Chapter 65 Shanyin Village
◎This village must be under some kind of curse◎
As soon as Granny Zhang said this, Gu Nian first glanced at A Shan. The other's expression did not change at all. It was obvious that he had known about this for a long time.
Perhaps because he had learned about the pollution core from the village chief before, and understood why Gu Nian came here, he was not wary of her asking this question.
Gu Nian retracted his gaze and asked, "Can you tell me why they died?"
Grandma Zhang's face once again showed that look of awe. "The young men were ignorant. They offended the mountain god and lost their lives." Then she held Gu Nian's hand tightly and said, "Don't be afraid, little one. You have worshipped the mountain god, and he will protect you."
Gu Nian saw that the old man really cared about her and nodded, "Yes, I'm not afraid."
When asked how those people died, Granny Zhang seemed confused and just kept repeating that the mountain god would protect Gu Nian.
Seeing that she could not get anything out of him, Gu Nian stopped bothering the old man. However, before leaving, she asked Jiang Mang to worship in front of the mountain god statue in the room like she did.
After Jiang Mang finished praying, Gu Nian looked at A Shan and said, "Do you want to pray too? I think what Grandma said might be true. The mountain god really will bless us."
Ah Shan snorted coldly and walked outside, saying as he walked, "If you want to worship, do it yourself."
Although Jiang Mang didn't really believe in praying to the mountain god for protection, he couldn't stand his bad attitude and was about to teach him a lesson, but was stopped by Gu Nian.
Gu Nian said, "Let's go find Scar and the others first."
Jiang Mang gave Ashan a warning look and stayed by Gu Nian's side without leaving.
By the time they reached the third household, Scar and his companions had already left. Clearly, this household wasn't the core of the contamination. The core of the contamination was easy to identify, and neither were the fourth or fifth households.
Only the last one left.
Gu Nian and his companions were halfway there when they caught up with Scar and his group who were about to arrive.
Seeing Gu Nian coming over, Scar didn't ask any more questions, but simply explained the situation of the sixth family. Like the previous ones, there was indeed the possibility of a contaminated core.
However, after failing to find the answer at the previous five companies, no one had much hope for this.
In fact, their hunch was not wrong, and neither was the sixth one.
The village chief's face looked a little ugly, and he frowned and said, "It shouldn't be like this. In our village, there are no families more unfortunate than these families. If it's not them, it's impossible for anyone else to be."
Gu Nian suddenly asked, "Is it possible that someone is hiding in your village?"
After saying this, she stared closely at the village chief's expression.
The village chief was stunned for a moment, not knowing what he was thinking about. Then he shook his head and said, "No, I know how many people there are in our village. No one would hide here. Maybe I missed something. When I get back and think about it, maybe a few families can be counted."
As they were talking, a man came running towards them from a distance.
When he got there, he gasped and said, "Yang Qing, Yang Qing is dead!"
Scar immediately asked, "How did he die?"
The man gasped for a long time before uttering the following sentence: "He went to the toilet and was drowned!"
The village chief scolded him: "How can someone drown in the pit toilet!" But after he finished scolding, he immediately realized that drowning in the pit toilet actually meant being drowned by sewage!
Everyone didn't know what expression to make.
Wei Chuan slapped his head and said, "Yang Qing, isn't he the one who stepped on the meat paste?"
It would have been fine if he didn't mention this word, but as soon as he did, someone started retching.
The village chief's face became increasingly grim, and he said coldly, "Go and take a look."
On the way there, the person who brought the news explained the whole story. After Yang Qing was knocked unconscious in the ancestral hall, the villagers took him back to his home. Because he had someone to take care of him at home, the villagers left after sending him back, and nothing happened at the time.
Yang Qing was the only child of the Yang family. Even though he had stepped on the flesh paste, the Yang family didn't abandon him out of fear. His grandmother even stayed by his bedside until he woke up, and only then did the family breathe a sigh of relief. But no one expected that he would be gone while using the toilet.
The person who reported the news had a bitter face: "Yang Qing's father was guarding outside the toilet. After a while, when no one came out, he went in to check, and then he saw..." He couldn't continue.
The village chief frowned and said, "How could such a grown man fall into the toilet without making any sound?"
Gu Nian was about to ask when the village chief asked the question first, so he kept silent. It was just that the person who reported the news hadn't thought of this and didn't know about it.
I hurried to Yang's house, and as soon as I entered, I smelled a foul smell, the smell of sewage.
Yang Qing's body was lying in the yard. The Yang family was still in shock and had no time to wash it. They just covered it with a clean cloth.
As soon as they met, the village chief asked the question just now.
Yang Qing's father was a rather burly man, but at this moment, he was hunched over, as if he had suddenly aged a dozen years. He just shook his head when asked, "I didn't hear anything. There was no sound at all. If only I had followed him in. Why didn't I follow him in?"
Yang Qing's father hit his head in self-blame, obviously unable to provide any more information.
But just what he said was enough to make people's hair stand on end.
Yang Qing went to the toilet while awake. Even if he really fell in, he could at least call for help. But his father said he heard nothing. How is that possible?
But it is impossible for Yang's father to lie about such a thing.
Gu Nian walked towards the bathroom and took a look inside.
The Yang family's toilet was ordinary, an old-fashioned one found in the village. It had two wooden planks separating a gap. Normally, a person wouldn't be able to fall through such a gap, let alone an adult like Yang Qing. But now, both planks had broken apart, leaving a massive hole.
It was as if someone had chopped it open with a sharp knife.
This kind of thing is not something that can be done by human power, and even the investigation has no clue. After checking it out, Scar said something to the village chief and left the Yang family with Gu Nian and the others.
Before leaving, Gu Nian glanced at Ashan and saw the other's frightened expression.
After returning to the Tian family, Lu Yan was sitting in the yard with a book in his hand. The youngest son of the Tian family was standing next to him, pointing at the paper and asking questions from time to time.
Gu Nian walked up to it and found that it was a literacy book.
Lu Yan touched the little boy's head and said, "We'll look at the rest later."
The little boy took the literacy book and went back to the house obediently.
Gu Nian raised her eyebrows slightly and gave the other person a thumbs-up. Those who could coax children into good health were all capable people. It was only after she became a psychiatrist that she gradually developed some relatability.
Lu Yan smiled and said, "It seems that the pollution core has not been found."
Gu Nian nodded, then said, "Yang Qing is dead."
Lu Yan didn't seem very surprised: "He was the only one who stepped on the meat paste."
Wei Chuan just came over and heard his words, and said in surprise: "Will you die if you step on the meat paste?" He couldn't help but check the soles of his feet again. They didn't change shoes like the villagers.
Gu Nian continued, "It's possible, but we can't rule out the incident at the ancestral hall. Of course, it could also be because he was stepping on the meat paste to cause a scene at the ancestral hall."
Lu Yan nodded: "What you said makes sense."
Wei Chuan showed a confused expression, wondering why he was becoming increasingly confused.
Gu Nian said, "I have a guess, but I still need to wait for news. Let me first tell you about the news from your side. Is there any news from He Wenyu?"
All the superpowers gathered together.
First, Sister Liu, who was taking care of Tian Sheng's wife, spoke up: "Tian Sheng's wife woke up once. My ability is to make people trust her. What she said is consistent with our previous speculation. Tian Sheng once hanged two people from a tree in the middle of the night."
Gu Nian asked, "Two people?"
Sister Liu nodded, her face heavy with worry, and said, "Those two officers are dead. But the suspect wasn't at the Tian family's house. She only saw him secretly in the middle of the night and doesn't know where he is."
In reality, Tian Sheng's wife told the truth, partly because of Sister Liu's ability and partly because she had no involvement in the incident and felt that Tian Sheng's death was retribution. As for the rest of the news, she was also unaware. Tian Sheng had kept it a secret from her.
Gu Nian frowned, wondering where the Taoist priest had gone again.
After Sister Liu finished speaking, Lu Yan said, "The eldest daughter of the Tian family was indeed He Wenyu's student, but she said that He Wenyu left Shanyin Village a long time ago. However, she did tell me a piece of news that I think may be useful. He Wenyu once asked her about a girl in the village."
Everyone's eyes lit up.
This is indeed very important news.
He Wenyu was only in his twenties when he came to teach. At his age, asking about other girls' news obviously meant that he had a certain liking for them.
To be honest, although the police had come to investigate twice and found no news of He Wenyu, all signs indicated that He Wenyu's disappearance was closely related to Shanyin Village. However, due to the lack of evidence, even the police could only let the case go.
One of the difficulties in the previous investigation was that according to the villagers, He Wenyu usually taught at school and rarely interacted with the villagers, let alone argued with them. This made it difficult for the police to know where to start their investigation.
Gu Nian asked, "What's that girl's name?"
Lu Yan said, "Zheng Qiaoer."
Gu Nian was stunned: "Is the surname of the girl that He Wenyu is asking about Zheng?"
Lu Yan nodded, then quickly asked, "Is there anyone with the surname Zheng among the families you inquired about?"
Gu Nian nodded and said solemnly, "The first one we went to was the one with the surname Zheng."
Jiang Mang couldn't help but interrupt: "Although the first family we visited was surnamed Zheng, weren't they all dead? We just buried that person."
Gu Nian turned to look at him: "The village chief said that they are from outside. Judging from the general situation, they are most likely the only family with the surname Zheng in this village."
Villages generally consist of several prominent families, especially small, isolated villages like Shanyin. The girl He Wenyu was inquiring about was very likely the deceased girl the village chief had mentioned. But if that were the case, the clue would be lost again.
That girl is dead. Even if she has any connection with He Wenyu, she would not be the core of the pollution.
Wei Chuan was dejected: "Why is the clue broken again?"
Gu Nian lowered his eyes to think and did not respond.
Just when everyone was feeling depressed because they couldn't find any new clues, there was suddenly a loud noise outside, like someone shouting.
The psychics immediately rushed out.
At this time, all the villagers did not dare to go out, and even if they went out, they were very cautious. How could they yell outside? Something must have happened.
As soon as everyone went out, they saw a ball of fire burning not far away.
To be precise, it's a burning fireman.
Although the man was surrounded by a ball of fire, the people who had gone out with the village chief earlier still quickly recognized him. Jiang Mang asked, "Isn't this that Ah Shan?"
Before, he and Gu Nian stayed at Grandma Zhang's house to inquire about the news. It was this Ashan who was always standing beside them and making sarcastic remarks. He didn't expect that after just a short while, the other party would become like this.
Ashan was surrounded by a ball of blazing flames and was letting out heart-wrenching roars. Many families heard the noise and ran to the door to check. Although they were scared, a few families still chose to go out to help. They rushed towards Ashan with buckets of water and poured them on him.
But even though the water was poured over, it seemed to be completely useless. The fire was still burning, with no sign of dying down at all.
Seeing this scene, the people who had gone over to help hurriedly retreated and dared not get any closer.
This wasn't some ordinary fire.
Gu Nian said: "This is a punishment." Punishment for disrespecting the mountain god.
After closing the door, Gu Nian said, "Go back."
After returning to the Tian family's courtyard, a long time later, the screams outside finally stopped. It was obvious that Ashan was dead. There was no way he could survive such a huge fire. Or perhaps, only his death would stop the fire.
In the silence, Gu Nian spoke: "This village must be under some kind of curse."
She paused, then changed her approach. "That might sound a bit superstitious, but to be more precise, these are the rules of this polluted area. Those rules passed down from our ancestors in Shanyin Village have, for some reason, all become reality."
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