Зал астрологии с плотью и кровью

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“Then we can’t possibly have that here!” said Lin Yao, the older sister.

“But Professor Zhang told me yesterday that he wanted to come to your house for a visit, and then he disappeared!” Yuan Yuan said.

“Last night…” I frowned, and suddenly remembered the dark figure from last night. Could it be that Professor Zhang had acted impulsively and sneaked in at night because my sister wouldn’t let him in? But wait, the dark figure disappeared after entering the ancestral hall. How did he sneak out?

"What happened last night?" Yuan Yuan asked me immediately after hearing my muttering.

"He seemed to have seen someone enter the ancestral hall last night!" Li Yang, that big mouth, always spills the beans when he sees a beautiful woman!

"What?" My older sister, Lin Yao, suddenly exclaimed, startling me.

"Why didn't you say so sooner?" my older sister, Lin Yao, asked me angrily.

"When we went inside, there was nothing there! What am I talking to you about?" I shouted, feeling a little aggrieved.

"Take me to see this quickly!" Yuan Yuan said urgently, pulling me along.

I looked up at my older sister, Lin Yao, and saw her frown slightly before finally saying to me, "Let's go take a look, but can Miss Yuan and Mr. Liu wait here? Outsiders can't just go into our Lin family ancestral hall!"

“Okay!” This time, Liu Chunfeng grabbed Yuan Yuan, who wanted to come along.

Following my older sister Lin Yao, we quickly walked towards the backyard. As soon as I stepped into the backyard, I discovered that the door to the ancestral hall was half open! I clearly closed it when I left last night!

An uneasy feeling made me a little irritable. I walked to the door and, through the wooden door, saw a person lying on the ground!

Professor Zhang? I rushed in, pushing open the door. The person on the floor was probably dead, with gray hair! Was it really Professor Zhang? Touching the person's head and neck, my heart sank. I couldn't bear to look anymore!

Looking up at the others, whose expressions were equally somber, I carefully turned the body over.

"Ahhh!" Abao cried out in terror and hid behind Li Yang.

It was indeed Professor Zhang! There were no obvious wounds on his body, but what was terrifying was his face, his dying face! The upper half, his eyes, were filled with terror, as if he had seen something horrifying before he died, causing his eyeballs to bulge out and stare wide open. The upper half of his face seemed to be distorted with fear! But the lower half of his face… was… smiling! A strange smile, frozen on the lower half of his face!

Fear and smile... two completely different expressions were strangely etched on one face, sending a chill down one's spine and giving rise to an ominous premonition.

Volume 4, Chapter 7: The Shadow Snake Emerges from its Cave

Volume 4, Chapter 7: The Shadow Snake Emerges from its Cave

"How could you die here?" Li Yang glanced at me and said, "We were sure there was no one inside last night before we left!"

"What if they went back in later?" Fang Lei asked.

"Impossible. I went back and added another lock to the front door before going back to sleep." I shook my head. "Outsiders shouldn't be able to get in."

"Could they have climbed over the wall to get in?" Abao asked cautiously from behind Li Yang.

"I don't think he could have climbed over the wall to get in." My older sister, Lin Yao, sighed helplessly and asked me, "The problem now is how to explain this to the two people outside?"

"To be honest, besides, it looks like a heart condition to me." I said, moving Professor Zhang's hand, which had been stiffly pressed against his chest. Sure enough, there was a bottle of nitroglycerin tablets in the inside pocket of his shirt.

"Does this happen when someone dies of a heart attack?" Abao asked curiously.

"Theoretically, no, but I guess he must have suffered a huge shock before he died to look like this!" I subconsciously looked up at the memorial tablets on the altar. What did Professor Zhang see before he died? If it was just these wooden memorial tablets, he certainly wouldn't have such a facial expression. Or did he see something he shouldn't have seen?

I looked around, but there was nothing suspicious, not even a speck of dust! It was eerily clean!

"Yuan Yuan, don't come in!" Liu Chunfeng's voice rang out from outside. I immediately looked up at my older sister; she seemed to be making a huge decision. I bit my lip, but in the end, I went over and pushed the door open wider. This way, Yuan Yuan, who hadn't even entered yet, saw Professor Zhang lying on the ground at a glance!

"Professor Zhang!" Yuan Yuan exclaimed as he rushed in, calling out, "Professor Zhang! Professor Zhang!"

"Don't touch him!" I grabbed her and said, "He's already dead!"

"How could this be? How could this happen?" Yuan Yuan cried out, tears streaming down his face, "Uncle, Uncle!"

Uncle? No wonder he was crying so hard. I glanced at Liu Chunfeng beside me. Although he also seemed very sad, I seemed to see something strange in his fleeting eyes: relief? Or smugness? Or disgust?

"Should we notify them...?" Li Yang whispered in my ear.

I frowned and asked Yuan Yuan, "Miss Yuan, does your uncle have heart disease?"

"Yes...yes!" Yuan Yuan nodded, choking back tears, "He always...always carries medicine with him!"

“My wife and I,” I said, pointing to Fang Lei beside me, “we are both forensic pathologists. From our perspective, it looks like he died of a heart attack. But what exactly the cause was, I think you should notify the hospital or… the police, right?”

"Hospital...?" Yuan Yuan seemed overwhelmed with grief. It took him a while to recover before he said, "Yes, call the police!"

What followed was very familiar to me. Although the nearest police station and major hospital were more than ten kilometers away, the police cars and ambulances arrived within forty minutes.

No one would be in a good mood if something like this happened first thing in the morning. Looking at the policeman who seemed to have just graduated from police academy, I absentmindedly glanced around.

The Lin Family Ancestral Hall seems like an ordinary ancestral hall, but what exactly does it hold? In my memory, my parents never wanted me to go near this place except during the Lunar New Year and Qingming Festival. Therefore, in my hazy childhood memories, this place didn't leave me with any special recollections.

After giving our statements, we waited for the police to send a forensic doctor to examine the body, followed by the usual procedures of sealing off the scene, removing the body, and instructing us not to touch anything at the scene. Finally, we enjoyed our first quiet moment of the day.

"Tell me, how did Professor Zhang get in?" Li Yang asked, practically slumping into his chair.

"I don't know, don't ask me!" I listened carefully to the outside, and it seemed that there were a few people lingering at the door. It seems that the saying "good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels fast" is really true!

"Monster! Monster!" Suddenly, Old Mrs. Yin's cursing voice came from outside the door, and I immediately jumped up.

"Don't go over there!" My older sister, Lin Yao, pulled me back and said, "Let her talk!"

I glanced at my older sister, Lin Yao, but in the end, I didn't take another step forward.

"Grandma, let's go back!" It seemed to be Yin Tianhuo's voice.

"Monsters! The Lin family is full of monsters!" Old Madam Yin shouted. "He is! She was too before!"

He? Is he talking about me? Then, who was she before? Could she be the aunt Lin Yao mentioned, the one she'd never met who stole her fiancé?

"What do you know? None of you know! That is...that is..." Old Mrs. Yin seemed to want to say something more outside the door, but she was probably pulled by Yin Tianhuo towards the house. The old lady's voice gradually faded away, and only one word could be vaguely heard: "snake"?

A snake? Where did this snake come from?

As I tilted my head to think, I suddenly caught a glimpse of my older sister Lin Yao's expression—a fleeting look of panic? Had she also heard the word "snake"?

What is it? What kind of snake?

After a quick lunch, I told Fang Lei to go back to her room to rest first, and then I went to my older sister Lin Yao's room. She was sitting at her desk, seemingly waiting for me.

I pulled up a chair and sat down opposite her, then cut to the chase: "Sis, what other secrets are you hiding from me?"

Do you remember when your parents didn't like you entering our family ancestral hall?

"I remember a little bit, but it seems like they don't really restrict your comings and goings."

"Because Dad once said that your constitution makes you particularly susceptible to attracting unclean things, he wouldn't let you in. But what I want to tell you now is, Shadow Snake!"

"Shadow Snake?" I asked, puzzled.

"I heard it from the older generation in the village when I was very young. There is something in the Lin family ancestral hall called the Shadow Snake. People who are bitten by it die like... just like Professor Zhang's! A laughing-crying corpse!" My older sister Lin Yao's tone seemed very serious.

In the past, I definitely wouldn't have believed her, but after experiencing so much, I've realized that many things are possible.

"I've never seen this snake before; I've only heard older people mention it occasionally. The shadow snake only appears on moonlit nights."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, you said it was in the Lin family ancestral hall? The snake is in the ancestral hall? But I didn't find anything there!"

"I don't know either," said my older sister, Lin Yao. "So you'd better not go to the ancestral hall at night!"

"If I don't go, will they not come?"

"I don't think so!" My older sister, Lin Yao, nodded firmly.

***************************

Who said they wouldn't come? I closed the doors and windows, but through the moonlight, I could still see some thin, black shadows crawling and wriggling in the yard.

"What...what is it? A snake?" Fang Lei was, after all, a woman, and she still had a certain fear of reptiles.

"They look like snakes, but they don't seem to be trying to crawl in!" I looked at the things in the yard and couldn't help but pray that Li Yang and A Bao wouldn't be curious and open the door to look!

"Call Li Yang and A Bao and tell them not to go out! Hurry!" I was still worried, even though it was so late and they were probably already asleep.

Watching a group of lazy snakes wriggling and turning in the moonlight really gave me goosebumps, but they seemed to be... sunbathing?

I've seen cats sunbathing in groups, but this is the first time I've ever seen a group of snakes basking in the moonlight. Luckily, at least for now, these snakes don't seem dangerous.

Volume 4, Chapter 8: Devouring Souls and Corrupting Spirits

Volume 4, Chapter 8: Devouring Souls and Corrupting Spirits

Under the silvery moonlight, a group of black snakes coiled and twisted together, basking in the moonlight contentedly. I turned to look at Fang Lei, who was still a little nervous, and asked, "Have you notified them?"

"Yes, I've already told them to close the doors and windows tightly and not to go out." Fang Lei put her phone back on the table, looked out the window, and asked, "Are they in danger?"

"It seems there isn't anything now. Why don't you go to sleep?" I said, "I'll keep watch, and I'll call you if anything happens."

"How can this be?" Cai Lei was a little worried.

"But we can't both stay up all night and just stand here watching these snakes bask in the moonlight, can we?" I walked over and gently patted Fang Lei's shoulder. Even if she didn't sleep, the child in her mind would have to sleep, right?

"This..." Just as Fang Lei's thoughts were wavering, I suddenly heard some faint sounds in the courtyard.

"Who?" I looked out the window nervously. Could it be Li Yang or A Bao, those two curious kids, coming out to see the snake?

However, I immediately dismissed the idea. Even at night, the moonlight still made it clear that the people weren't them. Instinctively, I pulled Fang Lei behind the window. It's so late; could it be another Professor Zhang researching our ancestral home?

If I have the chance in the future, I must hire a security company to improve the security measures of our ancestral home. Now, it seems like anyone can just come into our house.

Just then, I noticed that the person seemed to be startled by the scene in the yard as well, and stood there motionless in a somewhat dazed state.

Taking this opportunity, I took a closer look. He was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man, probably not from our village, but... he looked so familiar... where have I seen him before?

Oh, right! On the train! Didn't we see two middle-aged men following us on the train?

This person is one of them. Strange, where's the other one? It seems they didn't come with us!

Who exactly are they? If they are thieves, this is too targeted; it's as if they were just waiting to steal our things.

Or perhaps kidnappers? There are no wealthy or powerful people here, so there's no benefit in kidnapping anyone.

While thinking, the man took a few steps back. He reached into his pocket and pulled out something; it was too dark to see clearly, but its shape resembled a handkerchief.

At this moment, the shadow snakes seemed to have sensed that strangers had disturbed their leisure time, and began to slowly accelerate their wriggling.

The middle-aged man seemed to have made a great decision. He did not back down, but brought the handkerchief to his eyes to look at it, then looked around and took a step toward the center of the courtyard.

Because there were so many shadow snakes, the middle-aged man tried to be as careful as possible when lifting his leg to avoid stepping on them. However, there were simply too many shadow snakes in the center of the yard; they were practically piled up together. There was no way around them. The middle-aged man had no choice but to walk around them, which brought him closer to the room where Fang Lei and I were staying.

Everything seemed very quiet, with only the sound of my and Fang Lei's breathing. The middle-aged man seemed to be holding his breath and carefully avoiding the snakes. Just as he was about to lift his leg to avoid a shadow snake, the shadow snakes, which were gradually speeding up, suddenly launched an attack!

It was like gliding along the ground, no! More like flying along the ground! Because I seemed to see a very slight distance between those shadow snakes and the ground. In the moonlight, the shadows of the shadow snakes overlapped with the shadow snakes, vaguely resembling two-headed snakes flying towards the middle-aged man!