Chapter 7: Self-Preservation

The cold moonlight spilled onto the river surface, sparkling with fine waves. The corpse floating in the water had a face even paler than the moonlight; it was Xie Sining's face.

Feng Yushu looked at the female corpse drifting downstream under the bridge, then looked at the phone screen in her hand. The call showed it had already hung up.

"If the one in the river is Xie Sining, then who was the one who called me just now?" Feng Yushu's voice trembled slightly, and that terrifying possibility made her hair stand on end.

"Calm down. Although He Family Village is bizarre, there has never really been any supernatural monster. Maybe Zhang Yangxu used her phone to call you." Ning Zhe comforted her: "Let's go back to the ancestral hall first. You call back and see what's going on."

Because he had already violated a taboo today, Ning Zhe, fearing bad luck, didn't dare to go into the water to salvage Xie Sining's corpse to confirm more information.

The two left the bridgehead and hurried back.

"No answer." On the way, Feng Yushu breathed a sigh of relief: "I called Xie Sining three times in a row, and there was no answer."

"Try calling Zhang Yangxu?" Ning Zhe suggested while walking quickly—he was unlucky today and didn't dare to run freely.

Feng Yushu became nervous again: "I... will try."

But before she could find Zhang Yangxu's number from her contacts, the two passed through the alley by the river, turned a corner, and a relatively spacious street appeared in front of them.

On the street, two figures, a man and a woman, were walking slowly under the moonlight. The man wasn't tall, but his posture was upright, wearing a suit and leather shoes, with a slightly loose beer belly. The woman was wearing a full OL uniform and high heels, following a step behind the man.

"This!..."

"Quiet." Ning Zhe clamped Feng Yushu's neck with his arm and covered her mouth with his palm, pressing her against the wall.

After pressing down the terrified Feng Yushu, Ning Zhe leaned out slightly from the alley and quietly observed the two figures walking on the street. The cold moonlight spilled on them, dragging their shadows very, very long. "Zhang Yangxu and Xie Sining? What's going on?"

If Xie Sining was dead, then who was this person beside Zhang Yangxu?

If Xie Sining wasn't dead, then whose corpse was in the river? The two were leaving in the direction of the ancestral hall. Seeing Feng Yushu, whom he had pressed down, gradually calm down and stop struggling, Ning Zhe said "Quiet" and released her. A fiery red lip print remained on his right palm.

"Pu-ha—" Feng Yushu leaned against the wall with one hand, panting rapidly, "Ning, Ning Zhe, the one who just walked past was..."

"I know." Ning Zhe's gaze was still fixed on the two figures walking further and further away on the street, saying: "Call Zhang Yangxu now, immediately."

"Ah, okay." Feng Yushu hurriedly clicked on her contacts and found Zhang Yangxu's number.

After Feng Yushu dialed Zhang Yangxu's phone number, before long, the footsteps of the two on the street paused, and then continued to walk forward.

While walking, Zhang Yangxu took out the constantly vibrating phone from the inner lining of his suit.

"Feng Yushu?" The caller ID note made Zhang Yangxu a bit confused. He quickly answered: "Why, Lady Bai, what's the matter?"

"Be careful of Xie Sining!" Feng Yushu warned hurriedly: "I just passed the arched bridge with Ning Zhe and saw—"

"Saw what? Lady Bai, speak clearly, what did you see by the river?" Zhang Yangxu's nerves tightened immediately. He was about to ask nervously, but saw a red "Hung up" on his phone screen.

"What's going on..."

In the alley, Feng Yushu looked at Ning Zhe with confusion. Her phone was in his hand. It was Ning Zhe who snatched Feng Yushu's phone and hung up forcibly, preventing her from continuing to warn Zhang Yangxu. "Ning Zhe, why did you hang up the phone?" Feng Yushu asked in a low voice.

Ning Zhe operated Feng Yushu's phone to hang up the call Zhang Yangxu was calling back, saying: "Don't bring trouble upon yourself."

"Trouble?" Feng Yushu was even more confused.

Ning Zhe took a deep breath, and that terrifying scene still made him shudder.

"When you called Zhang Yangxu, I was also calling Xie Sining at the same time."

Ning Zhe said, showing his phone, which displayed 1 "No answer" call record, exactly Xie Sining's: "At the same time Zhang Yangxu answered your call, Xie Sining didn't answer my call, but stood still without any movement."

Feng Yushu's face turned pale instantly: "Xie Sining, she..."

Ning Zhe continued: "When you said 'I passed the arched bridge with Ning Zhe' on the phone, she was still staring straight at me, and smiled silently."

Feng Yushu's legs went soft, and the excessive fright almost made her collapse to the ground, her face even paler: "How could this be..."

Ning Zhe used deep breathing to adjust his heart rate, and finally said: "Xie Sining is already dead. The thing following Zhang Yangxu now is something else. That 'ghost' is wearing Xie Sining's identity, and I don't know what its intentions are. I also can't be sure what will happen once we expose its identity."

So he snatched Feng Yushu's phone without hesitation and hung up the call to avoid bringing trouble upon himself.

"Then what should we do now?" Feng Yushu asked hurriedly.

Looking at her helpless eyes like a small animal, Ning Zhe understood: "Just like the previous judgment, Feng Yushu's personality is cowardly, lacks independent judgment, and is accustomed to relying on others... Very easy to control."

Then there was only one thing left.

"Lady, you call Ye Miaozhu and Gu Yunqing and warn them that Xie Sining has been replaced." Ning Zhe said.

"Then what about you?" Feng Yushu asked again.

"Call those two, don't go back to the ancestral hall. The four of us will go to the river together to salvage Xie Sining's corpse." Ning Zhe said softly while wiping the lip print on his palm with his sleeve: "Hopefully we can find clues to Xie Sining's death on the corpse. I feel this might be related to the method of leaving He Family Village."

As for what will happen to Zhang Yangxu, it depends on his own fate. Ning Zhe chose self-preservation.

If he hadn't violated a taboo today, Ning Zhe wouldn't even want to call Ye Miaozhu and Gu Yunqing and would have gone alone. But now it's not possible. In the case of bad luck, going into the river to salvage a corpse alone would very likely lead to drowning, even though Ning Zhe's swimming technique was actually very good.

After dialing the phone, Feng Yushu followed Ning Zhe and left the alley together.

On the street in the distance, Zhang Yangxu put down the phone that showed no answer several times and silently cast his gaze toward Xie Sining beside him.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 8 =====

(End of Chapter)