Not long after, Zhou Caiwei suddenly let out a soft cry. “Huh? Come look, everyone. I think I found something.”
Hearing this, everyone immediately gathered around.
In Zhou Caiwei's hands was half a sheet of damp paper, clearly just fished out from the rain. The ink on it had bled into various-sized blots, making it incredibly difficult to decipher what was written.
“I'll read it out loud, listen up,” Zhou Caiwei said, taking the initiative since she knew the others would likely have trouble reading it.
“Today, we surveyed the mountain forest and found that this area is covered in wisteria. The branches and leaves are lush, and the growth rate is astonishing. What is surprising is that these wisterias do not grow independently; they all extend from a single main vine.”
“That main vine is incredibly thick, unlike anything I've ever seen. The locals rumor that this vine is the incarnation of the Mountain God and must not be offended...”
Zhou Caiwei's words came to an abrupt halt, and she shrugged. “That's it. This half of the page only has this much content. Who knows where the other half is.”
There was nothing they could do about it. Besides, if not for Zhou Caiwei's class skill, they might not have even gotten this much information, so naturally, no one complained.
Bai Ci summarized, “So, the massive wisteria tree recorded here is the Mountain God?”
“Come to my side and look closely. Can you recognize if the handwriting on this is from your father's hand?” Arbiter pulled Vigi closer, letting him examine it.
Vigi leaned in and looked at the content on the letter, but could only shake his head. “I can recognize my father's handwriting, but this half of a page... I can't do it.”
Expecting Vigi to read a heavily smudged piece of paper without any trouble like Zhou Caiwei did was simply asking too much of him.
“However...” That being said, though he couldn't read the words, his professional instincts were top-notch. “If your translation isn't wrong, this isn't a manuscript. It looks more like some kind of logbook or journal.”
Yan Zheng patted Vigi's shoulder. “Let's keep searching. Maybe there are more clues.”
The group continued their search. Before long, Bai Ci found a worn-out journal among a pile of damaged documents.
The cover of the journal was missing, and most of the pages inside were damaged, leaving only a few pages relatively intact.
She opened the journal and carefully examined the remaining pages.
The journal recorded the daily life of Vigi's father during the construction of the railway back then. Most of it consisted of technical data, but a section of text written diagonally in a blank space caught her attention.
This section was not part of the main journal entries. It seemed more like someone had casually found an empty spot to jot down their thoughts.
“Today, we excavated the mountain path but encountered wisteria blocking our way. The branches and leaves were so tangled that we couldn't work. I've never met such a strange thing before.”
A different handwriting wrote: “This is nothing yet. The earth and stone we excavated today will be completely filled tomorrow by newly grown wisteria. This has happened several times, and we've made zero progress. What's even more detestable is those foolish locals. They grew terrified and refuse to continue working.”
The first handwriting wrote: “The higher-ups are pressing us hard, and the deadline is looming. If we can't finish on time, none of us will have a good ending. No matter what kind of ghost thing this is, it can't possibly be more terrifying than those noble lords.”
The second handwriting replied: “You're right. Tomorrow, I will arrange the workers and have them prepare axes. No matter what kind of Mountain God incarnation it is, it must be cleared out. We absolutely cannot delay the project.”
Bai Ci read this passage aloud to the others.
“Sometimes, humans are far more terrifying than ghosts,” Zhou Caiwei sighed after listening.
“So it is all karma and destiny. Such a transgressive act is incredibly foolish yet fearless, making it destined that they cannot escape paying their debt.” Arbiter's tone carried a hint of sighing.
Vigi recognized one of the handwritings in the journal, and his face instantly turned pale. “The other handwriting in the journal is my father's...”
Yan Zheng pondered for a moment before speaking, “The station told Vigi that the Mountain God's curse was due to the road construction destroying the mountain forest. Looking at it now, we must add another reason: trying to kill the Mountain God.”
Vigi harbored a sliver of hope. “It only says they wanted to cut down the main vine, but it doesn't say what happened afterward. That main vine might not have been cut down, right?”
Zhou Caiwei pursed her lips. “They already dared to offend the Mountain God. Does it even matter if they succeeded? I think compared to just destroying the forest, this is probably the root cause.”
“Then our focus next should be finding out the outcome of this event, right?” Bai Ci spoke up, easing some of Vigi's tension. “Until the evidence comes out, everything is just speculation.”
This was true. Although the chain of clues was still incomplete, they at least had a direction, which boosted everyone's enthusiasm for searching.
“I found it! As expected of me!” Zhou Caiwei called out loudly.
She was holding a handful of pulled-up weeds in one hand and a hard-covered notebook in the other. However, not many pages were left inside—only about a page and a half barely hanging on.
Everyone immediately gathered around.
The condition of the paper this time was better than the damp sheet Zhou Caiwei had found earlier. Although there were still ink blots overlapping each other, a few scattered words and phrases were still legible.
Zhou Caiwei tossed the weeds aside and began reading from the page.
“Today, we went to cut down that wisteria as planned. The moment the axe struck, red sap actually flowed from the trunk, just like blood. The workers were scared out of their wits and retreated one after another. No one dared to step forward again.”
“It was that person who made a prompt decision, ordering people to bring hay and tinder, and then lit the fire himself.”
“The fire burned for a whole night, and the main vine was completely destroyed. Once the main vine died, all the surrounding offshoot vines withered away as well. The mountain path was never blocked again, and the excavation finally proceeded smoothly.”
“Only, I always feel that this will not end here.”
Who on earth keeps a diary?
But it had to be said, from a player's perspective, encountering a diary-writing NPC was absolutely wonderful.
After Zhou Caiwei finished reading the contents of the note, the room fell into silence.
Vigi's legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground, but Yan Zheng caught him in time.
His face was as pale as paper, and he kept muttering, “It was Father... It was Father who burned the Mountain God... It was Father who triggered the curse...”
A wave of immense guilt and self-blame instantly overwhelmed him.
“Don't blame yourself too much. Perhaps the situation back then wasn't what your father wanted either. He was also forced by circumstances,” Bai Ci comforted him softly.
Every debt has its debtor. Frankly speaking, if the Mountain God was only taking revenge on the people who directly laid hands on it and the nobles behind them, Bai Ci would have considered it somewhat reasonable.
But what did this have to do with the train passengers?
Of course, if the other party insisted on being obsessively pedantic about it, one could argue that if there were no passengers wanting to ride the train, this railway line wouldn't exist, and these passengers were also enjoying the fruits of that labor.
Calculated this way, as long as one was human, they couldn't escape it.
Then Bai Ci was completely out of options. You couldn't reason with something that held such extreme thoughts.
Rate on N.U.
