newbobooks Chapter 296 Du Yun's Secret
Chapter 296 Du Yun's Secret
Chapter 296 Du Yun's Secret
"Damn it! I really don't know him!" Du Yun was the first to jump up in anger.
"When did we become old acquaintances?"
"We've known each other since high school!"
Yan Xun remained calm. "You remember things from your high school days?"
Du Yun sat down. "I don't remember."
"Did Duan Songen say that she and Shu Fan grew up together, but moved away from Shu Fan's neighborhood because her family's business failed, and that they didn't go to the same high school and university as Shu Fan, and only met again after graduation?" Yan Xun recalled what Duan Songen said at the time.
She said that she and Shu Fan usually only communicate online.
Of the five families, Yan Xun felt that the clues were the two that were the least clear: one was her own family, and the other was Shu Fan's family.
Although he hasn't found any evidence yet at Fang Shuo and Lin Wen's home, the secret should lie in the method of fame that Fang Shuo achieved after being enlightened by the master.
The other person was writing a horror novel, and the editor told him to create a sense of immersion. So he not only consulted experts, but also actually tried to "immerse" himself in the details.
If that were all, Fang Shuo and Lin Wen wouldn't have appeared in that house.
Houses with red roofs often harbor crimes of passion, like the couple he visited today.
Fang Shuo is probably a staunch supporter of the idea that "artists who want to become famous should either be killed or commit suicide." Even if he didn't think so before, after being "enlightened" by the deaths of the master and Xie Qingdu, he also shouted that he had found a way to become famous.
Even if an unknown person like him died ten thousand times, even if people knew that he had participated in a cruel act of destroying evidence, at most he would be condemned as a guilty suicide the moment his evil deeds were exposed.
Two months later, people will forget about it.
Fang Shuo repeatedly emphasized in his blog that the voice told him, "Your chance to become famous has come."
Compared to being ignored two months later, Fang Shuo had clearly chosen a shortcut—
Kill a celebrity.
To kill this celebrity with whom he had a close relationship, who had just won an award and gained fame, and on whom everyone had placed high hopes.
Even after many years, whenever someone sees Lin Wen's work, they will remember this incident and who caused the rising star to fall.
This is the fastest way for Fang Shuo to become famous.
Even if Yan Xun knew that this was probably the secret of the red-roofed house, he had no evidence—Lin Wen was wary of him and naturally wouldn't open her door to let Yan Xun go to her house to look for clues.
This was the reason he had previously asked Shu Fan to help him find out whether Lin Wen was an NPC or an NPC played by a player.
As for the secrets in his own home, Yan Xun felt that they were mostly related to some kind of "sacrifice".
The previous owner of this house left after a miraculous encounter. There were elderly people with mobility issues in the previous owner's home, and now Lou Yanchuan, who also has mobility issues, lives in their home.
Xiaohe's family has a deceased grandfather. Among the family of four he met on the road, there was a baby disguised as a plastic doll.
What these people have in common is that if they were to suddenly die one day, no one would suspect anything.
Because their health was already very poor.
Their families have done their best to take care of them, but some things are clearly beyond change.
But just like Fang Shuo's family, Yan Xun also lacked some crucial evidence, so these could only be his guesses.
The secrets surrounding Du Yun are about to be revealed, with only the Shu Fan family revealing the least amount of information.
Its connection with Xie Qingdu is also the weakest.
Shu Fan was the only one among them who wasn't at Yunshan University. Duan Songen also lacked daily contact and communication with the other players. Apart from the group photo at Anxin Sanatorium, which gave a glimpse into her interactions with Xie Qingdu, the rest remained unknown.
But now, they've learned a new clue from Du Yun's roommate.
Duan Songen knew Du Yun when he was in high school.
[Du Yun: Have you met Duan Songen? How did we meet?]
[Roommate: How would I know? She said you two were high school classmates, so she knows your mom, and told us classmates not to worry.]
Yan Xun wanted to ask more questions, but no matter what he asked, his roommate's answers were no different from before.
It's likely that the system only designed these dialogues.
"But I really have absolutely no recollection of it," Du Yun swore to the heavens. "I absolutely did not hide any clues."
Yan Xun returned the phone to Du Yun, indicating that he should contact his mother.
Du Yun took the phone and immediately dialed her mother's number. The call was answered a moment later.
"Mom, I met Grandma Shi's grandson," Du Yun said.
"I dreamed about things from the past again."
Du Yun looked at the lines Yan Xun had prepared for her and said them to her mother.
Du Yun's mother immediately became agitated, "What about the past?"
“I dreamt of Luoyin Village,” Du Yun recited from the script.
"Is the amulet that Granny Shi gave me really effective?"
“Of course it works!” Du Yun’s mother said. “Did you hear some nonsense from Xie Qingdu?”
"That amulet is useful!"
Du Yun was surprised to hear Xie Qingdu's name from his mother. He subconsciously looked up at Yan Xun, only to find him writing something on a piece of paper—
"Mom, do you know Xie Qingdu?" Du Yun asked, reading what Yan Xun had written.
"..." Du Yun's mother was silent for a moment, "Of course I know him."
"Did you forget I told you not to have contact with him? It's bad luck."
"He was a child who was dug out of a grave."
"He was supposed to die, but somehow he suddenly came back to life."
"What do you mean?" Du Yun was a little confused.
"You're asking because you know something, aren't you?" Du Yun's mother asked warily.
Yan Xun wrote something new on the paper: "Was Xie Qingdu born in Luoyin Village?"
Du Yun repeated the message to his mother, but she sneered, "Isn't this all your fault for that damned father of yours and his friend?"
"This has brought this thing out."
"But I clearly remember that Xie Qingdu's hometown is not Luoyin Village...?" Du Yun was also a little confused.
“After he was dug out of the ground, he was adopted by someone else long ago, so of course you don’t know that he was born in Luoyin Village.”
"Weren't his biological parents killed in an accident?"
“He doesn’t have any biological parents,” Du Yun’s mother said. “He’s a monster that the villagers dug out of the grave when they heard crying in the fields.”
Perhaps because they had found enough clues, Du Yun's mother finally opened up.
"I say Old Du will die a horrible death," she said to Du Yun, "for doing such a wicked thing."
What did he do?
“He ruined you!” she said. “If it weren’t for him, you wouldn’t have gotten yourself into that mess.”
Through her mother's intermittent narration, Du Yun finally learned what had happened.
“Your father’s friend is from Luoyin Village,” Du Yun’s mother said. “Besides the ability to see spirits, that village also has a wicked practice: having someone else be reborn through their womb.”
"You know what your dad does."
From Du Yun's mother's account, they learned of an extremely sinister reincarnation technique.
This is said to be a method of "changing one's fate" passed down from generation to generation in Luoyin Village.
After a person dies, they must not close their eyes for seven days, and then be reborn through a special method.
“But in order to prevent the people below from taking him away, he must be possessed by a yin spirit during reincarnation.” Du Yun’s mother said intermittently, “This yin spirit can be the resentment of a great villain, or it can be something else. As long as the people below know that this thing is not to be trifled with, that it is a bad thing, and make them temporarily wary of taking him away, that will be enough.”
"Logically speaking, there shouldn't be that many Yin Sha."
"But Luoyin Village is an evil place. Many years ago, it was a mass grave. There are too many dead people buried underground, which makes it easy to generate evil spirits."
“When people learned of Luoyin Village’s ability, wealthy people who were about to die of old age or illness came to seek a way to be reborn.”
“Someone made a fortune selling reincarnation slots and quickly moved out of Luoyin Village.”
Upon hearing this, Yan Xun vaguely felt that he had grasped some clues.
"The person who sold the spots is surnamed Duan?"
Du Yun's mother seemed surprised to find someone else with him and fell silent. She only breathed a sigh of relief after Yan Xun explained that he was Granny Shi's grandson—probably because she thought Granny Shi's grandson was "one of her own" who knew the secret.
"Yes."
"His surname is Duan."
“But such crooked practices don’t last long,” Du Yun’s mother said. “I heard that after his family moved out of the village, they only enjoyed a period of prosperity before going bankrupt…”
Yan Xun finally understood this industry chain.
Duan Songen's family sells reincarnation slots to wealthy people, a master manipulates the reincarnation process, and Dr. Du finds people who are "eager to have a child."
“But these reincarnated beings are nothing more than ghost fetuses,” Du Yun’s mother said.
"He must take specific medications regularly in order to barely maintain his human form."
Yan Xun recalled that the housekeeper and the residents of the community had mentioned one thing: people who moved into this community would often become rich within a few years.
For example, the previous owner of this house sold it after becoming very wealthy.
"Are the families of those wealthy people keeping a close eye on what happens after they are reincarnated?" Yan Xun asked.
"Yes."
"At this point, we'll have to rely on that master to step in."
“He would encounter these people on the road, accurately state the birth dates of their children, and then predict that at some point, a family with the surname X would come to them, and this person would be their benefactor.”
"These benefactors will make them extremely wealthy."
"It can't be just that," Yan Xun asked. "Does getting rich quick come without paying any price?"
“Those things are evil beings to begin with. If they want to truly live, they have to trade their lives for each other,” Du Yun’s mother said. “Only the most wicked and depraved people would actually believe in such evil ways.”
As she said this, her tone suddenly softened, "This matter has nothing to do with Du Yun."
"I didn't know about it before."
She then recounted in detail the events leading up to her seeking help from Grandma Yan Xun.
It turns out that Du Yun's family used to have a stray dog. Du Yun had a very good relationship with that stray dog and practically raised it from scratch.
At this time, Dr. Du's career was thriving, and Du Yun's mother was also an office worker. Most of the time, only Du Yun and the pets were at home.
But soon, Du Yun's mother noticed something was wrong with the house and found torn wings in the yard.
When she got home from get off work that day, she found that Du Yun had already prepared dinner, saying that the school taught them to be filial to their parents.
Du Yun's mother was very pleased, but when she looked at the food in the pot, she had some doubts... She noticed that the family dog hadn't shown up yet, so she asked Du Yun where the dog was.
Du Yun put down her chopsticks.
"Mom, it's in the pot."
At first, Du Yun's mother thought he was joking, but the various unusual things that had happened recently made her feel very uneasy. She rushed to the kitchen and was almost scared to death by what she saw there.
Then Du Yun slowly came up behind her.
At this moment, Du Yun seemed to suddenly wake up, and upon seeing everything in the kitchen, she fainted.
Then he developed a high fever, vomiting intermittently, and then lucidly watching his mother with a cold smile, muttering unintelligible words.
Du Yun's mother found clues about Luoyin Village through the recording, and finally managed to find Grandma Yan Xun for help.
Du Yun listened in stunned silence, finally understanding why she instinctively couldn't accept certain foods.
"I drank Granny Shi's talisman water back then, so why aren't I better yet?"
“At that time, I didn’t know what he was doing,” Du Yun’s mother said. “Only after I pressed him and saw your symptoms of being possessed did he finally tell the truth.”
"I originally thought the talisman water would be somewhat useful, but since your birth chart is naturally weak, you will be affected by it again if you come into contact with it."
Du Yun's mother did not continue speaking, but Yan Xun and the others already understood her implication.
To prevent Du Yun from being cursed again, Du Yun's parents divorced, and Du Yun's mother went to Granny Shi again to ask for a protective amulet.
“You were all better back then,” Du Yun’s mother said, “but after you met Xie Qingdu, you started talking to yourself again and talking nonsense in the middle of the night.”
"He is the embodiment of Yin and evil, you shouldn't have come into contact with him!"
Du Yun complained, "You didn't tell me."
“Why didn’t I say that?” Du Yun’s mother said angrily. “You called me feudal and superstitious and told me to believe in science.”
Du Yun: "..."
Yan Xun: "..."
Du Yun quickly changed the subject, "Didn't I have a classmate who sat behind me in high school named Duan Songen?"
"Duan Songen?" Du Yun's mother recalled, "I don't remember him."
Du Yun repeated to her mother exactly what her roommate had said.
"I don't remember," she said.
Then, no matter what Du Yun asked, her answer was always the same—
"I don't remember."
Du Yun hung up the phone. "It seems I won't be able to get any more information from my mom."
“I don’t have Dr. Du’s contact information on my phone,” he told Yan Xun and the others.
“That’s normal,” Yan Xun said.
The copy could not possibly allow Dr. Du to tell them the truth in person.
The reason Du Yun's mother was able to reveal these things was because they discovered clues about Luoyin Village and the suspicious aspects of Dr. Du's role as the "Goddess of Mercy who grants children."
Otherwise, even if Du Yun thought of seeking clues from his former roommates and mother, it would be difficult to find a solution.
Their only answers were "I don't remember" and "I don't know".
Du Yun sighed, "I never imagined my secret was this."
"I guess that's why I kept helping small animals later on." Looking at the side quest he had already completed, Du Yun's mood improved considerably, thinking that he had really found the right person to rely on.
Du Yun looked at Yan Xun and said, "Brother, if there's anything else I can help you with," patting his chest. "Just ask me."