It followed

After sorting out all these matters, it was already past four in the early morning, with the first light of dawn appearing in the east.

Although the issue with Erniu was now resolved, the three of us were clearly not in high spirits. After exchanging brief farewells, we limped away from the area. Before departing, we only advised Erniu's father to properly bury his daughter. Otherwise, if anything unexpected happened again, we wouldn't be able to intervene. Having been beaten up by me, that guy was being unusually compliant, nodding like a pecking chicken. I guess he would take care of Erniu's funeral arrangements properly, especially after witnessing last night's events, which nearly scared him stiff. I believe he now deeply acknowledged the idea that good and evil would follow him like his shadow and didn't dare to be negligent anymore.

When we returned to the old village chief's house, he hurried out to greet us, his eyes red from what was likely a sleepless night. Seeing the dirt and disarray on us, he was obviously startled and tentatively asked Zhang Jinya: "Daoist Zhang, is there any progress on the matter?"

Zhang Jinya sighed and shook his head. Talking about it seemed to touch a sore spot for him. We had been busy all night, which had been exhausting for the three of us. I had suffered an injury, and we had overlooked the most crucial issue at the end. Naturally, we felt frustrated!

Particularly perplexing were the words "rouge" that Erniu had told us at the last moment, which left us completely baffled. With too few clues, we couldn't figure out the relationship between the creature that skinned people's faces and rouge!

Seeing Zhang Jinya not respond, the old man's face showed a hint of panic. He urgently grasped Zhang Jinya's hand and pleaded: "Daoist Zhang, please, you must save Dingtao Village. We won't miss a penny of your labor fee."

Looking at his expression, he was probably afraid that, after tonight's setback, we would turn our backs and leave without resolving their troubles.

But, in fact, he was being overly anxious!

With the situation having developed to this point, let alone Zhang Jinya, even I would not just let it go. Especially after witnessing Erniu's tragic fate, I was determined from the bottom of my heart to seek justice for this poor girl. That kind-hearted girl had suffered through a hard life and yet, in the end, she was killed by evil forces. If we couldn't make sense of this, I would even start to doubt whether heaven had any eyes left - why don't good people get good rewards in the end?

Thus, without waiting for Zhang Jinya to speak, I reassured the old man first: "Grandpa, don't worry. Although we didn't find any clues tonight, we won't give up like this. A thorough investigation will eventually lead us to some traces."

The old man's complexion looked a bit better.

Zhang Jinya glanced at me but didn't say anything. He turned and walked towards his house, leaving us with one remark: "Alright, go back and rest. Xiao Tian, you should take care of the wounds on yourself and Heizi first. We will sleep in the morning, and in the afternoon, we'll check Qin Hongmei's house for any clues she might have left before her death."

I naturally had no issues with Zhang Jinya's arrangements. After bidding the old man farewell, I took Zhou Jing and Heizi back to our lodging. Fortunately, on the way to find Zhang Jinya, Uncle Li had given me some Yunnan Baiyao, alcohol for disinfection, and some gauze, which I hadn't used since arriving in Yujiang County, so I just threw them into my backpack. It just so happened that I brought everything this time. After returning to the room and remembering this, I rummaged through my backpack and found these basic medical supplies.

First, I used the alcohol to treat the wound from where I had bitten my tongue the night before and applied Yunnan Baiyao. Then, I treated Heizi's wound. Fortunately, neither of us had serious injuries, and this basic treatment was sufficient. I went to sleep with Heizi, who was wounded and shouldn't be lying on the ground, as I was afraid it would get infected if it came into contact with something unclean. After what had happened the night before, Heizi was not just an impressive mastiff to me anymore; he was my brother and partner.

After all, in this exaggerated society, besides one's parents, who else would save you fearlessly? Sadly, my mother passed away early in childbirth, and my father had an accident not too long ago. I once thought I would never experience that kind of deep human affection again. Now that Heaven had sent Heizi to me, it probably was some sort of compensation.

I had made up my mind: even if it meant dealing with a vampire like Zhang Jinya in the future, Heizi would come with me; I would spare no expense!

…

Perhaps it was due to exhaustion, but I slept for about seven or eight hours in a daze. When I woke up, it was already past two in the afternoon, and Zhang Jinya and Zhou Jing had already gotten up. The three of us, accompanied by Heizi, quickly had something to eat, and then followed the old village chief to Qin Hongmei's home to search for clues.

Qin Hongmei's house was located in the south of Dingtao Village. When we got there, we could almost instantly identify it - because there was only one courtyard overgrown with weeds, obviously derelict for some time.

"This is the place."

The old village chief stopped at the gate, sighing, "After that girl had her incident, Qin's wife became insane. In order to treat her, her husband sold almost everything in the house, except for this courtyard that wasn't worth much. No one has bought it since, after all, it's a place where someone has died, and the aftermath of that event hasn't passed yet. People are reluctant to take over this land, so it has been vacant until now."

Zhang Jinya and I exchanged a glance and then took the lead without another word. The lock on the yard's gate was severely rusted and broke off easily with a kick. We crossed the stone pathway hurriedly and directly entered the main room.

A thick musty odor assailed us.

Indeed, as the old village chief said, Qin Hongmei's father must have sold everything, as the living room was empty without even a single chair. The floor was covered with a thick layer of dust, clearly untouched for a couple of months.

"This house, a place where someone has died, is just unlucky."

Zhang Jinya waved his hand in front of his nose and turned to look at the old village chief, "Which room was Qin Hongmei in when she died?"

The old village chief pointed to a bedroom on the left side of the living room.

I immediately went to push the door open; with a creak, it gave way.

The bedroom was in better condition than the living room – at least it still had furniture, which looked somewhat filthy from the lack of cleaning. Dominating the center of the bedroom was an enlarged portrait photo of a girl in a white dress, exceptionally beautiful. Even in a city full of beautiful women, she would definitely stand out. It seemed the girl in the photo was Qin Hongmei.

The old village chief, following behind us, explained: "This room belonged to Qin Hongmei. Nobody in the village dared to take her used items, fearing they might encounter evil spirits, and at that time, Qin's son was in a hurry to leave, so the items here were not sold."

With that, the old village chief pointed to the ground near the bed and said: "When the Qin girl was found, she was lying there, dead for seven or eight hours. When the police arrived, they found a lot of hair on the bed. After testing, they confirmed it was Qin girl's hair. The police deduced she was dragged to the ground by her hair, and then was murdered. Before her death, there must have been some desperate struggle, her nails scraped several marks on the cement floor, indicating she was likely skinned alive in agony. Such a pity! But inexplicably, throughout the whole ordeal, Qin Hongmei never made a sound. If she had cried out for help, she may not have died so tragically!"

Upon hearing the old village chief say this, we noticed dozens of deep scratch marks on the cement beside the bed, seemingly made by fingernails, striking and shocking. Even now, one could see the dark red of dried blood within the scratches, hinting at the terrible torment and torture Qin Hongmei experienced before she died!

Zhang Jinya was already searching other places, leaving me alone to stare blankly at the scratches on the ground.

For some reason, looking at those nail scratches, I had an inexplicable sense of familiarity - yes, familiar!

As if those scratches together formed some kind of writing!

I am naturally sensitive to text, and though the scratches seemed erratic and haphazard, they appeared almost patterned to me. The more I looked at them, the stronger this feeling grew, and I involuntarily made a quiet exclamation.

This caught the attention of both Zhang Jinya and the old village chief.

"Police from the city have checked this place over and over for nearly a dozen times, to no avail. In the end, they just gave up. Could it be that you've noticed something?" the old village chief murmured.

Zhang Jinya, too, leaned over with interest: "Kid, did you truly find something?"

Frowning, I stared at those scratches on the floor, tentatively saying, "These scratches seem to be characters, likely left intentionally by Qin Hongmei before her death. But she was in such pain at the time that the strokes were a mess, which is why they gave off the impression of being disorderly!"

Zhang Jinya instantly became interested and urged, "Quick, tell us, what is written on the ground?"

I exhaled deeply, "It should be - 'It followed'."