Tang Ci placed the drone on the tallest tree, adjusting the camera angle downwards to capture a panoramic view of the Zhao family's courtyard. He held the other end of the drone, using a card to monitor the Zhao family's situation at any time.
However, after Qin Feng and Xiao Ming left, no one else entered the Zhao family's house. The drone footage consistently showed an empty courtyard, with not a single person in sight.
Lu Jiuchuan frowned: "Who set up the Zhao family's mourning hall?"
Tang Ci said, "Currently, the whereabouts of the Zhao family are unknown. Even if relatives set up a mourning hall, they wouldn't do so on the first day they disappeared. They would at least need to confirm that they are dead before setting up their memorial tablets. I estimate it will take at least three days."
"So, in other words, we have to keep monitoring the Zhao family for the next few days to find the person who set up the mourning hall?" Lu Jiuchuan paused, then added, "If he only offers incense to the Zhao family at night, Xiao Lou and the others, who are teleported to Ghost City at night, definitely won't encounter him. Therefore, only we can investigate who this person is."
"That's right," Tang Ci said calmly. "We've traveled back three years and can find some clues that Professor Xiao and his team couldn't investigate. Besides the people who set up the mourning hall for the Zhao family, there's also the origin of the 'vengeful ghost' legend. Don't you think there's something wrong with that?"
"Many people say they saw a ghost last night." Chu Huaying's voice came through the earpiece. "But the first person to say he saw a ghost last night was Old Man Liu, who lives near East Market. This old man is the oldest person in town, he is eighty years old and his eyesight is failing, so when he first said he saw a ghost, many people did not believe him."
"But later, several young people and children also said they saw vengeful ghosts, which is why the rumors of vengeful ghosts taking lives became more and more bizarre," Gui Yuanzhang added.
"Have you thoroughly investigated who exactly claimed to have seen the female ghost in white, and when and where they saw her?" Tang Ci asked in a low voice.
"Of course. When I was visiting the town just now, I wrote down the names of everyone who said they 'saw a vengeful ghost last night.'" Chu Huaying doesn't need paper and pen; she remembers things directly in her mind. Her physical abilities have been enhanced, and her memory is several times better than that of the average person.
Chu Huaying closed her eyes, carefully sorting through the information in her mind, and said, "Besides Old Man Liu, who was the first to mention a vengeful ghost, the others include Zhang Chengyu, a hunter living in the west of the city; Qin Ruolan, the clothing store owner living in the north of the city; Lin Yueran and his 7-year-old child Lin Doudou living in the south of the city; and Second Sister-in-law Xue, who sells tofu in the east of the city."
Upon hearing this, Tang Ci couldn't help but wonder: "Did people in all directions witness the white-clad female ghost?"
Chu Huaying nodded and said, "It's likely that the murderer deliberately wandered around the entire town, letting people from all directions see the ghost's figure, which would also make it easier for him to create public opinion about 'a vengeful ghost taking lives'."
Tang Ci asked, "When did these people see the vengeful ghost?"
Chu Huaying said with regret, "We were all terrified to see a ghost in the middle of the night. No one could say for sure what time it was, but everyone saw it after the rain stopped, which should have been around 3 AM."
Lu Jiuchuan said, "In other words, the Zhao family's Second Miss..." Zhao Zean got married at dawn on July 14th, and Chen Yu's wife gave birth at the same time. Chen Yu and Zhao Zesui left the town one after the other; Chen Yu went to burn paper money, while Zhao Zesui went on a date with a mysterious man. Meanwhile, a disheveled, white-clad female ghost appeared in the town, and then the Zhao and Chen families all disappeared.
Tang Ci said, "In this way, the suspicion of the Masked Man who secretly met with Zhao Zesui is greatly reduced. It is impossible for him to date Zhao Zesui at the same time, and also pretend to be a ghost, wandering around the town and being discovered by different people."
Lu Jiuchuan said, " Xiao Ming is not very suspicious. Last night was his wedding day. According to his description, he was waiting for the wedding procession in Yue Prefecture. He waited until the auspicious time had passed, but the bride was still nowhere to be seen. So, he first sent people back to Qingfeng Town to look for her. After learning that the bride was missing, he rushed to Qingfeng Town early the next morning."
Tang Ci agreed, saying, "I also think it's very unlikely that Xiao Ming committed the crime. As the groom, if he disappears, it would be easy for people to find out. Moreover, if he came to Qingfeng Town to pretend to be a ghost and kill someone, then returned to Yue Prefecture, and then acted out a scene to go back to Qingfeng Town to look for someone, there simply wouldn't be enough time."
It wasn't the groom Xiao Ming, nor the mysterious Masked Man who had a secret rendezvous with Miss Zhao. Who was the one who killed people last night disguised as a ghost? All four fell silent. After a moment, Lu Jiuchuan asked, "Where's Mayor Qin Feng?"
"It doesn't seem like it on the surface, but we don't have concrete evidence." Tang Ci paused, then suggested, "How about this, he's currently investigating the missing residents of the town, and his residence in Xiushui Lane is definitely empty. Let's go back and carefully examine his secret room?"
Lu Jiuchuan nodded readily: "Let's go, let's hurry."
Following the path from their memories, the two quickly arrived at Xiushui Lane and sneaked into Qin Feng's residence.
Upon arriving at the study, Tang Ci quickly walked to the bookshelf—he remembered that there was a very thick copy of "Compendium of Materia Medica" in the middle of the bookshelf, and that if he pulled out this book, the bookshelf would unfold to both sides, revealing a secret room.
Tang Ci gently pulled out the book, but to his surprise, the bookshelf in front of him remained completely still.
Lu Jiuchuan was taken aback: "The secret room? Wasn't this book the mechanism from three years ago?"
Tang Ci frowned and looked around, trying to pull out other books, but the bookshelf remained unresponsive. He reached out and carefully tapped around the walls, and...
There was no response.
Tang Ci stated confidently, "Three years ago, there was no secret room in this study. In other words, when the serial murders occurred, Qin Feng did not use a secret room to hide a whole room full of rattle drums."
Lu Jiuchuan's expression changed, and he said, "Go to his bedroom and see if that roster is there."
The two hurried into the adjacent bedroom—the wooden cabinet beside the bed was still there, but it wasn't locked. Lu Jiuchuan opened the cabinet and took out a large stack of rosters, which indeed contained information on all the residents of the town.
Tang Ci and Lu Jiuchuan each took half of the roster and flipped through it quickly, but they couldn't find the one marked with red crosses.
All the rosters look normal.
The two looked at each other in bewilderment.
Just then, footsteps sounded outside, sounding like two people walking into the courtyard side by side.
Lu Jiuchuan immediately took Tang Ci and flew to the rooftop, listening intently to the sounds inside.
Qin Feng then asked, "Young Master Xiao, do you know if the Zhao family has any relatives or friends in other places?"
Xiao Ming said, "I really don't know. I've met Miss Zhao no more than three times. We were betrothed since childhood... By the way, I just heard many people say that a vengeful ghost appeared in the town last night. The fifteenth of July is the Ghost Festival. Could it be that the Zhao family did something heinous and were killed by a vengeful ghost?"
Qin Feng laughed and said, "One shouldn't believe everything about ghosts and gods. How about this, Young Master Xiao, you should go back to the inn and rest first. I will send someone to inform you as soon as possible if there is any news."
Xiao Ming nodded, then turned and left with a solemn expression.
Qin Feng paced back and forth alone in his study, his brow furrowed as if deep in thought. After a moment, he took out a blank blue notebook, sat down at his desk, picked up a pen, and began to write carefully, stroke by stroke.
Lu Jiuchuan was hiding on the roof, and through the gaps in the tiles, one could see the names of the people who had disappeared the previous night that he had written down.
Chen Yu's family consists of eleven people.
Zhao Zean's family consists of eighteen people.
He meticulously wrote down everyone's name in the notebook. Lu Jiuchuan and Tang Ci exchanged a glance—this was the very same roster they had discovered during their investigation three years later, except that by then, the names on the roster had been marked with a red cross.
Back at the inn, Tang Ci said in a low voice, " Qin Feng shouldn't be the murderer; he's probably been investigating the murderer all along."
Lu Jiuchuan stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment before saying, "It seems that Qin Feng's roster only records innocent dead people. He didn't put any red crosses on the roster just now because he might not be sure if these people are dead and only recorded them as missing persons."
Tang Ci suddenly realized a crucial point: "But many people on the list we found are neither dead nor missing; they are still alive and well. Why would Qin Feng include their names?"
Lu Jiuchuan said helplessly, "We'll have to wait for Xiao Lou and the others to investigate. We won't be able to find out anything that happened three years from now."
Tang Ci asked, "Then how should we leave clues for Xiao Lou?"
Lu Jiuchuan also fell into deep thought.
How can someone from three years ago leave clues for their teammates three years later?
Living in different times and spaces, they cannot communicate directly. All team teleportation, voice headsets, and telepathic connections are disabled. How can people from the past and people from the present communicate with each other?
Suddenly, Tang Ci had an idea and said, " Xiao Lou and the others can see the list that Qin Feng started recording three years ago. If we leave some books behind, Xiao Lou can find them in three years, right?"
Lu Jiuchuan's eyes lit up: "That's right. The problem is, how should we leave the clues? Where is it safest to leave them? So much has changed in three years. If someone takes away the clues we left behind, Xiao Lou might end up with nothing. And if they can't find us after dawn, they'll be extremely anxious."
Just then, Gui Yuanzhang suddenly said, "My calligraphy and painting should come in handy."
Tang Ci asked, " Old Gui, what do you want to paint?"
Gui Yuanzhang said, "Draw some pictures depicting scenes from three years ago, and then hide them in a place that Xiao Lou and the others would definitely go to, but that others would rarely go to—"
The most dangerous place is often the safest.
Tang Ci quickly realized: "You mean, the two crime scenes, the Zhao family's and the Chen family's?"
Gui Yuanzhang nodded: "Since the Zhao and Chen families are rumored to be haunted by vengeful ghosts, the residents of Qingfeng Town will definitely not dare to approach these two haunted houses. But Xiao Lou and his team want to investigate, so they will naturally go back to the scene to look for clues. We will draw these clues into pictures and hide them in the Zhao and Chen families' locations. When Xiao Lou and his team go back in three years, they will understand what we mean."