Chapter 284
Chapter 284
“So it was good news after all.” Qin Nan had his doubts, but he kept a bright smile on his face. “It certainly is wonderful news.”
Brother Zhao nodded with a smile. “Indeed.”
“By the way, Brother Zhao, what should we call you?” Qin Nan asked.
They had been talking for quite a while, yet he still had no idea what this NPC’s name was.
The man smiled. “My surname is Zhao, and this is my daughter. We call her Yatou.”
“Brother Zhao,” Qin Nan immediately greeted him.
Then he asked, “Brother Zhao, we’re all outsiders. Squire Xie’s open banquet is meant for the townsfolk, isn’t it? Would it really be appropriate for us to attend?”
“It’s fine. Squire Xie is a hospitable man,” Brother Zhao said cheerfully.
Qin Nan seriously doubted that.
There was something strange about every aspect of this wedding. How hospitable could the host possibly be? Unless his idea of hospitality was something bizarre and twisted.
Qin Nan needed to get to the bottom of this.
Brother Zhao might not tell them anything, but Qin Nan still had to try.
“Brother Zhao, are there any taboos in Leqing Town? We’ve only just arrived, so we don’t know the local customs. It would be awful if we made fools of ourselves at the wedding banquet,” Qin Nan said.
Brother Zhao laughed when he heard this. “I’m glad you reminded me. We do have a few taboos here, though they’re nothing too serious. Just remember, if the Bride offers you a toast, you must never refuse it.”
“Oh? I see. Is there anything else?” Qin Nan continued asking, even as his suspicions deepened.
They were forbidden from refusing the Bride’s toast. Could there be something wrong with the wine? But Qin Nan certainly couldn’t voice that suspicion right now.
Brother Zhao thought for a moment, then shook his head. “That’s all.”
Standing nearby, Jian Fan suddenly opened his Points Mall.
The Blooming Flowers he had purchased were still stored in his mall inventory. Jian Fan took out a bouquet, and it instantly appeared in his hand out of thin air.
Instead of giving it to Brother Zhao himself, he reached out and patted Qin Nan on the shoulder. When Qin Nan turned around, Jian Fan handed him the flowers.
The moment he saw the bouquet, Qin Nan realized which item Jian Fan had redeemed.
He immediately accepted it and held it out to Brother Zhao. “Brother Zhao, we picked these flowers on our way here. Staying with you has caused you plenty of trouble, and we don’t have much else to offer. Please accept them. You can use them to brighten up the house and add a bit of color.”
Brother Zhao’s eyes lit up the moment he saw the flowers.
“What beautiful flowers! Are they really for me? You shouldn’t have.” Despite his words, Brother Zhao did not hesitate in the slightest. He promptly accepted the bouquet.
At the same time, a System notification sounded in Qin Nan’s mind.
“Brother Zhao’s Favorability +6. Current Character Favorability: 16.”
Since Qin Nan had been the one to hand over the bouquet, the Favorability was credited to him even though Jian Fan had redeemed the flowers.
Six points of Favorability was not much, but it was still better than nothing.
The current value was sixteen, which meant the base Favorability had been ten. Qin Nan wondered what effect those additional six points would have.
With that thought in mind, Qin Nan spoke again. “I’m glad you like them, Brother Zhao. When we head to the banquet later, we’ll have to trouble you to show us the ropes.”
“Of course, of course.” Brother Zhao chuckled and leaned closer to Qin Nan. “I feel like we understand each other, so I’ll let you in on something. Squire Xie loves hearing auspicious words more than anything. If you offer him plenty of good wishes, he’ll reward you handsomely. But if you aren’t good with words, you’d better not try. If you say something he doesn’t like, Squire Xie will lose his temper.”
Qin Nan raised an eyebrow.
Those flowers really had worked.
After giving Brother Zhao the bouquet and gaining six points of Favorability, they had already gotten more information out of him.
Still, anything obtainable at only sixteen Favorability was unlikely to be all that useful.
Qin Nan was debating whether to ask a few more questions or try to farm some more Favorability when Mrs. Zhao’s voice suddenly came from outside, calling for Brother Zhao.
Brother Zhao answered her, then turned to Qin Nan and the others apologetically. “Please, make yourselves comfortable. I’ll be right back.”
With that, Brother Zhao left with the Zhao girl.
Qin Nan’s group was alone in the room once again.
“Favorability went up by six,” Qin Nan said. Then he asked, “What do you think? Should we keep farming it?”
Jian Fan shook his head. “Let’s wait and see.”
Six points of Favorability was above average, but nowhere near the maximum. It would not be worth pouring all their efforts into Brother Zhao. Besides, they still had no idea how much useful information he actually possessed. If they truly wanted to gather information, perhaps they should focus on winning over someone from Squire Xie’s household.
For example, Squire Xie himself.
The thought of Squire Xie naturally brought everyone’s attention back to the wedding banquet.
They had not been able to discuss it with Brother Zhao around, but now they could no longer hold back.
“Why does the idea of holding a wedding this late at night creep me out so much?” Yellow Hair muttered.
Qin Nan frowned. “Weddings were traditionally held at dusk, so an evening banquet isn’t strange in itself. But this wedding is far too bizarre. We didn’t see any sign of preparations during the day, so when did it even begin? And even now, we can’t hear any of the noise you’d expect from a celebration. I can’t shake the feeling that this is more like… a ghost wedding.”
The moment he said “ghost wedding,” everyone agreed.
“I think so too.” Mu Xin nodded, then lowered her voice. “And it isn’t just the wedding. I don’t think Brother Zhao or any of these NPCs are normal either.”
What kind of people stayed out of sight all day and only appeared after nightfall?
Mu Xin had suspected that they were ghosts from the start. However, she had checked and found that all three NPCs in the Zhao family had feet and cast shadows. That meant they probably were not ghosts.
Even though she had ruled out that possibility, Mu Xin still found these NPCs deeply unsettling.
“Even if it is a ghost wedding, that only means the people getting married are dead. It doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with the guests,” Qin Weiyi said. He gestured with his chin. “Whatever this wedding is, I doubt it’ll be simple.”
“Whatever happens, we’ll deal with it once we get there,” Qin Nan said.
Attending the wedding banquet would most likely expose them to danger, but staying here did not guarantee they would avoid it. They would also lose their chance to search for clues.
After a brief discussion, the group quickly reached a decision.
Before long, the Zhao family returned. Brother Zhao walked in front, followed by Mrs. Zhao and the Zhao girl, each carrying tea.
“Here, have some hot tea first. Once we’ve changed our clothes, it should be about time to set off,” Brother Zhao said.
Qin Nan quickly stepped forward to take the tea and thanked him. “Thank you so much, Brother Zhao. Sorry for all the trouble.”
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it,” Brother Zhao replied cheerfully. Then he added, “Sit here for a moment. We’ll be ready soon.”
“Of course. Don’t mind us, Brother Zhao,” Qin Nan said at once.
The Zhao family soon left again.
The group stared at the tea they had brought, but none of them made any move to drink it.
However…
“We don’t have to drink this tea, but what about the wedding feast? Are we really not going to touch a single thing there either?” Yellow Hair asked.
It was not as though everything in the Realm of Death was inedible. The problem was that they suspected Brother Zhao might have drugged the tea to knock them all unconscious. Yet the wedding banquet was strange enough that they were equally afraid of eating something they should not.
Yellow Hair’s question stumped them all.
“We’ll adapt to the situation,” Jian Fan said.
In other words, they would avoid eating if they could. If they had no choice, they would simply have to hope for the best.