Chapter Forty-Three: The Weeping Bride (Part Thirteen)

The tour group was brought here by him, and now the villagers had suffered because of it. He wished he could kill himself to atone for his sins.

Therefore, the culprit must be found!

Lin Qi hadn’t expected things to turn out this way. He opened his mouth but couldn’t think of a single word to refute.

Meanwhile, Su Man received a new task.

[Task 2: Before nightfall, uncover the truth behind last night’s incident in the village.

If not completed on time, there will be punishment.]

She hadn’t expected to be tasked with solving the crime, though she was more curious about the eerie woman from last night. But the two objectives weren’t mutually exclusive.

“Even if someone saw a person wearing our tour group’s clothes commit the crime, that doesn’t prove it was one of us.” Chang Gui’s broad accusations provoked discontent among the others.

“A villager has died! Apart from you outsiders, who else would harm their own?” Chang Gui’s eyes blazed with fury, his words heavy. “This is my village. Here, the village chief makes the rules!”

Su Man’s goal aligned with his, so she didn’t stop him. In fact, she fanned the flames. “Why don’t you tell us what you lost, and I’ll show you my luggage?”

She added, “I’m only speaking for myself.”

But since she was the first to volunteer, how could the others refuse? If they did, wouldn’t that make them seem suspicious?

For a moment, everyone’s expressions shifted as they looked at her.

Su Man didn’t care in the slightest. Not only was she willing to lay her belongings bare, but if threatened, she’d probably sneak around and reveal everyone else’s bags herself.

But unexpectedly, Chang Gui faltered, unable to say what he’d lost.

Instantly, dissatisfaction erupted. Someone seized the opportunity, “You don’t even know what’s missing, yet you claim we took it?”

Su Man inwardly despised him. Chang Gui was hopeless, and at such a critical moment, he couldn’t even say what was stolen. How was she supposed to help him?

Under the barrage of criticism, Chang Gui’s face alternated between pale and flushed. He had acted on impulse, rushing back when he heard from the village chief that the suspect was someone from their tour group.

“You… I… I’ll go ask the village chief!” Chang Gui struggled to utter this miserable excuse, his face scarlet. He strode out without looking back, but stopped abruptly at the door. “Don’t think you can run...”

Halfway through his threat, he reconsidered, muttering, “Forget it, do as you please. You can’t leave anyway.”

To everyone’s surprise, Chang Gui never returned after going to see the village chief.

At first, everyone waited patiently for him to come back and clear their names, but after half an hour with no sign of him, their patience wore thin. They dispersed, returning to their own affairs—it wasn’t them who broke their word, after all.

Once the others had gone, Lin Qi sat beside Su Man, curious. “Aren’t you afraid? Someone died in the village.”

Su Man glanced at him. “Why should I be? I didn’t do it.”

“I mean, someone died… Forget it, you’re clearly not scared. Last night, you even took me out to dig—” He fell silent, remembering the events of the previous night, and realized there really wasn’t much to be frightened about.

Suddenly, he leaned in conspiratorially. “But I might have a clue to share with you. I think I know who the culprit is.”

Su Man looked at him without speaking. Lin Qi grinned slyly, “But you know you have to offer me something in return, right?”

He rubbed his hands together greedily.

“No.” She cut him off without even bothering to hear what he wanted, “I don’t want your clue.”

She had her own judgments and ideas. Most importantly, she suspected Lin Qi merely had suspicions, not certainty. She didn’t want uncertain clues muddying her investigation.

“You… what’s wrong with you? Why won’t you listen?” Her answer left him at a loss—he had hoped to investigate with her.

Seeing that Su Man was genuinely not playing coy, he grew anxious. “Fine, I don’t need anything from you. I’ll tell you, and then we’ll investigate together, okay?”

Su Man was a woman of courage and intelligence—he liked teaming up with smart people like her.

But she was still unimpressed. “Even without your request, I don’t want to hear it.”

She might soon go searching for the resurrection card; why drag along someone who’d only slow her down? Unless she needed a scapegoat.

“You... you... Fine, I’ll compromise! I’ll tell you!” Lin Qi, ignoring her reluctance, declared, “I suspect it was Huang Mei! She did it.”

This did surprise Su Man, though she didn’t show it. She was interested now, since Huang Mei was one of her own suspects.

Her suspicion of Huang Mei stemmed from the fact that the woman had indeed gone out last night—but why did Lin Qi suspect her?

She glanced upstairs; Huang Mei hadn’t come down yet. Was she awake, or still asleep?

Given the distance, if Huang Mei wanted to listen in, she could probably hear them.

Su Man tapped her fingers on the table, but didn’t bother to warn Lin Qi.

Seeing her interest, Lin Qi didn’t dare tease her further. He glanced around, then whispered, “Yesterday, when we came down the mountain, she looked off. I suspect she knows that man—what’s his name, Miao?—and that they have some unspeakable secret.”

Lin Qi now resembled the gossipy old women at the village entrance.

“They know each other?” Su Man tapped her fingers again, thinking it unlikely, though not impossible.

Lin Qi’s imagination ran wild. “That Miao guy—he’s got something against this village. Maybe he and Huang Mei teamed up to stir trouble, and we’re just collateral damage.”

“Not true! That’s not true!” A loud, aggrieved voice echoed from upstairs.

Both looked up to see Huang Mei, her eyes red, standing at the top of the stairs, glaring at Lin Qi with resentment.

“Why do you have to slander me in front of Su Man? I think you’re the real villain!” She stormed downstairs, her finger trembling as she pointed at Lin Qi.

Lin Qi opened his mouth, unsure what to say, awkward at being caught gossiping. He had spoken in a low voice—how had she heard everything?

“Su Man, I’m not, don’t listen to his nonsense. I don’t even know that man!”

Huang Mei anxiously explained herself. What if Su Man stopped trusting her because of these words?

“Don’t believe this fat man; he’s just trying to sow discord.” She was furious. How could he be so malicious?

Su Man didn’t commit herself. She simply stared into Huang Mei’s eyes and asked, “Then where did you go last night? You can tell me that, can’t you? If you want me not to trust him, you need to give me a reason to believe you.”