"Mute."
Everyone had become numb to one strange event after another.
The old man glanced unconsciously at the river, then pulled his clothes tighter as if he were cold. "Yes, that's right. He really was a mute. He grew up in the village, and everyone here knows it."
"Besides that, what else did he say?" Zhang Junyu asked in a lowered voice.
"Nothing. The rest was all crazy talk. It was the middle of the night, and we didn't hear it clearly," the old man recalled.
Chen Hao couldn't help shaking his head. He didn't believe for a second that the mute, who had suddenly started talking, had been spouting nonsense. Those so-called ravings might well have contained important clues, but the villagers had ignored them.
"Where is the mute? Take us to him," Jia Jinliang said in an unquestionable tone.
Before the old man could answer, someone sighed. It was Yu Chengmu. His expression had turned exceptionally grim. "There's no point. He's already dead."
The old man looked at Yu Chengmu in surprise. "Master, how did you know?"
"Not only do I know he's dead, I know he pounded on the door and started talking at the third watch, then suddenly dropped dead at the first crow of the rooster at the fifth watch." Yu Chengmu glanced at the old man, his voice low. "Am I right?"
The old man's shoulders trembled. "Master, you... No, you're truly a miracle worker!"
Chen Hao and Jiang Cheng both turned to look at Yu Chengmu. Jiang Cheng discreetly looked away, while the worry in Chen Hao's eyes grew heavier.
It seemed his guess had been right. Yu Chengmu knew plenty of crooked tricks, and this mission was clearly tied to all kinds of folk taboos. In the missions ahead, they would have