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墨書 Inktalez
A few people had just managed to calm their hearts, but now they felt a lump rise in their throats. They never expected that Officer Hao would collude with these villagers, which truly disheartened the three of them. At this moment, they could only place their hopes on Old Shao and Jiang He, but even they seemed unable to escape.
“Yuan Jun.” Wang Chao sat on the ground, struggling to stand up.
“Hmm?” Yuan Jun looked at Wang Chao.
Wang Chao picked up the machete from the ground and wiped the blood from his face. He then said, “Yuan Jun, you’ve only been in the task force for a short time. Do you regret it? If you hadn’t come, you might not have faced all this, and you certainly wouldn’t be in danger of dying.”
Yuan Jun shook his head. “I used to think that being a detective was just about catching thieves and such. Now it seems that being a detective is not so easy.”
“Exactly.” Wang Chao agreed wholeheartedly with Yuan Jun’s words. “I’ve worked my whole life just to have the chance to be part of Old Shao’s task force. To me, Old Shao is like a towering mountain. Don’t worry, with Old Shao around—and that strange Jiang He too—there’s no case we can’t solve.”
“Jiang He…” Xu Yiman couldn’t help but say, “I believe that too.”
Since Yuan Jun had just joined, he naturally didn’t know that Jiang He had already solved several cases for the task force. However, hearing what the two said, Yuan Jun nodded and replied, “I’m not sure, but it seems quite thrilling. There aren’t many chances to experience something this exciting in life; it’s worth it.”
“Well then, Yuan Jun, you should follow them more often to broaden your horizons!” Wang Chao said lightly.
“What do you mean?”
Before Yuan Jun could finish his sentence, Wang Chao suddenly hurled the machete directly at Luo Yu, who was standing at the doorway. Luo Yu didn’t expect Wang Chao to throw the machete like a flying knife without hesitation and immediately rolled sideways to dodge it.
The machete struck the iron gate and hadn’t even hit the ground when Wang Chao charged toward the surrounding villagers.
“Run!” Wang Chao shouted.
Yuan Jun reacted swiftly; he immediately understood Wang Chao's intention and ran toward the main gate. At that moment, there was no one at the entrance. Yuan Jun pulled open half of the iron door and grabbed Xu Yiman, rushing outside.
Xu Yiman glanced back and saw Wang Chao with his arms wide open, using his body to block the villagers who were trying to chase after them. However, Wang Chao was covered in wounds and had little strength left. The villagers' sticks rained down on him, and knives cut into his flesh.
Yet, Wang Chao still kept his arms outstretched, trying to block as many people as possible.
Yuan Jun understood why Wang Chao had said those words; he was sacrificing himself to cover their escape. But one person could not hold off so many for long. In an instant, Wang Chao fell to the ground, trampled by the villagers.
"Er Dan..."
Xu Yiman heard Wang Chao's last words, and they struck her deeply.
Seven or eight villagers had followed Yuan Jun and Xu Yiman out, and the two of them ran up the mountain.
"What’s going on? Just these few people?" Yuan Jun looked back, surprised that the crowd he had imagined was nowhere to be seen. Instead, it was still just those seven or eight individuals chasing them, which was completely unexpected.
Xu Yiman also turned to look. Indeed, they had run quite far already; logically, more villagers should have followed them out. Yet, only those few were in pursuit.
Neither of them could have imagined what was happening in the courtyard.
"Er Dan..."
That was Wang Chao's final utterance. As he finally collapsed from exhaustion, he saw someone walking out of the house. It was none other than Er Dan, who had been sound asleep. Er Dan was only wearing a pair of underpants, his hair a mess and his body covered in dirt.
All the villagers faced the direction of the main gate, preparing to chase after Xu Yiman and Yuan Jun. Only Wang Chao stood with his back to the door, and only he saw Er Dan emerge from the house.
Er Dan suddenly charged towards the entrance. As a man who weighed around one hundred eighty pounds, the force of his impact was unimaginable. He barreled into the crowd without a care, sending unprepared villagers tumbling in all directions, creating a path through them.
Next, Er Dan reached the half-open iron gate and wedged his hefty body into the gap. One hand clutched the wall tightly while the other gripped the other iron door, blocking the exit completely.
"Er Dan!" Li Sanhan shouted in frustration and anger. "Get the hell out of the way! This isn't a time for games."
"No!" Er Dan replied firmly.
"Move aside!" Li Sanhan approached and kicked Er Dan in the stomach. The impact made Er Dan's belly ripple like water.
"Ouch!" Tears immediately welled up in Er Dan's eyes.
"It hurts, but get out of the way!" Li Sanhan insisted. "Move!"
"No," Er Dan remained steadfast.
"You bastard!"
Li Sanhan continued to kick Er Dan's stomach, causing him to grimace in pain. It was clear that he was suffering greatly, yet he refused to budge.
Only seven or eight villagers had chased after them; the rest were trapped inside the courtyard.
"Damn it!" Luo Yu drew his knife. "If we let those two escape, our village is finished. Everyone will die! Er Dan, I'm giving you one last chance—move aside!"
Er Dan looked at the bloody knife in Luo Yu's hand, fear gripping his heart, but still, he would not yield.
"Get lost!" Luo Yu shouted as he prepared to strike.
Li Sanhan grabbed Luo Yu's hand. "He's just an idiot. When his mother died, she entrusted me to take care of him. I can't just abandon him!"
"To hell with that!" Luo Yu retorted. "I don't care if you take care of him or not. If those two escape, we're all dead!"
With that, Luo Yu kicked Li Sanhan away and swung his knife down onto Er Dan's chest.
Blood sprayed onto Luo Yu's face.
Yet Er Dan still refused to let go.
"You fool, you coward!" Luo Yu continued to stab at Er Dan's chest. The sight was gruesome, with blood gushing from the wounds and spilling from Er Dan's mouth and nose.
"Are you out of your mind?" Li Sanhan, now on the ground, yelled. "He's one of us! He's one of us! He's just a fool; do you even have a conscience?"
Er Dan could no longer hold on. He knelt on the ground, but his hands remained tightly gripping the sides, showing no sign of letting go. His intent was clear—he would use his life to block this final line of defense.
"What conscience?!" Luo Yu shouted back. "So many people have died recently! Everyone knows why they died—it's all a damn curse! Now you think we have a conscience? Fine, I’ll throw my conscience away! If we want to keep our conscience, we’ll all die together. Follow me out!"
With that, Luo Yu struck Er Dan's arm with his knife, severing it completely. Then he kicked Er Dan out through the door.
In an instant, all the villagers were stunned; they couldn't believe that Luo Yu would go so far as to harm Er Dan.
Er Dan lay motionless on the ground, but his severed hand still clung to the wall.
"I've done too many hurtful things!" Li Sanhan shouted. "But I won't do anything bad to Er Dan. You even want to kill Er Dan? I grew up on his mother's milk! If any of you have ever tasted Er Dan's mother's milk, come and fight me for this damned thing!"
"You all go after outsiders, yet you turn against me! Let's see who dares to come forward!" Luo Yu declared.
In an instant, chaos erupted around them. Some people crossed over Er Dan to chase Xu Yiman and Yuan Jun, while others followed Li Sanhan to denounce Luo Yu. The remaining hunters naturally stood by Luo Yu's side.
The village was in complete disarray.
Officer Hao never expected things would escalate to this point; the villagers had begun to turn on each other. He tried to sneak away but was spotted by several villagers.
"Don't come any closer!" Officer Hao shouted. "I can pretend this never happened if you let me go. Otherwise, my bullets won’t miss."
"How many people can one gun kill? If we kill him and he escapes down the mountain, we’re all dead!"
Another group began to confront Officer Hao. Gunshots rang out intermittently, but no one cared anymore; everyone was caught up in the frenzy. The villagers had long since stopped recognizing each other; they had gone completely mad, killing anyone in sight without fear of death, like vengeful spirits or demons.
The villagers were never united; there were conflicts between hunters and villagers, neighbors against neighbors, those with wives and those without. Everyone had grievances, everyone resented each other. They had endured in a repressive environment, but with the spark of conflict igniting, all their frustrations exploded.
In silence, some erupted while others perished.
Er Dan, with one arm severed, was crawling inch by inch toward the large iron gate. He told himself that he must hold this place.
Someone saw Er Dan dragging himself along and couldn't help but ask, "Er Dan, why are you doing this? You're really a damn fool."
Er Dan revealed his signature silly smile.
He forced his mouth open to speak, blood gushing from his lips. His entrails had been pierced by Luo Yu, and he had no chance of survival.
Er Dan mumbled to himself, but no one could clearly hear what he was saying.
He recalled the first time he saw Xu Yiman. Er Dan remembered his mother saying that women with large hips were good for bearing children. He also thought about how he could marry Xu Yiman if he had a million.
In Er Dan's heart, Xu Yiman was already his wife.
He remembered Xu Yiman's words to him.
He softly repeated them, though no one heard:
"Men are not meant to hurt women; men are meant to protect women."
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