Chu Huaying quickly arrived at Han Ningshuang's house, lay on the roof, and listened intently to what was happening inside.
After Qin Feng left, Han Ningshuang had already fallen asleep, but after a while, she seemed unable to sleep, so she simply changed her clothes.
The woman in black sneaked out of the house, and Chu Huaying narrowed her eyes and immediately followed her.
Chu Huaying's physical attributes had been enhanced, making her move with lightning speed. She could follow her target from a distance without them noticing. Even with Han Ningshuang's heightened senses, he failed to detect the ghostly presence of Chu Huaying behind him.
Han Ningshuang walked quickly and soon left the town and entered the woods.
The soft moonlight enveloped the woods. Han Ningshuang, with a serious expression, hurried toward Mass Grave.
At the edge of the woods is a cliff, above which rises the summit of Mass Grave.
Han Ningshuang gripped the vines with both hands and nimbly climbed upwards. She was clearly very familiar with this place, her feet precisely stepping into the artificial pits on both sides of the vines, and like a nimble monkey, she reached the top of the mountain in the blink of an eye.
Chu Huaying's arms could extend, and after Han Ningshuang had climbed more than halfway up, she stretched out her arms, used the recessed stone pits on the cliff as a foothold, quickly climbed up, and leaped, landing lightly on the mountaintop.
After Han Ningshuang climbed to the top of the cliff, she headed towards Mass Grave. Chu Huaying didn't dare to get too close and kept her distance. After a moment, Han Ningshuang stopped, and Chu Huaying quickly slipped behind a tombstone.
A dark figure appeared in Han Ningshuang's field of vision, standing in front of him, its voice hoarse: "Why are you here?"
Han Ningshuang said, " A-Ran, I was too careless and made a mistake in my words. Qin Feng already knows that the disappearance of the Zhao and Chen families is related to me, and he even guessed that I was playing the role of a female ghost while flying a kite."
The man chuckled softly, a half-smile playing on his lips, and said, " Qin Feng is indeed clever. I knew he would find out, after all, only a few of us have a blood feud with the Zhao and Chen families." He shrugged and said, "It doesn't matter. Even if Qin Feng knew, he wouldn't stop it. Has he forgotten how his mother died? Forgotten how she treated him back then?"
Han Ningshuang gritted her teeth and said, " Qin Feng probably won't expose me. But I'm worried that the other people in town will recognize me."
The man reached out and gently patted her shoulder, saying, "Ning Shuang, you were only nine years old when you left Qingfeng Town, and now you're over twenty. Girls change a lot as they grow up. Back then, you were just a dirty little girl, but now you're Second Sister-in-law Xue, who sells tofu. No one except Qin Feng will recognize you, so you don't have to worry about that."
Han Ningshuang was silent for a moment, then said, "I don't want to stay in Qingfeng Town as Second Sister-in-law Xue anymore."
The man sighed and said, "Alright, just tell the neighbors you're remarrying and moving to another town. Pack your things and leave after a while to avoid arousing suspicion. Also, get rid of that Old Man Liu. Although he's old and blind and mistook your kite for a ghost, he's still very close to you. If he remembers some details, he might cause you trouble. Only the dead can keep secrets."
Han Ningshuang nodded: "Yes, let's work together to wipe out all the remnants of Qingfeng Town."
Chu Huaying grew increasingly alarmed as she listened—
As everyone suspected, Han Ningshuang knew the murderer and had already planned his revenge.
She spread rumors of vengeful ghosts claiming lives by flying kites in the town, while the man was the mastermind, using evil magic to lure the Zhao and Chen families to Mass Grave, where he tortured them to death.
Just then, the man's sharp gaze suddenly swept behind the tombstone: "Who's there?!"
Chu Huaying was confident that she had controlled her voice well, but she hadn't expected this person to have such keen hearing. He had heard her breathing falter for just two seconds. She absolutely couldn't reveal her identity. With that thought, Chu Huaying had a sudden inspiration. She picked up a pebble with her right hand and flicked it lightly.
Startled, the crows that had landed on the tree cawed and flew away into the distance. Taking advantage of the moment, Chu Huaying turned and left. Her movements were as fast as the wind. In the blink of an eye, she reached the edge of the cliff and quickly climbed down the vines.
Han Ningshuang breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Just a few crows."
The man frowned and said, "Go back first, and I'll make arrangements."
As Han Ningshuang climbed down the vines, she didn't notice a pair of eyes watching her from the darkness. Chu Huaying hid in the shadows and followed her after she turned and entered the woods.
Han Ningshuang returned home and this time actually went to sleep.
Chu Huaying returned to the inn and told her teammates what she had discovered: " Han Ningshuang did indeed conspire with the murderer. The other party is a man, who, like Han Ningshuang, was also raised by his grandmother. More importantly, this person is wearing a black mask."
Tang Ci paused, then suddenly remembered someone: "Could he be the man who met Zhao Zean's daughter, Zhao Zesui, outside the city on the night of Zhao Zean's wedding?"
Lu Jiuchuan slapped his forehead: "That's right, we almost forgot about this key person!"
Gui Yuanzhang also said, "We ruled out Masked Man as a suspect because he didn't have enough time to commit the crime. When Zhao Zesui was on a date with him, Zhao Zean's wedding procession had already disappeared in the woods. The white-clad female ghost only appeared in the town after that. We thought it was impossible for him to be on a date with Zhao Zesui while also going to the town to dress up as a female ghost... Now that it has been confirmed that the female ghost was Han Ningshuang in disguise and had nothing to do with him, he has plenty of time to commit the crime."
Tang Ci said, "So, this Masked Man first led Zhao Zean's wedding procession to Mass Grave, then came to the town gate to meet Zhao Zesui. At the same time, Han Ningshuang disguised herself as a female ghost in town to confuse the situation. After the Masked Man separated from Zhao Zesui, Zhao Zesui turned around and walked towards Mass Grave as if she had been bewitched. Was the rattle drum sound made by this masked man?"
Lu Jiuchuan asked in a low voice, " Hua Ying, do you know his name?"
Chu Huaying said, " Han Ningshuang calls him A-Ran, but we don't know his full name. We can find him in town."
The homeless man inquired. "I remember three years from now, there were several homeless people who had survived the famine. They should be in Qingfeng Town now."
Lu Jiuchuan nodded readily, "Okay, we'll talk about it when it's light." He paused, then turned to Tang Ci and said, "By the way, Xiao Tang and I just happened to run into Zhao's eldest daughter-in-law setting up the mourning hall, and in our haste we only managed to retrieve the drone." The card and the letter are still at the Zhao family's house. Instead of leaving a clue for Xiao Lou, why don't we continue to add information to the drone story?
Tang Ci said, "Yes, if the letter gets wet, the handwriting will easily disappear. We need to photograph all the clues to the drone." The card itself won't be damaged. Leaving the drone to Xiao Lou and letting him deduce based on what he sees is the most reliable approach.
Lu Jiuchuan agreed: "Our subjective thinking will affect Xiao Lou. If we make a mistake in our reasoning, it will lead them astray. Let's use the drone to take pictures of all the clues we see and give them to him so that he can analyze them himself."
***
Original world.
Xiao Lou deduced from the letter left three years ago that Han Ningshuang was Second Sister-in-law Xue, and the only one who was lying.
There were no witnesses to her so-called "remarriage"; it was just something she told her neighbors. Xiao Lou analyzed, " Han Ningshuang's whereabouts were likely exposed, and she used remarriage to another place as an excuse to leave Qingfeng Town and continue committing crimes in hiding."
Yu Hanjiang said, "This letter only gave us a few simple points. Did Ninth Brother and the others find too few clues in the world three years ago?"
Xiao Lou thought for a moment, then took out the drone. card.
He thought, if Tang Ci and his group really did leave behind complete clues, drone Cards are a better way than letters, as the preservation of letters is affected by external factors. The card will not be damaged.
Sure enough, he took out the drone and played it for a while, and found that it contained a wealth of footage.
The rattle drums played by the Zhao and Chen families were actually set off by Qin Feng.
Han Ningshuang also had an accomplice, the masked man!
Everyone was incredibly excited after seeing Drone's contents. Liu Qiao exclaimed, "It seems the killer is this Masked Man?"
Xiao Lou shook his head: "I always feel like something's missing."
Old Mo asked doubtfully, "Aren't the clues complete enough?"
Yu Hanjiang quickly understood Xiao Lou's meaning. He said, "We're still missing the one for Shao Qingge and Ye Qi. These two may have gone to the world twenty years ago. The clues that Ninth Brother and the others couldn't find should have been found by CEO Shao and Ye Qi."
Xiao Lou frowned slightly: " Where would CEO Shao and the others hide the clues?"
After all, it's a full twenty-year time span, and CEO Shao doesn't have drones in his possession. Cards are easily damaged or discovered after twenty years if letters are left behind. Besides, twenty years ago, neither the Zhao nor Chen family homes were considered haunted houses; neither family member disappeared. Perhaps back then, Qingfeng Town didn't even have a Zhao or Chen family compound…
Where will he leave the clues?