The truth on the fourth day
After leaving Granny Zhao's house, Lin Chaoying and Jiang Chuangu planned to contact Qin Ming and Qian Fei simultaneously before heading to the unknown space beneath the River God Temple.
Strangely, they couldn't get through to any of them by phone, nor did they reply to any messages. Not only that, they searched Wang Shao's house, the clinic, and the back hill, but couldn't find the other three anywhere.
The two had no choice but to return to the hotel. However, just as they passed the front desk and were about to go up the stairs, Jiang Chuan Gu whispered, "There's something wrong with that receptionist."
Lin Chaoying didn't turn around, but led him upstairs to the rooms of Qin Ming, Qian Fei, and Kong Yue. They knocked on the doors, but there was no response from inside.
Unable to find anyone, Lin Chaoying went into Jiang Chuan Gu's room first. After closing the door, she asked, "What's wrong with the front desk?"
Jiang Chuan Gu explained, "Normally when we pass by, he keeps his head down and does his own thing. But today, as soon as we entered the gate, his eyes were practically glued to us. He kept looking down and up, his gaze darting around..."
“Something might have happened to the three of them.” Lin Chaoying was a little panicked because she hadn’t expected that after their hasty farewell in the morning, they would suddenly disappear in the afternoon. She said, “We have to find Wang Ge first. Whether the villagers find him first or we find him first, like Qian Fei and the others, their sudden disappearance means there’s no chance of finding out the truth.”
The two of them ate a couple of bites of biscuits and drank some hot water in the house, then grabbed some usable items and went out.
Lin Chaoying placed her hand on the doorknob, hesitated, and took a few deep breaths. After all, this time she was not only facing the Ghost Gate hidden in the darkness, but also countless ordinary people with ulterior motives.
Unknown malice is more difficult to resist than direct killing intent.
Jiang Chuan Gu stood quietly beside her and said softly, "It's alright. We've seen Qin Ming and Qian Fei's fighting prowess. Kong Yue is smart and has a stable mindset. They might not be in any trouble. They might just have been delayed somewhere."
“Okay.” Lin Chaoying said with increasing determination, “Finding Wang Ge is the most important thing right now.”
As they left the hotel, Jiang Chuan Gu subconsciously glanced at the front desk. The moment their eyes met, the front desk staff immediately lowered their heads and pretended to play on their phones.
Due to recent changes in the village, the River God Temple is currently closed to the public. The gate is locked, and there is a "No Entry" sign and railings at the entrance.
To avoid attracting the villagers' attention, the two waited nearby until seven or eight o'clock in the evening, when the villagers were about to have dinner, and only then did they enter the area near the River God Temple when there were the fewest people.
"Bang—" The rusty chain fell to the ground. Jiang Chuan Gu dropped the shovel in his hand, slowly pushed open the door, Lin Chao Ying looked around and crept in, Jiang Chuan Gu followed closely behind, put the chain back inside, and closed the door.
Inside the temple, the golden statue of the river god exudes an eerie and bewitching aura at night.
At this moment, Lin Chaoying truly understood what Qian Fei had said before: this statue was not like a god, but more like a human.
The faint moonlight shone on the golden statue, and the tear on the statue seemed more like the resentment of a person who could not get what they wanted due to greed, making the viewer feel depressed.
Lin Chaoying said, "I don't know why, but the more I look at this statue, the more I want to smash it."
Jiangchuan Valley looked up and said, "It's just a clay sculpture covered in gold."
"Do you remember the rumors from that forum?" Lin Chaoying asked.
Jiangchuan Valley nodded and said, "I remember."
Lin Chaoying: "Grandma Zhao said that this was originally the location of the God of Wishes, but it was later changed to the location of the River God. According to the legends on the forum, this was originally the location of an evil god, but later the true River God who could protect Taoyuan Village was welcomed here." She laughed sarcastically and said, "Now I think the River God is the real evil god."
Jiang Chuan Gu: "I remember when I was little, my family spent all their money on my younger brother's medical treatment, including taking money my parents left me. Later, when they had no other choice, they started praying to gods everywhere. Because they couldn't control reality, they could only place their hopes on these ethereal idols. They even said that the higher the incense went, the clearer the gods would hear it. Even when they burned their arms, they thought it was the gods protecting the family. But in the end, my brother still passed away..."
Lin Chaoying: "Yes. Only the doctor knows whether a patient can be saved. Gods are merely vessels for people's wishes. If they could truly save people because of offerings, wouldn't everything be in chaos? Just like Peach Blossom Village now, everyone's desires are increasing, becoming more and more greedy..."
The two circled the golden statue three or four times but couldn't find a door or lock with a key. Finally, under the stone base of the river god statue, they saw a very hidden, thumb-sized opening. Jiang Chuan Gu pressed his finger down, and with a "click," the base began to rotate and stopped at about 45 degrees. Suddenly, a deep, downward-facing passage appeared before them.
Jiang Chuangu took out a flashlight and walked ahead, with Lin Chaoying following closely behind. After a few steps, the stone bricks under their feet suddenly creaked, and the faint light above their heads gradually dimmed, restoring the golden statue to its original position.
In the pitch-black stone path, relying on the light of two flashlights, they slowly made their way deeper into the darkness. Jiang Chuan Gu held Lin Chao Ying's hand tightly, and the two dared not stray too far from each other.
As Jiang Chuangu walked, he stepped on something soft and slipped. He quickly let go of Lin Chaoying and rolled uncontrollably down the wall, crashing repeatedly. He couldn't even open his eyes. He tried to grab onto the walls, but the damp stone walls were too slippery to hold him. He was dizzy with a headache and finally got stuck at a corner.
"Jiangchuan Valley!" Lin Chaoying held up her flashlight and swept it across the ground.
A blood-soaked face, bulging eyes staring intently, the person was soaking wet, like a water ghost crawling out of the underworld.
It's Wang Bo!
Ignoring the dead man before her, she stepped over him, anxiously calling out to Jiang Chuan Gu, holding a flashlight and hurrying downhill, "Are you alright, Jiang Chuan Gu!"
As she reached a corner, a faint light flickered, and she saw Jiang Chuan Gu struggling to his feet. She asked, "How are you?"
Jiang Chuangu could only see a halo of light. A warm liquid trickled down his forehead. He felt a little itchy and was about to reach out to wipe it when Lin Chaoying quickly pressed his hand down and said, "Your head is bleeding! Don't move!"
He pointed to the flashing light ahead and said, "There's someone there."
Lin Chaoying instinctively blocked his way and led him toward the light. At another corner, she heard another person's soft breathing. Hiding behind the corner, she tentatively extended her flashlight.
With a "bang," the sound of metal objects colliding rang out, and the flashlight was smashed to the ground, rolling away.
Jiangchuan Valley quickly pulled her back with one hand, and the two of them took a few steps back.
Lin Chaoying shouted irritably, "Scarface?! Is that you? No, I should call you Wang Ge here!! Get out here! What are you hiding there for? I haven't settled the score with you for Xiao Mei yet!"
After a long silence, a burly man, hunched over and covered in blood, limped out, carrying a machete. Wang Ge's face, in the flickering light, was exceptionally pale, like pigskin soaked in water.
After what had happened these past few days, Jiang Chuan Gu still harbored hatred for him, but he wasn't as impulsive as before, with the feeling of wanting to die together with him. After all, his enemy didn't seem to have many days left to live.
Looking at the two of them, Wang Ge's eyes no longer held the fierce and menacing look of the past; instead, they revealed a deep weariness and helplessness.
He said, "Come with me."
Following the light source, we arrived at a relatively flat and spacious area. Thick candles burned in the four corners, providing light. In one corner was a bed and a small table with water and scattered food. In the center and on the other side of the floor were several bloodstained ropes and knives... and shovels covered in dirt...
Lin Chaoying first settled Jiang Chuangu on the ground, wiped the blood from his forehead, and then took out iodine swabs from her bag to disinfect the wound.
Wang Ge didn't speak, sitting calmly on the bed, as blank as a dead man.
Jiangchuan Valley didn't have time to see what was on the ground clearly, so he asked, "Did you see what was on the ground?"
Lin Chaoying glanced at Wang Ge behind her and asked, "Did you kill Wang Bo at the door?"
Wang Ge simply nodded.
Jiangchuan Valley said with disgust, "How many people are you going to kill?"
Wang Ge said calmly, "They killed Xiao Mei, they deserved to die."
"What about Le Chao?!" Jiang Chuan Gu demanded, "Did Le Chao also kill Xiao Mei? Did Shi Zan also kill Xiao Mei?!"
"That wasn't me!" Wang Ge's emotions erupted instantly, and he stood up excitedly, shouting, "I didn't want to kill them!" His body couldn't support the intense emotional turmoil, and after a violent coughing fit, he sat back down on the edge of the bed and asked, "Did you bring your phone? I'm willing to tell you everything."
The day Wang Ge's memories were reborn was when he was imprisoned on Twelfth Street. Kong Yue kept injecting him with drugs, causing the secrets hidden deep in his brain to suddenly flood into his dreams uncontrollably. Later, on the way to Yuzhou, when Chu Tang brainwashed the detainee again, in an instant... memories from all directions vividly emerged.
He remembered everything.
Eight years ago, Wang Ge returned to his hometown, Taoyuan Village, with his lover, Xiao Mei. Actually, he no longer had any close family members in this village. However, after his parents and grandfather passed away, Wang Shao, as his uncle, took good care of him for several years, so he wanted to come back and tell his elders.
But little did he know, this was the beginning of his nightmare.
Wang Ge discovered that not only his uncle Wang Shao, but also his elder Wang Bo, and even many villagers he had known since childhood, had become unusually strange and irritable. As long as you said something that went against their wishes or expressed a different opinion, they would start arguing like crazy.
Because he didn't get permission from the River God and the ancestral hall before getting his marriage certificate in the city, Wang Shao punished him by making him kneel in the River God Temple for three days. As a result, Xiao Mei almost had a big argument with the elders in the village.
Wang Ge thought to himself that once the matter of saving face was over, he would take her away from here as soon as possible.
During the three days he was forced to kneel as punishment, Xiao Mei arranged for him to stay at Wang Shao's house. Her relationship with the sick Wang Fei grew better and better, so Zhuang Huan and Wang Shao treated her more kindly.
After leaving the temple, Wang Ge returned to the old house with Xiao Mei, reducing contact with Wang Shao and other elders. Xiao Mei was clear-headed and not one to cause internal strife. She would not harbor resentment towards the villagers out of malice. So she helped Qiu Chen, an outsider, took the initiative to get to know Wang Ge's childhood friend Wang Qi, and eventually became good friends with Granny Zhao.
And so, the two of them managed to have a few peaceful days.
It wasn't until Xiao Mei discovered that Wang Fei's illness was getting worse every day, but no one was taking her to a major hospital for treatment, that she and Wang Shao had another heated argument.
In his breakdown, Zhuang Huan accidentally revealed the story of the Book of Immortality and the River God.
Xiao Mei found it absurd and went home to discuss it with Wang Ge, hoping to help Wang Fei find a doctor. The two agreed that they would first find a reason to leave the village, and then contact the police and a doctor to come in.
The next day, Wang Ge took the initiative to suggest to Wang Shao that he bring Xiao Mei back to the city to work, but what awaited him was his elders' joint imprisonment.
In his desperate attempt to escape, he spent a day and a night sharpening the rope with the sharp corner of a cabinet; by the time he escaped, his hands were raw and bleeding. But when he returned to the old house, he found it a chaotic mess, littered with clutter, and no trace of Xiao Mei...
In the early morning, dark clouds pressed down on Taoyuan Village. Wang Ge frantically searched for Xiao Mei from house to house, and finally found a large number of villagers next to the River God Temple, with Xiao Mei tied up in the center of the crowd.
He roared as he charged through the crowd, and the moment his eyes met Xiao Mei's, Wang Ge froze, standing rooted to the spot, unable to move except for his eyes.
Xiao Mei struggled frantically, stumbling to Wang Ge's side. Ignoring any attempts to stop her, she grabbed his clothes, shouting repeatedly, "Wang Ge! Wang Shao killed your parents! He murdered your grandfather! Now he's hypnotizing the villagers for the Longevity Book! When you wake up, you'll recognize your true enemy! Go to the back mountain! Go to the back mountain! The River God is fake! The Longevity Book is fake! The River God's bride is fake too! I don't regret smashing the River God Temple! I don't regret it!"
Tears streamed down Wang Ge's face like a broken string...
He could only watch helplessly as the villagers strangled Xiao Mei with a rope. Even so, she struggled and shouted, "No matter how many crimes you accuse me of, isn't it just because you're guilty?"
Wang Ge's wide eyes gradually turned red until he saw his lover on the ground unconscious. "Pfft—" he spat out a mouthful of blood, his limbs instantly freed, and he stumbled towards Xiao Mei...
The villagers locked Xiao Mei in a cage and threw her into the river. The other end of the cage was tied to the riverbank. Wang Ge was restrained by the villagers, his head pressed firmly to the ground. Before him, Xiao Mei's body convulsed a few times after being hit by the river, then became completely still, finally lying quietly in the cage, bobbing and swaying in the dirty, yellowish water...
In the instant Wang Ge lost consciousness, a flashback appeared before his eyes: his wedding day, Xiao Mei wearing a beautiful white dress, bathed in sunlight, surrounded by shimmering halos of light...
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