Cool moonlight spilled across the river, its ripples glittering in fragments. The corpse floating in the water had a face paler than the moonlight. It was Xie Sining's.
Feng Yushu glanced at the woman's corpse drifting downstream beneath the bridge, then at the screen of her phone. The call had ended.
"If that's Xie Sining in the river, then who just called me?" Feng Yushu's voice trembled. The terrifying possibility made her shudder.
"Calm down. He Family Village is strange, but we've never actually encountered any supernatural demons or monsters. Maybe Zhang Yangxu is calling you on her phone." Ning Zhe tried to reassure her. "Let's get back to the Ancestral Hall first. Call her back and see what's going on."
Since he'd already broken a taboo once today, Ning Zhe, afraid of the Bad Luck, didn't dare go into the water to retrieve Xie Sining's corpse and confirm anything else.
They left the bridge and hurried back.
"No answer." On the way, Feng Yushu let out a relieved sigh. "I called Xie Sining three times, and she didn't answer any of them."
"Try calling Zhang Yangxu?" Ning Zhe suggested as he hurried along. He was having a bad day, so he didn't dare run at full speed.
Feng Yushu grew tense again. "I... I'll try."
But before she could find Zhang Yangxu's number in her contacts, they crossed a narrow lane beside the river and turned a corner. A relatively wide street opened up before them.
Two figures, a man and a woman, were walking slowly together under the moonlight. The man wasn't tall, but he stood straight. He wore a suit and had a slightly loose beer belly. The woman wore a full office outfit and high heels, trailing half a step behind him at his side.
"Th—"
"Quiet." Ning Zhe hooked one arm around Feng Yushu's neck and clamped his hand over her mouth, pinning her against the wall.
Once he'd restrained the terrified Feng Yushu, Ning Zhe cautiously leaned out of the alley and watched the two figures crossing the street. The cool moonlight fell on them, stretching their shadows long across the ground. "Zhang Yangxu and Xie Sining? What's going on?"
If Xie Sining was dead, then who was the person beside Zhang Yangxu?
If Xie Sining wasn't dead, then whose corpse was in the river?
The two were heading toward the Ancestral Hall. When Feng Yushu, still held down by Ning Zhe, gradually calmed and stopped struggling, he told her to "stay quiet" and let her go. A bright red lipstick print remained on his right palm.
"Hah—" Feng Yushu braced one hand against the wall and gasped for breath. "N-Ning Zhe, the people who just walked by were..."
"I know." Ning Zhe kept his eyes fixed on the two figures moving farther away down the street. "Call Zhang Yangxu now. Right away."
"Oh, right." Feng Yushu hurriedly opened her contacts and found Zhang Yangxu's number.
Soon after Feng Yushu called Zhang Yangxu, the two people on the street paused, then continued walking.
As he walked, Zhang Yangxu pulled a vibrating phone from inside his suit jacket.
"Feng Yushu?" The contact name on the screen left Zhang Yangxu puzzled. He quickly answered. "What is it, Lady Bai? Is something wrong?"
"Watch out for Xie Sining!" Feng Yushu hurried to warn him. "Ning Zhe and I just crossed the arch bridge. We saw something by the river—"
"Saw what? Lady Bai, be clear. What did you see by the river?" Zhang Yangxu's nerves instantly tightened. He was about to press her for details when he saw the words "Call ended" in red on his screen.
"What happened...?"
In the alley, Feng Yushu stared at Ning Zhe in confusion. He had her phone in his hand. He'd just snatched it from her and forcibly ended the call, stopping her from warning Zhang Yangxu further.
"Ning Zhe, why did you hang up?" Feng Yushu asked quietly.
As Ning Zhe ended Zhang Yangxu's return call on her phone, he said, "Don't get yourself involved."
"Involved?" Feng Yushu was even more confused.
Ning Zhe took a deep breath. The horrifying sight from moments ago still sent a chill through him.
"When you called Zhang Yangxu just now, I was calling Xie Sining at the same time."
As he spoke, Ning Zhe showed her his phone. It displayed one missed call, from Xie Sining. "When Zhang Yangxu answered your call, Xie Sining didn't answer mine. She just stood there without moving at all."
Feng Yushu's face instantly went deathly pale. "Xie Sining..."
Ning Zhe continued, "When Zhang Yangxu answered and you warned him to watch out for Xie Sining, I saw her turn around. She'd been facing away from us, but then her gaze shot straight across the street and locked onto my head with no delay, like a self-aiming weapon. She stared at me without expression."
"When you said on the phone, 'Ning Zhe and I just crossed the arch bridge,' she kept staring right at me and silently began to smile."
Feng Yushu's legs gave way. The shock nearly made her collapse to the ground, and her face turned even paler. "How could this happen...?"
Ning Zhe steadied his pulse with a few deep breaths, then said, "Xie Sining is already dead. Whatever's with Zhang Yangxu now isn't her. That 'Ghost' is wearing Xie Sining's identity, and I don't know what it's after. I can't be sure what will happen if we expose it, either."
That was why he'd snatched Feng Yushu's phone without hesitation and ended the call, to avoid getting dragged into trouble.
"Then what should we do now?" Feng Yushu asked quickly.
Looking into her helpless, animal-like eyes, Ning Zhe understood. Feng Yushu was timid, lacked initiative, and was used to relying on others... which made her easy to control.
That left only one thing to do.
"Auntie, call Ye Miaozhu and Gu Yunqing and tell them Xie Sining has been replaced," Ning Zhe said.
"What about you?" Feng Yushu asked again.
"Get those two, and don't go back to the Ancestral Hall. The four of us will go into the river and retrieve Xie Sining's corpse." Ning Zhe wiped the lipstick print from his palm with the hem of his shirt and spoke softly. "Hopefully, we can find clues about Xie Sining's death on the body. I think it might have something to do with how to leave He Family Village."
As for what happened to Zhang Yangxu, that was up to him. Ning Zhe chose to look out for himself.
If he hadn't already broken a taboo today, Ning Zhe wouldn't even have bothered to call Ye Miaozhu and Gu Yunqing. He would've gone alone. But that wasn't possible now. With his bad luck, going into the river alone to retrieve a corpse could easily get him drowned, even though he was actually a very good swimmer.
Feng Yushu made the call, then followed Ning Zhe as they left the alley together.
Far down the street, Zhang Yangxu lowered the phone after several calls had gone unanswered and quietly turned his gaze toward Xie Sining beside him.
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