"Can't believe she's so afraid of death," the village chief muttered, watching Yu Man rush off in a taxi. He felt a mix of disappointment and wistfulness. Disappointed that his chance to make a grand exit had been cut short, yet wistful that she, having lived in the city for over a decade, had become so precious about her life. If something like this happened in their village, as long as one was awake and coherent, who would even consider going to the hospital?
"Village Chief, I'll be counting on you for the rest. Also, there's something else I wanted to ask. Do you know whose house my grandmother visited the day she passed away?"
The original body's grandmother wasn't an office worker or someone with a fixed place of employment. She went wherever she was contacted for work. Furthermore, it was always the children who went out and told their parents where they were going. Parents going out for work were not required to inform their children. Therefore, the original body didn't know which house her grandmother had gone to for an exorcism. Before she died, her grandmother had only urged her to go to the capital quickly, without explaining the reasons.
Ding Yun had been busy with funeral arrangements and hadn't had time to ask. Now, she had to find a way to inquire. This clue was the only active way to search for the truth. The alternative would be waiting for the killer to discover she wasn't dead and try to harm her again, but that was far too passive and it wasn't even certain if they would verify her death. Thus, investigating the former seemed much more efficient.
"That, I really don't know." The village chief was equally powerless. The reason was similar to why the original body didn't know: Ding Xianglan's work locations were never fixed. She might go to the front village today and the back village tomorrow, or even to the city the day after. Even census takers wouldn't ask people where they were going every time they went out. However, seeing Ding Yun's persistence and considering that Ding Xianglan had died after performing an exorcism, the village chief's mind immediately formed a guess.
"Xiao Yun, was your grandmother murdered? Was it related to the family she performed the exorcism for? Or perhaps, she didn't just fail to exorcise the evil, but was instead backlashed? I seem to recall her mentioning once that few people in their line of work die peacefully. When one grows old and weak, with depleted qi and blood, they might be ambushed by enemies. I thought she was joking at the time, but could it be true?"
Since there were shamans in the village, there were naturally believers. The village chief was one of them. However, because they had never encountered any professional competition, they hadn't immediately considered that Yu Xianglan might have met a violent end until Ding Yun brought it up.
"It seems so. Village Chief, there's no one else around. I'll be honest with you. My grandmother, before she died, told me to leave immediately, even to not bother with her body, and just leave. She also said that after discovering her death, you would all be willing to help with her funeral. But how could I bear to do that? You know what happened later; I came to you and asked you to handle my grandmother's funeral. But I didn't mention the other matter: on the third day of guarding her vigil, I was attacked. Fortunately, I learned a bit from my grandmother, and she also left me some life-saving items, which is why I'm still alive to complete the funeral. Otherwise, you might have had to help with my funeral too."
As she spoke, Ding Yun noticed that Village Chief Yu's expression remained unchanged. She continued, "Earlier, because of the funeral arrangements, I didn't have time to investigate these matters deeply. But now that my grandmother has been laid to rest, I definitely want to find out what exactly happened and even seek revenge."
"This... why didn't you report it to the police? Oh, I'm being foolish. What good would reporting it do? If reporting it were effective, those people wouldn't have sought Xianglan for exorcisms. Well, Xiao Yun, perhaps you should just listen to your grandmother and go to the capital as soon as possible. Even your grandmother wasn't a match for them, so what can you do? Your grandmother surely wants you to live a healthy life. So, don't get involved in this. Go to the capital, live well, and have a good life. Yu Da Bao's second son from our village seems to have found a job in the capital, and I heard the salary is quite high. I'll have a word with him and ask him to call his son. When you get to the capital, find him. Having a familiar face to help you arrange things will prevent you from being taken advantage of in an unfamiliar place..."
The village chief clearly didn't believe that Ding Yun could handle the people who even Ding Xianglan, a shaman for decades, couldn't deal with. He immediately and enthusiastically gave her advice. He even thought about who could help take care of her after she arrived in the capital.
"Village Chief, I'm not in a hurry to go to the capital. I'd still trouble you to help me find out whose house my grandmother visited that day. Don't worry, I won't act impulsively. I just want to know who she was connected to. Once I find out, I'll head to the capital immediately. Without sufficient strength, I will never seek revenge." Ding Yun's words were, of course, a form of polite evasion. She simply didn't believe that in this era of declining spiritual energy, her mental strength would encounter any formidable opponents. She said this only hoping the village chief would help her gather information, as no one could be better at it than a local insider.
"This... let me think about it..." The village chief wasn't playing hard to get. He was merely a bit worried that helping might land him in trouble. He wasn't like Ding Yun, who had learned some shamanic skills and had life-saving items left by her grandmother to protect herself. Helping others was fine, but dragging his own family into it would be problematic.
Ding Yun could roughly understand his hesitation. After a moment's thought, she deliberately added, "Village Chief, you are, after all, a village official and are under the protection of the government. So, you don't need to worry about anything happening. The reason my grandmother wanted me to go to the capital was likely to borrow the humanistic fortune of the capital and the special power of the government to ward off evil, to ensure my safety."
"Oh, there's such a thing!" Hearing this, the village chief's interest piqued considerably. Seeing his interest, Ding Yun took the opportunity to tell him more about the humanistic imperial court. After a good while of chatting, the village chief finally felt reassured and agreed to help inquire about whose house her grandmother had visited that day.
Afterward, they each went about their business. The village chief busied himself with gathering information, while Ding Yun tidied up the house, throwing out things she didn't need and packing away things she wanted to take with her when she moved. This house had already been promised to the village collective, but even if it hadn't been, Ding Yun wouldn't have stayed in this village for long. Staying in the village meant she couldn't even inscribe imprints into the world's origin, let alone test the Perfect Idol System. Therefore, leaving for a big city was inevitable.