After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

Lu Zhiyuan was thinking about something else entirely.

If the three spying characters and the fake Ye Bai were created by a self-aware book official, then as cannon fodder characters in the book, the files in Lu Yun's hands were given to him by them.

She had read the Ministry of Justice's files. Their records of the cases were very detailed, but not as detailed as Lu Yun had described. Their focus was not on describing the occurrence of the case, but on describing the process of how the case was solved.

Even if the process of solving a case is bland and uneventful, they will still write it out like a soupy egg drop soup. Cases equal achievements, and achievements equal promotions; they will not pay attention to the dead and victims, much less investigate the entanglements behind the cases.

Lu Yun wasn't the type to seek favors, and he disliked reading documents and novels; he preferred to follow Lu Zhiyuan's orders. Simply put, he was too lazy to think. Those words would have been more reasonable if they had come from the Crown Prince, Han Ting, or Xiao Yebai.

Without making a sound, he focused his gaze on the case file.

The text states that after the neighbor's wife died, the village chief ordered the well at Miao Han's house to be sealed. In the village chief's view, without the well, the person wouldn't die. However, something even more terrifying happened: seven days after the village chief ordered the well sealed, all the women in the village, dressed in red or red wedding gowns, lined up and jumped into the village well one after another.

There are many wells in Miao Village. On average, there is one well for every four or five households. Some are abandoned wells dug in the early years, some are dry wells that no longer produce water, and some are new wells that are in use.

That night, only the village chief and Miao Han were still awake. All the men in the village were fast asleep, while the women, as if possessed, dressed in red and walked out of their homes one after another, heading towards the well closest to their houses. They lined up and jumped in one by one like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

The village chief was stunned, Miao Han went mad, and the men who had woken up were also in a panic.

To avoid misfortune befalling them, they moved out of the Miao village overnight. Those with relatives sought refuge with them, those with meager possessions but no relatives rented houses in nearby towns, and those with neither relatives nor money simply found a place to live.

However, the curse of the bride that lingered in Miao Village did not let them go. Every seven days, some people would return to the village and, like the previous villagers, jump into the wells until every well in Miao Village was filled.

Liu Ying stared at the dossier and gasped, "If they fill it all in, how many people will die? Won't the government investigate?"

The carriage had already entered the village path, where the tangled branches of trees sparsely blocked the moonlight.

Lu Yun squinted, looking at the moonlight overhead.

"After Xiao Bao's mother, the neighbor's sister-in-law, died, no one in the village reported it to the authorities. The government, whether local or the six ministries, all adhered to the principle of 'the less trouble, the better.' The situation in Miao Village was so strange that the government didn't want to get involved at all."

The carriage jolted, and Lu Yun looked down to see a stone road marker.

"Madam, we've arrived at Miao Village!"

Lu Zhiyuan gave a soft "hmm" and turned to the last page of the file.

The text reads that a peddler passed through a Miao village and found it strangely quiet and deserted. He searched the entire village and discovered that every house had its doors wide open, and everything except for the most valuable items was left behind. Even stranger, the village was filled with a foul odor.

The stench came from the wells in the village.

At first, he thought the wells were just dumping grounds for garbage, and that it was normal for them to smell bad over the years. But then he discovered that all the wells in the village were covered in flies. He mustered his courage and went to take a look, and he was nearly scared out of his wits.

The peddler stumbled and ran out of Miao Village. After reporting to the authorities, the government sealed off all the wells in Miao Village, turning them into graves for the villagers, and then closed off the entire village.

After that, news spread that Miao Village was cursed, and no one in the surrounding area dared to come here.

He closed the file, stepped down from the carriage, and looked at the dilapidated village under the moonlight. Although it was an abandoned village, there were lights inside, and they were moving lights.

Lu Yun leaped onto the roof of the carriage, stared at the village lights for a while, and said, "It's a person, a living person, carrying a lantern, swaying back and forth."

Liu Ying leaned closer: "The person is still alive? Didn't the file say that everyone in the village was dead?"

Lu Zhiyuan wrapped her clothes tighter around herself and carried the glass lantern into the village.

"There should still be two living people in the Miao village, a village chief and a Miao man."

Firefly followed, "Why?"

Lu Zhiyuan stopped, turned her head, and let the light from the glass lamp fall on Liu Ying's face: "Because they were the ones who knew the truth and were involved, the person behind the scenes punished them, but let them live. Because living is the greatest revenge against them. The person behind the scenes has a grudge against Miao Village. The bride's death is not a curse but the beginning, the beginning of the person behind the scenes' revenge on the entire Miao Village."

There is only one road leading into the village, and it is overgrown with weeds.

The moonlight was bright, illuminating the courtyards, large and small, that had been abandoned for a year. The gates were open, but the windows were dark, like the mouths and eyes of monsters lurking in the night.

Lu Zhiyuan gave Lu Yun a wink, and Lu Yun disappeared. A short while later, he brought someone back.

Judging from his attire, he was likely a Miao man; he had a scraggly beard and smelled bad. He carried a rabbit lantern, the kind only a child would carry. The lantern was somewhat damaged, and the candle inside flickered in the wind. Seeing this, the Miao man covered the damaged area with his hand. Lu Zhiyuan, with her sharp eyes, noticed the inscription on the lantern's surface.

"Has this Miao man attended a private school? Is he literate?"

Lu Yun shook his head: "Probably not. He is a native of Miao Village and makes a living by farming. Miao Village used to be very poor, but later it received a windfall and the whole village became rich. That windfall seems to be related to Miao Han, so when he got married, most of the villagers came to help."

The rabbit lantern reads: "Happy first birthday to my little girl Min'er."

This rabbit lantern wasn't made by a craftsman, but by Min'er's parents. The paper was cut crookedly, and the glue was uneven, with varying amounts of paste. The rabbit itself was poorly made, with one ear pointed and the other round, one large and the other small. The rabbit's eyes were painted by the woman; she first drew an ink circle and then filled it in little by little with paint.

The inscription for "Celebrating the First Birthday of My Daughter" was written by a man, indicating at least a decade of calligraphy practice. The inscription for "Min'er" was written by a woman, with a more delicate and graceful style.

Miao Han's wife threw herself into a well on their wedding night. He had no daughter, and the rabbit lantern was not his.

This rabbit lantern may be related to his unexpected wealth or to the curse of the Miao village.

Walking up to Miao Han, Lu Zhiyuan looked into his eyes, which were devoid of any spirit. His pupils were unfocused, as if his three souls and seven spirits had failed to unite. Taking his pulse, Lu Zhiyuan was told that he had gone mad.

Madness originates from the heart, and the root of the disease is difficult to eradicate, but the symptoms are easy to understand. After a few acupuncture needles, the eyes gradually become clear.

As she removed the needles, Lu Zhiyuan asked softly, "Miao Han, tell me, did you kill the owner of the rabbit lantern?"

Miao Han shuddered!