Chapter 10: Red Petals Scatter Across the Path

“Be careful of Gu Yunqing?” Feng Yu shu cautiously glanced at the two corpses lying by the river, then met Ye Miaozhu’s gaze—the two stared at each other in silence.

Ye Miaozhu’s chest burned with unexplained rage: “Yunqing died right before my eyes—how am I supposed to be careful?”

“Xie Sining is dead too—she even called Auntie. Tell me, how do you stay careful?” Ning Zhe reached out and took Feng Yu shu’s phone. “Two minutes. Prove you’re Zhang Yangxu, not something else. No extensions.”

The other end of the call fell silent.

Gu Yunqing’s corpse still lay on the riverside laundry slope; the mechanical watch on his wrist, undamaged by water, continued ticking—second hand jerking in slow circles, transparent time dripping away.

“One minute,” Ning Zhe said.

The other end remained silent, save for the rustle of evening wind lifting clothing. Ning Zhe glanced at his watch: “One minute twenty seconds.”

“The land where your ancestral home stands has three versions of the relocation contract issued to residents.”

At 1 minute 47 seconds, Zhang Yangxu’s voice finally came through the speaker.

“Version A: After relocation, residents receive housing roughly three times the area of their original home at designated developments, with discounts for rounding up surplus area.”

“Version B: Lump-sum cash compensation.”

“Version C: Residents choose a unit from the developer’s list, close in size to their original home, plus a fixed cash supplement.”

Ning Zhe hummed: “Correct. I came home to check the compensation contracts—my grandparents can’t read. I feared they’d be cheated.”

But he shifted tone: “Still, that’s not enough to prove you’re Zhang Yangxu. Tell me something I don’t know.”

In truth, what Zhang Yangxu had just said was already sufficient to confirm his identity—but Ning Zhe felt it wasn’t enough. He wanted to test a hypothesis about Zhang Yangxu.

“You won’t get Version B,” Zhang Yangxu said calmly. “Cash compensation is the hardest to distribute of the three options. We prepared the fewest Version B contracts. Long before bidding even began, all of them were pre-assigned through back channels. You can’t win one.”

“Wow. You robbers haven’t even bought ski masks or nylon stockings, yet you’ve already split the loot.” Ning Zhe clapped. “Speak up, Boss Zhang—why be careful of Gu Yunqing?”

“Let’s meet in person.”

“OK.”

Zhang Yangxu had chosen the same street outside the ancestral hall for their meeting. After witnessing two bizarre corpses, both Feng Yu shu and Ning Zhe were hyper-alert to the place—yet Ye Miaozhu seemed indifferent.

“We won’t avoid it now—we’ll have to go eventually,” she said. “Tomorrow’s taboos will change. Can you really avoid the ancestral hall just to check the almanac?”

The logic held—but her casual attitude still surprised Ning Zhe. Then again, if someone wasn’t afraid of death, what else was there to fear?

Lunar April 23, 02:33.

Ning Zhe arrived at Nanjie in Hejia Village. The clan ancestral hall, dedicated to the Snake Deity, stood here. Zhang Yangxu had already been waiting at the gate.

Feng Yu shu trailed reluctantly behind Ning Zhe and Ye Miaozhu. By nature timid, she had grown even more terrified after learning Xie Sining—whom Zhang Yangxu accompanied—was dead. She refused outright to return to the ancestral hall now.

Ning Zhe didn’t force her. He simply said, “Good luck,” and set off with Ye Miaozhu. In the end, the terror of being alone outweighed everything else—Feng Yu shu fell several steps behind, then followed.

As the three approached the ancestral hall, Feng Yu shu finally exhaled. Only Zhang Yangxu stood at the gate—no one else.

“Oh, where’s Xie Sining?” Ning Zhe waved.

Zhang Yangxu gave a bitter smile: “You know damn well.”

“I see. Then congratulations—you survived.” Ning Zhe understood instantly. “Tell me—how did you escape that thing?”

Zhang Yangxu didn’t answer immediately. First, they confirmed each other’s identities. Then he asked: “First, I need to confirm something. Earlier, Lady Bai called me, saying you saw something by the river… was it Sining?”

“Yes,” Ning Zhe didn’t deny. “We found Xie Sining’s corpse in the river.”

Zhang Yangxu exhaled in relief, closed his eyes, and said: “As I thought. Good. Let’s exchange information. I’ll go first.”

At the ancestral hall gate, Zhang Yangxu recounted everything from when he and Xie Sining left the hall until now:

After Feng Yu shu’s warning call was abruptly cut off, Zhang Yangxu was filled with doubt.

At 00:30, Zhang Yangxu and Xie Sining left the ancestral hall and walked upstream along the river. The road was silent, no anomalies detected—only scattered red paper fragments outside a few homes, remnants of firecrackers. Hejia Village had set off many firecrackers the day before.

After walking a while, Xie Sining suddenly grimaced and told Zhang Yangxu she needed to urinate.

Women’s physiology differed from men’s—once the urge came, it couldn’t be held. Zhang Yangxu didn’t press her. He stepped aside near a willow by the river, giving her privacy. After she finished, they continued upstream.

They then headed north, reaching the central area of Hejia Village.

Along the way, they noticed the red paper fragments grew denser the farther north they went—tiny red flowers blanketing the road, as if escorting someone, or celebrating some festival.

Far ahead, Zhang Yangxu’s gaze crossed the wide street to a grand, ancient-style mansion. Its main gate stood over three meters tall; its walls exceeded five meters. Zhang Yangxu’s estimates of building height, angles, area, and orientation were always precise.

Above the gate hung a black plaque with golden characters: “He Mansion.”

With half the one-and-a-half-hour meeting window already passed, Zhang Yangxu chose not to enter the He Mansion. Instead, he decided to return to the ancestral hall and gather Ning Zhe and the others before proceeding.

They retraced their steps along the street lined with crimson paper fragments, chatting idly.

Then, Zhang Yangxu received Feng Yu shu’s call. The woman’s voice trembled with terror: she warned him to be careful of Xie Sining, claiming she and Ning Zhe had seen something by the river… but the call was abruptly cut off.

“After the call ended, I immediately recalled that we had paused by the river while Sining urinated. If Feng Yu shu wasn’t joking, then something happened to her during that time.”

“Something that happened by the river caused her death—and someone else assumed her identity.”

Zhang Yangxu concluded: “Ning Zhe, that river is strange.”

“No, it’s not,” Ning Zhe shrugged. “Xie Sining may have died by the river for other reasons, but the river itself isn’t directly responsible. Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu already died proving that.”

(End of Chapter)