Chapter 16

Chapter 15: Changming Town 15

The spirit hall in the Eternal Burial Inn made Jiang Wan’er feel extremely uncomfortable, but it would not cause her any real harm. Her power came from grudge; as long as the grudge remained, her power remained.

Otherwise, why would the three major families and Elder Gong design such a complicated scheme?

This was why Shi Zong dared to step into the Eternal Burial Inn again.

However, after walking a few steps, he suddenly stopped, thinking of something, and turned to Young Master Li.

At this moment, Zuo Sanqiu, having shouted “Wait for me” to Shi Zong, also arrived in front of Young Master Li.

Zuo Sanqiu felt relieved that he and Shi Zong had cooperated well, rewriting the story thoroughly, preventing Jiang Wan’er from being harmed again.

He noticed Young Master Li’s face turning pale and blue intermittently, probably struggling with his role. Likely, he was gritting his teeth for the sake of points.

Zuo Sanqiu asked him, “You told everything for points?”

“Something like that.” Young Master Li exhaled and rubbed his face. “The system specifically warned me that revealing the truth might affect my ending… but oh well, I’m really disgusted with myself, disgusted with the three major families. Better to say it out loud. Holding it in was uncomfortable.”

Shi Zong asked him, “What did your system say?”

Young Master Li, apparently feeling it didn’t matter, explained. “The system told me that after voting, the ending path would be revealed, letting us play out the ending animation together.

“During the ending, if my character dies, it doesn’t affect my real-life survival, but it will affect my rewards. I’m not sure whether the reward is points or some other item.”

After a pause, Young Master Li continued, “In [Storyline 1], you are the deceased. After Zhang Ye marries you, he will regain his memory. I felt that in that case, our tasks were relatively simple.

“Now that you’ve changed the story’s path, our tasks have become more complicated. One key point is we have to keep this matter hidden from you.

“The system warned me that once you recover all memories, it means you will be fully awakened, regaining all abilities. At that time, you might kill us to take revenge for yourself. That would be a Bad Ending for me.

“I originally thought you wouldn’t have time to uncover everything in such a short period. But unexpectedly… you’re really something.”

About ten minutes later, Shi Zong returned to the Eternal Burial Inn.

He first spent some time quickly walking through the backyard.

Withered leaves covered the pond, spiderwebs crawling along the eaves… familiar yet strange scenes passed by.

During this time, Shi Zong found that, as Jiang Wan’er, he didn’t recall anything about Ye Yunfeng at all.

He had completely forgotten the past; when thinking of Ye Yunfeng, he didn’t feel intense love, and when seeing Zhang Ye, no obvious hatred arose.

Thus, although Shi Zong as the player had enough information, the character Jiang Wan’er was not awakened at this stage.

Young Master Li’s words were very important.

Shi Zong realized that whether Jiang Wan’er awakened determined Young Master Li and the others’ ending, and certainly also Jiang Wan’er’s ending.

But Jiang Wan’er had not awakened yet—was it because the “person who killed Ye Yunfeng” hadn’t been found?

And where was the system’s key point for judging her awakening?

This was why Shi Zong wanted to come to the Eternal Burial Inn again.

As he wandered in the backyard, Zuo Sanqiu followed closely, to prevent any accidents.

Zuo Sanqiu never expected that Shi Zong would again arrive at the house filled with spirit tablets.

Watching Shi Zong walk step by step toward the house, Zuo Sanqiu felt a chill. “Hey, be careful! Don’t go near there!”

“Yes, I might feel dizzy and have chest pains if I go over,” Shi Zong looked at him, “So I’ll trouble you.”

“Tell me, how are you planning to use me as your tool this time? I’ll do whatever you ask—I owe you from ten years ago.”

“Go untie the red silk under the eaves that has coins tied to it and drop the coins. Remember the formation book we saw at Elder Gong’s place? This will release the souls trapped here.”

You’re a ghost, so of course you’re not afraid of ghosts. But I am. And there are at least a hundred ghosts here.

You want me dead, don’t you?

After a long silence, Zuo Sanqiu muttered, “…Is it too late for me to back out now?”

Shi Zong said, “Don’t worry. These stone lions and the talismans on the doors will keep them suppressed. Besides, they are ordinary wandering souls, suppressed for ten years—they don’t have the ability to harm anyone.”

“Next, you’re not going to make me find your lover among hundreds of spirits, are you?”

“That’s unnecessary. He should come out to meet me on his own.”

“What if he doesn’t?”

“Then it probably means that ten years ago, I was the one who killed him. He’s blaming me.”

Tsk, so heartbreaking.

Zuo Sanqiu, with complex feelings, went to the eaves and untied the red silk.

He had indeed seen related formation settings in the Dongtian Fuju books, otherwise he wouldn’t dare. Still, thinking about facing so many spirits, he trembled a little.

Under the blue-brick, white-wall eaves, the red silk was untied one by one, and the coins fell like rain.

With the crisp sound of them hitting the ground, one translucent spirit after another emerged, young and old alike, all with vacant expressions.

Seeing the familiar yet strange scenery outside, they immediately tried to run out, but none could move more than a meter from the house.

These spirits had died suddenly, some not even knowing why. They hadn’t had time to generate strong grudges, so their spiritual power was weak, especially after being suppressed for ten years.

They couldn’t maintain a solid form, let alone face sunlight.

When exposed to sunlight, their bodies became nearly transparent, about to dissipate, so they hurried back into the house.

Without the constraints of coins and silk, they remained suppressed, never able to transcend.

Shi Zong walked to the door, quietly observing inside, then softly said, “Ye Yunfeng, are you here? I am Jiang Wan’er.”

No response.

“It’s been ten years. How have you been? Do you want to know how I’ve been?”

Still no response.

“You don’t want to see me. Are you blaming me? Blaming me for misunderstanding you, not trusting you, thinking you betrayed me… blaming me for killing you?”

Still no response.

Whether it was Shi Zong’s acting or the desolate, eerie backyard, Zuo Sanqiu felt his eyes sting.

Not long after, he saw Shi Zong walk out, expressionless: “Looks like he doesn’t want to see me. Fine. Let’s go.”

“You… where are you going next?”

“To see my ceremonial grave.”

Leaving the house filled with spirits, Shi Zong and Zuo Sanqiu walked to an ancient banyan tree.

Due to long neglect, dead leaves had turned into layers of decomposed soil.

Part of the soil was cleared away, revealing a pit. In it lay some clothes, a hairpin, and a pair of silver bracelets.

The place was too damp; perhaps mold had corroded them. The multicolored clothes were nearly covered in black spots.

The bracelets and hairpin were similarly damaged.

Ten years ago, Jiang Wan’er was burned alive.

When Ye Yunfeng returned, he didn’t even know where her body was.

So he had no choice but to make a ceremonial grave for her.

This was found by Li Simei and Young Master Li not long ago; they had dug the pit.

According to Li Simei, the photo of Jiang Wan’er and Ye Yunfeng was taken from here.

Shi Zong looked down, carefully examining the grave, immediately realizing something was wrong.

The place was extremely damp, and ten years had passed, so the items were heavily damaged.

It wasn’t hard to guess the reason—

Ye Yunfeng insisted on marrying a girl from the slums, and not just that, the girl was a “wanton.” The Ye family’s face was ruined; they absolutely refused to let Ye Yunfeng dwell on Jiang Wan’er.

During the town-wide vote, the Ye family also voted to execute Jiang Wan’er.

Even if Ye Yunfeng loved Jiang Wan’er, he could only secretly create this ceremonial grave.

Otherwise, the Ye family might have destroyed it.

He did this in a hurry, needing to hide it, and didn’t find an ideal place, nor organize Jiang Wan’er’s belongings properly.

But… the clothes and hairpin were so damaged, yet the photo remained almost intact?

Something was wrong.

Ye Yunfeng could not let anyone discover this was Jiang Wan’er’s ceremonial grave.

He could bury clothes and jewelry, but he could not bury any item directly pointing to Jiang Wan’er.

If so, where did that photo come from?

A photo that shouldn’t exist.

Ye Yunfeng never appeared.

And the meaning of

Why did Jiang Wan’er flee from the marriage?

Could it be that she remembered something?

And why did Elder Gong help her?

The three major families were somewhat worried about this.

Considering that Jiang Wan’er should still have feelings for these men, even if she did remember something, their appearance in front of her might temporarily stabilize her.

Therefore, the three major families required the three men to immediately find Jiang Wan’er, monitor her state, and if necessary, appear in the role of her husband to calm or confuse her.

During this period, the families would consult Elder Gong to clarify his current stance before deciding on the next move.

Thus, the three men checked into the inn at 3:30 a.m.

Jiang Wan’er and Zhang Ye had checked in one hour earlier.

The last to arrive was Li Simei, reaching the inn at 6:30 a.m.

At 7:50 a.m., Second Young Master Li woke up.

At 8:20 a.m., he arrived at the front desk of the inn to wait for a call from his mother.

At 8:30 a.m., Liu Jinhua called as scheduled, informing him that Elder Gong had died and that the murder case had officially begun.

So far, only Zhang Ye, played by Zuo Sanqiu, admitted leaving the inn at 3 a.m. and encountering Elder Gong on the commercial street, striking him with a rolling pin.

Other than that, no one admitted to harming Elder Gong.

After reorganizing the timeline, Second Young Master Li spoke first.

This man was naturally noble; even sitting on the ground, he exuded the air of “I am richer than all of you,” radiating innate dignity.

He said, “I don’t like sorting out stories, so I focused mainly on investigating the murder itself.

“Did you notice that the NPC Ah Hua is very important? She disguised herself as Jiang Wan’er at the wedding to buy time for the real Jiang Wan’er’s escape. She was the deceased’s personal maid, having stayed closest to her. According to my investigation, Ah Hua also discovered the deceased’s death first and informed everyone.

“Observing everyone’s expressions, the first thing Wang Zhi’en and I did was locate Ah Hua. According to her, at 3:20 a.m., a few helpful people helped Elder Gong back to the Dongtian Fudi. He had a head injury, likely from a heavy blow, and was unconscious. Ah Hua helped him to the living quarters and then returned to her room to nap.

“So, regarding the incident that injured Elder Gong, Zhang Ye shouldn’t have lied.

“At 6:30 a.m., Ah Hua woke up and went to the back door of the living quarters to call Elder Gong for breakfast but didn’t see him.

“She then left through the front door, reached the front yard, and saw Elder Gong’s corpse.

“The phone in Dongtian Fudi was broken, and Elder Gong disliked being disturbed while meditating, so it was never repaired. After confirming his death, Ah Hua ran to the nearest Li family house, taking half an hour to report it.

“At 7 a.m., the Li family learned of Elder Gong’s death and immediately informed the other three major families.

“They initially believed Jiang Wan’er likely killed him and might have awakened.

“Therefore, they quickly ordered the entire town to hide and sent the family heads to the Outer World to recruit experts to deal with Jiang Wan’er.

“Additionally, Ah Hua confirmed that the note on the table saying ‘Jiang Wan’er is at the Eternal Burial Inn’ was written by her.

“Before Jiang Wan’er fled the marriage, Elder Gong arranged to meet her at the square. After handling the Zhang family, he went to the square but found Jiang Wan’er absent. So he had Ah Hua search for her.

“Ah Hua inquired on the street, couldn’t find Elder Gong at home, and left a note in the living quarters. That’s roughly what happened.

“Also, a crucial point: at 3:20 a.m., Ah Hua placed a bowl of rock sugar pear soup on the table for Elder Gong, who often coughed and needed the soup. She worried that if he woke from unconsciousness, he’d need it immediately.

“When we investigated, we found the bowl half-empty, and testing revealed it was poisoned…

“The system has excluded Ah Hua as the perpetrator. Therefore, the killer hid among us and secretly poisoned the soup after Ah Hua left.

“The soup was placed around 3:20 a.m., so the crime happened between 3:20 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.”

He paused and continued, “The three men on the opposite river checked into the inn at 3:30 a.m. Our investigation window is from 3:30 to 6:30 a.m.

“For Li Simei, I asked Zhang family guards; she left at 6 a.m. earliest. Walking from Zhang residence to Dongtian Fudi takes at least 40 minutes, so she had no time to commit the crime. She can be excluded for now.

“In my view, the most opportunity and motive lay with Jiang Wan’er and Zhang Ye.”

Squinting at Shi Zong and Zuo Sanqiu, Second Young Master Li continued, “No one knows how much memory Jiang Wan’er has recovered. Killing Elder Gong, she may be seeking revenge for herself.

“As for Zhang Ye, he was likely influenced by the ‘love curse’ to assist Jiang Wan’er. Moreover, he was jealous of Elder Gong and worried about Jiang Wan’er eloping with him.”

Caught off guard, Zuo Sanqiu was about to argue when Shi Zong spoke.

“Right now, we cannot confirm whether the deceased died from poison or arrow injury. But one thing is certain: the death was achievable by human means.

“If I had truly awakened, knowing I am a vengeful ghost… why would I kill Elder Gong using ordinary means, leaving so many traces, instead of using spells?”

Second Young Master Li was stunned by Shi Zong’s question but quickly responded, “No! At the time of the investigation, you hadn’t awakened as a ghost. When you killed Elder Gong, your memory hadn’t awakened, so neither had your spell abilities. Naturally, you could only use human methods, not spells!”

“Oh? Really?”

After a short pause, Shi Zong smiled faintly at him. “Since my memory hadn’t awakened then, where would my motive to kill come from?”

Author’s note:

Shi Zong: Ye Lang, you’re really bold.

Ye Yunfeng: “…………”

hhhhh everyone’s curious about the attacker, and he’s about to reveal himself officially.

Let’s first guess the culprit~