Chapter Thirty-Five: The Weeping Bride, Part Five

Changgui stammered as he tried to explain, “Things have been tight lately… I…”
“Enough! Come with me!” the village chief cut him off angrily, not sparing him another glance as he strode after the villagers ahead.

Changgui opened his mouth, but in the end only sighed. Then he called out loudly to Su Man and the others, “Go back to my house, everyone. That’s it for today! Don’t wander around the village aimlessly. If you get yourselves into trouble, don’t blame me if I can’t protect you!”

With that, he hurried after the village chief, paying no heed to whether they would actually return or not. It was clear that the chief commanded true authority in this village.

Huang Mei strained her ears to catch snatches of their conversation, then tugged on Su Man’s sleeve. “They’re going to the ancestral hall. I overheard the chief and the tour guide saying it’s their family’s turn this year. They didn’t mention what for, so I’m not sure.”

The ancestral hall—should they go?

Su Man weighed the matter in her mind, while casually picking up a thread from earlier. “Why are you so sure the bride didn’t jump from the bridge of her own accord? Did you hear something?”

“I heard her crying. I also heard her begging for help.” But the voice had been so faint that Huang Mei hesitated now, uncertainty creeping in again. “I think it was her, anyway.”

“Are you talking about the bride? Count me in!” a male voice suddenly joined them. “You’re curious too, right? Let’s investigate together!”

It was the plump reporter.

He hurried to introduce himself, “I’m Lin Qi, an intern reporter from the city. Let me tell you, this village is seriously strange—there’ve been several murders here, and some even made the news, but nothing ever came of it. I’m here to get to the bottom of things.”

Ambition shone in his eyes. “If I get firsthand information about this place and report it back, I’ll be made permanent for sure!”

Huang Mei eyed him warily. His greedy look made her uneasy; dealing with people like him was bound to be risky. But seeing the keen interest in Su Man’s eyes, she held her tongue—she trusted Su Man had her reasons.

“Can you take a beating?” Su Man didn’t bother with pleasantries or explanations, asking only this seemingly unrelated question.

“Of course! Look at all this padding—I’m a reporter, you think I’m scared of a little roughing up? I’ve been ready for that from the start!” Lin Qi, assuming she meant to test his resolve, thumped his chest with pride.

Su Man nodded, “Alright, you can join us.”

“But since you came to us first, shouldn’t you show a little sincerity and tell me something I don’t already know?”

“Heh… sure, sure…” Lin Qi laughed awkwardly. “I’ll tell you in a bit.” He lowered his voice, “I need to go fetch something first. I’ll be right back.”

Without waiting for their reply, he dashed off. For someone of his build, he moved with surprising agility.

“Are we really going to team up with him? He doesn’t seem… easy to work with, and I doubt he’d tell us the truth,” Huang Mei couldn’t resist whispering to Su Man.

“It’s fine. As long as he’s useful,” Su Man replied indifferently.

Something about her words reminded Huang Mei of Su Man’s blunt utilitarianism. “Is he your backup—your sacrificial pawn?”

“More or less,” Su Man answered without hesitation. She didn’t care to hide it. “Why? Do you have an opinion?”

“Unless you want to take his place? If you do, that’s fine with me—one less burden for the team.”

“No, no,” Huang Mei blanched, shaking her head quickly. “I was just asking, that’s all.” She added in haste, “I won’t tell him.”

Su Man smiled. It wouldn’t matter even if she did—after all, it was Lin Qi who’d sought her out, not the other way around.

Lin Qi soon returned, this time with a camera, which he tried to conceal as if afraid of being caught.

“You have a camera?” Huang Mei, now privy to his secret, felt increasingly ill at ease and made small talk awkwardly. “I thought you lost it in the river.”

“I’m a reporter! Of course I’m prepared for accidents.” Lin Qi brushed her off; he had little regard for this timid woman.

Still, he winced a little at the mention of the river—his real camera had been expensive.

“Let’s hurry to the ancestral hall. We’re bound to get some real scoops!” With the other tourists scattered, Lin Qi no longer bothered to hide his destination.

Su Man watched him in silence. Lin Qi, guessing what she wanted, said, “You want to know about the bride, right? You’ll find out once we get there.”

“If it’s something everyone knows, you don’t have to bother telling me,” Su Man retorted, not about to let him off so easily.

“…Alright, I’ll tell you as we go,” Lin Qi finally relented.

He really had been following the happenings in this village for some time, and did know quite a bit.

“You’ve probably heard the origins of Master’s Village. Well, it’s true—a powerful exorcist did live here, and the villagers aren’t ordinary either. They’re all exorcists themselves, though their abilities vary.” He spoke in a hushed voice, as if afraid of being overheard. “So we’d better tread carefully here—better to believe too much than too little.”

Lin Qi also brought up the murders that had made the news. “A lot of brides have died in this village in recent years, all in different ways.”

One case could be a fluke, but so many? That was something else.

“I’ve heard some say the village is cursed for its past sins,” Lin Qi clicked his tongue. “But honestly, I don’t buy that. I think it’s arranged marriages going wrong.”

He spoke at length, but in the end said little of substance.

Su Man didn’t expect much from him anyway. Still, she suddenly remembered the woman in yellow and asked, “Have you ever seen any reports about a woman in yellow in this village?”

The woman did look like a vagrant—if anyone had noticed her, perhaps she’d made the news.

“A woman in yellow?” That was a vague description, even if she’d been in the news, who would remember?

But Lin Qi did recall something, though he doubted it was relevant. It had little news value and was rather strange, so he mentioned it in passing. “Fifty years ago, a young heiress went missing here. There was a missing persons notice, and in the photo she was wearing a yellow dress.”

“Fifty years ago? That’s a stretch,” Huang Mei, despite her fear of Lin Qi, couldn’t help but object. “Did you really see a newspaper from back then?”

“I told you it was bizarre—believe it or not.” Lin Qi didn’t argue. If Su Man hadn’t asked, he wouldn’t have mentioned it. “But I remember that notice clearly, because the woman was stunningly beautiful!”