Chapter 12: Death Taboo

"You mean, you saw Yunqing in the ancestral hall?" Ye Miaozhu was instantly excited: "When did this happen?!"

Zhang Yangxu thought and said: "After witnessing this scene, I immediately hid and shrank in the alley across from the ancestral hall, staying vigilant for a long time. I hid like this for about 15 minutes, and after confirming that the 'Gu Yunqing' in the ancestral hall had disappeared, I called Lady Bai to warn you to be careful of Gu Yunqing."

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe looked up at Feng Yushu: "Lady, check the call log."

Feng Yushu immediately took out her phone and unlocked the screen. That call hung up a little after 2:00 AM.

"Just about 15 minutes after Gu Yunqing died." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe quickly drew a conclusion: "In other words, at the same time Zhang Yangxu witnessed 'Gu Yunqing' flipping the almanac in the ancestral hall, the real Gu Yunqing happened to die in front of us."

Such a coincidence, it's hard not to make associations. Does a causal relationship exist between the two? Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe thought for a while: "Let me organize a timeline first."

01:30~01:45 AM, Zhang Yangxu talked with the fake Xie Sining, exposed it by piling up questions, the 'ghost' disappeared.

01:55~02:00 AM, Zhang Yangxu returned to the South Street ancestral hall, witnessed 'Gu Yunqing' flipping the almanac alone in the ancestral hall.

01:55~02:00 AM, Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe and others were checking the corpse by the river, witnessed Gu Yunqing dying suddenly by the river. 02:00~02:13 AM, Zhang Yangxu called Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe and others, notifying them to be careful of Gu Yunqing.

"It is known that the Gu Yunqing who died in front of us is the real Gu Yunqing, so the one in the ancestral hall is fake." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe summarized: "The ghost that impersonated Xie Sining, after being exposed by Mr. Zhang, then impersonated Gu Yunqing, entered the ancestral hall to flip the almanac, and at the same time, the real Gu Yunqing died."

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe showed a suspicious expression. Is there any relationship between the two?

Ye Miaozhu's lips pursed slightly, her teeth gritted, she urgently wanted to know what exactly caused Gu Yunqing's death: "The almanac had already been flipped to today, and today's fortune had long been revealed. Why did the ghost flip the almanac again using Yunqing's identity? Was it to check tomorrow's fortune?"

"Who knows?" Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe shrugged indifferently.

At this moment, Zhang Yangxu suddenly said: "Don't pretend, Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe, you know better than any of us what this means."

As soon as this was said, the other two cast their gazes at him.

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe smiled: "I don't quite understand what you mean, Mr. Zhang."

This damn psychological quality. Zhang Yangxu felt that the Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe in front of him didn't look like a high school senior who was still a few months away from turning 18, but more like a cunning old oiler who had been rolling in society for more than 5 years.

Zhang Yangxu looked at Feng Yushu, who was hiding behind Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe without saying a word, and said: "Lady Bai, do you remember when we first arrived at the ancestral hall? At that time, I and Sining were flipping through the almanac in the ancestral hall, you were planning to sneak into the ancestral hall from the side door, and what about Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe?"

"When I stood in front of the Serpent God statue, the date displayed on the almanac was the twenty-third day of the fourth lunar month, which shows that someone had entered the ancestral hall earlier than me and flipped the almanac to today. Who was that person?"

Feng Yushu opened her eyes wide, and a look of surprise appeared on her round goose-egg face.

Zhang Yangxu continued at the right time: "Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe was the first of all of us to enter the ancestral hall, so the next thing I want to show, only you can explain."

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe didn't show any panic. He just smiled, and under everyone's gaze, walked to the large offering table in front of the Serpent God statue, lifted the dark red tablecloth covering the table.

After the tablecloth was lifted, a corpse of a robust man wearing a tank top, shorts, and sneakers appeared in front of everyone.

"Lin Zhiyuan?!" Ye Miaozhu exclaimed instantly.

Zhang Yangxu was a bit surprised: "You know him?"

Ye Miaozhu nodded: "Lin Zhiyuan is a local from Gubei Town, working outside. I heard he seems to be a fitness coach. Every holiday, he would return to his hometown and often come to the village clinic where I and Yunqing intern to buy medicine, health supplements, and sanitary products." Ye Miaozhu had a deep impression of Lin Zhiyuan because every time he came to the clinic, he would intentionally or unintentionally flirt with her, trying to add her WeChat several times. He was a frivolous guy, far inferior to Gu Yunqing, who was gentle, considerate, and gave people a warm sense of security.

It's a pity Gu Yunqing is already dead.

"I didn't expect him to be dragged into this place too." Ye Miaozhu looked down at Lin Zhiyuan's corpse, feeling mixed emotions in her heart.

Zhang Yangxu then asked: "Can I trouble you to check his corpse?"

"Okay." Ye Miaozhu looked deeply at Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe, who was standing not far away, and squatted down to check.

"Like the corpses of Yunqing and Xie Sining, there are no internal or external injuries or signs of poisoning on Lin Zhiyuan's body, and it's not death by suffocation from strangulation, etc. The death states of the three are exactly the same." She quickly gave a conclusion.

But unlike Xie Sining, Lin Zhiyuan's corpse hadn't been soaking in the cold river water for a long time. The body temperature after death lost normally in the air, and an experienced doctor could easily judge his time of death.

"Lin Zhiyuan's time of death is very recent, about two hours ago, which is midnight." Ye Miaozhu finished and looked around: "Does it match?"

Zhang Yangxu nodded: "It matches. I and Sining happened to enter the ancestral hall a few minutes after midnight, and before we came, Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe was already here."

Feng Yushu, who was standing behind Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe, covered her mouth with both hands in disbelief, her eyes full of terror. She subconsciously wanted to retreat a few steps to stay away from Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe, but her legs, under extreme fear, couldn't exert any strength, and she almost collapsed to the ground.

"Are you trying to say that you suspect I killed Lin Zhiyuan?" Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe still had a smile on his face, and no waves could be seen.

Zhang Yangxu shook his head: "I didn't say that."

"Then what do you mean?"

"I just want to ask you one thing—is Lin Zhiyuan's death because of the almanac?" Zhang Yangxu asked in a low voice: "You were the first to arrive at the ancestral hall, flipped the almanac to today, and then Lin Zhiyuan."

"Lin Zhiyuan might have come after you, or might have come with you. Maybe it was his own curiosity, or maybe you instigated it. In short, Lin Zhiyuan eventually tried to flip the almanac to tomorrow, just like the Gu Yunqing impersonated by the ghost."

Then he died.

"Tell me, is it like this?" Ye Miaozhu asked.

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe clapped his hands lightly, showing approval: "Not bad, it's just as you said."

His crisp and neat affirmation made Zhang Yangxu and Ye Miaozhu fall into silence. Only Feng Yushu breathed a long sigh of relief.

In the case of determining 'flipping tomorrow's almanac = death', the ghost's killing logic made sense.

There are two rules in He Family Village: the almanac fortune that affects luck, and the Serpent God death taboo that leads to death upon touching.

And that unknown bizarre thing wandering in the village that impersonates the dead doesn't have the ability to kill directly; the one killing is the Serpent God.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 13 =====