False evidence

Chapter 464 Painted Skin (14)

"I'll kill that old bastard!"

Yan Fengwei was both shocked and furious, and rushed out immediately.

I couldn't stop him, so I quickly called Cao Xinyun to go out with him.

When they arrived at the shop in front, the three of them were dumbfounded once again.

The former grocery store has been turned into a funeral parlor.

Beneath the white gauze and black curtain, three black and white photo frames were placed on the altar.

Yan Fengwei, who was originally furious, was suddenly jolted awake by this situation, as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over his head, and retreated back to Cao Xinyun and me.

He wasn't inexperienced, but there were just too many strange things happening that night. Even the bravest man couldn't help but feel uneasy.

The funeral hall was dark, and the faces of the people in the photos were not clearly visible.

I held my breath, mustered my courage, and walked in. When I reached the altar, I squinted and took one look. A chill ran from the soles of my feet to the top of my head.

The photo shows the old man, Mr. Sun, who let us in and even made us instant noodles.

The other two photos are of an old lady from the minibus we arrived in, and surprisingly, Xiao Hong, who came here with us from the restaurant!
"You sissy!!!"

This time, Yan Fengwei really started cursing, not out of anger, but because he was completely frightened.

However, the horrors were not over yet.

Just as he was cursing loudly, the two white candles on the altar suddenly lit up.

In the flickering candlelight, the three of them simultaneously saw that the photograph in the frame had changed in an instant.

The faces of Old Man Sun, Old Woman Sun, and Little Red became distorted. When they finally stabilized and returned to their human forms, they actually turned into the likenesses of me, Yan Fengwei, and Cao Xinyun!
"Fuck you!"

Yan Fengwei was the first to break down. He kicked over the altar, opened the door, and rushed out without a care in the world.

I wanted to check the situation again, but just after Yan Fengwei rushed out, a sudden screech of brakes sounded outside.

Worried that something might happen to him, I hurriedly chased after him with Cao Xinyun.

As we ran outside, we saw Yan Fengwei jump onto a minibus and shout back at us, "Get on the bus! Get on the bus!"

I wanted to call him down, but then I felt like I was waking up from a hangover, with a splitting headache.

Seeing that things were not going well, Cao Xinyun grabbed me and got into the car without saying a word.

This headache was much worse than the last one. I could only vaguely see that the driver seemed to be the same bald man before I lost consciousness.

I don't know how much time passed, but then I heard someone call my name.

When I opened my eyes, I was actually standing up, with Yan Fengwei and Cao Xinyun supporting me on either side.

It was already broad daylight when it started to rain again.

The three of us stood in the rain. Yan Fengwei gestured for me to look to the side, and there we saw a slightly worn minibus pulling into the station.

The license plate number was L874, which was the car I drew lots to be the one I wanted to follow.

Yan Fengwei said, "We came back in this car. There was nothing wrong on the way, but I fell asleep as soon as I got on the car and couldn't be woken up no matter what I did."

Before he could finish speaking, I felt an unbearable churning in my chest, and I bent over and started vomiting.

This time, I have to admit that my dizziness was because I was drunk.

The instant noodles and sausages that were vomited up both reeked of alcohol.

My stomach was empty, and my mind was much clearer.

I glanced at the entrance of a small restaurant not far away, then turned and staggered into the station.

Seeing the driver get off the L874 minibus, not only me, but also Yan Fengwei and Cao Xinyun were stunned for the nth time.

The driver was a middle-aged man with dark circles under his eyes, clearly someone who often stayed up late, but he wasn't bald; he was just a stranger. Yan Fengwei and Cao Xinyun both said that this wasn't the driver who brought them back.

I stepped forward and stopped the driver. The driver frowned, took a step back, and asked me what I wanted.
Cao Xinyun had Yan Fengwei pull me aside, spoke with the driver for a while, and then came back and said that the driver's surname was Zhang. Because he was employed by a private boss, he would only find someone to replace him temporarily in special circumstances; usually, he drove the car alone.

Among his colleagues, none of them had the surname Niu.

When they returned to the small restaurant, the person serving customers was not the fat woman from the previous night, but a middle-aged couple speaking with a northern Jiangsu accent.

Yan Fengwei struck up a conversation with the owner, asking if there was anyone else in the shop.

The boss didn't seem to talk much; he just replied, "No."

He then tried to get information from the proprietress, who replied that they had only taken over the small shop at the beginning of the year, and that it was small and run by just the two of them.

Seeing that the proprietress was relatively easy to talk to, Yan Fengwei simply asked her to cook a few dishes to take away. He then asked directly, "Do you have a fat woman helping out here?"

The proprietress's expression immediately changed.

But the food was already in the pot, so it wasn't appropriate for them to treat us coldly.

After hesitating for a long time, the proprietress whispered to us:

"We only took over this little shop after the New Year. I heard about it later from a driver who came to eat here. The shop used to be run by a couple with a daughter in vocational high school. The proprietress seemed to be quite plump. But before the New Year, the family of three was in a car accident on their way back to Sanhe, and all three of them..."

Since it's a small business, there are some taboos. The proprietress only said that much before making an excuse to go to the kitchen.

After a terrifying night, Yan Fengwei, Cao Xinyun, and I were all exhausted. We left the restaurant and went home separately.

I slept fitfully until evening, only to realize that Erpang hadn't come back yet.

I sent a message in the group chat, but no one replied. I tried calling Zhao Qi, Erpang, and Liang Yuan, but I couldn't get through to any of them.

As I was about to log out of WeChat, I suddenly remembered that last night, I not only exchanged WeChat messages with Xiaohong in the car, but I also took photos of her and the old lady.

However, at this time, there was no WeChat record with Xiaohong on the phone, nor was there such a contact.

If it weren't for the fact that I didn't go home all night, I might have thought that last night's experience was just a drunken dream.

However, when you open the album, the three extra photos confirm that everything really happened.

The background in the photo is somewhat blurred, but it's clear that it's taken from inside a car.

However, there were no people in either of the photos.

I remember, that was a photo I secretly took of Xiaohong and the old woman.

The third photo was both an accident and a reminder for me.

I recognize both people in the photo. One is me, and the other, a bald man leaning against my shoulder, is Yan Fengwei.

Judging from the layout, there should have been another person to my left when the photo was taken, but in the photo, that person is just a blurry shadow.

Looking back, Xiaohong and I were looking behind us through our phone screens when Yan Fengwei suddenly popped his head out. Xiaohong must have been startled and accidentally pressed the shutter button.

But I was using Xiaohong's phone back then, so how did the photos end up on my phone?

"Buzz!"

A WeChat icon flashed at the top of the screen. I thought it was a reply from Zhao Qi and others, so I clicked on it, only to find that the message was from Tong Xiangnan.

I called directly.

When the call connected, Tong Xiangnan said in an almost playful tone:

"Nephew, are you free? It's raining, want to come over and have a bite and a drink with me? Or should I come over?"

"I'll go over there."

I vomited twice last night and at noon, and my stomach still feels a bit uncomfortable. But I feel like what I need most right now is to see a psychologist...

(End of this chapter)