Soon, the third drum beat sounded. Accompanying it was the singing. The mist rolled on the lake. A red figure appeared above the lake like he was standing in the mist. The figure was graceful and lithe. He had a phoenix crown and a red shawl on him. The big red lanterns swayed beside him. They turned the lake red.
The singing was intermittent. The singer was acting strangely. Young Master Huang… was a ghost.
Qin Jian’s legs trembled. He was one of the bearers of the first team. As he shook, the sedan shook with him. Tang Shirou, who was in the sedan, gripped her hands together. Her face was pale like a ghost.
Thankfully, the curtains of the sedan had been put down. She could only hear the voice and not see anything. No one dared to make any sound. After the third drum beat, Qin Jian, An Xuan, Chen Qiang and You Qi worked together to pick up the sedan chair and moved towards the designated location. It was an old wooden stage. It was built by the lake. It looked abandoned. Water weeds and aloe vera grew around it. They studied it from a distance in the morning and found nothing.
At night, the platform was also swallowed by the mist. It looked like it was hiding something. The bearers stepped on the wooden platform. The wooden planks had been severely corroded. They creaked noisily. It felt like they could fall through the platform into the water at any moment. The group took a deep breath. Following the rehearsal, they carried the sedan chair and slowly moved around the platform twice. Based on An Xuan’s understanding, the meaning of this part was to symbolise sending the bride from her maiden home to the groom’s home.
After they were done, there was the fourth drum beat. An Xuan’s group turned back to look. Based on the script, soon, the second group would arrive. After they swapped positions, the first group could return.
This was the thing that worried An Xuan the most… The second group did not show up. An accident could have happened. Time ticked by. It had been a while since the fourth drum beat but the road ahead was still covered by the mist. The second group didn’t show up. Did something… really happen?
Just as An Xuan pondered how to handle this, a red sedan chair pushed through the mist. It shuffled to the platform. An Xuan felt the sedan chair on his shoulders tremble. It looked like the others were also worried that the second group wouldn’t come. When they saw the second group, they were relieved. They immediately moved towards the sedan chair. The two similar sedan chairs started to share the scene.
The scene and poses were very simple. After all, none of them was a real actor. Jiang Cheng’s sedan chair and An Xuan’s sedan chair moved around the platform twice. The singing echoed in their ears. The direction of the singing kept moving around. Due to the mist and the heads, they could only see a small distance before them. They had no idea what was happening on the lake. Everyone’s focus was on completing the play. They prayed that nothing else would happen.
The position was silent and strange. Qin Jian felt very uncomfortable as if his clothes were filled with maggots. They were waiting. Everyone was waiting. Both groups stood beside the sedan chairs. No one dared to make any sound. Not even breathing could be heard from inside the sedans. They were waiting for the sixth drum beat. After that, they could split up and return to the abandoned yard.
This place that was surrounded by the lake was discomfitting. It felt like the water was filled with souls. They suspected that if they went close to the lake and looked down, they’d see their bloated faces in the water.
When the song reached its climax, they finally heard the sixth beat. The sedan chair shook. An Xuan understood that everyone released a sigh.
The other group did the same. Zuo Qing’s group reacted even faster. They immediately picked up the sedan chair and moved down the other direction. As the second group, they needed to move another round around the wooden platform.
An Xuan’s group picked up the sedan chair and followed the same route back. They moved back faster than they came. The singing from the lake quieted down. If one removed Qin Jian’s paper head, one would realise he looked more relaxed than before. He thought… things would go awry that night.
He glanced at An Xuan, who was beside him. Qin Jian narrowed his eyes. An Xuan’s suggestion saved his life. Even though it was too early to tell, he could sense clearly that after the singing faded, the strange atmosphere around the lake also receded. They should be safe that night.
As for tomorrow, it would depend on whether someone would make a worse mistake. Plus, he understood Mr. An’s intention. They still had a scapegoat in Tang Shirou. Even though he had just met Mr. An, the elder had to admit that An Xuan was more cunning than he was. Qin Jian glanced at An Xuan again. He believed… An Xuan had the clues.
You Qi ran until he was covered in sweat. He stared at the yard before him. Once he entered the yard and waited for the other group to come back, this mission would be…
A sharp sound of friction interrupted his thought. The next second, the yard door opened. A similar red sedan chair moved out of the yard and raced towards them.