Chapter 11: Death in Place

Blood doesn't show up on tree trunks, and the corpse hanging high up is too eye-catching, so everyone's attention is on the dead body, and no one pays attention to the surrounding trees. Now that someone screamed, everyone realized something was wrong.

As soon as she saw the line of bloody words, Ren Yao felt a chill running from her feet to her scalp. She almost suspected that someone had cast a spell on her. Why did she keep running into things like this recently?

She didn't dare to look at the body just now, and stood against the tree for a long time. Ren Yao thought that her clothes might have been rubbed with blood, and suddenly felt numb in her spine.

Compared to Ren Yao, Xie Jichuan's retreat was graceful and calm. If Ren Yao hadn't heard him sigh "How scary" in the same graceful voice, she would have believed it.

Xie Jichuan's voice was very low, and he was so calm and composed that no one noticed this except Ren Yao. Ren Yao looked at Xie Jichuan with a hard time speaking, and realized that it was safer to follow Ming Huashang and his sister.

At least something is clear, and Xie Jichuan will just calmly hide behind everyone.

The crowd dispersed in a hurry, and as expected, Ming Huazhang came over again. He bent down, looked carefully at the words on the tree, and then gently pressed the surrounding bark. Ren Yao's scalp tingled as he looked at it, and he asked, "Such a weird thing, you still came close to look at it?"

Ming Huashang also came over. She looked at the tree branch where the body was hung and the bloody words and said, "This seems to be the direction Wei Zi was looking at."

Jiang Ling ran over excitedly: "What's going on? Is what I said true? Now that we have seen this line of bloody words, is the snake ghost coming to find us?"

Ming Huashang was speechless for a moment. Why did he sound so expectant? Ming Huashang said, "Whoever sees me will die. What does this mean? Who was the first to discover Wei Zi?"

A maidservant in the crowd trembled and answered, "It's me. Miss Chenshi was hungry, and she didn't see the kitchen send breakfast for a long time, so she sent me to the kitchen to ask. This is my first time to Feihong Garden, I am not familiar with the road here, and I accidentally went the wrong way. I saw a red ball from a distance, and thought it was a pedestrian, so I wanted to ask for directions, but when I got closer, I found it was..."

The maid was still terrified. She was so frightened after discovering the body that she crawled back to the courtyard to report the news. The mistress was also very frightened. She sent someone to inform Princess Taiping and sent the maid out to find out the news.

The maid was obviously terrified but did not dare to leave, which made it easier for Ming Huashang to ask questions. Ming Huashang carefully asked the maid about the time when she saw the body. The maid did not know the exact time and could only infer that it was at least 2:45 am based on her footsteps.

Ming Huashang nodded and said, "Although it's early at 15:00, many people woke up at 4:00 today, so you may not be the first person to come here. The handwriting here is different from what was found yesterday. Maybe someone is deliberately writing on the tree to scare people."

Ming Huashang's words reminded everyone. Someone in the princess's mansion bravely looked at it and suddenly said in horror: "This... this is Wei Zi's handwriting!"

The crowd screamed and Ming Huashang's breathing became slightly choked. Her original intention was to comfort people, but it seemed to confirm that the evil spirit was killing people instead.

One woman had an extremely strong reaction, her eyes rolled back and she fainted. Everyone was already like a frightened bird, and when the woman fell down, no one dared to help her. Instead, they pushed her in panic, saying, "Ah, another dead person!"

The woman fell to the ground, her head hitting the ground with a dull thud. Ming Huashang felt pain just watching, and quickly said, "It's not a ghost, she just fainted from fright, come and save her!"

After a flurry of activity, the unconscious woman slowly woke up. She was terrified when she saw the figures around her. She screamed and covered her eyes, "Go away, go away, don't look at me!"

Ming Huashang felt that the maid's reaction was not right, and asked hurriedly: "What's wrong? Do you know anything?"

The maid covered her eyes tightly. Ming Huashang could only see her red lips opening and closing, as if she was looking into the eyes of an eyeless monster. "I remember now. Wei Zi went to find Chi Lan yesterday and called her to a deserted place and scolded her for a long time. Chi Lan must have been holding a grudge against her, so she came back and killed Wei Zi yesterday!"

The maid kept saying some crazy things over and over again, and it seemed that she was no longer in her right mind. Ming Huashang wanted to ask about the details of yesterday, but the maid's condition made it impossible to ask her questions, so Ming Huashang could only have someone send the maid back to her room to rest.

First, the word "dead person" appeared, and now there were eyewitnesses who proved that Chi Lan and Wei Zi had met. The crowd was immediately in an uproar. No one dared to watch the excitement anymore. They covered their eyes and ran out, fearing that they would accidentally become scapegoats.

Xie Jichuan sighed and said worriedly, "Why was the road down the mountain blocked last night? I really want to leave."

Not only him, but probably everyone in the villa wants to escape now. Two murders happened in succession, and the rumor that a fierce ghost killed people was rampant. The one who died before was at least an ordinary maid, but now, she has become Princess Taiping's personal maid.

Who knows who will be the next scapegoat?

The young men and ladies no longer cared about their appearance, as the mountain road was blocked. It seemed as if God was helping the snake ghost and trapped them in the snowy mountains, where they could slowly watch the prey's struggle before death.

Ren Yao remembered that he seemed to have seen Chi Lan, but he couldn't remember whether he saw her eyes. This kind of unknown was the most tormenting. Ren Yao kept thinking about yesterday's scene, and the more he thought about it, the more scared he became.

Ren Yao didn't sleep well last night. Her face was pale and she was in a trance. Ming Huashang saw that she looked unhappy and comforted her, "Sister Ren, don't worry. Even if there is a ghost, it won't target you."

Jiang Ling was extremely curious. He ignored his grudge against the tomboy and came over to ask, "How did you know?"

"I guessed it." Ming Huashang said, "If the maid just now is right, Chi Lan met Wei Zi before she died, which means that the scapegoat will be chosen from people she met before she died."

Jiang Ling scratched his head, not understanding at first: "What do you mean?"

Ming Huashang said, counting on his fingers, "Let's assume that we are ghosts and figure out the logic of how it looks for a scapegoat. First, someone came from Fangzhou to Luoyang and somehow got in trouble with us. Then, this person came to Mangshan to attend Princess Taiping's banquet and took us to the villa. We killed Chi Lan first, and Chi Lan became the scapegoat, and we were free. But after Chi Lan was bitten to death by a snake, she became a new snake ghost. She targeted Wei Zi, who had met her not long ago and had caused her unpleasantness, and was determined to make Wei Zi a scapegoat. Now that Wei Zi is dead, according to the previous logic, she should look for the person she cares about the most and who had looked her in the eyes not long ago."

"That's right." Ming Huazhang spoke, and said concisely and clearly, "The person Wei Zi met recently is the next target."

Jiang Ling understood this time, but he still felt something was strange: "Suppose you are a ghost... your perspective is really weird."

Ren Yao didn't have time to despise this ignorant idiot, and hurriedly recalled whether she had seen Wei Zi in the past two days. She confirmed it three times and finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Great, I haven't seen Wei Zi."

It was just the first time they met, but they didn't expect that the first thing they saw was Wei Zi's corpse.

Ren Yao felt relieved, but people's joys and sorrows were not the same. Jiang Ling snorted coldly and said, "I've seen it before."

"I've seen her too." Ming Huashang raised her hand weakly. "Yesterday when I was leaving Princess Taiping, I happened to see Wei Zi coming back. I looked up and happened to meet her eyes. And I've also seen Chi Lan."

Yesterday in the back hall, Ming Huazhang stood with his back to the door and his eyes downcast, not looking at Wei Zi, but Ming Huashang was sure that he saw it.

She still remembers Wei Zi's expression at that time. Jiang Ling was right, Wei Zi did have a pair of very beautiful eyes.

Xie Jichuan sighed, "Second sister, you are so lucky."

Ming Huashang joked: "Then do you still dare to stay with me? If Wei Zi gets involved with me and I become a scapegoat, you will be in danger."

Ming Huazhang didn't find this joke funny at all. He frowned and said in a low voice, "Second Madam, don't talk nonsense."

Ming Huachang shut up in dismay. Ming Huazhang frowned, thought for a while and said, "Whether it's someone playing tricks or a ghost, according to the current clues, its next target should be people who have seen Wei Zi. The most urgent thing is to gather together the people who have come into contact with Wei Zi. I want to see what ghost is causing trouble."

Ming Huashang didn't dare to joke anymore. She leaned close to Ming Huazhang and said, "Second brother, don't be nervous. Fortunately, when I went to pay my respects to Princess Taiping yesterday, Wei Zi was not with the princess. Not many people have seen her, so it should be easy to investigate."

After saying this, Ming Huashang was stunned, and the expressions of the others also changed.

Princess Taiping?

Ming Huazhang went to ask for an audience with Princess Taiping, but was unsurprisingly refused.

The princess is not feeling well and will not see any visitors.

Yes, after something like this, who would still want to see guests? The whole village is full of rumors, saying that the snake ghost is looking for a scapegoat. Even though the guests are well-read in poetry and don't believe in ghosts and gods, they are a little scared at this moment.

Mysteries kept coming one after another. Could it really be a ghost? Suddenly, people were claiming to be sick everywhere. Every family closed their doors and windows and refused to see visitors, fearing that they would accidentally catch someone's eye and become a scapegoat.

Ming Huazhang was turned away by Princess Taiping. As he left the palace, Ming Huashang asked, "Second brother, what should we do now?"

Wei Zi was the personal maid of Princess Taiping, and Princess Taiping was the most likely to be chosen as the next target. However, Princess Taiping refused to cooperate, not to mention asking questions, and she didn't even want to see them.

Ming Huazhang thought for a moment and said, "That forest is rarely visited by people. As the most capable maid, Wei Zi would not go to such a place in her spare time. Ask the people who shared the room with Wei Zi last night. Maybe they know something."

Now everyone in Feihong Garden was in a panic. When Ming Huazhang and his companions arrived at the courtyard where the maids lived, the maids inside screamed in fear and quickly closed the door. But Ming Huazhang was determined. He stopped in front of a door, knocked on it with his fingers, and said, "I am Ming Huazhang from the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion. I have something to ask you. Please open the door."

Jiang Ling also came over to see the excitement and shouted, "Yeah, we are not ghosts, how can we eat you? Open the door!"

The young master of the Duke of Zhenguo and the son of the Marquis of Jiang'an had arrived. The maid did not dare to offend them. After a moment, she reluctantly opened the door a crack and said, "Your servant greets my lord and my lady."

Behind the crack of the door was a beautiful maid. She saluted in a dignified and beautiful manner, but her eyes were fixed on the ground. Even though the man in front of her was Yulang, a famous man in Luoyang, she refused to look up.

Ming Huachang found it a little funny. This was probably the first time that Ming Huazhang had been treated so coldly by a woman. Ming Huazhang himself didn't seem to care and asked calmly, "Does Wei Zi live here?"

The maid trembled even more when she heard the name, and pointed in a direction tremblingly: "Wei Zi is favored, she doesn't live with us, she lives in a room by herself."

Ming Huachang turned around and saw a house in front of her with its doors and windows tightly closed, creating a gloomy feeling in broad daylight. Ming Huachang continued to ask, "Has anyone touched her house?"

The maid shook her head desperately. Wei Zi had become a ghost, so who would dare to touch her things? Ming Huazhang asked, "Did you see her return to her room last night?"

The maid nodded, "That's right. Yesterday... that incident happened. The princess was upset, and Wei Zi waited on her. She didn't come back until 11:15. I saw Wei Zi enter the room with my own eyes, and everyone else can testify to that."

"Did she ever come out again after she went in?"

"No." The maid lowered her head and said, "Wei Zi is arrogant and doesn't like to talk to people. We all know her temper and don't dare to approach her to offend her. When she came back last night, her face was not good. After entering the house, she didn't come out again. We didn't dare to ask and avoided her from a distance."

Jiang Ling stood at the back and said to Ming Huashang in what he thought was a quiet voice, "He never came out after entering the house, but was found hanging in the woods this morning. It must have been a ghost."

Ren Yao followed at the end. She didn't really want to come, but she didn't dare to go alone, so she had to follow. When she heard Jiang Ling's words, she sneered and rolled her eyes.

Jiang Ling gasped, rolled up his sleeves and was ready to fight with Ren Yao: "What do you mean? I see that you are a woman, so I give in to you everywhere. Don't be ignorant..."

"Okay, stop talking and don't interrupt." Xie Jichuan still smiled like a young master from an aristocratic family and stopped Jiang Ling. Xie Jichuan looked weak, but when he held Jiang Ling, who was famous for his height but not his brain, he pulled him back.

Ming Huazhang ignored the drama behind him, his face calm and serious, like freshly fallen snow, spotless: "After she entered the room, did you hear any unusual noises?"

The maid seemed confused. She thought for a moment and shook her head slightly: "I think... not. Last night was peaceful and quiet. Today at four o'clock the mountain road was blocked and we were called up to serve and pass on the news. We didn't notice anything unusual."

The maid didn't dare to raise her head, and her body was trembling slightly while she answered. Ming Huazhang knew that they believed in ghosts, so he didn't embarrass them anymore and said, "Can I go to Wei Zi's room and take a look?"

The maid hesitated. Princess Taiping had forbidden this. But the person in front of her was Ming Huazhang. She did not dare to refuse. She could only say, "My lord, you can take a look at the door. I cannot make the decision for other servants. The princess has ordered that we are not allowed to talk about the dead. Please do not embarrass us."

Ming Huazhang understood that two maids had died in the princess's mansion, one of whom was Princess Taiping's close attendant. The princess must be in a very bad mood now. How could she be willing to hear anything related to the word "death" again?

Ming Huazhang thanked her. Even though he was facing a maid, his attitude was the same as when he was facing Princess Taiping and the King of Wei. He walked to Wei Zi's door and gently opened it.

Ren Yao didn't dare to approach, and since Xie Jichuan didn't move, she stopped. Ren Yao didn't want to know what was going on inside, but a certain brainless idiot was broadcasting everything in shock: "Wow, it's so clean, not even the quilt is folded. I said it must be a ghost, otherwise why there is no movement at all!"

Ming Huashang poked his head out from Ming Huazhang's side and looked into the room cautiously. Indeed, the room was too peaceful, with all kinds of small objects scattered around. Ming Huashang could imagine the owner putting them down casually. There was no sign of fighting or struggle in the room. Half of the quilt was lifted up, and the other half was hanging on the ground, as if the owner had hurriedly gotten up and would go back to sleep soon.

If Ming Huashang had not known in advance, she would never have been able to imagine that this was a dead person's room. Everything was as natural as if Wei Zi was sleeping soundly, got up in the middle of the night, and suddenly disappeared.