Chapter 150: The Hanged Newcomer
The bride’s words made everyone’s faces change slightly.
There weren’t many people at their table: him and Ye Zhen, Fang Shiming, plus the woman and Fang Shiming’s cheap relative, two people, adding up to just six in total.
What that middle-aged man who led the way said before was right; the bride had very few friends who came.
Several people’s faces changed uncertainly.
But the bride clearly didn’t care about their changes in expression.
She hadn’t even drunk any alcohol, just smiled, turned around, and left.
She directly left them hanging there.
Several people watched the departing bride.
The groom, mingling among the guests, noticed this scene.
He frowned slightly, apologized to the guests, and then quickly walked over.
After understanding what had happened, the groom showed an apologetic expression to the group:
“Sorry, she’s usually not like this; she might be too excited today.”
The groom was about twenty-five or twenty-six, very young.
His speech and manners had a scholarly air; he didn’t seem like someone who had entered society, more like a teacher.
Perhaps he really was a teacher.
“It’s fine.”
Fang Yuanshan smiled and waved his hand. “We’re all Jiahui’s friends and know her character well.”
Hearing this, the groom breathed a sigh of relief. “Sorry for the poor hospitality; we’re really busy. Everyone, don’t stand on ceremony—eat as if you’re at your own home.”
“Stay and eat dinner tonight before leaving. Our weddings here are at noon, not evening; it might be a bit different from the city.”
“There’s a card game tonight. If you’re interested, you can join. Small bets for fun, to relax.”
“Sure, sure.”
Fang Yuanshan smiled and nodded.
The groom chatted a few words and soon left. From his hurried appearance, he was probably going to find the bride.
After this incident, no one felt like chatting anymore.
Lin Qian and the other two finished eating quickly.
“The bride must know something.”
The banquet was still going on, but staying there felt meaningless to them.
Thinking of going out for a walk to see if they could discover something different.
Up to now, they hadn’t detected the real abnormality here.
“No need to guess; that one sentence makes it clear.”
Lin Qian looked at a small bridge ahead; it was a very old bridge.
Continuing the previous custom.
Usually, something was hanging under the old bridge.
Normally, it was swords hanging there.
But on this bridge, what was hanging was a mirror.
A mirror covered by black cloth.
Ye Zhen stroked his chin. Under the small bridge, the stream flowed gurglingly.
The three walked onto the small bridge. Under the sunlight, their shadows were cast on the water surface.
“Lin Qian, how much longer do we need to wait to see the abnormality?”
Fang Shiming asked.
“Not sure, but it should be soon.”
Lin Qian looked ahead.
The three all knew what was up with the mirror under the bridge; it was very likely related to supernatural matters.
But they didn’t go messing with it.
In a place like this, better not to court death if there’s no need.
“Honestly, this is the first time we’ve encountered this kind of supernatural event.”
The supernatural events they’d encountered usually developed extremely quickly.
Facing a fierce ghost head-on right away was the basic operation.
Not like now, staying here for so long with nothing happening, though there were many oddities.
But none posed immediate danger.
“The safer it seems ahead, the more dangerous it gets later,” Lin Qian said.
“Dangerous?”
“Ye is quite fond of that.”
Ye Zhen glanced sideways at the water surface under the bridge.
The three walked past the small bridge, but under the bridge, four shadows appeared.
At this time, in a small pond.
Fang Yuanshan wiped the water stains from his face.
A girl emerged from the water, tilted her head, and spat a mouthful of white phlegm toward the shore.
“Yuanshan bro~!”
The girl looked at Fang Yuanshan with affectionate eyes.
Fang Yuanshan ruffled the girl’s hair. “Go back; that suite is yours.”
“Really?”
The girl’s eyes lit up instantly.
“When have I ever gone back on my word?”
Fang Yuanshan showed a smile.
“Yuanshan bro, you’re the best!”
Having gotten the assurance, the girl immediately hugged Fang Yuanshan.
In the hot summer, a cool water bath could effectively reduce the heat.
The two lingered in the pond for quite a while before leaving.
Just as they were about to leave.
The pond suddenly churned violently.
The pond surged like boiling water.
At the same time, faintly visible, a blood-colored hand stretched out from the pond.
The eerie scene sent chills down the spine.
The girl felt something behind her and turned to look at the pond.
But the pond had instantly calmed, with no abnormality.
“What’s wrong?”
Fang Yuanshan stopped and turned back to look at the girl.
The girl wasn’t sure. “Just now, it seemed like something was in the pond.”
“Hm?”
“Nothing there.”
Looking at the calm pond, there was nothing.
“Probably a fish.”
“Let’s go.”
The girl thought about it; maybe she was overthinking.
The two left quickly.
But neither noticed.
A faint handprint appeared on their ankles.
Lin Qian and the others wandered around the village but found nothing.
When they returned, they immediately noticed something was off.
“Where did you all go?”
That woman spoke up and asked.
She was called Liu Zaiqing.
“What happened? Did something occur?”
Seeing her grave expression, all three knew something had gone wrong.
Liu Zaiqing was silent for a moment, hesitating to speak, but eventually didn’t say it directly and just pointed behind her.
There, the hall where the wedding was held.
At the moment, the hall entrance was crowded with people.
The crowd was noisy and chaotic.
Vaguely, they could hear talk of someone dead.
Lin Qian and the other two exchanged glances and quickly walked over.
Liu Zaiqing swallowed and, after thinking, followed them.
Although she had already seen that scene and didn’t want to see it again.
But leaving her alone terrified her.
There were many people, but she instinctively felt those villagers weren’t good people.
As for that Fang Yuanshan, whose uncle was Fang Shiming…
She remained skeptical about such claims that could be made out of thin air.
Lin Qian and the other two easily pushed through the crowd to the front.
Outside the hall, the two old men who had been seated high at the wedding were now wailing there.
Someone beside them was comforting them.
Passing them by, they looked into the hall.
The three’s pupils contracted instantly.
Bloody, extremely bloody.
Under the hall’s beam, two corpses were hanging there.
One corpse was dressed in a wedding dress, head covered with a red veil, feet in embroidered shoes.
The other corpse was in wedding attire, with a red flower pinned to the chest.
Blood dripped down from the toes.
Looking closely, something even more terrifying than hanging corpses appeared.
These two corpses had been skinned!
They had been stripped of their human skin and then hung in the hall.
And the identities of these two corpses went without saying: today’s newlyweds.
“When did this happen?”
Lin Qian looked at Liu Zaiqing.
Joking aside, how long had they been out?
At most not even three hours, and it was not yet four in the afternoon.
There was still an hour until dinner.
In this time, with all these people playing cards, no one noticed?
“Not sure; no one noticed. By the time it was discovered, it was already like this.”
Liu Zaiqing said with fear in her eyes.
This matter was obviously abnormal.
Not to mention how conspicuous the hall’s location was.
With so many people playing cards.
The two were silently hung up and skinned.
And yet no one discovered it—this was clearly impossible.
She knew there was another side to this world.
Though she didn’t know much, she was aware of part of it.
“This is really eerie; no one noticed.”
Ye Zhen’s eyes flickered slightly. “I didn’t detect any abnormality.”
“Little Fang, what about you?”
Fang Shiming shook his head. “Same.”
“Who can help? Let’s get them down first—what is this, hanging like this?”
Someone shouted anxiously.
At these words, the crowd instantly fell silent.
Many stepped back a few paces.
Clearly, no one was willing.
That bloody, dripping appearance was utterly chilling.
Even for normal hanging corpses, they wouldn’t dare touch them, let alone this.
And it was still dripping blood.
Seeing no one helping, the speaker knelt down with a thud.
Then began kowtowing.
Without hesitation, thudding loudly.
“Who is that person?”
Lin Qian asked.
“The groom’s second uncle,” Liu Zaiqing said.
Poor man.
Finally, someone couldn’t hold back.
An old man smoking dried tobacco stepped forward. “Some able-bodied men step up—what’s this cowering?”
“Old Li’s family hasn’t mistreated us.”
“Come on, let’s do it—I’ll take the lead!”
The old man walked out of the crowd and spoke loudly with full vigor.
Hearing this, the crowd grew noisy.
Then, several men stepped out from the crowd.
“We’ll do it.”
The old man nodded at the men. “Real men!”
With that, he strode toward the hall.
The men rolled up their sleeves and followed.
Soon, under the old man’s direction, the pair of “newlyweds” was carefully taken down.
During this, the groom’s second uncle kept thanking them profusely.
And bowing repeatedly in gratitude.
The newlyweds were laid down temporarily on a wooden board, right in the middle of the hall.
Then covered with a white cloth.
“Li Family Second Uncle, what do we do now?”
“Call the police first.”
The groom’s second uncle didn’t know what to do at the moment and could only call the police.
“No other choice.”
The old man nodded, and soon someone went to call the police and wait at the village entrance.
The crowd didn’t disperse and stayed there.
Lin Qian and the other two quietly slipped out of the crowd.
“Change is coming.”
Fang Shiming said.
Ye Zhen: “You know again?”
Fang Shiming pretended not to hear. “I just scanned the area; didn’t find the two’s skins.”
Lin Qian nodded. “Me neither.”
“The ghost has started killing; this means the ghost has revived.”
“Can’t find it unless we wait for the ghost to kill,” Fang Shiming said.
“Too much trouble. How about we just stack supernatural and bulldoze this place?” Ye Zhen suggested.
Honestly, too much hassle—finding the ghost?
What ghost?
With the three of them here.
Lin Qian and Fang Shiming’s stacked supernatural attack on him, and he substitute deaths right inside the village.
Whatever ghosts would all come out, and it’d be handled clean.
Lin Qian glanced at Ye Zhen.
Ye Zhen looked at Lin Qian, meeting his gaze.
After a long moment, Ye Zhen compromised. “Pretend Ye didn’t say anything.”
Damn it; if not for needing a favor, Ye would never compromise!
“There are probably more than one ghost here.”
“I guess that old antique is already dead, probably just died not long ago.”
The fierce ghost started killing.
And it was after they arrived.
Nothing like this happened before.
This meant the old antique had likely died, and not long ago.
Because once the old antique dies, the supernatural starts getting out of control.
Unless the old antique wanted to stir things up.
The specifics were still unclear.
“Let’s watch first.”
The three weren’t too anxious.
But soon, some bad news came.
The road into the village had a landslide; police can’t get through. They’re clearing it now; it’ll take about a day.
Hearing this, the crowd exploded.
If police can’t come, what to do?
“The police comrades said to preserve the victims’ corpses first and plan when they arrive.”
Li Family Second Uncle fell silent for a long time upon hearing this; seemed like no other way.
“Thanks everyone for this!”
“No need; we’re all fellow villagers.”
The old man waved it off, then turned to the crowd. “Everyone go back. Those who want to help can stay, but not too many.”
Hearing this, the crowd was chaotic for a bit, then quickly dispersed.
Some really stayed to help.
After all, with this happening, fellow villagers not helping wouldn’t look right.
“Um, Jiahui’s classmates, right? You saw… our side…”
Li Family Second Uncle walked over, face full of grief.
“It’s okay; we understand.”
“Our condolences.”
Liu Zaiqing comforted.
No one wanted this to happen.
“If you’re not afraid, you can still stay with us. Of course, if you are, I’ll find you a place,” Li Family Second Uncle said.
Now that the groom was dead, he was in charge.
Big Brother and sister-in-law died early; finally their son made something of himself and was getting a wife, but then…
Sigh…
“This…” Liu Zaiqing hesitated and looked at Lin Qian and the others.
Deep down, she didn’t want to stay here; someone had just died, and the corpses were still there.
Let alone dying in such an eerie way.
“We’ll keep staying here.”
Lin Qian said.
Liu Zaiqing looked at Lin Qian in astonishment.
Seeing the other two had no objections, she was even more surprised.
They really weren’t afraid?
“I’ll pass.”
“Trouble Li Second Uncle to find me a place.”
Liu Zaiqing wasn’t bold, especially knowing some things; she steered clear of such eerie matters.
Li Family Second Uncle showed no emotion, just nodded.
It was only human; perfectly normal.
No one’s fault.
He gratefully glanced at Lin Qian and the others; they had no intention of troubling him.
Though it wasn’t really trouble.
“I’ll go ask for you.”
Soon, Li Family Second Uncle arranged it.
He found a helping man whose family had an empty room, his daughter’s.
The daughter was away at school, not back yet; perfect for Liu Zaiqing.
That man was an honest farmer, the reliable type.
The man first took Liu Zaiqing to his home.
Lin Qian and the others paid no attention, just watching the two corpses nearby.
The change was perhaps about to happen.
