Chapter 1 The Town Is in Trouble Again

"Village Chief! Village Chief!" Someone ran in, shouting as they came, "Something else has happened in town!"

Hearing this, the village chief's already strange gaze seemed to find its focus. He immediately looked at Pei Qian, the leader of the group in his eyes, and said anxiously, "Expert, where did that fat brother of yours... where did he go?"

Pei Qian swallowed the crumbs of mantou in his mouth and calmly replied, "I don't know. When we woke up this morning, he was gone."

Upon hearing Pei Qian's words, the normally taciturn strong man standing to the side couldn't help but change his expression, as if he had thought of something terrifying.

The village chief sighed and waved his hand at the villager who had brought the news. "What happened in town?"

Clearly, he already suspected what had happened in town. The purpose of his question was simply to have the messenger explain it to everyone.

"Another body has been found in town. The body was hung from a tree, its stomach torn open, and its heart, lungs, and intestines were all scattered on the ground..." The messenger's voice grew softer as he spoke, his eyes filled with suppressed fear.

"Go ask if anyone in the village is missing," the village chief instructed the dark-skinned man.

But before the dark-skinned man could leave, the messenger stopped him. "I already asked when I came," he swallowed and cautiously glanced at everyone before whispering, "No one is missing from the village."

In that case, the person who died so tragically was surely Ben Fu.

The village chief's face was grave, and he hesitated several times, wanting to say something but stopping himself.

After all, he was the one who had invited them, and someone had died less than a day after arriving in the village, and in such a gruesome way.

He really didn't know how to explain it.

The atmosphere fell into a stalemate for a moment.

Fortunately, the experienced and composed Pei Qian slowly opened his mouth, relieving his embarrassment. "Village Chief Liu," Pei Qian said, "you don't need to blame yourself. We considered the risks involved before we came. Besides, Ben Fu left on his own, so this has nothing to do with you."

Hearing this, the village chief's awkward expression eased slightly. "I'm really sorry. It was our negligence that caused the fat brother to suffer. Our... our village will definitely try to compensate."

Yu Man snorted coldly. "Easier said than done. How will you compensate?"

"Double!" The village chief resolutely raised his head. "We'll double the reward we agreed on before! The extra amount will be considered compensation for the fat brother's family!"

Chen Xiaomeng looked up and down at the old man, who appeared to be in his early sixties. The determination in his eyes was not to be underestimated, which showed how much Zhao Xiangmei had driven Xiaoshijian Village to this point.

While everyone's attention was drawn away, Jiang Cheng stuffed the remaining mantou into his clothes, making his chest bulge out even more impressively than Yu Man's.

The dark-skinned man stared at the mantou in his hand, his throat involuntarily bobbing up and down.

Jiang Cheng thought for a moment, then took out another mantou from his clothes and stuffed it into the man's sleeve. The man pursed his lips and nodded gratefully at Jiang Cheng.

Having done all this, Jiang Cheng turned around and slowly raised his right arm.

"I have a question," Jiang Cheng said when everyone was looking at him, "Why did Ben Fu disappear in the village, but his body appeared in town?"

"Does that mean all the missing people eventually have their bodies found in town?"

After a moment of silence, Zhou Rong unconsciously thought of the woman who had rushed into the inn, looking for someone with a portrait. According to the old man guarding the fence in town, the woman's husband had also disappeared in the village, but she had come to town to look for him.

"Alas!" The village chief sighed and nodded, saying, "You're right. The bodies of people who disappear in the village are eventually found around the town, that Anping Town," he added.

"But... why?" Li Lu held the mantou in both hands, her eyes full of confusion.

"To be honest, we don't know either," the village chief replied with a frown. "Perhaps... perhaps Zhao Xiangmei still can't swallow her anger and wants everyone to know what the people in the village did back then, and how they treated her."

At first glance, it seemed to make some sense, but it wasn't entirely convincing.

"When can we leave?" Zhou Rong asked, his eyes filled with scrutiny as he looked at the village chief. "We want to see the body."

When the village chief realized that he wanted to return to Anping Town, his expression became somewhat unnatural. "Don't worry, we've already sent someone to bring the body back. It should be here... later."

"With such a big case, will the police in town let you take the body away?" Jiang Zhongyi asked a pertinent question.

But the village chief seemed not to hear it, urging everyone to pack up and head to the deep pool in the back mountain that they had agreed on yesterday, where Zhao Xiangmei's stone tablet curse was located.

After being ignored, Jiang Zhongyi seemed a little confused. He took a few steps forward and was about to open his mouth to ask the question again when something suddenly stuffed his mouth.

Soft and rather large.

It was a mantou.

"It's good to eat more mantou," Jiang Cheng said casually as he retracted his hand. "Eating mantou nourishes the brain."

Jiang Zhongyi was stunned for a moment. He didn't dare offend Jiang Cheng. There were many people whose minds had been broken by the torment in the nightmare, but there weren't many who could survive with a broken mind.

Moreover, he had realized the problem.

The police in town were probably aware of the strange happenings in the village, but for some reason, they were turning a blind eye and letting Xiaoshijian Village deal with it themselves.

Such things were naturally inconvenient to discuss openly.

They hadn't brought much with them, so there wasn't much to pack. Under the village chief's lead, everyone lightly set off for the deep pool in the back mountain.

Following the bluestone path they had taken to enter the village yesterday, the group continued to walk deeper into the village.

It had been late when they entered the village yesterday, so they hadn't had the chance to observe the surroundings, which led them to believe that the courtyard they were staying in was located in a remote area.

But now it seemed that the courtyard they were staying in was located in the very center of the village. If the bluestone path in front of the courtyard was taken as the midline, it could divide the entire village in half.

However, the side of the courtyard where they were staying was completely deserted. Every house was closed, and some even had rotten door hinges, with half a door hanging crookedly on the frame.

A gust of wind blew through, making strange noises.

It wasn't hard to imagine that those who had left had either been killed by Zhao Xiangmei or had fled with their families, because staying here could mean losing their lives at any time.

As if sensing what everyone was thinking, the village chief, who was walking in front with his crutch, lowered his voice. "After that incident, the police arrested those men who had bought women and sentenced them, but... but I didn't expect," he paused, "that they would all disappear in prison."