"Master Jiang, may I learn this skill?" Zhou Chongyang asked after his initial surprise.

Such skill is practically the kind of ability he used to cheat as a police officer.

If you were to go undercover, you could change your face in an instant, leaving the suspect completely bewildered. They might even have to ask him if anyone had ever seen him before.

Jiang Si said, "Of course."

“However,” she changed the subject, “this requires powerful magic as a foundation, young man, the road ahead is long.”

It seems simple, but changing the direction of the human skeleton and skin color is not easy. Without certain techniques as a foundation, it is simply impossible.

Zhou Chongyang was full of ambition: "I will definitely work hard."

He's willing to endure any hardship to fight crime.

"Okay, good luck," Xie Wuyi said.

The tricycle they rented has arrived.

We also hired a driver to carry the supplies onto the truck.

And so, the three of them rode in one car, while the supplies were placed in the other cars, and headed towards Hehua Village in a rather modest manner.

Hehua Village is located in a remote area, accessible only by one road.

If you encounter two cars, one in front and one behind, on this road, you have to reverse to see if there's any room for them to pass.

When they set off, the sun was already high in the sky.

On the mountain road, the unique, crisp air of the forest wafted over.

Zhou Chongyang took a deep breath, putting aside the pressure of the case, and found it quite comfortable to be in this secluded spot in the woods.

He was about to say something when he saw Jiang Si and Xie Wuyi looking ahead with somewhat serious expressions, their brows furrowing more as they went further.

Zhou Chongyang was puzzled.

Is the situation serious?

But Jiang Si can even deal with ghosts, so a mere undead shouldn't be a problem, right? Could it be that some tricky problem has arisen?

Thinking of his basketball buddy, Brother Liu, still inside, he couldn't help but worry and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

Come to think of it, it seems like he hasn't been in touch with Brother Liu for quite a while.

I just called him to talk about this, but the call wouldn't go through.

He felt uneasy.

Seemingly understanding what Zhou Chongyang was thinking, Jiang Si said ambiguously, "I hope everything is alright."

They didn't notice anything unusual when they were at the foot of the mountain, but as they got closer, they found that the place was unusually deathly.

Normally, even if this village is too isolated to practice cremation, the sheer size of the village and the death of all its inhabitants wouldn't be as overwhelming as this deathly atmosphere.

“Even during times of war, it wasn’t like this,” Xie Wuyi said.

Unlike Jiang Si, he got to where he is today step by step, having experienced everything and witnessed all kinds of wars, big and small.

"What war?" Zhou Chongyang asked, which made him even more worried.

Jiang Si, a master of talisman drawing, took out another talisman from her Qiankun bag. "Keep it close to your body," Jiang Si said.

Zhou Chongyang obediently put it into the inner pocket of the thermal underwear.

As they entered the village, Jiang Si told the drivers, "You don't need to trouble yourselves to go in; you can go back now."

When she spoke, Jiang Si stared into their eyes.

The clear eyes of those people gradually turned blank, and they said in a daze, "Okay."

They mechanically unloaded the goods, then drove their tricycle back home with a chugging sound.

Zhou Chongyang asked, "They've left, so how do we get back?"

"Never mind, we might have to spend the night here," Xie Wuyi said casually, looking at the stone tablet at the village entrance with the words "Hehua Village" written on it.

This stone tablet looks very old; every part of it tells a story of the erosion of time.

They walked in.

The village was very quiet, so quiet it was unsettling.

On the other side of the village is a cliff, and the only road in the village runs along the edge of the cliff. The villagers' houses are built on the other side of the mountain.

Most of them are low-rise houses; it's hard to imagine that in modern society, you can't even see a single high-rise building.

Normally, no matter how lazy a rural area is, it will still raise some livestock such as pigs, dogs, cattle, and sheep, and there will always be some complaints.

Besides, when strangers come, the dog will at least bark a couple of times.

Most importantly, since it's noon, even the laziest person has to eat, right?

"Why is it so quiet here?" Zhou Chongyang's heart was pounding. "The village committee is just ahead, let's go take a look."

Zhou Chongyang, worried about Brother Liu, quickly walked over.

The village committee was not far away; they arrived in about two minutes.

The village committee's storefront looks alright; at least it's a two-story building, although the exterior walls are mottled and look like a dilapidated structure.

The village committee gate was open.

Zhou Chongyang raised his voice, "Brother Liu, are you there?"

"The institute sent me to bring warmth, Brother Liu, Brother Liu!" Zhou Chongyang shouted louder and louder as he walked inside.

Just as he was about to go inside, Brother Liu finally came out.

He grinned broadly. "What brings you here? Something's been going on at the institute lately?"

Seeing that the person was alright, Zhou Chongyang felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders.

Several middle-aged men who looked to be in their forties or fifties walked out one after another. They were thin and had cloudy eyes, as if they had some serious illness.

Zhou Chongyang felt a little strange, but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

Brother Liu then looked at Jiang Si and Xie Wuyi, "And who are these two?"

“Oh, they were transferred from the town below,” Zhou Chongyang said. “You can just call them Xiao Jiang and Xiao Xie.”

Brother Liu walked up to them and said, "Indeed, the younger generation is formidable."

"You didn't suffer too much this time, did you?"

Jiang Si and Xie Wuyi both smiled.

"fine."

"fine."

Brother Liu then said to Zhou Chongyang, "Why didn't you tell me that the institute was sending people over? I have to treat you well."

"Perfect timing! The village just caught some wild game on the mountain. We'll treat you to a good meal today."

“Oh, I forgot to introduce them to you,” Brother Liu said again, “These are village officials, you can just call them uncles.”

"Hello, Uncles," Zhou Chongyang called out.

Whether it was his imagination or not, Zhou Chongyang felt that the village had become lively.

The sounds of chickens and dogs could finally be heard from one another.

Zhou Chongyang felt an even stronger sense of unease.

The village committee has a kitchen, and they temporarily hired a local woman to cook, and also asked some villagers to help move supplies.

When these people heard that supplies were being delivered, they all grinned.

His smile was clearly innocent and kind, yet it sent a chill down your spine for no apparent reason.

The village is filled with an eerie atmosphere.

Looking at Brother Liu, Zhou Chongyang's doubts deepened. Was this really his Brother Liu?

Brother Liu is a rather taciturn person, not very talkative, but just now he acted like a very shrewd and sophisticated person.

Can a short period of time spent in a village change a person so much?

Jiang Si and Xie Wuyi dutifully played the role of quiet followers, looking around nervously, as if they had never seen the world before.

Both of them felt their hearts sink to the bottom.

Those so-called village officials seem to be living corpses.