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Mu Zuo woke up alert, hearing shouts at the village entrance, and quickly sprang from his bed, rushing toward the commotion.
Outside the guard post lay a corpse, blood pooling everywhere, but the head was nowhere to be found!
Mu Zuo was taken aback and instructed the arriving constables to protect the officials. He followed the trail of blood that led him outside Changping Village.
Inside Changping Village, a chilling wind swept through, reminiscent of a hellish underworld. The bloodstains flowed into a courtyard, and Mu Zuo unsheathed his saber, stealthily entering the yard and making his way into the house, lighting a fire stick to illuminate his surroundings.
As the flame flickered across the incense table, he suddenly caught sight of a pair of bloodshot eyes staring back at him. Mu Zuo was startled, his hair standing on end, and he instinctively took two steps back!
Having trained since youth and roamed the rivers and lakes with his saber without encountering any rivals, he had witnessed all manner of bloodshed. Yet today, he was drenched in cold sweat at the sight before him! On the incense table lay the head of Zhao Lao Si, blood gushing from the severed neck.
Next to the incense table stood a blood-soaked Paper Figurine, which shockingly had strands of hair sprouting from its head!
A chopping knife lay at the feet of the Paper Figurine, stained with blood... Mu Zuo pointed his saber directly at the Paper Figurine's throat, but it remained completely still!
At that moment, Xu Yan and a group of men arrived, lighting candles inside the house.
Upon seeing the scene before them, everyone gasped in horror. Xu Yan stepped forward and poked at the Paper Figurine. It swayed slightly as he picked up the chopping knife and compared it to the wound on Zhao Lao Si's neck. This knife was indeed the murder weapon used to kill Zhao Lao Si, with two characters engraved on it: "Li Shang."
Xu Yan then asked, "Who is this Li Shang?"
A bold villager from Xiawa stepped forward to identify Li Shang, stating that he was a resident of Changping Village and that this house belonged to him.
In his early years, Li Shang had some grievances with Zhao Lao Si, and the two had once fought publicly while searching for minerals in the mountains. This incident even drew the attention of the county office, and it was only through the mediation of master Chen that the matter was settled.
Xu Yan then asked Chen Maoliang, who finally recounted an old story.
The year before last, villagers from Changping and Xiawa went into the mountains to search for minerals. The Changping villagers had not found anything for three consecutive months, and as the season was coming to an end, they had no choice but to disperse in their search.
The village head had previously stated that anyone who discovered a mineral source should not claim it for themselves but must inform the villagers so they could mine together.
In the end, Li Shang found a huge vein in a deep valley. If he chose not to inform anyone about it, he would never have to suffer through searching for minerals again in his lifetime.
However, Li Shang was an honest man. After discovering the vein, he was overjoyed and immediately marked it before returning to gather the Changping villagers.
To his surprise, when they returned to the site, they found Zhao Lao Si and the Xiawa villagers already mining there.
Li Shang confronted Zhao Lao Si, insisting that he had marked the spot and that the mineral vein belonged to Changping Village.
The two argued heatedly, leading to a physical altercation as both sides of villagers came to their aid, resulting in injuries to over a dozen people.
In a fit of anger, Li Shang took Zhao Lao Si and the Xiawa villagers to court. Chen Maoliang, being a benevolent official who cared for his people, could not bear to punish either side. He ordered on the spot that the mineral vein be divided: the northern part would belong to Changping Village and the southern part to Xiawa Village.
As for the brawl, Chen Maoliang decided not to pursue further investigation and even took out his own money to help treat the injured from both sides.
Xu Yan stood before the Paper Figurine, furrowing his brows in contemplation. He casually plucked a hair from the top of the Paper Figurine's head, confirming it was indeed human. Could such sorcery truly exist in this world?
At that moment, a shout echoed from outside. A figure stumbled in, rolling and scrambling in panic, falling to the ground as he cried out, "The village chief has been killed by the Paper Figurine!"
The crowd gasped in shock. Liu Fengling quickly ordered his soldiers to split into two teams: one to remain at the scene and set fire to the Paper Figurine if it moved, while the other team, led by Mu Zuo, rushed towards Xiawa Village.
At the entrance of Xiawa Village, another headless corpse lay sprawled on the ground. A disheveled Paper Figurine stood before the body, facing away from the crowd, holding Zhao Dehui's severed head in its hand.
Mu Zuo instructed his troops not to act recklessly and picked up a stone to throw at the Paper Figurine.
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