Chapter 69

Chapter 69

For now, finding the people conducting the sacrifices would require nothing more than lying in wait. Sooner or later, they would appear.

This was clearly their regular sacrificial site. Once the appointed time arrived, they would naturally bring the new bride here.

But that was too passive.

Xie Qingling preferred to take the initiative, so she decided to search the surrounding area and see whether she could find any clues.

Her profession had led her to read extensively about crime and criminal investigation.

According to geographic profiling, the perpetrators could not live too far from this river.

If people had to cross mountains and valleys from a distant location to carry out murders and sacrifices on this scale, there was no telling how much attention they would attract along the way. How could their crimes have remained undiscovered and quietly continued until today?

Xie Qingling planned to use the riverbank as the center of their search and spread outward to look for relevant clues.

If they found nothing, they would probably have to call in a criminal-investigation specialist.

The three split up and climbed the surrounding mountains, hoping the view from above would save them time.

Xie Qingling had climbed only halfway and had not yet reached the summit when Dai Xingyu’s voice came through her earpiece. “I found something! There’s something here!”

A Groom truly lived up to his title.

He was always the first to discover anything unusual.

Shen Huaizhou and Xie Qingling immediately turned around to rendezvous with Dai Xingyu.

The three met halfway up the mountain he had climbed and looked down.

In the distance, a village lay quietly nestled in a mountain hollow.

Night had already fallen, but the hollow blazed with lights. Warm orange radiance shone through the windows like stars scattered among the mountains.

Those lights served as beacons in the dark, visible at a glance.

From time to time, dogs barked through the hollow. The sound drifted on and on, noisy yet carrying the peace of a place far removed from the city’s clamor.

Seeking a better view, Xie Qingling climbed a towering tree and stood in its crown, where the distant landscape stretched unobstructed before her.

Shen Huaizhou joined her, his added weight bowing the canopy sharply downward.

“What do you plan to do?” Shen Huaizhou asked from below her.

“We have to investigate that village.” Xie Qingling looked down at him, then turned her gaze back toward the distant settlement. “But not now.”

Shen Huaizhou nodded. “That’s what I was thinking too.”

Backward, old, isolated villages like this were generally deeply wary of outsiders. They were unlikely to greet strangers with any warmth or welcome.

And though news from the outside world might reach such a village slowly, news within it traveled fast.

This was a small, tight-knit community where everyone knew everyone else. If one household cooked something for lunch, the neighbors could tell merely by sniffing the air. Three unfamiliar faces like theirs would undoubtedly draw stares and discussion the moment they appeared.

Entering the village at night would make them look suspicious from every angle… and might provoke a confrontation.

At the very least, it would create unnecessary trouble and mistrust.

“Let’s wait. It’s already late enough.” Xie Qingling sat on a branch, leaned against the thick trunk, and closed her eyes. “We’ll enter tomorrow and see whether my guess is right.”

Shen Huaizhou nodded, then opened his case.

This was not his first field assignment, so he had prepared far more thoroughly than Xie Qingling.

He took out two meat buns and handed them to her, then produced a bottle that resembled perfume and sprayed it several times over himself and Xie Qingling.

As he sprayed, he explained, “Insect repellent Ye Anran made. It’s specifically for spending the night outdoors.”

The buns had already gone cold and no longer tasted as good as they had at first, but Xie Qingling was not picky. She kept her eyes closed and began eating.

Dai Xingyu also pulled a compressed biscuit half the size of his palm and a bottle of water from his case. He took one bite, found it rock-hard, and decided it tasted awful.

The biscuit was military issue. It was extremely filling and kept in constant supply at the Department precisely for situations like this.

But with the savory smell of meat buns in the air, Dai Xingyu found the biscuit in his mouth difficult to swallow.

He poked his head out awkwardly. After thinking it over again and again, he finally reached some momentous decision.

Dai Xingyu cleared his throat.

For a brief moment, Dai Xingyu abandoned all human dignity.

“Big Brother Huaizhou, I’m sooo hungry. I want a bun-bun too.”

“Get lost.”

“Disgusting.”

“There aren’t any left.”

“Stop talking,” Shen Huaizhou stressed.

Otherwise, he would soon lose his appetite for his own bun.

Dai Xingyu fell silent.

He was furious.

Was this Shen Huaizhou? Shen Huaizhou, whose eyes held room only for the strong? Could he not spread his compassion a little more widely?

Was the Groom not working too?

Did the Groom not deserve sympathy?

Did the Groom have no human rights?

Did the Groom not deserve a meat bun?

Dai Xingyu pinned his hopes on Xie Qingling. He turned to look at her and was just about to speak…

The instant Xie Qingling noticed him watching her, she sped up and wolfed down the bun in her hand. Whether she feared he would try to steal it or feared hearing him say, “Big Sis, I’m hungry-hungry. Give me a bun-bun,” no one could say.
Dai Xingyu fell silent.

This team had no love for its members whatsoever.

Dai Xingyu angrily bit off several mouthfuls of compressed biscuit, then turned his head away.

The three rested on the mountain through the night.

The next day, the rising sun cast a warm glow over them.

Their body heat had dried the water on their skin, leaving them feeling clean and refreshed again.

Xie Qingling shook a stray patch of moss from the hem of her skirt, tossed her hair back, then jumped down from the tree.

The three quickly packed their belongings and headed toward the village.

Deep in these mountains and forests, satellite navigation was of little use. They could only rely on the direction they remembered and follow the compass.

Fortunately, with Dai Xingyu present, getting lost was impossible. They soon reached the village entrance.

All three stopped, their expressions turning grim.

What a bizarre village.

On the same day, in the same village, white lanterns and red lanterns had been hung at once.

On one side stood red double-happiness characters. On the other were black-and-white funeral wreaths bearing the character for mourning.

At the head of the village, suonas blared joyously, playing “A Hundred Birds Pay Homage to the Phoenix.”

Suonas also sounded from the far end of the village, but there they played the mournful strains of “The Grand Funeral Procession.”

Was this not…?

When red and white occasions collided, did they not risk stirring up baleful forces?

The three exchanged glances, instinctively realizing that they had most likely come to the right place.

“Be careful. Something about this village feels wrong.” Dai Xingyu’s boyish face was solemn as he issued the warning.

It seemed the Groom had sensed something.

Xie Qingling nodded.

She had originally intended to enter openly through the village gate, but now it seemed the proper road would not work.

They would have to sneak around furtively.

Xie Qingling said, “Shen Huaizhou, Dai Xingyu, you two go to the far end of the village and investigate the funeral. I’ll go to the entrance and investigate the wedding.”

Neither of the others objected.

Xie Qingling was more than capable of protecting herself, while Dai Xingyu, as the Groom, was an ideal partner for Shen Huaizhou.

The three quickly split up.

Carrying her case, Xie Qingling circled around the village entrance, then followed the outer wall of one house to keep herself concealed.

She soon discovered that although the village was fairly large, it seemed empty. She did not encounter a single person along the way.

She followed the strains of “A Hundred Birds Pay Homage to the Phoenix” until she approached a building resembling an ancestral hall and heard human voices.

Many voices.

It seemed most of the villagers had gathered here.

Xie Qingling flattened herself atop the wall and peered inside. Heads shifted everywhere, and the open ground before the ancestral hall was packed with a dark mass of people.

Every one of them wore red ribbons and festive decorations, presenting a scene of joyous celebration.

But…

Xie Qingling frowned.

Unless she had misheard, she could faintly make out a young woman’s broken sobbing.

Xie Qingling looked toward the source and found a room plastered with enormous double-happiness characters. It appeared to be a bridal chamber.

Someone was holding a funeral, while someone else wept inside a bridal chamber.

No one seemed to be watching the room. Xie Qingling crept over and saw that iron chains had been looped around its doors and windows, locking them shut.

The person inside had been imprisoned.

Xie Qingling drew a deep breath, wrenched the chain apart, broke the lock on the door, and pushed her way inside.

“You…” The crying stopped abruptly. A young woman wearing a red wedding dress embroidered with mandarin ducks and twin lotus blossoms raised her head and stared at Xie Qingling in terror. “Who are you?”

“Are you the witch they hired?”

“What are you going to do to me?”

Xie Qingling studied her for a moment, then asked, “Are you the bride?”

At the word “bride,” the young woman’s tear-reddened face instantly went deathly pale. She opened her swollen eyes and said, “Yes, I’m the bride. I’m… I’m the River God’s bride!”

Xie Qingling’s heart sank.

Her grip tightened involuntarily around the case in her hand.

The young woman began crying again, sobbing so hard she could barely breathe, every sound steeped in anguish.

Xie Qingling walked over and crouched before her, tilting her head up. “Tell me exactly what’s going on.”

The bride still did not answer. She only wept.

She did not believe this stranger who had appeared from nowhere could help her.

Not one of the young women chosen before her had ever escaped. She would be no exception.

Seeing her like this, Xie Qingling suddenly said, “I pulled a body from the river. She had been dead for less than a month, but nothing remained except her bones.”

“She wore the same red wedding dress as you. She was also the River God’s bride.”

Those two short sentences struck with devastating force.

As though she had seen some terrifying demon, the crying bride broke down completely and began sobbing even louder.

But she had already been crying, so the sudden rise in volume attracted no attention from anyone outside.

“Stop talking!” the bride begged through her tears, keeping her voice low. “I don’t want to die. I’m still so young. I don’t want to die! Stop, please…”

“If you don’t talk, you’re certain to die. If you do, I may be able to help you. The choice is yours.”
The bride stared blankly for several seconds. Then she gritted her teeth, summoned every scrap of courage, and said, “My name is Ma Qiaoqiao. I live in the low white house at the far end of the village. After today, I’ll be married to the River God and become her bride…”

“The custom of sacrificing to the River God has existed in this village since I was a child. I don’t know when it began, and I don’t know when it will end. Our parents won’t let us talk about it or ask questions, much less leave.”

Ma Qiaoqiao drew a deep breath and choked out through her sobs, “Every year, we have to offer the River God a bride. This year, it’s my turn… It’s really my turn… I’m so afraid. I don’t want to die.”

The situation was much as Xie Qingling had expected.

Xie Qingling suddenly asked, “Didn’t you just sacrifice a bride? Was she as frightened as you are?”

Ma Qiaoqiao stopped crying.

At the mention of the other bride, she grew much quieter.

Ma Qiaoqiao said, “The last bride volunteered.”

Xie Qingling arched a brow and scoffed. “Volunteered? Who told you that?”

“The Village Guardian.” Ma Qiaoqiao covered her face as she cried. “But the River God wasn’t satisfied. She wants another bride.”

The Village Guardian?

Countless thoughts flashed through Xie Qingling’s mind. She asked, “Do you know why your village sacrifices to the River God?”

Even with her meager knowledge of mythology, Xie Qingling knew that people mainly worshiped river gods to ensure favorable weather and prevent floods from drowning their homes and crops, praying for safety and peace.

But nowadays, dams were built anywhere prone to flooding. As for irrigation, whether people dug channels to divert water or constructed hydraulic works, they relied on human ingenuity to overcome nature. They no longer begged a capricious river god to show mercy and grant them a good harvest the following year.

Xie Qingling had assumed that when the gods fell, a River God who no longer served any purpose should have been among the first to go.

She had never expected anyone to still worship her today.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

“I don’t know either. The Village Guardian says our ancestors did this for generations, so we have to do it too.”

Xie Qingling said, “I understand. Wait here. I’ll find a way.”

When Ma Qiaoqiao saw that Xie Qingling did not intend to help her escape and instead told her to remain there, she immediately began crying even harder.

Just as she thought – it had all been a lie!

No one could save her!

Xie Qingling left the bridal chamber and contacted Dai Xingyu through her earpiece.

“Dai Xingyu, I found the River God’s bride.”

“I’ve figured out what’s happening on my end too,” Dai Xingyu said. “I found the family holding the funeral and got the story from them. I’m going to negotiate with the village chief now and make him stop this ridiculous sacrifice.”

Xie Qingling hummed in acknowledgment. “Try it first. If civilized conversation doesn’t work… I’ll think of another way.”

“Understood.”

The village chief was in the ancestral hall. Xie Qingling headed over.

Dai Xingyu and Shen Huaizhou reached the ancestral hall before her. Before she even entered, she heard Dai Xingyu’s impassioned voice booming from inside. “…This is superstition! Feudal superstition! Ghosts and gods don’t exist! Stop this ridiculous sacrifice at once! Stop murdering people!”

Xie Qingling fell silent.

The situation inside the ancestral hall was growing steadily more tense.

“Stop, stop! If you try anything else, I’m calling the police!”

“Sacrificing to the River God doesn’t do a damn thing! Stop being so ignorant! Dig a few more irrigation channels instead! That would be far more useful!”

The ancestral hall fell silent for a moment. Then a deep, commanding voice rang out. “Anyone who disrupts the sacrifice deserves to die! Seize them!”

They had actually resorted to violence.

It seemed civilized and amicable conversation was impossible.

They could hardly blame her for what came next!

Xie Qingling sighed. She concealed Bloodsworn along both thighs, found a pile of firewood where she could hide her case, then entered the ancestral hall.

Inside, the village’s able-bodied men surrounded Dai Xingyu and Shen Huaizhou with hoes, sickles, shoulder poles, and other tools in hand. The standoff was taut as a drawn bow, ready to erupt at any instant.

When the village chief saw an unfamiliar young woman in black enter the ancestral hall, he immediately assumed she was with the other two. His brow knotted, and he roared, “Another accomplice! Seize all of them!”

The crowd surged forward and surrounded the three in an instant.

Shen Huaizhou frowned, unable to understand why Xie Qingling had walked openly into view instead of helping them from the shadows.

Was she trying to get herself killed?

Just then, Xie Qingling raised both hands in surrender.

Her whole face opened into a bright smile. “A misunderstanding! This is all a misunderstanding! I’m not with them!”

“Who are you?” the village chief demanded with an angry glare.

“I’m… the eldest great-granddaughter of the third daughter of the second maternal great-uncle of Ma Qiaoqiao’s grandmother’s uncle. In other words, I’m her older cousin,” Xie Qingling said. “Qiaoqiao and I are as close as sisters. I came today to take her place in the wedding.”

“I want to be the River God’s bride.”