The Grim Reaper's Banquet (5)

Lin Banxia's eyes lit up.

"I came here to get water that day," Jiang Ruonan said. "I saw him slip by the stream, and then... his head got stuck in the crevice between two rocks. I wanted to help, but-but I couldn't pull it out no matter what." She lowered her eyes, a tremor in her voice. "I don't know how such a coincidence could happen. Those two rocks seemed alive, holding his head firmly... He died later. I was afraid others would misunderstand if they found out, so I didn't say anything."

Song Qingluo said, "Was he also coming to the river to get water?"

"I don't think so," Jiang Ruonan replied. "I didn't see any water-fetching tools by the river."

Song Qingluo pondered for a moment before asking another question. He said, "Have the causes and locations of death for everyone who died in your village been recorded?"

"They have," Jiang Ruonan said. "Grandpa He has all the records. He's highly respected and knows medicine, so the bodies are usually taken to his place first." She added, "But I don't recommend you go there. He... doesn't really like outsiders."

Song Qingluo said, "By the way, when did the first person die?"

"Mid-March," Jiang Ruonan said. "I remember it clearly. The weather was exceptionally good that day, and the snow on the mountain was starting to melt... That person was walking back after washing clothes by the stream when they slipped halfway and broke their own neck, just like that."

After Jiang Ruonan finished speaking, her water jar was full. She carefully hoisted it and prepared to head back. Lin Banxia looked at Song Qingluo, "Should we go?"

"Yes," Song Qingluo nodded.

Although neither of them said where they were going, they both knew.

He Huai'an ultimately couldn't wait for the sky to brighten. About an hour after Song Qingluo and Lin Banxia went out, it began to rain. Bean-sized raindrops smashed down mercilessly, creating small pits in the soft ground.

Mou Xinsi had changed her clothes and packed her luggage. She sat quietly beside He Huai'an, looking out the window with melancholy in her eyes, her thoughts unknown.

He Huai'an said, "Let's go." It seemed the weather wasn't going to get any better.

"Where are we going?" Mou Xinsi asked.

"To take you out of the village, of course," He Huai'an was a little anxious. "Wait here, I'll go find some rain gear. I'll be right back."

Mou Xinsi hummed in response and watched He Huai'an push the door open and leave.

The rain continued to pitter-patter, like a thick curtain blocking out the light, enveloping the entire world. Amidst the splashing sound of the rain, Mou Xinsi's ears caught a strange sound again—like a cry, a wail, or an indistinct murmur. She knew the sound she heard was real, just like the rattling coffin and the knocked-on door panel. This sound from behind the door was also real—

"Come out... come out..."

"Come out... come out..."

Like a whisper, like a summons, the voice lured Mou Xinsi, forcing her to stand up and move forward, step by step. Her progress was extremely difficult; an instinctive fear of the sound and a strong curiosity about the unknown clashed violently within her. But in the end, curiosity won.

Mou Xinsi reached the window. She saw a woman standing outside.

The woman had her back to her and was forcefully tearing at her hair. Her strength was immense; clumps of black hair were continuously pulled out and fell to the ground, even revealing a bloody scalp. Yet, the woman's actions didn't stop. With no more hair to pull, she began to tear at her own skin as if taking off clothes—white bones showed through the glaring red.

Mou Xinsi wanted to scream, but she couldn't move. Her body seemed to have frozen into a lifeless statue. She couldn't even perform a simple action like closing her eyes.

The woman continued. In the pouring rain, she finally, with satisfaction, tore off the skin she wore, becoming a set of bare white bones.

She turned around, revealing a face that was mangled beyond recognition—and those two dark, empty eye sockets. Mou Xinsi stared at her blankly, unable to look away for even a moment. The woman smiled, giving Mou Xinsi a strange smile. Mou Xinsi couldn't understand why a skull's face could show such a smile. Her eyes began to sting, and her mind felt as chaotic as a muddy swamp.

The cold wind howled. Mou Xinsi used all her strength to blink, and then, the woman before her vanished from sight.

Everything returned to normal. The person in the courtyard was gone, as if everything just now had been merely Mou Xinsi's hallucination. She heaved a sudden sigh of relief, feeling her heart beating rapidly, as if it would leap out of her throat. However, before Mou Xinsi could fully relax, she felt a pair of cold, sticky hands cup her cheeks. That bloody, bony face slowly extended from beside her ear to right in front of her eyes, and asked with a smile, "How about I help you take yours off too?"

The moment she heard this voice, Mou Xinsi felt something inside her break. Her body became deathly still, and all sounds vanished.

At this moment, her life finally returned to tranquility.

He Huai'an had run to get umbrellas. They were next to the toilet; it would only take him three minutes to go there and back.

'It's only three minutes, surely nothing will happen to Mou Xinsi.'

He Huai'an thought this, but his steps quickened significantly on the way back. He ran back to the room and saw Mou Xinsi staring out the window with a blank expression. Outside the window was the courtyard, empty. There was nothing but the curtain of heavy rain, like a beaded screen.

Seeing Mou Xinsi was alright, He Huai'an breathed a sigh of relief. He bent down to pick up the luggage and said, "Xiao Si, let's go."

Mou Xinsi didn't move.

"Xiao Si?" He Huai'an thought she hadn't heard and raised his voice.

Mou Xinsi still didn't move.

A terrible premonition struck He Huai'an. He walked over, and with a trembling hand, gently patted Mou Xinsi's arm. "Xiao Si, what's wrong with you?" he asked, his voice shaking.

Mou Xinsi calmly stared out the window, as if something within the rain curtain had captured her entire being. No matter how He Huai'an shouted, he couldn't elicit any reaction from her.

"Xiao Si!!!" He Huai'an panicked the moment he realized something was wrong with Mou Xinsi. He called her name, forcefully cupped her face, and shook her body, trying to bring her out of her stiff state.

Mou Xinsi finally reacted. Her eyelids twitched violently, and terrified gurgling sounds came from her throat. Then, as if she had seen something, her pupils constricted sharply before beginning to dilate.

He Huai'an had seen dead people before, so he naturally knew what their eyes looked like. He watched as the color of life drained from Mou Xinsi's pupils, which slowly began to dilate. Her eyelids drooped slowly, and her previously stiff body quickly went limp, slumping before He Huai'an like a pile of boneless flesh.

"Mou Xinsi, Mou Xinsi!!!" He Huai'an cried her name in terror. He laid her on the floor and began to forcefully press on her chest, performing CPR continuously in an attempt to revive her. However, his actions and common sense were all futile at this moment.

Mou Xinsi's skin gradually grew cold. Her pulse, heartbeat, and breathing had all stopped.

In just three minutes, in a place He Huai'an couldn't see, she had become a cold corpse.

He Huai'an's hands stopped moving. He no longer tried to press on Mou Xinsi's chest. Instead, he slowly sat down on the floor. He turned his head blankly and saw the courtyard behind him. It was empty, with nothing but the curtain-like downpour.

Why had Mou Xinsi been staring so intently at the courtyard before she died? Could it be that something there had taken her life?

He Huai'an couldn't figure it out no matter how he tried.

Mou Xinsi's body lay quietly on the floor. The fear and stiffness had vanished from her. She became serene, her body soft and calm, as if she had just entered a peaceful, deep sleep. He Huai'an picked her up and carefully placed her on the bed.

An unknown amount of time passed, perhaps an hour, perhaps two. When he regained his senses, he heard someone calling his name. He Huai'an looked up and saw the Village Chief's face. The Village Chief also saw the lifeless girl on the bed. A hint of sorrow appeared in his eyes as he said in a low voice, "Young man, what happened to your friend?"

"She's dead," He Huai'an heard his own voice say.

"Dead? How did she die?" the Village Chief asked.

"I don't know," He Huai'an said woodenly. "She was already dead when I came back."

"Sigh, I told you all to leave earlier." The Village Chief glanced at Mou Xinsi, a look of pity in his eyes. He lamented, "Look at this poor child..."

He Huai'an didn't know what to say. He seemed unable to think for a moment.

The Village Chief asked in a low voice, "What do you plan to do now?"

"I don't know," He Huai'an said blankly. "I don't know either."

"Would you like to have something to eat first?" the Village Chief said. "I've made some chicken soup..."

He Huai'an said quietly, "No, thank you. I want to stay here with her and wait for my friends to come back. Thank you for your kindness."

"You can't go without eating; food is essential," the Village Chief said. "You wait here, I'll bring some food over for you." He coughed twice and backed out of the room, intending to get some food for He Huai'an.

He Huai'an didn't say yes or no, but he suddenly remembered something and hesitated. "Village Chief, yesterday, someone hung themselves at our door. Do you know that person?"

The Village Chief's steps paused. He asked vaguely, "Where is the person?"

"The body is in the main hall. Didn't you see it?" He Huai'an asked, puzzled.

"I didn't notice," the Village Chief said. "You stay here and keep watch. I'll go take a look."

Grandpa He was an elder in Sanshui Village, already eighty-six years old this year. He once had a son and a daughter, but both had unfortunately died young. Fortunately, he had learned medicine in his youth and cured many villagers of their minor ailments, so he was considered highly respected.

Jiang Ruonan said that after the strange events began in the village, Grandpa He had always been resistant to the Village Chief seeking help from outsiders, claiming that the villagers had angered the Mountain God, leading to this disaster. At first, the villagers didn't take Grandpa He's words to heart, but as the situation gradually spiraled out of control, more and more people began to think that what Grandpa He said was right.

Because he was the only doctor in the village, almost everyone who died had to be examined by him, making him the only person in the village with a record of all the villagers' deaths. Jiang Ruonan told Lin Banxia and Song Qingluo where Grandpa He lived and then left with her water.

Lin Banxia and Song Qingluo went to the place she mentioned and saw that Grandpa He.

But their luck was bad today. They couldn't go in because a funeral procession was just coming out of the house. At the very end of the procession was an elderly man, leaning on a cane, his face gloomy. Through the curtain of rain, though they couldn't see his face clearly, they could vaguely sense the deathly stillness of old age about him.

It was pouring rain again today, so the funeral procession was much more desolate. No one was carrying a coffin either; the person was simply wrapped in cloth. There were too many people here, and Song Qingluo and Lin Banxia were afraid of starting a conflict with the villagers, so they didn't go up. It was getting late anyway, so they decided to come back tomorrow when there were fewer people.

The two returned to the Village Chief's house in the heavy rain. Although Song Qingluo had tried his best to cover himself up, his hair still got wet. When they got inside, Lin Banxia first found a dry towel and carefully wiped the water from Song Qingluo's hair, saying, "Do you want to warm yourself by the fire? You look a bit pale."

"I'm fine," Song Qingluo said. "Just a little cold." His dark eyes were half-lidded, making him look more tired than usual.

Lin Banxia said, "The Village Chief must be back. The coffin in the courtyard and the body in the main hall are gone."

Song Qingluo said, "Mm."

"I just don't know if He Huai'an and the others have left," Lin Banxia said. "Should we go check?"

Song Qingluo said, "Alright."

Next, the two went to He Huai'an and Mou Xinsi's room. Seeing it was empty, Lin Banxia breathed a sigh of relief, "Looks like they left."

"No," Song Qingluo's expression changed. "They haven't left."

Lin Banxia was stunned.

Song Qingluo pointed to a corner of the room, where a suitcase was placed—the very one Mou Xinsi had brought with her.

"They haven't left?" Lin Banxia immediately grew tense. "Did something happen?"

Song Qingluo frowned. "Let's split up and search."

The two began to search the courtyard. Fortunately, the courtyard wasn't large. Lin Banxia quickly found He Huai'an in another room, but before he could relax, he noticed that He Huai'an's expression was wrong.

"What happened?" Lin Banxia asked He Huai'an after entering the room.

"Mou Xinsi is dead," He Huai'an said in a small voice.

Lin Banxia thought he had misheard and asked again in disbelief, "What did you say? What happened to Mou Xinsi?"

"Mou Xinsi is dead," He Huai'an said. As he spoke, he glanced behind him. Lin Banxia followed his gaze and saw Mou Xinsi lying motionless on the bed.

Lin Banxia's heart sank. He walked over to Mou Xinsi's side in a few steps. Mou Xinsi's eyes were closed, her expression peaceful. She didn't look dead, but rather as if she were sleeping soundly. However, when Lin Banxia carefully checked her pulse, his last remaining hope was shattered. Mou Xinsi's wrist was ice-cold, and her pulse was gone—she was truly dead.

"What happened? What went wrong?" Lin Banxia turned to look at He Huai'an.

"I don't know, I don't know," He Huai'an's smile was extremely bitter, as if he was about to cry. "Just as we were about to leave, I went to the courtyard to get two umbrellas, and when I came back, she was gone..."

Lin Banxia said, "How could she just... be gone?"

"I don't know." He Huai'an repeated these three words, shaking his head incessantly. "I don't know what happened to her. I only know she kept staring at the courtyard, and as she watched, she just collapsed?"

Lin Banxia was also confused. If Mou Xinsi had seen something terrifying and died of fright, her face should at least show some signs of it. But right now, her face was calm, as if she had died peacefully in her sleep.

"What happened to Mou Xinsi?" Just as Lin Banxia was thinking, Song Qingluo also arrived. After entering the room, his gaze also fell on the lifeless Mou Xinsi.

"She's dead," He Huai'an repeated.

Song Qingluo glanced at him but didn't ask why. He walked directly to Mou Xinsi, briefly checked her vital signs, and then said calmly, "Describe what happened to me in detail."

He Huai'an said, "Okay..."

Then, he recounted everything that had happened after Song Qingluo and the others left. When he mentioned the Village Chief's appearance after Mou Xinsi's death, Song Qingluo frowned slightly. He said, "The Village Chief came? Where is he now?"

"I don't know. He left after making me food," He Huai'an said. "I don't know where he is."

"Did you eat?" Song Qingluo asked.

"Not yet," He Huai'an said. "I have no appetite."

"Don't touch any of the food in the village for now, including the water," Song Qingluo said. "There might be something wrong with everything here. I have a general idea now, but I need to confirm it tomorrow. Tonight... you should sleep with us."

"Then what about Mou Xinsi?" He Huai'an asked blankly. "She's afraid of the dark. We can't just leave her in the room alone..."

Song Qingluo said, "It's fine. We can put her in our room. I'm not afraid. Are you?"

He Huai'an gave a bitter smile. "What's there to be afraid of a dead person?" The terrifying things were the unknown entities that caused their deaths.

Although Song Qingluo had sensed the danger and urged He Huai'an to send Mou Xinsi away as soon as possible, he was still a step too late. In just a moment, an unknown entity had taken Mou Xinsi's life. She was still young and should have had a better future, not ended up in such a miserable state.

The night deepened, and the Village Chief had not returned. None of the three were in the mood to eat, but to conserve their strength, they forced themselves to eat some of the compressed biscuits they carried.

Mou Xinsi's body was wrapped in a blanket by Lin Banxia and placed in a corner of the room. When it was time to sleep, the three didn't say much. The atmosphere was a bit heavy.

He Huai'an lay in bed but couldn't fall asleep. He tossed and turned, his mind filled with the image of Mou Xinsi staring blankly at the courtyard that morning. What exactly did she see that caused her to die so suddenly? Could it be that just looking at those things would make one lose their life? Is that why the villagers here died so bizarrely? He Huai'an was supposed to be calm, but he found he couldn't. No matter how many times it happened, he still couldn't face a companion's death calmly. This was probably the biggest difference between a Recorder and a Watcher.

Recorders were just ordinary humans who felt fear and terror. Their only use was to leave behind all the information they knew before they died, paving the way for those who came after. And Watchers were the puzzle-solvers who used this information to unravel mysteries. Only they could guard those Aberrant Objects from the darkness. Thinking of this, He Huai'an rubbed his dry eyes hard.

The rain outside seemed like it would never stop. The air was filled with damp moisture, and the quilts had a disgusting musty smell. Even breathing sounds came from beside He Huai'an. Both Lin Banxia and Song Qingluo were asleep, and they seemed to be sleeping well, not even moving an inch.

He Huai'an carefully glanced at his phone screen. It was already three in the morning. If he didn't sleep soon, the sky would brighten. He thought for a moment, then slowly sat up in bed. Without putting on his shoes, he fumbled like a blind man to the table, wanting a sip of water to calm his nerves. The table was right next to the bed and easy to find. He Huai'an carefully walked to the table and found the water bottle on it.

Just as He Huai'an twisted open the cap, he heard a rumbling sound in his ear... Thunder. He reflexively glanced at the courtyard. It was pitch black outside the window, without a single source of light, as if a black cloth was covering the window, obscuring everything.

A bright flash of lightning suddenly appeared in the sky, stretching out a long golden line and illuminating the dark courtyard. He Huai'an, who was drinking water, seemed to see something. Thinking he had seen wrong, he moved his face closer to the glass, puzzled. Another dazzling flash of lightning, and He Huai'an saw a pale face appear outside the pitch-black window. The owner of the face had pressed their cheek against the glass, only a fist's distance away from him.

"Ah!" He Huai'an was startled and stumbled back several steps. When he looked at the window again, the face was gone. Seeing this, He Huai'an rushed out of the room, but the dark courtyard was empty. There was nothing there.

"What's wrong?" The commotion woke the sleeping Lin Banxia. He groggily opened his eyes and saw He Huai'an standing at the door, a look of panic on his face.

"I think I just saw the Village Chief." Although frightened, He Huai'an still clearly remembered the owner of the face. "It was the Village Chief I saw during the day."

"The Village Chief?" Lin Banxia asked, puzzled. "What is he doing here?"

"I don't know," He Huai'an said in a low voice. "When I woke up, I saw him peeking through the window. When I chased after him, he was gone. Was that really the Village Chief? Why would he come to our window to look? Could it be that he was worried something would happen to us too?"

Naturally, Lin Banxia couldn't answer He Huai'an's string of questions either, and he also felt that this Village Chief gave off a bad feeling. It was Song Qingluo who said softly, "Let's sleep first. We'll talk tomorrow." His tone was soothing.

"Okay..." He Huai'an returned to the bed dejectedly and wrapped himself in the quilt. After doing this, he realized that he seemed a bit like Mou Xinsi from last night...

The author has something to say:

Lin Banxia: These things that hurt others are too much. I never hurt anyone.

Song Qingluo: Look at your doorplate and say that again?

Doorplate 1303: Sob sob sob sob sob, I used all my strength to scare you, only to pave the way for some other seductive slut!!

Lin Banxia: 0.0

Oh, writing this suddenly reminded me of something that happened when I was a kid. I was walking past a building when suddenly all the dogs in that building started barking like crazy. Then, four men came out carrying a stretcher. I happily ran along behind them at the time. Later, my mom told me that they were carrying a dead child... a childhood trauma.

Let me explain the dice again, hehe. There are two ten-sided dice with faces 0-9. One represents the tens digit, and the other represents the units digit. You can roll from 00 to 99. 00 represents 100. Saying 0-100 before was a bug, so I've corrected it.