To Xiangxi

  Du Sulin had several doubts in her mind, but these few questions were indeed unsolvable.

  Peng Haotian is not a mortal, so why is Peng Luofei an ordinary person? Even if Peng Luofei's mother was an ordinary person, the child born to her and Peng Haotian would definitely not be just an ordinary person.

  Perhaps the only explanation is that Peng Luofei is not Peng Haotian's biological daughter. But this explanation also starts with "perhaps". No one can give Du Siling an answer.

  "What's on your mind? You're so absorbed?"

  Du Sulin woke up with a start from his daze, and what entered his eyes was a piece of peeled tangerine peel. Following the direction of the tangerine peel, he met Ye Huanxi's delicate face.

  To a certain extent, Ye Huanxi and Xiao Qingzhu have many similarities, and it is precisely because of this similarity that they are extremely close, even more so than biological sisters. However, perhaps due to the sedimentation of age, compared to Xiao Qingzhu, Ye Huanxi has an additional hint of stability and tranquility in her demeanor.

  But Du Sulin quickly broke free from this brief trance, her nose slightly sour, but she still smiled at Ye Huanxi.

  Ye Xuan let out a sigh in her heart and didn't ask any more questions.

  Du Sulin's mood suddenly fell, and he walked into the study by himself.

  The study was still a bit cluttered, Du Sulin looked around and muttered: "Qingzhu..."

  At this time, the door of the study was opened, and Dong Shuanghe walked in calmly under Du Siling's astonished gaze, and casually closed the door. He took out a pale green cigarette case from his pocket, accompanied by the crisp sound of a lighter, and Du Siling felt a wave of tobacco fragrance mixed with menthol rushing into his nostrils.

  "I don't know if you've seen the recent news, but there's been a major serial murder case in Xiangxi, with three people reported dead so far. The forensic diagnosis is that they all died from excessive blood loss. Apart from a suspected animal bite mark on each of their bodies, no other obvious external injuries were found." Dong Shuanghe said, seeing Du Siling's inquiring expression.

  Du Sulin's eyebrows slightly furrowed: "You mean to say that they were all bitten to death by zombies?"

  Dong Shuanghe smiled, and for some reason, Du Siling felt that the smiling Dong Shuanghe was more terrifying than the usual silent Dong Shuanghe, or more accurately, unfathomable.

  "What I just said contains more information than that," she said.

  "Dou thought for a moment: 'The death toll may not be just three people, because the government is covering up the true number of deaths to avoid unnecessary panic among the masses, or maybe the dead have not been found yet...'"

  Dong Shuanghe nodded: "Still not stopping."

  "Those dead will appear to be resurrected after death, and under the premise that the government's protective measures are not in place or they are not aware of their harm, they will come out and bite people. We should go through it in detail!" When she said the last sentence, Du Siling's eyes lit up, thinking of that poor old man, zombies came out to harm people, suffering not only those who were bitten, but also their loved ones.

  Dong Shuanghe nodded in approval, but her expression didn't change a bit. Because she hadn't responded to Du Siling's words, the study fell silent for a moment, accompanied by the ash of Dong Shuanghe's cigarette falling off, and a new one was lit.

  "Taiguang, do you think you're okay now?" Dong Shuanghe suddenly asked.

  Du Sulin didn't expect her to ask such a question out of the blue, and she was taken aback for a moment, unsure of how to answer. Is she okay now? In theory, she should be fine. But in reality? Ever since Xiao Qingzhu left, everything good about her had lost its goodness. Or rather, whenever she had a moment of quiet, her mind would pause, and the image that would appear was Xiao Qingzhu's smile, every word she had said, and the fragrance on her body like orchids and musk.

  "I think I can understand how you feel about Qing Zhu leaving you." Seeing Du Si Lin not responding, Dong Shuang He continued, "The one I loved also left me before."

  "Not a small stream," she seemed to have guessed the doubts rising in Du Sulin's mind, and continued, "The loved ones I'm talking about are my relatives. I watched them die one by one in front of me because of my own arrogance and mistakes. They all died trying to save me. At that time, I hated myself for not having the ability to protect them, hated myself for only seeing the pain in my own heart and neglecting the people who loved and cared about me around me. But it's too late for regrets now."

  It was another period of silence, Du Sulin did not disturb Dong Shuanghe's memories, she suddenly understood the deep meaning implied in Dong Shuanghe's words.

  "The creek had left me, but in my opinion, it shouldn't be called leaving. Although that period of time was very long, so long that I almost forgot her breath, forgot her voice, and even forgot her appearance. But if her heart never left you, how can it be called leaving? You say, is that right?" Dong Shuanghe stared at Du Siling and asked.

  "I know what you mean," Du Sulin said, walking a few steps to sit down beside Dong Shuanghe. "Qingzhu's departure was a huge blow to me, I admit I'm very unhappy. This feeling is strange, as if all the hope and joy in life suddenly disappeared. But sometimes I also think that maybe Qingzhu leaving me is actually good for me, because it's impossible for me to grow old with her," Du Sulin spread out his hands, flipping them over repeatedly. "To be young forever, how many people have yearned for it throughout history but couldn't get it, yet this isn't what I want."

  "Have you ever thought about that?" Dong Shuanghe said, "Why did Qing Zhu leave you? Or, putting this question aside, are you really at ease with her and a house full of zombies together? Peng Luofei is indeed not a zombie, but she's just an ordinary person, what level of safety can she provide for Xiao Qingzhu? Are you sure you want to continue like this?"

  Du Sulin was stunned, had she really never thought of these things? No, she had thought about it, but unfortunately, she was still too timid emotionally, always afraid that she couldn't bring the best happiness to Xiao Qingzhu. Subconsciously, she would rather believe that Xiao Qingzhu and Peng Luofei being together was the best outcome.

  She forgot that she was indeed a descendant of the Du family, but only Du Siling. Xiao Qingzhu's happiness, she had no way to decide and choose for her.

  Dong Shuanghe stood up, extinguished the cigarette butt in his hand, patted Du Siling's shoulder and said with a heavy heart: "Think carefully now, don't wait until you can't make it back no matter how hard you try. Take advantage of the present to do something while it's still possible."

  The air outside the study was fresh and clean, without a hint of smoke drifting out. Ye Huanxi was standing quietly at the end of the corridor. Dong Shuanghe stretched his waist and walked towards Ye Huanxi. He reached out his hand and gently wrapped it around her waist from behind, Ye Huanxi seemed to have known who was behind her all along, without resisting, instead leaning back against him.

  "After all, she's still just a child, and having gone through so much, it's inevitable that she'd fall into a slump." Ye Huanxi's voice was soft, but loud enough for Dong Shuanghe to hear clearly.

  Dong Shuanghe shook his head: "It's not scary to fall into a trough, what's scary is that it's hard to pull yourself out. I believe she will get through this."

  "Looks like your evaluation of her has gone up quite a bit?"

  As soon as he heard this, Dong Shuang's eyebrows furrowed: "So-so."

  "Pfft!" Ye Xuanxi couldn't help but laugh at Dong Shuanghe, she turned around and looked at him, "You're the best!" She poked his brow with her finger, playfully scolding him.

  Ke Ye's hand was caught by Dong Shuanghe before it touched his face, and he tightly grasped it in his palm. "In a few days, I'll go back to Xiangxi with Tai Guang," she said.

  "Is it because of that serial murder case?" Ye Huanxi was familiar with Dong Shuanghe, and she remembered the serious expression and contemplative eyes he had when he saw the news.

  Dong Shuanghe nodded: "My guess is that the situation is far more severe than what we know, so it's still better for Taito to go and take a look himself."

  "But her mood is still very low... When I talk to her, she's always a bit distracted, and I'm afraid that if she goes out in this state, something bad might happen."

  "Don't worry." Dong Shuanghe smiled and pulled Ye Huanxi into his arms: "These are not problems at all."

  ……

  Three days passed, and the trip to Xiangxi was basically set. The people who went with him were Chen Zhou Yun and Hao Zi. Taking Hao Zi there was mainly to let him broaden his horizons and do some physical labor. As for Chen Zhou Yun, he took the initiative to go. Considering that many things such as autopsy had to be communicated with the government, Du Si Lin did not object either.

  ……

  On the flight to Xiangxi Songxian County, Dong Shuanghe briefly told the three people about what to pay attention to when going to Xiangxi.

  Xiangxi has three evil spirits, and the first one is a corpse chaser, which is also Dong Shuanghe's profession.

  Corpse driving is a kind of witchcraft, as the name suggests, it means letting a string of corpses who died in a foreign land follow behind the corpse driver, so as to return home.

  And the second is Gu, the Gu of Xiangxi and the降头术 (降头术) of Southeast Asia are called the two major evil arts of Southeast Asia. It is said that Gu only attaches itself to women's bodies, harming others, and because Gu is commonly known as grass ghost in Xiangxi, those who have Gu are usually called grass ghost mothers.

  When it came to the third item, Dong Shuanghe's expression became much more serious, because this third item was the most mysterious of the three evils in Western Hunan - the Falling Flower Cave Girl. This so-called Falling Flower Cave Girl refers to some unmarried women in the tribe who, when walking past a cave entrance, would glance inside and then return home without drinking or eating, only to die a few days later with a smile on their face. The people of the tribe believed that she had married the cave god, and since these girls were not married before they died, after their death, their families not only did not hold a funeral for them but also held a wedding ceremony to celebrate the joy of marriage.

  Dong Shuanghe is also a relatively authentic Xiangxi person, and the corpse-refining technique is nothing unusual for her. However, there is only one Luohua Cave woman that she has never encountered before. Unknown things always make people vigilant, so she warned everyone not to easily get into trouble when they are in Xiangxi.