Ancient Corpse in the Mountain Village (Part 4)
Yu Shu lay on the bed, looking at the pitch-black night outside, recalling what he had seen and heard last night and during the day, and his heart felt cold unconsciously.
Jiang Yu walked into the room with wet hair that had not been dried.
"Are you sure your aunt is over eighty?"
Yu Shu was staring at the window in a daze. Jiang Yu walked into the room and suddenly spoke silently, which scared him and made his body, which was lying on the bed, tremble violently.
"Well, it's over eighty. Why are you asking this again? Didn't you ask it during the day?" Yu Shu sat up and looked into Jiang Yu's eyes.
"Didn't you feel her bone age when you helped her?" Jiang Yu asked righteously.
Although Yu Shu was a doctor and knew bone age, it required a machine to test. If he could tell bone age just by touching it, that would be terrible. Yu Shu asked, "Then how old do you think she is?"
"Over sixty."
Over sixty?
That's impossible. The dense wrinkles on my aunt's face, her cloudy eyes, and the pain all over her body made her look completely different from someone in her sixties. But if my aunt really was in her sixties, then she and my ninety-six-year-old great-uncle would be at least twenty years older, at most thirty years older. That's such a huge age difference that they could pass for father and daughter.
The more Yu Shu thought about it, the more impossible it seemed. However, seeing Jiang Yu's serious expression, he couldn't help but feel a little doubtful.
"She probably knows something." Seeing that Yu Shu was skeptical, Jiang Yu changed the subject.
Yu Shu realized Jiang Yu's meaning almost instantly.
Ever since my great uncle mentioned Uncle Zhang, my aunt-in-law has been unusually quiet. Her agreement seemed like a performance. It was not until she left the room and saw them off that she took off her disguise and said something abnormal.
Yu Shu had a guess that his aunt must have known some more detailed and useful information, but due to concerns she could not speak freely and had no choice but to choose to conceal it.
The aunt-in-law deliberately concealed the truth, and they had no way to force her to confess. After all, they were not a public security agency and did not have the power to interrogate others privately.
"I'll find a chance to talk to her more, maybe I can get some answers." Yu Shu said.
Jiang Yu was puzzled and asked, "Can't you just ask directly?"
Yu Shu frowned quickly and then his expression returned to normal. Thinking that Jiang Yu was such a young Taoist priest, it was understandable that he probably followed his master to learn from a very young age and had little contact with society.
"Of course you can. But the question is our business, and the answer is my aunt's business. We asked directly and my aunt has a grudge and doesn't want to say it, so we can only stare blankly and do nothing." Yu Shu explained patiently. Although they are not familiar with each other now, they are still friends, and Jiang Yu can still help him. It always does a good job in handling the relationship better.
Jiang Yu didn't respond and nodded coldly.
The two ended the topic and wanted to sleep but couldn't, so they turned to Zhang Bo and the old house's notebook as a basis, sorting out the few clues in their minds.
“Boom.”
"Who's that late at night?!" Li Cailian raised her voice and asked the person knocking on the door. She was the woman who had been so sarcastic when Yu Shu first came home, saying that he hadn't helped her keep an eye out for nurse recruitment at the hospital.
The person outside the door didn't respond.
“Boom.”
Li Cailian was already unhappy about being interrupted while watching TV. When she asked who it was and got no response, her unhappiness turned into impatience.
A few years ago, her husband had an accident while going up the mountain and fell, becoming a vegetable in the hospital. Her son works in town, so she is usually alone at home. Moreover, she was laid off due to layoffs in the hospital some time ago and had no job. She was forced to stay at home and was filled with resentment.
The knock on the door was like a needle, rubbing back and forth on the surface of the expanding bubble.
She muttered as she put on her slippers and stood up. She wanted to see whose child was so naughty as to knock on her door for fun at night.
“Boom.”
The door rang again.
The moment Li Cailian opened the door, a cold wind blew in her face, making her shiver.
She rubbed her arms and glanced at the empty doorway. Thinking that the person knocking on the door had hidden himself, she took a few steps outside. However, there was only the light of the street lamp and the chirping of insects outside the house. There was no human figure at all!
I knew it, some kid must have been out playing a prank at night. She spitted fiercely to relieve her frustration, and then spat at the flower bed before closing the door.
When Li Cailian returned to her room, she was no longer in the mood to continue watching the show, so she simply turned off the TV and went back to her room to sleep.
The room was pitch black with the lights off. She closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep, but the chill brought by the wind had not yet been completely removed. She listened to her own breathing echoing in the room and felt the tingling running up her spine.
The next second, a cold, wrinkled hand touched her earlobe, and his wet fingertips stroked her golden flower earring.
He slowly covered her mouth. She tried to struggle and call for help, but when she opened her mouth it was filled with water that came from nowhere and she couldn't breathe.
Yu Shu had slept well last night. When she opened her eyes, she saw Jiang Yu kicking back the covers, his pajamas rolled up, revealing several scars on his abdomen. These were from sharp objects, burns, and scratches. These scars had clearly not been treated medically; they had all healed naturally over time. Yu Shu could only imagine the pain and frown.
He wanted Jiang Yu to sleep a little longer, so he tiptoed downstairs by himself.
The village had hundreds of households, not too big or too small, but any disturbance or movement was still noticeable. Yu Shu walked a few steps from the courtyard to the mourning hall when he saw several people in police uniforms hurrying along.
"Brother, it's good that you're awake. Come over and help." Yu Huan came out of the mourning hall and pointed at the policemen.
Yu Shu was stunned for a moment. How could he help the police in handling the case? At most, he would be a bystander, blending in with the crowd and providing assistance with his eyes.
"Aunt Lian is in trouble, go see if you can help."
Yu Shu took a deep breath, and his eyelashes, coated with the soft light of the morning, trembled a few times like butterfly wings. His body froze, and his gaze moved between Yu Huan and the public security officer, as if the accelerator button had been pressed. It took him a while to stabilize his focus, and he looked at the public security officer's back in disbelief.
His heart felt a little numb and heavy. Although that relative spoke strangely, he was still full of energy a few days ago and passed away quietly. Before the sad news of his death, the quarrel became so insignificant.
"I'll go with him."
Jiang Yu changed into sportswear. His hair was still a little messy after washing. The water droplets that had not been wiped dry were shining with tiny glitters, sliding along his cheeks to his jawline.
"Okay, then I'll trouble you, Mr. Jiang."
If it was a natural death that could not be cured or an illness that was ineffective with medical treatment, Yu Shu's mood would not be so complicated, but it was not the case. He knew it was done by them.
"Don't doctors see a lot of birth, aging, sickness and death?" Jiang Yu's voice was cold, as if in his eyes, facing the passing of life, doctors should be accustomed to it and not show sadness.
Yu Shu didn't reply immediately. He walked steadily, clenching and unclenching his fists several times before turning his head to meet Jiang Yu's gaze.
"Maybe I haven't reached your level yet." Yu Shu cursed Jiang Yu in a roundabout way.
Jiang Yu realized that he had said the wrong thing after hearing Yu Shu's tone, but he did not admit his mistake or apologize. Instead, he acted as if nothing had happened and continued walking as if nothing had happened.
Yu Shu took a quick look and didn't see any corpse spots on Aunt Lian like his grandfather's, but her hair and skin were wet, as if she had been fished out of the water, but her clothes were dry.
There were no external injuries and no signs of internal organ failure.
It was her son who found her dead in bed when he came back from town after working the night shift.
Yu Shu couldn't help, so he comforted Li Cailian's son as an elder brother, trying to calm him down first and then ask him about some abnormalities he found after returning home, or details in the room.
But Li Cailian's son seemed to have lost his soul. He hardly listened to what Yu Shu said and was not efficient in his work. The police called him three times to get in the car but he didn't respond. In the end, he was helped in by the uncle next door.
Yu Shu had witnessed countless deaths and separations in the hospital, and it wouldn't be easy for anyone, let alone a relative who had watched him grow up. He couldn't understand Li Cailian's son's panic, but thinking of his father lying in a vegetative state in the hospital and his mother's unexpected death, even a child in his early twenties, no matter how strong his resilience, couldn't withstand the pressure, like a building collapsing.
The police and forensic doctors were investigating Li Cailian's death. If there was no accident, it was likely drowning. Things that science can't explain still require unscientific minds to find the answer. Yu Shu had a strong sixth sense, and it felt like Jiang Yu could see some clues.
Yu Shu nudged Jiang Yu's forearm with his elbow, motioning him to go out and talk.
Jiang Yu understood what he meant, pulled Yu Shu out the door, walked around the house and returned to the front door.
"He came from the water." Jiang Yu pointed at the flowers and plants in the flower bed near the door that had absorbed too much water and were wilting.
Yu Shu immediately thought of the west of the village. The lake was very close to the mass grave, and there had been a lot of rain in the summer in recent years, so the water level of the lake had risen and flooded some land.
How did Li Cailian offend him? Everyone in the village had a consensus that they should not go to the mass grave.
"And..." Jiang Yu dragged out the last syllable.
Yu Shu narrowed his eyes and asked, "And what?"
"I feel like they know my identity and are leading me there."
Yu Shu hissed softly, relaxed his narrowed eyes and looked at Jiang Yu. He looked serious and didn't seem to be talking nonsense.
In principle, Taoist priests and wandering ghosts have an antagonistic relationship. Taoist priests exorcise evil spirits, and ghosts are afraid of Taoist priests. This is the only reasonable way. Although Yu Shu felt that it was unconventional, it made sense in a subtle way, because they had been there the night before and something happened that night.
"Then let's go and take a look." Just as Jiang Yu inferred, Yu Shu was worried that there would be a third or fourth victim.
As soon as he arrived at the lake, Yu Shu felt uncomfortable all over. The sharp cold made him feel uncomfortable all over, as if ice chips were growing in his blood and piercing his bones.
He took a deep breath, but it did little to relieve the stinging coldness that was running rampant through his internal organs.
The more Yu Shu looked, the more he felt that the old house covered with vines had grown legs and was approaching him little by little. The circular decorations on the rusty iron gate seemed to come alive, spinning in circles non-stop, making people feel dizzy.
He even saw a thin layer of white condensing in the air.
After Jiang Yu looked around, a gloomy look flashed in his eyes. The yin energy in this place was much denser than yesterday, and it was already to the point where thick fog was about to form.
Jiang Yu supported Yu Shu's waist from the side and patted his shoulders on both sides to make him feel better.
Jiang Yu knew that Yu Shu was finding it particularly difficult to endure. Yu Shu's horoscope was pure Yin, and the Yin energy within him was pure, clean, and spiritual. But the Yin energy here was mixed and dirty, like a crystal-clear lake being dumped into countless foul-smelling silt and indecomposable inorganic matter.
"It's very different here today." When Jiang Yu's palm fell, Yu Shu could clearly feel a warmth, like hot water flowing down his shoulders.
Jiang Yu ran his palm up and down his back after the surgery. "It's definitely different. It's foggy now."
Jiang Yu didn't care about anything else. He grabbed Yu Shu's hand and protected him.
It was indeed foggy, and the fog was gradually getting thicker.
Yu Shu knew that something was wrong, so even when she was holding hands with the man and feeling his heartbeat with her back to back, she didn't feel shy.
Safety is the most important thing right now.
When the fog was so thick that visibility was only about ten meters, it began to thin.
When the fog completely dissipated, Yu Shu almost lost his balance and fell to the ground. Fortunately, Jiang Yu reached out and supported him.
A young girl dressed in student clothes from the 1980s stood at the door of an abandoned old house, and the red embroidered shoes on her feet were so conspicuous.
Her smiling face and the dilapidated house and yard behind her seemed like two different worlds.
Yu Shu swallowed, his dread breaking out in a cold sweat. The abandoned old house wasn't scary, nor was the girl wearing red embroidered shoes and a last-century student uniform. But when these things appeared in the same frame, it was truly terrifying.
Yu Shu subconsciously tightened his grip on Jiang Yu's hand, and only when he felt the slight beating of his pulse in the palm of his hand did he feel a little better.
"Is it her?" Yu Shu asked.
Jiang Yu shook his head: "No, I don't feel the same yin energy."
The girl tilted her head and smiled at them, then pointed behind them. Red and white paper money came from nowhere and floated down like petals.
Yu Shu turned around and saw an even more horrifying scene.
The wedding procession, dressed in red, was neat and orderly. The people in the front held fans, the people in the middle held red flowers, and the people in the back held umbrellas, but everyone had red cloth draped over their heads.
On the other side, there was a funeral procession in mourning, with white lanterns, wooden coffins, and a suona that was being played but without any sound. They also had white cloth covering their heads.
Yu Shu had never seen such a scene before, and his legs felt weak.
Jiang Yu knew that he was in big trouble, a clash of red and white in broad daylight.
Before he could remind Yu Shu not to look or breathe, the wind without source started to howl.
"Damn it." Jiang Yu cursed, quickly covered Yu and Shu's eyes, and shouted loudly: "Hold your breath."
The wind blew away the white cloths on the heads of some people in the funeral procession, including Yu Dingan, Zhang Bo and Li Cailian.
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