"Logically speaking, a tree that's been used for hanging should have its branches chopped and be marked with cinnabar. The fact that this tree doesn't have any of that suggests that no one ever touched it. The dead man who was hanging on the tree might still be there. We'll find out tonight by seeing if anything happens in the village."

A hanged ghost is a type of vengeful spirit.

Normally, when someone hangs themselves from a tree, the branch used for the hanging should be cut off and the stump smeared with cinnabar or something similar to prevent it from growing again. This is to release the hanged ghost and prevent it from pulling others to their death.

This isn't just something that occultists understand; even regular people know a bit about it, and it's not too difficult to do. A strong person could get it done around midday.

There's probably a reason why the villagers didn't touch this tree.

While the two were communicating telepathically, Ye Yang's eyes scanned a window where a family had hung a sachet. When the person saw Ye Yang looking at them, they quickly ducked back inside.

Ye Yang passed several houses and saw the same sachet at each one.

Wang Butcher also asked, "It's still a long way from the Dragon Boat Festival, why are you hanging fragrant sachets?"

Wang Butcher was asking a question he already knew the answer to. The sachets that the people were hanging weren't the fragrant sachets of the Dragon Boat Festival, but talisman pouches used by occultists.

When people here celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, in addition to inserting mugwort and peach branches at the door, they also hang a red cloth sachet. Most of them are filled with mugwort leaves. The meaning is nothing more than to ward off evil and bring good fortune.

A talisman pouch, however, is something worn around the neck to hold a protective talisman. It contains a real spiritual talisman.

The village chief chuckled dryly twice, "Aren't we close to the mountains? We have to hang something up on the first and fifteenth of every month."

The old man was clearly wary of the two of them.

Ye Yang and Wang Butcher exchanged a look and followed the village chief into the village without a word. Ye Yang telepathically said, "We have to find a way to get this old man to talk. It would be great if Ben Gou was here. He has ghost eyes."

Wang Butcher said calmly, "Don't worry, I'll handle it later. Let's wait until we get to Old Mo's house."

The village chief led them all the way to the end of the village, near the mountains, before stopping. "This is Mo Yatou's house. Go on in!"

Wang Butcher said with a half-smile, "Aren't you going in with us, old man? I need to go in and see if anything's missing, so you can be a witness."

The old village chief gritted his teeth, "Alright, I'll go in with you. Wait for me to go home and get an axe. I locked the lock, but I can't find the key. I need to find an axe to chop the lock open."

"No need!" Wang Butcher reached out and pinched the iron lock on the door, twisting and breaking the lock nose with a light snap.

The village chief was immediately dumbfounded. The lock nose was as thick as a little finger, and even with an axe, it would take a few chops to open, but Wang Butcher just snapped it off like a toothpick.

How could the old man not be afraid?

The old man's lips were still trembling when Wang Butcher pushed open the door.

Directly in front of the door was a screen wall. Logically speaking, it wasn't unusual for wealthy families to build a screen wall inside the gate. Usually, it was to prevent outsiders from seeing into the house when the gate was open.

The patterns on the screen wall were either the character "Fu" (good fortune) or auspicious beasts. In feng shui terms, it was to block evil spirits.

But the screen wall in the Mo family was painted with a strange symbol.

Wang Butcher subconsciously said, "May the deceased rest in peace."

Ye Yang also said, "Is this a family tomb?"

A family tomb is a relatively rare custom, meaning that the living and the dead share the same space. In one courtyard, half is for the living, and half is for burying deceased relatives.

This custom is rare not only in the Northeast but even in the South. After all, the idea that the living and the dead should be separated is deeply rooted in people's minds, and few people would think that family members should still live together after they die.

Moreover, people who build family tombs have already accepted in their minds that family members are together, so why would they add a soul-soothing talisman to the house to let the dead rest in peace?

After Ye Yang stepped into the courtyard, Wang Butcher also dragged the village chief into the courtyard.

Just as the two were about to walk around the screen wall to the left to enter the courtyard, they heard someone say coldly in the courtyard, "You've come? Please come in!"

The village chief's body went limp and he was about to sit on the ground, "There...there...there's someone there!"

Ye Yang and the courtyard were separated by a wall, and even with Ye Yang's divine eyes, he couldn't see what was in the courtyard.

Wang Butcher still wanted to go in, but the village chief was so scared that he knelt on the ground, "Two...two...I know, you're not ordinary people, you go in! Just don't take me with you."

Wang Butcher helped the village chief up, "Let me tell you the truth. I'm not Little Mo's sister-in-law, I'm the great immortal she hired."

Wang Butcher was afraid that the village chief wouldn't understand if he told him that he was an "occultist," so he used the term "great immortal," which is most familiar to people in the Northeast.

"Little Mo hired us to find out about the evil things that the Mo family encountered back then. Since we're here, we have to be responsible to the end."

"You heard it too, there are people living in Old Mo's courtyard. If we don't get things cleared up, maybe your whole village will be in trouble. I don't need you to risk your life with us, just tell me what you know."