Chapter 209
Chapter 209
That night, Liu Junyan and I talked for a long, long time.
But the more we talked, the more questions arose.
After what happened in Tafeng Village, I’d already realized how difficult it would be to unravel everything about my past life. I’d made up my mind to stop dwelling on it for the time being.
But life rarely went according to plan.
The more I tried to hide, the more trouble came barreling straight toward me.
There was no escaping it.
Of course, deep down, I knew that even if I could hide for a while, I couldn’t hide forever.
Now, aside from Feng Lishu, I also had a so-called fiancé watching me. As long as those two were around, I would never know peace.
The renovations in the backyard went smoothly and were completed a week later.
The dilapidated buildings had been restored, and Liu Junyan and Hui Moqiong had already taken care of the necessary Formation setup.
Even the rat hole Hui Shuchen had dug many years ago was filled in.
So much had happened recently that we were sitting together, taking stock of everything, when my phone vibrated with a message from Tang Tang.
She had sent me a photo.
I opened it without much thought, but the moment I saw what it showed, I sat bolt upright.
The photo had been taken at dusk. Bathed in the fading glow of the sunset, a girl sat on a balcony with a book in her hands, seemingly memorizing something.
But there was something very strange about her posture.
She was seated in a chair, her entire body rigid, yet her neck was bent sharply downward. Her head was almost touching her knees.
The eerie posture instantly reminded me of the Song Family’s boy-girl twins who had been enshrined in a Buddhist altar.
It also reminded me of the villagers of Tafeng Village who had knelt outside Qilin Temple.
The position of her neck was almost identical. The only difference was that this girl was sitting instead of kneeling.
I immediately texted Tang Tang back: Can you video call or talk on the phone right now?
Tang Tang called me at once. The moment I answered, she rattled off, “You saw the photo I just sent, right? Doesn’t it look creepy and familiar?”
Tang Tang had been involved in the Song Family incident from beginning to end. She knew this phenomenon all too well.
I got straight to the point. “Is she one of your classmates? Did you check the back of her neck? Could it just be some kind of spinal condition?”
“Her name is Du Chan. She’s a sophomore at the art college next door,” Tang Tang said. “I saw her like that when I accompanied a classmate there to visit her younger sister. I found an excuse to check the back of Du Chan’s neck, but there was no writing on it. She also straightened up soon afterward and looked perfectly normal, so I didn’t think much of it. I did keep the photo, though.”
My instincts told me it wasn’t that simple. “What happened after that?”
“I decided to play it safe and asked my classmate’s younger sister to keep an eye on Du Chan and tell me immediately if anything unusual happened,” Tang Tang continued. “Last night, she called me and said Du Chan had fallen seriously ill and might have to take a leave of absence from school.
“I went to Du Chan’s home that very night. Her condition was even worse than I’d expected, and I saw her name on the back of her neck.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. The last shred of hope I’d been clinging to died. “Does… her family have a Buddhist altar?”
“No. Du Chan is an only child, and both her parents are university professors. Her family is well-off, so none of the messy situations we’ve encountered before apply to them. They even have a large studio filled with Du Chan’s artwork. It’s just… lately, the style of her paintings has become… strange. Xiao Jiu, I’ll send you the address. You’d better come and see for yourself.”
Tang Tang had always been warmhearted, but after what happened to Tang Xun, everyone in the Tang Family had learned to keep a low profile.
Tang Ao didn’t even appear on antique appraisal shows anymore.
Tang Tang had gotten involved in Du Chan’s case because it was very likely connected to me.
Only by getting to the bottom of it immediately could we avoid being caught off guard later.
I said at once, “All right. I’ll get there as soon as I can.”
Shortly after I hung up, the address came through.
Du Chan was a Jiangcheng native. It would take us about two hours to drive to her home.
Liu Junyan came with me.
Just before we left, something suddenly occurred to me. I stopped in my tracks, pulled out my phone, and checked the calendar. Realization dawned on me at once.
Li Qingying asked, “Xiao Jiu, what’s wrong?”
“It’s Qilin Bestows Children,” I said. “I can’t believe the annual Fertility Prayer Ritual is still being held even after Tafeng Village went through such a massive upheaval!”
Du Chan… had probably been marked for Roll Call.
I turned to Hui Moqiong. “I need you to do me a favor.”
Hui Moqiong replied, “Just say the word, Xiao Jiu’er.”
“Send someone to quietly investigate Tafeng Village and find out which woman claimed the first incense offering at this year’s Fertility Prayer Ritual,” I instructed carefully. “Once you find her, it would be best if you could abduct her without alerting anyone. If that isn’t possible, then find out the name of the child the Qilin Deity bestowed upon her in her dream.”
Hui Moqiong promised to get it done.
Only then did I get into the car and head for Du Chan’s home.
Du Chan’s family was indeed well-off. They lived in a villa, and although night had already fallen, every light in the house was blazing.
Tang Tang had been waiting for us. After Tang Tang greeted the Du Family — Du Chan’s parents — she took us straight to the art studio.
The studio occupied the villa’s basement level. It was a large, quiet space dedicated to artistic work.
All kinds of paintings covered the walls. Several easels stood in one corner, while storage cabinets lined the other side, their shelves packed with art supplies.
Du Chan was kneeling in front of one of the easels.
Her back remained ramrod straight, but her head drooped toward the floor, exposing the pale nape of her neck.
Written there were two words: Du Chan.
An unfinished painting rested on the easel before her.
The instant I made out what it depicted, all the blood in my body seemed to freeze.
The painting was dark, with a massive pit in the background.
A girl lay facedown at the bottom, her face mangled beyond recognition.
Below her right cheek in particular, a chunk of flesh was missing, exposing stark white bone.
Not far away, a golden half-mask stained with blood lay half-buried in the dirt.
Countless Little Ghosts clung to the girl’s back.
Every single one had writing on the nape of its neck.
They bared their teeth as they tore flesh from the girl’s body, their eyes scarlet with hatred, as if they wanted nothing more than to devour her alive…
The painting depicted the scene I had dreamed of when I fell unconscious.
That dream had been so dark and oppressive that I hadn’t been able to see anything clearly.
But now, Du Chan had re-created it stroke by painstaking stroke with her masterful technique.
It was so clear and lifelike that it seemed to strike straight at my soul.
I studied the painting from the perspective of an onlooker, my entire body trembling uncontrollably.
Just then, Hui Moqiong contacted me with the results of his investigation.
He said, “Xiao Jiu’er, we found the pregnant woman who received a dream from the Qilin Deity. But her child isn’t named Du Chan. It’s a boy named Jiang Bin…”
“Jiang?” My grip on the phone nearly slipped. “If I’m remembering correctly, my family is the only one in all of Tafeng Village with the surname Jiang. So this pregnant woman is…”
Hui Moqiong said, “That’s right. She’s your mother…”