Chapter 1719: Details
No one objected to the female player's proposal, but because everyone was at different stages of progress, they ultimately decided to stay in the town and wait for more players to arrive. However, activities within the town had to be conducted in groups of three to prevent everyone from stumbling around like blind men.
Xu Huo ended up paired with the short-haired woman again, with the bald, burly man as their third member.
"The mountains are off-limits for now. Where do you plan to go?" the short-haired woman asked him and the bald man.
"I've already checked every place in this town that can be inspected, and I've asked all the questions I needed to. I'll leave once more players show up," the bald man said, having completely lost interest, with an air of "do whatever you want."
Xu Huo headed toward the old lady's house again.
He had visited the previous two days. The old lady was a bit surprised to see him again today but still welcomed him inside.
"Don't speak for a while," Xu Huo instructed the short-haired woman in advance.
She glared at him fiercely. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, if we're going to cooperate, you can play dumb for a bit and not put too much pressure on the elderly," Xu Huo said. "If you can't manage that, you can leave."
"Leaving now isn't a bad time. A batch of players was just cleared out; those people should be gone. Even if they aren't, the attack on the outer zone players has been made public, so no one will make a move in the short term."
The short-haired woman's expression shifted, but she ultimately held back, making a zipping motion over her mouth with a displeased look.
The bald man's gaze flickered between them, and he gave a conciliatory smile. "Don't be so angry. We still need to work together. It's better to keep things harmonious."
The short-haired woman stiffly gestured for Xu Huo to go first.
The old lady prepared four cups of tea and sat in the courtyard chatting with them.
She did most of the talking, while Xu Huo only occasionally asked questions.
The conversation didn't end until the old lady showed signs of fatigue. Xu Huo reciprocated by helping cook a meal and tidying up the garden.
Once they were outside the old lady's small yard, the short-haired woman, who had been holding it in all afternoon, finally spoke. "Did any of those questions you asked have any use? They were all just trivial neighborhood gossip."
"Of course they were useful. In the process of Master Solan growing up, playmates and neighbors could carry as much weight as family. To figure out what changed her, we need to guess the reasons behind her life's trajectory. This is closely related to her deliberately announcing the 'Ember Maiden' before her death."
Xu Huo said calmly, "People don't do things for no reason. It's like suddenly kicking a dog that's walking on the other side of the road—you might have been upset by someone else, or you're just not a decent person by nature."
The short-haired woman suppressed her anger and gave a forced smile. "Who would randomly kick a passing dog... So you're saying you've guessed the turning point in Solan's life?"
Her tone was somewhat sarcastic, but Xu Huo wasn't bothered by her provocation. "Isn't that what I'm trying to figure out?"
The short-haired woman's face started to redden. "After all that talk, you still don't know. Maybe in the end, it'll all be a waste of effort."
"Makes sense." Xu Huo made a "please" gesture.
The short-haired woman held back from leaving and persisted, "What's next? Still coming here every day to listen to stories?"
Xu Huo gave her a "are you kidding me" look. "Master Solan had a few playmates, didn't she? I need to spend some time visiting their homes."
"No need for that," the short-haired woman said immediately. "I've already been. Except for the one who moved away from District 019, the other three died years ago. Their relatives didn't even keep their belongings. Clothes and personal items—except for a few things still worth something—were all destroyed."
"They were telling the truth," she added after a pause.
"Is that all?" Xu Huo raised an eyebrow. "These are all worthless pieces of information."
Both of them understood what he meant. Since they were related to Solan, of course they would be interested in the changes that happened during the few years after leaving Dingding Flower Town. But because those three died too early, no one paid them much attention. Their relatives hadn't spent long periods with them, so how could they know them well, let alone notice any abnormalities?
"We can ask their friends," Xu Huo said. "Lai Guang and the other two must have made friends later on."
The short-haired woman had no say in this, but the bald man knew a bit. "I looked up their classmates from their study groups. But you should know a little about the learning model in District 019—they don't favor centralized learning. A school can have people of all ages. Instruments can completely replace teachers. People with different interests can take cross-disciplinary classes. Going out for practical learning might take months. Master Solan's four companions didn't make any close new friends."
"Also, the four of them probably didn't see each other much after they split up. As for whether they kept in touch through other means... their personal communication terminals have been destroyed and recycled, so there's no way to trace it."
"Have you looked into the stories Lai Guang wrote?" Xu Huo asked again.
"No original manuscripts. According to his family, he occasionally wrote fairy tales for children. The content was very ordinary—all about truth, goodness, and beauty."
"How could someone who writes stories resist the urge to disguise the people around them and write them in?" the short-haired woman sneered lightly. "That's another abnormal person."
"And Master Solan's neighbors," the bald man continued. "The neighbors who usually took care of her—besides those still living in the town—two have passed away, both from natural causes. One was taken back by family for burial; the other had no living relatives, so the government handled the funeral. Their descendants had made special contributions, so they received better treatment than ordinary people."
"Her family all died ten years before Solan was born. She moved to Dingding Flower Town and never left until her death."
"Any cause of death?" Xu Huo pressed further.
"The son died stopping a mining brawl." The bald man wasn't surprised by his question; he had investigated thoroughly. "The old lady's two sons worked at a mining company, both as minor supervisors. They were stabbed to death while intervening."
"The old lady had just collected their remains and held funerals for her two sons. On the way home, there was an accident. Her two daughters and seven grandchildren—including grandchildren by both sons and daughters—all died on the spot. The old lady survived but lost one eye and one leg."
Even the short-haired woman fell silent.
"I initially suspected there might be something wrong with the accident," the bald man said. "But later I found out it was a very famous accident. At the time, District 019 had just passed regulations for ultra-large aircraft. A few days after they took to the skies, two of them crashed, killing nearly two hundred people. It was a miracle the old lady survived."
"Because of this incident, that model of aircraft was immediately discontinued and never put into production again."
Xu Huo opened his message collection terminal to search and found the manufacturer of the crashed aircraft.
"It's a mining company. Check if it's the same one the blind old lady's sons worked for," the short-haired woman quickly said.
(Chapter End)