Chapter 29

A scorching sun climbed into the sky, steaming misty water vapor from the wet bluestone road. The entire He Family Village was shrouded in warm and humid sunlight, like a huge steamer.

The firecracker paper piled on both sides of the street was also baked dry and brittle by the scorching sun, making a clicking sound under the teenager's feet.

After separating from Feng Yushu, Ning Zhe ran alone through the empty street. A faint smell of gunpowder drifted in the humid air, and the sound of crackling explosions came from afar, making him understand why the long road he had just walked was empty.

He came to an arch bridge by the upper reaches of the river, stood in front of the railing and looked into the distance, and could already see the large He family mansion Zhang Yangxu mentioned.

Bright red lanterns were hung on the wide door lintel, and the three-story bamboo and wood structure stood on the foundation piled with stone squares, like stars holding the moon, crowded among the residential houses that were generally only one or two stories high. The courtyard wall alone was more than three meters high, standing out from the crowd, very eye-catching.

The crackling sound Ning Zhe heard just now came from the direction of the mansion. From afar, he could see several servants in green shirts and small hats lighting firecrackers one after another on the steps of the mansion's main gate. The explosion of gunpowder penetrated the streets and alleys, and the bright red paper fragments flew in the smoke.

A set of red lacquered tables and chairs was placed on the left side of the steps. An old man with white hair and beard sat at the table with a pen, surrounded by a noisy crowd, as if queuing for something.

Ning Zhe quietly approached, only to see a villager come to the desk, gently remove the yellow paper pasted on his face, and place it in front of the old man.

The yellow paper on his face was written with: 【He Renliang】

The old man picked up his pen and wrote a string of curled small characters on the paper, then nodded slightly.

"He Renliang" pasted the yellow paper back on his forehead, and the servant next to him immediately let him go, letting him walk into the decorated He family mansion from the main gate.

Ning Zhe couldn't see clearly the small characters the old man wrote on the yellow paper, only seeing the crowd queuing at the gate of the He family mansion moving forward step by step in the noise, one yellow paper after another passing through the old man's pen, and one person after another walking into the main gate.

"This scene is familiar," Ning Zhe thought to himself.

When he was a child, he went to eat at a wedding banquet held by a relative in the village with his grandmother. The scene at that time was also very lively. The sound of firecrackers and noisy human voices were mixed together. Ning Zhe squeezed into the crowded crowd with his grandmother to hand in the gift money to the accountant.

If this group of people at the door were queuing to hand in gift money and eat, then...

Ning Zhe raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the crowded crowd, looking toward the main gate of the He family mansion.

This vermilion main gate was far more magnificent than the South Street ancestral hall where the Serpent God was worshipped. On both sides of the main gate, like the ancestral hall door, a couplet was pasted, white background with red characters:

【Welcoming the new marriage with flawless white jade】

【Bidding farewell to the old person, the full moon has flaws】

【Contentment brings happiness】

"This is a wedding banquet? Is there someone in the owner's family of this mansion getting married?" Ning Zhe couldn't help but feel a bit puzzled.

The situation in front of him did look like a red event, but even if he put aside the eeriness of white paper and red characters, the content of this couplet alone was enough to make him feel that something was wrong. At least if he were the one getting married, Ning Zhe would never accept such a couplet pasted at the door, it looked unlucky.

"There are too many eerie things in He Family Village. Even if I have deduced the ghost's rules, this village is still shrouded in fog everywhere."

Ning Zhe sighed lightly, no longer paying attention to those unsolvable puzzles. He lightened his hands and feet, bypassed the bustling main gate, and walked around to the side of the mansion along the high courtyard wall.

The overall architecture of the He family mansion was a "Hui" structure, with the main gate facing south, and the other directions being the side gates on the east and west sides, and the back gate located in the north, a weather of sitting north and facing south.

Ning Zhe didn't take any of the 4 doors, but came to a low residential house next to the He mansion, climbed onto the roof with agile skills, and lay on the tiles of the roof. Ning Zhe looked over the courtyard wall, looking at the situation inside the He family mansion.

The courtyard was very lively. From the main hall to the side rooms, it was full of tables and stools, with sparse guests sitting on them. The three strings of firecrackers in front of the door had not been finished, and it was not time to serve dishes. Ning Zhe only saw the guests chatting leisurely while eating tea snacks, children chasing and fighting on the pebble path, and the kitchen was busy.

It was just a very routine rural banquet, nothing special.

If there was any special point, it was probably the couplet pasted in front of the door, as well as the yellow paper pasted on the guests' faces.

"Earlier, the ghost used Zhang Yangxu's identity to send a text message to Auntie, saying that Ye Miaozhu died in the He family mansion," Ning Zhe's gaze circled, but he didn't find any clues: "Where is her corpse? Where is Zhang Yangxu?"

Ning Zhe was full of doubts. After observing for a circle, he didn't hesitate anymore, jumped directly from the roof, climbed the courtyard wall with both hands, and climbed over with a flip.

The courtyard wall of the He family mansion was built of stone square bricks, more than three meters high. It was not an easy task for an ordinary person to climb up, and it was undoubtedly even more difficult for a high school student who neglected physical exercise due to brushing questions every day. But Ning Zhe was not an ordinary student. His physical fitness was very good, belonging to the ultimate volume king who was always first in physical tests and also ranked high in cultural achievements. After climbing over the courtyard wall cleanly, Ning Zhe hid his figure with the acacia tree planted against the wall in the courtyard and quietly came to a row of guest rooms on the side of the main building.

The guest rooms that were usually idle were now full of tables and chairs, and many guests were sitting inside.

After confirming that no one found him, Ning Zhe leaned against the wall and secretly let out a sigh of relief.

At this moment, a whispering conversation came from the window.

The sound was very light, not like the normal chatting of ordinary people, but more like mice sneaking into a granary gnawing on rice, very clear, but very oppressive. Ning Zhe concentrated his energy, only hearing a deliberately lowered female voice whispering:

"What? Your family's offerings were also eaten?"

"Isn't it? The taste is quite picky. A bowl of rice wasn't moved at all, just dug out a plum."

"Is your baby so naughty? Even the Serpent God's offerings dare to eat?"

"It's not the baby's business. Several children have been playing in front of me, and none of them have entered the fasting hall."

"Not the baby, then what is it..."

The tone of the guests chatting was not standard Mandarin, but with a heavy Hakka accent, but fortunately Ning Zhe had grown up in Gubei Town since he was a child, and he could barely understand what they were saying.

Several village women were chatting while drinking tea and eating melon seeds about the offerings being stolen. From naughty babies to wild cats running around, they suspected everyone they could suspect, but no one could convince anyone, and they couldn't give an accurate answer.

Ning Zhe listened quietly until someone said: "You guys, could the offered food not be eaten by humans at all..."

"Don't talk nonsense, how long has it been since the Serpent God grandmother showed her spirit, how could she come down to eat..."

"Who can say for sure..."

The chattering of several village women lasted for a long time, until the three strings of firecrackers in front of the door were finished, the tables and chairs in the hall were full of guests, and the smell of meat drifted from the kitchen to the guest room. This banquet finally started to serve dishes.

"I'll go call my baby over."

A village woman wearing a square scarf pushed open the door of the guest room and walked toward the main hall along the pebble path surrounded by pinks.

Taking advantage of the short moment when no one was around, Ning Zhe lightened his footsteps, grabbed half a brick used to press the box, and smashed it on the back of her head cleanly.

The back of the human head can be said to be one of the most fragile and fatal parts of the whole body. Even if a primary school student playing in the classroom accidentally slips and lets the back of his head hit the corner of the table, it is very easy to lose his life, let alone a deliberate blunt weapon blow from an adult male.

Only a muffled sound of "click" was heard, and the village woman's body tilted to the ground, and she lost her breath without any struggle.

The yellow paper pasted on her face fell off, and it was written: He Yulan.

Blunt weapon injuries usually don't cause uncontrollable heavy bleeding. Ning Zhe casually used the square scarf on the head of the village woman named He Yulan to cover the blood stains on the back of her head, stuffed this fresh corpse into the lotus vat, and covered the imminent death with bright green leaves and red flowers.

After doing these, Ning Zhe deliberately stepped on the clattering steps, returned the same way to the original guest room, and knocked on the half-closed door.

"Who is it?"

"Oh, I don't know where the baby ran to play, I can't find him at all..."

The faint female voice came from Ning Zhe's throat. As the guest room door was pushed open completely, the shirt and trousers on the teenager turned into simple hemp clothes, and the originally fair and soft skin was also stained with the dark color of farmers.

This is the ghost's rule:

—When others in the room take it for granted that the person knocking on the door is He Yulan, he really is.

Ning Zhe stole the identity of the village woman He Yulan and mixed into this banquet.

(End of chapter)