After everyone got off the bus, the attendant hung on the door: "Just follow the direction of the lights ahead. Remember, you are out for fun and got lost. So, follow the light to find your way back."
Everyone looked in the direction, and a dim red light was not far ahead.
After the attendant finished speaking, the door closed, and with a "boom," the bus set off again.
"No guide this time?"
"What did the attendant just say?"
Ning Wei's entire attention was focused on this "Fu Chengwei." His appearance seemed to have changed subtly.
At first glance, it was the same face, but there was a slight difference between the eyebrows and eyes.
There had always been a guide before, but this time it was the attendant's words that guided them, so everyone dared not act rashly.
Mei Nan glanced at Ning Wei, only to find her attention wasn't on this matter at all.
He frowned and walked over to Ning Wei, gently touching her. "What are you thinking about?"
Ning Wei snapped back to reality and shook her head, "Let's go."
"Leaving already?" Zhu Yilian asked in surprise.
"If you want to stay here, it's not impossible," Ning Wei said and walked forward, following the direction of the dim red light as the attendant had said.
Zhu Yilian pouted. Seeing that everyone else was following, she also held hands with Yuanyuan and walked.
The dim red light ahead would occasionally flicker, looking very eerie.
Ning Wei walked at the very front, with the "Fu Chengwei" closest to her.
"Who are you?" Ning Wei finally couldn't hold back. Fu Chengwei used to chatter in front of her, but this person, wearing the same face, had a completely different personality. She was very curious.
He looked at Ning Wei with some confusion: "I'm Fu Chengwei."
Their voices were low, and no one else heard them.
"No, you're not," Ning Wei said with certainty.
"Then who do you think I am?" The person suddenly moved closer to Ning Wei and whispered in her ear.
The cool air he exhaled on Ning Wei's neck instantly gave her goosebumps.
Ning Wei did not want to expose her identity by taking action in front of others, so she suppressed the urge to test this person with her blood.
She put some distance between them, and the dim red light ahead grew closer.
"So it's a red lantern," Song Zhi suddenly walked to the front and said to those behind him.
At night, a red lantern from a distance appeared as a dim red light. The reason it flickered was that it was hung on a treetop, swaying in the wind.
"I'm a little scared," Yuanyuan hugged Zhu Yilian's arm tightly.
"Let's go, we're already here." Mei Nan, being the eldest, bravely stood at the front.
Ning Wei looked up at the red lantern. The candle inside was long and seemed to have been replaced recently. She figured they should be able to see people if they went further.
Having found the red lantern mentioned by the attendant, everyone was at a loss. Besides the lantern, they could see nothing else.
They were forced to stop there. After a short while, they heard panting sounds accompanied by "creak, creak" low noises.
Looking in the direction of the sounds, they saw a group of people in white clothes. The person at the front was holding a basket and scattering white paper money into the air. Behind them, four people were carrying a coffin, and beside the coffin was a person in dark red clothing. Following behind were people holding hoes.
Carrying a coffin out at night was extremely eerie.
Most importantly, the coffin was wrapped with a bright red flower.
Mei Nan and the others were so scared they didn't dare to speak, but the other party had already spotted them.
"Who's there!" someone on the opposite side shouted.
Mei Nan's mind was filled with the attendant's words before leaving, and he quickly replied: "We are tourists, we got lost, and we saw the light here, so we came over."
His explanation did not earn him sympathy from the other side; instead, it drew a reprimand.
"Go back where you came from! Our village does not welcome outsiders!"
Mei Nan felt awkward and looked at Ning Wei for help.
Ning Wei walked to Mei Nan's side: "Please, can you help us? It's too late now, and we really can't go back. Why don't you let us stay in the village for one night? We'll leave tomorrow morning."
For some reason, after Ning Wei said this, the other side fell silent for a moment. Then, another person spoke, "You wait here. We'll take you back to the village once we're done."
"Thank you, brother," Ning Wei replied sweetly.
The group resumed their journey, the panting and creaking sounds coming from the coffin and the pallbearers.
After the group moved further away, the passengers began to whisper among themselves.
"Did you see that, a red flower on the coffin!"
"Do you think these people will abandon us?"
"Should we follow them?"
Mei Nan looked at Ning Wei and asked for her opinion: "That coffin is not right. Should we follow and see?"
Ning Wei nodded: "I'll go alone. Too many people will attract their attention. You all wait here for me."
Tang Tang nervously grabbed Ning Wei's hand. Fu Chengwei glanced over lightly and let out a slight snort, but everyone was too nervous to notice his small action.
"Be very careful!" Tang Tang cautioned Ning Wei.
Ning Wei nodded, "If I don't go now, they'll be too far ahead."
Tang Tang let go, and Ning Wei strode away, quickly disappearing from everyone's sight.
The remaining people stood under the lantern, as if the candlelight would protect them from danger. It was like hiding under a blanket to avoid ghosts – a mere psychological comfort.
The surroundings were pitch black, and all they could hear besides each other's breathing was silence.
With one person missing from the group, no one rested.
Ning Wei followed the direction of the group and saw them stop in an open space. The ground was covered with semicircular grave mounds, all neatly arranged.
She hid behind a tree and watched the group place the coffin into a pre-dug pit. Those holding hoes then began to fill the surrounding earth.
They worked quickly, and another grave mound appeared.
Then came the main event.
After placing the tombstone, the middle-aged woman in dark red clothing hung the large red flower from the coffin onto the tombstone. She then lit red candles and poured wine into two small red cups.
At this point, one person in the crowd began to weep softly, but was reprimanded by the woman in dark red: "Be quiet! Do you want your daughter to have no peace in the afterlife!"
After scolding the crying person, the woman turned to offer incense to the new grave: "Xiao Shui, serve Young Master Zhou well, and bless the pregnant women in the village to continue giving birth to baby girls."