CH 11.2

Ren Yao remembered that she seemed to have seen Chi Lan before, but she couldn’t remember if she had looked into her eyes. This kind of unknowing state was the most tormenting. Ren Yao kept recalling yesterday’s scene, and the more she thought about it, the more afraid she became.

Ren Yao didn’t sleep well last night, and now her face was pale, and she started to become absent-minded. Ming Huashang saw that her expression wasn’t right, and comforted her, “Sister Ren, don’t worry, even if there is a ghost, it won’t follow you.”

Jiang Ling was extremely curious, he even disregarded his enmity with the tomboy, and leaned over to ask, “How do you know?”

“I guessed it.” Ming Huashang said, “If what the maid said just now was correct that Chi Lan met Wei Zi before she died, it means that the scapegoat will be chosen among the people she met while she was alive.”

Jiang Ling scratched his head, but didn’t understand at first, “What do you mean?”

Ming Huashang counted with her fingers as she explained, “Let’s first pretend that we are the ghost, and go through the logic of it picking a scapegoat. First, a certain person came to Luoyang from Jizhou, and for some reason he provoked “us”. Then this person went to Mang Mountain to attend Taiping Gongzhu’s banquet bringing “us” to the villa. “We” killed Chi Lan first, and Chi Lan became a scapegoat, then “we” became free. But after Chi Lan was bitten to death by a snake, she became a new serpentine ghost. She targeted Wei Zi, whom she met not long ago and had a bad fight, so she was determined to take Wei Zi as her scapegoat. Now that Wei Zi is dead, according to the previous logic, she should find the person she cares about most, and had met her eyes not long ago.”

“That’s right.” Ming Huazhang said concisely, “The person Wei Zi met recently will be the next target.”

Jiang Ling understood this time, but he felt that something was off, “Imagining yourself as the ghost… Your perspective is really strange.”

Ren Yao didn’t have time to despise this ignorant idiot and quickly recalled whether she had seen Wei Zi in the past two days. She went over her memories three times, and finally breathed a sigh of relief, “Great, I haven’t seen Wei Zi before.”

The first time they met was just now; she didn’t expect their first meeting to be with Wei Zi’s corpse.

Although Ren Yao was relieved from the heavy pressure, the joys and sorrows of human beings were not intertwined. Jiang Ling snorted coldly and said, “I’ve met her.”

“I’ve met her too.” Ming Huashang weakly raised her hand, “Yesterday when I was leaving Taiping Gongzhu’s side, I happened to meet Wei Zi who had returned. I looked up and met her eyes. Moreover, I also saw Chi Lan too.”

In the back hall yesterday, Ming Huazhang stood with his back facing the door, and his eyes lowered, not meeting Wei Zi’s eyes, but Ming Huashang was sure she met them.

She still remembered Wei Zi’s expression at that time. Jiang Ling’s description was correct; Wei Zi did have a pair of beautiful eyes.

Xie Jichuan clicked his tongue, half-sighing, “Second younger sister, isn’t your luck too impressive.”

Ming Huashang joked, “Then you guys still dare to stay with me? What if I get entangled by Wei Zi and become a scapegoat, you will be in danger.”

Ming Huazhang didn’t think this joke was funny at all. He said with a sullen face and scolded, “Second miss, don’t talk nonsense.”

Ming Huashang shut up resentfully. Ming Huazhang frowned, thought for a while, and said, “No matter whether someone is pretending to be a ghost or there is a ghost causing trouble, according to the current clues, its next target should be someone who has seen Wei Zi. The most urgent thing is to gather all the people who contacted Wei Zi. I’d like to see what kind of ghost is stirring up trouble.”

Ming Huashang didn’t dare to make jokes anymore, she leaned close to Ming Huazhang flatteringly, and said, “Second elder brother, don’t be nervous. Fortunately, when we went to pay respects to Taiping Gongzhu yesterday, Wei Zi wasn’t accompanying the Gongzhu, so she didn’t meet many people, so it should be easy to investigate.”

After saying this, Ming Huashang froze fiercely, and the rest of the people’s expressions also changed.

Taiping Gongzhu?

Ming Huazhang requested to see Taiping Gongzhu but was unsurprisingly rejected.

– The Gongzhu was unwell and will not meet any visitors.

It also made sense. After such a thing happened, who would still want to see guests? Now the villa was full of gossip, there were rumors that the serpentine ghost was looking for a scapegoat. Even though the guests were well-educated, and didn’t believe in ghosts and deities, they were still a little frightened.

One incident after another, could it really be a ghost? All of a sudden, people everywhere declared themselves sick, and the doors and windows of every house were shuttered, and guests were rejected for fear that if they accidentally looked into someone’s eyes, they would become scapegoats.

After Ming Huazhang was shut out by Taiping Gongzhu, as he walked away from the palace hall, Ming Huashang asked, “Second elder brother, what should we do now?”

Wei Zi was the personal maid of Taiping Gongzhu, and Taiping Gongzhu was most likely the next selected target. But Taiping Gongzhu refused to cooperate, let alone to be inquired, she didn’t even want to see them.

Ming Huazhang thought for a while and said, “That forest is deserted. Wei Zi, being the most capable maid, probably wouldn’t go to that kind of place on her own initiative. Let’s ask the people who shared the room with Wei Zi last night, maybe they know something.”

Now that the people in Feihong Garden were panicking, when Ming Huazhang and the others arrived at the courtyard where the maid lived, the maids inside screamed in fright and hurriedly closed the door. But Ming Huazhang didn’t give up, so he stopped in front of the door, knocked on the door with his fingers, and said, “I am Ming Huazhang from the Zhen Duke manor. I have something to ask, please open the door.”

Jiang Ling also came over to watch the fun, and shouted, “Yes, we are not ghosts, it’s not like we can eat you. Open the door!”