After a moment's thought, Zhang Qizheng walked back to his room. Li Bai's medicinal herbs were still on the table, along with other miscellaneous items. He picked out a paper packet from them, opened it, and found it contained incense ash. This was left by Tang Qisheng, and it would come in handy now.

Jiang Cheng walked through the mist, a feeling of oppression constantly accompanying him. They split up according to Fu Qing's instructions, two people in a group, and were mixed into the villagers' search party.

The Fatty followed closely behind Jiang Cheng. Their group of seven walked along the village's dirt road, heading towards the village center.

The other two teams were Tang Qisheng and Zhu Jie, and Yao Shunyu and Shao Tong. When they separated, Shao Tong nodded to Jiang Cheng, indicating that he would keep a close eye on Yao Shunyu.

The village shrouded in mist had completely changed. The visibility was very low, only a few meters. Further away, it was enveloped in mist, with shadowy figures. The Fatty felt uneasy. He didn't know if those shadows were village buildings or if there were really ghosts hiding in the mist.

The group walked fruitlessly, like a group of headless flies bumping around. The ominous premonition in Jiang Cheng's heart became clearer. If they were really looking for someone, just walking around in this kind of visibility was useless. Even if they were only a few meters apart, they could easily miss each other. They should shout. The village wasn't big, and a shout would be more effective than anything else.

So… this was definitely a trap, a diversion. After confirming this, Jiang Cheng took advantage of the villagers' inattention and reached into his pocket, blindly texting Zhang Qizheng, who was staying behind, to warn him.

The closer he got to the village center, the more careful Jiang Cheng became. However, a long time passed, and the huge black shadow hidden in the mist in his dream didn't appear. And in the center of the village, Jiang Cheng didn't see any buildings like a living shrine. The whole village was immersed in a decaying silence, like the corpse of a giant beast.

The villager leading the way just walked blindly, not looking back, and without any verbal communication. Only the sound of shoes rubbing against the ground could be heard.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, footsteps suddenly sounded in the mist ahead. Jiang Cheng and the Fatty immediately became vigilant until a figure emerged from the mist. "I've finally found you!" The person breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, right, the person has been found. Thank you for your trouble."

"Where did you find her?" Jiang Cheng asked, adhering to the idea that if you're going to act, you have to go all the way.

"In her old house, where she used to live. Xiuling went back to find her grandfather's belongings, and ended up missing him so much that she fainted." The person looked at the sky and urged, "Anyway, you don't have to worry anymore. It's getting late. You should go back."

The group turned around to go back. Near the courtyard, they met another team. Zhu Jie and Tang Qisheng in the team were finally relieved when they saw Jiang Cheng and the Fatty.

"You guys go back and rest first. We still have to take care of Xiuling."

Before they even reached the courtyard, the villagers said goodbye and left. The mist hadn't dissipated yet. The group watched the villagers' backs gradually disappear into the mist, feeling like they were being swallowed up little by little.

The Fatty stepped forward to knock on the door, but as soon as he knocked, a surprising scene appeared. The door suddenly opened a crack. The courtyard door… wasn't locked.

Jiang Cheng pulled the Fatty behind him, and the four immediately retreated.

The courtyard was quiet. They could see the scene inside through the gap, but now the courtyard was no longer a shelter. It was filled with mist, and visibility was extremely limited.

Taking out his cell phone, Jiang Cheng no longer hesitated and called Zhang Qizheng directly. A few seconds later, a cell phone ringtone came from the side of the courtyard. It was a very festive tune, which suited an old man like Zhang Qizheng, but in the current situation, it was just eerie.

Jiang Cheng hung up the phone decisively.

Something happened!

Something must have happened!

Leaving aside the problem with the door, Zhang Qizheng wasn't a newbie. He would never turn on his cell phone ringtone to expose himself.

With the ringing of the cell phone, everyone understood that Zhang Qizheng was in mortal danger. Suddenly thinking of Li Bai still in the room, the Fatty became anxious.

Tang Qisheng stepped forward and gently pushed the door open, but before he could take the next step, Jiang Cheng stopped him. Jiang Cheng pointed to the ground behind the door. Zhu Jie and the Fatty's faces changed. They saw a layer of incense ash sprinkled on the ground behind the threshold, and the incense ash was covered with triangular footprints.

There were many footprints, and they were very messy. Jiang Cheng could imagine the lively scene.

"Those villagers have been here!"

Jiang Cheng and the other three stepped over the incense ash and jumped into the courtyard. They weren't too worried about their own safety because, judging from the direction of the footprints, those things had already left through the courtyard door.

Outside the door of Li Bai's room, they also found incense ash and small footprints. But when the half-closed door was pushed open, Li Bai, who was originally lying on the bed, was gone.

"Those things came for Li Bai." Tang Qisheng looked around. "They took advantage of our absence and carried Li Bai away, preparing for that damn resurrection ritual!"

The four of them then went to their room. The cell phone ringtone had come from here, and there were traces of smoothing on the ground outside the door, with incense ash remaining at the edges.

Jiang Cheng held his breath and pushed the door open. The scene that met his eyes made everyone tremble involuntarily. Zhang Qizheng was hanging high from the beam with an old sheet wrapped around his neck. His hands were hanging down powerlessly at his sides, and his eyes, which had long lost their luster, were bulging out exaggeratedly, staring at the direction of the door.

A chair was lying on the ground, making it look like a suicide scene at first glance.

"It was done by those disguised villager ghosts!" The Fatty immediately concluded. "Old Man Zhang must have sensed the danger, so he sprinkled incense ash all over the courtyard!"

Now, the incense ash had become the most important evidence, with clear footprints left on it.

After a moment's pause, Tang Qisheng didn't choose to examine the body. Instead, he left the room and went straight to a remote corner of the courtyard wall. After he returned, his face became very unnatural. Jiang Cheng left the Fatty to guard the scene, and Zhu Jie stayed with the Fatty.

"What do you want to say?" The two came to a secluded place. Jiang Cheng knew that Tang Qisheng must have discovered something.

"You saw how Old Man Zhang died, right? He wasn't hanged to death. He was killed first and then hanged." Tang Qisheng glanced at the direction of the room and said quickly, "A person who is hanged to death will have tense insteps due to the violent struggle before death, and their toes will point diagonally downwards, while the corpse's toes are level."

"What else?"

Jiang Cheng asked. He could also see the situation Tang Qisheng described. It wasn't surprising for people like them to see this, so there was no need to be so mysterious.

"I suspect that Old Man Zhang wasn't killed by a ghost. He was killed by a person." Tang Qisheng lowered his voice.