NOVEL NEXT 012 Death Taboo
“You’re saying you saw Yunqing in the ancestral hall?” Ye Miaozhu immediately grew agitated. “When did this happen?”
Zhang Yangxu thought for a moment before answering, “Right after I witnessed it, I hid in the alley opposite the ancestral hall and stayed alert for a long time. I remained hidden for about 15 minutes, and after confirming that the ‘Gu Yunqing’ in the ancestral hall had disappeared, I called Madam Bai to warn you all to be cautious of Gu Yunqing.”
Ning Zhe glanced at Feng Yushu. “Auntie, check the call history.”
Feng Yushu promptly unlocked her phone. The call had ended just after 2 a.m.
“That’s roughly 15 minutes after Gu Yunqing died,” Ning Zhe quickly concluded. “In other words, while Zhang Yangxu saw ‘Gu Yunqing’ flipping through the almanac in the ancestral hall, the real Gu Yunqing was dying right in front of us.”
Such a coincidence was hard to ignore. Could there be a causal relationship between the two events?
Ning Zhe pondered. “Let’s lay out a timeline first.”
01:30–01:45: Zhang Yangxu conversed with the fake Xie Sining, exposed her through strategic questioning, and the ‘ghost’ vanished.
01:55–02:00: Zhang Yangxu returned to the South Street ancestral hall and saw ‘Gu Yunqing’ flipping through the almanac alone.
01:55–02:00: Ning Zhe and the others discovered Gu Yunqing’s body by the river and witnessed his sudden death.
02:00–02:13: Zhang Yangxu made a call to warn Ning Zhe and the others about Gu Yunqing.
“Since we know that the Gu Yunqing who died in front of us is the real one, the one in the ancestral hall must be fake,” Ning Zhe summarized. “The ghost that impersonated Xie Sining switched to impersonating Gu Yunqing after being exposed and went to the ancestral hall to flip through the almanac. At the same time, the real Gu Yunqing died.”
Ning Zhe’s face showed a trace of doubt. Was there a connection between the two?
Ye Miaozhu bit her lip, her teeth clenched, desperate to uncover the cause of Gu Yunqing’s death. “The almanac was already opened to today’s date. The day’s fortune had already been revealed. Why would the ghost, posing as Yunqing, flip through it again? Was it to check tomorrow’s fortune?”
“Who knows?” Ning Zhe shrugged nonchalantly.
At that moment, Zhang Yangxu spoke up. “Stop pretending, Ning Zhe. You know better than any of us what this means.”
His words immediately drew the attention of the other two.
Ning Zhe smiled faintly. “I don’t quite understand what you’re implying, Mr. Zhang.”
Such unnerving composure. To Zhang Yangxu, the Ning Zhe standing before him didn’t seem like a high school senior just shy of 18 years old but rather a cunning veteran with over five years of experience in the harsh realities of life.
Zhang Yangxu turned to Feng Yushu, who was silent and hiding behind Ning Zhe. “Madam Bai, do you remember when we first arrived at the ancestral hall? While Sining and I were flipping through the almanac, you were sneaking in through the side door. But where was Ning Zhe?”
“When I stood before the Serpent God’s statue, the almanac already displayed the date as the 23rd day of the fourth lunar month. This means someone entered the ancestral hall before me and turned the almanac to today. Who was that person?”
Feng Yushu’s eyes widened, her round face showing clear shock.
Zhang Yangxu pressed on, “Ning Zhe was the first among us to enter the ancestral hall. So, what I’m about to reveal next, only you can explain.”
Ning Zhe showed no sign of panic. He merely smiled as Zhang Yangxu opened the ancestral hall’s door, walked to the large altar before the Serpent God’s statue, and lifted the dark red tablecloth.
Underneath was the corpse of a muscular man dressed in a tank top, shorts, and running shoes.
“Lin Zhiyuan?!” Ye Miaozhu exclaimed in shock.
Zhang Yangxu raised an eyebrow. “You know him?”
Ye Miaozhu nodded. “Lin Zhiyuan is a local from Gubei Town. He works out of town as a fitness instructor. He usually returns home during holidays and often visits the village clinic where Yunqing and I intern, buying medicine, health supplements, and hygiene products.”
Ye Miaozhu had a vivid impression of Lin Zhiyuan because every time he came to the clinic, he would flirt with her and repeatedly try to get her WeChat. He was a frivolous character, nothing like the gentle and reliable Gu Yunqing, who gave people a warm sense of security.
But Gu Yunqing was dead now.
“Who would’ve thought he’d get caught up in this too?” Ye Miaozhu gazed at Lin Zhiyuan’s corpse, her emotions in turmoil.
Zhang Yangxu then asked, “Could you check his body?”
“Sure.” Ye Miaozhu glanced deeply at Ning Zhe, crouched down, and began examining the corpse.
“Just like with Yunqing and Xie Sining, Lin Zhiyuan’s body has no internal or external injuries, no signs of poisoning, nor evidence of asphyxiation. The cause of death is identical for all three.” She quickly delivered her conclusion.
However, unlike Xie Sining, Lin Zhiyuan’s body hadn’t been in icy river water for long. With the body temperature naturally dissipating in the air, an experienced doctor could easily determine the time of death.
“Lin Zhiyuan died about two hours ago, roughly around midnight,” Ye Miaozhu concluded, rising to her feet. “Does this align with what we know?”
Zhang Yangxu nodded. “It aligns perfectly. Sining and I entered the ancestral hall just a few minutes past midnight, and before we arrived, Ning Zhe was already here.”
Behind Ning Zhe, Feng Yushu gasped, covering her mouth in disbelief. Her wide eyes brimmed with terror. Instinctively, she tried to distance herself from Ning Zhe, but her legs, weakened by fear, nearly gave out under her.
“Are you saying you suspect I killed Lin Zhiyuan?” Ning Zhe still wore his smile, his demeanor completely unruffled.
Zhang Yangxu shook his head. “I didn’t say that.”
“Then what are you implying?”
“I just want to ask you one thing—did Lin Zhiyuan’s death have anything to do with the almanac?” Zhang Yangxu lowered his voice. “You were the first to enter the ancestral hall and turn the almanac to today. Then came Lin Zhiyuan.”
“Maybe he arrived after you, or maybe you came together. Maybe he was just curious, or maybe you incited him. Either way, he tried to flip the almanac to tomorrow, just like the ghost impersonating Gu Yunqing did.”
And then he died.
“Is that what happened?” Ye Miaozhu asked.
Ning Zhe clapped lightly, a look of approval on his face. “Not bad. That’s exactly what happened.”
His straightforward confirmation left Zhang Yangxu and Ye Miaozhu in silence. Only Feng Yushu let out a long sigh of relief.
Now that they understood the equation—“flipping the almanac to tomorrow equals death”—the ghost’s killing logic became clear.
Hejia Village operated under two sets of rules: the fortunes dictated by the almanac and the deadly taboo of the Serpent God.
The ghost that wandered the village, assuming the identities of the dead, had no direct ability to kill. The killer was the Serpent God.