Death Anniversary

"Are you saying you saw Gu Yunqing in the Ancestral Hall?" Ye Miaozhu became agitated instantly. "When did this happen?!"

Zhang Yangxu pondered for a moment before saying, "After witnessing that scene, I immediately hid myself, cowering in the alley across from the Ancestral Hall and staying alert for a long time. After hiding for about 15 minutes and confirming that the 'Gu Yunqing' in the Ancestral Hall had vanished, I called Lady Bai to warn you all to be careful of Gu Yunqing."

Ning Zhe raised his eyes to look at Feng Yushu. "Aunt, check the Call History."

Feng Yushu immediately took out her phone and unlocked the screen; that call had ended just a little past 2:00 AM.

"It was exactly about 15 minutes after Gu Yunqing died." Ning Zhe quickly reached a conclusion. "In other words, at the same time Zhang Yangxu witnessed 'Gu Yunqing' flipping through the Almanac in the Ancestral Hall, the real Gu Yunqing had just died in front of us."

Such a coincidence made it hard not to speculate: was there a causal link between the two?

Ning Zhe thought for a moment. "Let me lay out a timeline first."

01:30~01:45 AM, Zhang Yangxu speaks with the Fake Xie Sining, sees through her by piling on questions, and the "ghost" disappears.

01:55~02:00 AM, Zhang Yangxu returns to the South Street Ancestral Hall and witnesses "Gu Yunqing" alone in the hall flipping through the Almanac.

01:55~02:00 AM, Ning Zhe and the others examine the body by the river and witness Gu Yunqing die suddenly.

02:00~02:13 AM, Zhang Yangxu makes the call to notify Ning Zhe and the others to be careful of Gu Yunqing.

"Since we know the Gu Yunqing who died in front of us was the real one, then the one in the Ancestral Hall must be fake." Ning Zhe summarized. "The ghost that disguised itself as Xie Sining, after being exposed by Director Zhang, went on to disguise itself as Gu Yunqing and entered the Ancestral Hall to flip through the Almanac. At the same time, the real Gu Yunqing died."

Ning Zhe wore a suspicious expression. Was there some connection between these two events?

Ye Miaozhu pursed her lips, her teeth clenched. She was desperate to know what had caused Gu Yunqing's death. "The Almanac had already been flipped to today; the fortune for today had already been revealed. Why would the ghost use Yunqing's identity to flip through the Almanac again? To check tomorrow's Tomorrow's Fortune?"

"Who knows?" Ning Zhe shrugged noncommittally.

At this moment, Zhang Yangxu suddenly said, "Stop putting on an act, Ning Zhe. You know better than any of us what this means."

As soon as these words were spoken, the other two cast their gazes toward him.

Ning Zhe smiled. "I don't quite understand what you mean, Director Zhang."

What a hellish level of psychological fortitude. Zhang Yangxu felt that the Ning Zhe in front of him didn't look like a Senior Year student who was still a few months shy of 18, but rather like a cunning old fox who had been grinding through the school of hard knocks for over five years.

Zhang Yangxu looked at Feng Yushu, who was hiding behind Ning Zhe without saying a word, and spoke up. "Lady Bai, do you remember when we first arrived at the Ancestral Hall? At that time, Xie Sining and I were flipping through the Almanac in the hall, while you were planning to sneak into the hall through the side gate. And what about Ning Zhe?"

"When I stood in front of the Snake God statue, the date shown on the Almanac was the 23rd day of the fourth lunar month. This meant someone had entered the Ancestral Hall earlier than me and flipped the Almanac to today. Who was that person?"

Feng Yushu widened her eyes, a look of surprise appearing on her round Oval Face.

Zhang Yangxu continued at the right moment. "Ning Zhe was the first among all of us to enter the Ancestral Hall, so the thing I am about to show next is something only you can explain."

Ning Zhe didn't show the slightest sign of panic. He just smiled, allowing Zhang Yangxu to open the doors of the Ancestral Hall and, under everyone's gaze, walk to the large sacrificial table in front of the Snake God statue and lift the deep red tablecloth covering it.

After the tablecloth was lifted, the corpse of a sturdy man wearing a tank top, shorts, and sneakers appeared before everyone.

"Lin Zhiyuan?!" Ye Miaozhu exclaimed in shock.

Zhang Yangxu was somewhat surprised. "You know him?"

Ye Miaozhu nodded. "Lin Zhiyuan was a local from Ancient Tablet Town who worked elsewhere. I heard he was a fitness coach. He would return to his hometown every holiday and often came to the Village Clinic where Yunqing and I interned to buy medicine, health supplements, and hygiene products."

Ye Miaozhu had a deep impression of Lin Zhiyuan because every time he came to the clinic, he would flirt with her intentionally or otherwise, trying to add her on WeChat time and again. He was a frivolous guy, far less gentle, considerate, and reliable than Gu Yunqing, who provided a sense of warm security.

It was a pity that Gu Yunqing was already dead.

"I didn't expect him to be dragged into this too." Ye Miaozhu looked down at Lin Zhiyuan's body, her heart filled with mixed emotions.

Zhang Yangxu then asked, "Could I trouble you to examine his body?"

"Okay." Ye Miaozhu gave a deep look at Ning Zhe, who was standing not far away, then crouched down to begin the examination.

"Just like the bodies of Yunqing and Xie Sining, there are no internal or external injuries or signs of poisoning on Lin Zhiyuan. It wasn't asphyxiation from strangulation either. The three of them died in exactly the same way." She quickly gave her conclusion.

But unlike Xie Sining, Lin Zhiyuan's body had not been soaked in the cold river water for a long time. His body temperature had dissipated naturally in the air after death, making it easy for an experienced doctor to determine his time of death.

"Lin Zhiyuan's time of death is very recent, about two hours ago, which is midnight." After Ye Miaozhu finished speaking, she stood up and looked around. "Does that match up?"

Zhang Yangxu nodded. "It matches. Xie Sining and I entered the Ancestral Hall just a few minutes past midnight, and before we arrived, Ning Zhe was already here."

Feng Yushu, standing behind Ning Zhe, covered her mouth with both hands in disbelief, her eyes full of terror. She subconsciously wanted to take a few steps back to get away from Ning Zhe, but her legs, overwhelmed by fear, couldn't muster any strength, and she nearly collapsed to the ground.

"Are you trying to say that you suspect I killed Lin Zhiyuan?" Ning Zhe's face still held a smile, showing no ripples 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 caused by the Almanac?" Zhang Yangxu asked in a low voice. "You were the first to arrive at the Ancestral Hall and flipped the Almanac to today, and then Lin Zhiyuan followed."

"Lin Zhiyuan might have come after you, or perhaps he came with you. Maybe he was just overly curious, or maybe you were the one instigating it. In any case, Lin Zhiyuan eventually tried to flip the Almanac to tomorrow, just like the Gu Yunqing disguised by the ghost."

And then he died.

"Tell me, is that it?" Ye Miaozhu asked.

Ning Zhe clapped his hands lightly, his face showing approval. "Not bad, it is exactly as you said."

His straightforward confirmation left both Zhang Yangxu and Ye Miaozhu in silence; only Feng Yushu let out a long sigh of relief.

With the certainty that "flipping the Almanac to tomorrow = death," the ghost's logic for killing became clear.

There were two rules in He Family Village: the Almanac's fortune that influenced luck, and the Snake God's Death Taboo that killed upon contact.

As for that unknown, eerie entity wandering the village that would replace the identities of the dead, it did not have the ability to kill directly; it was the Snake God that did the killing.