Chapter 389: Chapter 333: Dharma Assembly_2
The inner sanctum of the temple was suddenly filled with the mournful wails of Lady Du, the kind that tore at the heart. After a few cries, Lady Du, kneeling on the cushion before Buddha, leaned to the side and collapsed to the ground. The people around were thrown into disarray, eventually helping her to the back hall.
Without Xiao Zui leading, everyone turned to look at Quan Doufeng, who reluctantly proposed to Patriarch Du, hoping to see Miss Du’s face one last time.
Originally, everyone thought that Patriarch Du would feign reluctance, but unexpectedly, Patriarch Du sighed mournfully and nodded in agreement, "Although my daughter was harmed by the monster, she was also connected by fate to all here. Miss Liu even died because of her. The help you have given, our Du Family Village will never forget!"
With Patriarch Du’s approval, things became much easier. Everyone found a cushion to sit on before the temple, strategically giving the foremost positions to Tong Han and Mi Shu, since only they had seen Miss Du’s true face.
After offering three sticks of incense to his daughter, Patriarch Du slowly walked up to the head wrapped in yellow scripture cloth, reached out and unwrapped it. The next second, the pale face of a very young woman came into view. Most terrifying was the happy smile lingering on her face, her lips slightly pursed, her eyes slightly squinted, as if she were on her way to heaven.
Tong Han struggled to her feet and walked quickly towards the head, looking like she wanted to embrace it, but Patriarch Du at her side immediately intervened, albeit a step too late.
Seeing this, Mi Shu, who had knelt on another cushion, quickly stood up, threw herself into Patriarch Du’s arms, her charming face instantly wet with tears, her voice trembling non-stop, "Patriarch Du, even though I only met the miss once, but... but I know she must have been a kindhearted person. How could a monster heartlessly target her?"
Patriarch Du, also startled by this sudden action, allowed Tong Han a few extra seconds to lean in and take a closer look at the head.
Fortunately, Tong Han was quite the actor. She skillfully covered up the incident with her feigned emotional loss of control, and since Patriarch Du was grieving over his daughter, he did not pursue the matter further.
But it seemed Patriarch Du was also tired, so he let Yang Xiao and the others go back to rest, mentioning that with his daughter’s recent death, he still had many matters to handle.
After leaving, the group walked towards their lodging. The estate was eerily empty, not a single maid or servant in sight, with everyone seemingly having disappeared.
They avoided discussing it on the road; once back at their accommodations, they shut the doors and windows, and after ensuring there were no issues inside, Cheng Cha was the first to speak, "Miss Tong, was there something wrong with the head?"
"It indeed was Miss Du’s head," Tong Han nodded.
"Yes, I saw it too," Mi Shu confirmed.
"It seems Miss Du truly died, and the people of Du Family Village didn’t lie to us," Lu Youcheng pondered, as this revelation overturned many of their earlier theories.
"Then it’s strange, why did the Ghost kill Miss Du in the temple and then go out of its way to return and kill Liu Haiping?" Wuma Haoming raised a previous question again.
"Miss Tong, you took such a great risk to get closer; you must have discovered something. Tell us about it," Sui Chengguo, experienced and astute, recognized that among these people, Tong Han’s courage and intellect were top-notch; she would not act without reason.
After a moment of contemplation, Tong Han nodded, "You’ve all seen both crime scenes; what’s different?"
"The facial expressions are different," Yang Xiao answered.
Tong Han took a deep breath, "Right, everyone has seen Liu Haiping’s face; it was very tragic, her facial muscles were twisted. But look again at Miss Du’s face, that smile... isn’t it strange?"
It was as if Mi Shu suddenly realized something, quickly adding, "Do you guys remember? The people of Du Family Village once told us that those killed by the monster all died with a smile."
Quan Doufeng, not one to use his brain, became anxiously impatient, "Please, can you just speak plainly, consider me."
"Alright," Cheng Cha’s expression turned serious, his voice low, "It’s simple. The smiling head was killed by the Ghost, the other one wasn’t."
The very next second, Hu Yanming’s face paused, "Are you saying Liu Haiping... she wasn’t killed by the Ghost?"
"It’s not me saying this, it’s what the evidence suggests," Cheng Cha reminded.
"I agree with Brother Cheng’s view. Liu Haiping didn’t die at the hands of that monster, she was murdered by someone. Someone used the guise of the monster to attack her," Yang Xiao spoke slowly, "Someone pretended to be the monster, attacking her."
"You claim they’re from the Du Family Village, but... why would they? They too are troubled by monsters, and villagers get killed all the time. We came to help them, they have no reason to kill us!" Hu Yanming couldn’t make sense of it.
This was Yang Xiao’s first encounter with such a situation. Previously, he thought the villagers used them as scapegoats, but now it seemed, their intentions went beyond that.
There was something very wrong with this village from top to bottom, they must still be hiding something from him.
"Since they’ve murdered, there must be a reason for killing, perhaps Liu Haiping had accidentally discovered something and was silenced," Sui Chengguo speculated.
"Could it be that large wardrobe in the boudoir?" Mi Shu suddenly thought.
But he was immediately contradicted by Yang Xiao, "Unlikely, from the scene it seems Liu Haiping was quite cautious; she wouldn’t likely provoke whatever was in the wardrobe by herself."
After a pause, Yang Xiao expressed his concerns, "What I’m more worried about now is another point, ghosts kill people, and the villagers kill people, so where is our way out?"
"We could try to stop the ghost from killing the villagers and see, I suspect it’s likely that after the villagers found out that Miss Du was killed by a ghost, they then killed Liu Haiping," Cheng Cha said after a moment of silence.
The clues were somewhat scattered, and discussing further wouldn’t yield any concrete results. The scenes at the temple previously also troubled Yang Xiao; these villagers seemed indifferent to Miss Du’s death, including the Patriarch Du and Lady Du. Yang Xiao could distinctly feel that their demonstrated sorrow was merely a performance for outsiders.
But... why?
Not caring about the death of one’s own daughter was incomprehensible.
Then there was the middle-aged man who suddenly fainted in the temple; the moment the man fainted, Yang Xiao saw joy and relief in the eyes of the other villagers.
And the so-called farewell party ended abruptly, with everyone leaving swiftly, including Xiao Zui, who struggled but came to take one last look at the Miss.
Of course, in the end, she did not keep her promise.
Soon afterward, someone brought over food, still dishes difficult to swallow. Hu Yanming threw down his chopsticks in frustration, unable to help but curse, "In my hometown, this stuff is only fit for pigs!"
"My hometown is somewhat better than yours, pigs wouldn’t even eat this." Sui Chengguo also couldn’t help but chuckle, stirring the coarse grain porridge mixed with unknown wild vegetables, equally hard to swallow, the two exchanging words as a way to find humor in their plight.
Since they had arrived in Du Family Village, they had not tasted a single piece of meat, weakening everyone considerably; Lu Youcheng even suggested the villagers might be trying to starve them to death.
Not long after the meal, a few villagers hurried over, not even waiting for them to open the door, the slightly ajar door was pushed open, with the dark-skinned man who led them into the village appearing first, "Gentlemen, it’s bad, something happened in the village... someone had another strange dream, and I’m afraid they won’t make it through the night!"
"Who is it?"
"It’s Second Uncle from the east end of the village, he’s been woken up now, but he’s groggy and unresponsive to any questions, just keeps repeating his weird dream." The dark-skinned man and his companions seemed very anxious, "Previously, the Taoist taught us some tricks, and we suspect it’s Second Uncle’s soul that’s been stolen by the monster. You say, without his soul, can a person... can a person still live?"
Yang Xiao sat up, planning to see the situation for himself, "Where is he now, please lead the way."
However, the dark-skinned man shook his head and declined, his reason being quite valid, "Second Uncle just lost his soul, his body can’t withstand jostling, it’s better not to let him see strangers now."
"Then why did you call us here?"
"It’s like this, it’s inconvenient for us to leave the village at night, so we’re still hoping you gentlemen can help." The dark-skinned man didn’t give Yang Xiao and the others a chance to refuse, pulling a crumpled, dirty piece of clothing from his chest and placing it on the table, "This is what Second Uncle regularly wears, please, we need you gentlemen to go to the river outside the village’s mouth tonight and call back Second Uncle’s soul."
Looking at the old clothes on the table, Yang Xiao couldn’t help but be startled. The clothes looked familiar, resembling those worn by the man who had fainted in the temple.
