Bloody Candle Tears

The sun set in the west, and dusk arrived.

Yesterday evening the village had been deserted, but today, with the funeral about to be held, the villagers emerged from their homes and, led by the village chief, lined up and walked towards the east of the village.

In their hands, they carried identical candle trays, upon which unlit candles lay quietly, as if waiting for the night to fall.

The deducers were sandwiched in the middle, surrounded by villagers. Having learned the truth, they felt like prisoners being escorted to an execution ground, accompanying a group of terrifying beings.

Sigh, I really have a knack for candles... Yu Xing thought as he walked. Last deduction game's corpse party also involved a bunch of corpses lighting candles. What kind of unspeakable kinks are these?

He moved forward with the crowd. Xiao Xuechen walked beside him, vigilantly observing their surroundings.

Suddenly, a figure seemed to appear in the corner of her eye.

The next moment, the figure quickly hid behind a house. Although it was fast, she still caught a glimpse of it.

It definitely wasn't an illusion.

Xiao Xuechen tugged on Yu Xing's sleeve and whispered, avoiding the surrounding villagers, "Over there, it looked like..."

A villager glanced at them suspiciously.

"Shh." Yu Xing gently pressed his index finger to Xiao Xuechen's philtrum, not touching her lips but effectively stopping her from speaking.

Isn't it normal for there to be blood? Several common words in his mind, like "bugs," were quickly dismissed by his rapid reaction, leaving only one word that was completely abnormal elsewhere.

As expected, upon hearing that Xiao Xuechen was going to mention blood, the villager turned away with a bored expression, no longer paying them any attention.

"Miss, don't worry, there'll be a good show to watch." Yu Xing then winked at Xiao Xuechen, whose face immediately turned red. Wei Fan, standing nearby, couldn't bear to watch.

What kind of world is this?

Has a willow tree finally blossomed?

If it weren't for the fact that he couldn't tell his ordinary colleagues in reality about the deduction game, he would have announced it to the world: "Hey everyone at the company, the aloof CEO Xiao, who always rejects your advances, is blushing at another man!"

He's an incredibly rare, young heartthrob. You guys can't compete!

Yu Xing withdrew his hand, his gaze casually sweeping over the spot Xiao Xuechen had indicated earlier.

The corners of his lips curled slightly. He knew a surprise he wanted to see was hidden there.

About ten minutes later.

The procession, truly a grand sight, finally arrived in front of the ancestral hall. The ancient building stood there quietly, appearing minuscule before the sheer number of villagers.

Yu Xing stepped on some unknown weeds and keenly felt the cold emanating from the ancestral hall in the twilight.

Yesterday night, when he had come here, it had merely looked like a slightly eerie small building. But in the afterglow of the setting sun, its aura was like a vortex, seemingly poised to swallow everyone who approached.

This place undoubtedly triggered his negative status. His legs felt a little stiff, and his face, as usual, turned pale.

Here we go again...

Thanks to his special physique, he could judge the extent to which surrounding things were connected to the supernatural and ghosts simply by the weakness of his body.

It seemed that a certain power had awakened within the ancestral hall where the funeral was about to be held.

Breathing out with discomfort, Yu Xing waved away Xiao Xuechen's concern and continued to follow the procession forward.

"Save me..."

In a daze, Yu Xing seemed to hear Zhou Yongsheng's plea again.

He looked around. The others showed no unusual expressions. He guessed they hadn't heard it. Yu Xing concentrated, trying to listen more intently, but the voice was too faint and never reappeared.

It's not that it didn't appear, it's that I can't hear it anymore... he sighed inwardly.

If it were in the past, he would not only be able to hear it, but he should also be able to see it.

Too bad—never mind.

A group of people stood before the ancestral hall, stopping and looking at the village chief, awaiting further instructions.

"Guests, since you are Xiao Sheng's friends, please stand in the middle." The village chief smiled and pulled the deducers over, settling them near the entrance of the ancestral hall.

The other villagers naturally spread out, forming a circle around them like stars surrounding the moon, leaving no gaps.

The village chief stood before Yu Xing, giving him a look of unknown meaning. On the other side, the village chief's wife touched the scar over her eye and also stared at him with a strange gaze.

Yu Xing felt like he was being watched by two venomous snakes. However, fortunately, neither the man nor the Ghost posed any threat to him. He couldn't even muster the interest to teach them a lesson, merely observing the ancestral hall.

What had changed?

Where was that power that made him uncomfortable emanating from?

"The funeral begins!" Seeing that Yu Xing was ignoring him, the village chief felt rebuffed. He put on the enthusiastic smile he had when they first met, told the deducers to wait where they were, and then turned to the villagers, shouting in a high-pitched voice.

The noisy chatter from earlier fell silent. The villagers closed their mouths, their gazes following the village chief.

The village chief slowly walked to the front of the black coffin and knelt before the row of blank memorial tablets, separated by the coffin. The other villagers followed suit, and soon, a large crowd knelt before the ancestral hall.

"May the departed not linger, beyond life and death, neither extinguished nor burning. With the eyes of the living, and the breath of the dead, witness the returning soul..." The village chief's deep voice reverted entirely to Guan Family Village's oldest dialect, making it difficult for the deducers to understand what he was saying.

This dialect was hard to recognize, its elongated tones like ancient sacrificial incantations. The rise and fall of his voice evoked a mysterious, captivating power.

"Should we... kneel too?" Wei Fan asked hesitantly.

"Heh, I don't think it's necessary." Xiao Xuechen looked at the moving corpses, a flash of pride and coldness in her eyes.

Her, kneel? These few ghosts, are they worthy?

She turned her head, Xu Hong and Xu Yuan looked at each other and shook their heads simultaneously.

Then she turned her head again... Huh!?

Xiao Xuechen happened to see Yu Xing's figure sinking down. Her heart skipped a beat. No way, could it be that san--

Oh, she was overthinking.

The next moment, she saw Yu Xing sitting cross-legged on the ground, his arms casually supporting him on his sides. His relaxed, spectating posture made Xiao Xuechen's half-formed sentence in her mind forcibly interrupted, scattering into a mess.

She was so stupid, truly.

She would never be able to guess what the big shot was thinking.

Sensing the gazes of the others, Yu Xing looked up and asked blankly, "I'm tired, so I sat down to rest for a while. Why are you all looking at me?"

"..."

Fortunately, the surrounding villagers didn't pay them any mind