Blood did not show on tree bark, and the body hanging high above was far too conspicuous — everyone’s attention had been fixed on the corpse. No one had noticed the surrounding trees. Now that someone had wailed it aloud, the crowd finally realized something was wrong.
The moment that line of blood-written characters entered her eyes, Ren Yao felt a chill shoot from the soles of her feet all the way up to her scalp. She almost suspected someone had put a curse on her — why did she keep running into things like this lately?
She had been too afraid to look at the corpse earlier and had leaned against that very tree for quite some time. The thought that her clothing might have brushed against the blood made Ren Yao’s back go numb with revulsion.
Compared to Ren Yao, Xie Jichuan’s step back was elegant and composed. Had Ren Yao not heard him sigh in that equally elegant voice, “How terrifying,” she might have believed his act entirely.
Xie Jichuan’s voice was very low, and his air of unhurried aristocratic poise was so convincing that no one except Ren Yao caught the moment. Ren Yao gave him an indescribable look and decided it was safer to stay close to the Ming siblings after all.
At least Ming Huazhang would actually step forward when something happened, whereas Xie Jichuan would only calmly slip behind everyone else.
The crowd scattered in a panic. Sure enough, Ming Huazhang once again moved against the tide and walked over. He crouched down, studied the characters on the tree carefully, then gently pressed at the surrounding bark. Ren Yao watched with her skin prickling, and asked, “Something this eerie — and you move in closer for a better look?”
Ming Huashang had come over as well. She examined the tree branch from which the body hung and then looked at the blood-written words. “This seems to be exactly the direction Wei Zi’s eyes were gazing in.”
Jiang Ling came bounding over, flushed with excitement. “Well? Well? Was I right? We’ve all seen the blood writing now — is the snake ghost coming to find us?”
Ming Huashang was momentarily speechless. Why did he actually sound eager? She said, “Those who look upon me shall die — what exactly does that mean? Who was the first person to find Wei Zi?”
A maidservant in the crowd answered, trembling head to toe: “It was this servant. Around the Hour of the Dragon, the young miss grew hungry. When the kitchen failed to send breakfast for a long time, she sent this servant to inquire. This servant had never been to Feihong Garden before and was unfamiliar with the paths. She strayed down the wrong road by mistake. From a distance, this servant spotted a flash of red over here, assumed it was a passerby, and came closer to ask directions — only to find, to her horror, that it was…”
The young maidservant looked utterly shattered. After discovering the body, she had been frightened half out of her wits, and had crawled and stumbled back to the courtyard to report the news. Her young mistress had been equally terrified — she dispatched someone to notify Princess Taiping and at the same time sent the maidservant back out to gather information.
Clearly terrified, the maidservant did not dare leave either, which made it convenient for Ming Huashang to question her. Ming Huashang asked carefully what time she had found the body. The maidservant did not know the exact hour and could only estimate from the time it had taken her to walk there — at least the second quarter of the Hour of the Dragon.
Ming Huashang nodded. “Although the second quarter of the Hour of the Dragon is early, many people were awake by the fourth watch today. You may not have been the first person to come here. The handwriting here also differs from what was found yesterday. Perhaps someone is playing tricks, deliberately writing on the trees to frighten people.”
Ming Huashang’s words prompted the crowd to reconsider. One of the servants of the Princess’s household summoned her courage and looked closely, then went pale with horror. “This… this is Wei Zi’s handwriting!”
The crowd erupted in screams. Ming Huashang’s breath caught — she had meant to reassure people, but she seemed instead to have confirmed that a malevolent ghost had committed the murder.
One woman reacted more violently than the rest, her eyes rolling back as she fainted. Everyone was already like startled birds — when she collapsed, not a single person dared catch her. They shoved each other frantically instead, crying out: “Ah, someone else is dead!”
The woman hit the ground, her head striking the surface with a dull, heavy sound. Ming Huashang winced just watching, and quickly called out, “She is not a ghost — she only fainted from fright. Someone come and help her!”
After a flurry of frantic hands, the unconscious woman slowly came to. The moment she saw people around her, she became extremely frightened and screamed, covering her eyes. “Go away — all of you go away — don’t look at me!”
Ming Huashang felt something was off about this maidservant’s reaction and hurried to ask, “What is the matter? Do you know something?”
The maidservant pressed her hands over her own eyes with all her strength. Ming Huashang could only watch her red lips open and close, as though she were staring into the face of some eyeless creature: “I remember now — yesterday, Wei Zi went to find Chi Lan. She called her somewhere secluded and berated her for a very long time. It must be Chi Lan who harbored resentment and came back to kill Wei Zi last night!”
The maidservant went round and round in frenzied, rambling speech, and it was clear her mind was no longer sound. Ming Huashang had meant to ask about the details of the previous day, but the maidservant was in no state to be questioned. Ming Huashang could only have someone escort her back to her room to rest.
First the dead woman’s writing had appeared, and now an eyewitness confirmed that Chi Lan and Wei Zi had met. The crowd erupted in chaos. No one dared linger to watch any longer — they covered their eyes and fled in every direction, terrified of becoming a scapegoat by accident.
Xie Jichuan sighed, looking pained. “Why did the road down the mountain have to be blocked last night of all nights? I desperately want to leave.”
He was not alone. By now, everyone in the mountain villa probably wished they could run. Two murders had occurred in succession, and talk of a malevolent ghost claiming victims was spreading like wildfire. The first to die had at least been an ordinary maidservant; now, it was Princess Taiping’s personal attendant.
Who knew who the next scapegoat in the ghost’s sights would be?
The young lords and ladies no longer had the composure to maintain appearances. The mountain road was blocked, however — it was as if even the heavens were helping the snake ghost, trapping them in this snow-bound mountain, leisurely savoring the desperate struggles of prey before the kill.
Ren Yao recalled that she seemed to have encountered Chi Lan at some point, but could not remember whether she had looked the woman in the eyes. This uncertainty was the most tormenting thing of all. Ren Yao kept going back over the events of the previous day, and the more she thought, the more frightened she became.
Ren Yao had not slept well the night before, and now her face was ashen, her mind beginning to grow hazy. Ming Huashang noticed her poor color and said to comfort her, “Ren Jiejie, you need not worry. Even if there truly is a ghost, it will not come after you.”
Jiang Ling was intensely curious. Setting aside his grudge with that “mannish woman,” he pressed close and asked, “How do you know?”
“A guess.” Ming Huashang said, “If what that maidservant just said is correct, and Chi Lan encountered Wei Zi before she died, then the scapegoat must be chosen from among those she met in life.”
Jiang Ling scratched his head, not quite following. “What do you mean?”
Ming Huashang held up her fingers one by one. “Let us first assume we are the ghost, and trace the logic of how it finds a scapegoat. To begin: a certain person traveled from Fangzhou to Luoyang and for some reason came to haunt us. Then that person came to Mount Mang to attend Princess Taiping’s banquet and brought us into the mountain villa. We killed Chi Lan first. Chi Lan became the scapegoat, and we were freed. But after Chi Lan was bitten to death by a snake, she herself became a new snake ghost. She fixed her sights on Wei Zi, someone she had recently seen and quarreled with, and resolved to pull Wei Zi into becoming her scapegoat. Now Wei Zi is dead. Following the same logic, she ought to go after someone she cared about most — someone who looked directly into her eyes not long ago.”
“Precisely.” Ming Huazhang spoke, his words concise and clear: “The most recent people Wei Zi encountered are the next targets.”
Jiang Ling understood this time, but felt something was oddly off. “Assuming you are a ghost — what a strange angle to take.”
Ren Yao had no leisure to scorn this ignorant fool. She hurriedly cast her mind back over whether she had seen Wei Zi in the past two days. She confirmed it three times over and finally allowed herself to exhale with relief. “Thank heavens — I never saw Wei Zi.”
Just now had been their very first meeting — only she had not expected the first meeting to be Wei Zi’s corpse.
Ren Yao felt as though a great weight had lifted from her. Human joys and sorrows, however, do not align — Jiang Ling gave a cold snort and said, “I saw her.”
“So did I.” Ming Huashang raised her hand weakly. “Yesterday, as I was taking my leave of Princess Taiping, I happened to run into Wei Zi returning. I looked up — and our eyes met directly. And furthermore, I also saw Chi Lan.”
Yesterday in the inner hall, Ming Huazhang had had his back to the door with his eyes lowered and had not made eye contact with Wei Zi — but Ming Huashang was certain she herself had seen her.
She still remembered Wei Zi’s expression and manner at the time. Jiang Ling had not been wrong — Wei Zi had indeed had a very beautiful pair of eyes.
Xie Jichuan clicked his tongue in a sound half-sigh, half-something else. “Second younger sister, your luck really is something.”
Ming Huashang said with a light laugh, “Then do you all still dare keep my company? What if Wei Zi latches onto me and I become a scapegoat — the rest of you will be in danger too.”
Ming Huazhang did not find this joke the least bit funny. His face darkened and he said in a low, stern tone, “Er Niang, do not say such things.”
Ming Huashang fell silent, chastened. Ming Huazhang composed his expression and after a moment’s thought said, “Regardless of whether someone is playing ghost or whether this is truly supernatural, given the current clues, the next target should be someone who recently encountered Wei Zi. The most pressing matter is to gather those who had contact with her in one place. I want to see just what sort of ghost is making trouble.”
Ming Huashang dared not joke carelessly again. She sidled up to Ming Huazhang with a conciliatory air and said, “Second Elder Brother, there is no need to be overly anxious. Fortunately, when I went to pay my respects to Princess Taiping yesterday, Wei Zi was not in attendance beside the Princess. The number of people who saw her ought to be small and should be easy to trace.”
The moment these words left her mouth, Ming Huashang went rigid. The expressions of the others shifted as well.
Princess Taiping?
Ming Huazhang went to seek an audience with Princess Taiping and was refused without the least surprise.
The Princess was unwell and would see no visitors.