I Raise My Wife in a Supernatural Story (Infinite) - Chapter 63

When it came to intellectual puzzles, Qi Yan was always stronger than anyone else. She was the smartest person Bai Qing had ever met, constantly surprising her. With Qi Yan around, any riddle or mystery in a script seemed manageable.

Bai Qing tilted her head slightly, her cheek resting against Qi Yan’s forehead. “How do we determine who it is?”

“One step at a time. The script gives us tasks for each stage. The current stage is for players to uncover everyone’s motives.” Qi Yan leaned comfortably against Bai Qing’s shoulder. “We wait. We wait and see who loses their cool first.”

Those who received task prompts were definitely players. Qi Yan was currently playing the long game, waiting to see who would act on the script’s instructions first. Of course, she couldn’t rule out the possibility that the script might use NPCs to pose as players to extract information, making it difficult to distinguish them.

However, since nothing had happened yet, she chose not to overthink it and simply waited.

Soon, Jiang Miao and Tang Shanshan arrived at Qi Yan’s yurt. Seeing Bai Qing present, they nodded in greeting as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“Good afternoon, Sister Bai.” Tang Shanshan was a polite girl. Combined with her admiration for Bai Qing’s looks and skills—and the fact that she was a “shipper” of Qi Yan and Bai Qing—she acted like a little fan.

Qi Yan lifted her head from Bai Qing’s shoulder and teased Tang Shanshan, “You really are like a fan of hers.”

Tang Shanshan looked a bit embarrassed but didn’t deny it. Instead, she said with a silly grin, “Then maybe one day Sister Bai can give me an autograph? Sign it on my exercise book! That would give me so much motivation to study!”

Qi Yan laughed. Before she could roll her eyes at the girl, she heard Bai Qing ask curiously, “An autograph?”

“Yes! It’s just writing your name in my workbook!” As Qi Yan’s teammate, Tang Shanshan knew Bai Qing was an ancient demon. Though she didn’t know the specifics, she treated her like a time-traveler.

“Why write my name?”

“It’s the power of an idol! Just looking at your signature would give me the motivation to review. Getting into Tsinghua or Peking University next year won’t be a dream!”

Looking at the girl’s sparkling eyes, Qi Yan couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “If your Sister Bai had the power to get people into top universities, she would have been enshrined hundreds of years ago. Every student going for the Imperial Examinations would have been worshipping her!”

Jiang Miao also shook her head with a smile. In this script world where they were constantly fighting for their lives, these two could still joke around. It allowed her own tense heart to relax for a moment. She felt that choosing to team up with them had definitely been the right decision.

Regarding Tang Shanshan’s “fandom,” Bai Qing readily agreed to the signature, making the young girl very happy.

With a death having occurred, the original travel plans were suspended. The police had been busy all morning, and everyone had improvised lunch in their respective yurts. Now, everyone stayed in their rooms, waiting for the police to return with their luggage.

“Yin Xin went back to the city. She said her task requires her to report to the Bureau of Abnormal Affairs and provide a plan for the next steps. Before she left, she told me that if her side quest goes smoothly, we might get help from the Bureau.”

Jiang Miao’s words were a shot in the arm. The script had established the Bureau for a reason, and it appeared it could become an asset for the players, depending on how well they utilized that connection.

“There is something else I am curious about. Sister Xin’s character also had a grievance with Zhao Ruibin. They don’t seem like the type to have any intersection at all.” While Yin Xin was away, Qi Yan analyzed her character. “Based on her profession, perhaps Zhao Ruibin did something that caught the Bureau’s attention. But we don’t have enough information. We need to find a way to get more. Since this world has a Bureau of Abnormal Affairs, would the news report on supernatural events?”

This was a possibility, so Tang Shanshan quickly pulled out her phone. “This script is so much like the real world; it even provided us with phones!”

Indeed, players could not bring items from the outside world into a script, except for items obtained within the games. Everything else remained in the real world. This script, Developers, had provided them with phones from the start, though they hadn’t used them much.

Now was the time to check the news and research.

The group huddled in Qi Yan’s yurt to browse their phones. Because of Qi Yan’s status as a wealthy socialite, her yurt was exceptionally nice—more than twice the size of the others, with a private bathroom. It was quite extravagant.

Tang Shanshan went to use the bathroom and returned feeling envious. “Sister Qi, you really are an investor. That President Zhao was so status-conscious that he gave you the best yurt with its own bathroom. Unlike us—our rooms don’t have bathrooms. If we need to go at night, we have to use a bucket in the room and empty it in the morning. Otherwise, it’s too cold to walk outside in the middle of the night.”

“This room is quite big. Why don’t you and Sister Sanshui move in here tonight?” Qi Yan said casually while scrolling through the news. “We should stay together as much as possible to handle any danger.”

Tang Shanshan’s eyes lit up at the prospect of a private bathroom, but Jiang Miao interjected, “That is not appropriate. Our characters are not supposed to be that close. Moving in together abruptly would be suspicious and draw too much attention.”

Qi Yan was playing a top-tier heiress. It was already a stretch for someone of her status to stay in a yurt in a grazing area, though she had to comply with police orders following the murder. However, bringing two others to stay with her would be out of character.

Tang Shanshan thought about it and agreed. “You’re right, Sister Qi. Sister Sanshui and I will just make do.”

Qi Yan sighed. “Fine, you win.”

Suddenly, her finger paused on the screen. She frowned and said, “Look at this. Look at this news report.”

Seeing her expression change, Jiang Miao and Tang Shanshan knew it was serious and hurried over. Bai Qing also leaned in to look, but she was still not fluent with simplified characters. After a few glances, she pulled back and waited for Qi Yan to explain.

“Real estate tycoon sets up a divine altar at headquarters to pray for the success of next year’s projects…”

An altar? How absurd.

The news article included a photo, and the tycoon was indeed the victim, Zhao Ruibin.

“Actually, it is quite common. In the real world, people in business often pay respects to heaven and earth. It is a type of traditional culture.” Qi Yan quickly scanned the article. There were many press releases about Zhao Ruibin setting up an altar, but they were mostly repetitive and lacked new information.

However, Tang Shanshan found a different video on a short-video platform. It was posted by a supernatural events streamer and analyzed the “insider details” based on the photos of the altar.

The video seemed to have been shadow-banned or restricted; it had very little traffic. The comments and bullet chats consisted of only a few dedicated fans, and it hadn’t gained much mainstream attention.

“This streamer suggests that Zhao Ruibin wasn’t praying for success. Instead, he was performing a long-lost forbidden art.”

At the mention of a “forbidden art,” Qi Yan and Jiang Miao looked up instantly. Even Bai Qing showed deep interest. The three of them sat around Tang Shanshan, leaning in to see the screen.

The video was a bit blurry, and the streamer’s face was hidden. His voice was low, likely intentional. The streamer’s handle was “Carefree Daoist,” and he referred to himself as “Old Daoist.” He usually did live broadcasts, but this was a pre-recorded upload.

“Friends, today we are talking about a legendary forbidden art that has been lost for ages. It started when I saw a certain billionaire’s sacrifice on the news. As we all know, business people like to worship heaven and earth to pray for prosperity. Real estate developers especially want good weather; if the gods and spirits are satisfied, construction goes smoothly next year.”

“Normally, this is common. But after seeing the photos in the news, I realized things might not be so simple. Let me tell you exactly what is going on…”

The beginning of the video was full of filler, so Tang Shanshan skipped ahead. They reached the key content halfway through.

“…Those who do not follow the occult would never have heard of this forbidden art. It is called Soul Summoning. ‘Summoning’ as in calling forth, and ‘Soul’ as in the spirit. Together, it is easy to understand: it means calling back a soul. The most powerful thing about this art is that if the formation, incantations, and procedures are correct, it can recall a soul that has been dead for hundreds or even thousands of years! It is incredibly powerful and terrifying!”

Qi Yan frowned. Summoning a soul? One that had been dead for thousands of years? That was incredible.

The video continued with a long-winded explanation of the art’s origins and its eventual disappearance.

Bai Qing listened to the gist of it and sneered. “If such a technique truly existed, the laws of heaven would have been in chaos long ago.”

After saying this, she lost interest in the video and looked bored.

From Bai Qing’s reaction, Qi Yan had a general idea: this “forbidden art” was a specific setting of the script world and likely did not exist in reality. She wasn’t interested in the lore, so she told Tang Shanshan to keep fast-forwarding.

There wasn’t much more substance. The streamer analyzed the photos from the news, concluding that Zhao Ruibin wasn’t just making a sacrifice. He was likely using that forbidden art, not to pray for good weather, but to summon a specific, unknown soul.

Because the video was likely suppressed, it hadn’t caused a stir. It was only discussed among a small group of fans. There were almost no reposts; it seemed Zhao Ruibin might have used his influence to keep it quiet.

This was clearly a clue. Qi Yan said, “Using a forbidden art to summon a soul… what was Zhao Ruibin’s goal? To resurrect someone? But how do you summon someone who has been dead for thousands of years? Wouldn’t they have been reincarnated many times over?”

The video did not detail what form the summoned soul would take—a ghost, a human, or a god. The streamer only knew about the altar and formation from rumored materials; he didn’t know what would happen if it actually succeeded. Since it was a lost art, no one knew the results.

Qi Yan decided they could ask Yin Xin when she returned. As a member of the Bureau, she would likely know the details. Furthermore, the connection between her and Zhao Ruibin likely involved this forbidden art.

Not long after, the police returned from the hotel with their luggage and delivered it to their yurts one by one. Jiang Miao and Tang Shanshan returned to their yurt to drop off their bags before coming back out for air.

At that time, Qi Yan was walking alone in the snow. Bai Qing was not with her, likely hiding herself again.

“What are you looking at?”

Hearing Jiang Miao’s voice, Qi Yan looked at her with a flat expression, not wanting others to see how familiar they were.

“I am looking at the layout of these yurts.” Once they were close, Qi Yan whispered, “Last night at three o’clock, Shanshan saw a dark shadow dash past. It was likely the killer. But looking at the layout, the room where you two stay is the furthest from the crime scene. The killer went out of their way to go near you.”

“Specifically? For what purpose?” Tang Shanshan asked in surprise.

Qi Yan shook her head in thought. “I don’t know yet. I wanted to walk around the perimeter to see if I could figure out why the killer did that. But I have been walking for a while and can’t find a reason. It seems completely unnecessary.”

The three of them walked from Jiang Miao’s peripheral yurt back toward the central crime scene. They happened to see Hong Jing and Meng Jiumo talking. Meng Jiumo appeared quite agitated.

They could faintly hear him saying, “…this has nothing to do with us! We can testify for each other. We both have alibis for the time of the crime. As long as we stick to that, we can clear our names and leave! Don’t you want to get out of this hellhole?!”

Hong Jing had a cigarette in her mouth, maintaining her lazy demeanor. “I do, but we have already said everything we need to say. The police still want us to wait for news.”

“To hell with waiting for news!” Meng Jiumo paced irritably. “The killer definitely isn’t one of us! Why waste time here? This business deal is clearly ruined. I need to get back and take other jobs to make up for the wasted time!”

Hong Jing glanced at him and sneered. “What is the rush? This project is being watched by those at the top. Keep your cool. There will be benefits for you later.”

Meng Jiumo stopped pacing and turned to her. “What do you mean?”

Hong Jing didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she looked past him at the approaching Qi Yan and called out, “Oh, little President Shi! Perfect timing. Care to chat? You are the biggest investor here. Now that this happened to the project, what are you planning? Tell us your thoughts so we can figure out our next move.”

Qi Yan stopped beside them and raised an eyebrow, saying calmly, “We will do as they say. We wait for news.”

Support I Raise My Wife in a Supernatural Story (Infinite)