The second day of pushing hands
Qin Ming pushed open the door to the storeroom. In the dark room, a bright light shone through. Shoes were scattered next to a rickety stool on the floor. Looking up from the two dangling feet, he saw that the man's neck was almost folded in half by a rope, and his eyeballs looked like they were about to pop out, protruding in a frightening way.
Wang Shao pushed his way through the crowd, shouting, "What's going on here! Someone come quick and help me put this down!"
Jiang Chuan Gu stood on a stool and cut the rope, while Qin Ming and several villagers caught Wang Gao below and laid him flat on the ground.
Two people died in two days? Qian Fei began to wonder if there was something wrong with the feng shui of Taoyuan Village. Someone even died on the day of the funeral?
Looking at the lifeless corpse, Lin Chaoying recalled the scene of Wang Gao demanding the Book of Immortality last night. She couldn't understand why someone who wanted to live would commit suicide.
The villagers stood at the door chattering. Kong Yue was afraid that they would bury the body hastily, so she put on gloves and immediately squatted down next to the body to check the wounds on the neck, the condition of the mouth, and whether there were any additional injuries on the limbs. There was no environment at the scene for an autopsy, and no equipment to draw blood for testing. Helplessly, she took out her mobile phone to prepare to keep a few photos.
Unexpectedly, the moment she took out her phone, Wang Shao slapped it away. Before she could react, Kong Yue met his suddenly fierce eyes and took a few steps back in fright. Qin Ming stepped in front of her and tried to smooth things over, saying, "Excuse me, my sister is a doctor and she's used to it. Why don't you call and ask when the police are coming?"
Seeing that the villagers were refusing to call the police, Jiangchuan Gu had no choice but to leave the warehouse and hide at a distance to inquire about the police's location. When he learned that he still couldn't get in today, he angrily said, "Wait, wait, wait! This whole place is going to be wiped out!"
Upon seeing this, Qian Fei instantly flew into a rage, picked up his phone, and shouted, "You wouldn't let me film you talking! You then hit my friend! What do you mean by this?!"
Wang Shao's expression changed, and he explained with a smile, "Our village has many taboos. Taking photos of the dead will cause their souls to be sucked away by the phone, making it impossible for them to be reincarnated."
Lin Chaoying said sarcastically, "Village Chief, you've had so many things on your mind lately, yet your memory is still so good? No wonder everyone respects you."
She emphasized the word "respect." She had long since realized that Wang Shao had no prestige in the village, and even behind his back, the villagers didn't respect him.
Upon hearing this, Wang Shao's expression changed slightly, and his eyelids twitched uncontrollably. He simply said, "This is a matter concerning our village; outsiders simply wouldn't understand."
As they spoke, the group was unwittingly lined up outside the warehouse. Jiang Chuan Gu returned after making the call and asked, "Why are you out?"
Lin Chaoying said, "It seems they're not going to wait for the police to come and make a judgment."
Kong Yue worried, "It feels like they want to dispose of Wang Gao's body quickly; they might bury him tonight."
"At night?" Qian Fei felt the whole village was ignorant and complained, "If conditions allowed, Wang Gao could be in the ground right now, believe it or not!"
"Come here!" Qin Ming squatted down under the warehouse window, took a picture of the ground with his phone, and said, "There are footprints here!"
The footprints were neither too deep nor too shallow, just enough to be noticed by a careful observer. Following the direction of the muddy footprints, the five people wound their way through the alleyways and finally disappeared by the river...
Qian Fei: "They walked into the river? The murderer also committed suicide?"
Lin Chaoying found it strange: "Aren't the footprints a bit too deliberate?"
Qin Ming gazed at the footprints disappearing along the riverbank and asked, "What do you think was the purpose of leaving these footprints?"
Kong Yue pondered, "I don't feel like it was meant to guide us here, but rather left behind for those villagers."
“That’s right.” Lin Chaoying agreed: “With Zhuang Huan’s death, the villagers focused on the Book of Immortality, but what about Wang Gao’s suicide? What did that lead the villagers to pay attention to?”
Jiangchuan Valley turned around following the footprints and saw the river god temple not far away, saying, "It's like trying to make the river god more realistic."
As soon as he finished speaking, a large group of villagers behind him stared at the ground and almost ran to the riverbank, chanting, "The river god has descended!"
"Yes! After punishing Wang Gao, the River God returned to the river!"
"Could it be that Wang Gao has angered the river god?!"
"Wang Gao went to the old village chief's grave last night, wanting to dig it up!"
"Could the Book of Immortality really be in the old village chief's tomb?! That's why the River God is enraged!"
......
When the villagers talked about the river god and the Book of Immortality, their expressions were both greedy and devout. Lin Chaoying realized that everyone in Peach Blossom Village harbored thoughts of plundering and possessing the Book of Immortality, yet their hearts were deeply divided by their reverence and fear of the river god.
Kong Yue understood their conversation and said disdainfully, "So they're assigning locations to the villagers."
In the current situation, Lin Chaoying observed the villagers' expressions, trying to figure out who had started the conversation. She said, "Do you remember who was the first to bring up the story of the footprint river god? This person must be related to Wang Gao's death."
Jiangchuan Valley said in a low voice, "Standing at the back, the man with half a beard, is the one who spoke of the river god's descent."
"It was him?" Lin Chaoying said, "He was standing next to Wang Bo at the funeral just now."
Qian Fei asked, "Who is Wang Bo?"
Lin Chaoying said, "Wang Bo is Wang Shao's younger brother."
Kong Yue: "This man may also be related to Wang Shao."
Qin Ming: "Then I roughly know him. Wang Shao has two cousins, one named Wang Bo and the other named Wang Yu."
Qian Fei asked in surprise, "How did you know?"
Qin Ming: "That day, Kong Yue and I helped carry Zhuang Huan's body back to the village chief's house. We saw a photo of four people and casually asked a villager about it."
Lin Chaoying: "Four?"
Qin Ming: "Yes, the eldest brother, Wang Huai, was Wang Ge's father. He died in the fire."
The group of eccentric villagers didn't linger long; after a few minutes of discussion, they dispersed. Only the five of them remained by the river, so they chose a shady spot with rocks and sat down to discuss Peach Blossom Village and Wang Ge.
Upon entering the village, the scarred man they were investigating suddenly transformed into Wang Ge, the orphaned son of the old village chief. Then, a female corpse fell from the sky on the night of the River God Festival, ostensibly to fulfill a legend of betrayal, but in reality, the villagers' attention was focused on the Book of Immortality. Next, the mentally ill and deranged Wang Ge appeared; after being arrested for digging up graves and imprisoned in a warehouse, he inexplicably committed suicide, and the so-called "footprints of the River God" appeared to confirm the location of the Book of Immortality.
Qin Ming became increasingly puzzled as he spoke, "Could it all have been done by Scarface... no... Wang Ge?"
"Huh?" Qian Fei said, confused, "Is Wang Ge provoking us?"
Jiang Chuan Gu picked up a branch from the side. "Why are we counting two things as one?" He snapped the branch in half, placing the two pieces on the ground. He said, "You've all seen Scarface's methods of killing. What he did to Li Chao makes me more inclined to believe that Zhuang Huan's death was related to him. But would he gently hang Wang Gao and then leave a trail of footprints?"
Kong Yue proposed a new idea: "Is it possible that neither of them was killed by Wang Ge? Or that it was someone else in the village who was after the Book of Immortality?"
Qian Fei was completely exasperated. "All I want to know right now is where Scarface is!"
Lin Chaoying picked up one of the broken wooden sticks Jiang Chuangu had broken off. "Do you all remember that legend we saw on the forum before we even entered the village? After his wife betrayed him, she was drowned in a pig cage by the villagers. After Wang Ge's wife betrayed him, she was hanged in the river. Zhuang Huan also drowned and was thrown at the entrance of the River God Temple. The ways of dying are too similar, so I agree with Jiang Chuangu's opinion. It is very likely that Wang Ge killing Zhuang Huan is related to the death of his wife back then."
She picked up another stick. "But Wang Gao's death seems more like it was done by the villagers. It's possible that Wang Gao had already obtained the Book of Immortality, or it's possible that Wang Gao knew where the Book of Immortality was and was killed to silence him. Wang Shao, who was imprisoned in the warehouse, and Wang Yu, who just deliberately guided public opinion, are very suspicious."
Qin Ming drew two circles on the ground, pointed to the overlapping part in the middle and said, "Actually, as long as we figure out whether Wang Gao's interpersonal relationships are involved with Zhuang Huan and Wang Ge, we can roughly see which party was behind Wang Gao's death."
Qian Fei asked in confusion, "Wasn't the goal of both things the Book of Immortality? How come there are two murderers now?"
Lin Chaoying: "If Zhuang Huan was really killed by Wang Ge, it means that someone took advantage of the situation on the spot. Then... the person who first guided the location of the Book of Immortality is inextricably linked to Wang Gao's death."
Kong Yue smiled and said, "It's back to that person again."
Qian Fei's mouth dropped open, and he instantly understood!
The village chief, Wang Shao, who cried the loudest while holding his daughter, was the most emotionally distraught, and gave the most dedicated performance...
Qin Ming divided the five people into two teams. He and Kong Yue returned to the village chief's house, while Lin Chaoying, Qian Fei, and Jiang Chuangu went to Wang Gao's house. After finding out where Wang Gao's house was, Lin Chaoying asked curiously on the way, "Every time Qin Ming groups us up, he puts us together."
Qian Fei had never considered it before, and casually said, "Maybe they think I'm strong and want me to bring two people!"
Lin Chaoying laughed and said, "Forget it!"
After knocking on the door of Wang Gao's house, I heard the old man's voice: "Coming!"
The old woman, seeing the strangers, asked warily, "Who are you?"
Qian Fei smiled and patted Lin Chaoying forward. She wasn't good at making up stories about her identity.
Lin Chaoying staggered a couple of steps, then smiled awkwardly and said, "We are friends of the village chief, and we were sent here to offer our condolences to the family."
"Condolences?" The old woman's eyes widened in panic. "What condolences?! What happened to Wang Gao?!"
"You should have used a different excuse!" Lin Chaoying was surprised that the village chief hadn't yet informed Wang Gao's family of his death. She regretted speaking too quickly; she should have first cast a few questions before revealing her identity.
Seeing her in a daze, Qian Fei said directly, "Wang Gao committed suicide at the village committee."
The old woman's cloudy eyes trembled, her body went limp, and she collapsed to the ground. Jiang Chuan Gu quickly helped her up. She waved her hand, cried out "Ouch—", and then burst into tears with a sorrowful expression.
The old man's emotional breakdown, bearing the marks of time, was like a mountain collapsing, heavy and earth-shattering.
The three women comforted the old woman for a long time before she finally managed to stand up and lead them into the room. Inside, the little girl was sleeping peacefully on the sofa with the fan blowing on her. The old woman held the child and placed her on the bed in the bedroom.
The old woman said, "She is the child of Wang Gao and my daughter Yin Hong. The young couple used to run a gift shop on the commercial street to make money. Last year, because the rent was too expensive, Yin Hong planned to go out to earn money. Unexpectedly, she died in a car accident on the mountain road just outside the village. At the beginning of this year, Wang Gao's health deteriorated, and he went to a big hospital in the county for a checkup and found out that he had cancer..."
Only the old woman's sighs remained in the room.
She held back her tears, and slowly uttered a few words in her hoarse voice, "This family is finished."
Before Lin Chaoying could offer any comfort, the old woman suddenly grabbed her hand and said, "Wang Gao is a kind and good-hearted man. He's good to the children and to me. He won't commit suicide! Yesterday he promised me that he would try his best to live and take care of me and the children! Wang Gao won't commit suicide!"
Qian Fei asked, "Do Wang Gao and Wang Ge know each other?"
The old woman was taken aback and said, "Wang Ge? The old village chief's son?"
Qian Fei nodded.
After thinking it over, the old woman said, "We don't keep in touch much. I've never heard Wang Gao or Yin Hong mention it."
Lin Chaoying then asked, "Do you know Wang Ge's wife?"
"Huh?" The old woman looked confused. "Wang Ge's wife? I don't know her. I think they got married a few years ago? But I don't leave the house except to go out to buy groceries in the morning. I just spend time reading with Xiao Hui. I don't know many people in the village."
Qian Feizheng lamented the family's lack of access to information, when suddenly the compass in his pocket began to spin!
She grabbed Lin Chaoying's arm and said, "There are people with superpowers around here using their abilities!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
