Li Ye didn't answer. He turned and lifted Song Zhi's clothes again.
Ning Wei also saw the blue-green marks.
"They are trapped in dreams. You ruined that person's good deed, and he probably got angry and pulled everyone into the dream to beat them. If anyone died, it means they were beaten to death in the dream."
"Then what are we waiting for? Hurry and wake them up!" Ning Wei tugged at Li Ye's clothes, urging him to act quickly.
Li Ye subtly pushed her hand away and took a dried white flower from his pocket, stuffing it directly into Mei Nan's mouth.
Although it was a dried flower, Ning Wei recognized it as the kind worn by every bride.
"This flower has such a miraculous effect?" Ning Wei thought it was merely an object representing a ghost marriage.
"This flower has another name, 'Yin Hun Lai' (Soul Guiding Flower). Fresh flowers lure souls away, dried flowers guide them back. It needs to be watered with fresh blood. It's normal that you don't recognize it."
"Then where did you get it from?"
"Naturally, I have my ways."
Li Ye divided the remaining flowers in half. He would feed the men, and Ning Wei would feed the women.
As the small white flowers were distributed, Mei Nan, who had eaten first, woke up.
Ning Wei and Li Ye sat in the courtyard drinking tea. Mei Nan walked out trembling, "I feel like I've been beaten, my whole body aches."
It seemed they were trapped in the dream by Young Master Zhou without realizing it, which explained why they couldn't wake up.
"It's not a feeling, you were actually beaten," Ning Wei replied.
Mei Nan looked surprised and sat down, intending to listen to Ning Wei's explanation.
With Mei Nan's addition, Li Ye left the courtyard again. Mei Nan didn't mind.
Before Ning Wei could answer, others began to wake up one after another and came out to sit down.
Tang Tang had just sat down when she suddenly jumped up.
"What's wrong?" Ning Wei looked at her, puzzled.
"My backside hurts badly, like I was kicked," Tang Tang said softly.
Everyone felt pain to varying degrees, some clutching their hands, others their feet. Only Ning Wei seemed completely fine.
Ning Wei asked everyone to remain calm and first took a headcount.
All five girls were present. However, among the seven men, there were only four, plus the bat spirit in the tree and the traitor in the kitchen, making a total of six.
"Oh no!" Ning Wei rushed into the room.
A man, seemingly asleep, lay on a bed. Ning Wei strode over and felt his face, which was already bluish. She touched him, and he was no longer breathing.
Ning Wei directly lifted the quilt and opened his clothes. His skin was covered in dark blue-green marks, indicating how brutally he must have been beaten in his dream.
The others sensed something was wrong and, enduring their pain, crowded at the doorway.
Mei Nan asked uncertainly, "Is he dead?"
Ning Wei dressed the man and turned to tell everyone, "Yesterday, you inhaled pollen from the soul-guiding flower when you disrupted the ghost marriage. Last night, Young Master Zhou pulled you into his dream. He got angry and beat you all. This person was beaten to death in the dream."
"Then he will never wake up?" Zhu Yulian asked.
Ning Wei nodded. "Being beaten to death in a dream is still death. You were lucky to be saved by us."
As everyone breathed a sigh of relief, they looked at the body on the bed and fell silent again.
While some were fortunate, others were not. Their numbers were already few, and now they had lost a companion.
Led by Mei Nan, they dug a pit in the courtyard and buried their companion.
After everything was done, they remembered Zheng Qu, who was locked in the kitchen.
Song Zhi, still angry, kicked open the kitchen door. The door was already fragile, and with his kick, it was completely ruined.
It crashed to the ground with a bang, raising a cloud of dust.
As the dust settled, they saw that Zheng Qu's body had stiffened.
His hands and feet were bound, his hands splayed like chicken claws, and his face wore a peaceful expression. It was clear he had frozen to death.
"He got off easy," Song Zhi stepped forward and kicked the corpse.
No one stopped him from venting his anger. After all, they had just lost a companion, and now facing a traitor, even a corpse evoked no sympathy.
"What should we do with this body?" everyone looked at Mei Nan. Their previous companion's body had been buried under his leadership. Was this one going to receive the same treatment?
Mei Nan glanced at Ning Wei and said, "How about we just leave it in the kitchen? We aren't cooking here anyway."
"Won't it stink?" Zhu Yulian asked.
Mei Nan frowned. It was hard to say.
"Let's just throw it outside," Song Zhi said, giving up on maintaining appearances.
Mei Nan didn't agree. Although they had disrupted the ghost marriage yesterday, a surface-level peace still needed to be maintained.
Throwing Zheng Qu's body out would be seen as confronting the villagers.
Their time to leave had not yet arrived, so there was no need to provoke them so openly.
"While no one is looking, wrap him in a quilt and leave him in the woods," Ning Wei suggested.
Burying him was out of the question; such scum didn't deserve the effort of digging a grave.
As long as no one saw, what difference would it make if the body was discovered?
After all, pretending to be oblivious wasn't their first time.
Ning Wei's suggestion was supported by everyone.
Zhu Yulian and Wang Jing volunteered to observe the situation first. If no one was around, they would inform the others.
They returned not long after, "There's no one around right now. Let's go if we're going."
The men, led by Mei Nan, were ready. They wrapped Zheng Qu in a quilt and carried him into the woods.
Song Zhi, though angry, was more level-headed at this point.
Before leaving, he covered the body with fallen leaves from the surroundings.
Unless there was a strong wind, no one would discover this corpse.
Everyone returned to the courtyard and discussed their next steps.
Due to the incident with Zheng Qu, the traitor, Ning Wei was cautious and didn't reveal her and Yin Yin's plan.
"Is that Young Master Zhou really that powerful? Does that mean we can't sleep anymore?"
"No, as long as you don't come into contact with the soul-guiding flower, he won't pull you into his dream," Ning Wei replied.
"Then what do we do next?"
"We'll wait and see. When the time is up and the fog dissipates, we'll immediately leave this village," Ning Wei continued.
Because Young Master Zhou had never appeared, yet everyone had suffered to varying degrees because of him.
Unfortunately, no matter how much anger they felt, they couldn't confront Young Master Zhou and could only hope for time to pass quickly.
Because they had offended Granny Zhang, the matchmaker, by noon, neither she nor her husband had brought any more food.
"We're finished. Are they planning to starve us to death?" Zhu Yulian asked with a pained expression as she looked outside. She had a stomach condition and was particularly afraid of not getting enough to eat.