Tan Yushi walked around the room where the tablets were enshrined in the ancestral hall, but found nothing, and then went to other rooms to check.
In a room, he found a note that might have been left by someone.
[It is my ideal to come to the village to support teaching.
Others always say that it is really unfair to not stay in a big city after completing your studies, but to work as a poor teacher in a remote country.
Juan doesn't say that. She understands me and always says, just do whatever you want to do.
So I came here.
The village is deep in the mountains, with a road leading to the outside world. However, there is miasma all year round, so it can be considered isolated from the world. Every household in the village has a dog, and the village chief said that if you want to pass through the miasma, you must have a dog leading you so you don't get lost.
Fortunately, there are postmen who come and go from time to time to deliver letters, so Juan and I can always communicate for a while every month. 】
[After teaching in the village for so many years, I finally taught a college student. I should tell Juan about this good thing.
When the student came back, he set up a telephone line inside and outside the village, saying it was convenient for him to talk to his mother.
It's a pity that he left not long after he stayed. I heard that his wife and daughter were away and he didn't want to come into the village.
It's okay, you should be considerate. Young people should go to big cities and try their luck. 】
[Although there is a phone now, Juan still loves to correspond with me through letters.
Juan said that the paper is short and the love is long, so it is convenient for her to read and review it all the time; the phone call is too fast, and some words are gone as soon as they are finished.
It’s just that this year’s harvest didn’t seem to be very good. There was an insect plague somewhere in the village. Fortunately, I found out in time and asked everyone to burn all the insect eggs. 】
[Why is there another famine in the village? It’s so cold in winter. What can we do if we don’t have food?
The village chief took the dog to get food outside the village, but when he came back, he and the dog accidentally stepped on the animal trap. The dog was old and frail, and died soon after.
The food brought back is too little, so it probably won't last long. 】
[They, how could they...
This village has become a hell on earth.
How different is this from cannibalism? 】
[The village chief asked me to make a call to the outside world.
He must have forgotten that the mother-in-law in the canteen had long since starved to death, and the phone line had long been disconnected.
The students I taught never came back to this village again.
It's okay not to come back, then... you won't see the scene in front of you. 】
The note ends here.
Tan Yushi connected it with the context and inferred that there might have been a famine in the entire village.
But, what does the so-called purgatory on earth mean?
Tan Yushi knows that history has recorded countless incidents of "people eating each other due to hunger". Could it be that these people were so hungry that they began to eat the same kind of food?
Is this the truth behind this strange story?
Tan Yushi did not touch anything in the house.
He walked out of the door and returned to the place where the tablet was enshrined before.
As soon as Tan Yushi entered the door, he was stunned.
In the originally empty incense burner, three incense sticks were inserted at some point, and now a faint green smoke was rising.
Judging from the burning traces of this incense, it was obvious that someone had lit it not long ago.
"Did someone just enter here and light incense?" Tan Yushi was confused.
He noticed that of the six previously open windows, the middle two had merged.
It seems that someone deliberately merged the two middle doors to prevent others from seeing what is inside.
Talk about Yushi walking over.
He boldly reached out and carefully fiddled with the two windows.
The hinge of the window was already very loose, and when he fiddled with it, there was only a "squeak" sound.
Naturally, the two windows slid outward.
The scene behind the window was revealed.
On the long table that was originally empty, there were actually four brand new tablets.
There are four names written on each of those four rankings.
From left to right, in order, "Tan Yushi", "Fang Yajing", "Xie Xiaoyu" and "Zhang Wenxiu".
It was actually the tablets of the four of them!
Tan Yushi was startled and looked around subconsciously.
The passing wind leaves traces, and the passing geese leave a sound.
It stands to reason that after people walk by, there will always be more or less traces left on the ground.
In addition, the pavement of the ancestral hall has not been repaired for a long time and is full of weeds and dust.
When they came in, they left a lot of messy footsteps on the ground of the ancestral hall.
But when Tan Yushi looked around, he didn't see the sixth person among the footprints all over the ground.
Could it be that no one entered here just now?
Who will place these tablets?
At this time, Fang Yajing also walked in from outside the house and also saw the tablets.
Anyone who sees this scene will look horrified.
Fang Yajing is no exception.
"What's going on?" Fang Yajing asked immediately.
Tan Yushi shook his head: "I don't know. I saw this scene when I came in."
Fang Yajing looked at all the tablets and found that one was missing, "There is no Wang Qing, why?"
Tan Yushi squinted his eyes and glanced at Fang Yajing, thoughtfully: "You seem to have a special hostility towards Wang Qing? Before we got into this strange story, you and Wang Qing probably didn't know each other."
Fang Yajing was a little flustered when he looked at her with such scrutinizing eyes.
But he quickly calmed down and said: "You are overthinking it. I just think that Wang Qing is a little too strong, and there is no such thing as her among these tablets. Don't you think it's suspicious?"
Tan Yushi stated calmly: "She saved you this afternoon."
Fang Yajing sneered and asked, "How do you know, that's not her way of gaining your trust."
At this time, Wang Qing happened to walk out of the room where he and Xie Xiaoyu were. As soon as he entered the room, he immediately felt the tense atmosphere between the two.
"What are you arguing about?" Wang Qing looked confused.
Don’t these two people just want to come in and visit?
Now that I've come in for a visit, why aren't you happy?
Fang Yajing's nerves were tense to the extreme.
He had been tortured all the time because of Wang Qing's teasing, but now faced with such a scene, he finally couldn't bear it anymore.
Fang Yajing simply stretched out her hand and pointed at the tablets. A pair of peach blossoms that were supposed to be affectionate were filled with scarlet bloodshot eyes, and her whole body seemed to be indescribably crazy.
His voice was hoarse as if it had been polished with sandpaper, and he asked Wang Qing: "Why aren't you in this? Did you do it?"
Fang Yajing guessed that when he entered this ancestral hall, Wang Qing knew some rules that they did not know, so now there is no Wang Qing among the five tablets.
But no matter what, this shows that Wang Qing did it on purpose.
Wang Qing deliberately wanted to see her panic and miserable because of all this!
