Many strange events are grueling

After nearly half an hour, my heart finally calmed down a bit, and I stopped retching. However, my stomach still felt uncomfortable. After all, I had only eaten some dry rations in the car all day and hadn't had a proper meal. My stomach was empty, and what I was throwing up earlier was just sour water. Now, there wasn't a comfortable spot from my throat to my stomach. I felt terrible all over.

Zhang Jinya walked over and patted my shoulder. "Feeling better?"

I nodded reluctantly and asked him, "Did you find any clues?"

Zhang Jinya nodded, then shook his head again, leaving me confused about what he meant.

After a while, Zhang Jinya said with a sigh, "It's the same as when we first arrived. After examining the body, we still can't determine if it's a ghost or something else. It's hard to speculate. But one thing is certain, it's definitely not done by a human."

I widened my eyes involuntarily. "How do you know?"

"A feeling," Zhang Jinya sighed softly. "Do you know how to peel off a complete layer of human skin?"

I nodded. I had read about it in a book at home. It said that human skin was particularly difficult to peel because it was thin and consisted of three layers: the epidermis, the dermis, and the subcutaneous tissue. Usually, when people talked about human skin, they only referred to the epidermis and the deep dermis, with a total thickness of no more than 2.5mm. It was extremely difficult to peel off completely due to its tight adhesion to the subcutaneous tissue. The most common methods in ancient times were either cutting with a knife or injecting mercury. Cutting involved making a cut along the spine because the skin there was almost directly attached to the bone, without touching much flesh. However, this method didn't result in a particularly intact skin. Injecting mercury involved making a cross-shaped incision on the scalp and pouring mercury into it. Mercury, being heavy, would sink and gradually separate the skin and flesh, while the person would wriggle in pain, accelerating the process. Eventually, it would leave behind a complete skin like a discarded cocoon.

"Since you know, you should understand how difficult it is to peel skin. It's definitely a skilled job!" Zhang Jinya said in a low voice. "But did you look closely at the victim's face? Her epidermis and dermis were completely removed, leaving no subcutaneous tissue. Do you think a human could do this? Not to mention precise cutting on the thick parts of the face, even when pulling off the skin, it would damage the subcutaneous fat tissue, but there were no such signs on the victim. This simply can't be done by human hands. But what exactly is causing this, I'm not sure because I've never heard of such a dirty thing harming people like this."

At this point, Zhang Jinya sighed deeply. "Xiaotian, I'm afraid we're in trouble this time because what we encountered is likely something very rare, even something that has never appeared before!"

As he spoke, Zhang Jinya exhaled deeply. "Xiaotian, we're probably in trouble this time because what we encountered is likely something very rare, even something that has never appeared before!"

I couldn't help but smile bitterly. The unknown is often the most frightening. Although Zhang Jinya's character isn't great, his skills are undeniable. I witnessed him fiercely dealing with a fierce ghost on the hill that day. He's definitely a master. But now, even he is starting to doubt, indicating how big the trouble we've encountered might be.

At this point, the old village chief had already covered Erniu's coffin with a few young men. He waved to us to go to his house. It wasn't far from here, just a fifteen-minute walk. He had already set up a table of food for us. Unfortunately, although Zhang Jinya and I were very hungry, we had no appetite at all. Anyone who had seen the tragic scene after Erniu's death wouldn't be able to eat either. It was only Zhou Jing, who hadn't seen the body, who ate enthusiastically, practically cleaning the table with Blackie and a dog.

After we ate almost everything, the old village chief asked with some concern, "Master Zhang, can you figure out what's haunting people?"

"Not yet," Zhang Jinya sighed. "I've said it before, dirty things don't harm people for no reason. In other words, they have grievances in their hearts during their lives and refuse to enter reincarnation after death. So they cause trouble in the mortal world to settle their pre-death debts. Mr. Lao, think carefully, has there been anyone unjustly killed in the village before the first victim?"

"Definitely not!" The old village chief said without hesitation. "Although Datong Village is poor, the villagers are quite honest. Except for the people from Erniu's family who are a bit mean, the other villagers are good. There are no conflicts between them on weekdays, so how could there be any unjust deaths? In the year before this incident, only two old people in our village passed away, but they both died of natural causes. They were filial to their children and grandchildren, and there's no reason for them to cause trouble in the village!"

With the old village chief's certainty, Zhang Jinya furrowed his brows, pondering for a moment before asking, "Do you know about the first victim? The female college student named Qin Hongmei. What kind of person was she in her daily life? Did she do anything wrong? After all, if this dirty thing is harming people, it's generally aimed at the person it hated the most during their lifetime. This dirty thing might be targeting Qin Hongmei!"

After hearing this, the old village chief was stunned, also lost in thought. After a long time, he finally looked up and said, "Master Zhang, you've hit the nail on the head. I don't know much about Qin Hongmei. I only know that she lived with her uncle in the city since she was a child. She spent less than a year in the village with her parents. Then, I heard she went to college. I was amazed that our Datong Village finally produced a college student. During her years at university, she had little contact with the village. When she returned, it was when she was killed. I didn't have much interaction with her either. The only impression I had of her was that she was very intelligent, with the pride that a cultured person would have. That's about it."

After hearing this, Zhang Jinya and I exchanged a glance, seeing the doubt in each other's eyes.

"It seems that the source of this matter is likely related to Qin Hongmei!" Zhang Jinya squinted his eyes. "Datong Village has been peaceful for so many years. The people know each other well, and there's no serious evil here, so there are no conditions for attracting dirty things to take lives! But Qin Hongmei is different. We know nothing about this girl. As soon as she returned, she got involved in this matter. I think she's the cause of it!"

Saying this, Zhang Jinya stood up and pulled me up. "Let's go! Let's visit Qin Hongmei's parents and see if we can find any clues. We can't wait any longer. If this dirty thing claims forty-nine lives, we'll be held responsible!"

"Wait!" The old village chief hurriedly got up and stopped us, with a bitter smile on his face. "You'd better not go. Even if you do, you won't get any results!"

I asked the old village chief what he meant, and he said, "Qin Hongmei's parents are already gone. After the incident, her mother went crazy directly. Her father sold everything in the house and took her mother away for treatment. Where they went, no one in the village knows. They probably won't be coming back. So even if you go, it'll be in vain!"

Zhang Jinya's face instantly darkened. The lead we just got was suddenly cut off. He couldn't possibly be in a good mood now!

The old village chief looked at us cautiously, seemingly afraid that we would just leave like that. "Master Zhang, do you have any other options now?"

"Yes!" Zhang Jinya's face was grim. He slowly exhaled a breath and said word by word, "Ask! The! Victim!"

I was stunned when I heard this, then I realized—this guy wasn't going to summon the ghosts of those young girls who had been killed and ask them who did it, was he?

Just thinking about it made my back feel cold. I asked subconsciously, "Are you going to summon Qin Hongmei's spirit?"

"Not her. She's been dead for three months, and her spirit has probably been taken away by the Underworld long ago. Otherwise, with her dying here, there would have been disturbances. If I want to find her, I'm afraid I'll have to go to the Underworld, but I don't have that ability. If I go, nine out of ten, I won't come back!" Zhang Jinya said in a deep voice. "What I'm going to ask for is Erniu. She's the most recent victim, and tonight should be when her spirit forms. If we stay by her body, we'll definitely find her!"

With that, Zhang Jinya patted my shoulder and sighed, "I don't know whether to lament your bad luck or to say you're lucky. You've just followed me to solve the first problem, and you've stumbled upon such a thing. You might even witness the rare process of a ghost forming. If you're lucky, you might even see the scene of the underworld locking the soul!"

I sighed with a bitter smile. Honestly, I didn't want to see it at all!!!

However, it seemed that there was no better option now. Since I had followed Zhang Jinya into this mess, I could only grit my teeth and continue on...

Then Zhang Jinya started instructing the old village chief to prepare some things. He asked for a box of ink, which must be soaked in black dog blood, nine large roosters, whose mouths must be tied with red rope, and vermilion, yellow paper, and a brush.

These things were common in the village. The old village chief promised to get the best.

Finally, Zhang Jinya thought for a moment and asked the old village chief to inquire about any women in the village who were having their periods. He wanted to get some sanitary pads dipped in red. The old village chief's face turned black and red with embarrassment, but for the safety of the villagers, he still nodded and promised to do his best. I couldn't help but feel speechless—Zhang Jinya was starting to gather "Big Red Dragon" again...

After instructing these things, Zhang Jinya and I were arranged to rest in the old village chief's house. In Zhang Jinya's words, "We have work to do tonight, so we need to get enough sleep. Otherwise, we won't have enough yang energy in our bodies, and it'll be unpleasant when we meet yin spirits at night."