After witnessing Gu Yunqing's and Ye Miaozhu's deaths, Ning Zhe left the clinic and flew out along the town's main road.
According to Zhang Yangxu's own account, he entered He Village when he stepped out of his car at the gas station—and within five kilometers of Gubei Town, the only official station is "Sunshine Gas Station."
Ning Zhe soon reached the station's airspace but saw no sign of the car Zhang Yangxu had used. Only a few ordinary sedans and vans were parked—hardly befitting a real estate tycoon's vehicle.
"It seems Zhang Yangxu hasn't arrived yet." Ning Zhe lowered himself into the foliage of a tall loquat tree beside the station and hid among the leaves, waiting.
While waiting, he reviewed events in He Village:
1. The Snake God Zhàoyòu was the village's native deity, while Taiyi was an outsider ghost.
2. Taiyi stole the Snake God's identity by manipulating villagers' perceptions, driving the deity mad.
3. The Snake God's malady onset remains unknown; Ning Zhe escaped before its full madness manifested.
4. When Ning Zhe turned the almanac and violated the "death taboo," he simultaneously held the identities of Ning Zhe, Taiyi, and Zhàoyòu.
From this, the next sequence became clear:
"If my stolen Snake God identity was complete enough to fool the rules, then the taboo I triggered would be attributed to the Snake God, forcing Zhàoyòu to kill itself," he reasoned.
"But besides the Snake God, I also bore Taiyi's identity. With both its eyes blinded, the deity could mistake any rule-breaker for a ghost—so if Zhàoyòu killed Taiyi, that would also satisfy the rule."
"Alternatively…" Ning Zhe tilted his head and peered through the loquat leaves at the station below.
"Maybe the Snake God mistook me for the ghost."
Ning Zhe could invoke Zhàoyòu's identity to break the taboo—but did Zhàoyòu itself ever read the almanac? Only Zhàoyòu knew that. Perhaps the maddened deity believed Taiyi had flipped the pages, aiming to use the death taboo to destroy it. From the Snake God's perspective, it had every reason to think so—but the true culprit was a boy named Ning Zhe.
So when He Village shattered, whom did the rule kill—deity or ghost?
"Perhaps the answer is…both."
After all, many villagers had not been deceived by Ning Zhe; Taiyi could have shifted its punishment back onto Zhàoyòu, reinforcing the deity's false belief that Taiyi read the almanac.
Ning Zhe studied his black-and-white feathers with a hint of teal and his talons gripping the branch:
"The Snake God mistook me for a ghost, the ghost shifted its punishment to the Snake God, and that only deepened the deity's belief that I was the ghost…"
"If that's true, and both snake deity and ghost died under the rule, then the only bearer of Taiyi's identity left in the world is me."
It was like leveling up in a game: defeat the monsters, gain their powers.
No wonder he once suspected that "He Village" might be a game dungeon scenario.
"Speaking of Bai Zhi, why did she dream of He Village?" Ning Zhe wondered. "After Auntie returns at 7 PM, I'll talk to her about it."
—If she's still alive, that is.
Lost in thought, he waited quietly in the loquat tree. Around 11:31 AM—about four hours later—a sleek black luxury van drove into view.
Unfamiliar with cars, Ning Zhe nonetheless recognized its value. He left the canopy and perched in a nearby shrub to observe.
Shortly after it pulled up to the pump, the rear door opened. A tall woman in a female business suit and pencil skirt emerged and headed toward the general store.
"Xie Sining." Ning Zhe recognized her immediately.
Xie Sining had said she entered He Village while buying cigarettes for Zhang Yangxu inside the station. When he waited too long in the car and stepped out, he too became trapped.
Just as they described, Xie Sining opened the shop door and dropped dead on the spot, terrifying the store owner.
"Xie Sining is dead—next will be Zhang Yangxu?"
Ning Zhe left his hiding spot and hopped down beneath the van instead of taking flight.
A few minutes later, Zhang Yangxu, puzzled by Xie's delay, opened the opposite rear door—and collapsed dead onto the seat.
Ning Zhe seized his chance, leapt aboard, transformed back into himself, and sat beside Zhang Yangxu's corpse. He slammed the door shut.
"Mr. Zhang, are you okay?" The driver in front heard the bang and asked.
Through the rearview mirror the driver saw "Zhang Yangxu" now sitting where Xie Sining had been—adding to his confusion.
"Sining's taken her time," came Zhang's gravelly voice from Ning Zhe's throat. "Go check on her."
"Right away, Mr. Zhang." The driver exited toward the shop.
Ning Zhe drew a deep breath, retrieved Zhang Yangxu's phone from his pocket, and shoved the body into the trunk.
From Zhang's memories, Ning Zhe knew the van lacked interior cameras or recording devices and had one-way glass.
Having concealed the corpse, he slid Zhang's phone into the suit lining and calmly sat back, awaiting news of Xie Sining's death.
Chapters in advance there: patreon.com/Thaniel_a_goodchild