The encounter in the wax corpse pit, while not enough to make our two sides reconcile, did allow us to experience a life-or-death situation together.

Only when I was far away from the village in the willow grove did my tension subside somewhat.

After all that effort, everyone was exhausted and sat down to rest in the woods.

I used the medical kit provided by Wei Shengnan to bandage the monkey's wounds, and then asked Wei Shengnan and the others, "What are your thoughts on what happened today?"

“Ping An Village has strict rules. Tonight’s disappearance of Uncle Seven will definitely raise alarms. Although Uncle Seven’s death has nothing to do with us, once this matter is exposed, no one knows if it will implicate us. So my idea is to suppress this matter for now!”

Song Laosan shared his thoughts: "Seventh Uncle has something he's hiding from Ping'an Village. His disappearance at this time might give the people of Ping'an Village the illusion that he's absconding, buying us some time."

I disagree.

Monkey's words shut Song Laosan down: "The people of Ping'an Village aren't stupid. Even if Seventh Uncle wanted to run away, he couldn't possibly run away alone! If we use this method, what will happen to his wife? If we hide him, Ping'an Village is only so big. If he's found, we're all doomed. We can't just kill someone over this, can we?"

So I think that instead of hiding Uncle Seven, it would be better to hand over his body to Ping An Village! Of course, by handing him over, I don't mean sending him back, but placing him in a place that Ping An Village can find! According to the intelligence we have, all the people who die here in Ping An Village are sent to the village in the willow grove, and only the clan chief and elders are allowed to enter.

In conclusion, can I understand that only the clan chief and his ilk know how to make wax corpses in Ping'an Village? If so, Uncle Qi will probably be sent to the willow grove too. Then we can just ambush them in the village, detain the clan chief and the others, and get everything out of them! I refuse to believe that with so many of us, we can't even catch a few old men!

"I agree with Zhao Qinghou's proposal."

Qu Ruilin was a radical person to begin with, and after hearing what the monkey said, he was the first to agree: "Ping'an Village is full of strange things. We finally found a Seventh Uncle who was willing to cooperate, but he is now dead. We don't know when we will have the chance to find someone else to learn about the situation. Rather than that, we might as well take a big gamble. If we can get information from the clan chief, we can proceed with the next step. If we fail, we can find another way and not waste time!"

Wei Shengnan did not express her own opinion, but instead turned her gaze to Song Laosan: "Third Master, what do you think of this plan?"

After considering it for a moment, Song Laosan nodded: "Our core idea is to find the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace. As long as the goal can be achieved, the process is not important. This method is worth a try."

...

After we all discussed and agreed on a plan, we returned the way we came and found Uncle Seven's body.

Following Song Laosan's advice, we were not going to move Uncle Qi's body, because there were no external injuries when he died. Moving him would easily leave traces, which would arouse suspicion among the people of Fengmen Village.

However, I ultimately rejected his proposal.

I wasn't planning to argue with Monkey, but because Uncle Seven's body was located in the willow grove, if it alerted Ping'an Village and they started investigating the willow grove, our destruction of the wax corpse pit would definitely be exposed, and the whole plan would be affected.

When the group returned to Huai Shu Village and were about to part ways, Wei Shengnan asked me, "Now that Uncle Qi is dead, what do you plan to do with Aunt Qi, whom you've been holding captive?"

I thought for a moment: "When we were in Fengmen Village, Wang Qing taught me how to mix a lot of medicines, including a sedative. I plan to give her the sedative and keep the news of Uncle Qi's death from her to avoid any complications."

Wei Shengnan felt that my plan was somewhat redundant: "This kind of thing can be kept secret tonight, but it can't be kept secret until tomorrow. After Uncle Qi's body is found in Ping'an Village, she will still find out."

“You need to understand, we weren’t the ones who contacted Uncle Qi. It was Aunt Qi who told us that Uncle Qi went out to exchange information with someone. I could have told her that we didn’t find Uncle Qi’s whereabouts after we left the village, so at least we could have kept ourselves out of it.”

I lit a cigarette: "After they find Uncle Qi's body in Ping'an Village, they will definitely ask Aunt Qi for information. But as long as she's not stupid, she will never leak the information. Otherwise, she won't be able to protect her son either. What I'm worried about now is whether the news of Uncle Qi's meeting with you will be leaked?"

“You don’t need to worry about that. We’ve been careful to hide our identities during the transaction. Even Uncle Qi doesn’t know who we are, and his wife certainly doesn’t.”

Wei Shengnan paused for a moment: "Ping'an Village is a strange place. If we have too much contact with them, it might arouse their suspicion and cause unnecessary trouble. But there is no signal here, so we can't contact each other. This is a problem."

When I heard Wei Shengnan say that, I took out a small bottle from my pocket, opened it, and sprinkled it on her: "This thing is also a kind of Gu, called Tianya Hujia. As long as I sprinkle it on you, I can find you. Tomorrow, once the funeral is held in Ping'an Village, we will meet in the woods fifty meters outside the village gate. We will then adapt to the situation. If there is no movement, we will meet at night."

...

After discussing the plan with Wei Shengnan, we went our separate ways. When I saw Aunt Qi, I angrily denounced her for breaking her promise and deceiving us, and even threatened to report them to the clan chief.

My aunt was also frightened by my actions. She swore to me that she was absolutely not lying, and finally promised that when my uncle came back, she would make him come to us to explain things in person. Only then did I give up.

Only after leaving Aunt Qi's residence did Jiang Man ask, "When I saw Monkey come back just now, his palm was wrapped in bandages. Did you really not see Uncle Qi this time you went out?"

"I saw him, but what I saw was his corpse."

I explained, "Seventh Uncle died from witchcraft, and we went into the village in the willow grove to check. We found that it was an ancient tomb in Ping'an Village. Moreover, the people of Ping'an Village used all the corpses of their ancestors as vessels for raising Gu. We don't know their purpose yet, but one thing is certain: this village is definitely not as peaceful as it seems on the surface!"

So we devised a plan: tomorrow, when the clan chief takes Uncle Seven's body to the cemetery, we'll follow them, tie them up, and find out what Ping'an Village is really up to!