Breathing rapidly, his body nearly reaching its limit, and without ti to bandage his wound, Tong Han swallowed mouthfuls of water, forcing down the sweet tallic taste in his throat, and planned to leave a clue for Yang Xiao.
Tremblingly reaching into his bosom, he took out the Buddha Beads and placed them on the blue stone slab in front of the door. Then, extending his right hand, he winced in pain as he drew a circle of blood around the Buddha Beads. The circle was not completely closed, leaving about a quarter of a gap—this hint was enough for Yang Xiao.
After completing all this, Tong Han steadied his spirit, quickly recalled the experiences along the way, and confird that nothing was missed before moving forward. He then pulled out a round-headed wooden stick from the bamboo tube and rang the wooden chi hanging by the door.
The Ghost Village Chief’s identity did not need to be disclosed by him; Cheng Cha would surely tell Yang Xiao when they returned. All he had to do now was take care of his own duties; the rest was up to Yang Xiao.
In the room, an anxiously waiting Yang Xiao heard the chi sound and finally let his heart rest. He put on the last mask, held the incense in his hand, and walked outside.
Hearing the chi sound, Cheng Cha, who stood guarding outside, stepped back voluntarily, making way and signaling that he had no intention of barging into the room. After the people quickly closed the door, Cheng Cha alone in the courtyard turned to watch Yang Xiao leave.
Upon reaching the main gate of the ancestral ho, the door was wide open, and a figure stood outside. Judging by the clothes and build, it should be Tong Han.
But as he drew closer, Yang Xiao’s brows furrowed deeply. He saw bloodstains on Tong Han’s clothes and even more shockingly, his naturally hanging right hand was missing two fingers, with fresh blood dripping onto the ground from the wound.
Since they both were wearing masks, they couldn’t clearly see each other’s expressions. As Tong Han stepped over the threshold, he lightly nodded at Yang Xiao as they brushed past each other.
Yang Xiao’s attention was quickly drawn to the front door, to a circle drawn in blood on the blue stone slab. He was all too familiar with this marking, which had appeared more than once in the village. Undoubtedly, this was the clue Tong Han had left him, and in the center of the blood circle lay a string of Buddha Beads.
Stepping out the door and picking up the Buddha Beads, he felt their slightly greasy touch, stained with Tong Han’s blood. Yang Xiao quickly discovered engraved characters on the Buddha Beads, the Six Syllable Mantra "Om Mani Pad Hum," but he was most shocked to see the character "Mang."
The Mang of Mangjia Village.
The character was in gold, surrounded by a ring all too familiar to him. It instantly made Yang Xiao recall the Ghost Dream from the previous night where he saw the Ghost Monk and a crowd of villagers worshipping in the ancestral hall, with a circle mark engraved on the stone platform at the base of the hall.
At the ti, he had noticed a character inside the circle, but unfortunately, he hadn’t seen it clearly. Now, the appearance of these Buddha Beads confird it—a Mang character was inside the circle.
No wonder... no wonder the villagers wanted to grind off the character inside the circle, because this place was never Du Family Village; it was Mangjia Village!
These villagers were indeed as they said, people from Du Family Village. Their previous conjectures about the story developnt weren’t wrong; they just got the roles reversed. The murderers were from Du Family Village, and the murdered were from Mangjia Village, which was once Mangjia Village.
As for the so-called "Mangjia Village" to the east, it was completely fictitious; that was Du Family Village, the origin of these Du Family people.
Bringing the Buddha Beads close to his face, Yang Xiao slled a stench of decay, guessing that these beads must have been stolen by Tong Han from the ghost villagers wandering in the village at night.
Already able to hear the rustling footsteps gradually drawing near, Yang Xiao didn’t linger and, clutching the blood-stained Buddha Beads, walked into the fog ahead.
The task was still not finished, which ant that these Buddha Beads were not what they were looking for tonight. Although Cheng Cha and Tong Han had both failed, and Tong Han had lost two fingers, their efforts were not in vain; they brought a plethora of clues to Yang Xiao and bought him more ti.
The village chief was an elderly man dressed in green, with a cloth tied around his right leg as a mark. Stepping on his shadow would immobilize him by the ghosts, as per the clues brought back by Cheng Cha.
And Tong Han brought back the Buddha Beads engraved with the Mang character, indicating to Yang Xiao this place was not Du Family Village but the once Mangjia Village—which was a crucial clue.
Recalling the miserable condition of Tong Han, Yang Xiao could fully imagine how perilous her previous experience had been. Shortly after entering the fog, Yang Xiao encountered a group of zombie-like villagers who moved by shuffling on the ground without lifting their feet, just as he had seen in his dream.
With the clues at hand, Yang Xiao quickly identified the old village chief hidden among the villagers and used the Soul-Attracting Incense to lure him out of the ghost villagers’ ranks.
To prevent any mishaps, Yang Xiao specifically verified the old village chief’s right leg tied with the cloth. Indeed, it was a wooden leg.
Under the allure of the Soul-Attracting Incense, the old village chief was very cooperative, even when his body was touched, he did not react much.
Yang Xiao couldn’t help but notice the old village chief’s face, his mouth sared with fresh blood stains which looked extrely terrifying against his pallid face.
This blood must have been left by Tong Han. After examining the old village chief from head to toe, Yang Xiao boldly speculated that Tong Han must have realized the chief had sothing in his mouth, so she reached out two fingers to extract it, but did not anticipate an accident, resulting in her fingers being bitten off.
Yang Xiao had great admiration for Tong Han—decisive in action, cutting through ambiguity, reliable, and loyal. Even n couldn’t match her, no wonder Mo Daidai had chosen her.
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