Mysterious Resurrection: What If

Chapter 22 Double Happiness (Part 4)
The room was dimly lit, and the furniture was very old-fashioned, the kind of simple furnishings found in rural homes during the Republic of China era: a bed, a table, and a few stools.

"Hey bro, I need to pee."

"Take care of it right at the doorway, and don't leave the premises of this house."

Yang Jian glanced at Ye Zhen, who was wandering around the doorway with a sword in his hand, then took out the human skin paper and sat down in a corner of the room.

"Tell me how to save Awei."

The strange, distorted handwriting quickly appeared.

"My name is Yang Jian. By the time you see this, I will already be dead."

"To save Awei, I came to a strange village. During the day, I tried to search the village for any useful clues, but I failed, and I died before nightfall..."

“My patience is limited. If you continue to spout so much nonsense, I don’t mind locking you up permanently.”

Yang Jian stared intently at the human skin paper with the scarlet ghost eye on his forehead. Ever since he was tricked by the human skin paper at the tattoo parlor, his patience with it had dropped to the minimum.

Then, the writing on the parchment disappeared quickly, and another passage quickly appeared.

"My name is Yang Jian. By the time you see this, I will already be dead."

"To save Awei, I came to a strange village. During the day, I searched the entire village trying to find useful clues, but I discovered a pattern of certain fatal killings in certain areas of the village during the day. So I chose to act at night, trying to avoid those fatal patterns. At night, I found something, and I tried to use it to exchange for the groom's identity. I failed... I succeeded halfway, I died... but Awei survived..."

The writing quickly disappeared, and the parchment returned to its dry, silent state.

Putting away the human skin paper, Yang Jian glanced out the window at Zhang Wei, who was having a contest with Ye Zhen to see who could pee the farthest.

Yang Jian was analyzing the information revealed by the human skin paper, trying to find the hidden dangers within.

The village chief told us to stay indoors today and go to fetch the bride tomorrow, meaning that only inside the house is it safe. However, the human skin paper warns me that there is danger during the day and that I can only act at night. The two messages are clearly contradictory.
However, if we consider midnight as the start of the 'next day'... then these two pieces of information are not actually contradictory.

The late night after midnight belongs to the night and is also the date 'tomorrow', which fits the village chief's words 'depart tomorrow', and at the same time does not contradict the human skin paper's words 'safety at night'.

The key lies in the wordplay hidden within the message on the parchment. If I choose to go out before midnight, although it's still night, it's not "tomorrow" as the village chief mentioned, which will trigger the killing pattern, and the village will kill me directly.
At this moment, Zhang Wei and Ye Zhen walked in.

"I didn't expect Brother Ye to be so skilled, able to pee three feet in the wind. But I can only call you the strongest after you defeat Brother Leg. Brother Leg is the one who can pee the farthest in our school."

"Haha! You're not bad either. This is the first time I, Ye, have encountered an opponent who is evenly matched with me. But since some people have doubts, I will accept your challenge!"

Yang Jian interrupted their mutual flattery.

"Ah Wei, you stay here tonight and wait until tomorrow morning at the assigned accommodation. Follow the pattern of murder in progress, and you'll be fine for now."

Yang Jian took out a glass bottle filled with water.

"Take this safe. If you encounter any danger, pour out the water inside."

Zhang Wei's face stiffened as he realized he was marrying a ghost the next day. He turned to look at Ye Zhen.

"Brother Ye, didn't you say that ghosts are forbidden in Dahai City? Quickly use your supernatural powers to subdue this female ghost."

Ye Zhen waved his hand.

"Heh, do you even know what the Third Force is?" Ye Zhen said, getting up to leave.

"Wait..." Yang Jian stopped Ye Zhen directly. Ye Zhen raised an eyebrow.

"Xiao Yang, do you think I can't suppress that female ghost?"

"No, I should thank you for bringing Awei here. I have my own way of doing things. I'll go out again tonight."

Yang Jian stared at Ye Zhen expressionlessly, lost in thought.

"After the chaos in Dajing City, all the team leaders involved are close to recovery, except for him, whose condition is no different from that of an ordinary person. Is he a scapegoat...?"

"Xiao Yang, don't look at me like that. We can go tonight. By the way, I like women."

After saying that, Ye Zhen went back to sit down, but seemed to have intentionally placed a little distance away from Yang Jian.
夜

The village was deathly silent, and the chilling stench of corpses in the air was even stronger.

Yang Jian looked at the time on the satellite phone, and as soon as it reached twelve o'clock, he immediately spoke.

"That's almost it. Let's go."

After saying that, Yang Jian picked up an old woodcutter's knife and turned to leave, with Ye Zhen following behind, leaving Zhang Wei alone behind.

Zhang Wei wanted to call the two back, but the quiet village was deserted, and Zhang Wei dared not shout loudly. In just a moment, the two figures disappeared into the dark night.

The village fell completely silent under the cover of night, a suffocating atmosphere enveloping the surroundings. The bright red "囍" characters around it appeared even more glaring in the dim moonlight. Occasionally, a gentle breeze would blow by, making a rustling sound, as if countless corpses were groaning in the darkness.

Yang Jian and Ye Zhen were walking in a narrow alley, their feet treading on the muddy dirt road as if they were stepping on a pile of rotting flesh. "This village is too quiet, Yang. What can your ghost eyes see?" Ye Zhen said in a low voice. Although he spoke casually, his eyes had become sharp, showing that he also felt the situation was tricky.

“Nothing is abnormal…” Yang Jian said coldly, but the ghost eye on his forehead was pacing uneasily. In such an environment, the absence of any abnormality was the biggest abnormality.

The two walked through the dark alley and came to the gate of a large courtyard. Two huge "囍" characters were pasted on the wooden gate, which was more than two meters high. They were bright red and eye-catching.

A pair of weathered red lanterns hung on either side of the entrance, their fabric tattered and worn, resembling two dried-out human skins.

This was the most complete building the two had searched; it was likely a venue used for certain events within the village.

"Should we knock on the door first?"

Yang Jian glanced at Ye Zhen, then kicked open the door and went inside. A strong stench of corpses, along with a chilling aura, hit him.

In the dim moonlight, a large courtyard filled with round tables came into view. A dozen or so mahogany round tables were neatly arranged in the courtyard, each table laden with bowls, chopsticks, and empty plates. Each round table was surrounded by people, as if they were waiting for the wedding banquet to begin.

Strangely, all of these people were sitting with their heads down, their hands hanging stiffly at the edge of the table, emitting a pungent stench of corpses.

The moment Ye Zhen and Yang Jian stepped into the courtyard, everyone looked up at them. Their movements were perfectly synchronized, stiff as puppets on strings, their empty, lifeless eyes fixed on the two of them.

"So that's why there's no one in the village. They're all here." Ye Zhen's hand was already on the sword sheath.

"Don't do anything rash, go inside and take a look."

The 'guests' did nothing else, and Yang Jian and his companion walked straight toward the houses in the courtyard.

Suddenly, all the 'guests' turned their heads in unison, following the two closely, their necks making a series of chilling 'crackling' sounds.

As the two moved, some of the 'guests' heads even rotated a full circle, making sharp, piercing creaking sounds at their joints, as if trying to twist their heads off completely, but their lifeless eyes remained fixed on the two.

As the two drew closer to the door emitting a dim red light, a series of synchronized turning sounds came from behind them, as if all the 'guests' had turned their heads and were looking at them.

The two ignored it and stepped into a room with its door wide open, which was filled with a dim red light.

The room contained only a dilapidated wooden table with a kerosene lamp that flickered with a dim, reddish light. The light was weak and cold, illuminating a thick notebook and a bottle of dark red ink on the table. The notebook's cover was yellowed and cracked, as if it had been corroded by being soaked in blood for a long time.

"Marriage certificate?"

Ye Zhen picked up the notebook, on which the words "marriage certificate" were written crookedly.

In the dim red light, the contents recorded in the marriage certificate could be vaguely seen.
On the evening of March 22, Zhang Wei found a red cloth bag at his doorstep. That night, he called the number on the bag.
At noon on March 23, Zhang Wei got up and ate two wife cakes.
On the afternoon of March 23, Zhang Wei was chased by a dog when he went out.
The marriage certificate contained details so detailed it was chilling, even recording when Zhang Wei went to the toilet and what he ate. Whenever it mentioned Zhang Wei's affair with a particular woman, the handwriting turned a vibrant red, staining the paper.

Yang Jian stared at the strange marriage certificate. Could this be the thing the human skin paper was referring to?

"Was this marriage contract manipulating and controlling Wei's behavior, ultimately leading him here?"

"Demon Blood"

Yang Jian recognized the red paint at a glance.

"what?"

"The ghost blood that can suppress vengeful spirits. I have a friend who once controlled a portion of the ghost blood. The ghost blood has a terrifyingly high level of suppressive effect, but unfortunately he died in the end."

"So it's because of this ghost blood?"

"The blood of the ghost can only suppress vengeful ghosts. According to the records in the marriage certificate, this book can not only record events, but also interfere with the movement of living people and even vengeful ghosts."

Yang Jian stared at the eerie marriage certificate, thinking rapidly, as if he possessed an innate keen insight into vengeful spirits.

"The contents written in ghost blood might have a temporary effect on suppressing ghosts. With the help of this marriage contract, perhaps the suppressed vengeful ghost can be made to perform certain actions according to the modified contents."

Ye Zhen's eyes lit up after hearing this.

"Wouldn't that make him invincible? I'll just write it down: Ye Zhen solves all the evil spirits in the world."

Yang Jian glanced coldly at Ye Zhen, his tone icy.

"It's impossible. Every ghost follows a pattern, including your substitute ghost. This book is more like a guide, leading vengeful ghosts or living people to act in a way that aligns with the current situation in response to a high-probability event."

Yang Jian pointed to the red writing in the notebook.

"For example, it's impossible for Awei to have an online romance with a 50-year-old woman, and you can't possibly solve all the ghosts in the world."

Yang Jian paused for a moment before continuing.

"If I'm not mistaken, the changes must be consistent with the course of events at the time, and then made minor modifications. For example, if I write now that Ghost Painting crashes an hour later, Ghost Painting might immediately go out of control, and this book would kill me, because Ghost Painting cannot crash for no reason without human intervention."

(End of this chapter)