Chapter 10: Scattered Red Flowers Pave the Road

"Be careful of Gu Yunqing?" Feng Yushu lowered her head and glanced cautiously at the two corpses lying by the river, then looked up and met Ye Miaozhu's gaze. The two looked at each other.

Ye Miaozhu's nameless fire rose: "Yunqing died right in front of me, how should I be careful?"

"Xie Sining is also dead, she even called the lady, you say how to be careful." Ning Zhe took Feng Yushu's phone and said: "2 minutes, prove you are Zhang Yangxu, not something else, time is up."

The other side of the phone was silent.

Gu Yunqing's corpse was still lying on the laundry slope by the river. The mechanical watch on his wrist didn't malfunction because of the water and was still ticking. The second hand circled round and round, and the transparent time fell drop by drop.

"1 minute." Ning Zhe said.

The other side of the phone was still silent, only the rustling sound of the night breeze blowing the corners of clothes. Ning Zhe lowered his head and looked at the time: "1 minute and 20 seconds."

"Ning Zhe, there are 3 versions of the demolition contract coordinated for the residents of the land where your old family home is located."

When the time reached 1 minute and 47 seconds, Zhang Yangxu's voice finally came from the speaker.

"Version A, after demolition, residents can get housing about 3 times the original residential area in the designated property, and the remaining area can be supplemented with discounts."

"Version B, a large cash compensation at a fixed price."

"Version C, residents choose a house close to the original residential area within the range given by the developer, plus a certain amount of cash compensation."

Ning Zhe said "Hmm": "That's right, I returned home to look at the compensation contract. My grandparents are illiterate, and I'm afraid they'll be cheated."

But the conversation turned, and he said again: "But this is not enough to prove you are Zhang Yangxu. How about saying something I don't know?"

In fact, what Zhang Yangxu said just now was enough to prove his identity, but Ning Zhe felt it wasn't enough. He wanted to verify a guess of his own on Zhang Yangxu.

"You can't sign the Version B contract." Zhang Yangxu said in a calm voice: "The difficulty of compensation for large cash is the largest of the three versions, so the number of Version B contracts we prepared is the least. Long before the bidding started, the large cash compensation contracts had already been designated through various channels. You are destined not to be able to fight for it."

"Whoa, you guys haven't even bought the headgear and stockings for robbing the bank, and the division of spoils has already been completed." Ning Zhe applauded him: "Tell me, Mr. Zhang, why should I be careful of Gu Yunqing?"

"Let's meet face to face."

"OK."

The meeting place agreed upon by Zhang Yangxu was still the street at the entrance of the ancestral hall. After witnessing two bizarre sudden deaths, both Feng Yushu and Ning Zhe were vigilant to the extreme. Instead, Ye Miaozhu appeared a bit indifferent.

"If we don't go now, we'll have to go sooner or later." She said: "After today, tomorrow's taboos will change again. Can you not go to the ancestral hall to check the almanac?"

That makes sense, but her indifferent attitude still surprised Ning Zhe. Well, if a person isn't even afraid of death, there's nothing to be afraid of.

The twenty-third day of the fourth lunar month, 02:33 AM.

Ning Zhe arrived at the South Street of He Family Village. The clan ancestral hall worshipping the Serpent God was located here, and Zhang Yangxu had been waiting at the entrance early.

Feng Yushu followed Ning Zhe and Ye Miaozhu reluctantly. She was weak by nature, and after knowing that the Xie Sining following Zhang Yangxu was a dead person, she became even more cowardly, saying she wouldn't return to the ancestral hall at this time no matter what.

Ning Zhe didn't force her to go with him, only saying "Good luck to you" and set off to the appointment with Ye Miaozhu. In the end, the fear of being alone overcame everything else, and Feng Yushu had to fall behind a few steps and follow.

After the three approached the ancestral hall, Feng Yushu, who was nervous, finally breathed a sigh of relief. There was only Zhang Yangxu at the entrance of the ancestral hall, and no one else was seen.

"Yo, where's Xie Sining?" Ning Zhe waved and asked.

Zhang Yangxu smiled bitterly: "Asking the obvious."

"So that's how it is, then, congratulations on surviving." Ning Zhe understood instantly: "Tell me, how did you survive from that thing's hands?"

Zhang Yangxu didn't rush to explain. Several people confirmed each other's identities first, and then asked: "First of all, I want to confirm one thing. Lady Bai called me earlier, saying that you saw something by the river... is it Sining?"

"That's right." Ning Zhe didn't deny it: "We found Xie Sining's corpse in the river."

Zhang Yangxu breathed a sigh of relief, closed his eyes, and said: "Sure enough... Good, then let's exchange information."

Right at the entrance of the ancestral hall, Zhang Yangxu told his entire experience from leaving the ancestral hall with Xie Sining until now:

After the warning call from Feng Yushu was hung up halfway, Zhang Yangxu's heart was full of confusion.

00:30 AM, Zhang Yangxu and Xie Sining left the ancestral hall and walked upstream along the river. There was no abnormal situation on the quiet road, only some red paper fragments scattered at the entrance of several civilian houses. Those were left after firecrackers exploded. He Family Village had set off many firecrackers yesterday.

After walking for a while, Xie Sining suddenly looked embarrassed and said to Zhang Yangxu that she was a bit urgent.

The physiological structure of women is different from men, and the urge to urinate is basically uncontrollable. Zhang Yangxu didn't demand much of her, so he leaned against the willow tree by the river to avoid it, letting Xie Sining go first. After the physiological problem was solved, the two continued to walk upstream.

Subsequently, Zhang Yangxu and Xie Sining went north all the way and arrived at the central area of He Family Village.

Along the way, they found that the further north they walked, the denser the firecracker paper fragments on both sides of the street became. Scattered red flowers paved the road, as if seeing someone off, or seemingly holding some happy event.

From afar, Zhang Yangxu's gaze crossed the wide street and saw a quaint and wealthy mansion. The main entrance alone was more than 3 meters high, and the surrounding wall was more than 5 meters—Zhang Yangxu's estimation of the height, angle, footprint, and orientation of buildings was always very accurate.

A large black-bottomed, yellow-painted character was hung on the door of the mansion—"He Mansion."

Seeing that more than half of the 1 and a half hours of the agreed gathering time had passed, Zhang Yangxu didn't try to enter the He Mansion to continue exploring, but chose to return to the ancestral hall first, call Ning Zhe and others, and then make plans together.

The two returned along the street paved with bright red paper fragments on both sides, chatting one sentence after another.

Then, it was Zhang Yangxu who received Feng Yushu's call on the way. This woman warned him in an extremely terrified tone to be careful of Xie Sining... but before she finished speaking, the call was forcibly hung up.

"After the call was hung up, I immediately thought that I and Sining had stayed by the river on the way to He Mansion. If Feng Yushu's call wasn't a joke, it meant that something happened to her during the time I was waiting for Sining to urinate by the river."

"The incident by the river led to her death, and her identity was impersonated by something else."

Zhang Yangxu finally said: "Ning Zhe, that river must be strange."

"No, it's not. Xie Sining dying by the river might have other reasons, but it shouldn't have a direct relationship with the river itself." Ning Zhe spread his hands: "Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu have already tested it with their lives."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 11 =====