Then, she was pushed by a soft force, and she stumbled out of this world. Back then, her brain was blank. When she walked through the door, something awakened within her. She turned back and saw Han Jingnian, who was pierced through the chest by the ghost and strung in the air.
Each mission’s ghost was unique. This ghost would only attack when the preys had their bodies turned. Therefore… of the two of them, only one would be able to reach the door and escape.
The scenery before her shifted and she returned to the camp they had at the foot of the mountain. However, she was alone at the spacious camp. Han Jingnian was dead. Everyone… was dead except her.
Caught in her memory, she wandered about aimlessly. Suddenly, she tripped on something, and it made a sound. She lowered her head and spotted a black brick. The bricks were scattered about her. Some were adhered to their previous structure. There was a wall where she was standing. It collapsed in the fire. Staring at the black brick, a strange feeling rose in Yu Man’s heart. She slowly knelt down and moved the still-warm bricks away. A few wooden plaques were sheltered underneath. She wiped away the ash and saw the gilded words, Qian Jianguo.
“Are these the ceremonial plaques of the Qian Family members?”
Bei Qian darted over. He stared at the thing Yu Man held strangely. Zhou Rong bent over to pick up the other two wooden plaques. They had the names Qian Jianse and Qian Jianxiu. Based on the names, these three should be from the same generation.
Chen Xiaomeng looked around. The fire yesterday night was so strong. It had consumed everything but, somehow, spared the three plaques. This was clearly unreasonable.
“Ah!” The sudden scream interrupted Chen Xiaomeng’s thought. Subconsciously, she lowered her body and reached for her waist. Jiang Cheng’s eyes narrowed. It was Lee Lu who screamed. Her pale fingers pointed at Yu Man, “Miss… Yu… Your hand…”
Blood leaked out between Yu Man’s fingers that held the plaque. She turned it over, and they realised with shock that there was a fresh bloody handprint on the back of the plaque. The blood was still fresh. It dripped occasionally.
“Did these three do something to her?” Lee Lu questioned softly.
“But no matter what they did, they are dead now,” Lee Lu frowned. She stared at the three plaques unnaturally, “Is she unable to forgive them even after death?”
“Or they are involved in something heinous that still has an impact today,” Chen Xiaomeng said casually, “Like covering or obfuscating the truth.”
With limited clues, they knew that they wouldn’t reach any conclusion. Therefore, Bei Qian suggested they carry the plaques with them and figure out what to do next.
“Okay!” Jiang Cheng was the first to agree. Then, he turned to Yu Man, “Hurry and hand them over to Elder Bei. He’s the oldest and know about these things.” Bei Qian’s body shook.
On their way back, they ran into the villagers. The leading village head had a hard-set face like it was his home that was burned.
“Experts!” When he saw the travellers, the village head’s eyes glowed, “We went to the court yard to find you. We didn’t expect you to be here.”
“We saw the Qian Family Ancestral Hall catch on fire last night, so we came to look.” Zhou Rong said calmly, “We might find some clues.”
“What kind of clues can be found here?” The village head asked.
“That is hard to say,” Jiang Cheng walked forward. He extended his neck and whispered, “Do you have any idea regarding the fire last night?”
The village head was innately afraid of Jiang Cheng. For some reason, he felt uncomfortable around him. He eventually said, “What… happened? What did you figure out?”
Jiang Cheng smiled and mentioned a name wordlessly. The village head almost exploded, “Zhao Xiangmei?!”
“That’s right!” Jiang Cheng praised the village head.
The village head almost fainted. Thankfully, the man behind him was quick to support him.
At that moment, Bei Qian took out the three plaques. He interrupted, “Village Head Liu, do you know these people?”
Qian Jianguo, Qian Jianse, Qian Jianxiu…
After a while, the village head’s eyes finally focused. He looked at the plaques, and his voice was weakened. “They are all Village Head Qian’s children. Qian Jianguo and Jianse were the old village head’s son, and Qian Jianxiu was his youngest daughter.”
“Were they killed by Zhao Xiangmei?”
“The brothers were,” The village head gasped for air. Then, he resumed, “Not Qian Jianxiu. She died from smallpox when she was young.”
Zhou Rong thought about it and asked, “How many children did the old village head have?”
“That would be the eldest son, Qian Jianye. He also died.” The village head licked his cracked lips. His eyes dimmed, and he sighed, “He was also killed by Zhao Xiangmei. That generation is all gone.”
No one was interested in their deaths. They were more interested in why the three plaques were purposely left behind when the entire ancestral hall was burned down. Furthermore, the plaque of the eldest son, Qian Jianye, was gone.
The villagers didn’t dawdle for too long. They carried some tools and headed to the ancestral hall to put out the embers just in case it grew into a forest fire.
Before they left, the village head remembered something and told the travellers apologetically, “It was already late when we went back home yesterday night. Therefore, we didn’t arrange for anyone to deliver food to you.” He said in fear, “Experts, please forgive us!”
Lee Lu’s body shook heavily. Then, she rushed to the nearby bush, bent over and started to dry heave.
The villagers looked at her with confusion. She was perfectly fine earlier. Why… Then, they turned to look at the men among the travellers with an interesting gaze.