Dice In The Darkness: Cthulhu Calls

Chapter 365: The Five Deaths of Hu Cang

Liu Xing stroked his chin and said with a smile, "This is quite interesting. I never thought we would be able to catch Xiao Mochen and Hu Li’s wedding."

Zhang Jingxu nodded and replied, "And it also tells us the current time we’re in. But, Ryuusei, did you notice that among these people who are here for the event, there is not a single woman."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow and carefully observed the crowd gathered outside the teahouse. Just as Zhang Jingxu had pointed out, there wasn’t a single woman among them.

This was indeed peculiar.

"This shouldn’t be the case. After all, Xiao Mochen is a local of Panlong Town, and all his aunts and female relatives should be here in Panlong Town. How is it possible that none of them have come? It’s not like at this time, that embroidery factory would have recruited all the women from Panlong Town to work and not give them a day off, right?" Liu Xing expressed his confusion.

Zhang Jingxu shook his head and shrugged, saying, "Regarding this matter, we can only ask Hu Cang. I believe Hu Cang should reveal the truth to us now."

At this point, Zhang Jingxu had also gotten up and walked out, asking, "Ryuusei, Zhang Jingxu, what are you looking at?"

Liu Xing smiled and told Zhang Jingxu about what he had observed.

Upon hearing that Xiao Mochen and Hu Li’s wedding was taking place, Ling Ishikawa quickly joined them and said, "Let me take a look. It seems we’ve arrived at the perfect time. Maybe we can crash the wedding and enjoy some wedding banquet."

At that moment, Li Dian and Wan Chongshan also emerged from their rooms. After exchanging greetings with Liu Xing and the others, they started chatting with Zhang Jingxu.

Even without Zhang Jingxu translating, Liu Xing could tell that they were discussing Xiao Mochen and Hu Li’s wedding.

After a while, Zhang Jingxu turned around and translated, "Li Dian and Wan Chongshan’s idea is to try to persuade Hu Cang to take us to Xiao Mochen and Hu Li’s wedding. Since we speculated before that Hu Li might be a fox spirit, she might have some information about temporal distortion, as fox spirits are considered mythical creatures."

Liu Xing nodded and said, "I was thinking the same thing, but I have a feeling that Hu Cang may not be willing to take us to the wedding. In fact, he might not even plan to go himself. After all, the relationship between Hu Cang and the other three is quite complicated."

Zhang Jingxu sighed and said, "That’s true, but we have to give it a try. After all, if we miss this opportunity, we might not get another one."

As the saying goes, "Opportunity knocks but once."

Hu Cang walked up calmly, said something, and seemed ready to turn and leave.

However, Wan Chongshan and Li Dian had no intention of letting Hu Cang go so easily and hurriedly called him to stop.

Liu Xing noticed that after a few words from Li Dian, Hu Cang seemed reluctant.

Sure enough, Hu Cang was not willing to attend Xiao Mochen and Hu Li’s wedding.

However, it was unclear how Li Dian and the others persuaded Hu Cang. Although he still appeared unwilling, he eventually nodded.

After Hu Cang went downstairs, Zhang Jingxu smiled and said, "It seems that this Hu Cang is quite stubborn. At first, he insisted that he didn’t want to attend Xiao Mochen and Hu Li’s wedding and even made excuses to stay at the clinic to ensure prompt treatment for patients. However, in the end, Li Dian managed to convince him. After all, Hu Cang did mention that Xiao Mochen was his childhood friend. How could he not attend his best friend’s wedding? As for the clinic, Li Dian offered to take care of it."

Liu Xing raised an eyebrow and said, "I see. It seems that Hu Cang still cares about his relationship with Xiao Mochen. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have agreed to your request. By the way, have you tried asking Hu Cang why he and Xiao Mochen had a falling out? I think it might have something to do with Hu Li."

Zhang Jingxu shook his head and said with a smile, "We didn’t dare to ask about that. After all, we’re not that close to Hu Cang, and those are quite personal questions. However, Li Dian did try to indirectly inquire about it, and it seems that it’s indeed related to Hu Li. Whenever Hu Cang mentions Hu Li, Li Dian notices a strong emotional response from him."

"By the way, just to clarify, we are currently two months back in time from our previous location. I know you might be confused, Ryuusei, because Hu Cang previously mentioned that Xiao Mochen returned to Panlong Town and married Hu Li two years ago. However, at that time, Xiao Mochen was almost broke after opening the teahouse, so they didn’t have a wedding ceremony back then. Now, Xiao Mochen and Hu Li are having a belated wedding."

Liu Xing nodded. Initially, when he saw Xiao Mochen and Hu Li’s wedding, he thought they had returned to the same point in time two years ago. But it turned out to be a delayed wedding.

However, this timing was ideal for addressing the Black Internet Cafe arson case.

Thinking about it, Liu Xing spoke with a feigned seriousness, "I see. So, we’ve gone back two months in time. In that case, should we try to prevent the Black Internet Cafe arson case from happening? After all, it was an avoidable incident, and those elementary students didn’t have to die."

Liu Xing’s acting may have been a bit exaggerated, but Zhang Jingxu played along and said, "You’re right, Ryuusei. We should indeed try to prevent the Black Internet Cafe arson case. However, we need to plan carefully. Right now, all we know is that the elementary student’s name is Wang Haiyang, and we have no connection with him at this point. So, we can’t just approach Wang Haiyang and tell him he’s about to die."

Liu Xing nodded. Some things might sound simple in theory, but they were challenging to execute. Like this situation where they wanted to prevent the Black Internet Cafe arson case, it might seem as simple as keeping Wang Haiyang away from the cafe or giving him money to have fun there. However, their group could only stay at a specific time point for a maximum of five days. So, how could they ensure that Wang Haiyang would stay away from the cafe or have enough money to entertain himself there?

Therefore, they needed to plan carefully.

Afterward, Liu Xing and his group went downstairs for breakfast.

At the dining table, Li Dian continued to chat with Hu Cang about various topics.

As for Zhang Jingxu, he diligently performed his translation duties. "At this moment, Li Dian is asking Hu Cang if anything significant has happened at this current time point in Panlong Town. Hu Cang replied that apart from Xiao Mochen and Hu Li’s wedding, there hasn’t been anything noteworthy in the town over the next three to five days. However, tomorrow is the first day of school for Panlong Town Elementary, so Wang Haiyang should be starting school then."

"Besides this, Li Dian also inquired about why, apart from Hu Li and the owner of that Black Internet Cafe, there were no other women seen in Panlong Town. Though this time, Hu Cang finally spoke the truth, it wasn’t of much use, as Hu Cang himself didn’t know the answer to this question. He had discovered this issue upon returning to Panlong Town, but up until now, he hadn’t found an answer. Nevertheless, it should be related to that Great Old One."

"Then Li Dian began to inquire about Hu Li’s background. But I believe, Ryuusei and all of you can already tell from Hu Cang’s expression that he started beating around the bush again. Clearly, Hu Cang must have some inexplicable connection with Hu Li and probably also with Xiao Mochen. Xiao Mochen might be in the dark about it too, because Hu Cang just mentioned that Xiao Mochen sent him an invitation to today’s wedding ceremony. So, Ryuusei and all of you can understand."

"Understood."

Liu Xing nodded and began pondering a question: Who betrayed whom? Given the current circumstances, it could be possible that Hu Li betrayed Hu Cang, Hu Cang betrayed Xiao Mochen, Xiao Mochen betrayed Hu Cang, or perhaps even Hu Cang betrayed Hu Li.

Amidst lamenting how complicated things had become, Liu Xing also started to doubt the author of this module. Most likely, the author of this module was also the author of Fisher’s Village module because the relationships between the NPCs in both modules were intricately tangled, making it as confusing as navigating through a field of tall grass on horseback...

Thinking this, Liu Xing was grateful that they were in the world of the Cthulhu RPG Game and not in some melodramatic TV series, where, with such a convoluted plot, it wouldn’t be surprising if Hu Cang and Hu Li turned out to be siblings.

Just as Liu Xing was lost in his thoughts again, Zhang Jingxu continued, "Hu Cang now reminds us that there are a few places in Panlong Town that are best avoided, as he had ’died’ in those places before."

"Died?!" Liu Xing and Ling Ishikawa exclaimed in unison.

Zhang Jingxu nodded and explained, "To clarify, when Hu Cang mentions ’dying,’ it might not be literal death. It could simply mean losing consciousness. Then, when the next temporal distortion occurs, Hu Cang wakes up and finds himself in bed. However, the feeling of ’dying’ that Hu Cang experiences is very real to him. So, it’s possible that Hu Cang genuinely died but was brought back to life due to the temporal distortion. Of course, we probably won’t enjoy the luxury of such deaths and resurrections since we’re not natives of Panlong Town."

"Alright, to get back on track, Hu Cang ’died’ a total of five times. The first time, he decided to leave Panlong Town due to the relentless temporal distortions. Except for the time when we were there and the Black Flood Dragon damaged the bridge, cutting off the town from the outside world, Panlong Town seemed connected to the outside world at other times. So, Hu Cang wanted to escape the damned temporal distortions. But, as you can guess, as soon as he crossed the bridge to the other side of Panlong River, he suddenly found himself falling into a deep pit and ended up as minced meat."

"The second time, during Panlong Town Junior High, Hu Cang had been relatively well-behaved for some time after his first ’death.’ However, he got bored and, seeking excitement, entered Panlong Town Junior High one day. In a classroom, he found a pen and took it with him. You can probably guess what happened next. That night, while Hu Cang was in the restroom, he saw a female ghost wearing Panlong Town Junior High’s uniform rushing towards him. After a series of futile struggles, Hu Cang was ’killed’ by the ghost."

"The third time, Hu Cang was feeling bored again, tired of endlessly tending to incurable patients at the clinic. So, he went to the Black Internet Cafe to play games. As you can imagine, Wang Haiyang’s father, Wang Anquan, stormed into the Black Internet Cafe with a bucket of gasoline and set it on fire without hesitation. Hu Cang was burned to ’death,’ and to this day, he vividly remembers that death."

"As for the fourth time, a somewhat traumatised Hu Cang decided to take a walk by Panlong River to clear his mind. However, before he could complete one circle, he suddenly felt his limbs go weak, his consciousness blurred, and then he fell into a coma. When Hu Cang woke up, he found himself blindfolded and suspended in mid-air somewhere. He heard the sound of flowing water and people talking, but his mind was already hazy, so he didn’t know what they were saying. And that’s how Hu Cang ’died’ inexplicably."

"As for Hu Cang’s final death, it happened because he wanted to study the relationship between heavy rain and temporal distortion. So, during a heavy rainstorm, he walked with an umbrella, waiting for the temporal distortion to start. But as he walked, he felt that something was amiss. After all, Panlong Town wasn’t that big, and Hu Cang had lived there for decades; he could navigate it blindfolded. Yet this time, he got lost. Then, he saw a pig-headed creature with a human body, wielding a butcher knife, approaching him. Hu Cang was killed."

Hearing this, Liu Xing understood that these five deaths of Hu Cang were hints for the players.

Firstly, Hu Cang’s first death was a warning not to leave Panlong Town before collecting 100 ’truth’ points. The second death indicated that the pen from Panlong Town Junior High might be a crucial item, or there could be other items to collect there. The third death likely advised players not to reason with Wang Anquan, who had suffered the loss of his son. The fourth death served as a reminder not to wander alone in Panlong Town, as you might be mistaken for a sacrifice by some fanatic. Lastly, Hu Cang’s final death reminded players not to roam aimlessly during rainy days.

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