False evidence

Chapter 252 Can’t Leave

Liang Kaiyuan stopped beside a tombstone and turned to look at it.

Following his gaze, before I could even make out the words on the tombstone, I suddenly felt a burning sensation in my chest.

The next second, I felt a small, cool hand grab my right hand.

I couldn't help but shiver. I looked down and saw that the person holding my hand was a little girl.

The girl was no more than eleven or twelve years old, wearing a long white down coat that almost dragged on the ground.

However, the girl's skin, which was visible to others, was even whiter than her coat, almost as white as the snow on a tombstone.

Aside from her excessively pale skin, the girl's facial features were still quite delicate.

Although she was by no means unpleasant, I still pulled my hand away from her grasp.

Her hands were so cold; holding them felt like being wrapped in ice.

"She froze to death." Fang Ling seemed puzzled. "This isn't the north, how could someone freeze to death here?"

I looked at Liang Kaiyuan, bent down, and brushed the snow off the tombstone.

The girl in the photo looks exactly like the girl next to me. Except her skin is normal, and she has a sweet smile.

"Han Ning..."

The girl next to him hummed in agreement.

I checked the date again, "He just died last week..."

Fang Ling said, "Let's not worry about anything else for now. Let's take her to Shen San's shop and get her some clothes. She'll freeze if she stays like this."

"Clothes? Wasn't she wearing clothes?"

Fang Ling didn't answer me; she just told the girl to go with her.

After leaving the cemetery, seeing Liang Kaiyuan still following us, I frowned slightly and said:
"That's about it, time to go."

Liang Kaiyuan hesitated for a moment and said, "I was thinking of leaving just now, but I suddenly realized that I can't leave."

I asked, puzzled, "What do you mean by 'can't leave'?"

Liang Kaiyuan shook his head: "We just can't leave. We could have left, but it seems that after hearing Meizhi say those words, we couldn't leave anymore."

I stared into his eyes for a while, and seeing that he didn't seem to be lying, I said, "Then come with me."

As soon as he entered the funeral parlor, Xiao Shen San let out a strange cry:

"I knew you were a jinx! You just introduced me to some business, and now you're causing me trouble! Ugh, and you've brought two of them along! You're going to drive your great-grandfather crazy!"

Fang Ling said, "Stop talking and quickly help this child put on some clothes."

"This is outrageous! She only bought less than a hundred yuan worth of things from me, and now she wants me to dress her. We're not even related, dressing her is like shortening my lifespan!"

While saying this, Xiao Shen was not idle. He rummaged through the shelves for a while, found a bag of white printed funeral clothes, and went out through the back door.

"Her name is Han Ning!" Fang Ling reminded her.

"understood!"

No one knows exactly what Xiao Shensan did, but after a while, Han Ning's down jacket suddenly turned into two white burial garments.

Strangely, after she changed her clothes, her skin color returned to normal.

Fang Ling told me, "It doesn't matter what clothes an ordinary person wears for burial after they die, but people who drown, are burned, freeze, or die from heatstroke cannot be dressed haphazardly. Unless someone knowledgeable changes them into specific burial clothes, they will still suffer the pain of death."

Xiao Shen San came back, pointed at Liang Kaiyuan, and said, "Shouldn't he have left long ago? Why is he here again?"

Liang Kaiyuan said hesitantly, "I want to leave, but I can't."

Xiao Shen rolled his eyes. "You're so stupid as a ghost. I really don't know how you've managed to get this far in business!" With that, he cut a strip of yellow paper, dipped a brush in cinnabar, and drew a crooked talisman.

He called out Liang Kaiyuan's name and threw the talisman directly into the coal stove in the shop.

As he watched the talisman burn, Xiao Shensan's eyes widened in disbelief: "This is incredible! How could this happen?"

Although I didn't understand what he was doing, I could tell something was amiss.

The talisman was thrown into the stove, and the yellow paper burned, but it did not turn into ashes. Moreover, although the talisman on the unfolded paper changed color, it became clearer!
Fang Ling also had limited knowledge of this matter, and asked Xiao Shen San in confusion what was going on.

Xiao Shensan was stunned for a moment, then looked up at Liang Kaiyuan with a strange expression and said four words—"His lifespan has not ended!"

I couldn't help but exclaim, "Nonsense!"

Liang Kaiyuan was burned to ashes, so how come he is still alive?

Xiao Shen rolled his eyes and shrugged at me: "He just hasn't reached the end of his lifespan. As for why that's the case, only the King of Hell and the judge would know."

Fang Ling pondered for a moment, then said, "Let's leave him alone for now. Let's see what's wrong with this child."

Fang Ling pulled Han Ning aside, sat her down, and asked, "Your name is Ningning, right? Tell Auntie, why aren't you leaving yet?"

Han Ning didn't speak, but made two gestures in front of his face with one hand.

"It's sign language. She's mute and can't speak."

Xiao Shen sighed: "If a ghost dies and can't speak, then it's a crippled ghost."

Fang Ling looked at Han Ning with pity, then thought for a moment and asked, "Can you write?"

I was going to say that I could understand sign language without writing it down, but I swallowed the words back down.

I lack Fang Ling's sensitivity and am really not suited to communicating with a little girl.

Xiao Shen opened the drawer, took out something that looked like a charcoal stick, and tossed it to Han Ning.

Han Ning caught it with both hands.

Xiao Shen said, "If you can write, just write it down. You can write it anywhere."

I asked, "What is this?"

Xiao Shen San said, "It's a grave branch. It's something that grows on the coffin of the dead, like a tree branch but not a real tree branch. Ghosts use it to write, and the living can see it, but the writing disappears on its own afterwards. This thing was given to my second brother a few years ago by Zang Zhiqiang, who is Lu Zelin's master. My second brother knew that I wasn't very capable and liked to meddle in other people's business, so he gave it to me."

I found it awkward to hear, but then I thought about it and found it funny.

Lu Zelin used to speak fairly standard Mandarin, but after spending some time with Xiao Shensan, he now speaks with a strong Northeastern accent. He seems to want to change, but he can't seem to shake the habit.

Xiao Shen went to Heqian Town with them, and now he deliberately imitates the owner of that steamed bun shop with his accent.

When these two are apart, it's not a big deal, but when they're together, one exclaims "Oh my god!" and the other exclaims "Wow, this is amazing!" It's absolutely hilarious.

Han Ning seemed to think for a moment, then squatted down and wrote on the ground with a twig.

—I want to go home and see my grandma.

Xiao Shen clicked his tongue: "Child, you are already dead."

Han Ning's expression darkened, but he wrote again.
—Save Aunt Su, she's about to die.

Who is Aunt Su?

Although Xiao Shen San has a sharp tongue, he really does love to meddle in other people's business.

Han Ning wrote
She's my neighbor, and she's the kindest to me. She's dying, about to be killed.

(End of this chapter)