Lin Yingxue's words were shocking. Officer Yang and I were both stunned on the spot, while the village chief nodded and said, "This female police officer is right. Some things are better believed than not believed. I think I should find a yin and yang master to perform a ritual to get rid of the bad luck in our village when I have time."
"Nonsense, where do ghosts come from in this world? Okay, it's almost time today. We have been traveling all day. Let's talk about everything tomorrow." Officer Yang interrupted the village chief impatiently and asked him to arrange for us to rest first. The village chief dared not disobey Officer Yang, so he had to stop talking, sighed, and took us away from Zhao Tiezhu's house and walked towards the village chief's house.
On the way, I was really curious, so I quietly walked up to Lin Yingxue and asked, "Hey, why did you say that just now? The last time you saw me, you also said something magical. Do you really believe this?"
Lin Yingxue had a blank expression on her face, her eyes looking straight ahead. As she walked, she said, "You don't understand. This is my principle. My teacher once told me that if you want to solve evil, you must get close to it or even become it! Since that Qiongqi likes to play tricks so much, I might as well cooperate with him. This way, I can know his motives and what his next move will be."
Looking at the serious Lin Yingxue, I suddenly realized that this girl was not as stupid as I imagined. What he said does sound reasonable. It seems that I will try this method to solve the case in the future. Maybe it will work wonders.
Soon, we arrived at the village chief's house. The village chief's wife had already cleaned up the rooms. There were two rooms in total. Lin Yingxue had one room by herself, and Officer Yang and I shared one room.
After a whole day of traveling and having just eaten, I was really sleepy. I was about to go into the house to rest, but was embarrassed to find that there was only a single bed in the room that the village chief had reserved for me and Officer Yang.
Looking at the single bed, I looked at Officer Yang, and Officer Yang looked at me with the same look. No one went into the room.
You know, what I hate most in my life is sleeping with a man. Regardless of whether he picks up the soap or not, just the thought of a man sleeping next to me makes me feel uncomfortable all over.
Officer Yang probably had the same principle. He coughed awkwardly and said, "Why don't you sleep here today? I'll talk to the village chief to see if there's any other place."
"No need, Officer Yang, you stay here. I think this room is pretty good. I'm going to find the village chief. You've been tired all day, so go to bed early. I'm young and can handle it." I said a little embarrassedly.
Officer Yang scolded me with a smile, "Why, do you think I'm too old? I'm only 40 years old, and I'm only a dozen years younger than you. Forget it, since you insist, then go find the village chief. Meet at the village chief's house at nine o'clock tomorrow morning, and then we can discuss our respective views in a systematic way."
I nodded, turned and walked out of the room, heading towards the village chief's room. The village chief was obviously not asleep yet. I knocked on the door gently, and soon the village chief opened the door.
"What's wrong, young man?"
I felt a little embarrassed and said, "Village Chief, can you arrange another room for me? It feels a bit awkward for Officer Yang and I, two grown men, to sleep on a single bed."
The village chief looked at me for a long time with a puzzled look on his face, probably not understanding why I felt awkward, but he did not refuse. He thought about it carefully and said, "The only vacant house in the village right now is probably Zhao Tiezhu's. His father just passed away, and the room is empty. I'll take you there right now."
Having said that, the village chief turned around and was about to put on his clothes. When I heard that I was asked to live in a dead person's room, I would definitely not agree to that even if I was beaten to death. I immediately asked the village chief if there was any other option, but the village chief could not think of anywhere else for me to live.
I could faintly hear Officer Yang snoring, and I had already spoken. Besides, I was extremely sleepy, so I gritted my teeth and agreed, and followed the village chief towards Zhao Tiezhu's house again.
Along the way, I greeted Lin Yingxue's family. If she hadn't come, two rooms would have been enough, and I wouldn't have had to live in a room where someone had died. Although I don't believe in ghosts, anyone living in a room where someone had just died would probably feel a little uncomfortable.
Soon, we arrived at Zhao Tiezhu's house again. At this time, his family had already gone back to their own homes, and only a few people stayed here to clean up the table and dishes, including Zhao Tiezhu himself.
After the village chief explained his purpose, Zhao Tiezhu readily agreed. After cleaning up his father's room, he asked me to go in and rest.
Walking into the room, I took a rough look around. The room was very simple, with only a table and a rocking chair. The bed was a rural-style earthen kang. The quilt and sheets had been changed by Zhao Tiezhu. There was a light at the door that was controlled by a rope. Apart from that, there was nothing else.
Such a simple room made my previous fear disappear. At this time, I was also very sleepy, so I didn’t think about whether anyone had died in this room before. I handed Zhao Tiezhu a cigarette, intending to chat with him and then go to bed early.
"I heard that someone has to keep vigil during a funeral. Is it the same today?"
Zhao Tiezhu nodded and said, "That's right. I've been keeping vigil for the past few days. My friend will keep vigil for me today. I'll also have a good rest. Tomorrow will be the fourth day, which is the day my father will be buried. I have to get enough rest. Will you go with us tomorrow?"
I waved my hands hastily and said, "Forget it. It would be embarrassing for an outsider like me to go there. I'm tired after a long day. I plan to sleep in tomorrow."
Zhao Tiezhu just smiled slightly and said, "Okay, then you should go to bed early. It might be a little noisy tomorrow morning. I hope you don't mind."
As he spoke, Zhao Tiezhu walked to the door, turned off the light in the room, and then left.
As the light dimmed, I felt more and more sleepy. After putting out the cigarette in my hand, I went to bed to rest. As soon as I closed my eyes, I fell asleep.
I don't know how long I slept, but suddenly I heard a scream outside the yard, which woke me up. Then I heard several people talking and laughing outside. I was wondering, and just as I remembered to pee, I got up and walked out the door.
After I went out, I realized that the yard outside was completely dark except for the tent where the body was kept. Looking up, I saw three young men over there, two of them were pointing at the other and laughing at him.
"What happened?" Zhao Tiezhu also heard the shouting and walked out of the room and asked.
"It's okay. San'er said he seemed to see your father move a little just now. This coward is talking nonsense. Tiezhu, you should take a rest quickly. You still have to be busy tomorrow."
The light was dim and I didn't know who answered Zhao Tiezhu. Zhao Tiezhu then went back to sleep. I also had a false alarm, so I went to the toilet and returned to my room to rest.
I don’t know if it was because I was woken up from my sleep or because I heard the conversation between Zhao Tiezhu and the others, but I couldn’t sleep after returning to the room. I was in a pitch-black environment, and someone had just died here. I always felt as if someone was staring at me, which made me feel uncomfortable all over. My mind began to involuntarily run wild with thoughts. Scenes from horror movies I had seen before kept flashing before my eyes. After more than ten minutes, I was already sweating profusely.
"Damn it, there's nothing to be afraid of. There are so many people outside. Is this all I can do?"
I cursed myself in my heart and tried hard not to think about those horrific scenes. I don’t know how long it was before I finally fell asleep.
When I woke up again, I was awakened by the sound of suona and shouting coming from outside. I tried to open my eyes and found that it was already dawn. The yard outside the door was full of people again, as if they were preparing to carry the coffin for burial.
There was no way I could fall asleep with all that noise. I took out my cell phone to check the time. It was only 7:10 in the morning. I had no choice but to get up, get dressed, open the door and walk out.
Zhao Tiezhu had already gotten up and was kneeling in front of the mourning hall, holding something like a jar in his hands. I didn't know what he was going to do. Anyway, everyone seemed very busy, so I didn't say hello to Zhao Tiezhu and went straight to the village chief's house.
When we arrived at the village chief's house, the village chief had already woken up, but Officer Yang and Lin Yingxue were still resting.
"Young man, you're up so early?" The village chief saw me from afar and said to me with a smile.
I smiled helplessly and said, "Zhao Tiezhu's family is so eager to tear off the roof, how can I sleep? Village chief, is there anything to eat?"
The village chief immediately called his wife over to help make breakfast. I was bored and took out my phone to read a novel. After the village chief made breakfast, Officer Yang and Lin Yingxue also woke up one after another.
After breakfast, Officer Yang, Lin Yingxue and I sat together and began to discuss whether it was necessary to continue investigating this matter. After all, judging from everything so far, there was nothing unusual except that the empty package appeared again and was sent by Qiongqi himself. Although Zhao Tiezhu's father died of a heart attack the day after the empty package appeared, the forensic examination also said that it was a normal death without any human factors.
Officer Yang meant that we should just go back here. Since there was nothing to do, we shouldn't make trouble. But Lin Yingxue and I disagreed. After all, I believed that Qiongqi would never do meaningless things. Since this empty package was sent here, it meant that something must have happened here.
Just as we were arguing, there was a huge thunder in the sky, which scared me so much that I almost fell off the stool. We immediately went out of the house to see, and found that the weather, which was good in the morning, was now covered with dark clouds, lightning and thunder, and it looked like it was going to rain heavily.
If this heavy rain comes, I think it will be difficult for us to go back now. The mountain road is so difficult to walk on. No one can leave the village before the water on the ground dries up.
I turned around and prepared to ask Officer Yang to prepare for rain, but at this moment, I suddenly heard an exclamation from the village chief in another room!
"Oops!"