The Uncanny Valley Traveling Guide

After the meal, the five gathered in Zhou Qing’s room.

“Why didn’t you call Brother Mu Tuo?” Wen Zheliu was curious.

“You said Mu Tuo is still under suspicion.” Du Zijun twisted the cigarette butt in his hand and said, “What’s more, we need someone to hold those three down.”

Wen Zheliu: “Okay, what do you want to talk about?”

“About the evidence we found yesterday.” Zhou Qing said, “Take a look.”

She handed a paper bag to Wen Zheliu. When he opened it, he found a long-aged, thin, and brittle document, which turned out to be an appointment letter.

He carefully pulled it out and looked at the contents with He Qin.

“We ordain …… that this town shall have perpetual power to form a corporate and political body… Mr. Wesley Carter is hereby appointed as the sheriff of Arlington Town…” He selected several important sentences to read, and his gaze landed on the date below the layers of red stamp: “… July 15, 1740.”

At the top of this appointment letter, an eagle spreads its vigorous wings and holds a bunch of golden wheat in its beak.

“A letter of appointment in 1740.” He Qin concluded with interest. “Things are getting interesting.”

“The key lies in the fact that we don’t know what year it is now or how much time has passed since this appointment letter.” Zhou Qing frowned bitterly, “If there’s no conspicuous hint, I really can’t tell.”

“We’re currently in the Victorian era.” He Qin said, “A rough estimation would be the year 1837 onward.”

Both Zhou Qing and Zhou Yao were taken aback. Zhou Yao doubted: “How do you know?”

“Architectural style, clothing style; besides, there are many works from this era in the study. There was the “French Revolution” in 1837 and “Past and Present” in 1843…” He Qin looked at the appointment letter in his hand and smiled hypocritically at everyone, “More importantly, I’m a staff member.”

Everyone: “……………”

Wen Zheliu had already entered a very serious thinking mode, he said: “Okay, let’s get down to business; from this point of view, it means that Marianne told a very serious lie.”

“That’s right!” Zhou Qing exclaimed impatiently. She counted with her fingers and said, “She said it was her uncle’s house, but there are eagle family crests everywhere. Coupled with the letter of appointment, this is obviously the sheriff’s house!”

“Yes,” Wen Zheliu said, “when I asked her the first day, she said her name was Marianne Hill, but the surname of the sheriff was completely different from hers…”

“Besides, if this appointment letter isn’t forged,” Wen Zheliu held it up, his face extremely ugly, “Marianne’s actual age should be over 100 years old, she isn’t human at all.”

He Qin didn’t speak, and the rest were shocked: “How is it possible?!”

Du Zijun was the first to react: “No, you mean that the town where Marianne used to live was Arlington?”

He Qin replied: “According to the version of the story we know now, there is indeed a town called Arlington that was massacred because the sheriff allowed his guards to bully everyone and do all kinds of evil.”

“The dates of all the books in the study that mentioned this matter were all blackened with ink.” Wen Zheliu continued, “What Marianne said is half true and half false. The only thing that can be determined is that her identity and purpose must be very unfriendly to players. She isn’t an NPC whose main purpose is to observe and guide players, but an accomplice…or the mastermind of the town’s tragedies itself.”

“—a ghost that has lingered here for many years.” He Qin added.

A numbing chill rolled down the spines of everyone in the room.

Du Zijun bit his cigarette and sneered: “Okay, now we have teammates that turn out to be the moles and the cottage owner who turns out to be the villain, what else?”

“But what’s she keeping this for?” Zhou Yao took the paper bag and waved it, saying, “If there’s another player who has the same lockpicking skills as me, wouldn’t she be exposed very quickly?”

Wen Zheliu earnestly said: “No, it can’t be the same. The sheriff not only has judicial management and security functions but also a kind of honorary position used to show the socio-economic status. Anyone who holds this position in the county needs to have an asset income of no less than 20 pounds annually… So since this is another property owned by the sheriff, Marianne is probably holding onto this appointment letter to avoid unnecessary trouble.”

Zhou Yao wondered: “What kind of trouble? But in comparison, I’m more curious about you two brothers. How do you remember this partial knowledge so well?”

Wen Zheliu smiled modestly: “When I was young, I liked to read some messy books, so I remembered them. In the era when the sheriff took office, George IV was still on the throne until the Victorian era. When any country changed its dynasties, there would inevitably be turbulence. Marianne could well have forged herself an identity, and it would have been very useful for her to keep the appointment letter, either to prove ownership of the house or to get out of some trouble with the transfer of the property right.”

Zhou Qing said in a daze: “So this magnificent house is actually the house of a sheriff more than a hundred years ago, and the forest we’re in…”

“It’s the town of Arlington that was basically massacred over a hundred years ago.” Du Zijun picked up.

“I failed to see what Mt. Lu looks like, although I live at the edge of the mountain1 …” Zhou Yao also murmured.

As if thinking of something, He Qin lowered his eyes. The charming lines from the inner corner of his eye to the edge were like an artist’s meticulously drawn fine brushwork. His handsomeness has cold and sharp edges. Although, when necessary, this sharpness can also be turned into silk-like beauty and a gentle breeze, when he tones down his expression, a certain animalistic, inhuman cold will be fully displayed on him, making other people jolt.

“The most important thing right now is to collect all the items on the monsters.” He said indifferently, “The longer you stay in this world, the more unfavorable it will be for you all—”

“That…” Zhou Qing seemed to think of something and raised her hand weakly, “I forgot one thing.”

Wen Zheliu: “What?”

She stood up, ran to the bedside table, took out something, and handed it to He Qin.

“This. Last night, you cut off a monster’s finger, and something flew into the grass under my feet, so I subconsciously picked it up…”

It was a tattered and dirty bowknot that was so filthy its color couldn’t be seen.

[Item Name: Tattered Bowknot]

[Grade: None]

[Activation type: none]

[Cooldown time: None]

[Attack Power: None]

[Effect: None]

[Equipment level: 1]

[Item Introduction: A bowknot on the girl’s collar that once received the warm body fragrance and the soft touch that were filled with love from its owner.]

Wen Zheliu said subconsciously: “The third piece.”

Zhou Yao and Du Zijun gave him a keen look, but neither bothered to ask the whereabouts of the remaining token. Du Zijun took a puff of his cigarette. The spicy minty flavor of the lady’s cigarette faintly diffused in the air as he reminded them: “By the way, the kid whose name I can’t remember. I’ve used my telescope on him. He’s a real player. The item he got is called [Thief’s Hand]. You can go and talk to him; maybe you will gain something.”

Although his tone was hard-boiled and very bizarre, Wen Zheliu still nodded: “Okay, thank you.”

Saying goodbye to the three of them in the corridor, Wen Zheliu counted the number of tokens in their hands, “Bowknot, photo-framed pendant, and lace belt…all belong to girls.”

He Qin said, “As soon as the next stage of the plot opens, we will be able to know all the truth.”

Wen Zheliu instinctively felt that something was wrong, and he asked in confusion: “Brother, what’s wrong with you?”

It wasn’t his delusion. From the moment Marianne’s lie was exposed, He Qin’s expression became extremely gloomy.

He Qin lowered his head and saw the handsome young man staring at him with limpid and warm eyes like an innocent little lamb. He ruffled Wen Zheliu’s hair, but without answering, he just reached out and knocked on the door of Mu Tuo and Xie Yuanyuan’s room.

“Let’s solve the plot line first.” He said.

Through the door, a dull voice came from inside and said, “Please come in!”

Wen Zheliu had no choice but to open the door first and discuss minor issues with He Qin later. Entering the room, Mu Tuo was not there; Xie Yuanyuan was the only one left. Seeing someone coming, he hurriedly said, “Ah, are you looking for Brother Mu Tuo? He just went out…”

Wen Zheliu smiled. Xie Yuanyuan’s sense of presence was so low that he had to stare at his face to keep his eyes from drifting elsewhere: “We’re not looking for Mu Tuo, we’re here for you.”

As soon as the words fell, He Qin closed the door with a bang.

The three men were in a small, closed environment, and the atmosphere suddenly became delicate. Xie Yuanyuan nestled on the chair, looking left and right at the condescending He Qin and Wen Zheliu. He subconsciously put his arms around his body and shrank his neck.

He stammered and yelled: “I… I’m so weak, okay, I can’t drink anymore! Please don’t!”

Wen Zheliu immediately picked up the pun like a conditioned reflex and hehehe-ed: “You want to understand? I have some good stuff in my room~”

“Good stuff? Is it a new game?”

“What new game? It’s more exciting than that! It can also teach you to become an a-du-lt ah~”

He Qin’s face is expressionless: “………… Excuse me, are you filming some kind of educational promotional film?”

[Translator’s note: WZL and XYY’s whole dialogue didn’t make sense because it’s from an educational video about s*xual harassment against men. Since the video became popular, some phrases and the video itself became memes on the internet. These two were just dorking around XD]

Wen Zheliu: “…”

Xie Yuanyuan: “…”

The room fell into dead silence. After a long while, Wen Zheliu suddenly woke up, quickly cleared his throat, and covered up what just happened: “…we’re actually here today for business…not for the good stuff, no!”

Xie Yuanyuan also coughed twice and replied subtly: “Oh, oh! Please tell me!”

“Then I’ll tell you straight to the point.” He Qin held Wen Zheliu’s shoulders and unceremoniously stood between him and Xie Yuanyuan, like a vigilant male leopard holding a young stag behind him, “We need your [Thief’s Hand] to get a certain thing.”

“Ah?!” Xie Yuanyuan was shocked, “How do you know that I have [Thief’s Hand]?”

“By the third day, the items owned by our teammates are no longer a secret,” Wen Zheliu returned to a serious state, “The only thing that is properly hidden as a secret is our respective true identities.”

Xie Yuanyuan said in confusion: “I, I don’t understand…”

Wen Zheliu smiled and said, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t understand; we just need mutual trust.”

“So… what do you want me to steal?” Xie Yuanyuan hesitated.

He Qin replied decisively: “Item for customs clearance.”

Wen Zheliu also raised the bowknot in his hand: “There are a total of six eyeless monsters, and each of them has this little thing on their bodies. If we collect them all, we may get the final clue to pass the custom clearance.”

Xie Yuanyuan stared at the bowknot, stammering and stuttering for a long time, and finally took out a tube-shaped rag from his backpack.

“This, this…” He swallowed, “I stole it last night…”

“Last night?” Wen Zheliu asked in amazement, “When did you steal it?!”

Xie Yuanyuan said: “When your brother grabbed you and then the monster chased you guys. As luck would have it, the monster was within the range of [Thief’s Hand], so I… tried to steal it, and then this thing appeared in my inventory.”

The appearance of this tube-shaped rag is too much for the eyes, so Wen Zheliu had to start with the system attributes.

[Item Name: Half Sleeve]

[Grade: None]

[Activation type: None]

[Cool-down time: None]

[Attack Power: None]

[Effect: None]

[Equipment level: 1]

[Item Introduction: A sleeve that has been torn in half. Even if it is washed with clean water and sewn back with embroidery thread, it will be difficult to return to its former intact appearance. ]

Wen Zheliu looked at it in silence for a while, then returned the sleeve to Xie Yuanyuan, saying, “You should keep this one first. By the way, can I have a look at the attributes of your thief’s hand?”

Xie Yuanyuan quite trusted the two handsome men of unpredictable strength in front of him, so without saying a word, he took out a pair of translucent light gloves from his inventory.

[Item Name: Thief’s Hand]

[Grade: C]

[Activation type: Instant activation]

[Cooldown time: None]

[Attack Power: None]

[Effect: The activation range of this item is within a radius of 1.5–2 meters where the holding player is. When the player activates the item, the player will have a 40% chance of stealing the item equipped by one target. The grade of the stolen item must not be more than 2 grades above the thief’s hand, that is, Grade B.

Limit use times: 3 times

Current use times: 1 time

Note: The greater the concealment of the holding player, the higher the chance of successful theft.]

[Equipment level: 5]

[Item Introduction: Gloves specially prepared for beginners. If you no longer need it one day, let another beginner steal it. ]

Wen Zheliu was completely speechless after reading it.

“The higher the concealment of the player who owns it, the greater the chance of successful theft”… This attribute is simply a cheat created for him, ah! From this point of view, the so-called 40% limit means nothing. For Xie Yuanyuan, this item is 100% effective.

“Okay…” He scratched his head and said, “So, what we mean is…”

He thought about what to say, but He Qin had already taken it over: “I just want you to use the thief’s hand to steal the remaining two key items during tomorrow night’s patrol.”

Xie Yuanyuan hesitated, “Is this going to work?”

“We’ll see.” Wen Zheliu sighed softly, “As long as no one makes trouble, then everything is fine.”

Hua: Five chapter until we’re done with the first arc. If you’re reading this, don’t forget to like and comment. `(*>﹏<*)′

Failing to see the truth about a person or a matter.