On the damp earth of Gutan Village, Li Si walked faster and faster. Why… September 2nd was like an unbreakable nightmare. If the first time returning to September 2nd made Li Si think it was just a nightmare, then what about now…

A second nightmare?

The remote Gutan Village, the mysterious letter in the painting, the phantom-like Shen Rou, the bizarre sudden death cases, the incredible reversal of time, and his own lost soul—Li Si had to re-examine this village in the misty rain. Its exterior was as beautiful as a painting, but inside it concealed earth-shattering waves. What kind of village was Gutan Village really?

Li Si nearly collided with someone—the chubby Fu Xiaosheng.

Fu Xiaosheng wiped away tears and said, “Uncle, I can’t find my father.”

“How could you not find your father?”

“Niu Sao and I searched all night… wuu wuu wuu, Niu Sao said that maybe my father was also killed by the bad person who killed Ding Laocai and Widow Sun. Wuu wuu wuu.” Fu Xiaosheng’s tears poured down, making Li Si’s heart ache.

Li Si pulled Fu Xiaosheng close: “Don’t cry. Maybe your father had business outside the village and didn’t have time to tell you. You’re already this grown up—you can’t keep crying like a little girl.”

“Uncle, will my father be alright?” Fu Xiaosheng cast him a helpless look. Li Si’s heart clenched as he said, “He’ll be fine.”

Fu Xiaosheng broke into a smile through his tears. He pointed to a house deep in a small alley and said, “My home is right there. Uncle, do you want to come in and sit?”

Li Si agreed.

Fu Xiaosheng’s home had very little furniture. He brought out a small plate of fruit Li Si couldn’t name. Li Si chewed one—it was sweet and refreshing.

Fu Xiaosheng propped his chin and looked at Li Si. Li Si asked, “Do you have something you want to say?”

Fu Xiaosheng nodded his head: “Uncle, everyone says you’re a God-Catcher who specializes in solving cases and catching bad people. I’m very curious—are there really that many bad people? Uncle, have you ever caught the wrong bad person?”

“Caught the wrong bad person, heh.” Li Si smiled, and suddenly a thunderbolt exploded in his dark, heavy brain… “Catching the wrong bad person”—could that be the key! Thinking carefully—both times the time reversal occurred immediately after he had identified the murderer of Ding and Sun.

Because he found the wrong murderer and judged the case incorrectly, he was pushed into the time reversal?

Fu Xiaosheng looked at Li Si, whose face had changed dramatically, and didn’t dare speak. Li Si’s mind turned a thousand times: That’s it. Although extremely absurd, within the absurdity there was a vague alignment. This was a terrifying trap. From the moment he received the letter in the painting, he had fallen into someone’s carefully arranged trap…

The letter in the painting, the sudden death case, the time loop, even Shen Rou—all were component links in this trap. He himself was like a chess piece thrown into a maze with Gutan Village as the board, every step unpredictable by gods or ghosts, from which he could not extricate himself.

And the key to escaping the trap was to solve the case! Only by seeing through the truth of the Ding and Sun case and finding the real murderer could he break through the trap. Conversely, each time he caught the wrong person and judged the case incorrectly, it would return him to the time loop, forever stuck on September 2nd. If he couldn’t solve the case, he would likely be trapped in Gutan Village forever.

Cold sweat poured from his temples. Since entering Gutan Village, his body had become worse and worse—perhaps this too was a punishment method. Li Si gradually understood this absurdly preposterous trap. It could truly be called a game of gods and ghosts.

Li Si still couldn’t understand how the trap’s master accomplished all this—making time loop, making old events repeat. It was too miraculous…

Li Si hurriedly left Fu Xiaosheng’s home and came to the village entrance. The dark red stone statue at the village entrance stared blankly ahead with empty eyes, its entire body shrouded in a strange and mysterious aura.

Li Si looked at the stone statue for a while, then walked outward. The only mountain path out was sealed off by rocks and mud.

Exactly as Little Sanzi had said—there was indeed no way out. Except for solving the case and finding the true culprit, there was no path of retreat.

Li Si returned to the village and was suddenly grabbed by someone—it was Physician Xing. Because time had returned to September 2nd, Physician Xing, who had previously diagnosed Li Si’s illness, was not yet acquainted with Li Si. Why would he seek out Li Si?

Li Si was pulled by Physician Xing into the medicine hall. After instructing the medicine boy to bolt the door, Physician Xing said to Li Si with earnest sincerity: “Lord God-Catcher, please forgive this old one’s rash impoliteness, but there is truly an urgent matter I must tell you.”

“Sir, please speak freely.”

“Yes, what I want to tell the Lord God-Catcher is that I know who killed Widow Sun.” Physician Xing stroked his goatee and said, “It should be correct—it’s her.”

“Who?”

“Niu Youqing’s wife, that Niu Sao who most loves to gossip all over the world.” Physician Xing revealed the answer. Li Si was stunned: “Niu Sao, how do you prove that Niu Sao killed Widow Sun?”

“I have evidence.” Two beams of light shot from Physician Xing’s turbid old eyes. “The evidence is Purple Rouge.”

“Purple Rouge, what is that?”

“It’s a poisonous grass that only grows on the most dangerous cliffs of Mount Wumo. It has purple flowers the size of a palm, and their fragrance is intoxicating. But in this world, the more beautiful something is, the more dangerous. Purple Rouge is beautiful and alluring but highly poisonous. Many hunters who entered Mount Wumo out of curiosity about Purple Rouge never returned home.” After introducing Purple Rouge, Physician Xing narrowed his eyes and said, “But just at the end of last year, one evening Niu Youqing suddenly came to me for treatment. At that time his entire face had turned purple, and he secretly told me he’d been poisoned—by Purple Rouge.”

“After being poisoned he still had time to return to the village?”

“Lord God-Catcher’s suspicion is the same as mine at the time, so I asked him. The frightened Niu Youqing explained everything in one breath. It turned out that medicine merchants were buying Purple Rouge pollen ground by him to make rouge that could captivate the hearts of noble ladies.” Physician Xing shook his head. “Niu Youqing accidentally cut his hand while grinding the pollen, so he hurried to find me to save his life. He was fortunate—my ancestors once studied the toxin of Purple Rouge and left behind an antidote formula. I followed the formula and saved his life.”

Li Si gradually understood: “Sir’s meaning is that the poison Widow Sun was affected by was also Purple Rouge?”

Physician Xing said, “Exactly. The body turned purple and swollen, the entire body rotted into black water, and emitted waves of fish-like stench. This is completely identical to the symptoms after Purple Rouge poisoning. So Widow Sun was poisoned to death by Purple Rouge.”

Physician Xing glanced at Li Si and continued: “And as far as I know, in all of Gutan Village only the Niu Youqing household possesses Purple Rouge. However, Niu Youqing and his son both went into Mount Wumo, so then…”

Li Si finished Physician Xing’s sentence: “Then the most suspicious person in poisoning Widow Sun would be Niu Sao.”

Physician Xing’s face, like orange peel, showed a trace of a smile: “Lord God-Catcher solves cases like a god, naturally understanding as clear as a bright mirror.”

After hearing Physician Xing’s clues, Li Si bid farewell and walked out of the medicine hall. Just as he reached the door, Physician Xing suddenly remembered something and called out to Li Si: “Ah, when you get old your brain doesn’t work well. I almost forgot there’s one more thing to say.”

“Please speak.”

“Behind her back, Niu Youqing’s wife called Widow Sun a vixen who seduced many men in the village, among them apparently including the two men in her own household.” After Physician Xing finished speaking, Li Si looked back at him. This elder in the medicine hall who saved lives looked exactly like an old fox.

Because she seduced the men in her own household, she took revenge and killed. A weighty enough murder motive, plus the physical evidence of Purple Rouge. Niu Sao… Li Si sighed inwardly.

Walking out of the medicine hall, Li Si headed toward Widow Sun’s house. Halfway there, someone suddenly appeared behind him.

“Lord Li, I have something I want to say to you.”

Li Si turned around. The person behind him was Tong Baiquan.