Chapter 18 The Return of the Funeral Procession

The two found a secluded corner, sat down, and pretended to chat casually as they opened a phone, a somewhat unclear video began to play.

As the video progressed, Jiang Cheng quickly understood what Tang Qisheng meant by the accidental twist of fate. The video began with a view of the courtyard gate. Judging from the shooting angle, it was likely mounted on a tree or wall, a high position. The camera was diagonally facing the courtyard gate, overlooking it, just enough to capture the body being carried out.

At the time, many people had come to the courtyard, creating a chaotic scene. Jiang Cheng guessed that Tang Qisheng must have taken advantage of the chaos to set up the phone.

As Tang Qisheng had predicted, the funeral procession carried the body out of the courtyard gate, but the body was wrapped tightly and covered with a layer of white cloth, plus the crowd obscured the view, making it impossible to see any problems.

But soon an accident occurred. The video suddenly shook violently. When the camera stabilized, the view was already aimed in another direction, towards the road leading to the village.

Jiang Cheng quickly realized that the phone had fallen from a high place. The reason was temporarily unclear, perhaps a gust of wind, or simply not being placed securely.

But that didn't matter anymore. Tang Qisheng dragged the progress bar, there was still a long way to go, and the picture was almost static, with no one on the road.

"Here it comes." Tang Qisheng released his hand.

This time the picture changed. A procession of mourners in white hemp appeared from the far end of the lens. Jiang Cheng was now certain that the funeral procession was indeed returning from the village, not from outside the village.

But there was something vaguely strange about this procession. They were all dressed the same, but… but it seemed different from the previous procession.

As the procession gradually approached, Jiang Cheng finally found the source of his unease. The sad atmosphere of the past was gone from this procession, replaced by a sense of joy. The faces of the people at the front were smiling, and the heartfelt smiles looked chilling at this moment.

This was a funeral, not a wedding. Jiang Cheng clenched his fingers. He didn't understand what these villagers were so happy about, but he could vaguely feel that it might be related to them.

"Don't get distracted, the highlight is coming up."

Tang Qisheng reminded in a low voice, his fingers trembling slightly as he held the phone. Even though he already knew what was coming, he was still nervous.

Just as the funeral procession approached the courtyard, the entire procession suddenly stopped. Then, two people walked out from the back of the procession. The two were very close, one stroking the other's head, while the person being stroked rested their head on the other's shoulder. Even through the screen, one could feel the warmth.

The two were not like lovers, but more like the affection between elders and juniors.

Before Jiang Cheng could think about it, the person playing the role of the elder walked away, leaving the procession alone, walking towards the village with their back to the camera. The junior walked into the procession, and went to the front of the procession, even taking the white banner from someone's hand.

The music continued, and the procession continued towards the courtyard. Now Jiang Cheng finally saw clearly that the person holding the white banner at the front of the procession was Xiuling!

"It's her!"

Jiang Cheng was stunned. Then Tang Qisheng seemed to have guessed what Jiang Cheng was thinking, and pulled the progress bar back, stopping at the scene where Xiuling and the mysterious man met.

Because the distance was very far, only the outline of that person could be seen. Jiang Cheng was increasingly shocked, because the figure looked 90% like the dead Grandpa.

"See that? I suspect that Grandpa never died at all." Tang Qisheng gritted his teeth, his voice very low, but anyone could detect the unease in his heart.

Jiang Cheng thought he was not entirely right. Grandpa must have died. They were not so blind as to mistake a dead person. There were two conclusions: either that person was not Grandpa at all, or… Grandpa had come back to life!

Jiang Cheng thought for a moment, took the phone, and dragged the progress bar to the moment when the funeral procession left the house. He stared at the video, counting the people one by one. Including those carrying the body, there were 29 people in total.

Then he turned the video back and counted the number of people returning in the procession. Tang Qisheng kept a straight face and said, "Don't count, I've counted. There are 30 people. Counting the guy who left, there are 30 people in total."

A funeral procession of 29 people went out, but 30 people returned. The reason was chilling. Jiang Cheng put down the phone. A strange idea even popped into his mind, thinking that there was no such thing as an extra person, after all, including Grandpa who was carried out, the funeral procession was also 30 people.

This video was very important and must be notified to the others, but Tang Qisheng was very wary. He refused to tell Li Bai this information unless it could be proven that she was not a problem.

Tang Qisheng sent a message, and soon received a reply. The person who replied to him was naturally his partner Zhu Jie. Zhu Jie had been watching Li Bai all this time. According to Zhu Jie, the villagers' attention to Li Bai had increased, almost to the point of being caring. They wouldn't let her do any dirty or tiring work. As soon as she picked up a tool, someone would immediately help her do it. Only she had such treatment.

Even the villagers who were cleaning the yard in the distance were paying attention to Li Bai, but Zhu Jie also said that at present, only the villagers were behaving strangely, but no major problems had been found with Li Bai.

Regarding the villagers' concern, Li Bai's face was full of helplessness, but she did not dare to show too obvious refusal, after all, she had also encountered situations where people smiled and turned around to stab her in the back.

Looking away, Jiang Cheng asked, "Have you tried taking pictures with your phone?"

Tang Qisheng nodded cautiously, "I've tried it, but I can't see anything. After all, there was no reaction when I took pictures of Grandpa's body before. I don't think this will work."

Sensing the subtext of Tang Qisheng's words, Jiang Cheng glanced at him thoughtfully, "Have you thought of any other way?"

Tang Qisheng was an expert in folklore and had performed well in previous missions. No one was more experienced than him in dealing with the current situation.

"It's barely a method, and I'm not sure if it will work. It is said that burning incense communicates with the gods, and the ashes left over from burning incense to the gods also have the effect of revealing evil spirits. We can sprinkle the ashes on the ground in advance and lure Li Bai to step on it. If footprints can be left, naturally there will be no problem. If no footprints are left, or if what is left is not footprints but something else, then..."

Tang Qisheng stopped here, the meaning was clear, and he noticed that Jiang Cheng frowned slightly.

In fact, Jiang Cheng didn't mean anything else, he just didn't like the word "lure". Although reason required him to suspect everything, emotionally Li Bai was his companion and he didn't want anything to happen to her.