Chapter 47: Secret Rumors

In the realm of the Cthulhu RPG Game, the game master, known as the "kp," assumes a god-like stature, playing a crucial role in the advancement of the plot.

However, being human, each kp interprets their role differently, leading to two distinct types. The first type is the benevolent and lawful kp, who ensures the story progresses smoothly, providing accurate information to players when necessary to guide them on the right path. On the other hand, there are kps like KP Cao, who embody chaos and malevolence. While they cannot openly sabotage the players, due to the rules of the Cthulhu RPG Game, they employ various tactics to mislead players into the least beneficial narratives, just as KP Cao had done earlier by revealing a piece of truthful information that tempted Liu Xing and others to choose the path with the lowest rewards. Once on this path, there's no turning back.

The chaotic and evil kps particularly revel in feeding the players ambiguous information, leading them astray while stealthily absolving themselves of blame. Liu Xing recalls a kp with the username "4" who was especially fond of this tactic.

Thus, a common joke has spread throughout the Cthulhu RPG Game community: a kp tells the players to simply follow their lead, to which the players respond with skepticism, suggesting that the kp's guidance is often a ploy to bring about their demise.

Therefore, in the Cthulhu RPG Game, players must confront not only various mythical creatures and supernatural phenomena but also be wary of the kp's deviousness at every turn!

Considering this, Liu Xing has resolved to take KP Cao's words with a grain of suspicion.

Liu Xing, along with Tina and Akira Akashi, accompanied by Nan Xiaoniao, arrived at the Child Displacement Center and met its director.

"Hello, this child has been separated from her mother. Could you please use the broadcast to alert her mother?" Akira Akashi stepped forward and asked.

The director of the Child Displacement Center nodded with a smile and turned to Nan Xiaoniao, "Of course, we can do that. But first, young lady, what is your mother's name?"

Nan Xiaoniao thought for a moment before answering, "Um, my mother's name is Li Xue."

The director smiled and spoke a few words to an employee who promptly left the room, "Our broadcast station at the Crane Viewing Pavilion is just in the back. I've arranged for someone to handle the announcement. Please, feel free to sit and rest here for a while. I'm sure the young lady's mother would be very eager to thank you in person."

After exchanging glances, Liu Xing and his companions took a seat, recognizing this as an excellent opportunity to gather information.

"By the way, you can call me Ray. Judging by this lady's appearance, it seems you are tourists from out of town, right? After all, our small county doesn't usually have foreign residents," said the director of the Child Displacement Center, bringing over some tea and offering it to Liu Xing and the others with a smile.

Accepting the tea, Liu Xing replied cheerfully, "Ray, you have good intuition. We've come all the way from Rongcheng, drawn here by the lively Harvest Festival that we've heard so much about."

Tina, capitalizing on her status as a foreigner, looked at Ray with eager anticipation and said, "Ray, I've been fascinated with Chinese culture since I was a child, especially with such festivals. Could you share with me some stories or legends about the Harvest Festival?"

Ray naturally wouldn't deny the request of Tina, the foreign beauty. "Of course, I can. You might already be aware of the origins of the Harvest Festival, so let me tell you a secret tale associated with it. This is a secret known only to a few insiders, and even the locals of this county town are scarcely aware of it now. I was lucky enough to hear it from an elderly person."

Liu Xing, observing Ray's mysterious demeanor, couldn't help but internally scoff, wondering if Ray was just boasting to impress Tina.

After all, we live in a world where appearances matter so much...

Although that's what Liu Xing thought, his face showed great expectation as he urged, "Ray, stop keeping us in suspense and tell us what this secret is."

Ray chuckled and began, "To be honest, I can't vouch for the authenticity of this tale, as it happened around forty or fifty years ago. It was during the Harvest Festival. That day, the weather turned severe unexpectedly, with lightning, thunder, and a torrential downpour, leading the then master of the Xianhe Temple to suspend the festival until after the storm had passed."

"As a result, the common folk who had come for the festival all went back to their homes. The temple master instructed his disciples to gather the incense burners and the offering tables from the ceremony and bring them back into the temple. The youngest disciple, known for his mischievous nature—and perhaps driven by hunger or just a sweet tooth—took advantage of the moment when no one was looking to steal a peach from the offerings and bit into it."

"In front of everyone, that young disciple who ate the peach suddenly withered into skin and bones and died on the spot without uttering a single word. The master of Xianhe Temple examined the boy and concluded that he had died of starvation!"

"The temple master believed this to be divine punishment for the disciple's theft of the offerings meant for the gods. However, to avoid chaos, he instructed all the Taoists who had witnessed the event to keep silent. Then, they secretly took the disciple's body to be buried in the mountainside and claimed publicly that the disciple had left the monastic life to find work in the provincial city."

"Fortunately, since the boy was an orphan taken in by the master of Xianhe Temple, his abrupt departure didn't cause much of a stir in the small county, and the incident was quietly laid to rest. The old man who told me this secret was one of the Taoists of Xianhe Temple who had witnessed the event. Honestly speaking, I find this secret hard to believe—it's too steeped in feudal superstition."

After finishing his story, Ray seemed to suddenly remember something else, "However, there is another peculiar thing that the old man mentioned. In every cycle of the Harvest Festival, there seems to be a mysterious case of a child disappearing. As a police officer, I've reviewed the records and, indeed, this pattern holds true."