Don't Leave Home Before the Rooster Crows

The First Seven, in many places, is a significant occasion.

Yu Xing had some understanding of this. Since the people of Guan Family Village mentioned the First Seven, it should mean that some old customs were passed down here.

In the beginning, people believed that the soul of the deceased would return home on the First Seven. The family was supposed to prepare a meal for the soul before it returned, and then they had to avoid it, hiding under their blankets.

If the deceased's soul saw its family, it would cause them to worry, affecting its reincarnation into a new life.

Later, with the proliferation of various film and television works and folk tales, the First Seven gradually became associated with vengeful ghosts seeking retribution, deeply intertwined with terrifying imagery.

Regardless of what the villagers of Guan Family Village thought the First Seven was, Yu Xing believed that since it was mentioned, Zhou Yongsheng's ghost should appear tonight.

"Hey, what's with that happy look on your face...?" Xiao Xuechen froze for a moment. "So it's the First Seven, and you want to summon a ghost? Are you calling its soul back!?"

"Yes, I am calling him back." Yu Xing lowered his eyes and stared at the coffin lid, tapping it twice more, continuing his true soul-calling act. "Get up, we're meeting online."

Meeting online? Are you a demon!

Xiao Xuechen's scalp tingled. This person was a big shot, but had his personality deviation exceeded 20%, being influenced by negative forces?

Is this something a normal person would do?

Seeing Yu Xing's considerable interest in the coffin, she couldn't stand it anymore and said, "Why don't you just open the coffin."

Yu Xing agreed wholeheartedly: "Makes sense."

"..."

Next, Yu Xing showed Xiao Xuechen what it meant to open a coffin and examine a corpse on the spot.

The not-yet-sealed coffin lid was easily moved by Yu Xing. As the lid slid down, Xiao Xuechen regretted speaking so quickly. With a hint of panic and guilt, she glanced inside, seeing a man's pale gray head.

The man looked very young, around their age, in his early twenties. His hair was short, his features were decent, but unremarkable, the kind of person you wouldn't notice in a crowd.

"Is this Zhou Yongsheng," she murmured, clasping her hands together and shaking them slightly as an apology.

Yu Xing caught her small gesture and found this girl endearingly naive in some ways. "What are you praying to him for? He's in the coffin and can still chat with us online, what a fashionable and unconventional corpse."

"I am speechless." Xiao Xuechen put her hand to her forehead and sighed softly.

Her gaze couldn't help but drift to the corpse, then she asked in confusion, "You insisted on lifting the coffin lid, and now what? It's lying here peacefully, no signs of reanimation or encountering any ghosts, can we draw any conclusions?"

"What do you think the status of this ancestral hall is in Guan Family Village, or rather, what role does it play?" Yu Xing responded to Xiao Xuechen while squinting and leaning closer to the corpse.

"Hmm... with the only coffin here, I think this place must be very important, perhaps even... the center," Xiao Xuechen replied, pursing her lips. Yu Xing was observing the corpse up close, so she leaned on the edge of the coffin. "Any discoveries?"

"Since this place is the center, there must be clues. Currently, there aren't many places to operate, so let's start with the corpse." Yu Xing looked for a while, then used his hand to open the corpse's mouth and looked inside.

"Ew..." Xiao Xuechen found the scene a bit unsettling. Such a handsome young man, touching a lifeless corpse so casually, the contrast created a visual impact.

Fortunately, the handsome young man let go after a short while.

"See, facial bruising, cyanosis, swelling, petechial hemorrhages, rigor mortis is evident and widespread, bleeding gums, also known as 'rose teeth'," Yu Xing's magnetic voice slowly listed the corpse's characteristics, wiping his hands on the side of the coffin.

"You know how to perform autopsies too? Heh, painters are so talented these days," Xiao Xuechen already knew he wasn't an ordinary painter, so she seized the opportunity to retort with feigned surprise and a hint of teasing.

Then she asked, "I don't know much about medicine, but I can tell roughly, these characteristics you mentioned, it's death by suffocation, right?"

The little big sister actually knows a bit, saving him the trouble of explaining. Yu Xing nodded with satisfaction, "That's right."

Xiao Xuechen paused. "That's normal, isn't it? The village chief said Zhou Yongsheng was buried by a mudslide while playing on the mountain, caused by Xia Yu. Death by suffocation fits."

"It's not normal, and it doesn't fit," Yu Xing smiled. "Do you really think being buried alive means death by suffocation? In reality, the causes of death from being buried alive can be roughly divided into two types. The first type is, as you said, suffocation due to lack of oxygen in the lungs. However, with something like a mudslide, one would essentially be crushed by the pressure before suffocating."

Oh... Xiao Xuechen listened, making a mental note.

"And hanging, strangulation, or throttling the neck, that's mechanical asphyxia, which is more consistent with—the characteristics on this corpse." Yu Xing pointed to the corpse's neck for her to see.

A ring of dark blue and black marks, which shouldn't be present on someone buried alive, was clearly imprinted on the corpse.

"A ligature mark!?" Xiao Xuechen's eyes widened. "Zhou Yongsheng was strangled, so the village chief lied!"

She felt like she had opened a new door to the world.

Really, when playing a deduction game, finding clues on something that was highly likely to be a ghostly creature, this was truly the first time.

It seemed she had been taking the wrong path before.

"Uh-huh~ Miss, do you have a direction for your investigation now?" Yu Xing leaned against the side of the coffin, smiling at her, without putting the lid back on.

"You're amazing." Xiao Xuechen had to admit, this conclusion at least proved one thing: in this village, Zhou Yongsheng was or had been a victim, and the village chief and the others were not telling the truth, so they had to be wary.

She had initially thought the biggest danger in this deduction game would be the funeral the next day, with Zhou Yongsheng possibly reanimating or becoming the final boss. But now, even if he did become a boss, there were many aspects she could use to her advantage.

She was truly impressed by san.

Xiao Xuechen met the faint smile in his eyes in the dimness, her heart stirred. "However... don't look at me like that. Don't you know how powerful your face is?"

"Hmm, it's my fault for looking like this." Yu Xing indeed turned his face away and stopped looking at her, leaving her with a profile of someone who had made a move and then ruthlessly left. "Do you have a lighter?"

"What, you want to smoke?" Xiao Xuechen instinctively thought san would look good smoking, and she felt her pockets. "Unfortunately, no."

"I quit smoking a long time ago." Yu Xing chuckled. "I wanted to see if I could light the candles on both sides, maybe I could see something interesting."

"Oh..." Xiao Xuechen, not fully understanding but feeling it was profound, clasped her hands.

"If you don't have one, then forget it." Yu Xing patted the dust off his jeans, thinking about giving the game some face. "Let's go, it's getting late, back to the village."

"Okay." Xiao Xuechen replied, and seeing Yu Xing close the coffin lid, she led the way out of the ancestral hall.

Her steps halted at the entrance of the ancestral hall.

"San."

"What is it?" Yu Xing finished restoring the coffin and looked up.

Xiao Xuechen's back remained perfectly still, as if frozen in place.

Her voice carried an indescribable emotion: "Just now... Zhou Yongsheng... maybe he really came."

"Hm?" Yu Xing raised an eyebrow and quickly walked outside.

Then, he understood why Xiao Xuechen had said that.

At the exit of the ancestral hall, a large pool of blood had appeared at some point.

The blood spread among the weeds, forming two lines of hastily written blood characters—

"After midnight, before the rooster crows, do not leave your room!"

"And don't let anyone in! No matter what!!!"

The final exclamation marks were written with considerable ferocity, indicating how certain the person who left the blood message was.

They had just been in the ancestral hall and had neither seen anyone nor heard footsteps. This pool of blood seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Therefore, the only one who could have left this message to warn them was the ghost of Zhou Yongsheng, who was wandering around on the First Seven night.

"We overturned his coffin, and yet he gave us a warning. By the way, does this cursed village even have chickens?" Xiao Xuechen's focus was peculiar. "Should we trust it?"

"I think we can," Yu Xing said. "Actually, up to now, besides tricking me and Carlos into this village via text message, he hasn't made any other malicious moves. On the contrary, we learned from his body that he was also a victim."

He clasped his hands together and bowed slightly to the blood writing: "As expected of an unconventional corpse. Friend, you're a good one. I'll remember this."

Xiao Xuechen: "..." So you're having a conversation with him here? Who are you calling friend?

At nine o'clock, after returning from the ancestral hall and wandering around for a long time, Yu Xing, who had resisted the urge to steal villagers' candles, finally returned to the village chief's house.

Xiao Xuechen had gone to find Wei Fan halfway, saying she needed to share the hint with him.

Yu Xing agreed. Xiao Xuechen and Wei Fan had entered as a team and should have a good relationship. Moreover, the seven deducers should have no conflict of interest in this game, so sharing clues was fine.

A higher survival rate might even lead to a better score after the game.

He had inquired along the way; the village chief had arranged the remaining five deducers in a nearby civilian house, not far away, just a couple of steps apart.

Too lazy to care whether Wei Fan would tell others after receiving the clue, Yu Xing, having walked for so long, was already tired.

He just wanted to rest for a while and look forward to the high-energy events of the night.

However, before he could even enter the village chief's house, a small paper figurine sat directly in his path. At night, the figurine's eyes were painted pitch black with ink, making it look quite eerie and frightening at first glance.

Yu Xing looked down and silently met the paper figurine's gaze.

"Carlos?"

The paper figurine suddenly moved. It shakily, unsteadily stood up, and with a rustle—

Accompanied by the sound of tearing paper, its head split in half.

From the torn paper, a vibrant red rose emerged.

Carlos's slightly ostentatious voice sounded from Yu Xing's side: "How's this magic trick?"

Yu Xing turned his head and saw Carlos, with his messy gray-blue short hair, walking over with a grin. He picked up the rose from the ground and held it out to Yu Xing: "Here, my new magic trick. It's a bit morbid... Didn't scare you, did I?"

Looking at the red rose, Yu Xing's expression changed slightly, which was rare.

This flower... reminded him of someone else.

That person had taught him through experience that one shouldn't casually accept flowers, as the consequences could be unpredictable.

However, Carlos was different from that person, and the flower was innocent. Yu Xing could only chuckle lightly: "Friend, this flower is more suitable for two girls. I'll pass. There's no need for you to show me your clues; I can tell you directly."

Carlos's lips curved into a smile, his green eyes gleaming in the dark: "Is that so? How straightforward. I like straightforward people."