Chapter 210: Alive, but worse than death

I simply can't believe my own ears!

Although I had some guesses, hearing the answer from Hui Moqiong's mouth, I still couldn't quite accept it.

When my mother gave birth to me, she was already almost thirty; now she is nearly fifty years old.

She… she actually is pregnant with quadruplets.

She had arranged for a boy named Jiang Bin, meaning that somewhere in this world, a person named Jiang Bin had been selected and sacrificed.

He will not enter reincarnation; his soul will fall into Tafengcun, imprisoned for life.

Thinking that, I asked again: "Recently, is she the only one pregnant in Tafengcun? Are you sure it's a single pregnancy?"

Hui Moqiong said it was certain.

I glanced at Du Chan kneeling on the ground—what's going on with her?

The child that the Qilin Shenjun "sent" this year is Jiang Bin, not Du Chan.

Could Du Chan be preparing for next year?

No, it's a bit too early.

Moreover, although Du Chan's appearance is strange, her bodily functions seem fine, somewhat different from those people sacrificed to Tafengcun.

"Xiao Jiu, come look at this painting."

After hanging up the phone, I was staring at Du Chan when Liu Junyan suddenly called out to me.

He was standing in the corner, holding a scrap draft.

I walked over and saw that it was an unfinished sketch, the rough outline depicting something like a mountain.

The more I looked at the mountain's outline, the more familiar it felt.

I furrowed my brows: "This… this looks like the back mountain of Tafengcun?"

Liu Junyan didn't answer me, but pointed to the upper-right corner of the draft and said, "Xiao Jiu, look here."

This draft is ruined because of the upper-right corner.

I don't know what Du Chan saw then; she only sketched half the outline before stopping, after which she discarded this drawing.

I stared at the upper-right corner for a long time, and gradually an answer formed in my mind.

I looked at Liu Junyan and said, "It's a grave mound, right?"

Liu Junyan nodded: "By the time she reached that corner, it was already a blurred background; Du Chan might not have noticed it at first, only discarding the draft after seeing it clearly."

"But is it really just because of a grave mound?" I still felt it was a bit far-fetched.

Someone like Du Chan, who loves painting and often goes out to sketch from life, shouldn't be taboo about such things, right?

Unless…

Liu Junyan and I exchanged a glance, simultaneously seeing the answer in each other's eyes—unless the person buried in that grave mound is someone Du Chan knows.

Or there is another possibility: the other party knows Du Chan…

My eyes lit up suddenly—yes, it's very likely the second scenario.

The other party recognized Du Chan and had some effect on her.

But what kind of relationship would produce this kind of effect on Du Chan?

I integrated all the information in my mind, then quietly discussed it with Liu Junyan, and a relatively plausible context slowly formed in my heart.

I turned to face the Du couple, carefully studying the mother's facial features.

The Du mother felt uncomfortable under my gaze, subconsciously touching her face and asking, "Is there something dirty on my face?"

"No." I probed further, "Auntie, may I ask bluntly—is Du Chan really an only child?"

Upon my question, the Du couple's faces changed instantly.

I then knew my guess was correct.

"If I'm not mistaken, Du Chan should have an older sister; she… she probably isn't doing well these days."

That's what I deduced from observing the Du mother's visage just now.

But I didn't expect that my following sentence would directly make the Du mother burst into tears.

Her eye sockets instantly reddened; she covered her mouth, tears falling like a broken string of beads.

She leaned into the Du father's embrace; already exhausted, she now felt her body swaying, on the verge of collapsing.

The Du father comforted the Du mother while sighing, saying, "Du Chan indeed has an older sister, but she has been dead for many years."

My heart jolted, and I instinctively grabbed Liu Junyan's hand.

No, that's not right…

I was about to say something when Liu Junyan, holding my hand, lightly tapped the back of my hand with her thumb, signaling me to keep quiet for now.

The Du father continued, "Actually, back then our family gave birth to a pair of twin sisters; Du Chan indeed has an older sister born five minutes before her, named Du Lian."

But the sister's health was poor from birth; she died at three years old. At that time we hadn't moved here yet, still living in the town, where the rule was that children who died young could not hold funerals, could not be placed in coffins and buried in the ancestral grave; instead, there were specialized people to handle it.

The sister was entrusted to the town's Wu Apo for burial; I specially gave Wu Apo five thousand yuan to find her a better place.

Saying this, the Du father also choked up a bit.

He paused, struggled to calm his emotions, then continued: "Later, we both had job transfers, bringing little Chan here; to avoid trouble, we always claimed outwardly that Xiao Chan was an only child, so much so that Xiao Chan herself doesn't remember ever having a twin sister."

So that's how things were back then.

But…

I looked at the Du couple's faces again, still feeling something off: "Are you really sure Du Lian back then… really… died?"

The Du couple were both startled: "Miss, what do you mean by this? Life and death are serious matters, not to be joked about."

I rubbed my nose, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Tang Tang hurriedly smoothed things over: "Uncle, Auntie, you misunderstood; my younger sister has a bit of talent in physiognomy, she probably noticed something, which might be important for saving Du Chan."

Upon hearing that, the Du father and mother's emotions eased again.

Mother Du trembled as she asked, "Miss, could there be some hidden circumstance behind the death of our family's Xiao Lian?"

I didn't dare to jump to conclusions; after thinking, I asked, "Could you tell me the birth characters of the two sisters? I want to have someone verify the situation I saw from your physiognomy."

Father Du quickly gave me the birth characters of both sisters.

I directly called Yu Nian and asked her to calculate it for me.

On the other end of the phone, Yu Nian let out a surprised 'eh', and then I felt her breathing become a bit hurried.

I hurriedly asked, "Yu Nian sister, is there something wrong with Lao Da's birth characters? She should still be alive, right?"

"She should still be alive, but it's worse than death." Yu Nian said, "Xiao Jiu, how is Lao Er doing now?"

I replied truthfully: "Not good."

Yu Nian suddenly took a deep breath, her tone solemn: "Xiao Jiu, if I haven't miscalculated, the fate corresponding to Lao Er's birth characters is very similar to your outward birth characters fate."

My outward eight-character is the first day of the eighth month of the Yiyou year.

But neither Master Huiquan nor Yu Nian could calculate my true eight-character fate.

And now, Du Chan's fate is very similar to my outward eight-character; what does this indicate?

Yu Nian's next words hit me like a blow to the head: "Xiao Jiu, Du Chan's mishap is likely related to you; you need to be careful..."