. Moreover, Xu Erya’s parents probably also supported their relationship, if it weren’t for the trouble the young man’s family faced later on,” added Jing Qizhen.

Jin Guijuan sneered. “Yes, under those circumstances, Xu Erya’s status in the family would also rise significantly. After all, she was about to marry into a good family, so her parents would naturally regard her highly. Although, essentially, they were just hoping to gain long-term benefits from their daughter after her marriage.”

“That’s about it!” Yan Hong continued, “Because of Xu Erya’s marriage, she should be at her happiest time. Since she had always cared for Xu Siya, her younger sister’s life would also be better. Compared to her other sisters in the family, Xu Siya should be the luckier one. However, the young man’s family suddenly faced a crisis and Xu Erya passed away shortly after. All these changes would shatter Xu Siya’s illusion of a happy life.

“A sudden change in living conditions and environment usually causes people a strong shock. Even some emotionally fragile adults might not be able to bear it, let alone a child like Xu Siya. The sudden death of her closest sister, combined with the cold and harsh treatment she suffered from her parents, brought a shock that could severely damage her psychological state.”

Jing Qizhen said, “The more innocent they are, the crueler they become? Even if their parents are actually the ones who caused all this.”

“That’s right. Xu Siya’s mental state is no longer like a normal person. If you ask Guijuan, she’ll tell you. She also has suffered a lot but she only wanted to escape. She didn’t even think about revenge. Most ordinary people, even in the most enraged state, might think of taking down their enemy and die in the process but even for someone with deep hatred, they generally can’t bring themselves to do it…” Yan Hong sighed.

“But we’re in an erosion area. Based on our experience at Yunhai Wancheng Department Store, the emotions of the important characters are amplified,” Jing Qizhen pondered, “Xu Siya’s hatred for her parents makes her think of the oil pan hell. As for Xu Erya, she probably also had some resentment towards her parents but not as intense as Xu Siya’s.”

After a pause, Jing Qizhen whispered, “Because that’s how the erosion area is formed! The erosion core touched two planets at the overlapping point at the same time and a resonance occurs. Aside from the changes in the erosion area itself, if their resentment was not so strong, they would not have become the core of the erosion area.”

With that, everyone fell into deep thought.

Just like the female ghost Ms. Li last time, the core of the erosion area probably revolved around Xu Siya and Xu Erya.

According to Earth’s original theory, if they destroyed the erosion core, the erosion area could be resolved. However, after understanding the story of Xu Erya and Xu Siya, they did not want to harm the two children.

Jing Qizhen didn’t say anything more and only repeated, “Let’s go to the Xu family’s house first. Xu Erya and Xu Siya should be there.”

The group of action-oriented people had more or less figured out what happened. With Jing Qizhen’s call, they all nodded and immediately gathered their things, preparing to leave.

Lu Lingxi also deliberately folded up the calendar pages filled with their written and drawn analyses and illustrations and stuffed them into his backpack.

On the other hand, the village chief and his wife who had been listening the whole time still didn’t understand what the erosion area was. But they had reached a consensus with Jing Qizhen’s group on the matters of Xu Siya using some kind of ‘witchcraft’ and Xu Erya’s ghost haunting.

The couple exchanged glances with each other. The village chief then gritted his teeth. “Let’s go! We’re going too!”

The village chief’s wife sighed and hurried inside to grab the incense offering they used for daily rituals.

After all, the village chief was quite responsible. Even though he was still a bit scared of the boiling oil pan hell scene outside but seeing the outsiders had been running around for so long without harm, he figured he had nothing to fear!

They chased after Jing Qizhen and the others once they left the house. The village chief and his wife no longer tried to keep their voice down and loudly shouted, “Hey, travelers, wait for us!”

Jing Qizhen and the group: …???

Old Xiao couldn’t help but wipe the cold sweat on his forehead. “Why are the village chief and his wife coming too?”

“Maybe they’re like those NPCs in games who are willing to join the players in actions…” Jing Qizhen replied.

Everyone: …

That analogy was really simple and easy to understand!

After the village chief and his wife caught up, they tried to discuss with Jing Qizhen and his companions. “Erya’s haunting and Siya’s witchcraft is a matter involving the whole village. I want to call everyone together, so we can deal with it all at once. Tell me, what do you think?”

Everyone: …

They didn’t expect the village chief would be even more eager to make it a bigger event than they were.

Jing Qizhen took the initiative to step forward to represent the group and continue the discussion with the village chief.

He said calmly, “Logically speaking, this is actually a matter for your village to settle and it is not appropriate for outsiders like us to intervene. But since Xu Erya’s ghost appeared in front of us and those two children are really pitiful—”

The village chief was not someone who blindly rejected outsiders, nor did he think the matters within the village should always be solved internally. After hearing Jing Qizhen’s words, he quickly interrupted, “No, no, no. Actually, it’s quite good that you’re handling this. To be honest, we’re all living in the same village as neighbors. Even if we don’t like how the Xu family treats their children, it’s their family matter. We’re still outsiders, so it’s hard for us to intervene.”

The village chief’s wife was more straightforward than the village chief and whispered, “You travelers came to rent a house in our village and even paid for it but now with the haunting, the villagers should at least give you an explanation.”

“Ahem, this is just an excuse to go to the Xu family’s house and resolve the haunting issue for the whole village,” after a pause, the village chief decided to speak frankly, “It’ll be more peaceful for everyone to live here in the future! Although Erya hasn’t harmed anyone all these years and the village has gotten used to it, if a new son-in-law or daughter-in-law comes to the village and happens to encounter a ghost and gets scared away, word will spread. What will the other villages think of us then?”

“…You are right.” Jing Qizhen sighed.

These two old folks really know what they’re doing!

Immediately, Jing Qizhen explained to the village chief, “We didn’t know what kind of accident would happen at the Xu family’s house—”

“So I said, we have to call all the young and strong men in the village!” interrupted the village chief.

Jing Qizhen mechanically repeated, “…You are right, so how do we gather the people?”

“I just thought about it. There is a loudspeaker at the village hall!” The village chief did not hesitate and his plans were very clear.

Shocked, Jing Qizhen and others responded, “…Alright, that works. Let’s do it that way!”

Thanks to the village chief and his wife’s suggestion, the group who had initially planned to go straight to the Xu family’s house changed their course midway and headed to the village hall.

The village chief had the key, so he directly opened the door of the hall and took the group inside.

The village hall building was not small. It looked like it had been repurposed from an abandoned house. Several chipped, old tables of different sizes were randomly arranged together to form a large conference table. Jing Qizhen also noticed a pile of books on top, including titles like ‘Illiteracy Newsletter for Farmers: Bound Edition,’ ‘The Story of Lei Feng’s Youth,’ ‘Postpartum Care of Sows,’ ‘Agriculture,’ ‘Xinhua Dictionary,’ and ‘The Party Constitution,’ as well as ‘Books of Quotations’…

The village chief grabbed the loudspeaker and went outside to announce, “All the able men and women of the village, gather at the Xu family’s house at the west end of the village! Be careful on your way over, don’t get too close to the oil pans and watch out for the smoke. Don’t burn yourself!”

Jing Qizhen and the others followed him when the village chief left the hall.

Seeing the village chief shouting into the loudspeaker, everyone fell into a long silence.

After a long while, Jing Qizhen, still struggling to calm down, whispered, “He could be considered an expert among the people in the countryside…”

“Honestly, I’ve played so many horror games but I’ve never seen such a proactive NPC before,” commented Manman.

Lu Lingxi, who had been exhausted from grinding through horror games just a few days ago, quietly added, “A lot of NPCs like to take matters into their own hands and I’ve always wondered why they still go off on their own when they know there’s danger ahead.”

At that moment, Earth appeared in Jing Qizhen’s mind.

Upon hearing the village chief’s announcement, Earth was stunned.

Earth stammered for a rare moment, “Mah… mah warriors, what ar’ ye’ doin’? What’s goin’ on, why ‘m I so confused?!”

Jing Qizhen paused for a moment. “… I’m also confused as to why you suddenly started speaking in a northeastern accent?!”

Dahliya: Dunno what a northeastern accent sounds like but there’s no equivalent anyway. So I randomly made one for our Babyball.