I Raise My Wife in a Supernatural Story (Infinite) - Chapter 18

In the guesthouse, Cuilan was sitting in the courtyard sorting vegetables, with Song Yu, the girl from the couple helping her.

Seeing the three of them return, Song Yu nodded at them.

Qi Yan glanced around but didn’t see Cao Jian. She asked curiously, “Where’s Mr. Cao?”

Song Yu shook her head, her expression slightly downcast. “We had a fight. He ran off somewhere.”

Qi Yan frowned. How could Song Yu be so calm, sitting here sorting vegetables, when her boyfriend had run off in such a dangerous place?

Something must have happened between the couple, and it probably wasn’t just a simple argument.

But since they were outsiders and not particularly close they hadn’t even traveled together Qi Yan didn’t feel it was her place to pry.

Cuilan looked at them and greeted them with a smile. “Dinner will be a bit later. You can rest for now.”

Her mood today was noticeably better than yesterday. Remembering how the bald man had provoked her, Qi Yan began to speculate about the cause of his death.

The collapse of the village’s drum-and-music altar had been such a huge commotion that it was impossible for the people on the folk-culture street not to have heard it. Yet the villagers acted as if nothing had happened, going about their business as usual.

Qi Yan sensed something off about this. It seemed the people in this script world truly had limited awareness and autonomy. Just like the NPCs they had questioned on the folk-culture street, they were constrained by the script world, some key questions simply wouldn’t be answered.

Was this a flaw specific to the beginner-level script, or was it a characteristic of all script worlds?

The altar had collapsed, revealing the secrets beneath, yet the townspeople remained indifferent. Was it because the underground altar was irrelevant to the truth, so the script didn’t care? Or was the beginner script giving new players hints and leeway?

Qi Yan couldn’t be sure.

She was about to head back to her room to rest when she ran into Sister Hong in the hallway.

Leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed, Sister Hong looked at Qi Yan with a faint, mocking smile, her eyes scanning the obvious dirt and dust on her clothes. “Took a little trip underground, did you? Find anything interesting?”

Qi Yan studied Sister Hong carefully. This NPC was full of schemes yet refused to share anything with them, always watching them with that eerie, predatory gaze as if they were prey trapped in a cage.

But if she saw them as prey, why not strike immediately? She was a strange one.

Qi Yan suspected that the script had some rule restricting Sister Hong, and she might be waiting for the right moment to act.

But what moment? Perhaps when the players broke the rules, or when the script’s time limit expired either was possible.

Suddenly, Qi Yan felt the urge to test Sister Hong. It might be dangerous, but after narrowly escaping death underground, she was still riding the adrenaline high.

“Sister Hong, as our tour guide, I’ve got a question about one of the sights we visited. Mind if I ask?”

Sister Hong maintained her faintly mocking smile, giving Qi Yan a sidelong glance. “Go ahead. I’ll see if I know the answer.”

Qi Yan grinned obsequiously. “You’re the tour guide, of course you’d know!”

“Don’t flatter me. Even tour guides don’t know everything. Let’s hear your question first.”

“Well, it’s like this. The three of us had some free time today, so we went back to check out the drum-and-music altar again. And, uh, we happened to find another altar underground.”

As she spoke, Qi Yan watched Sister Hong’s expression closely. Behind her, Huo Zheng and Tang Shanshan were tense, worried that such a direct question might provoke Sister Hong.

Seeing that Sister Hong showed no change in expression, Qi Yan continued, “I heard from people in the folk street that the Lu family in Baishui Town uses a deer as their totem, but the underground altar features a dragon. Sister Hong, do you know why?”

Sister Hong stared at her, the smile at the corners of her lips unwavering, but her words were disappointing: “I wouldn’t know about that. I didn’t even know there was another world beneath the drum altar. I reckon only the townsfolk would know.”

Qi Yan frowned. “The altar just had an earthquake, Sister Hong. Didn’t you feel it? It was really strong!”

Sister Hong’s expression remained unchanged. “Oh, I really didn’t feel it. If it was such a big earthquake, wouldn’t the townspeople have reacted?”

“That’s exactly why I’m confused they didn’t react at all.” Qi Yan scratched her head, a hint of panic flashing in her eyes as she lowered her voice. “And I saw the bald man’s corpse underground at the altar, Sister Hong. He’s dead! It was horrifying scared me half to death!”

Sister Hong chuckled. “Really? You don’t look half-scared to me. You seem quite lively, even in the mood to fish for information here.”

Called out so bluntly, Qi Yan stiffened, her lips twitching.

After asking several questions and getting no answers, Sister Hong expertly deflected each one like a seasoned tai chi master.

“Alright, go get some rest. Remember to come down for dinner later,” Sister Hong waved her off dismissively, adding before she left, “The weather should be better tomorrow. We’ll head into Zhongshan, be prepared.”

Qi Yan paused, instinctively glancing at the fog outside. “Will the fog clear by tomorrow?”

Sister Hong shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe it’s time for it to lift. It’s already the third day it ought to clear by now.”

Qi Yan frowned. The third day it was their third day here. Why would the fog lift on the third day? Was there some fixed pattern?

She couldn’t figure it out and knew Sister Hong wouldn’t answer even if she asked. So, she carried her questions upstairs and returned to her room.

The moment she entered, she collapsed onto the bed. Life in this script wasn’t as comfortable as the outside world. Even after rolling around underground and getting filthy, the best she could do was take a quick bath. There were no spare clothes to change into, so she had to make do.

At times like this, cleanliness was the least of her worries. While standing, she could barely hold on, but now that she was lying down, exhaustion and drowsiness washed over her, and she quickly fell asleep.

Her sleep was restless, her mind still preoccupied with those events, leading to a series of fragmented dreams.

When she woke, a figure in white was sitting by her bed.

Qi Yan instinctively shifted, noticing that her body felt different, no longer as heavy or dirty as when she’d returned. Even her clothes seemed cleaner.

Still groggy, Qi Yan momentarily thought Bai Qing had bathed her, jolting awake in an instant. Wide-eyed, she protectively crossed her arms over her chest and exclaimed dramatically, “You bathed me?! You pervert!”

Bai Qing leaned back on the bed, resting on her hands, and tilted her head with a mocking smile. “No, I didn’t. I just used a bit of spiritual energy. And are you sure there’s anything worth seeing?” She deliberately glanced at Qi Yan’s chest.

Qi Yan fumed. “What’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying I’m small?!” She straightened her back indignantly.

Bai Qing lounged lazily, looking utterly unimpressed, as if the girl before her wasn’t even worth her attention.

Qi Yan was furious and wanted to argue, but one glance at Bai Qing’s ample curves made her falter. She wasn’t underdeveloped by any means, but compared to Bai Qing, she was just lacking.

Instantly feeling utterly defeated, she drooped her head in dejection.

At that moment, she suddenly thought how great it must be to be a demon not only was spiritual power more convenient to use, but their physical development was also superior to ordinary humans.

If Bai Qing had been paying attention to her inner thoughts at that moment, she would have been both amused and exasperated, itching to knock some sense into her and explain that such things weren’t simply better just because one was a demon.

After straying from the topic for a while, Qi Yan finally remembered Bai Qing using her spiritual power to clean her up earlier.

She rolled over to look at her and asked, “Has your spiritual power recovered? Isn’t it wasteful to use it on something like cleaning me up?”

Bai Qing replied casually, “This little bit of spiritual power isn’t a problem.”

Since she said so, Qi Yan didn’t feel the need to stand on ceremony. The two had formed a spiritual contract or as Bai Qing put it, they were married now, a pair of wives. She wasn’t about to be overly polite about such trivial matters.

“Is it almost dinner time?”

“Mhm, soon.”

“Then I’ll get up. Don’t want to miss dinner.”

She was still preoccupied with finding a way to coax some information out of Cuilan after dinner.

By the time they reached the dining room, the others were already seated. Tonight’s dinner was unusually lavish, with several meat dishes braised pork, spare ribs, soy-braised pork knuckle, and even stewed offal.

Qi Yan shuddered involuntarily at the sight of Cuilan’s unusually bright smile and decided she wouldn’t touch any of the meat.

Sure enough, as if reading her mind, Bai Qing’s voice came from the ring, warning her, “That meat isn’t clean.”

Qi Yan picked up a bite of scrambled eggs with tomatoes and asked inwardly, “How unclean?”

“I’ll tell you after dinner. I don’t want to ruin your appetite.”

“…”

Thanks. As if vomiting afterward would be any better.

Qi Yan shut her mouth and focused on eating, sticking to rice and leafy greens. None of the players touched the sumptuous meat dishes, only Hongjie and Cuilan ate with relish.

Not only did they eat, but Hongjie kept glancing at them with a sly, knowing smirk.

Qi Yan quickly lowered her head and concentrated on her meal, avoiding eye contact, afraid Hongjie might pull some trick.

“There’s one less person at the table. Song Yu’s boyfriend didn’t come.”

Bai Qing gave a noncommittal “Mhm” but said nothing else.

Qi Yan found it odd. She could sense Bai Qing had something to say but seemed to hold back, perhaps due to the setting.

Once again, Qi Yan ended up eating a vegetarian meal, not daring to touch any of Cuilan’s meat dishes, her instincts screaming at her to avoid them.

Back in the room, Qi Yan flopped onto the bed and asked, “What did you want to say earlier?”

Bai Qing emerged from the ring and said, “I’ve been meaning to mention this since yesterday there’s someone else in this house.”

Qi Yan froze. “Wh-what do you mean, someone else?”

Bai Qing pointed downward with a finger. “Below us, there’s another person. When I extend my spiritual power, I can sense living beings nearby. Even though my spiritual power hasn’t fully recovered, it’s more than enough to explore this house.”

Qi Yan’s pupils trembled as she instinctively looked down at the floor.

“You mean this house has a basement? And there’s someone hidden down there?”

Bai Qing nodded.

Qi Yan pursed her lips, thinking for a moment before asking, “Then could the person in the basement be Song Yu’s boyfriend?”

Bai Qing looked at her with an inexplicable gaze, making her feel uneasy, before finally saying in a faint voice, “No, Song Yu’s boyfriend. Didn’t you just see him a moment ago?”

Her words sent a shiver down Qi Yan’s spine. Just now? Where had she seen him? The only time was during dinner, and she definitely hadn’t seen Song Yu’s boyfriend then.

Hearing Bai Qing’s words and seeing the teasing glint in her eyes, Qi Yan instantly understood what she meant.

“Y-you mean the things on the table?”

That was the only explanation Qi Yan could think of.

Bai Qing leaned lazily against the headboard and nodded indifferently.

“Ugh!”

Qi Yan nearly vomited up her dinner again.

That whole table of meat! It was actually made from that.

She then recalled what the bald man had eaten before he died.

“Is it that if you eat the flesh of those dead people, you’ll be killed?”

“Who knows?” Bai Qing replied, resting against the headboard with her eyes closed.

Qi Yan sat on the bed, hesitating for a long while before finally making up her mind. She gently tugged at Bai Qing’s sleeve.

The fox squinted one eye at her, signaling her to speak quickly.

Qi Yan stammered, “I want to go check out the basement tonight. Is that okay?”

Bai Qing: “Why ask me? Just go if you want.”

Qi Yan: “Well, I’m scared, okay? How’s your recovery? If something happens again, can you still handle it?”

Bai Qing closed her squinted eye and snorted through her nose, a sound Qi Yan took as agreement.

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