His words broke the silence, but it only ushered in a new wave of silence.
Several glances were cast, roughly divided into two categories: 'This person is crazy' and 'This person is poisonous.' The first one who couldn't stand it was Li Shouzhang: "The chief of guards usually selects people from prestigious families."
"That's not a problem. Just do it secretly and say I'm your long-lost brother."
"…"
This person might have lost his mind.
After all, he was the team member he brought in, Ji Heng shook his head and glanced at Shen Jiangbei: "I want to take Wen Buyu away."
Shen Jiangbei frowned and was about to speak when Ji Heng said, "In exchange, I'll tell you some extra information. That kid is poisoning the elders in the family."
Wan Yi and Shen Jiangbei only had evidence of an affair between the two, but they never imagined this would happen.
On the other side, Wen Buyu breathed a sigh of relief, looked at Wan Yi warily, and walked along the wall to Ji Heng.
Su Er looked at the sky and estimated that it would be work time in half an hour: "Going home?"
Ji Heng shook his head.
Soul: "Skipping work is not a good thing."
Ji Heng looked at Shen Jiangbei and Wan Yi: "I'll leave it to you two."
As he left the dark alley, Soul looked back.
Ji Heng: "In order to obtain information about the Li family, they would work for nothing." When he spoke to Wen Buyu, his expression turned cold again: "I hope the information you provide is of some value."
Having just experienced a crisis, Wen Buyu's face turned slightly pale. He forced himself to calm down and nodded.
"There's something fishy about the voting." He observed Ji Heng's expression and, seeing he didn't react, continued, "According to procedure, the outgoing chief of guards took out the ballots one by one from the ballot box while someone registered them. Last year, Li Shouzhang was in charge of registration. He said the total number of votes was several hundred more than the town's population."
Sur: "Maybe some residents voted a few extra tickets."
"Impossible," Wen Buyu said. "Li Shouzhang said the voting process was very strict." He paused and took a breath. "He reported the situation to the Chief of Guards, and the Chief of Guards told him not to spread the news."
She lowered her head and said, "Do you think the extra votes... could they have been cast by ghosts?"
Ji Heng said calmly: "Maybe."
Wen Buyu uttered an "Ah", surprised at the other party's calmness.
Su Er recalled the night when he met the tongue-pulling ghost. The first question Ji Heng asked was whether there were other similar ghosts in the town. The female ghost answered in the affirmative.
Ji Heng said calmly: "Although my spiritual value is not as high as Qi Yun's, it is not low either."
If the spiritual value exceeds 80, it is possible to be possessed by a ghost. Hearing this, Su Er had a guess: "Could it be..."
Ji Heng nodded directly: "On the first day I came here, a ghost wanted to possess me."
The evil spirit can use the power of ghosts to possess the body, but the corresponding risks will also be very high.
Su Er couldn't help but become curious and asked, "Qi Yun's spiritual value is ridiculously high. Doesn't that mean a lot of ghosts will be vying for him?"
Ji Heng was sure that it was not an illusion. Good words would indeed have a different meaning when they came out of Suer's mouth.
Wen Buyu, however, had a look of longing on his face: "With a high spiritual value, one can sometimes even sense the location of ghosts. The benefits outweigh the disadvantages."
Su Er's spiritual power still had a long way to go before reaching the critical point. After his initial curiosity faded, he quickly focused on the issue at hand: "The captain of the guards must know something, even though he chose to ignore the odd number of votes."
Wen Buyu added, "There's one more thing. There are quite a few people in this town who are specifically responsible for monitoring the words and actions of the people. If they find any mistakes, they will immediately report them to the Chief of Guards."
Su Er guessed that the host's identity should fall into this category.
At this moment, Wen Buyu looked a little nervous: "I've told you everything I know. I just want to get out alive and make sure nothing happens next time."
Ji Heng: "In the dungeon, it depends on the individual's creation."
At least the words were not final, and Wen Buyu regained hope. Ge Xuyan was dead, and at least she had solved her biggest worry, so this trip was not a loss.
After walking for a while, Ji Heng and Su Er didn't say anything, so Wen Buyu had to suppress his doubts and followed them.
The footsteps finally stopped outside the ancestral hall.
There was no one guarding the place. On the contrary, the townspeople kept their distance from the ancestral hall. Suer rolled up his sleeves, the whip wounds still fresh in his mind. He figured they would only heal after the game was released.
Wen Buyu obviously also remembered the whipping he received when he first arrived, and his face looked grim.
The ancestral hall held tablets of successive military commanders, with the most common surnames being "Li" and "Zhou." A heavy ballot box sat in a corner outside the hall, half covered with a red cloth.
Ji Heng suddenly looked at Wen Buyu and asked, "Did Li Youzhang tell you what would happen to the votes from previous years?"
"It seems that they will be destroyed in a centralized manner."
Ji Heng walked to the voting box, put his arm in, and quickly took it out. Su Er noticed that the question mark in the force value column on his badge flashed: "Are you okay?"
Ji Heng shook his head, turned the ballot box over, went out to find a sharp stone and smashed it against an inconspicuous spot on the bottom, then scraped it a few times, revealing a dark white inside.
At first, Soul thought it was paint peeling, but when he got closer, he realized it was the material. "Is this... made of bone?"
Ji Heng nodded. "It seems they took bones from a living person, so they carry such a strong resentment." He returned the ballot box to its original place, stood up, and suddenly threw a choice to Su Er: "Wai Chang's house or the cemetery, which one do you want to go to?"
Soul pursed his lips and didn't answer immediately.
Wen Buyu: "...Is this even worth considering?"
Normal people would rule out the option of a cemetery first.
Su Er: "To be on the safe side, why don't we go and take a look at them all?"
Ji Heng was quite satisfied with this answer.
·
The Minister of Health has a tradition of living alone. Since being elected, he has distanced himself from his family, stating that he will not show any human touch during his tenure. The current Minister of Health lives in a secluded area away from the hustle and bustle, even the gate is dark in color.
Sur stood at the door looking at the two majestic stone lions and could feel a dead silence.
Ji Heng went forward and knocked on the door.
It took a while before the door opened. Even at home, the guard always dressed very elegantly, and when he saw the visitor, he narrowed his eyes in displeasure.
Ji Heng said respectfully, "We have had no guidance from our elders since we were young, so we made the mistake of drinking alcohol secretly. You are the most disciplined person in town, and we would like to listen to your teachings one last time before you leave office."
Su Er was fine, nodding his head in agreement. Wen Buyu's expression was a bit strange. He hadn't expected Ji Heng to have such a cold face every day and to be so good at lying.
Being flattered by the kind words, the guard's expression eased slightly. He raised his chin slightly and said, "Come in."
There is almost nothing modern in the house. A set of solid wooden furniture takes up most of the space, and several paintings and calligraphy are hung on the wall.
The guard spoke a series of profound truths, and Suer lowered his head slightly, seemingly listening attentively, but in reality, his mind had long since wandered. If it weren't for the strange coolness that lingered around him, he might have fallen asleep.
After everyone had finished speaking, Ji Heng asked, "Everyone has a tendency to be lazy. How do you manage to completely control yourself on a daily basis?"
The guard's expression changed, and his tone became a little cold: "It will become a habit."
Ji Heng then asked, "Where will people in this town who have committed serious crimes be buried after they die?"
The guard looked suspicious and asked, "Why are you asking about this?"
Ji Heng: "I want to go and see it so I can learn from it."
As a gesture of support, Su Er raised his arm, showing the wound naturally. "You woke us up that day. After the tour, we should write an article about our experience and share it with the people in Yutang."
Next to them, Wen Buyu had no chance to get a word in, and probably had nothing to say.
The guard captain was thinking about something, and for a moment, a twisted look of satisfaction flashed across his face. "I should go and see what happens if I break the rules."
Following the directions he provided, the three of them easily found their destination. At the foot of the desolate mountain lay scattered graves, their names inscribed in tiny letters on the tombstones, most of which chronicled their past sins. Su Er even spotted a new grave among them. It was that of the Li family's daughter who had "committed suicide." The tombstone bore the inscription: "Obscene words, disgrace to the family."
The wind was not strong, but there was a lingering chill.
"It's so cold." Wen Buyu turned up his collar and put his hands in his pockets.
Su Er: "The temperature in Wei Chang's house seems to be much lower than outside."
Ji Heng: "When I asked how to restrain myself, what did the guard say?"
Soul: "Habit becomes nature."
Ji Heng sneered: "The people in the town are controlled by the guard chief, and the guard chief is under the supervision of the ghost."
Wen Buyu's eyes widened. "Is there a ghost in his house? Then aren't we lying right under the ghost's nose?"
"Be careful with your words," Su Er said seriously, "I'll write down my thoughts and experiences when I get back. That's not a lie."
"…"
Ji Heng counted the number of graves and said, "It's enough to form a Hundred Demons Night Parade."
Wen Buyu forced a smile, barely able to stand still. "Not necessarily... they're all ghosts." He swallowed and said, "The extra votes might be from a ghost casting many votes."
Ji Heng didn't want to waste any more words with her, and his face darkened as he looked at the tombstone.
Wen Buyu certainly knew what the dilemma was. There weren't many people in town, and the decision-making power might be in the hands of a ghost. "In fact, as long as the three most popular Li brothers die, we can build momentum for Li Shouzhang and have a good chance of winning."
This had been her original plan, easy to implement but certainly risky.
Su Er, who had been pursing his lips, subconsciously said, "Maybe not. If we hadn't discovered your affair with Li Shouzhang..."
"Please change the word."
"Friendship." Su Er coughed lightly. "If you voted for one of the three Li brothers, the ending might be you winning alone. Now that everyone is cooperating, the game can't easily let so many people finish alive."
Ji Heng has pointed out more than once that the game is evil and tends to be ghost-related.
Wen Buyu was a little anxious: "What should we do then?"
Su Er frowned. Many ideas required strength to realize. There was no doubt that he was as weak as an ant, with only a little electricity at best. He subconsciously looked at Ji Heng, who smiled and said, "Don't you want to be the chief of guards?"
Pointing to a field of desolate graves ahead, he said, "Then you have to find a way to make them surrender to you."
A chilling wind swept across the distant valley, bringing with it an eerie echo. Ji Heng smiled meaningfully, "So what should you do now?"
Su Er faced the grave mound, thought carefully and said, "...let me start my performance?"