There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

The delicate, tender voice was exceedingly juvenile, as if brimming with the innocent naivety of a child, delighting Ji Xiaoxia who was addressed.

"Qing, is that your name? It's really nice~"

"Sister?" Qing tugged at her clothes.

"Uh..." Ji Xiaoxia suddenly furrowed her brows.

Her identity information read [Painter].

She had no name at all!!

So, Ji Xiaoxia said with a forced smile, "Yeah, just call me 'sister' is fine."

Qing blinked, then opened her arms towards her.

Generally speaking, when a child makes this gesture, they are asking for a hug. Ji Xiaoxia's heart instantly melted, and her hands slipped under the little girl's armpits, lifting her up.

The little girl was much lighter than she had imagined.

The entire person was soft, and upon being lifted, her head nestled in the crook of her neck, and Xiaoxia could feel the little girl's gentle breathing, the other party seemed to also have taken a deep sniff.

While Ji Xiaoxia was still marveling, she suddenly heard the little girl's voice eerily say:

"Sister, you smell nice."

"..."

...

In that moment, Ji Xiaoxia almost threw the person away.

Fortunately, after she quickly let go of the little girl, all she saw was the other's innocent and curious gaze, with no strange expression that might belong to a villain pulling the strings, nor any sudden attacking movements.

The jade pendant on her neck hadn't reacted either.

Although the creepiness of that statement had maxed out.

Qing tilted her head, seemingly confused by her overreaction.

Ji Xiaoxia recovered and forced an embarrassed smile: "Is... Is that so? Well, Qing, you also smell nice."

Oh my god, what is she saying...

Ji Xiaoxia covered her face.

At this time, another person walked along the concrete road from the Archway entrance, holding a camera, occasionally taking pictures of the paintings on the wall.

"Hey, are you from this village?"

As the person approached, they patted Ji Xiaoxia on the shoulder.

Ji Xiaoxia suddenly came to her senses and took a good look at the newcomer, only to see a woman with a backpack, dressed simply and in a tidy fashion, with a faint expression on her face.

"No." Ji Xiaoxia, remembering her identity information, said, "I'm the person the village head hired to do some painting for him."

"So you painted all these?" The woman pointed to the wall and asked.

"Yes." Ji Xiaoxia again confirmed.

"Then you must be very familiar with the story of the Green-Faced Fangs. I'm a reporter, here in Qingliu Village for an interview about the legend." The woman took an ID out of her utility pocket to show her.

"Oh..."

Ji Xiaoxia looked at her blankly, suddenly feeling a strange sense of déjà vu.

She couldn't pinpoint where this feeling of familiarity came from, only that it felt like a scenario she had seen somewhere before, not like some strategy she had seen on a forum...

A village with monster legends, the artist who painted the monsters, the investigating reporter, and the man from before...

That man in the trench coat couldn't possibly be a detective, could he?

Disturbed by this ambiguous feeling, Ji Xiaoxia subconsciously furrowed her brow, her demeanor becoming somewhat stern.

"What's the matter?" The woman looked at her curiously.

"Sorry, actually I don't really understand either, I've just heard it from the villagers."

Ji Xiaoxia mumbled as she began, "They say some monster appeared a very long time ago, specifically targeting young boys and girls, and that sacrifices were necessary to drive it away, and also..."

Her speech halted suddenly.

The more she thought, the stronger the sense of déjà vu became.

Ji Xiaoxia turned her head to look at the fields not far away, blue sky and white clouds above, the fields bordered by a river, sunlight sparkling on the water's surface.

Staring at the river, Ji Xiaoxia's eyes suddenly lit up!

She seemed to have remembered!

She had seen a similar story not long ago!

Right in the shop where she worked!

The book from Mystery City titled "Kappa" told of a village that long ago had worshipped the River God to seek favorable weather, with legends of the River God circulating throughout the village.

But as time passed, the legend gradually turned the once-benevolent River God into a man-eating monster that required offerings to maintain peace.

In reality, because of the villagers' greed and wicked deeds, the River God had become corrupted!

The corrupted River God would become a monster at night and enter the village to kill!

After villagers saw corpses at night, they conceived the idea of utilizing the situation to their advantage, throwing dirty water onto someone else to seek benefits.

In the end, the entire village was thrown into chaos!

That's where the story began.

Players would take on the roles of detectives investigating the murders in the village, a reporter following up on the investigation, and the villagers of the village.

And finally, a female artist who had come to the village seeking inspiration!

One night, the artist accidentally saw something crawl out of the river, but no one believed her words, and she herself couldn't see clearly what it was, only able to draw a vague representation of the monster.

After Ji Xiaoxia remembered the script, she felt like she had an epiphany!

She also remembered the ending of that book—

The murderer was the River God.

The instigator was the village chief.

This was the truth that players needed to find through the clues.

But besides that, there was actually an Easter egg hidden in the script and clue cards—the River God would turn into a monster at night.

What about during the day?

During the day, she was a cute little girl.

These two scripts, strangely, seemed a bit similar.

Thinking of this, Ji Xiaoxia, as if suddenly realizing something, felt the tug on her skirt, and swiftly looked down.

She saw the little girl, about five or six years old, dressed in a green jacket, with somewhat messy double buns, tilting her head cutely, blinking a pair of bright and spirited big eyes, staring intently at her.

But rather than saying she was looking at her, it was more like she was looking at something else.

So, she remembered that she hadn't noticed the approach of the little girl just now, and then she thought of the Easter egg in the script she had seen in the shop.

These two normally unrelated thoughts jumped back and forth in her mind, until they gradually merged into one.

Weird, yet strangely fitting, logical.

Ji Xiaoxia: "..."

Ji Xiaoxia: "!!!"

...