Chapter 303

Chapter 303

Brother Zhao and his wife and daughter entered the house first. Jian Fan followed without hesitation, and only then did the others hurry in behind him.

Once inside, Qin Nan and the others said nothing. There were simply too many questions weighing on their minds, and for a moment, they did not know where to begin.

By all normal logic, after everything that had happened the previous night, the ghosts should have resumed attacking them as soon as darkness fell. Yet for some unknown reason, they had returned to the appearance of ordinary people, and Brother Zhao did not seem to recognize them at all.

Still, no one dared act recklessly.

What if they were pretending?

Perhaps they were deliberately behaving as though nothing had happened, hoping to win the group’s trust before wiping them all out and taking their lives.

Since Qin Nan and the others remained silent, Brother Zhao, as the NPC, had no choice but to start the conversation.

“Did you all arrive here today?” Brother Zhao asked.

Qin Nan gave a quiet affirmative but said nothing more.

Brother Zhao smiled genially again. “Then your timing couldn’t be better. Today is a joyous day for the local squire. His daughter is getting married, and Squire Xie is holding an open banquet at his residence. You haven’t eaten yet, have you? I’ll take you all to the feast later.”

At those words, Qin Nan could not help recalling everything they had experienced the day before. His entire expression nearly froze.

“Ha, what a coincidence,” Qin Nan said with a few stiff laughs before declining. “We’re not from this town, though. Would it really be appropriate for us to attend the banquet?”

“What’s inappropriate about it? Squire Xie is very hospitable. It’s settled, then,” Brother Zhao decided for them.

Qin Nan said no more and glanced at Jian Fan first.

Only when Jian Fan showed no intention of stopping him did Qin Nan say, “All right. Then we’ll have to trouble you, Brother Zhao.”

The Xie Residence was undoubtedly dangerous, and the wedding likely held other dangers as well. But rewards came only with risk–or in their case, clearing the instance did. If they did not enter the tiger’s den, they would never catch the cub.

Brother Zhao gave him a suspicious look. “How do you know my surname is Zhao?”

He had wondered about this earlier, but the conversation had moved on. Now that Qin Nan had called him Zhao again, he brought it up once more.

Qin Nan was genuinely puzzled. He could not tell whether Brother Zhao was pretending or truly remembered nothing, but he still had to play along.

“It was just a slip of the tongue earlier. Whenever I get nervous, I start blurting things out. You know that familiar list of surnames–Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li? I called you Brother Zhao without thinking, and wouldn’t you know it, I happened to guess your surname. You asked how I knew it was Zhao, remember? It was just a lucky guess.” Qin Nan spoke with an amiable smile.

Even Qin Nan could barely stand to hear his own explanation, but the words were already out. He could not take them back, and he could not think of a better excuse.

Brother Zhao, however, accepted it readily. “I see.”

Once he finished speaking, the room fell silent again.

Fortunately, the silence did not last long. Mrs. Zhao soon called for Brother Zhao. After saying a few more words to Qin Nan and the others, he left.

The moment he was gone, Qin Nan turned to Jian Fan. “What’s going on?”

“What Brother Zhao said just now seemed exactly the same as yesterday. Is he doing it deliberately, or…?” Everyone had clearly noticed it. Yellow Hair already had a theory of his own, but he wanted Jian Fan to confirm it.

Jian Fan said nothing, but Qin Weiyi spoke.

“A repetition,” Qin Weiyi said, sounding fairly certain. “We’ve returned to yesterday.”
“No. They’re forever living through today,” Jian Fan added.

Everyone exchanged glances.

“Could they be doing this on purpose?” Lin Junruo asked.

Jian Fan did not deny it. Instead, he asked, “To what end?”

Lin Junruo faltered.

Could their goal be to hide their identities and get close to the group? But the group already knew this was a haunted house. They would never let their guard down completely, so there was no point in using such a ploy to approach them.

“From the moment night fell, everything has been exactly the same as yesterday: the family’s conversation, their reaction upon seeing us, and tonight’s wedding,” Qin Weiyi analyzed. “Even if Miss Xie has married many times, she couldn’t possibly hold a wedding every day, could she? But if the same day is repeating, then it all makes sense.”

Everyone had already suspected as much, so it was not difficult to accept.

Qin Nan, however, cared more about something else–

“Then are we still going to the wedding? Are we supposed to go through everything from yesterday all over again?” Qin Nan asked.

“We’re going,” Jian Fan answered immediately.

Qin Weiyi nodded as well. “There must be clues in the Xie Residence at night. If we want to leave, we have to go. From what we’ve seen, the first half of the wedding is safe, at least until the toasts are over. That may be the window we can use. As for later in the night…” Qin Weiyi paused, then continued, “We’ll do our best to escape. If we truly can’t get away, we’ll choose a room and I’ll use the Security Lock.”

At least that would guarantee their safety for tonight.

As for tomorrow night–no, it could not be called tomorrow night. As for the next loop, they would decide based on how today ended. If there was no other choice, they would have to redeem another Security Lock.

While they talked, Brother Zhao and his family soon returned.

Just like the previous time, Mrs. Zhao brought them tea. Afterward, the family of three left again, and when they reappeared, all of them had changed into the same bright red clothes.

At the sight of those clothes, Jian Fan’s gaze shifted slightly.

Qin Nan noticed it too.

They had deliberately changed into red clothing. There was likely a clue hidden in that detail as well.

If their theory was correct and the same day was repeating, Brother Zhao should have no memory of their confrontation yesterday. In that case, perhaps Qin Nan could still sound him out for information.

The thought had barely occurred to him when Jian Fan took out another bouquet and handed it over, then flicked his gaze toward the little girl.

Qin Nan immediately understood what he meant.

He accepted the flowers from Jian Fan.

“What’s your name, little sister?” Qin Nan asked.

The Zhao girl glanced at her parents first. Only when neither of them objected did she answer, “My name is Ya Tou.”

“Ya Tou, do you think these flowers are pretty?” Qin Nan held the bouquet out in front of the Zhao girl and asked, “Would you like them?”

The Zhao girl’s eyes lit up as she stared at the flowers, and she hurriedly nodded.

“They’re a gift from me,” Qin Nan said, offering them to her.

The Zhao girl looked delighted. She did not take them immediately, instead asking once more, “Are they really for me?”

Qin Nan nodded.

At that, the Zhao girl broke into a broad smile and cradled the bouquet in her hands.

She was thrilled to receive the flowers. Her face shone with delight, and anyone could see how much the Zhao girl liked the bouquet.

However–

When Qin Nan heard the system notification in his mind, he was dumbfounded.

“Character Favorability +2. Current Character Favorability: -98.”