1TWITF[C Chapter 23

Chapter 23

An Xingyu also noticed He Lou’s abnormality. He followed the other person’s gaze and saw a young man who looked very gentle. He gently nudged He Lou’s elbow, his inorganic eyes silently inquiring.

He was just… he never thought that the other party could survive. Although he behaved so cleverly and was so cold and terrifying, in the face of absolute power, that is, in the face of the completely mad Taoist priest, he really couldn’t figure out how Lu Yanli escaped.

He Lou couldn’t help but wonder, recalling Lu Yanli’s cowardly, kind, and good-natured appearance when he first entered the world, was he really not recognizing him, or was he pretending?

Or, in this world, is there someone who looks so similar to him?

For a time, he fell into his thoughts, still listening attentively to the village chief speaking on the surface, but his eyes still couldn’t help but glance in Lu Yanli’s direction from time to time.

The village chief was speaking passionately, but suddenly stopped, his eyes narrowed, and he looked straight at He Lou. Under the faint light of the lanterns, his face was eerie and terrifying.

“There is a guest here who doesn’t abide by the rules…”

The whole audience also quieted down, following the village chief’s direction and turning their heads to look at He Lou in unison. Their expressions were as eerie and strange as the village chief’s, and they spoke neatly.

“Guest, why don’t you abide by the rules?”

Their faces turned pale, and their slender, bright red mouths opened and closed. On closer inspection, they were similar to the paper dolls placed in the mourning hall. There was no smile in their curved smiling eyes, but full of coldness and cruelty.

Lu Yanli stood in the crowd of villagers, also turned his head to look at He Lou, and also curled his lips, the horror and cruelty in his eyes were even more than that of the villagers.

“Guest, you don’t abide by the rules… you don’t abide by the rules…”

“Those who don’t abide by the rules… will…”

He Lou’s cold sweat broke out all at once.

But thinking about it, the “people” in this village may no longer be considered human beings. Their obsession with the rules must be far beyond what ordinary people can compare to. So it’s possible that they are particularly sensitive to this aspect?

What to do?

What to do?! What should he do?

The other executors who came with him were also sweating coldly.

Although they had also read the village rules and knew that this might be the key for them to leave the village alive, after all, they were not from the village, and they did not have a very clear concept of “violating the village rules will result in death.” Therefore, they may not have been listening to the village chief very carefully just now.

Who knew that He Lou would be caught?

An Xingyu, who was standing next to him, immediately shut his mouth and looked at the village chief earnestly. He couldn’t help but sweat for He Lou.

What would he do?

He Lou was also someone who had done many missions. Apart from underestimating Lu Yanli that time and suffering a severe setback, he had gained some experience in dealing with these strange things. After panicking for a few seconds, he immediately apologized before the sentence “to be punished” was spoken: “Village chief, the village rules say that everyone must happily celebrate together during the wedding feast.”

He emphasized the word “happy.” When he said this sentence, his palms were full of sweat, and he was stiff in place, but he still forcibly made a calm appearance. Even the frequency of his breathing did not change much.

If it wasn’t for the cold sweat on his back that had already soaked his clothes, He Lou would have thought that he was calm and composed.

As he said these words, the smiles of all the villagers froze on their faces, and their opening and closing slender cracks stopped, maintaining a ridiculous angle of trying to raise their mouths and speak. Lu Yanli was no exception, standing in the crowd, with the same weird smile frozen on his face.

The sound of the suona continued, and the crackling firecrackers and the distant, stiff sounds of welcoming the bride were getting closer and closer. Even the cold wind seemed to stagnate.

The only thing still moving now was the village chief’s son in the black and white photo. His smile slowly drooped down, the corners of his mouth and eyes gradually turned downward, and his black eyes stared straight at He Lou.

“Village chief, the village rules say that everyone must happily celebrate together during the wedding feast.”

An abnormality occurred, but He Lou became even calmer. He repeated his words again.

Yes, he had studied that village rule carefully several times.

Village rules, village rules.

As villagers, they must naturally abide by them. How could they be unhappy at the wedding feast?

One second, two seconds, three seconds…

A few short seconds were longer than a few hours.

Finally, the stagnant wind blew again, and the village chief and the villagers’ pale, papery expressions also began to move.

“Today is my son’s wedding feast, everyone should happily celebrate,” the village chief said again.

The entire square came back to life again. Those villagers put on happy smiles again and listened quietly to the village chief.

Lu Yanli also withdrew his gaze, behaving like the other villagers, listening carefully to the village chief and applauding when he should.

He Lou secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but he never dared to try to violate the village rules again. This time was okay, but what if there was a next time?

The others were the same.

Just looking at the performance of these villagers, it was difficult to convince themselves that they were still human. But the tasks they were performing had their own rules, which even ghosts had to abide by. This was their only way to escape. They didn’t even dare to look at each other, and waited quietly.

These rules were told to them by a villager who sat with He Lou after the village chief finished speaking and announced that everyone could take their seats.

The village chief recited a long string of words. Listening carefully, it was nothing more than advising his son that he had found a very, very good wife for him, and that he should be at peace in the future and treat his wife well. He also told his unmarried wife that if she abided by the village rules, everyone in Red River Village would accept her, but if she did not abide by them, then Red River would definitely punish her and make her uneasy.

Still the rules…

Therefore, they absolutely, absolutely could not violate them.

He Lou finally glanced at Lu Yanli’s back and withdrew his gaze.

Regarding this person, he could try to test him again tomorrow, but now the wedding feast was the most important thing.

One dish after another was brought up. And when the first dish was placed on the table, the executors couldn’t help but clench their fists.

“Why aren’t you eating?” the villager raised his head in confusion.

Their eyes were full of cold malice, and their mouths became slender, opening and closing.

“Why aren’t you eating?”

“The guests are not abiding by the rules again. Guests who don’t abide by the rules… Guests who don’t abide by the rules…”

The others were also sweating coldly.

“Why aren’t you eating?” That villager had a pink tail exposed at the corner of his mouth. He showed a mouthful of white, sharp teeth.

“You don’t abide by the rules…”

That villager paused, and the pink tail immediately disappeared.

Looking at He Lou again, the cruelty in his eyes was even greater: “You… don’t abide by the rules…”

A liquid with an extremely strong, bloody smell splashed out, exploding in his mouth. He Lou resisted the urge and forced himself to swallow it, smiling and saying, “Very delicious.”

Only then did that villager shift his gaze and stare straight at the others.

Whether it was a coincidence or not, one person took one mushroom, and the dish of mushrooms was cleared out.

Only then did that villager’s expression improve, and he regained his vitality.

But the executors were miserable. One by one, they stuffed the mushrooms into their mouths without any precautions, and were almost disgusted to the point of vomiting by the extremely strong, bloody smell. He Lou said in time, “Everyone should enjoy the food.” They thought of what the village rules said about not wasting food, and barely swallowed it.

Except for Chen Zhenghao.

The others had just entered their mouths at this time, with Chen Zhenghao’s reaction and He Lou’s reminder. They forcibly ate it, and even made an enjoyable appearance. Immediately, the eyes of the entire village shifted to Chen Zhenghao.

“Guest, you don’t abide by the rules.”

One sound after another, like an echo, one sentence after another came from all directions, and pairs of malicious eyes stared over.

What to do?!

Because of fear, he was trembling, his voice was trembling, and cold sweat was breaking out on his forehead. He tried to appear sincere, so that the villagers would let him go.

However, seeing that he had admitted it, the smiles on the faces of those villagers completely widened, and identical smiling faces appeared on pale faces.

“Guest, you don’t abide by the rules, you must be punished!!”

It’s terrible…

He Lou lowered his head.

Chen Zhenghao was bound to die, there was no need to drag herself down.

There was a flash in An Xingyu’s pure black eyes. He handed over a handkerchief and stuffed it into Ding Conglu’s mouth, which was about to scream, and then held down Ding Conglu’s constantly twisting body.

He Lou had already demonstrated just now that as long as he didn’t admit it and pointed out the villagers’ violations, he could escape.

Why did he have to admit it?

However, the words had already been spoken, and no matter how much he regretted it, it was of no use. Chen Zhenghao stood in front of the table, surrounded by sharp, excited laughter. He knew that he was about to die, subconsciously swallowed, and his whole body kept shaking, almost collapsing.

I, I’m going to die…

If I die, what will happen to Xiao Lu?

She is the most timid, and no one will protect her in the future…

The whimper in Ding Conglu’s mouth was even more intense, forcibly blocked by the handkerchief, and she couldn’t make a sound. She turned her head to look at the others, her eyes full of pain and pleading.

Please, save him!!

He Lou met Ding Conglu’s gaze and shook his head slowly.

He couldn’t save people. Even the reason he chose to eat the mushroom just now was because he saw Lu Yanli pick up a mushroom and eat it. But Chen Zhenghao… he couldn’t save him.

“Punish! Punish!”

Sharp, thin voices came in waves, and several children clapped their hands and sang nursery rhymes in tender voices.

“If you make a mistake, you must be punished. If you want to be punished, how should you be punished? If you want to be punished, ask the village chief! The village chief said, how should you be punished?”

After the children finished singing the nursery rhyme, the entire village became quiet, and the villagers looked at the village chief excitedly.

The village chief’s outline was blurred in the light of the lanterns. The corners of his mouth were almost raised to his ears, and he said, “He has violated the rules, he must be punished.”

“Punish him—to make lanterns for Uncle Wu tonight.”

The children clapped their hands and sang nursery rhymes, which were not very clear in the increasingly approaching sound of the suona.

The person who violated the rules was punished, and all the villagers were very happy. Chen Zhenghao was also very happy. The tension eased, and his whole body collapsed on the chair, his chest rising and falling violently.

Fortunately, it was just making lanterns. Even if he made lanterns for a whole month, it would be better than losing his life.

Chen Zhenghao, who thought he had escaped death, hugged Ding Conglu and wept with joy. He didn’t notice the pitying gazes of the others.

Shen Na exchanged a look with He Lou and thought of the lanterns she had seen at Uncle Wu’s house.

That skin was…

The cold wind blew even harder, the night was thick and black, and the heavy, colorful lanterns couldn’t illuminate it, as if all the light was swallowed by the night.

The executors didn’t dare to say anything more, and waited quietly.

Strangely, the sound of the suona in their ears was getting louder and louder. People discussed several times that the bride was about to arrive, but the bride never arrived. The sound of the suona was getting closer and closer, but it always seemed to be some distance away.

The coffin of the village chief’s son had already been dug out and placed in his room when he was alive.

Waiting only for midnight, the two of them would open the coffin and perform the ceremony.

Several strong laborers put down their chopsticks and went to the inner room.

After a while, the fishy smell came with the wind.

It was the smell of soil after long-term burial combined with the stench of rotting flesh. Four strong men carried the coffin slowly towards the center of the mourning hall, the heavy wooden black coffin swaying gently with their steps, showing that it was not light.

An Xingyu keenly noticed that the coffin was not nailed shut, at least the lid was not tightly closed, and the bottom of the coffin was still stuck with fresh soil and a few withered grasses.

It really was dug out today.

An Xingyu shook his head and didn’t speak.

Maybe he had done too many questions. He had just tried to calculate the weight of the coffin by the depth of the footprints, but now he thought it was unnecessary.

“The groom is here——”

The old man in the village drawled out the shout, his somewhat hoarse voice seeming to have great penetrating power, not being drowned out by the sound of the suona at all.

The next moment, the music soared!

Suona, trumpets, gongs, waist drums… the procession played and beat all the way.

In the mourning hall, the man’s smile was even bigger.

“The bride is here——” the old man shouted again loudly.

The wind was colder and more urgent in an instant. Except for the remaining task executors who wrapped their clothes tighter, the other villagers were unaware, and each stretched their necks to watch.

They really stretched their necks.

An Xingyu looked at the villager in front of him and keenly noticed that the other party’s neck was about five centimeters longer. Ordinary people think that a long neck looks good, and many girls also pursue a swan neck, but when the neck really grows to this point… it’s really a bit terrifying.

Now they were not prohibited from speaking, and the crowd gathered in twos and threes to chat, either saying that the bride and groom were a match made in heaven, or blessing them to be blessed by the Red River and to be successfully married.

Several task executors took the opportunity to gather together and communicate in low voices. He Lou was instructing while looking around.

With this look, He Lou noticed something was wrong.

He didn’t seem to have seen any young people.

The village rules said that the whole village must be together during the wedding feast. Especially today was the village chief’s wedding feast, and everyone in the village should have gathered here, but he only saw middle-aged and elderly people, and the youngest was also in their thirties.

However, there were still many children in the village.

So, where did those young people, those in their twenties, go?

While thinking, a familiar figure appeared in front of him. He Lou steadied himself and immediately walked over and patted the other person’s shoulder.

“Hello, are you Lu Yanli?” He Lou smiled reluctantly.

As soon as he saw him, He Lou couldn’t help but think of the tragic situation of his last mission. Maybe it was a psychological shadow. Now, standing in front of Lu Yanli, there was still a voice shouting in his heart, telling him to stay away from this man.

Lu Yanli smiled: “I am a reporter, here to do folklore research.”

“Folklore research?”

Thinking of the terrible “delicacies” on the table, He Lou clenched his five fingers into a fist: “Yes, very delicious.”

Many horror movies are like this. Ghosts are no different from living people when they don’t know that they are dead, but once they recall that they are dead, they will become extremely terrifying vengeful ghosts!

Even if the other party was alive, He Lou didn’t want to have anything to do with him again.

He stood further away from Lu Yanli, and a group of people stretched their necks to watch the ceremony of the bride’s coffin being carried out.

A bright red embroidered shoe stretched out from the white bridal sedan chair and stepped on the ground.