Chapter 206: Heredity
It was called a private school, but it was actually just one room in the village chief’s house that had been converted to look like a schoolhouse.
There was only this one classroom in the entire village, because the population wasn’t large, and the learning tasks weren’t heavy, so one classroom was enough to meet the needs.
Lu Jinzhao did not rashly enter the schoolhouse; after all, this was on the platform, and when dealing with natives, she still needed to be somewhat polite.
The layout of the village chief’s house was the same as most buildings in the village, but there were also differences; the area here was larger, and there were several more rooms.
Most doors in the village were made of wood, and the village chief’s house was no exception; it seemed that aside from some necessities, there were few other modern items in the village—partly because the mountain roads were rugged and inconvenient for transport, and probably also because the villagers were unwilling to have too much contact with the outside world.
An iron ring that looked very old hung on the wooden door; Lu Jinzhao was in a great state of mind and pulled the iron ring with some novelty, knocking on the wooden door.
Soon, a frail voice came from the courtyard: “Hey! Coming!”
Perhaps because the village rarely saw outsiders year-round and everyone knew each other well, when the door was knocked, the villagers wouldn’t immediately ask who it was, but would naturally come out to open the door—somewhat overly defenseless.
An old woman around 60 years old slowly walked to the door and opened it; although her walking speed wasn’t fast, her steps were steady and not unsteady or shambling; Lu Jinzhao could tell from her physique that this old woman’s body was not bad—in fact, it could even be called robust.
And in the instant she saw the old woman’s face, the memory forcibly implanted by the train activated, and she subconsciously knew that the old woman in front of her was the village chief.
“Oh? It’s you. Do you have something to discuss?” There was no surprised emotion in the old woman’s cloudy eyes; it seemed she had anticipated that someone would come here.
“Grandma, can I go take a look at the schoolhouse?”
Lu Jinzhao did not conceal her purpose; this old woman gave her a somewhat strange feeling—her physique was even more solid than that of an adult man, she showed no surprise at her arrival, and with her identity as village chief, there was no doubt she was no simple character; since this person had shown no hostility upon seeing her, it was best for her to be frank as well.
Hearing this, a smile appeared on the old woman’s sagging-skinned face: “Of course you can; it’s also good for you all to learn more about the village.”
Good thing?
Lu Jinzhao followed the old woman into the courtyard without changing expression, but the old woman had no intention of going with her; she just pointed in the direction of one room and said: “That’s the private school; you can go in and look around by yourself. I have other matters, so I won’t go with you.”
“Right.” She added: “No need to be so cautious; in the village, you all can go anywhere.”
After saying that, she gave Lu Jinzhao a smile that could be called kindly, then turned and left.
Lu Jinzhao stayed in place, watching the old woman’s back, and couldn’t help but reach a conclusion deep in her heart: the village chief’s attitude was strongly supportive of her learning about and integrating into this village.
【She’s pretty easy to talk to.】
The parchment let out a sigh that was unclear whether it was sarcastic or genuine emotion.
【The people in this village are all nice; why don’t you just stay here?】
But the next sentence made Lu Jinzhao certain that this guy was deliberately saying it like that.
As she walked toward the private school, she asked: “If I stay here, won’t you be stuck on this platform too?”
【That doesn’t matter.】
As for why it didn’t matter, it didn’t say.
Lu Jinzhao ignored it.
Entering the private school, she could see it was a room arranged to look like a classroom, but there were very few desks—probably only about ten; in the front was a simple lectern and a blackboard that seemed to have been used for a long time, and at the back of the classroom were several wooden bookshelves with “textbooks” placed on them, which looked to be communal; students couldn’t take them home.
Lu Jinzhao first went to the lectern, then checked the bookshelves, but unfortunately, there were only ordinary elementary school textbooks inside; the courses here seemed to consider graduation after finishing the outside world’s elementary school content.
“No more clues; looks like it will take some more time.”
Lu Jinzhao left here somewhat regretfully; there were still many unknowns about this platform’s mystery, but a few things she could be sure of: the tablet was a very important item, related to their identity in this village; without a tablet, they were outsiders, and outsiders were very dangerous here.
But today’s old woman’s attitude made Lu Jinzhao realize that becoming “non-outsiders” was not safe either.
She was too enthusiastic, too at ease.
Clearly, they passengers had only just entered the village, yet they could “go anywhere,” and the villagers’ attitude was also quite friendly—practically treating them as their own people.
Such an attitude almost screamed “something’s wrong.”
Thus, Lu Jinzhao realized that having a tablet or not just represented two different dangerous situations.
Without a tablet, it was like already standing on the edge of a cliff, but holding a tablet and becoming one of the villagers made her feel like she was in an invisible fog, unable to discern the surroundings or see if she herself was already standing in a suspicious corner.
“Unfortunately, no third choice.”
She had to face one of the two dangers; Lu Jinzhao could only choose to hold the tablet—after all, no matter how you looked at it, without one, death would come even sooner.
“It’s like knowingly walking down a dead end.”
Full of malice.
Even, the passengers had to compete for the “qualification” to walk down this dead road!
Later that day, Lu Jinzhao walked through the entire village; as she expected, she found no more clues.
She was mentally prepared for this.
After all, before coming in, she had already learned that death platforms generally slowly bared their fangs with time and the release of tasks.
Now they had only experienced one task, so the clues they could gather were limited.
Many anomalies would gradually appear with the ghost’s emergence; now everything was calm, and this place seemed like just an ordinary village.
That evening, when the sun set behind the mountains, all those still alive and holding tablets felt a burning pain on their arms, and then blood-red small characters gradually appeared on their skin.
The second task had arrived.
【Tonight at 12:30, go to the ancestral hall to keep watch for 10 minutes; during this time, do not speak, do not move around casually, do not team up, do not leave the ancestral hall; during keeping watch, the tablet must be placed 5 meters away from yourself.】
In the instant she saw this task, Lu Jinzhao realized that tonight, they would see a ghost.
She immediately returned to the room; soon, Tian Lei also hurried back, and the two first compared tasks with each other, confirming once again that this time, they still had different times to carry out the tasks.
