The funeral procession walked out of the village gate for about two hundred meters, and the young man at the back of the procession stopped.
"You can't follow us anymore," he turned back to Meng Lan and said, "That's our ancestral grave. Outsiders are not allowed to enter, please understand."
Meng Lan nodded politely, "I'm really sorry."
Seeing that Meng Lan showed no intention of digging deeper, the young man sighed and said, "How did you end up here? This is not a place for you to visit. If you're done, leave Changshou Village today."
Meng Lan frowned and asked, "We came here to enjoy the scenery. Can you tell me why it's called Changshou Village?"
"Because people live long lives here," the young man said, with a hint of mockery rather than pride.
Meng Lan had seen the deceased's photo, who should be under thirty, which seemed contradictory to the name of Changshou Village. She wanted to inquire further, but the young man noticed her doubts and explained, "He's my neighbor's cousin. He had his seventh-day mourning yesterday and is being buried today. He committed suicide last week, otherwise, he could have lived to a ripe old age."
"Suicide?" The young man smiled, without the sorrow of just losing someone, nor a hint of fear. The corners of his mouth lifted as his brown eyes assessed Meng Lan's face, "Yes."
"Oh..." Meng Lan pondered.
The young man chuckled sarcastically, "I advise you to leave. There were reckless tourists before who came here seeking inspiration for horror movies, but they ended up either dead or insane. Changshou Village is not a place for you outsiders to come. If I could leave the village, I would have gone to work in the city long ago. Let me tell you the truth, my neighbor's cousin drowned himself. Not in the village pond, but in a basin. He buried his head in the water without struggling, and drowned himself. Holding his own head underwater, that scene was terrifying!"
"At first, his family didn't believe it. They called the police, who found that he had indeed drowned, with water in his lungs. But at the time, only he and his mother were at home. His mother sensed something was wrong, pushed open the door, and found him dead. She didn't even hear him call for help. Although it's a bit eerie, that's the truth," the young man continued.
Meng Lan contemplated.
Suicide.
Although similar to Zhang Jinlong's death.
But suicide didn't sound like there was a murderer involved!
She inexplicably recalled a sentence: "The queen killed the queen."
—That sentence shouldn't keep looping!
Hearing the conversation between the two, Zhang Yizhi interrupted, "So how many cases have there been?"
"The tenth case," the young man said, "Several people have died in the village, and the village chief said it's a curse, that the village is cursed. I think it's because the gods don't like mortals living long lives, so a curse has appeared as retribution."
"Hey! Keep up!" The funeral procession noticed someone falling behind, waving their arms and calling out, and the young man stopped talking, turned, and left.
Within a short period, ten people died in Changshou Village, and the murderer has not been found yet. The manner of death varied: some drowned in washbasins, some burned themselves in stoves, some hung themselves in wardrobes, and some even broke their own necks. Each case appeared to be suicide, with no signs of struggle or a murderer at the scene.
But Meng Lan and Zhang Yizhi both knew, just like Zhang Jinlong's death.
There's something supernatural at play.
Is the ghost who kills the murderer?
Meng Lan stood still, watching the procession leave. When she turned to look at the others, her eyes met Zhang Che's, but the man averted his gaze the next second, as if avoiding her.
Hearing the conversation, He Wanwan was already trembling with fear, and after a while, she asked, "Should we look for clues together? Finding the murderer will let us survive, right?"
She felt it was strange for Meng Lan to walk alone at the forefront, feeling a sense of being isolated by everyone. She had experienced this helplessness before, so she didn't hesitate to extend an olive branch in such a situation.
Zhang Yizhi also approached, "I'll join you."
He and He Wanwan were both students of the Media College. Although they weren't familiar with each other, in such a perilous situation, any connection felt like family.
He Wanwan obediently nodded, then turned back to invite Qi Huan and Zhang Che.
Qi Huan coldly refused, "It's faster to split up."
"Okay, then we'll meet at noon."
The six split into two groups, quickly searching the strange village, preparing to find out from the families of the victims who were involved in the suicide incidents. Zhang Yizhi stopped an old man carrying a hoe and briefly explained the recent suicides they had heard about, "Grandpa, we'd like to interview the families of the deceased."
"The families?"
"Yes, we want to ask about the situation."
"Where are there any family members left? All the family members are dead! Little Wu's mother, she hung herself three days ago. And Er Gouzi's father, he followed his son half a month ago." The old man impatiently said while leaning on his hoe.
"What? How could this happen?"
"How could it not happen! The village chief said that those who committed suicide all had depression, and depression is contagious. When the children die, the parents who have no hope also go with them!" The old man thought for a moment, then slapped his forehead, "I remember now, there's still someone alive in that family! His family is in a pitiful state, his brother suffocated himself with soil! It's in the eastern part of the village, in the red-colored small building! You can go ask him!"
"Thank you, we'll go ask."
As the old man said, half of the village households were draped in white cloth, with yellow and white dried chrysanthemum petals scattered in various corners of the earthen walls. People had been dying in the village for a month now, and an atmosphere of fear and unease permeated the air.
Every household's door was tightly closed.
Inside the glass windows, villagers who didn't participate in the funeral stood like statues, watching the guests searching around.
Meng Lan looked up, facing them. Even though there was a reflection in the glass, she could still sense the villagers' panic.
Every household was mourning.
"They seem to be watching us. I noticed it since last night," He Wanwan whispered, "Yesterday, I felt like someone was there, and today this feeling is getting stronger!"
"What?" Zhang Yizhi asked, "You didn't see the murderer, did you?"
"I don't know. Yesterday when I was taking a bath, I wanted to open the curtains to breathe some fresh air. Then I saw someone standing below our window!" He Wanwan tried to keep her voice down, but couldn't control her volume.
Zhang Yizhi frowned, "Why didn't you say anything yesterday?"
"I really didn't mean to hide it. I was too scared yesterday and forgot to mention it. At first, I thought it was an illusion!" He Wanwan defended herself, "When that person noticed me looking at him, he suddenly looked up and pointed at me! Then he started pacing back and forth in front of the room we live in! I saw it clearly, he was counting while pointing! He wasn't tall or fat, he looked like a child, no, more like a skinny monkey!"
"What color clothes was he wearing?" Meng Lan asked.
"It was too dark, I'm not sure! It seemed red, but also looked brown!" Realizing something, He Wanwan's face was full of shock, Could it be that person sneaked in and killed Zhang Jinlong while he was taking a bath! That small building is just too unsafe!
He Wanwan couldn't help but hug Meng Lan's arm, and continued to try to remember, "He should be a child, probably around ten or so. I couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl."
"We'll find him!" Zhang Yizhi encouraged everyone, "If he's the culprit, we can leave this mission soon!"
"Yeah!"
The standard of living in the village was quite good, with many two or three-story buildings, and some households even had dreamcatchers hanging at the door, with blue and purple feathers floating in the air, and the bells below jingling.
"They even have dreamcatchers here. My god, it's like the ones in 'Heirs'!" He Wanwan exclaimed, "I didn't expect people in this village to watch Korean dramas."
"What's 'Heirs'?"
"Maybe they got them for five yuan each at the wholesale market."
"It's something you young people like."
"No, these cost at least sixty or seventy yuan! I have one hanging in my dorm room too!" He Wanwan retorted. She was a die-hard fan of Korean dramas and couldn't possibly mistake even the props.
Meng Lan didn't watch Korean dramas and took a while to catch up.
The dreamcatcher swayed with the airflow, and the feathers at the bottom had already faded to yellow. Half of the leather on the outer circle of the peripheral branches had fallen off, indicating that the owner of this house didn't take good care of it.
"What did you notice?" He Wanwan asked.
"About a third of the village households have recently lost someone, isn't that strange?" Zhang Yizhi answered.
"Hey, I'm talking about other clues. Meng Lan, what about you?"
"Shh." She pointed to a stainless steel iron gate ahead, where there was a small glass window that happened to reflect her face.
He Wanwan looked at the glass and suddenly caught sight of a shadow!
What was that?
She looked closer.
A child was staring at them!
The malicious gaze focused on He Wanwan, sending chills down her spine.
The child was wearing a bright red short-sleeved shirt, with a satisfied smile on his lips.
"He's the one!" He Wanwan exclaimed.
Before her words had even settled, Zhang Yizhi immediately turned around and chased after him. He had been the three-time champion of the school sports meeting in high school! At this moment, he just wanted to catch the child and complete the mission! He was tired of the fear hidden beneath the calm from last night!
"Hey, wait!" He Wanwan saw Zhang Yizhi rushing off in a heated state and quickly lifted her skirt to chase after him!
Leaving Meng Lan standing still.
Li Xiaoying watched the two of them leave. "They're all gone."
Her soft voice reached Meng Lan's ears, and she suddenly felt her breath catch, her pitch-black eyes staring fixedly at Li Xiaoying.
There was a bone-chilling light in the woman's pupils as she spoke slowly, "People committed suicide, how could there be a murderer?"
Meng Lan frowned slightly, her pupils suddenly shrinking. Without waiting for Li Xiaoying to finish speaking, she turned and ran!
Something was wrong, very wrong!
Li Xiaoying was suspicious!
That was definitely not a gaze a normal person could have!
It was like a light-absorbing black gate.
Her survival instinct drove Meng Lan to run desperately.
He Wanwan and Zhang Yizhi didn't catch up with the hairy child at all. As soon as they turned a corner, they lost sight of him, not even a shadow was visible. He Wanwan sighed and saw Meng Lan running towards them.
He Wanwan hurriedly went to meet her. "What's wrong? We lost him, but you don't need to run so urgently!"
Meng Lan panted, "Li Xiaoying, Li Xiaoying is suspicious!"
She looked back, but there was only a trail of dust left on the yellow earth after the running, where was Li Xiaoying with her eerie smile?
Nowhere to be seen.
"What's wrong with you, Meng Lan! What nonsense are you talking about!" He Wanwan asked in astonishment, patting Meng Lan's back, "Are you too nervous? Xiaoying isn't here!"
"What?" Meng Lan frowned. Li Xiaoying had been silently following her on her left side since they entered the village. Although the two hadn't spoken much, she was sure the person beside her was Li Xiaoying!
Zhang Yizhi realized what had happened and quickly came over to confirm, "Li Xiaoying is indeed not here, she went back to her room as soon as we entered the village."
"Are you saying, she wasn't there when we were looking at the dreamcatcher just now?"
"Yes! Meng Lan, you weren't with Li Xiaoying the whole time, were you?" He Wanwan realized what Meng Lan had encountered and her lips trembled, "It has always been the three of us, always!"
Meng Lan lowered her gaze and didn't say anything more. So, ghosts could take on the appearance of any one of them?
Or was it creating illusions?
She rubbed her eyes, feeling somewhat awful.