Chapter 147.1
The arrival of the day didn’t blow away the haze of last night. Once everyone gathered downstairs in the lobby, there were heavy dark circles under their eyes. Obviously, no one had slept well in this environment.
Not to mention, there was the weather. They didn’t know what was going on but just like a demon, it had been raining since morning.
The rain on Lingxi Mountain was different from the torrential heavy rain that came and went. It was dense, like a continuous line of needlework. From the windows of the hotel, it was like the greenery to the south of Yangtze River, full of misty rain.
President Hu had stayed up almost all night. He brought the rest of his company to the hotel lobby early in the morning. He wanted to find the hotel owner and ask him how to leave. However, President Hu had just left his room when he was shocked by the corpse.
The corpse that had been left on the ground seemed to have been dragged. The blood splashed from the back of the head due to the impact had a long pulling trail left on the ground.
President Hu was in a state of shock when someone stood behind him and asked, “Someone moved this body?”
President Hu turned around and happened to meet Jiang Linwen’s eyes.
The other side’s eyes were full of precautions. President Hu was afraid and he stuttered, “I don’t know. I saw this when I came out. Shouldn’t someone be asking you people?”
This was the first time President Hu and his employees were encountering ghosts. They were afraid of dying. How could they have the courage to move the body in the middle of the night?
Jiang Linwen didn’t speak. Currently, there were considerable disagreements among the reincarnators. Apart from the teammates who knew each other, almost no one was moving in a group. Forget asking about this type of thing. Even if a reincarnator knew something, they wouldn’t say it when asked.
He used to be the ‘big brother’ in the team and was used to leading reincarnators. They met in this instance and there were numerous things in his heart, but he couldn’t say who had a problem. Even President Hu and Lin Ruo couldn’t escape suspicion.
President Hu wondered, “Will you call out those people and ask?”
He didn’t believe in the statement of ghosts at first. Then after yesterday’s strange laughter and bloody handprints, he believed it 70%. Now he only felt afraid. Who would go out to the lobby in the middle of the night to move the body?
“...Okay.” Jiang Linwen replied.
It was currently daytime. According to the prompt of the task, the evil spirit would carry out the next kill at night. Therefore, he didn’t refuse and went to knock on the door of the reincarnators with President Hu.
There were some uncooperative people but as the number of people increased, they chose to go downstairs. Unfortunately, they all answered uniformly that they hadn’t come down and dragged the body.
“What would I do with that thing?”
Jiang Linwen asked, “You live near the stairs. Did you hear anyone moving downstairs in the middle of the night?”
“No, nothing moved.” The bald man who lived closest to the first floor staircase spoke. “I barely dared to sleep last night. I listened for any noises and didn’t hear anything.”
“Wei Ning, do you want to think about it again?” President Hu questioned.
The bald man defended himself. “There really was nothing. President Hu, haven’t you always believed in my memory?”
Judging from Wei Ning’s expression, his answer didn’t seem like a lie. Who would move the body? Was it the hotel owner? He didn’t show up from last night until now. The reincarnators searched the hotel but couldn’t find him or the chef.
Xiao Li crouched down next to the corpse, picked up one of its hands and lowered it again. Then he suddenly stated, “It wasn’t moved by other people.”
Jiang Linwen, who had been watching him the entire time, immediately asked, “What do you mean?”
Xiao Li stood upright. “Look at the bloodstains. If it was dragged then there should be scratch marks. However, there are gaps in the blood stains on the ground, ranging from deep to shallow. It looks more like he crawled on his own.”
President Hu was shocked. “But he is already dead. Was he not dead last night?”
“Impossible.” A dark-skinned reincarnator refuted it. “I checked it and he has been dead for a long time.”
Jiang Linwen looked at the mottled blood stains on the ground. If it was like Xiao Li’s words then the only answer...
In the middle of the night when they all left, the body killed by the evil spirit moved by itself. Now it was close to the stairs. If left to continue, perhaps it would go up the stairs on its own.
Jiang Linwen clenched his fists and turned to the reincarnators. “We can’t find the hotel owner. Let’s first shut the body up in an enclosed space? Who will come with me?”
Ye Zeqing came forward. He and Jiang Linwen locked the body in a storage room to the rear.
Once the door of the storage room was closed tightly, he looked up at the outside sky. It was grey and cloudy despite being daytime. This gave people a bad feeling. This hotel was becoming stranger as time passed. They had to speed up finding the evil spirit but they currently had no clues. They only knew it walked on tiptoes.
A person who usually walked like this should be a female. It was like a cat that didn’t cause any noise. Now all the women in the hotel were serious suspects.
What did the task prompt mean by closing their eyes? He had laid in bed last night and kept thinking with his eyes closed, but he couldn’t find a clue.
Jiang Linwen sighed deeply.
*********
On the other side, Xiao Li stood at the door of the hotel. He held up the purple umbrella and walked into the rain.
He had just taken the first step when Ye Zeqing came back from storing the corpse in the storage room and saw him. Ye Zeqing quickly took a few steps and followed him. Needless to see, Zheng Yi had been consciously following him long ago.
Xiao Li glanced at them and didn’t stop them. Zheng Yi’s umbrella was one taken from the drawer of the hotel’s front desk. It was different from the quaint style of the purple umbrella. They were two flowery umbrellas.
The rain on the horizon formed a line that stained the green mountains.
Zheng Yi wondered, “What are you doing out here?”
“Doing the side task.”
“There is a side task? What task?”
Xiao Li shook the Eternal Soul Umbrella in his hand. “I got this from a draw and there is a seal on it. It can be lifted in this world.”
Zheng Yi exclaimed, “Fuck, this type of thing is usually an artifact. Why haven’t I seen you use it?”
Ye Zeqing also sighed. “I’m used to getting inedible bread in draws. The best one was a disposable, life-saving prop. What is your luck?”
Zheng Yi actually wanted to give Ye Zeqing a reply like, ‘This is what happens when you praise Moriarty. Who made Sherlock the emperor of luck?’ However, he didn’t want to embarrass Xiao Li and had to refrain.
Xiao Li answered Zheng Yi’s question. “...I have used it. You just haven’t seen it.
Zheng Yi was curious. “What is the function of this umbrella?”
A variety of functions filled his head. “For example, the ability to shoot bullets from the umbrella or an absolute field that can be separated from reality.”
Xiao Li glanced at him and seemed to be wondering about his question. “It protects from the rain.”
Zheng Yi, “.........”
There was nothing wrong with this. The only role of the umbrella in Xiao Li’s hand was to protect from the rain.
...In addition, maybe it could cover the shower head for the little black cat? In short, it was a return to the original (waste) usage. Zheng Yi covered his arm that was completely wet from the drizzle. “So where do we go to unseal it?”
Xiao Li replied, “To the east. I don’t know the specific place but there should be a prompt when I arrive.”
Xiao Li thought about it for a moment before adding, “The weather is bad. You should go back first. I walked for a quarter of an hour yesterday and didn’t find it. It should be quite far.”
They bypassed the big rocks in front, stepped on the mud and headed east.
Zheng Yi shook his head. “I don’t want to stay in that hotel. It gives me a depressing feeling. It might be raining outside but following you is still better.”
The important thing was to feel safe.
The group continued to walk forward. As they were passing a large forest, Zheng Yi suddenly stopped and pointed to the depths of the forest in front of him. “Did you see those figures in front?”
The branches of a great tree were deeply embedded in the soil. A few black shadows went down into the depths of the earth like ghosts and disappeared a moment later.
Zheng Yi thought it was his illusion but then he heard Xiao Li say, “They are the three people living on the third floor.”
Their names were unknown.
Ye Zeqing wondered, “What are they doing here?”
Xiao Li answered, “Maybe coming out to let the wind blow. Let’s go.”
In normal times, perhaps Xiao Li would’ve followed to take a look. However, due to some type of obsessive-compulsive disorder, he wanted to complete his side task first.
After around 30 minutes, they left the forest and saw a village. The small village was surrounded by wooden fences and weeds half as high.
Xiao Li immediately thought of Lingxi Village, the dead village that Lin Ruo mentioned. At present, the grass outside the village was growing wildly but the village was peaceful and not uninhabited.
Just then, the little yellow book shook. [Side task: Complete what she wants and you can get what you want.]
She...?
Xiao Li put the little yellow book and entered the village with the umbrella. The moment he walked in, he realized something wasn’t right. There were clear signs of movement and a lot of people. Then Xiao Li saw the face of a villager and secretly took back what he said. It was because—
There were villagers with towels on their shoulders and holding umbrellas to look at crops and peasant women standing under the waves and watching the strangers with rice bowls that couldn’t be seen outside the village.
The even more frightening thing was that the flesh of the villagers’ faces was drooping and pus was flowing. Some women had hollowed out chests and some were just skeletons.
A ghost village? Xiao Li held the umbrella without changing his expression and kept looking at them.
Ye Zeqing whispered in a puzzled manner, “The people here look normal but there is a very strong ghostly energy on their bodies. They shouldn’t be alive.”
Xiao Li slowed down. “...The people you see are normal?”
“Yes, ordinary people. Are you seeing something different from us?”
“It should be the umbrella. I can see what they look like after they died.”
Ye Zeqing stared at the villagers around him with horror. So many ghosts...
He saw Xiao Li’s calm expression and couldn’t help lamenting the other person’s strong psychological qualities. This was worthy of Moriarty/Hercule!
Doubly awesome.
Xiao Li walked into the village and analyzed it while walking, “It seems that most of the villagers were... eaten? Most of them are only skeletons. Wow, this family is so miserable. They’re completely eaten up.”
Xie Zeqing, “......”
It caused discomfort.
Xiao Li turned to a farmhouse. A white-haired old lady crossed through the door and grabbed Xiao Li’s wrist. “Jin Jin, why are you standing with strangers? If your husband sees it then you will be beaten again.”
Xiao Li, “???”
Husband?
TL Note: IWBL is up to its final arc in the raws. Therefore, in one week, I will be resuming IWBL updates at a faster pace. Presumably, every second day or so. In addition, Patreon advance chapters will be available from the start of July.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢