Chapter 130
“We’re almost there.”
Zhao Ziming’s voice echoed in the night, accompanied by the rustling of wind through the weeds, making the pitch-black foothills seem all the more eerie. The chilly autumn wind blew relentlessly against their thin clothes. Xu Meng couldn’t help but hug her arms, feeling goosebumps rise on her skin. None of them had turned on their flashlights, following Zhao Ziming’s footsteps along the silent mountain path, each step taken with extreme caution.
“It’s too dark,” Jiang He muttered under his breath, reaching out to touch Tang Rui’s arm next to him to confirm his position.
“Can’t be helped. It would be too conspicuous to go up the mountain during the day,” Zhao Ziming said, equally helpless. Before he could finish, he felt something was wrong and stepped into a mud pit, cursing his bad luck under his breath.
They chatted intermittently, but Jiang Liu remained silent the whole time, simply letting Yang Caisi lead her forward, once again wearing the sunglasses that allowed her to see more clearly in the dark.
This was the back mountain of Mountain Well Village, which she had heard the village chief mention during the day. A few days ago, the rain had washed down rocks from the mountaintop, blocking the road, which was why they were trapped here. There were no more houses around, but looking down from halfway up the mountain, one could see the general layout of the entire village. The only point of light was the memorial hall they had just been in.
Zhao Ziming finally managed to get out of the mud pit, still muttering to himself. His experience was different from everyone else’s. According to him, when he opened his eyes, he was already in the Zhao family’s backyard. “He was just lying there stiffly on the ground, his face as white as if he were dead. It scared the hell out of me,” Zhao Ziming said, still terrified as he recounted the situation.
At that time, the system quest hadn’t been released yet, so he didn’t dare to act rashly. He pinched his nose and went forward to check the man’s condition. But before he could do anything else, he heard a cacophony of wailing. A group of people rushed in crying, and in the blink of an eye, they had surrounded the main gate, blocking it completely. Zhao Ziming, afraid of getting into trouble, quickly took advantage of the chaos and hid in the sheep pen.
At this point, Zhao Ziming paused for a moment, bending down to feel around on the ground as if trying to distinguish something. Tang Rui was intrigued and urged him on, “And then?”
“What’s the rush?” Zhao Ziming clicked his tongue. After fumbling for a while, he found something and said, “This way.”
At that time, there were too many people inside and outside the courtyard. He wasn’t confident he could run out without being discovered, so he could only shrink back and watch from his hiding place.
Tang Rui immediately covered his nose. “No wonder you have a strange smell on you.”
He had thought it was from being cooped up in the coffin, but it turned out to be the smell of the sheep pen. The others all laughed at this, which made Zhao Ziming feel a little embarrassed. He coughed a couple of times and said, “That’s not the point. The point is…”
As he watched, he really did discover something strange. He paused mysteriously and asked the people behind him, “Let me ask you, if I just lay down on the ground without a word, what would be the first thing you’d do?”
Jiang He was engrossed in the story and subconsciously replied, “See if you’re dead?”
Zhao Ziming clapped his hands. “Exactly. A normal person would check first, but that woman was different.”
He had seen it clearly at the time. The woman rushed forward and threw herself on the ground, and without even checking for a breath, she had already started wailing, “My son!”
What was most puzzling was—
Zhao Ziming kept them in suspense, finally leading them to a certain spot. He turned on his flashlight and shone it forward… In front of them, a small creek was almost dry, with only a shallow layer of muddy water at the bottom. Beside it lay a person, twisted at an odd angle—it was the original deceased.
Before the others could react to his meaning, Jiang Liu, who had been silent all along, suddenly made a move. She let go of Yang Caisi, took two steps forward, took off her sunglasses, and said abruptly, “He’s still alive?”
Her words instantly threw everyone into a state of confusion. Without waiting for their reply, Jiang Liu walked forward, squatted down, and carefully observed the man. From his appearance, he was indeed the deceased from the photo in the memorial hall. His expression was very peaceful, and at first glance, he looked no different from a dead person, but he was still breathing, and his heart was still beating. Although he had been left in the desolate mountains in the middle of the night by Zhao Ziming, his skin was only slightly cool to the touch, and his limbs and torso were not stiff. It was clear he was still alive, just unconscious.
“That’s right,” Zhao Ziming said, sucking in a breath through his teeth, his tone revealing a hint of strangeness.
“Think about it. Even I could tell this person wasn’t dead. How could his mother not know after holding him for so long?”
He felt something was wrong at the time, but before he could figure out what to do, he heard the belated system announcement. The rest of the story followed naturally. On one hand, he thought this person was a key clue, and on the other, he wanted to regroup with Jiang Liu and the others. So, while people were preparing the memorial hall, he secretly carried the man up the mountain to hide him and took his place inside the coffin.
That was the full story of how Zhao Ziming got into the coffin. After hearing his words, Xu Meng was silent for a long time before silently giving him a thumbs-up.
“You’re really amazing.”
This praise was truly sincere. Without even knowing the situation, he dared to climb into a coffin. This couldn’t be explained by just being brave, could it?
Tang Ruo stared at him with a complicated expression. “Weren’t you afraid they’d seal the coffin directly?”
Zhao Ziming cleared his throat, his gaze shifting to Jiang Liu’s side as he said righteously, “You guys were definitely going to come to the coffin to investigate. At worst, I would have just reanimated in public.”
Everyone was speechless. But he had a point. If it weren’t for Zhao Ziming’s stunt, they probably wouldn’t have discovered the truth yet.
Jiang He hesitated and said, “Could it be a custom here?”
Tang Rui nudged him, his tone chilly. “What kind of custom involves burying a living person?”
He knew the Instance wouldn’t be simple. And here was the problem. The group thought for a long time without reaching a conclusion, finally all looking at the person still observing not far away. “Sister Jiang, what do we do now?”
The quest was to assist the villagers with the burial, but now the ‘corpse’ was up on the mountain. They couldn’t just bury an empty coffin, could they? Not to mention whether that would count as completing the quest, the villagers weren’t fools. They could still tell if there was a person in the coffin or not. Jiang Liu didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she looked at the ‘corpse’ on the ground for a couple more moments, then hesitantly looked at Yang Caisi. “What’s wrong with him?”
Looking at his complexion, it didn’t seem like a serious illness, but it had been a whole day since Zhao Ziming discovered him. Why was he still unconscious?
Yang Caisi pursed her lips, seemingly also pondering. After a moment, she shook her head. “It’s not clear yet.”
Jiang Liu sighed softly, motioned for Zhao Ziming to lift the man, and scanned the surroundings for a place that could block the wind, planning to put the man there first. This place was exposed to the elements. If they left him here for a few more days, he might really die.
The group searched around and actually found a not-so-wide cave nearby. Jiang He took off his cotton jacket to cover the man, and after confirming he was temporarily fine, they came out.
“Something’s not right,” Jiang Liu said with a slight frown, her small face looking grave.
According to the village chief, it had just rained heavily a few days ago, and the village was muddy everywhere. Why would the creek on this mountain be so dry? Setting that aside for a moment, there was another suspicious point in Zhao Ziming’s account. She turned on her flashlight and looked down. Mountain Well Village was shrouded in darkness, looking eerily black.
Death doesn’t follow a fixed schedule. Why did the villagers seem to have received advance notice, rushing in as soon as the time came? Or was it that—they already knew or guessed that this person would depart on time at this specific moment?
As Jiang Liu was thinking, she suddenly felt a pair of warm hands on her shoulders. She didn’t turn around, just gently pinched the bridge of her nose, her expression already relaxed. She leaned sideways into Yang Caisi’s embrace. “What do you think?”
Yang Caisi answered without hesitation, “We just need to test their attitude.”
Jiang Liu couldn’t help but laugh softly. “Let’s do that.”
***
The sky was just beginning to brighten when the sound of gongs and drums, along with noisy singing, erupted from outside the village, waking Jiang Liu from her sleep. She turned over impatiently, her eyes still closed as she mumbled, “So noisy.”
Beside her, Yang Caisi patted her. “I’m afraid it won’t be quiet today. Want to get up and eat?”
Jiang Liu frowned but still fought off her sleepiness to get up, yawning as she dressed. Most of the villagers were early risers. As soon as she stepped out, she ran into someone from the next courtyard chopping wood. He was slightly stunned to see her and then said good-naturedly, “You were woken up by the noise, weren’t you?”
Jiang Liu nodded, and he pointed in the direction of the Zhao family’s house. “That’s convenient. The theater troupe has already started. If you go over now, you can still catch a meal.”
Since ancient times, it had been a custom at both weddings and funerals that anyone passing by could get a meal by offering a small amount of money. Jiang Liu didn’t pay much mind to it, just thanked him for the tip. A lot of people had already gathered outside the memorial hall. Several long tables had been set up behind the stage, and the village chief was helping out nearby. He immediately waved when he saw Jiang Liu’s figure.
“Doctor Xiao Yang, Xiao Jiang, you’re all here.”
“We came to help,” Yang Caisi replied with a smile, taking out two bills from her pocket and handing them to the middle-aged woman who had lost her son. “Auntie, my condolences.”
Auntie Zhao gave her a grateful look, then greeted Jiang Liu beside her and directed them to sit over there. Tang Ruo and the others hadn’t arrived yet. Jiang Liu looked around and then checked the time.
“Here, try our village’s special noodle soup.”
The village chief deftly brought over a few bowls of hot soup, sounding a little embarrassed. “You’re only staying for a few days, and we don’t have much to offer. Don’t be shy.”
He looked at the soup on the table with pride. “Our village’s well water is famous. You’ll know once you try it.”
“It smells so good. Thank you, Uncle Liu,” Jiang He said, having been hungry all night. The aroma now whetted his appetite, and he smiled eagerly.
“Eat up, eat up.” The village chief chuckled and turned to serve the others. In no time, Tang Rui and the others also appeared one after another, and they all sat at the same table, exchanging a look.
Zhao Ziming looked at the memorial hall. “What time is it?”
“It’s almost time,” Jiang Liu replied casually, quietly drinking her soup.
As soon as her voice fell, a loud crash suddenly came from the memorial hall, drowning out the sound of the opera not far away and reaching everyone’s ears. Looking in the direction of the sound—the coffin that had been placed in the memorial hall was suddenly split in two down the middle. The heavy wood had smashed a pit in the ground, and the corpse that should have been inside was nowhere to be found.
It was unclear who screamed first, but everyone else followed suit, scrambling to their feet in a panic.