NOVEL NEXT 020: Replacing Another
At 7:15 a.m., while exposing the true identity of “Zhang Yangxu”, Ye Miaozhu witnessed the same eerie scene that Zhang Yangxu had previously encountered.
“After conducting numerous tests and inquiries, I finally confirmed from the bottom of my heart that the ‘ghost’ in front of me was absolutely not Xie Sining. Then, it disappeared—like a wisp of dissipating smoke, vanishing completely. That was how I freed myself from it.”
This was how Zhang Yangxu managed to rid himself of the ghost impersonating Xie Sining.
Now, Ye Miaozhu saw the same thing. The figure of “Zhang Yangxu” in front of her rapidly became illusory, collapsing like a sandcastle washed away by water and dissipating like smoke.
It disappeared just like that.
“Is it over…?” Ye Miaozhu let out a sigh of relief.
After a brief moment to compose herself, she turned on her flashlight to explore the storage room. As Ning Zhe had mentioned, the rules might remain silent, but they wouldn’t lie. Although the enticing whispers earlier were dangerous, every word had been truthful.
Holding her phone, Ye Miaozhu walked past the shelves filled with dowries, quickly moving to the dressing table to examine the mirror embedded in it. She found nothing unusual.
However, when the beam of her flashlight accidentally shone into the gap between the mirror and the wall, the corpse of a man in a suit appeared before her.
“Zhang Yangxu?” Ye Miaozhu’s expression froze as realization dawned upon her. “The ghost killed Zhang Yangxu, impersonated him, and tried to lure me into achieving some goal of its own…”
But what was the ghost’s goal?
Confused, Ye Miaozhu crouched down, intending to conduct a simple examination of Zhang Yangxu’s corpse. Suddenly, her pupils dilated, and her body went limp, collapsing to the ground.
She was dead.
—
At 6:48 a.m., the sunlight bathed Hejia Village, and the place grew lively.
On the streets, small vendors sold vegetables and groceries, and the bustling noise of people filled the air with vibrancy. At the village entrance, farmers carrying hoes returned from the fields, and wisps of smoke rose from rooftops as villagers prepared breakfast.
In Hejia Village, everyone worshipped the Serpent God. Every household had an image of the Serpent God, and before each meal, they would first serve a small portion in a bowl and offer it to the deity’s image before eating themselves.
“Ning Zhe, what are you up to?” In a small alley along the street, Feng Yushu stood uneasily by the wall, nervously glancing toward the alley’s entrance. “Weren’t we supposed to solve two riddles? What are you doing now…?”
“I’m solving a riddle,” Ning Zhe replied nonchalantly, leaning against the wall.
But you’re just standing here doing nothing…
Feng Yushu grew increasingly confused but dared not ask further. Since she had chosen to trust him, she had no choice but to follow through to the end.
She turned her head to glance at a nearby window. The fragrance of candle wax wafted out, and a village woman emerged from an adjacent kitchen, carrying a white porcelain bowl. The bowl contained neatly arranged rice, green beans, slices of meat, a golden pan-fried dumpling, and a pickled plum.
The woman entered the room emitting the candle’s fragrance. Moments later, she left, her hands now empty.
Watching the woman leave the room and return to the kitchen—tripping along the way—Ning Zhe finally straightened up and strolled toward the room.
“What are you doing?” Feng Yushu asked quickly.
“Solving a riddle,” Ning Zhe said lightly. “Wait here.”
Feng Yushu didn’t dare press further. She stayed where she was, watching Ning Zhe stroll leisurely into the room.
The moment he entered, a pair of lifeless, hollow eyes met his gaze.
It was a painting about one meter wide and high, hanging on the wall directly opposite the door. The image depicted a jade-green serpent with curved horns on its head. Its beautiful overlapping scales and ethereal posture seemed divine, but beneath its resplendent exterior lay a decayed and filthy essence.
Upon closer inspection, Ning Zhe saw that the base of each scale was covered in black mold. White fungal threads grew from the gaps between the scales. The snake’s hollow eyes were lifeless—its left eye completely overtaken by mold, and its right eye surrounded by fungal stains.
“It’s just like the Serpent God statue in the ancestral hall,” Ning Zhe murmured, recalling the rotting, mold-ridden statue.
What connection could there be between the decaying Serpent God statue and the mold-infested paintings in villagers’ homes?
Unable to piece it together, Ning Zhe stopped dwelling on it. He stepped forward to the small round table below the painting, where a white porcelain bowl with offerings was placed.
He looked up, meeting the gaze of the painted Serpent God, and reached into the bowl to pick out the pickled plum, tossing it into his mouth.
“How sour…” Ning Zhe grimaced as he swallowed the plum, then used chopsticks to stir the neatly arranged rice, making it look less orderly. He turned and left the room.
Outside, Feng Yushu hurried over, looking flustered.
“What’s wrong?” Ning Zhe asked.
“Nothing… nothing,” Feng Yushu stammered.
Fine, scared of being alone… Ning Zhe checked his phone for the time. “Let’s move on to the next house.”
Feng Yushu didn’t question Ning Zhe’s actions anymore. She quietly followed him as he snuck into villagers’ homes, stealing offerings meant for the Serpent God.
In under 20 minutes, Ning Zhe had visited seven or eight houses.
He wasn’t stealing the offerings because he was hungry. There was a reason for his actions—a theory he was risking his life to verify.
After sampling offerings from houses near the ancestral hall, Ning Zhe circled back to the hall itself.
Standing outside, he saw the couplets on either side of the door, their red characters on white paper starkly visible:
【On the Ba She altar, pearls and jade together testify to the ancestors.】
【Before Lotus Hall, descendants together add fragrance.】
【A Legacy of Time】
Approaching the Serpent God’s statue, Ning Zhe saw various offerings on the lotus platform: rice cakes, rice balls, roast chicken, rice, fruit platters—and a jar of wine.
Ning Zhe met the gaze of the mold-covered Serpent God statue. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward, picked up a red rice ball, and ate it. He opened the wine jar, took a sip, and sampled every other offering.
Each time, he only took a small bite.
Outside, Feng Yushu covered her mouth in disbelief, her eyes wide with shock. “Ning… Ning Zhe! What on earth are you doing?!”
Tearing off a piece of roasted chicken skin, Ning Zhe replied calmly, “I told you, solving a riddle.”
“But…” Feng Yushu couldn’t make sense of what she was seeing. Ning Zhe had no intention of explaining further.
Checking the time on his phone—7:17 a.m., still far from lunch—he reached for the fruit platter in front of the Serpent God.
Suddenly, an inexplicable sense of danger flashed through his mind. Instinctively, he turned his head to see a disheveled, haggard woman standing silently before him.
“Ye Miaozhu…?” Ning Zhe narrowed his eyes but quickly realized, “No, it’s the ghost.”
The “Ye Miaozhu” before him had appeared out of thin air. Her beautiful face lit up with a dazzling, seductive smile.
She walked wordlessly to the lotus platform, reached out, and flipped open the almanac.
The next moment, Ye Miaozhu was dead.
“So it’s true…” Ning Zhe closed his eyes and murmured softly.