“Village head!” Someone ran in from outside, shouting, “Something happened in town again!”
The village head’s wandering eyes focused. He turned to Bei Qian, who he assumed to be the travellers’ leader. “Experts,” He asked in panic, “Where is the fat friend among you?”
Bei Qian slowly swallowed the bun and answered calmly, “We don’t know. He was gone when we woke up this morning.” The tanned man, who previously had a dull expression, had his face pale with fear like he just remembered something scary.
The village head sighed. He waved at the village who just arrived, “What happened in town?” Clearly, he already knew what had happened. He just wanted to the villager to relay the incident to the travellers.
“A corpse appeared in town again. The body was strung up on the tree. The stomach has been torn open. Internal organs like intestines and heart pour out…” The man’s voice dwindled as fear dominated his eyes.
“Go and figure out if anyone has gone missing in the village,” The village head told the tanned man. Before the man could leave, the other village stopped him. “I’ve done that before coming here.” He looked at the travellers carefully. “No one from the village is missing.” Therefore, the victim was most likely Ben Fu.
The village head’s expression was severe. He hesitated. After all, he was the one who invited the masters over. They had been in the village for less than a day, and one of them had already gotten a horrible death. He didn’t know what to say. The atmosphere froze with awkwardness.
Thankfully, Bei Qian slowly began, “Village Head Liu, you don’t need to blame yourself. We’ve considered the risks before coming here. Plus, Ben Fu left on his own without informing anyone. This is not your fault.”
The village head looked better. “I’m so sorry. It’s our carelessness that causes this to happen to your friend. We… we’ll try to make it up to you?”
“Double!” The village head raised his head with determination, “We’ll double the payment I’ve promised you! The additional money will be considered compensation for the fat friend’s family!”
Chen Xiaomeng studied the old man over 60. The determination in his eyes was palpable. Zhao Xiangmei had truly driven Little Ravine Village up the wall. While everyone was distracted, Jiang Cheng shoved the remaining buns into his clothes. It made his chest look ever larger than Yu Man’s.
The tanned man looked at the bun in his hand, and his throat wobbled. Jiang Cheng thought about it and took a bun out of his clothes. He slipped it to the tanned man. The man pressed his lips and nodded honestly and thankfully at Jiang Cheng. After doing that, Jiang Cheng turned around and slowly raised his right arm.
“I have a question.” When everyone’s eyes were on him, Jiang Cheng asked, “How did Ben Fu’s corpse end up in town when he disappeared from this village?
“Did that happen with all the previous cases?”
Zhou Rong was reminded of the woman who ran into the inn, holding the portrait. Based on the elder by the fence, the woman’s husband also disappeared from this village. However, she went to the town to search for him.
The village head sighed and nodded. “You’re right. The corpses of the people who disappeared from this village would always end up around An Ping Town.”
“But… why?” Lee Lu held two buns. The confusion was plain in her eyes.
“To be honest, we have no idea.” The village head frowned. “Perhaps… Zhao Xiangman wanted everyone in town to know what the villagers did and how they treated her so many years ago?”
However, that was not a strong enough reason.
“When can we make a move?” It was Zhou Rong who spoke. He looked at the village head with judgement. “We want to examine the body.”
When the village head understood that he meant they were planning to head back to An Ping Town, he looked rather discomfited. “Don’t worry about that. We’ve sent people to retrieve the body. I believe… they’ll be back later.”
“Will the town police let you claim the body? This is a murder case.” Jiang Zhongyi’s question was quite sensible.
However, the village head didn’t seem to hear him. He ordered everyone to pack up and told everyone to be ready to head to the back mountain pool. They were going to check the cursed message left behind by Zhao Xiangmei.
Jiang Zhongyi, who was ignored, was confused. He took a few strides forward. When he planned to repeat his question, something was stuffed into his mouth. It was large and soft. It was a steamed bum.
“Eat more buns.” Jiang Cheng pulled back his hand. “It’s good for brain development.”
Jiang Zhongyi was startled. He didn’t dare to offend someone like Jiang Cheng. There were many who lost their minds in the nightmare realm. However, not many survived despite having lost their minds.
Plus, he had the answer already. Perhaps the town police already knew of the village. They decided to let Little Ravine Village handle this mess themselves. Naturally, this couldn’t be revealed to the public.
Since the travellers didn’t have anything, they didn’t need to pack. With the village head leading the way, they moved towards the back mountain. They followed the pebbled road and headed deeper into the village.
When they reached the village yesterday, it was already dark. Therefore, they didn’t have the chance to observe their surroundings. This made them have the misconception that the courtyard they stayed at was in a secluded place. However, they realised that the courtyard was actually right in the middle of the village. The green-pebbled road that paved the way out of the yard perfectly split the village into two sides.
However, the side that was closer to the two houses they spent the night was mostly abandoned. There were empty houses with broken doors. Some had rotten fences and fields. The wind blew, and there was a strange creaking sound.
The original villagers that lived there were probably killed by Zhao Xiangmei, or they had moved. After all, the risk of staying was death.
As if reading their thought, the village head, who walked in front with a cane, whispered, “After that incident, the police arrested all the men who purchased the kidnapped women. They were judged and sentenced, but…” He paused. “They all disappeared while in prison.”