Chapter 184
Chapter 184
Deep in the mountains, dense fog blanketed a bamboo forest.
A procession approached along the narrow path, accompanied by the blare of horns and the pounding of drums.
Those playing gongs and drums walked at the front, while the mourners followed in the middle.
Figures holding mourning staffs carried a black Coffin toward her.
The scene was eerie in its suddenness, but Qin Ying didn’t panic.
She narrowed her eyes and studied them, soon determining that every last one of them was alive and breathing, not some sort of supernatural creature.
She stepped forward, and the man leading the procession spotted her as well.
He clearly hadn’t expected to find someone standing in the middle of the fog.
Qin Ying had only changed into a new skin a few days ago. With her raven hair and snow-white complexion, she looked every bit like a female ghost.
Her abrupt appearance in the middle of the road scared the people at the front half to death, throwing the procession into chaos.
They nearly dropped the Coffin.
After getting a good look at Qin Ying, a man in his fifties snapped in exasperation, “Who are you? What are you doing in the middle of the road?”
He had clearly been about to fly into a rage, but once he came closer and saw how beautiful she was, his tone softened. “What’s a young woman like you doing out here all alone?”
Noticing her backpack and hiking clothes, he stared at her incredulously. “Don’t tell me you’re some content creator who came here looking for an adventure!”
“Whatever you’re here for, don’t you know the rules? You don’t block the path of the dead!”
“Hurry up and move!”
The middle-aged man obviously had a short fuse. The words came pouring out of him like machine-gun fire.
Qin Ying took half a step back to avoid the spray of spittle flying from his mouth.
“I’m looking for someone.”
She wasn’t sure what cover identity the people from the Cultural Preservation Bureau were using here, so she kept her answer vague.
As she spoke, she politely stepped aside to clear the way.
The funeral procession filed past her, many of its members casting curious looks in her direction.
Once it had passed, the middle-aged man who had questioned her seemed to realize something. “Oh. Are you looking for those people from the Cultural Preservation Bureau?”
Qin Ying was just about to ask him where they had gone when a sleazy voice cut in from the side.
“They went into the mountains.”
“Said something about investigating a tunnel.”
The speaker was a yellow-haired punk in skinny pants, grinning cheekily at Qin Ying.
“Oh. All right, then. I’ll be going,” Qin Ying said.
The blond wasn’t lying, but that didn’t mean there was nothing wrong with Yin Minmin’s message.
If even the Cultural Preservation Bureau team might have run into trouble, there was no way Qin Ying was charging in there alone.
With that, she turned to leave.
But the middle-aged man who had spoken first called after her. “Wait. Those people said they’d be back by noon.”
“Why don’t you come into the village and wait with us? The fog’s too thick. It’s dangerous for you to be out here alone.”
Qin Ying’s departing steps stiffened for a split second.
She turned and looked at the smiling middle-aged man.
He was lying. Both of those statements were lies.
The people from the Cultural Preservation Bureau had never said they would return by noon.
Nor was this man concerned about whether Qin Ying was in danger.
Only one part of everything he had said was true: come into the village with us.
Qin Ying’s face remained expressionless, her tone polite but distant. “Thank you, but that won’t be necessary.”
“I’ll go find them myself.”
With that, she ignored him as if she hadn’t heard a word and continued on her way.
The yellow-haired punk seemed to take her refusal as an insult and cursed, “What are you acting so high and mighty for?”
“You look down on us villagers or something?”
Qin Ying stopped.
At some point, several Able-bodied Adults from the funeral procession had doubled back.
They stood blocking the narrow road.
Qin Ying forcibly stilled her restless right hand, her expression darkening. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Her left hand was still gripping the broken trekking pole.
Meanwhile, she was calculating whether Di Shang could handle these men.
“It doesn’t mean anything. Zhang Lao San, quit spouting nonsense.”
The middle-aged man made a show of kicking the blond man, then spoke gently to Qin Ying. “This is a society governed by law. We wouldn’t dare try anything.”
“Those people really did say they’d be back at noon. I was only trying to help.”
As he spoke, he practically had honest and law-abiding written all over his face.
But Qin Ying sneered inwardly. The man had casually slipped two more lies into his story.
The problem was, if she left now, she might tip them off.
After a moment’s thought, Qin Ying touched the Zheng Serum hidden on her person and felt reassured.
Worst case, she could have Thunderbird use the serum, come out, and clean up the mess.
When he saw that she was no longer trying to leave, the middle-aged man claiming to be the Village Chief stepped in to smooth things over again.
Qin Ying went along with it and agreed to follow them into Qingzhai Village.
On the way, the blond man named Zhang Lao San brightened and sidled up beside Qin Ying, chattering a bunch of nonsense at her.
Qin Ying ignored him.
Zhang Lao San stalked away with a sour look on his face.
The men who had arrived later jeered at him. “Looking like that, you still think you can hit on a beauty?”
Their laughter left Zhang Lao San humiliated.
The middle-aged man claiming to be the Village Chief was named Zhang Yubo. When the others grew too loud, he turned and glared at them. “Quiet.”
By the time they finished speaking, they had already reached the village Qin Ying had spotted earlier.
The village had retained a remarkably old-fashioned appearance.
Most of its buildings were wooden houses with tiled roofs. Because the area was perpetually misty, miasmic, damp, and cold, they were all built as stilt houses.
The ground floors were used for storage and raising pigs, while the residents lived on the second floors.
The village fell within Yunlan City’s jurisdiction and shared roughly the same customs. Nearly every household kept a Coffin on the ground floor.
“Don’t be afraid,” Zhang Yubo said. “Every Coffin is empty. There’s no one inside.”
Qin Ying had not spoken in the local dialect, so Zhang Yubo had assumed she was from out of town and offered an explanation.
Qin Ying’s response was less than enthusiastic.
After weaving between the wooden houses for a while, they began seeing more and more spirit money scattered across the ground.
Just as Qin Ying thought they were taking her to the family holding the funeral, red lanterns and wedding decorations suddenly appeared ahead.
They had brought her to a household celebrating a wedding.
Zhang Yubo said, “I thought you might be uncomfortable around a funeral, so I brought you to the family hosting the wedding instead.”
Qin Ying couldn’t help thinking this village was awfully busy.
Zhang Yubo raised his voice and called, “Zhang Zhentao’s wife!”
In answer, a middle-aged woman wearing a blue cloth apron came outside.
“What is it, Fourth Uncle Zhang?”
Zhang Yubo pointed at Qin Ying. “This young lady is looking for the people from the Cultural Preservation Bureau. Let her wait at your house.”
The middle-aged woman was extremely welcoming. Wiping her hands on her apron, she ushered Qin Ying inside.
“You came at an awkward time. I’m marrying off my daughter, while someone else in the village has passed away. You’ve ended up seeing us hold a wedding and a funeral at the same time.”
“But neither can be helped.”
She invited Qin Ying to sit on the ground floor of the wooden house, then added, “Make yourself comfortable, but don’t go upstairs.”
“My daughter is on the second floor. According to our customs, she can’t see outsiders before the wedding.”
The thought of her daughter’s happy occasion seemed to make the middle-aged woman smile even more brightly. She told Qin Ying, “Just wait here. Barring any surprises, the people you’re waiting for should be back soon.”
The moment she finished speaking, a deafening peal of thunder erupted outside.
Then the rain came pouring down.