Datou asked through the gate, "Who are you? What's the matter?"
"I'm the village chief's assistant," Ding Shi said. "I've come to look into the situation."
"What situation?"
Ding Shi began to suspect. Even when they kept chickens, most villagers' homes were not shut tight but left ajar; Datou had barred the gate from the inside. Furthermore, under normal circumstances, ordinary villagers would open the door to talk, not speak through the gate.
"I'm here about the collection of public grain," Ding Shi said. "Confirm that all your fields have been rented out."
"Yes, they've all been rented out. Go back now; I have other business."
"Do you have water to drink?" Ding Shi asked.
Datou paused, thought for several seconds, then said, "Yes." It was impossible not to have water; this request could not be refused.
Datou reluctantly withdrew the door bolt and let Ding Shi into the yard. "Let me get you some water." This showed he had no intention of inviting Ding Shi to sit.
Ding Shi nodded his thanks and noticed yellow mud on Datou's trouser cuffs. Strangely, he had walked around the yard once and seen no vegetable plot; the woman had also said Datou planted no vegetables and tilled no fields, so where did the yellow mud come from? But the front yard seemed to show nothing wrong.
While observing the yard, Datou brought out spring water in a water ladle. Ding Shi estimated that Datou hadn't had time to poison it—after all, most poisons of that era were crystals that needed to dissolve, and liquid poisons had a strong taste. Ding Shi drank half of the water ladle, quite reassured, and had to admit, the spring water with a sweet aftertaste was truly delicious.
Ding Shi returned the water ladle to Datou, who had been observing Ding Shi the whole time. He took the water ladle and asked, "What's your name?"
"Ding Shi."
Datou nodded. "Right, you're a college student." The college-student label was one of the earliest identities assigned by the system; because the village chief had publicized it in advance, the villagers had already accepted this identity.
Datou then asked, "I heard someone from the county town mention NPC. You, a college student, are knowledgeable—do you know what it means?"
Ding Shi's heart skipped a beat. NPCs didn't belong in this era; no one in the county town would use that word. Datou had definitely heard of NPCs, even knew what they meant, but why did he think it was a trendy word?
Ding Shi nodded. "NPC is an abbreviation of the words no, panda, and cat, meaning the panda is not a cat. For example, when a bride and bridegroom marry, the bridesmaid and groomsman are NPCs—they are not the protagonists, but supporting characters. A bridesmaid is not a bride, and a groomsman is not a bridegroom."
Datou understood what Ding Shi said, but not what Ding Shi meant; he didn't know how to express it.
"Are you a player?" Datou pressed.
"What's a player?" Ding Shi asked, puzzled.
Datou looked at Ding Shi suspiciously. "Someone who plays games."
"I generally don't play games," Ding Shi said. "I only played hopscotch as a child." His expression seemed to regard Datou as a fool.
Datou chuckled. "Did the village catch a thief this morning?"
"I don't know; I haven't heard of this. If there's nothing else, I'll be going."
Datou released the sharp knife behind his back with his left hand, saw Ding Shi out, watched him ride away, and then closed the yard gate.
Hearing the gate close, Ding Shi hid his bicycle among the reeds, jogged back to Datou's house, and went around to the back yard.
He propped himself on the wall and looked inside: the back yard's ground was uneven, showing traces of two small vegetable plots from earlier years, with small bamboo stakes still stuck in them. After observing and waiting a while, Ding Shi climbed over the wall into the back yard and headed straight for the wall corner, where a hoe lay beside freshly turned soil.
The sound of Jialing came from the front yard. Ding Shi went from the back door, past the urine bucket, to the front hall and saw Datou driving away alone.
What luck—like a pillow arriving when one is sleepy!
Ding Shi returned to the back yard to dig. Before digging a meter he hit something, and moving it aside with the hoe, he found a human hand.
I say! Li Si was buried by the villagers. NPCs killing players—is this the "extremely low danger level casual instance" the system spoke of?
After finding the instance's extremely low-danger notice, Ding Shi raised the question.
The system replied: "Don't do it, don't die." The system was also helpless—if you insist on jumping off a cliff, you'll die even at the lowest difficulty.
This reply gave Ding Shi a clue: Li Si had actively courted death. Only one question remained: was Li Si killed for stealing from Datou's home, or was he deceived by Datou?
Never mind that; he had to notify the village chief and secure the scene first. As for his own trespassing, it didn't matter—he was the village chief's assistant.
Ding Shi went out the back door to the front hall, preparing to cross the yard and leave. The room beside the front hall quietly opened, and Datou followed Ding Shi with a sharp knife in his right hand and a vicious look in his eyes.
Ding Shi suddenly stopped, pointed a finger at the ground. Datou lowered his head and saw his own knife-wielding shadow cast by the setting sun in front of Ding Shi.
In that instant, Datou cried at his own stupidity.
Ding Shi turned and asked, "Why did you kill Li Si?"
Startled and uncertain, Datou said, "Because he's a player." Ding Shi remained calm, and Datou began to panic.
"A player? You believe him?" Ding Shi questioned.
"I didn't believe it at first," Datou said, "but he said a lot—about the background of our era, future developments, the comprehensive reform and opening-up of '93, all the way to internet livestreaming."
"What did he want?" Ding Shi asked.
"He wanted to cooperate with me," Datou said. "I'd help him make money, and he'd help me get a player identity."
"How?"
"Kill a player."
"Is that allowed?"
"Not allowed. I killed him, but got nothing."
"Turn yourself in," Ding Shi said. "The net of heaven is wide and misses nothing."
"I don't want to," Datou shook his head. "I don't want to be an NPC. Perhaps if I kill you, I can get a player identity."
"Impossible," Ding Shi said.
"Why?"
"Because you're no match for me," Ding Shi said.
Datou no longer paid attention to Ding Shi and lunged at him with a knife. Ding Shi snapped his fingers, and a five-kilogram stone appeared in his left hand. The sharp knife struck the stone and broke in two.
Throwing away the stone, Ding Shi first gave Datou a German suplex, then trapped him in a triangle lock. Gradually, Datou rolled his eyes from lack of oxygen. Ding Shi let go at the right moment, pulled out the rattan strips used for tying firewood, and bound Datou's hands and feet firmly. He then called out to a villager heading home and asked him to report to the village chief.
The village chief used a hand-crank telephone to contact the yamen, then took some villagers to Datou's house. Afterwards, the constables arrived at the scene in a three-wheeled vehicle, conducted an on-site interrogation, and Datou confessed without reservation to killing Li Si. When the constables left, they praised Ding Shi for his courage in fighting the bad guys.
After going on until four in the morning, this side quest was completed, rated perfect, earning 1 dao. Village chief's satisfaction: 30.
Long before, shortly after meeting him, Ding Shi had taken a dislike to the boastful Li Si. Stealing the chopping knife only confirmed to Ding Shi that he was a troublemaker. But that Li Si would be killed rather than kill someone still surprised Ding Shi to some extent. Taking stock afterward, Ding Shi was all the more convinced that NPCs were normal beings. They could think, have all sorts of ideas, and even take the initiative to kill players.
One more thing bothered Ding Shi: when the murder occurred, Zhang San and Zhao Liu did not come to the scene. More than half the village came, but these two, fellow players, did not, which seemed off. After all, besides watching the excitement, they had a need to gather intelligence. Maybe they simply didn't care, since it was just an extremely low danger casual instance. Maybe they thought they'd be told everything unconditionally tomorrow?
As the village chief's assistant, Ding Shi first rode the chief home on his bicycle, then assisted the hastily arriving coroner in going to Datou's house to prepare Li Si's body. The road was narrow, and Ding Shi and the coroner worked together to pull the body to the village entrance on a handcart. By the time this hard labor was done, it was already past seven the next morning. This task gave a reward of 0.5 dao, and the village chief's satisfaction rose to 40.
Chapter 9