False evidence

Chapter 346 Unlicensed Clinic (4)

Although I don't know what happened in reality, I'm really worried about Grandpa's safety, so I've decided to go back and check on him no matter what.

Liang Yuan was originally a professional driver, and after discovering that we were the only car on the highway, he gradually became more reckless.

I felt it wasn't accelerating any further, so I glanced at the speedometer—220 mph.

Even without rain, the journey on the highway would normally take an hour and a half, but Liangyuan only took about forty minutes to reach the exit.

When we were passing through the toll booth, we could clearly see the toll collector, but he obviously couldn't see our car.

Lu Xin became even more certain, saying that he, Liang Kaiyuan, Liang Yuan, and Shen Fangyun had all been separated from my body.

He even told me directly, "You're either already dead, or your soul has left your body!"

The car passed straight through the crossbar without sustaining any damage.

I gave directions, and Liang Yuan drove straight to Xiangluo Village.

Seeing that the entire village was almost completely buried by the sloping mudslide, my heart sank to the bottom.

There's not a trace of the home where I grew up.

Where is the old man?

He's a shrewd old man, he should be fine...

Liang Kaiyuan and Lü Xin both advised me that good people are always protected by heaven, and that the most important thing right now is to go back to that clinic and save my life.

I was upset and just said to leave it to them.

As I was passing through the county town, I suddenly saw a figure hurrying past on the roadside.

I hurriedly told Liang Yuan to stop the car, jumped out, and chased after him in the rain.

In reality, as soon as I got out of the car, Lü Xin, Liang Kaiyuan, and Liang Yuan all got out as well.

As I caught up, the more I looked at the person's back, the more familiar they seemed.

He hurried a few steps and exclaimed with delight, "Wang Erpang!"

Erpang is my childhood friend. I usually call him when I need to find my grandpa.

This guy is a bit stubborn; I've already 'graduated,' but he still hasn't gotten into university.

His parents had no choice but to give up. They knew he was stubborn, not very bright, and had a bad temper. They were afraid he would suffer if he went out into the world, so they handed over the family store to him to manage, and the couple went to work in the county town.

Erpang's shop was also buried. He's alright, so my grandpa should be alright too!

Liang Kaiyuan said, "It's not even dawn yet, and it's raining so hard. What is he going to do?"

I was also puzzled. Erpang and I were very close, but he was lazy and preferred to sleep until he naturally woke up and eat until he was stuffed.

This isn't an early riser.

We couldn't get close to Erpang. Seeing that he was in a hurry and seemed to be carrying something in his arms, we could only follow him and see where he was going.

Seeing him walk across two streets and arrive at the county stadium, I felt more at ease.

The stadium was still lit at this time, which meant that the affected villagers had been transferred to the county and were temporarily housed in the stadium.

Erpang, holding an umbrella, glanced furtively at the main entrance but didn't go in. Instead, he lowered his head and went around to the back of the stadium.

I originally wanted to go straight into the stadium to see if Grandpa was there, but Lu Xin reminded me that I was probably just a soul leaving my body and shouldn't go to crowded places.

Nobody really wants to die. Now that I know Grandpa is probably in the stadium, I suppressed the urge to go in and look for him.

Curious about what Erpang was up to, she decided to continue following him.

Behind the stadium is an old earthen river embankment. The main river outside the city was diverted decades ago, and it has lost its original function.

We followed Erpang, climbed over the riverbank, and arrived at the river.

From a distance, I could see a person wearing a raincoat standing on the shore.

Erpang quickened his pace and ran up to the man, panting, and said:

"Master Yao, take a look, is this stuff usable?"

I was jolted awake. Everyone in the village called him "Old Medicine Pot," while the younger ones called him Uncle Medicine or Grandpa Medicine!
I went around to the front and saw that the man in the raincoat was indeed my grandfather!

I was naturally relieved to see that he was safe and sound.

But what were he and Erpang doing by the river in the middle of the night?

When I saw Erpang pull something out of his pocket, I instinctively looked at it and saw that it was actually a paper figure about a foot tall.

Unlike ordinary paper figures, this one is made of kraft paper and resembles a little girl!

The paper figure was not colored; only the eyebrows and eyes were simply outlined with a red pen, but there was no mouth or nose.

She was also wearing a red floral-print funeral shroud.

Funeral shrouds are generally considered unlucky.

This is clearly a shroud for a child who died young. Wearing it on a paper figure looks really eerie at night.

Grandpa took the paper figure, looked at it, and asked Erpang:

"Did you put the things inside?"

"It's inside!"

The old man paused, then looked behind Erpang:
"Did you see anything when you came back?"

Erpang said, "No. It's raining so hard, there's not a single person on the street."

The old man seemed to be deep in thought, and murmured, "Am I overthinking things?"

Erpang felt an itch on his back and reached back to scratch it.

The old man grabbed his wrist and, as if taking his pulse, began to act.

After a moment, the old man released him and said, "Even if it itches, don't reach back!"

Then, handing the paper figure to him, I clasped my hands in a fist and bowed behind him, and said loudly:
"If they're just passing by, then let's keep to ourselves. But if they have any difficulties, just tell me, don't make things difficult for the child!"

I was stunned. There was no one behind Erpang.

wrong!

I exchanged glances with Lü Xin, Liang Kaiyuan, and Liang Yuan.

Are the four of us not human?
Whether they're human or not, we're all right behind and around Erpang right now!
Lu Xin suddenly said to me, "Your grandfather is no ordinary man. He's already spoken up, aren't you going to say a few words to him?"

"He can't hear me!"

"use this!"

Lu Xin brandished the digging claw in his hand, "The digging claw of a tomb raider is a yin weapon. If your grandfather can truly communicate with the yin and yang, he can see the marks left by the digging claw!"

I took two steps forward, waved my hand in front of Grandpa's eyes, squatted down, and quickly drew a few lines in the mud with my digging claw.

Looking up, I saw that the old man was actually looking down, and said with emotion, "Three!"

I did write a 'three', and seeing that he could actually see the marks left by the digging claw, I thought of writing a 'seven' as well.

But before I could finish writing, a thunderclap suddenly boomed in the sky.

I was so startled that I trembled all over and fell to the ground with a thud.

The old man's expression changed, and he hurriedly shouted, "No need to write anymore, I know who you are! Son, don't rush, let me finish this first!"

As he spoke, he snatched the paper figure from Erpang's hand and threw it into the river.

The paper figures made of kraft paper will not be easily soaked by water, but will float towards the middle of the river like balloons.

Only then did I notice that a red string was tied around the paper figure's neck.

It was as if the heavens had suddenly gone mad, with thunderclaps erupting one after another. Lightning flashed intermittently across the night sky, illuminating the world as if it were daytime, and the dense raindrops appeared like countless silver chains under the light.

I was stunned by this sudden change in the weather.

However, what followed was an even more bizarre scene.

The paper figure in the river was floating along when it suddenly stood up!
(End of this chapter)