Chapter 218: Got A Hold Of The Thread
Although Zhou Shiqing didn’t have the ability of photographic memory, the man greeting Shi Mei was really too easy to recognize.
This man was clearly the same man who had led the capture of Shi Mei before!
Apart from the fact that the other’s clothing was somewhat different from before, since he had seen the other’s appearance up close, Zhou Shiqing absolutely wouldn’t mistake him!
But if he hadn’t remembered wrong, this man had later been sent into the cave by Chang Xi, and right after that, Xuan Xia had collapsed the cave.
So the man in front of him should be dead!
This was very wrong!
Even if the man wasn’t dead, he shouldn’t be greeting Shi Mei so amiably, right?
……Unless they were twins.
“Don’t be afraid. Did you forget? You’re dreaming. It’s just a dream, what’s there to be afraid of.” Xuan Xia’s calm voice sounded nearby right after.
“…”
Zhou Shiqing, who had just been about to convince himself, looked at Xuan Xia who was overly calm and suddenly really wanted to ask her if he was that stupid.
Goddamn just a dream!
Xuan Xia had no idea that Zhou Shiqing’s intelligence had improved; after giving him a very insincere reassurance, she kept sizing up that man.
After sizing him up, she first exchanged a glance with Chang Xi, then looked at Shi Mei.
Shi Mei’s expression was normal, as if this man wasn’t the same one who had tried to grab her earlier.
Maybe they really weren’t the same person?
The man was completely unaware of being sized up; after chatting a few sentences with Shi Mei, he urged her to hurry home.
As for Xuan Xia and the other two, the man seemed unable to see them at all, not even asking about them.
Following the man, soon other families opened their doors, and different people came out one after another to greet Shi Mei.
And these people, like the previous man, were completely oblivious to the three people behind Shi Mei.
Shi Mei chatted with the neighbors all the way home like this.
While Xuan Xia and the others became increasingly silent.
If it was one person the same, that was a coincidence; two people the same could barely be a coincidence, but if everyone was exactly the same, then it really was seeing ghosts.
Regarding seeing ghosts, Xuan Xia and Chang Xi were fine with it—after all, one of their previous incarnations really was a ghost—but they couldn’t help but think about what kind of situation this was now and what situation they would face next.
The key was this Shi Mei.
Xuan Xia had a bit of a guess in her heart, but she wasn’t planning to alert the enemy yet and prepared to see what happened next.
Ever since she learned that killing the three-headed snake wouldn’t let them leave, she had already given up on the idea of a quick battle.
And Zhou Shiqing was suffering.
In the silence, his worldview might be reshaping.
Soon, Shi Mei’s home arrived.
Shi Mei’s home was at the inner edge of the small town, with Green Mountain right behind it.
When Xuan Xia and the others first arrived here, looking at Green Mountain from afar, they thought it was beautiful like something from an oil painting, but now under the night sky, the black mountain shapes looked like entrances to infinite terror, not knowing what was contained inside or what might come out from it.
This kind of self-scaring speculation ended only when Shi Mei turned on the lights in the house.
Shi Mei enthusiastically invited them inside, “Come in quickly.”
Xuan Xia secretly held a talisman between her fingers and stepped into the house first.
The inside of the house was as simple as the outside, appearing very plain.
Simple seating furniture, all wooden products.
Plain it was plain, but it felt quite warm.
The house had no separate living room; the place that could seat a few people was the dining table, and Shi Mei led them to the dining table, telling them to sit first.
Then she asked them: “I’ll go make dinner now; do you have any food allergies?”
Xuan Xia answered first: “No, none of us have allergies; arrange it however you like.”
Shi Mei nodded: “Okay, then sit for a bit; it’ll be quick.”
As if afraid they would go hungry, as soon as she finished speaking, Shi Mei ran to the kitchen, and soon a fire was lit in the kitchen.
While Shi Mei was busy preparing dinner, Xuan Xia and Chang Xi stood up together and separately walked around the house once.
Zhou Shiqing, because he was still reshaping his worldview, didn’t act with them.
After quickly walking around once, Chang Xi came to Xuan Xia’s side and said quietly: “No problems.”
Xuan Xia “mm”-ed; her talisman also sensed no danger.
Chang Xi glanced at Zhou Shiqing who was propping his head at the dining table, then turned to Xuan Xia and said: “What’s so attractive about him? Why is that girl always staring at him?”
Xuan Xia looked over, thought for a moment, and said: “Setting aside his dog-repelling temper, he’s good-looking.”
Pausing, she added: “Among the men we’ve seen along the way, he’s indeed the best-looking.”
Chang Xi immediately frowned, her expression one of strong disagreement.
“You seem to have other ideas?”
Since she asked, Chang Xi didn’t hold back and said straightforwardly: “People your age really have strange tastes.”
Xuan Xia, whose taste was being questioned: “…”
Fine, to each their own aesthetics.
But seeking help based on aesthetic taste at a life-and-death moment was really hard to explain.
So they needed to observe and see what the real reason was.
Xuan Xia wasn’t planning to argue with Chang Xi, and Shi Mei, who was preparing the meal, came out of the kitchen the next second carrying a pot of rice.
Shi Mei placed the rice pot on the table and said apologetically: “I only know how to make simple meals; I hope you don’t mind.”
With her words, the aroma of rice wafted into their noses.
Xuan Xia sniffed, immediately recalling the taste of lunch; the aroma was exactly the same as lunch.
Zhou Shiqing was clearly also triggered by the aroma, quickly looking at Xuan Xia.
“We had this for lunch today too, right?” he realized belatedly.
Ever since appearing in this world, Zhou Shiqing’s mind had been in a messy state, most obviously in his fuzziness about time; he couldn’t remember what he had been doing before arriving here.
Only at this moment did he finally grasp a thread.
“Right.” Xuan Xia answered ambiguously, walking back to the dining table and looking at the rice in the pot. “The aroma is very similar; I wonder if the taste is the same.”
It smelled the same and looked the same too.
Shi Mei blinked after hearing this and said: “This is the traditional rice that every household here makes. Have you had it before?”
Xuan Xia said: “Not sure.”
“Then try it quickly and see if mine is okay?” Shi Mei said excitedly, then realized she hadn’t brought out the bowl and chopsticks yet and immediately went back to the kitchen to fetch them.
Soon, the rice made by Shi Mei was placed in front of Xuan Xia and the others.
Xuan Xia glanced at Chang Xi, and then Chang Xi took the first bite of rice. After she slowly chewed and swallowed, she gave her opinion: “I can’t tell; you try it.”
So Xuan Xia became the second to taste it.
After tasting it, she nodded to Zhou Shiqing and said: “You try it too; it really tastes the same as what we had at noon.”
She couldn’t detect any problem, but wasn’t sure if there really was no problem.
When Zhou Shiqing picked up his chopsticks, all the women’s gazes focused on him in unison.
Zhou Shiqing: “…”
