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墨書 Inktalez
"Let's go." Old Shao led the group inside while introducing them to the villagers.
The man at the front casually tossed aside his beer bottle and said, "You can just call me Li Sanhan. I'm the village chief here, so if you need anything, just come to me. By the way, Er Dan, don't you have a few empty houses? I'll give you a hundred for them to stay in."
Er Dan was tall and strong, and upon hearing Li Sanhan's words, he broke into a wide grin, drool almost spilling from his mouth. Judging by Er Dan's demeanor, he might be a bit simple-minded.
"Hehe." Er Dan neither agreed nor refused; he just chuckled foolishly.
Li Sanhan continued, "But I'll keep that hundred for you. How about using it to marry a pretty wife later?"
Er Dan nodded enthusiastically, clapping his hands as he exclaimed, "Sure! I want one with a big butt! My mom told me when she was alive that women with big butts can bear sons. That woman over there has a big butt; I like her."
The person Er Dan referred to was naturally Xu Yiman, who was walking in the group.
At that moment, Xu Yiman felt like a national treasure; she was the only woman among the entire group. If one were to include Qiuju Niu, there would barely be two.
Er Dan's words made the surrounding men burst into laughter, teasing and egging him on.
Xu Yiman's face turned red instantly. She was acutely aware of the villagers' gazes focused primarily on her chest and rear. The lewd stares made her quite uncomfortable, but there was nothing she could do about it. Since she had already arrived in this place, she had to endure it all.
Wang Chao and Old Shao also noticed this.
Having experienced more than most, Wang Chao and Old Shao were the only ones among these men who had been in romantic relationships; Wang Chao was even married. Xu Yiman's beauty was certainly unmatched by any of the village wives. The village didn't raise people; those wives worked in the fields through wind and rain. Even if a young and beautiful wife were brought in, it wouldn't take long before she turned into a farm woman.
But Xu Yiman was in her prime—charming and alluring—her face and figure made everyone drool.
Yuan Jun was sizing up these men, evaluating their combat abilities. The strength of these farmers was considerable; each had well-defined biceps. However, relying solely on strength wouldn't be enough to match him as a Special Police officer. Yuan Jun estimated that once he created some distance, everyone in this village combined wouldn't stand a chance against him.
But the problem was that while he could use the terrain to evade and fight, the others were helpless.
Qiuju Niu was already sixty years old. Although he was quite robust compared to his peers, he was no match for these villagers. Xu Yiman, being a woman, naturally stood no chance against these rough men. The other two were of little help; one was stout and the other thin.
Yuan Jun finally understood why Shaoshilin had insisted on bringing him along. With just these people, they would surely be unable to protect their own safety.
Jiang He was also observing this group, but his focus differed from Yuan Jun's.
Jiang He scrutinized each person, primarily noting the tools they carried. Among them were sticks, kitchen knives, shoulder poles, and ropes.
After Qiuju Niu's shout shattered the night's tranquility, the villagers rushed out from the village in less than five minutes. During that time, they had armed themselves with tools and charged out. Jiang He had reason to believe there was a seventy percent chance these people were already prepared.
Analyzing the tools further, it seemed they were ready to take action.
But why would they need to act? A single woman's shout hardly warranted such a response from so many armed individuals.
The truth became clear: the most crucial item was the rope.
Jiang He believed there was a seventy percent chance that these people had come out to capture someone.
Along the way, Old Shao had been chatting with Li Sanhan, whose attitude had changed dramatically compared to before. Old Shao knew this was due to money matters.
However, once they arrived in the village, everyone noticed its peculiarities.
Standing at the village entrance, they could see the doors of every household and their courtyard walls. Most of these walls were not made of concrete but rather constructed from straw, mud, and wood. Yet on top of each courtyard wall were mirrors—most were bronze mirrors rather than glass ones.
Through the bronze mirrors, the faint moonlight reflected softly, illuminating the ground with a pale glow. As they walked forward, they noticed white cloth strips hanging from every door. The couplets on either side had been torn or fallen off, but the door gods at each entrance were still neatly pasted.
The entire village was shrouded in darkness, the streets devoid of light.
Jiang He suddenly stopped and pointed at something on the wall, asking, "What is that?"
"What?" Li Sanhan turned to inquire.
Jiang He approached the wall, which had been smeared with red paint in a haphazard manner, as if someone was trying to cover something up. Among the chaotic strokes, Jiang He noticed ten distinct scratches on the wall. Judging by their width, they were only a few millimeters apart, with an average spacing of about one centimeter.
However, the scratches on either side were spaced about five centimeters apart.
With keen eyes, Jiang He quickly realized these were marks made by human fingers dragging across the wall. The wall was constructed from mud and straw, allowing fingers to leave impressions on its surface.
Jiang He continued to examine the scratches, which extended over ten centimeters in length.
A scene flashed through Jiang He's mind.
There was a person whose hands were tightly gripping the wall. Despite this, they could not resist being pulled away by an external force. After leaving deep scratches of over ten centimeters on the wall—perhaps due to pain in their hands or being forcibly removed—they must have eventually let go.
However, the length and depth of these marks suggested that this person had bled significantly. Yet it was clear that the red substance was not blood; the foul smell indicated it was low-quality red paint. But why would someone spray red paint on the wall in such an irregular manner? It was evident that it wasn't for decoration.
Li Sanhan noticed Jiang He’s fixation and pulled him away, saying, "Kids play around; there's nothing worth studying here. Come on, I'll arrange some accommodations for you."
Jiang He wanted to ask more questions but recalled Old Shao's advice: no matter what happened, one should avoid alarming others and only investigate thoroughly before taking action.
Following Li Sanhan further along, Jiang He observed that many walls had also been sprayed with this red paint.
The members of the project team recognized what Jiang He had discovered and began to scrutinize the red substance on the walls. Under the moonlight, the red paint indeed resembled splattered blood on the walls, emitting a faint odor that gave off a distinctly gruesome impression.
After this incident, the attitudes of those around them seemed a bit off, and there was nothing more between Li Sanhan and Old Shao.
"Then let's all go our separate ways," Li Sanhan broke the silence. "I'll take this archaeological team to arrange accommodations. The rest of you should head home. Remember to keep it down; these people are from big cities, you understand what I mean?"
With that, everyone went their own way.
Only the members of Li Sanhan's project team remained.
"We're almost at Er Dan's house. Er Dan, make sure to prepare the beds when you get back, okay?" Li Sanhan said.
Er Dan nodded. "Got it, got it."
After walking a few steps, they suddenly heard a howl echoing through the mountains. The sound was quite loud in the night air, but upon closer listening, it seemed different from a wolf's howl; it sounded more like a dog's bark.
The group stopped and looked toward the source of the howl, which wasn't far away—just over the hill.
Jiang He and Yuan Jun suddenly recalled the head of Qiuju Niu, with its pair of shiny black eyes watching her. Could it be that a wolf was hiding in the cornfield? It wasn't impossible. However, wolves are generally pack animals and rarely venture out alone.
It wasn't strange to have wolves in these deep mountains; after all, with such vast forests, any animal could be present. If it weren't for the helicopter that had directly transported the project team members into the mountains, getting from the city to this village would have taken four or five hours on foot. Cars couldn't drive in here, and bicycles couldn't navigate some areas either.
Li Sanhan nodded and glanced into the distance. "Exactly. So you all better be cautious; it's best not to go out at night. When we heard that lady's voice earlier, we thought you might have encountered some wild beast. In our village, quite a few have been taken by wolves, so it's better to be careful."
"Many villagers have been eaten?" Old Shao asked in surprise.
Li Sanhan chuckled. "That's just how life is. Big White is fine during the day, but at night, it's a world for wolves and other things."
"Other things?" Old Shao asked again.
Li Sanhan sighed, "There are ghosts in this world, do you believe it?"
A few people were startled by his words.
"No," Li Sanhan glanced back, "I need to head back quickly. Er Dan is all alone at home, and there are quite a few rooms. Men and women can stay separately. If anything comes up, you can find me. You're archaeologists, right? If you need something, just let us know; a little compensation will do. You don't really care about this small amount of money, do you?"
With that, Li Sanhan looked at the backpacks behind the group.
Old Shao chuckled, "Alright, then we'll be counting on you."
Upon entering Er Dan's house, Er Dan assigned rooms to everyone. After a while, they were all quite tired.
After making the beds and watching Er Dan leave, Old Shao said to the others, "You all saw it; this village is quite strange. With such a large forest, wolves usually wouldn't come down unless they were starving. Also, the marks Jiang He saw on the wall are unclear."
"Those weren't wolves," Jiang He suddenly said.
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