Chapter Forty-Seven: The Bride's Lament 17

Su Man was not annoyed. “Yes, yes, but how much longer can you keep it hidden? Actually, it’s not impossible to talk about it, is it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The village chief’s expression turned icy. He couldn’t tell if Su Man truly knew something or was just trying to trick him.
“You know, for example… Miao Sheng.” Su Man mentioned Miao Sheng, feeling that the truth was likely as she suspected.
Unexpectedly, the village chief seemed genuinely baffled this time, and even a bit impatient. “What about Miao Sheng? What happened with Miao Sheng? Is he someone from the village?”
Now it was Su Man’s turn to be surprised. Had she guessed wrong? Was Miao Sheng not the evil celestial master?
But she quickly dismissed the thought. Even if Miao Sheng wasn’t the evil master, he must be connected somehow.
A flash of insight came to her—perhaps these people were as much in the dark about Miao Sheng as she was.
She kept her composure and said cryptically, “Just consider it nonsense.”
The village chief’s face grew livid, feeling mocked by her.
“Young lady, with such a cunning mind, you’d better be careful lest you get what’s coming to you. You should watch yourself tonight.”
His meaning was unmistakable—he was targeting Su Man, his malice now entirely unmasked.
Seeing this, Su Man didn’t bother with politeness. “I don’t agree with what you said, but I’ll return the same words to you: those who act unjustly will meet their own destruction. Keep that in mind.”
The dead bride, Miao Sheng, the nameless horror—everything pointed to hidden darkness in this village, and as its chief, he was certainly involved.
“Very well, you’re quite something.” The village chief repeated himself twice, then a villager hurried over to call him. With a cold glare that lingered on her for two seconds, he finally snorted and stormed off, thoroughly offended.
Su Man wasn’t particularly afraid. She still had a revival card in hand—worst case, she could fake her death once.
But she really needed to gather a few more revival cards.
With that in mind, she turned and left.
Her destination was none other than the dilapidated house she had seen earlier.
She had noticed the glow of a revival card here.
The shabby house was a small villa, but judging by its condition, it hadn’t been inhabited for ages. Most of the plaster had peeled off the walls, making it look like a condemned structure.
The door wasn’t locked; she pushed it open effortlessly.
But as soon as the door swung open, she stopped, not stepping inside.

Because she saw footprints on the floor.
The dust lay thick on the ground, and the footprints were sharply defined—clearly fresh. Someone might still be inside.
As she weighed whether to enter, a faint sound drifted down from upstairs. “Zhao Ming, something’s not right here. What’s going on? Zhao Ming, why aren’t you saying anything?”
Zhao Ming?
Her memory was excellent; she immediately recalled that name as one Lin Qi had mentioned.
She now understood—the remaining two must be upstairs.
She drew her dagger and carefully ascended.
The closer she got to the second floor, the clearer the voices became. “Zhao Ming, say something, will you? What’s wrong with you? Wang Cheng is already dead, you can’t die too.”
Finally, on the second floor, Su Man caught sight of a man standing with his back to her.
As for the other person, she didn’t see him, but the heavy scent of blood was unmistakable.
“Sun Li?” She didn’t approach, but leaned against the stairwell, calling out tentatively.
“Who? Zhao Ming, is that you?” The figure reacted instantly, and as he turned, Su Man saw the nauseating scene he’d been hiding.
In front of Sun Li rested a severed head, its face drained of blood, deathly pale, eyes still wide open, frozen in the shock of its final moment.
Nearby, chunks of flesh were stacked together, threaded on a steel wire like a grotesque spit roast.
Sun Li’s face and body were smeared with blood, dried so dark it was almost black.
“Who are you?” Sun Li tilted his head, asking with childlike innocence. He seemed slow-witted, whether by nature or trauma was unclear.
Su Man didn’t answer him, only asked, “Did you kill Wang Cheng?”
Most people would instinctively deny such an accusation, but not Sun Li. He nodded honestly. “Yes, I killed him. Zhao Ming said he had to die, so I killed him.”
Just from his words, it was clear he regarded the act with the same ease as eating a meal; his intellect was truly impaired.
Su Man didn’t treat him as an oddity but spoke to him normally. “Did Zhao Ming say why Wang Cheng had to die?”
“Yes.” Sun Li nodded again, candid as ever.
“Zhao Ming said Wang Cheng wasn’t genuinely with us to make a fortune. If he stayed, none of us could ever get rich. So Zhao Ming said Wang Cheng had to die.”

Sun Li kept mentioning getting rich, so Su Man asked, “What fortune? Did you go out last night to get rich?”
But Sun Li, who had been so forthright, suddenly hesitated. “Zhao Ming said we can’t tell anyone about that.”
Su Man glanced at Zhao Ming’s head behind him, choosing to ignore it. “But Zhao Ming isn’t here right now, is he? And is everything Zhao Ming says always right?”
Sun Li fell silent, unhappy after a moment. “Zhao Ming is always right, I always listen to him.”
With just a few exchanges, Su Man had labeled Sun Li: low intelligence, obedient to Zhao Ming, but not entirely stubborn—still communicative.
She shifted her approach slightly.
She asked an apparently unrelated question, “Is Zhao Ming good to you?”
Sun Li hesitated, then nodded. “He’s all right. He gives me food.”
“Others don’t feed you?”
“No, they say I’m slow, feeding me is a waste.”
“Then Zhao Ming is truly a good person. He doesn’t mind that you’re slow, does he?”
“No, he minds, but he still feeds me.”
“Are you happy? Are you happy being with him?”
“It’s okay, as long as he feeds me…” He paused for a second, then grew troubled and worried. “But now he’s gone.”
Su Man glanced again at the head behind him. “Can you tell me how he disappeared?”
Sun Li looked at her, hesitant. “If I tell you, will you give me food? I haven’t eaten since yesterday, he only gave me one meal.”
His stomach growled; he looked embarrassed. “I’m hungry.”
Su Man smiled. “Of course I’ll feed you. If you follow me, I’ll make sure you’re full.”
“Really? You’re a good person, the best I’ve ever met.” Sun Li was moved. “Then I’ll tell you.”
“Zhao Ming disappeared because he went to seek immortality.”