Chapter 8: The Mystery of Death

The twenty-third day of the fourth lunar month, 01:22 AM.

Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu, who received the call, arrived at the arched bridge located downstream of the river, waiting quietly for Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe and Feng Yushu to arrive.

Ye Miaozhu leaned on the stone bridge's railing, leaning on Gu Yunqing's shoulder with one hand, looking down at the call record displayed on his phone screen. The call record wasn't long, only 2 minutes, it was a call from Feng Yushu, but the one speaking was Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe.

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe used concise sentences to explain the following 3 pieces of information to them.

1: Xie Sining is dead, the corpse is soaking in this river, cause of death unknown.

2: Something that doesn't know if it's human has replaced Xie Sining's identity and is following Zhang Yangxu, motive unknown. 3: That thing used Xie Sining's phone to call Feng Yushu.

Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe believed that the "thing" using Xie Sining's phone to call Feng Yushu was for some unknown hidden purpose, and their accidental discovery of Xie Sining's own corpse by the river happened to make this ghost's bizarre act fail to achieve its desired effect.

Once its purpose was achieved, perhaps some terrifying thing would happen.

"It's a bit too coincidental." Ye Miaozhu pressed her lips to Gu Yunqing's ear and whispered.

Gu Yunqing's ears moved, and he asked in the same low voice: "How so?"

"According to Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe, the ghost that replaced Xie Sining just called Feng Yushu, and they discovered the real Xie Sining's corpse floating in the river." Ye Miaozhu said softly: "Don't you think this is too coincidental?"

"It is indeed very coincidental." Gu Yunqing looked up and pointed his chin at a collapsed gap on the bridge deck: "This pit collapsed just as Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe walked over the bridge deck, and he almost fell from here and died."

Ye Miaozhu nodded: "That's right, Feng Yushu said this was because Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe inadvertently violated a taboo, which led to such bad luck."

"But I don't think this is bad luck." Gu Yunqing said: "Imagine, if the bridge deck hadn't collapsed, Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe and Feng Yushu would have crossed the bridge normally. Feng Yushu would have received the call from the fake Xie Sining on the way back to the ancestral hall, then they... would they still have been able to discover the corpse in the river?"

"... Hard to say, but the probability is low."

"That's right." Gu Yunqing hissed lightly: "If the bridge deck hadn't collapsed, Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe would likely not have discovered Xie Sining's corpse, and thus wouldn't have known the truth that Xie Sining was already dead, and wouldn't have been able to see through the fact that she had been impersonated by some things..."

Gu Yunqing said, his tone becoming more gloomy: "Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe stepping into the air, rather than saying it was bad luck caused by violating a taboo, it's better to say that heaven was reminding him that there was danger ahead."

"But there is no heaven in He Family Village." Ye Miaozhu's eyes became serious: "There is only the Serpent God here."

"Yes, only the Serpent God, so it might be the Serpent God helping him. But why would the Serpent God help him?" Gu Yunqing turned off his phone screen, put it back in his pocket, and said in a low voice: "Feng Yushu said Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe inadvertently violated a taboo and had bad luck, but did she tell you exactly which taboo Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe violated?"

Travel? Burial? Funeral rites? Or sacrifices? No one knew.

"This village is very strange, and the people in the village are also very strange." Ye Miaozhu said lightly.

"So if you want to live and get out, you have to be 12 points vigilant about everything." Gu Yunqing agreed deeply.

The two waited by the bridge for a while, and two figures appeared on the street not far away. Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe and Feng Yushu finally arrived.

"You're quite late." Gu Yunqing greeted Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe with a smile.

"Can't help it, I violated a taboo today, so I didn't dare to run too fast." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe put on a long face, looking very troubled: "I really don't know what taboo I violated, I actually had such bad luck, I almost fell to my death just crossing a bridge."

"You don't know what taboo you violated?" Ye Miaozhu was also worried: "Then it seems we have to be careful too. And... are you sure salvaging Xie Sining's corpse won't violate any taboos?"

Burial, funeral rites, etc.? They are all related to the dead.

"It's possible, but we have to salvage it." Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe said indifferently. Ye Miaozhu had nothing to say.

Indeed, wanting to uncover the mist shrouding He Family Village, Xie Sining's death was undoubtedly an important clue. Even if there was a certain danger, it was better than running around like a headless fly.

"Let's go, the river water here isn't fast, but after so long, her corpse should have drifted quite far."

After Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe finished speaking, he took the lead to walk off the bridge and walked quickly downstream along the riverbank. The three followed.

Just as Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe said, the river flowing through He Family Village was relatively slow, even a bit too slow. The rows of willow trees on both sides of the river dropped emerald green leaves, like stickers stuck on the river surface, moving quietly downstream, very, very slowly.

The four ran all the way downstream along the river, not forgetting to keep their gaze fixed on the river water. They could see the bright moon reflected in the river and the round pebbles covering the riverbed at the bottom of the water.

"Found it."

After walking a long way, Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe finally saw Xie Sining, who had been washed ashore on a bluestone gentle slope downstream. This was where the village women washed clothes. Xie Sining's wet, pale corpse was spread out on the ground like a broken piece of clothing.

Everyone walked up quickly. Without needing to say anything, Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu lifted the corpse, one unbuttoned Xie Sining's clothes, and began to check.

"The corpse has been soaking in the water for a long time, the body temperature has cooled down, and the time of death cannot be estimated."

"There are no open wounds on the body, nor are there any traces of blunt force trauma or bruises, excluding the possibility of death by external injury."

"There is no internal bleeding, and it's likely not death by internal injury."

"There is no obvious water accumulation in the lungs, it's not death by drowning, but death by throwing the corpse into the river after death."

"No signs of poisoning have been found for the time being, preliminarily excluding the possibility of poisoning, but without professional testing equipment, it cannot be completely determined."

The more they checked, the deeper the confusion in Gu Yunqing and Ye Miaozhu's hearts became.

"No external injuries, not death by drowning, and no signs of poisoning. Whether from inside or outside, we cannot find Xie Sining's cause of death." Ye Miaozhu's expression became more serious, biting her lip and saying: "It's just like... an unpredicted sudden death, or direct brain death."

Gu Yunqing held Xie Sining's shoulders with both hands, looked up at Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe, who was showing a thoughtful expression, and then turned to look at the sparkling river surface. The bright moon floated on it, reflecting his own worried face.

"What's going on, how exactly did Xie Sining die...?"

Gu Yunqing gritted his teeth slightly. The confusing situation made him shudder. Although he tried his best to control himself from thinking about those bizarre things, it was clear that He Family Village was such a place that couldn't be deconstructed with conventional thinking.

"How exactly did Xie Sining die?" Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe crossed his arms. He understood that behind this question might be some crucial secret, related to whether he could survive here.

Just when everyone was lost in thought, suddenly, a splash of water broke the silence by the river under the moonlight.

A warm, fresh corpse slid down from the bluestone gentle slope where clothes were washed and fell headfirst into the flowing river, splashing a pale spray of water.

Gu Yunqing was dead.

"... Are you kidding me?" Seeing Seeing Ning Zhe's expression froze.

Was it the ghost that replaced Xie Sining who killed Gu Yunqing? If so, how did it kill?

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 9 =====