Although his family had moved away from Yidu fifteen years ago, over the past two years, he had managed to reconnect with many long-lost classmates through the internet: Du Man, Wu Xiaotian, Zhao Chen, Liu Li, Wang Yusheng, and others. Only Zhao Yiran remained uncontacted to this day. And these individuals, along with him, were all survivors of that plague.
He never expected that by a twist of fate, he would be taken in by a farming family for a day, and that this uncle and aunt would turn out to be Zhao Yiran’s parents. Even more shocking, Zhao Yiran, Liu Li, and Wang Yusheng had all become three floating corpses discovered on the River on the same day.
The uncle, aunt, and many villagers were immersed in grief, but Cheng Jun’s own sorrow was no less than theirs. They had all been childhood companions, all survivors of that plague, yet in an instant, they lay dead before his eyes, transformed into three floating corpses.
At that moment, Cheng Jun felt his nose sting, his throat heavy as lead, and tears welling up in his eyes.
He was overwhelmed with anguish. “Liu Li, Wang Yusheng, Zhao Yiran, how could this happen? How could this happen!”
Just as he struggled to hold back his tears, he inadvertently noticed that the eyebrows of all three corpses were white, causing him to freeze in shock.
“Huh? This is unbelievable! The three bodies aren’t severely bloated, so they likely haven’t been dead for more than a day. Hair shouldn’t change color no matter how long it’s soaked!”
At that moment, the village dogs barked even more fiercely, and several pigs broke out of their pens, startling a flock of ducks into loud quacking.
“How could the three of them die simultaneously for no reason? I must get to the bottom of this!” Cheng Jun sensed something suspicious about his three classmates’ deaths and began observing carefully.
The village was in chaos, with chickens flying and dogs barking, unsettling everyone. Cheng Jun forced himself to stay calm, gritted his teeth, and gently turned one of the corpses’ heads. To his surprise, he found numerous white hairs on the back of the head and temples of two bodies.
Just as he was about to examine the third corpse’s head, the uncle grabbed his arm. “What are you doing?”
“Uncle, look!” Cheng Jun turned the head of a nearby corpse, pointing to the white hairs on the back of the head and temples, as well as the white eyebrows on the face. “Uncle, don’t you think this is strange?”
Before Cheng Jun could finish, the uncle himself turned Zhao Yiran’s head and indeed found many white hairs. The corpse’s face also bore white eyebrows, pale as moth powder. Stunned, he looked at Cheng Jun. “How could this be?”
Though grieving, the uncle was more rational than the aunt. He leaned closer to Cheng Jun. “Could it be that Xiao Ran was murdered?”
“Logically, floating corpses usually turn pale and bloated, but look at their lips—they’re purplish-black, their faces deathly pale like frost, with visible veins. That should be due to blood stasis, not drowning or natural causes!”
“Are you saying Xiao Ran and the others were poisoned or cursed?”
“It’s hard to say for now. We’d need a forensic examination to be sure. Uncle, Yiran and these two were my classmates. We must uncover the truth and find the culprit! I’ll call the police first. You and Auntie, make sure to protect the scene!”
Cheng Jun, after all, had some legal knowledge. But just as he was about to dial “110,” his phone was slapped out of his hand by someone.
“What are you doing, Huang Si Po?” Before Cheng Jun could get angry, the uncle and aunt erupted first, “That’s my son who died! Don’t you meddle in our Zhao family’s affairs, you old woman!”
People from the uncle’s clan also stepped forward simultaneously, glaring angrily at a gray-haired woman.
“I asked her to come! Cough, cough…” At that moment, an old man hobbled out, trembling as he leaned on his cane, accompanied by the village chief and several other gray-haired elders.
Cheng Jun saw that this old man had hair and beard as white as snow, likely over ninety years old. Though his body was stooped and frail, his gaze was profound, clearly the most respected figure in the area.
As soon as he stood there, he immediately calmed the scene, and the riverbank fell silent.
With just one glance from the old man toward the uncle, Cheng Jun felt an oppressive aura, and the uncle even took a step back.
The woman who had knocked Cheng Jun’s phone away was dressed in somewhat ancient and peculiar attire, draped in dark black hemp clothing, her appearance different from ordinary people. Her eye sockets were dark and sunken, looking rather terrifying.
Seeing Cheng Jun staring intently at the gray-haired woman, the aunt wiped her tears and said to him, “She’s the famous Diviner-Healer Witch around here!”
“Diviner-Healer Witch?” Cheng Jun muttered under his breath, “What era is this? There are still witch doctors!”
“Keep your voice down, don’t offend her!” The aunt was clearly afraid of the woman, her extreme grief tinged with fear.
Meanwhile, the woman was staring fixedly at the three corpses, her gaze somewhat intimidating.
Presumably, she had also noticed the white eyebrows on the three corpses’ faces and the white hair on the back of their heads and temples.
First, her eyebrows suddenly twitched. She extended a black, sharp, long-nailed finger and flicked out a wisp of white air, then suddenly let out a strange, sharp cry, like a mix of weeping and laughter.
The sound was eerily similar to “Mei Chaofeng” from The Legend of the Condor Heroes, sending a chill down Cheng Jun’s spine.
The woman performed a ritual dance for a while, then suddenly let out a mournful wail, foaming at the mouth before collapsing stiffly to the ground like a corpse. Then, as if undergoing a corpse transformation, she abruptly straightened up again.
“Isn’t she just a village Spirit Medium Witch?”
He saw the woman tremblingly whisper a few words into the white-haired old man’s ear.
Upon hearing it, the old man’s eyebrows jumped several times, and he nearly lost his footing. Scanning the crowd, he decisively uttered a few words: “Burn them immediately, leave not a single trace!”
“Elder, that’s my only son! He can’t die without an explanation!” The uncle pleaded tearfully, looking at the old man.
“Zhao Gan, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. The White Moth Phenomenon—I don’t believe you haven’t seen it. You just don’t dare to accept it! Do you want the senseless disaster from 15 years ago to repeat itself?”
“Ah—”
“What? Fifteen years ago?”
“That plague at Yidu, over a thousand people died!”
With the old man’s words, the villagers immediately grew restless. Several people standing closer to the corpses immediately retreated more than a dozen steps.
The uncle and aunt exchanged glances, their eyes filled with helplessness.
“What are you waiting for, Village Chief?” The old man stared at the village chief beside him.
“This?” The village chief hesitated.
“Grandpa, you can’t do this! Human lives are at stake; you can’t handle this privately! We must report it first and wait for the police to examine the bodies…” Before the uncle and aunt could react, Cheng Jun stepped forward.
“By the time they arrive, I’m afraid not a single one of us standing here will survive. Young man, what do you know!” The woman glared at Cheng Jun.
“Village chief, order people to act now!”
The village chief looked around but said nothing. The old man stepped forward himself. “What are you all standing around for? Go get gasoline and firewood! We’ll burn them right here!”
“Do you all want to die here?” The gray-haired woman approached the white-haired old man, raising her voice sharply. At the same time, several ringing sounds chimed from her hands.
Several people retreated to fetch tools, and Cheng Jun alone was powerless to stop them.
Puff, puff— Just then, suddenly, a corpse’s nostrils burst open, and in an instant, several white flying creatures emerged. They resembled large lice the size of soybeans, extending white wings and flying out like white moths, first darting toward the nearest aunt and uncle.
“Ah! Flying Louse-White Moths!” The gray-haired woman froze in shock.
“Uncle, Aunt, be careful!” Cheng Jun and the others were startled. Many people panicked and fled in all directions.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh— The gray-haired woman was sharp-eyed and quick-handed, her fingers curling and stretching as several green flames shot from her fingertips. All the white moths were burned to ashes by the flames.
The villagers retreated like a tide, many fleeing frantically. Even the uncle dared not approach the corpses again.
Several brave young villagers acted quickly, soon bringing firewood and gasoline.
“Hurry! Set it up!” The white-haired old man immediately ordered.
The young men swiftly arranged the firewood into a circle and poured gasoline over the pile. Just as they were about to lift the corpses, suddenly, all three corpses emitted a “gurgling, squelching” sound simultaneously, blinked their eyes, stiffly raised their heads, and trembled all over.
“Oh my god, corpse transformation!” a villager cried out in a trembling voice.
The young men were so frightened their legs went weak. They scrambled to their feet and fled. Even the village chief joined the villagers in a frantic rush to escape. Only the white-haired old man and the gray-haired woman shouted urgently, “Come back, all of you! Light the fire! Light it now!”
But the scene had already spiraled completely out of control. Though the old man was respected and esteemed, he could no longer maintain order. After all, prestige was nothing compared to “one’s own life.”
The “gurgling, squelching” sounds from inside the corpses grew louder, as if many insects were writhing and gnawing in their bellies. The three corpses trembled violently, as if about to stand up.
Frenzied barking echoed from all directions—not just one or two dogs, but all the village’s mongrels were barking madly, as if gone insane. The chaotic barking completely shattered the tranquility of Niujiao Village.
At this moment, Cheng Jun could hardly believe what he was seeing was real. “Could it be… corpse transformation is truly happening?”