Chapter 12 Death Anniversary
Chapter 12 Death Anniversary
"You mean, you saw Yun Qing in the ancestral hall?" Ye Miaozhu suddenly became excited: "When did it happen?!"
Zhang Yangxu pondered and said, "I hid immediately after witnessing this scene. I stayed in the alley opposite the ancestral hall and stayed alert for a long time. I hid like this for about 15 minutes. After I was sure that 'Gu Yunqing' in the ancestral hall had disappeared, I called Madam Bai and reminded you to be careful of Gu Yunqing."
Ning Zhe raised his eyes and looked at Feng Yushu: "Auntie, check the call records."
Feng Yusu immediately took out his mobile phone and unlocked the screen. The call was hung up a little after 2 a.m.
"It happened about 15 minutes after Gu Yunqing died." Ning Zhe quickly came to the conclusion: "That is to say, at the same time that Zhang Yangxu witnessed 'Gu Yunqing' flipping through the almanac in the ancestral hall, the real Gu Yunqing died right in front of us."
Such a coincidence makes it hard not to make associations. Is there a causal relationship between the two?
Ning Zhe thought for a moment and said, "Let me first sort out the timeline."
From 01:30 to 01:45 in the morning, Zhang Yangxu talked with the fake Xie Si Ning, and exposed her by asking her questions, and the ghost disappeared.
At 01:55~02:00 in the morning, Zhang Yangxu returned to the Nanjie Ancestral Hall and saw "Gu Yunqing" alone in the ancestral hall reading the almanac.
At 01:55~02:00 in the morning, Ning Zhe and others were examining the body by the river and saw Gu Yunqing suddenly die by the river.
From 02:00 to 02:13 in the morning, Zhang Yangxu made a phone call to inform Ning Zhe and others to be careful of Gu Yunqing.
"We know that the Gu Yunqing who died in front of us was the real Gu Yunqing, so the one in the ancestral hall was a fake one." Ning Zhe concluded: "The ghost pretending to be Xie Si Ning pretended to be Gu Yunqing after being discovered by Mr. Zhang and entered the ancestral hall to read the almanac. At the same time, the real Gu Yunqing died."
Ning Zhe looked suspicious. Is there any relationship between the two?
Ye Miaozhu pursed her lips and clenched her teeth. She was eager to know what caused Gu Yunqing's death. "The almanac has been turned to today, and today's good or bad luck has been revealed. Why did the ghost use Yunqing's identity to look through the almanac again? To check tomorrow's good or bad luck?"
"Who knows?" Ning Zhe shrugged noncommittally.
At this time, Zhang Yangxu suddenly said, "Don't pretend, Ningzhe, you know better than us what this means."
As soon as these words came out, the other two people turned their eyes to him.
Ning Zhe smiled: "I don't quite understand what you mean, Mr. Zhang."
What a damn psychological quality. Zhang Yangxu felt that Ning Zhe in front of him was not like a senior high school student who was just a few months away from turning 18, but more like a cunning old man who had been struggling in the university of society for more than five years.
Zhang Yangxu looked at Feng Yusu, who was hiding behind Ning Zhe without saying a word, and said, "Madam Bai, do you remember when we first arrived at the ancestral hall? At that time, Si Ning and I were looking through the almanac in the ancestral hall, and you were planning to sneak in through the side door. Where was Ning Zhe?"
"When I stood in front of the statue of the snake god, the date shown on the almanac was the 23rd day of the fourth lunar month. This means that someone entered the temple earlier than me and turned the almanac to today. Who was that person?"
Feng Yusu opened her eyes wide, and a look of surprise appeared on her round oval face.
Zhang Yangxu continued at the right time: "Ningzhe is the first one among all of us to enter the ancestral hall, so the thing I am going to show you next can only be explained by you."
Ning Zhe did not show the slightest panic reaction. He just smiled and let Zhang Yangxu open the door of the ancestral hall. Under the gaze of everyone, he walked to the large altar in front of the snake god statue and lifted the crimson tablecloth covering the table.
After the tablecloth was lifted, the body of a sturdy man wearing a vest, shorts and sneakers appeared in front of everyone.
"Lin Zhiyuan?!" Ye Miaozhu exclaimed in surprise.
Zhang Yangxu was a little surprised: "Do you know him?"
Ye Miaozhu nodded and said, "Lin Zhiyuan is a local from Gubei Town. He works outside the city. I heard that he seems to be a fitness coach. He always returns to his hometown during the holidays. He often comes to the village clinic where Yunqing and I practice to buy medicine, health products, and sanitary products." Ye Miaozhu was deeply impressed by Lin Zhiyuan, because every time he came to the clinic, he would flirt with her intentionally or unintentionally, and repeatedly wanted to add WeChat. He was a frivolous guy. He was far less gentle, considerate, and reliable than Gu Yunqing, who gave people a warm sense of security.
It’s a pity that Gu Yunqing is already dead.
"I didn't expect that he was also dragged into this." Ye Miaozhu looked down at Lin Zhiyuan's body, feeling mixed emotions.
Zhang Yangxu then asked, "Could you please check his body?"
"Okay." Ye Miaozhu took a deep look at Ning Zhe who was standing not far away, squatted down and began to check.
"Like the bodies of Yun Qing and Xie Si Ning, Lin Zhiyuan did not have any internal or external injuries or signs of poisoning, nor did he die of suffocation due to strangulation. The cause of death of the three of them was exactly the same." She quickly came to a conclusion.
But unlike Xie Si Ning, Lin Zhiyuan's body was not soaked in the cold river water for a long time. His body temperature was lost normally in the air after death, and an experienced doctor could easily determine his time of death.
"Lin Zhiyuan died very recently, about two hours ago, which was midnight." Ye Miaozhu said, then stood up and looked around: "Does it match?"
Zhang Yangxu nodded: "That's right, Si Ning and I entered the ancestral hall just a few minutes after midnight, and Ning Zhe was already here before we came."
Feng Yusu, who was standing behind Ning Zhe, covered her mouth with her hands in disbelief, her eyes full of fear. She subconsciously wanted to take a few steps back to stay away from Ning Zhe, but her legs were so weak from excessive fear that she almost collapsed to the ground.
"Are you trying to say that you suspect that I was the one who killed Lin Zhiyuan?" Ning Zhe still had a smile on his face, without any sign of emotion.
Zhang Yangxu shook his head: "I didn't say that."
"Then what do you mean?"
"I just want to ask you one thing - was Lin Zhiyuan's death due to the almanac?" Zhang Yangxu asked in a low voice: "You were the first to come to the ancestral hall and turned the almanac to today, and then Lin Zhiyuan."
"Lin Zhiyuan may have come after you, or he may have come with you. Maybe he was just curious, or maybe you were the one who instigated him. In any case, in the end, Lin Zhiyuan tried to turn the almanac to tomorrow, just like Gu Yunqing who was impersonated by a ghost."
Then he died.
"Tell me, is that so?" Ye Miaozhu asked.
Ning Zhe clapped his hands lightly, with a look of approval on his face: "Yes, it's just as you said."
His straightforward affirmation made Zhang Yangxu and Ye Miaozhu fall silent, only Feng Yusu breathed a sigh of relief.
If we determine that 'looking at tomorrow's almanac = death', the ghost's killing logic makes sense.
There are two rules in Hejia Village: the good and bad luck of the lunar calendar that affects luck, and the taboo of the snake god that means death if touched.
The unknown monster that wanders around the village and takes the identity of the dead does not have the ability to kill people directly. It is the snake god that kills people.
(End of this chapter)