Chapter 303: 299 Not Dead?

299 Not Dead?

Fang Mu walked toward the memorial portrait in disbelief. When he looked at the name "Wang Huilin" written on the spirit tablet on the Shrine, he had to believe that this person was the nanny he had hired into his home during his second life.

"Died in 2000..." The wrinkles between Fang Mu's brows gradually gathered and deepened. "If it was 2000, An Qin also arrived here around that same period. So, is it possible that An Qin met Wang Jie here? Did An Qin know Wang Jie was here before she came? Did both Wang Jie and An Qin die due to Abnormal factors?"

The doubts were numerous. Fang Mu saw a black ash box placed in front of the memorial portrait on the Shrine. If it were just an ordinary ash box, it would be one thing, but Fang Mu had already seen a wooden box with a very similar style, material, and even craftsmanship at the old village chief's place in Wenya Tun. That was the Black Paulownia Wood Box that was required to be brought into the Nongshan Shandong, which contained the Nail Hammer, a divine artifact abandoned by the space-time deity.

The Black Paulownia Wood Box could be used to temporarily seal the Nail Hammer; it was actually a tool used for sealing.

Regarding this, Fang Mu could not let himself overthink it. Suppressing his own moral guilt, he still forcibly opened the ash box, wanting to see what was inside.

After the ash box was opened, there was nothing inside that made Fang Mu feel guilty; all there was was a black Rune Stone.

Fang Mu picked up the Rune Stone and looked at the circular groove on it. Inspiration suddenly struck him. He took out the half-piece of Black Jade and placed it on the groove, and was shocked to discover that the groove fit the size of the Black Jade perfectly.

This was definitely not a coincidence; with a special shape like a circle, there would be no possibility of them overlapping even if the diameter were a few millimeters larger.

"Wang Jie found the Rune Stone, An Qin found the half-piece of Black Jade... Their deaths might be related to the clues they were searching for. Their deaths were not accidents. It is also highly likely that An Qin did indeed meet Wang Jie, learned the whereabouts of the Rune Stone from her, and also found the characteristics and location of the Abnormal things that needed to be sought," Fang Mu speculated. This was indeed a huge possibility.

Just as he was pondering, Fang Mu suddenly came to his senses and realized that the surrounding environment was terrifyingly quiet, breaking out in a cold sweat.

The innkeeper's snoring had disappeared, and at the same time, a low sound of breathing rose up behind him.

Fang Mu stiffly turned back. He did not try to catch a full glimpse of the thing behind him, but he could roughly tell from its blurry outline that it was the innkeeper he had spoken to during the day.

"Sigh, how can a guest commit theft? And rummage through my grandmother's relics? This is truly rude." The landlord's voice was not as frivolous and easygoing as it was during the day; instead, it sounded abnormally cold.

Fang Mu slowly turned his head back and saw the other person standing in the backlight of the dim yellow light, looking at him with a gloomy expression. He was holding a sharp pair of gardening shears, gripping the handles with both hands, looking very ferocious.

"I am sorry that I committed such an act, but I do not expect forgiveness." Fang Mu did not have too many emotional changes; he just calmly picked up Wang Jie's memorial portrait.

The innkeeper saw Fang Mu's actions, his expression grew even darker, and he said in a deep voice, "Put down my grandmother's photo!"

"I just said, I do not expect forgiveness," Fang Mu said calmly. He picked up the black Rune Stone he had taken from the ash box. "This thing is very important to me. If you know what this is, I would be very grateful."

When the innkeeper saw the black Rune Stone held high in Fang Mu's hand, his entire person underwent a earth-shattering change. That murderous, aggressive aura was instantly destroyed and vanished into nothingness due to the appearance of the black Rune Stone. The other person was first stunned, as if he had seen this thing before, yet the fear on his face did not escape Fang Mu's keen visual ability.

The innkeeper put down the weapon in his hand and revealed a stiff, fawning smile: "If you have a need for it, then take it away."

"What are you afraid of?" Fang Mu asked the other person very directly. This small Rune Stone was indeed a big problem.

The innkeeper darkened his face again and said as if being stubborn, "How could I be afraid of a small Rune Stone?"

"You are certainly afraid, afraid of following in the footsteps of your grandmother and an aunt, aren't you?" Fang Mu once again punctured the other person's fragile "pride."

Hearing this, the innkeeper finally fell silent. After a long while, he spoke: "I don't know what this Rune Stone is, but as far as I know, everyone who has touched the Rune Stone has died. First it was my grandmother, then my parents, and even people around me like relatives and friends."

"Grandmother died of a bizarre, serious illness. She was suffering from bizarre and dangerous toxin attacks, yet no matter how the hospital used advanced instruments to investigate the cause for her, they still couldn't solve her problem."

"My parents died in an accidental mountain climbing fall, but the tourist's camera clearly captured the scene of someone pushing the two elders off the cliff. However, those in the know, even the provider of the video, never dared to expose their identity from beginning to end."

"And my relatives and friends also died one after another after touching the Rune Stone."

Fang Mu: "So that's it. That's why you thought about locking this malicious thing here, right? And that's why you were so excited when you heard me say I wanted to take it away."

The innkeeper had a dark face, silent and wordless, and once again gripped the handles of the shears with both hands, ready to explode into action at any moment.

Just as the innkeeper was about to launch an attack, Fang Mu revealed a morbid smile that made the innkeeper shudder, stopping the dispute: "Don't be afraid, because I won't be afraid and I won't be excited, and I don't intend to give them up, even though they might be very dangerous."

Hearing this, the innkeeper's expression eased slightly, but he did not understand why Fang Mu was willing to bear the risk.

The next day, Fang Mu left the inn where he was staying in Gannan City with his suitcase and the black plaque inlaid with the half-piece of Black Jade. The innkeeper seemed to have returned to being a normal person; it was as if what happened last night had not happened to him at all. He served guests just as he had the day before. It wasn't until Fang Mu checked out that the other person's whispered reminder, "Remember last night's deal," made Fang Mu finally certain of everything that had happened last night.

Before leaving, Fang Mu asked him a question: "Your grandmother shouldn't be a local here in Gannan, right? Why did she want to move to this place?"

Hearing this, the innkeeper answered Fang Mu's question as stiffly as a machine: "Because she wanted to find out the truth of everything. When she discovered the disappearance of her father and the disappearance of the employer who hired her for work... all of this pointed to the Toad God, so she wanted to find out the truth."

A strange light flashed in Fang Mu's eyes. Did this also involve Wang Zheng?

In his memory, Fang Mu only heard that Wang Zheng was finally surrounded by toad frogs and then bitten and gnawed to death. As for what happened later, he did not know.

Could it be that Wang Zheng didn't die?