A few people arrived beside the truck they were about to leave in. The truck was already loaded, and several puppets stood nearby, waving to signal them to get in.
Only two people could sit in the driver's cabin.
Yu Yezhou and Yang Lin sat in the driver's cabin, with Yu Yezhou driving.
Gu Zhan and Xu Yu went to the back of the truck.
The “perfect puppets,” which had been neatly arranged in the truck, were even dressed in suitable clothes and bore identification numbers.
After the truck door closed, darkness enveloped the interior of the cargo area. Gu Zhan and Xu Yu were squeezed among a group of puppets. The truck swayed back and forth, and the puppets seemed like they might fall onto the two at any moment.
The further they drove, the bumpier the ride became.
After a sudden brake, a puppet nearby almost fell onto Xu Yu. Xu Yu whispered, “Does Yu Yezhou even know how to drive?”
Gu Zhan replied, “I definitely don’t.”
“…” Xu Yu was successfully silenced.
Well, neither of them knew how to drive. Regardless of Yu Yezhou's skills, at least he could get the vehicle moving.
Xu Yu could only lean against the truck, hoping this torturous journey would end soon.
Fortunately, the factory was not too far from the town. After about twenty minutes of bumpiness, they arrived.
The truck stopped in front of a house, and Yu Yezhou opened the cargo door, signaling for them to get out.
After Gu Zhan got out, he observed the town.
In the daytime, the town looked completely normal. There were two or three pedestrians on the road, their expressions calm… it was impossible to tell that they would transform into monsters at night or that they had originally been puppets.
Yang Lin looked around and curiously asked, “You mean these people are all puppets? I can't tell at all.”
Yu Yezhou replied, “I can’t tell either. Aside from the students at school, these people seem like they were born to live here… Xu Yu and I need to move the puppets into this house. Would you two mind chatting with these people over there?”
Yang Lin said, “Sure.”
Thus, the four of them split up.
Yu Yezhou and Xu Yu moved the puppets, while Gu Zhan and Yang Lin wandered around.
There was a small park across the street, where many people were gathered, and Yang Lin headed there.
Gu Zhan went in the opposite direction, where there was a river with only two or three people fishing from a distance.
Gu Zhan pretended to stroll along the greenway beside the river, slowly passing by the people.
As expected, these fishermen had no catch. Their goal didn’t seem to be fishing at all; some didn’t even have fishing rods and just sat on the riverbank in a daze.
Among them, there was an old man who stood out.
He stood out not because he was abnormal, but because he was too normal.
He had brought a complete set of fishing tools: a fishing rod, a basket, a toolbox, and a sunshade umbrella tied to his seat, with bait placed beside him.
In fact, there were also a few kittens sunbathing next to the old man.
So normal… Normal to the point of being incongruous with the people around him.
Gu Zhan stood behind him for a while and noticed that the old man actually caught a fish.
However, instead of taking the fish home, he threw it to the nearby kittens.
The sunbathing kittens rushed forward and shared the little fish.
After doing all this, the old man packed up his fishing rod and prepared to leave.
Gu Zhan didn’t approach but took a step back to observe from a distance.
This was the outskirts of the small town, and going further along the river led to even more remote areas… didn’t the old man live in the town?
Were there residents outside the town?
At that moment, Yu Yezhou called him from a distance, so Gu Zhan had to head back.
Upon returning, Yu Yezhou said, “We still have over ten households to visit… How many people are there in this town? Do their kids change every day?”
Yang Lin replied, “It’s possible. The child we encountered earlier was swapped out just for talking in class. With such strict conditions, many must be changed.”
Yu Yezhou looked at the list given to him by the puppet man and said, “Basically all the kids. Why? Because kids are naughty and make mistakes easily?”
Yang Lin tentatively responded, “Maybe it’s because kids haven’t grown up yet? You see… the labels you mentioned before refer to a person’s character, but many characteristics are formed after birth. A child experiences something, and their personality and thoughts can change. This means the labels on their heads might not be stable… Ah! Right! Unstable!”
She initially just tried to analyze, but as she spoke, she suddenly realized: “Yes, from the perspective of the outside world, it looks like this child made a mistake, and the parents were dissatisfied, so they sent them back for repairs. But from the perspective of the inner world… could it be that they suddenly developed bad labels, so they could only be sent back for repairs?”
“It’s possible,” Yu Yezhou was persuaded by her new idea. “So, these labels are originally from the person… or from the puppet’s, naturally growing on their heads. Children are still in their growth period, so the speed of label changes would be faster. Then…”
But the current distribution of labels was clearly not naturally generated.
Someone had been behind the scenes correcting the generation of labels.
And that person… must be the clown cat in the factory.
Even if it wasn’t it, there was a deep connection.
Yu Yezhou only had a vague idea for the second half; he didn’t finish speaking but looked up at everyone, whose expressions were all similar.
It seemed they all shared the same thoughts.
Yu Yezhou said, “Let’s go to the next household.”
The group got back in the car, but Gu Zhan still felt a bit concerned about the old man he had just seen and glanced back in the direction he had left.
Today they were supposed to visit a total of seventeen households, which, when counted carefully, was already half of the families with children in the town.
Along the way, they had also spoken with some of the town’s residents. Some talked in a very relaxed and normal tone, while others seemed very awkward. Some even stumbled over their words when discussing their families, appearing very unfamiliar.
This sense of disconnection made everyone uncomfortable.
When preparing to head back, Gu Zhan suggested to the group, “I encountered an old man fishing by the river. I’m quite concerned about him and want to go see.”
“The fishing old man?” Yu Yezhou glanced at the time. “That puppet man seems to have only asked us to return by five o’clock. It’s just after four now, so there’s time. We can go have a look… Let’s go.”
Since only Gu Zhan knew where the old man was, he switched seats with Yang Lin and sat in the passenger seat, making it easier to direct Yu Yezhou.
Under Gu Zhan’s guidance, they gradually left the town and headed in a direction completely opposite to the factory.
The surroundings became increasingly desolate. Yu Yezhou felt a bit uncertain: “Are you sure this is the right direction?”
Gu Zhan leaned out to look outside and could still see the small river in the distance, so it was indeed the right direction… but why weren’t there any houses in sight?
Could it be that the old man was deliberately leading them around? But Gu Zhan hadn’t even spoken to him at the time; there was no reason for him to take a detour.
Gu Zhan said, “Let’s drive a bit further and see.”
At this point, they had been away from the town for almost twenty minutes.
It took twenty minutes to return to the factory from the town, and if they continued on, they wouldn’t make it back before five o’clock.
But Gu Zhan was very determined, clearly wanting to find that person even if it meant breaking the agreement.
Yu Yezhou still chose to trust Gu Zhan; rules… are meant to be broken, right?
The vehicle continued on the uneven road, and when they passed through a pothole, the car jolted violently. Gu Zhan gripped the door handle, and for a moment, his expression twisted.
He remembered the question Xu Yanzhi had asked him in the carriage and suddenly regretted not learning how to drive a truck in advance…
Yu Yezhou seemed to sense Gu Zhan’s thoughts and suddenly smiled: “You know? I used to dream of being a race car driver. I even dropped out of school to join a racing team, but I got kicked out because I totaled a new car on the first day at the club… And that dream of becoming a race car driver was shattered.”
“Really?” Gu Zhan was quite surprised.
This was the first time someone had mentioned something outside of the game in front of him.
It was a glimpse into the “real” lives these “players” once had, and for them, it was a “false” world that they might never be able to return to.
After saying this, Yu Yezhou’s emotions became somewhat subtle.
Neither of them spoke again, letting the gradually setting sun illuminate the driver’s seat.
After driving for more than ten minutes, they finally saw a small house in the middle of a barren area. There was a wooden fence around the door, about half a meter high, and inside was cultivated land with some vegetables growing.
Several cats were lying at the entrance, and two of them looked very familiar.
Gu Zhan was quite confident in his memory; those two cats were the ones that lay beside the old man while he was fishing, waiting for fish to eat.
Had they followed him back? Or were they pets the old man had?
Yu Yezhou parked the car by the roadside, surprised, “There really is a house here… Why do you want to go back and see him?”
Gu Zhan replied, “This person has a very different feeling about him.”
“Feeling?” When it comes to feelings, no one understood better than Yu Yezhou, who had the talent of precognition.
After Gu Zhan spoke, he closed his eyes, trying to sense something.
But he couldn’t perceive anything… Yu Yezhou was even more curious: “So what exactly is this feeling?”
“…” Gu Zhan couldn’t explain it either; feelings were something only the person involved could experience.
Yu Yezhou opened the car door and said, “Let’s go down and take a look.”
After getting out of the car, they walked toward the small courtyard.
As luck would have it, just as they reached the gate, the door of the small house was pushed open, and an old man walked out holding a blue plastic basin.
Upon seeing four people standing at the entrance of his small courtyard, he was momentarily stunned.
Yu Yezhou didn’t expect to be discovered right after getting out of the car. This surprise encounter caught him off guard. He could only cough lightly to ease the atmosphere.
Fortunately, the old man didn’t show much surprise. He splashed the water from the basin onto the vegetable patch, set the basin aside, and slowly walked to the door to open it.
The old man stood by the door frame, gesturing for them to come in.
They could enter so easily? All four felt it was a bit too casual.
However, the location of the small house and the old man’s attitude indicated that this place was very important.
Since they were already here.
“Ahem.” Yu Yezhou coughed a couple more times and led everyone into the small courtyard confidently.
In the corner of the courtyard stood a stone table with exactly five seats, as if it had been prepared for them.
The old man sat down at one of the seats and waved at them: “Sit down.”
Yu Yezhou felt surprised, experiencing a sense of disconnect, as if a fixed NPC in a game was actually talking to him.
The other three took their seats one by one, but Gu Zhan didn’t rush to sit down. Instead, he looked outside again, confirming that there was no sign hanging at the entrance of the small house.
When he turned back, he found the old man was looking at him.
Gu Zhan asked, “May I know how to address you?”
The old man stared at him for a long time before slowly saying, “My surname is Xu, Xu Xingzhi.”
As he spoke these three characters, all four of them brightened their eyes at the same time.
There was actually a name!
“Hehe.” The old man smiled slowly, but there wasn’t much warmth in his eyes. He calmly told Gu Zhan and the others, “In these years, a lot has changed in the town. I haven’t seen such lively young people like you for a long time.”
Yu Yezhou felt that the old man’s words carried more meaning, so he started chatting with him: “Really? Why do you live alone in such a remote place?”
“The town… is very boring. I don’t like it. It’s better to live outside alone, go wherever I want, do whatever I want, free and unrestrained,” Xu Xingzhi said slowly.
Yu Yezhou asked again, “What about your family?”
“Family?” Xu Xingzhi lowered his gaze, “At my age, of course, my family has all passed away…”
“……” Yu Yezhou had never felt so bad at making small talk.
At this moment, Xu Xingzhi laughed out loud. He looked at the people in front of him, and a hint of emotion finally showed in his eyes.
Suddenly, Gu Zhan asked, “Those little cats outside, are they yours?”
His question was abrupt, and Yu Yezhou, who had just said something wrong, quickly shot him a disapproving look. How could he ask something so sudden when they had just entered the old man’s home!
However, unexpectedly, the old man’s expression brightened when he mentioned the little cats: “Yes, they’re very cute, right? Look, the one squatting at the door is named Big Orange. The tabby next to it doesn’t get along with it, and the two cats are always fighting…”
His topic opened up suddenly, and his voice became a bit more animated.
Yu Yezhou finally realized that Gu Zhan had found a point of interest for the old man.
So they chatted about it for a while.
As night gradually fell, the old man showed no sign of stopping. Instead, he grew happier as he continued to introduce the cats in his home one by one.
Yu Yezhou felt more and more anxious as time wasted away. He really didn’t want to know about the grievances and grudges between these cats!
Recalling that the key points in the previous two conversations had been brought up by Gu Zhan, he simply cast a pleading look at Gu Zhan for help.
Gu Zhan indeed spoke up: “Old man, have you ever had a… relatively fat cat? It probably hasn’t appeared here for several years, likely before you moved here.”
“Hmm?” Xu Xingzhi paused, looking at Gu Zhan in surprise.
Gu Zhan began to describe the appearance of the clown cat.
The clown cat was actually a puppet cat dressed as a clown, with almost no color information. He could only try to summarize some effective information, such as the cat’s boisterous personality, its love for stirring trouble, and its unkind attitude toward humans…
As Xu Xingzhi listened, he suddenly laughed: “Are you talking about Mimi?”
“Mimi?” Yu Yezhou was even more surprised. He didn’t expect to actually find the past of that clown cat here… No, wait, it should be said that the clown cat actually had a past!
Xu Xingzhi squinted as he recalled for a moment and slowly said, “Mimi was the first cat I raised… it…”
“That was five years ago… My son was still around then. He came home one day after work, carrying a wet little cat that was shaking all over, looking like it was about to die. I told him that autumn cats wouldn’t survive, but my son insisted on trying to raise it.”
"I never expected that it would thrive. We named it Mimi. Mimi has a great bond with my son and even sleeps at the foot of his bed at night... That little rascal, I told him not to let the cat on the bed, but every time I close the door, he sneaks the cat up with him, really thinks I don't know!"
The old man seemed lost in his memories, and the more he talked, the more animated he became.
Yu Yezhou wanted to urge him to hurry up, but at that moment, Gu Zhan tapped him on the shoulder.
Yu Yezhou swallowed back what he wanted to say.
Gu Zhan leaned in close to his ear and whispered, "Earlier, when I was chatting with others in the town, did they mention their past?"
Yang Lin, who was nearby, showed a hint of surprise upon hearing this. She shook her head at Gu Zhan; those people were kind but rigid, and they hadn't had much time to talk about their pasts.
At first, she thought they simply didn't want to discuss their personal matters.
But after Gu Zhan asked, she sensed something unusual.
The townspeople... seemed really different from this Xu Xingzhi.
Yu Yezhou patiently listened to Xu Xingzhi recount his story.
There was nothing particularly special about it; it was just that later, his son had an accident and passed away, and that little cat vanished without a trace.
After Xu Xingzhi finished, Yu Yezhou asked, "Did you notice... that since then, the small town has become strange?"
Xu Xingzhi was taken aback: "Yes, it is a bit strange. I went to play chess with my old buddy, and he no longer wants to take back his moves, nor does he sneakily change the pieces when I step out to use the restroom..."
He spoke of trivial matters, but when summarized, it was clear that people who used to be cunning suddenly stopped being so.
This made them think of the labels they had seen before. Perhaps, in the mind of the 'perfect' jester cat, actions like 'sneakily changing pieces' and 'taking back moves' were considered bad behavior.
Gu Zhan then asked, "How did your son get into trouble? Do you remember?"
Mentioning this made the old man suddenly agitated: "It's all that scoundrel's fault! He was a bad person! My son kindly lent him money, but he thought it wasn't enough and, drunk, stabbed my son with a knife... They were very far away, and no one knew... By the time people found out, his body was already cold..."
As he spoke, the old man began to sob softly.
Afterward, no matter what Gu Zhan and Yu Yezhou said to him, he didn't respond anymore.
He just kept muttering things like "He’s a bad person," "A wicked man... he’s always been a scoundrel," "Why are there such wicked people in the world," and "It would be better without him."
Seeing they couldn't extract more information, Yu Yezhou stood up and said, "Let's go."
As they walked outside, they discussed the information they had just gathered.
"It’s very likely that the jester cat was raised by this old man, but after his son died, the cat left, and the town underwent significant changes. The town used to seem more like an ordinary world we know."
Yu Yezhou summarized the current situation and asked, "What are your thoughts?"
Xu Yu said, "The town's changes must be related to that cat."
Yang Lin added, "That old man keeps saying that the person who killed his son is a bad guy. Could the changes in the town be related to this?"
Their doubts and speculations were not different from what Yu Yezhou was thinking.
Once again, Yu Yezhou turned his hopeful gaze to Gu Zhan.
Gu Zhan was walking behind everyone, looking at the ground, seemingly deep in thought.
Just as they reached the side of the truck, he finally spoke: "This means the tags on the puppets have been altered. That cat cannot generate or diminish tags out of thin air; it can only change the tags on people."
"Huh? What?" This leap in logic was too sudden; Yu Yezhou didn't immediately grasp it.
【Damn, he figured it out so quickly.】
【He seems very concerned about the tags and has a strong ability to grasp the key points!】
Gu Zhan explained, "The tags on those puppets should be more than just three. The jester cat took away the tags it considered bad, which would cause a person to become a scoundrel, leaving only the good tags, thereby forming the happy town we see today."
With Gu Zhan's explanation, Yu Yezhou understood: "So, you mean the bad tags are still there, but we don’t know where they are?"
"Yes." Perhaps this was the key to clearing the instance.
When they entered, the system hadn't prompted them about the main quest. Maybe it was also influenced by the 'instance setting,' believing they should follow the current town rules to survive.
The sun in the west gradually sank lower, the light becoming dimmer.
Gu Zhan said, "Let's head back."
They had already exceeded their agreed time by quite a bit, and on the way back, they still didn't know what punishment awaited them.
Moreover, there were no streetlights along the way, and it would surely be difficult to navigate in the dark.
"Get in the car."
Yang Lin and Xu Yu hopped into the truck bed, while Gu Zhan took the passenger seat.
After they got in, Yu Yezhou turned on the headlights, and two straight beams illuminated the rugged road ahead.
Before they left, Gu Zhan opened the window and glanced back.
Xu Xingzhi's little house was lit up, but it didn’t look like the light from a lamp; it resembled candlelight. As a person passed by the candle, their shadow was cast on the window.
Gu Zhan kept watching, and suddenly his expression changed; something was off. That wasn't a shadow from inside the house.
That shadow was running out from the house!
Gu Zhan immediately turned around: "Quick, drive!"
Yu Yezhou didn't know what was happening outside, but he trusted Gu Zhan. As soon as Gu Zhan spoke, he stepped on the gas without a second thought. The truck lurched and suddenly accelerated. The tires seemed to run over something, and the entire truck jolted violently, almost flipping over.
Fortunately, the road behind them was relatively flat, and the truck quickly stabilized, successfully escaping from that dark shadow.
Seeing that the shadow seemed to be 'tethered' around the small house, with no sign of pursuit, Gu Zhan let out a sigh of relief.
Yu Yezhou asked nervously, "What is that thing?"
"I don't know." After the human tags were changed, the residents of the town had transformed from humans into puppet monsters.
The fact that all the puppets would turn into long-necked monsters at night is something that the jester cat probably doesn’t know...
There are so many things that are considered "beautiful"; who knows what kind of monsters might arise from them?
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