False evidence

Chapter 320 Photos
Seeing Lu Zelin blush deeply, I quickly suppressed a laugh and said:
"Alright, since we're going to stay somewhere anyway, let's just stay here. There are four of us grown men, we're not afraid of being ripped off."

The four of them retrieved their luggage, shared two umbrellas, and got off the bus. They hadn't walked far when the wind blew the umbrellas inside out. So they simply put their bags on their heads and jogged away.

These privately owned hotels and restaurants along the national highway are simply called 'Roadside Inns'.

What I remember most vividly is that back in high school, I went out with two classmates. At night, the bus stopped at this shop, and the driver told everyone to get off, locked the doors, and went into a private room. Even if the passengers didn't eat, they had to pay ten yuan, otherwise they wouldn't even be allowed to use the toilet.

There was only one van parked in the open space in front of the hotel, probably because the gate was closed to prevent rain from splashing on it.

Yan Fengwei knocked on the door, and the door opened halfway. We were all a little dumbfounded when we saw what was inside.

Because of the rain, it was almost nighttime. The lights were on inside the house, but right in front of the door was a coffin!
Behind the coffin were incense sticks and candles, and below the large character "奠" (meaning "offering" or "condolence") on the wall was a black and white photograph.

This is clearly a case of someone dying and their body being laid in state!

The door was opened by a bearded man dressed in mourning clothes, who asked with a gloomy expression, "What do you want?"

Yan Fengwei forced a smile and said, "Our car broke down, and we'd like to stay at a hotel."

The bearded man frowned and said, "Can't you see there's a funeral going on? Let's go somewhere else!"

Yan Fengwei pleaded, "With such heavy rain, there's no way to repair the car. Please help me out..."

Before he could finish speaking, the bearded man slammed the door shut.

The group looked at each other in bewilderment, and then the door opened again.

The person who opened the door this time was a girl who looked no more than eighteen or nineteen years old.

The girl was also dressed in mourning clothes, her eyes red and swollen, but she was much kinder: "Do you need a hotel?"

Yan Fengwei and I quickly agreed.

The girl's voice was a little hoarse: "You've all seen what's going on. If you don't think it's bad luck, then come in."

The rain outside was pouring down, and even standing under the eaves couldn't keep us dry. When the shopkeeper relented, we didn't care about bad luck anymore.

The group brushed the rain off their clothes and went inside. Blind Liu said to the girl:
"Since we are guests, let's offer some incense as well."

Besides the person lying in the coffin, in the mourning hall, in addition to the bearded man from earlier and the girl who greeted us, there was a middle-aged woman and a boy of eleven or twelve kneeling to one side.

Upon hearing the blind man mention offering incense, the bearded man became impatient: "Just stay at the inn, don't make a fuss..."

"You don't have the final say here!"

The girl said coldly, walked to the offering table, and took some incense to distribute to us.

The bearded man looked indignant, but he only glared at us fiercely.

Liu the Blind was the first to offer incense to the deceased, followed closely by Lu Zelin, and then Yan Fengwei.

When it was my turn, I held three incense sticks in my hands, bowed deeply, and when I looked up, I suddenly realized that the photo in the frame was wrong!
The man in the photo is a middle-aged man in his fifties.

I remember he was turning his face to the left just now, but now it seems like he's changed direction and is turning his face to the right?

I thought I was seeing things, but when I saw everyone looking at me, I quickly bowed again.

To my surprise, the moment I looked up, I saw the old man in the photo wink at me with one eye, and he even smiled!

As I stood there in a daze, a hand patted me lightly on the shoulder. "Hurry up!"

The person taking my picture has a thick beard.

His attitude wasn't just unfriendly, it was downright inhumane.

As I said before, I'm not allowed to be patted on the shoulder by people who aren't close to me, so when he patted me, I subconsciously glared at his right hand, and then looked up to meet his gaze.

When I glared at him, the bearded man hesitated for a moment and then withdrew his hand.

The girl stepped forward, seemingly unintentionally stepping aside from us, and nodded slightly to me. My gaze shifted to the photograph, and I suddenly realized that the person in the photo had transformed into someone with an angry expression. His eyes were glaring sideways in the direction of the bearded man!

Because of the contrast, I'm sure I wasn't mistaken this time; the person's complexion in the photo has indeed changed!
Undecided, he bowed for the third time.

When I put the incense sticks into the incense burner, I looked at the old man in the photo again, and he suddenly started smiling again.

After we finished offering incense, the girl led us directly to the kitchen:
"Our family is small, so it's not convenient for us to entertain you. There's some braised meat in the refrigerator and some rice in the pot, so please help yourselves to eat something."

He handed me two keys with small tags on them: "Stay on the third floor. My brother cries at night and it will disturb your rest."

"Sorry to bother you, please go ahead with your work." I nodded to her.

The girl nodded: "My name is An Xin. If you need anything... I'll definitely be on the first floor."

They were so focused on getting there that they only had some bread and ham for lunch, and now they were really hungry.

After the girl left, Blind Liu immediately opened the refrigerator, took out a large plate of braised pig's head, and cut it up. He also took a salted duck, but because he was afraid of making a loud noise with a knife, he didn't cut it and just tore it apart by hand.

Just before going upstairs, Yan Fengwei couldn't resist going over to say hello to An Xin and taking two bottles of baijiu from behind the counter in the corner.

Upon entering the room on the third floor, all four of them breathed a sigh of relief.

Liu the Blind Man opened the back window, and the rain was even heavier than before.

He gestured for Lu Zelin to move the small table to the window and place the meat and vegetables that had been served on it.

"What the hell is this?!"

Yan Fengwei shook his head as he poured the wine.

"Ha, what family doesn't have this problem?"

Liu the Blind chuckled dryly, then suddenly said, "Brothers, we've pretty much got to know this place by now. I'm taking off my glasses, okay?"

I was a little confused at first, but when he took off his sunglasses, I realized why he had said that beforehand.

In most people, the iris occupies more than half of the eye. But in Liu the Blind's eyes, the irises are only about the size of the pupils. At first glance, it looks like he has no irises, only the whites of his eyes!

"Brother, you're incredibly talented!" Yan Fengwei raised his glass and clinked it with his.

Blind Liu shook his head: "The day after tomorrow. I used to be like you, but once, due to a moment of carelessness, my eyes were ruined by some 'dirty thing.' One of my brothers went all out and gouged out a pair of ghost eyes and replaced them with mine. Don't believe me? It's true."

Blind Liu pointed to his eyes and said, "These are truly ghost eyes; there's no ghost or evil spirit I can't see!"

"I believe."

I nodded first.

Actually, I trust Xiao Shen San. Although this kid seems a bit unreliable, he knows that I have important business to attend to this time, so he would never ask someone who is not up to the task to help me.

After finishing his drink, the blind man looked up at the window for a while, then turned back with a face full of suspicion.

"Uncle Bing, what's wrong?" Lu Zelin asked.

The blind man looked at him and said, "You are Old Zang's apprentice, can't you tell?"

Lu Zelin's expression darkened: "My master only taught me how to hold my breath and some hand and leg techniques at first. When he found me again, he only had time to teach me some methods for digging tunnels. I... I haven't even practiced them myself."

Blind Liu shook his head and sighed, "The Hidden Yin lineage is truly extinct..."

I recalled the eerie scene I witnessed while offering incense at the funeral hall, and asked:
"Brother Liu, you're more experienced than me. Just now down there...did you see something?"

Liu the Blind Man shook his head slightly. "I didn't see any ghosts or evil spirits, but I can tell that this place is a grave, and this building is actually a tombstone!"

Yan Fengwei and I exchanged a glance, and I easily understood what he meant—this kid is talking nonsense!
It's clearly a building, and although it's a bit remote, it has nothing to do with tombstones!

(End of this chapter)