Vic was having trouble remembering, he felt his head was a mess.
"Did you just ask me something?" That’s all he remembered.
"Yeah," Bai Wei said, "I asked you about that little dog."
"Ade is... never mind." Vic shook his head, then asked, "And then?"
"Then we ended up here." Bai Wei stopped walking, "Do you think the little girl’s parents could be in here?"
...The little girl’s parents?
Vic didn’t immediately react until he saw Bai Wei shake the music box in his hand, then he recalled something.
"Yeah," Vic’s attention was immediately diverted as he looked at the village before him, "It’s possible they’re here. This is the best stopover point between the two towns; most traders and hunters stay here for a night, after all, the wilderness is really too dangerous at night."
"So what are we waiting for?" Bai Wei raised an eyebrow, "Don’t you want this music box?"
"...I didn’t agree to help just for the music box."
Even though Vic said this, his body honestly moved ahead into the village.
What he didn’t know was that Bai Wei was standing behind him, thoughtfully watching his back.
But in the end, Bai Wei said nothing and leisurely followed Vic.
The village they were in was very small, so small it was hardly accurate to call it a village, with no more than ten houses, most of which were abandoned, their walls and doors collapsed, allowing a clear view of the corpses inside from the outside.
Judging by the state of the corpses, they had clearly been dead for some time.
Vic was evidently very familiar with the place; he bypassed these collapsed houses and headed towards the furthest one, which was also the only house intact, with its door still locked.
Vic walked straight up and knocked on the door, which was locked from the inside.
There was no response.
"Is there an explanation for this?" Bai Wei walked up to Vic and asked, "Do you think there’s still someone inside?"
"As long as it’s locked, it means there’s someone inside," Vic explained, "because this door can only be locked from the inside, so if it’s locked, it means someone’s hiding inside, and when someone leaves, they open the door to show it’s safe inside."
"Sounds like an unspoken rule?"
"Yes, it was originally a hunter’s practice," Vic said, "but it gradually spread, and now whenever people encounter an ownerless house in the wild, they do the same to avoid the night, as corpse ghosts can’t break into houses directly."
"I see." Bai Wei nodded, "So... why is the door locked in broad daylight now?"
Vic pursed his lips, for once unable to answer Bai Wei, and instead knocked harder on the door, causing dust to fall from it, which had clearly accumulated for days.
He didn’t know the situation inside, but Bai Wei was very clear that such a wall couldn’t block Bai Wei’s view.
Bai Wei could clearly see two corpses that had been dead for days, a man and a woman, with flies wantonly buzzing and feeding on them.
Just like in the game.
The little girl was destined never to be reunited with her parents.
So, Bai Wei wound the music box again, and when the music started playing, handed it to Vic.
"Stop deceiving yourself," Bai Wei said softly, "With your sense of smell, you should’ve already smelled that the scent inside is the same as on this thing, right?"
Vic stared at Bai Wei in a daze.
After a long pause, he kicked open the door in silence.
Vic dragged the decaying bodies out of the house.
If he had held onto a sliver of hope earlier, seeing the corpses dispelled it completely.
The characteristics of the man and woman matched the little girl’s description, clearly her parents.
"This..." Vic looked at Bai Wei in dismay, "What should we do?"
"Do about what?" Bai Wei said with a smile, "Did you not anticipate this from the start?"
Vic opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say.
Yes, he had always assumed the little girl’s parents wouldn’t survive, but actually seeing their corpses, an indescribable melancholy welled up in his heart.
"I meant, what should we do next?" Vic asked, "Should we take the bodies back?"
"How do you plan on taking them?" Bai Wei raised an eyebrow, "Have these two corpses ride with me in the same carriage?"
"Haha, just kidding." Bai Wei shrugged, "Actually, you’ve already completed the task, haven’t you? That little girl only asked you to find her parents, and now, you have found them."
Vic replied sullenly, then took the mother’s scarf from the corpses, planning to give it to the little girl later.
Then, with Bai Wei’s permission, he dug a pit to bury the little girl’s parents.
After finishing all this, he returned to Bai Wei’s side and then remembered something, taking the music box Bai Wei had given him from his pocket to return it.
But Bai Wei didn’t take it; instead, he smiled at Vic: "That’s yours now."
"Did you forget? That’s the reward the child originally gave you." Bai Wei pointed at the music box, "Now you’ve completed the task, so it naturally belongs to you. Congratulations, you’ve completed your first task as a hunter and received your first reward."
Vic stared at the music box in his hand in a daze.
His first reward, was it really ?
Vic felt a bit surreal, but after hesitating for a moment, he nodded and accepted it.
"Let’s not leave today; let’s stay here for the night." Bai Wei glanced at the sky and then walked into the previous house first, "Get some rest, we already took a detour, and we’ll have to work harder on the road tomorrow."
Work harder on the road... Or rather, have me work harder at pulling the cart.
Vic grumbled silently but knew Bai Wei was right, so he followed inside obediently.
Although someone had died in this house and there was still an indescribable stench, neither of them cared; Bai Wei even lay down directly where the two people had died before, leisurely saying to Vic: "Today’s journey was really tiring, I’ll sleep first, you stand guard at the door and wake me if anything happens."
Vic instinctively acknowledged and then walked to the door to sit down, realizing after a long while that something seemed off.
Leaving aside the fact that he was the one pulling the cart.
Why did Bai Wei ask him to stand guard, and he actually did it?
Vic instinctively wanted to stand up and confront Bai Wei, only to find that Bai Wei had already fallen asleep and snoring, so after hesitating for a moment, he sat back down.
Forget it, after all, this guy is the one who can fight; if something happens at night, he’ll be the one to deal with it.
As for himself... Guarding is guarding.
Anyway, this isn’t the first time... huh?
Had he guarded the night for someone before?
Vic couldn’t quite remember.
Out of sheer boredom, Vic took out the music box and, imitating Bai Wei, slowly wound it up.
As for Bai Wei, he wasn’t pretending to sleep but had entered Taoyuan Village.
Recently, his situation had been precarious, so much that he didn’t dare to abandon his body and enter Taoyuan Village rashly, for fear of being unresponsive to sudden situations.
But with Vic by his side, it was different; at least it provided some measure of safety.
So Bai Wei no longer hesitated, entering Taoyuan Village and quickly activating the stone bench.
In an instant, three ghostly figures slowly appeared next to the stone table.
Bai Wei smiled as he looked at them.
"Welcome to Taoyuan Village."