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墨書 Inktalez
Three hours earlier.
Xu Yiman and Yuan Jun listened to Jiang He's words, unable to fathom that the seemingly upright Luo Yu was such a ruthless person. If it weren't for Jiang He's keen observation and timely discovery, the three of them might have found themselves stepping into the pit below, becoming mere meat skewers.
Xu Yiman realized that Jiang He's voice was growing fainter as he led Luo Yu away from her and Yuan Jun. A warmth spread through her heart, but she also felt a pang of worry for Jiang's safety. In her mind, Jiang He had always been like a cold, emotionless robot. Xu Yiman understood that if he wanted to make the most advantageous choice for himself, he could easily abandon them and escape on his own.
Regardless of what Jiang He was truly thinking or whether he was still calculating, at the moment he made that choice, Xu Yiman understood that he considered them as part of a team.
After running for an unknown length of time, only the sound of their heavy breathing remained in the air. The two could run no longer and finally stopped.
"What should we do now?" Yuan Jun asked.
Xu Yiman wiped the sweat from her forehead and carefully surveyed their surroundings. "We need to figure out where we are."
Yuan Jun glanced around for a moment and said, "You don't need to worry about that; I can tell where we are. Damn it, everything happened so suddenly. I could have dealt with that Luo Yu."
Xu Yiman shook her head. "Jiang He must have anticipated this. The reason he didn't let you act might be because there are some of Luo Yu's accomplices nearby. If Luo Yu finds Old Shao and Wang Chao first, they won't know his true nature. We need to warn Old Shao."
"Let's go this way," Yuan Jun said.
The two quickly headed toward He Caiqie's house, but when they pushed open the door, they found Old Shao and Wang Chao were not inside; they had no idea where they had gone.
"I don't know what Jiang He is facing right now, but based on the timing, Luo Yu definitely hasn't returned to the village," Xu Yiman said as she looked at the empty room. "We have to take a gamble and head back to the village immediately. Wang Chao and Old Shao are likely there right now. But if Luo Yu has returned, we might not be able to escape."
Xu Yiman looked seriously at Yuan Jun.
Yuan Jun replied, "If you're not scared, why should I be?"
"Go!"
As Xu Yiman and Yuan Jun were preparing to return to look for Wang Chao and Old Shao, Wang Chao was currently in the village. The reason he was there was because of one person—none other than the missing Qiuju Niu. The villagers had all mobilized to search for Qiuju Niu, and after searching all night, she unexpectedly appeared at He Caiqie's doorstep.
It was shortly after Luo Yu had taken Jiang He, Xu Yiman, and Yuan Jun to investigate the ghostly sounds.
Old Shao and Wang Chao initially thought it was the High Taoist returning, so they rushed out to check, only to find it was Qiuju Niu.
Qiuju Niu looked very exhausted, trembling as if she might fall to the ground.
"What have you been doing?" Old Shao noticed something was off with Qiuju Niu. He spoke up, "We've been looking for you for a whole night! What on earth have you been doing? From the very beginning, you've been acting mysterious! What happened to you?"
Qiuju Niu gasped for breath, her plump body rising and falling.
She said, "When you all went to bury the dead, I was alone in the village. I heard a woman's singing voice, which I already told you about. But there’s one thing I lied about—I nearly walked through the entire village trying to find my grandson Zhang Wenhua. I secretly went from house to house to look."
"What did you see?" Old Shao asked.
Qiuju Niu seemed reluctant to recall her experience. After taking several deep breaths, she finally spoke: "When the villagers left, almost everyone locked their doors with iron chains, but some didn’t lock up at all. Later I figured it out—the ones who locked their doors were those with wives. They were afraid that while they were away, someone would come in and take advantage of their women, so they secured their doors tightly. The rest of the bachelors didn’t seem to care."
Old Shao nodded; he had already known this.
"What else?" Old Shao continued to inquire.
Qiuju Niu simply sat down on the ground to rest: "I saw the village chief's wife, Wang Daifeng, committing adultery with another villager."
"Adultery?" Old Shao was unaware of this.
Qiuju Niu nodded and said, "Almost everyone in that village has left, but at least one man stayed behind. When I came out of a house, I saw Wang Daifeng walking out of her home. She gently closed the door but didn’t lock it. She seemed mysterious, looking around cautiously. I quickly hid, and after she realized no one was watching, she started heading somewhere."
"I didn't know what she was up to, but my curiosity got the better of me, so I followed her. Before long, I saw her arrive at a villager's doorstep. The main door was ajar, just half-open. Watching Wang Daifeng go inside piqued my interest, so I followed to see what was happening."
"I quietly entered and saw Wang Daifeng embracing a man and kissing him. He looked to be around twenty-five, definitely younger and stronger than her husband. Before long, they began to undress. I didn’t stay to watch what happened next, but it was clear what would follow."
"When they were undressing, I left. Wang Daifeng didn’t close the door when she left, so I decided to check her house. The front door was open, and the inner door wasn’t closed either, so I walked in. At that moment, there wasn’t a soul in the house..."
Before Qiuju Niu could finish, Old Shao interrupted him: "You mean there was no one in the house?"
"Yes, no one at all! What’s strange about that?" Qiuju Niu retorted.
Old Shao glanced at Wang Chao and said, "Do you remember when we found the head of Xinyue? Li Sanhan brought it back to his house and tossed it into the yard. That was the first time we saw Wang Daifeng; afterward, she threw the head out."
This incident had occurred not long ago; how could Wang Chao forget a head flying out?
"I certainly remember that," Wang Chao replied.
"Then do you recall anything about Wang Daifeng?" Old Shao asked Wang Chao.
Wang Chao pondered for a moment before uncertainly saying, "I think I remember something. When she was alive, I wasn’t afraid of her; why would I be scared now that she's dead? Yes, that's it. It’s clear that Wang Daifeng must have had dealings with Xinyue; perhaps she even mistreated her."
Old Shao shook his head: "But later on, she said something!"
"Then she walked into the courtyard, but I can't remember what she said," Wang Chao scratched his head.
Old Shao slapped his forehead and said, "I remember now! At that time, she walked into the courtyard and was loudly scolding someone, right?"
Hearing Old Shao's words, Wang Chao recalled, "That's right! I remember now; it seemed like she was scolding someone in the house."
"Children!" Old Shao declared firmly. "She was scolding the children in the house; you could tell from her tone. But if Wang Daifeng has children at home, why didn't Qiuju Niu see them when she went in? Where did that child go?"
Qiuju Niu suddenly trembled and said, "Are you implying that there was another child in their house?"
Old Shao nodded.
Qiuju Niu clutched Old Shao's arm tightly, nearly pulling him to the ground. Her voice shook with evident fear as she said, "When I went inside, there was no one at home. But I found something in a transparent glass jar."
"What did you find?" Old Shao asked.
"It was a jar," Qiuju Niu's trembling intensified. "The jar contained white liquor, and inside it was something belonging to a boy!"
Upon hearing this, even the seasoned detective Old Shao was taken aback. "What do you mean? Are you saying you saw a boy's... private parts in the jar? Is that what you're saying?"
"Exactly!" Qiuju Niu suddenly stood up, exclaiming, "Yes! I saw something belonging to a child floating in a transparent jar. I remember there were many such jars, but I didn't look closely. Now that I think about it, there must be other things inside them too."
Wang Chao suppressed his urge to vomit; it was just too disgusting. He never imagined anyone could be so twisted as to use such things to infuse liquor. The purpose of infusing liquor was quite clear—it was meant for drinking—but who could possibly bring themselves to consume it?
"And then?" Old Shao continued to ask.
However, at that moment, Qiuju Niu seemed a bit deranged. She didn’t hear Old Shao’s question and was just muttering to herself, “I should have thought about Understand earlier. I should have figured it out long ago. The other jars must contain the same thing. Why didn’t I take a closer look? Why?”
“Wenhua! Wenhua!”
Suddenly, Qiuju Niu shouted her grandson's name and dashed down the mountain. Her speed was astonishing, rivaling that of any sprint champion. Wang Chao could hardly believe that the plump Qiuju Niu could run so fast.
“What happened to her all of a sudden?” Wang Chao asked.
Old Shao quickly realized, “If those jars contain the same thing, there must be many boys. Then the reason this village is buying boys becomes clear! This is bad; we need to catch up with Qiuju Niu quickly, or we’ll be exposed.”
But it seemed that Qiuju Niu had unleashed all her potential, running so fast that she soon vanished into the darkness.
“Quick, catch up with her!” Old Shao shouted. “I’ll notify the others. If we can’t catch her, come back and don’t expose ourselves.”
“Understood!”
Wang Chao replied.
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