Chapter 302: Not Dead?
Fang Mu incredulously walked closer to the posthumous portrait. When he saw the name “Wang Huilin” written on the spirit tablet in the shrine, he had to believe that this person was the nanny he had hired into his home during his second life.
“Died in 2000…” The wrinkles between Fang Mu’s eyebrows gradually gathered and deepened. “If it was 2000, An Qin also came here around that time. So is it possible that An Qin met Sister Wang here? Did An Qin know before coming here that Sister Wang was also here? Were both Sister Wang’s and An Qin’s deaths due to anomaly factors?”
Full of doubts, Fang Mu saw a black urn placed in front of the posthumous portrait in the shrine. If it were an ordinary urn, that would be fine, but a wooden box with very similar style, material, and even craftsmanship Fang Mu had already seen at the old village chief in Wenyatun—that was the black paulownia wood box required to be brought into the Nong Mountain cave, which contained the spacetime deity’s abandoned divine artifact nail hammer.
The black paulownia wood box can be used to temporarily seal the nail hammer; it is actually a prop for sealing.
At this, Fang Mu could not afford to think too much. Suppressing his own moral guilt, he still forcibly opened the urn, wanting to see what was inside.
After the urn was opened, there was actually no item inside that made Fang Mu feel sin. There was only a piece of black rune stone.
Fang Mu picked up the rune stone and looked at the circular groove on the rune stone. Suddenly, inspiration struck him. He took out that half piece of black jade and placed it on the groove, shocked to discover that the groove matched the size of the black jade perfectly.
This was absolutely not a coincidence. A special shape like a circle would not overlap even if the diameter was a few millimeters larger.
“Sister Wang found the rune stone, An Qin found half a piece of black jade… Their deaths may be related to the clues they were searching for. Their deaths were not accidents. An Qin very likely did meet Sister Wang, learned the whereabouts of the rune stone from Sister Wang, and also found the characteristics and location of the anomaly she needed to find.” Fang Mu speculated that this was indeed a huge possibility.
While pondering, Fang Mu suddenly came back to his senses. Only then did he realize that the surrounding environment was terrifyingly quiet, immediately scaring him into breaking out in a cold sweat.
The innkeeper’s snoring was gone, and at the same time, a low breathing sound rose behind him.
Fang Mu stiffly turned his head back. He did not probe the full appearance of the thing behind him, but he could roughly tell from its blurry outline that it was the innkeeper he had talked to during the day.
“Sigh, how can a guest do something like theft, and even rummage through my grandmother’s mourning articles? This is truly rude.” The innkeeper’s voice was not as frivolous and casual as during the day; instead, it seemed abnormally cold.
Fang Mu slowly turned his head back and saw the other standing in the backlight of the dim yellow light, looking at him with a sinister expression, holding a sharp gardening shear in his hand, gripping the handle of the shears with both hands, looking extremely ferocious.
“I’m very sorry for my behavior, but I do not expect forgiveness.” Fang Mu showed no excessive emotional changes, merely calmly picking up Sister Wang’s posthumous portrait.
The innkeeper saw Fang Mu’s action in his eyes, his facial expression becoming even darker, and he said in a deep voice: “Put down my grandmother’s photograph!”
“As I said just now, I do not expect forgiveness.” Fang Mu said calmly. He picked up the black rune stone taken from the urn. “This thing is very important to me. If you know what it is, I would be very grateful.”
Seeing the black rune stone held high in Fang Mu’s hand, the innkeeper’s entire demeanor underwent an earth-shattering change. The killing intent and aggressive momentum instantly vanished due to the appearance of the black rune stone. He first looked stunned, as if he had seen this thing before, but the fear emotion on his face could not escape Fang Mu’s sharp visual ability.
The innkeeper put down the weapon in his hand and showed a stiff fawning smile: “If you need it, just take it away.”
“What are you afraid of?” Fang Mu asked the other very directly. This small rune stone indeed had a big problem.
The innkeeper’s face darkened again, and he said as if being stubborn: “How could I be afraid of a small rune stone.”
“Of course you’re afraid, afraid of following in the footsteps of your grandmother and an aunt, aren’t you?” Fang Mu once again pierced the other’s fragile “pride.”
Hearing this, the innkeeper finally fell silent, and only after a long while did he speak: “I don’t know what this rune stone is, but as far as I know, everyone who has touched the rune stone has died—first my grandmother, then my parents, even relatives and friends around me.
Grandmother died from a bizarre serious illness. She said every day that she was enduring bizarre and dangerous toxin attacks, but no matter how the hospital used advanced instruments to investigate the cause for her, they still could not solve her problem.
My parents died from an accidental mountaineering fall off a cliff, but a tourist’s camera clearly captured someone pushing the two elders off the cliff. However, the informed person, even the video provider, never dared to reveal their identity from beginning to end.
And my relatives and friends also died one after another two or three at a time after touching the rune stone.”
Fang Mu: “I see, so that’s why you wanted to lock this malicious thing here, right? And that’s why you were so excited when you heard me say I wanted to take it away.”
The innkeeper’s face was dark, saying nothing, gripping the handle of the shears with both hands again, ready to strike at any moment.
Just as the innkeeper was about to launch an attack at any time, Fang Mu showed a pathological smile that made the innkeeper shiver with fear, stopping the dispute: “Don’t be afraid, because I won’t be afraid or excited, and I also do not intend to give them up, even though they may be very dangerous.”
Hearing this, the innkeeper’s facial expression softened slightly, but he did not understand why Fang Mu was willing to bear the risk.
……
The next day, Fang Mu left the inn in Qian Deng City carrying the black plaque inlaid with half a piece of black jade, as well as his suitcase. The innkeeper seemed to have returned to being a normal person again, as if what happened last night had not happened to him. He treated guests as he did yesterday, until when Fang Mu checked out, the other’s whispered reminder “Remember last night’s transaction” finally made Fang Mu certain that everything that happened last night was real.
Before leaving, Fang Mu asked the other: “Your grandmother shouldn’t be a local from Guinan, right? Why did she want to move to this place?”
Hearing this, the innkeeper answered Fang Mu’s question as if mechanically stiff: “Because she wanted to find out the truth of everything. When she discovered her father’s disappearance, her employer’s disappearance from the employment work… all of it pointed to the Toad God, she wanted to find the truth.”
A strange light flashed in Fang Mu’s eyes. Did this also involve Wang Zheng?
In his impression, Fang Mu only heard that Wang Zheng was finally surrounded by the Toad Frog and then torn and bitten. As for what happened afterward, he did not know.
Could it be that Wang Zheng didn’t die?
Write one chapter first, and supplement after waking up in the morning.
