Chapter 29: Point-Blank Scare (Part 2)

Just then, Captain Sun called in a low voice, “Found it. There really are victims!”

Chen Yi stopped moving and turned his head to look.

He saw, inside the large pit Captain Sun had dug, a section of hand bone soaking in a pile of muddy yellow sludge. It had already rotted away, leaving only stark white bone behind.

Chen Yi thought of those wandering souls floating quietly in the darkness, one after another. Even the direct sunlight could not warm his body.

The devil was among men.

…

When the village women heard the noise and came looking, it was already too late.

Chen Yi had cut down every tree in this burial site. Exposed under the sunlight were the skeletal remains of seven women. Some were long dead, buried even deeper, along with shattered bones. No one knew how many there were in total. Later cleanup would still be needed.

The two captains dug while cursing. It was precisely this cruelty of human nature that caused so many aberrations to revive in this era.

Thinking back on every aberration they had encountered before, most of them had once been innocent people, yet what they received in return was a terrible death.

Although Chen Yi insisted that the dead were only the breeding ground for the birth of aberrations, and the ones who truly created aberrations were the bottomless desires of the living.

But if everyone could live peacefully together, how could so many things that demanded human lives come into being?

The photos of the buried corpses had already been sent out by phone. There was no need to imagine how great a reaction they would cause.

In short, when a group of village women caused trouble and tried to destroy the scene, Pang Xiaolei descended from the sky with his people. Every last one of them was taken away.

As suspects, they left in handcuffs this time. Their heads drooped, spirits broken and at a total loss.

When the village chief’s mother was leaving, she still tried to explain, “It was all me. His father and I were the ones who did evil. My son didn’t know anything. He’s educated. Calling the police this time was his idea too. He’s innocent. Just arrest us. He was still little back then. He really didn’t know anything!”

Chen Yi no longer involved himself in the interrogation of the living. He looked at the sun already leaning westward, his expression grave.

Pang Xiaolei handcuffed the last person and had them leave first, then came to Chen Yi. “We’ll have to trouble you tonight.”

Chen Yi shook his head.

Pang Xiaolei glanced at Chen Yi’s heavy expression and also gave a deep sigh before leaving.

The killing aberration had not yet been eliminated. No one could be left on the mountain. There could not be more deaths.

But the burial scene needed to be protected to prevent it from being damaged, so someone had to stay behind on the mountain and keep watch.

That person could only be Chen Yi.

Only he had the ability to crush aberrations head-on.

The thing was... Chen Yi was also a little scared.

With that many corpses, who would not be scared?

But there were only a limited number of people who could stay with him. Right now, he was feeling uneasy. How could he have any other expression?

Pang Xiaolei took the guard team members, escorted the group of suspects, and went down the mountain in the sunset.

A mountain wind blew over. A faint chill licked at the exposed skin. Chen Yi glanced at Captain Sun and clearly saw the breath Captain Sun exhaled in a sigh.

Then Captain Sun gave an awkward smile. “We have to guard against both people and aberrations. Sect Master, what’s the plan?”

What plan could Chen Yi have? He asked in return, “How would Captain Sun handle it?”

Captain Sun thought for a moment and said, “Ordinary people wouldn’t dare approach a dangerous place like this, especially when aberrations are causing trouble here too. If someone really dares to come in the middle of the night, they’re either ruthless or courting death.

“I actually don’t think we need to keep staring at this burial site the whole time. After all, the man-eating aberration hasn’t been eliminated yet, and human life is above all. There’s no need to focus too much on this place. When Little Pang left, he took plenty of evidence with him. It’s enough for those criminals to spend the rest of their lives repenting in prison.

“So the key is still that blood-sucking thousand-year zombie. We’re counting on you, Sect Master. As for me, I’ll just rely on this to barely protect myself.”

Captain Sun patted the Standard Weapon: Sword in his hand and smiled.

After the two returned to the village, the setting sun slanted behind the mountain and was sinking little by little.

Only the two of them were left in the small mountain village. The rest were some domestic livestock and three loafing village dogs that roamed the lanes, occasionally flashing past in an alley.

Chen Yi and Captain Sun moved into the village chief’s house.

From this position, they could see the forested burial site on the back mountain, and it could also temporarily shield them from the cold night wind. They only stayed in the living room. Other than turning on one lamp inside the house, they did not touch anything else in the place.

Even the water was bottled water that Pang Xiaolei had brought up the mountain, along with one self-heating spicy hotpot for each person.

It was not merely a matter of discipline for public officials. The main reason was disgust.

The people in this village had rotted through.

Were the bones buried in the dirt horrifying? Soaked in water, buried deep underground, gnawed by insects and rats.

But in Chen Yi’s heart, they were far less horrifying than these people who were still alive, yet had already rotted from the inside out.

Boiling water heated the fragrant, spicy hotpot, and the rich smell of beef tallow drifted through the room.

Captain Sun’s eyes were full of craving. “I haven’t eaten hotpot in ages. The food in the sect is all bland soup and plain water. Going out on missions is better after all. There’s hotpot to eat! What’s wrong? No appetite?”

Captain Sun tore open his chopsticks, opened the lid, and laughed with a hint of superiority. “You can overcome all that rotten meat covering the ground from aberration contamination. Dead people can’t come back to life anyway. The forensic doctors I know are the kind of ruthless people who can eat braised pork beside the autopsy table. Even if we can’t reach their level, we still have to eat when it’s time to eat.”

Chen Yi did not explain. Following his words, he nodded, picked up his chopsticks, and began eating the food in front of him.

Captain Sun felt like chatting and continued, “Actually, this matter is pretty easy to understand. The people who refused to compromise all died. The ones who lived could only become accomplice ghosts, aiding the tiger in its crimes. It was both a compromise with a fate they couldn’t resist, and a defeat at the hands of time.

“Back then, technology wasn’t this advanced yet. A lot of illegal and criminal acts were hidden away. In these mountains, where cries to heaven and earth would get no response, people had to make a choice.

“And once a woman had a child, she had something to worry about. Slowly, her position changed, and she helped hide things.”

Captain Sun looked deeply at Chen Yi. “Sect Master was able to hand the entire sect over to the country, so there must be great justice and great breadth in your heart. It’s normal for you to feel upset.

“I’m not making excuses for those women. I just hope you can think it through. After all, twenty years ago, how old were you? This wasn’t any one person’s responsibility. It was the responsibility of the era.

“We were able to let those who died unjustly see the light of day again. That is already a great merit.

“Believe me, this kind of thing is already very hard to happen now. Legal education has always been ongoing, and high-tech devices are everywhere. At least from my own experience, ordinary people’s lives now are safer than before...”

Before he could finish speaking.

“Woof, woof, woof!”

A burst of frantic dog barking rang out in the silent village.

Chen Yi and Captain Sun both stopped their chopsticks at the same time and looked at each other warily.

Ever since the title “Fifth Senior Brother” spread through the sect, no one dared look down on a dog’s barking warning anymore.

In this kind of environment, when dogs started barking, one could not help but think too much.

“It’s here?”

Captain Sun asked a little nervously. This was the first time he had truly encountered an aberration after entering cultivation.

Chen Yi shook his head.

“The stench of an aberration is very obvious. You’ll be able to distinguish it the moment it comes. Maybe the village dogs ran into a cat, or a snake entered the village.”

Captain Sun pressed a hand to his chest and nodded. “Oh, all right. Don’t mind me. The first time is always like this.”

Chen Yi smiled, lowered his head, and continued eating.

The dogs kept barking.

The taste was pretty good, and his appetite was all right. The main reason was that he had not eaten enough at noon. He was so hungry that he could no longer care whether it was spicy or not.

After Chen Yi finished the last bite of rice, he wiped his mouth and was twisting open a bottle of mineral water to rinse his numb, spicy mouth when he heard knocking.

Knock, knock, knock.

The mountain wind whistled past his ears, as if someone were crying bleakly.

The piles of white bones buried in the soil gazed toward the direction of home, shedding tears of blood.

Tree shadows swayed. The moonlight was cold.

In the vast red clouds overhead, the bloody moon-platform disk brewing within them was still continuously dissipating, but with night’s arrival, it was also growing clearer.

Knock, knock, knock!

Three more knocks sounded.

Then came a timid voice. “Is... is anyone there?”

It was a living person.

The absence of stench was the best explanation.

Chen Yi did not forget to glance with Aura Observation. Outside the door was dense, fiery, flourishing energy. Not only was it a living person, it was also a man in the prime of his life.

Seeing Chen Yi say nothing, Captain Sun thought for a moment, frowned, and opened the door.

Outside stood three young men.

Young, only about twenty.

Fair-skinned, not people from the mountains.

Their age, their skin condition, along with the clothes they wore and their expensive shoes, made it obvious they were from the city.

Then Chen Yi and Captain Sun’s gazes landed on the one walking at the back. He was holding up his phone and saying, “Guys, the door opened. Thanks for worrying. No need to sleep in the wind, no need to go down the mountain overnight either. Someone said this place is safe. The haunted stuff is all just legend, haha!”

Chen Yi: “...”

Captain Sun: “...”

What had they just said earlier? In the current era, with stronger legal awareness and high-tech assistance, ordinary people were living much more safely than decades ago.

However, that did not include people who courted death on their own.

Captain Sun’s face darkened.

“In the middle of the night, what are you running here for?”

The light inside was insufficient. Captain Sun was broad-shouldered and sturdy. In front of Chen Yi, he was honest and simple, even a little silly. But when his barely visible face hardened, the murderous aura of someone who had seen blood pressed down like mountains and seas.

He had led a team against aberrations, advancing toward death to seize life. His aura was cold and harsh. The three young men, who had barely grown any hair yet, immediately changed expressions.

Even the young man who had been livestreaming with his phone shut his mouth tight and looked nervously at Captain Sun, breathing lightly.

“I’m asking you. Where are you running around in the middle of the night? Is your life that worthless!?”

Captain Sun hated that they failed to live up to expectations. So many people had died in these mountains, and aberrations were causing trouble here too. Yet how could young people insist on jumping along the line of death? How were the team members who had sacrificed themselves to protect so few people supposed to feel?

“Talk!!”

At his roar, all three people trembled. The one in front said in a voice as thin as a mosquito’s hum, “S-sorry for disturbing you. We’ll go down the mountain right now...”

The three had been shouted at the moment they met. How could they still have any thought of asking to stay the night? They immediately wanted to leave.

“Keep them here.”

At this moment, another male voice came from inside the house. “It’s dark. Going down the mountain isn’t safe.”

The voice was clear and clean, with standard pronunciation and no real accent. It did not sound like the tone a villager from these mountains should have. As the three young men breathed a sigh of relief, they also grew excited.

The young man walking in the back even raised his phone, brought it closer to his face, and made faces at the camera with an expression that said he had succeeded.

Sure enough, the person speaking inside the house had more weight.

The man at the door did not hesitate much before making way at the entrance. The dim yellow light inside shone on his fierce, ruthless face.

The livestreaming young man found an angle to capture that face on camera, causing the viewers in the livestream room to scream.

[A murderer’s face!]

[Mountain village, nighttime, the only lit house, and two men, ahhh! So scary!]

[Dabao, no way, let’s just leave. You need to be alive to make money!]

[Although I know it’s scripted, it’s pretty exciting. Your grandpa rewards you.]

[Qingfeng Yulu gifted the streamer one rocket.]

[Little Qing gifted the streamer one rose.]

[When the forest grows big, I have birds gifted the streamer one rocket.]

The young man livestreaming in the back had the online name Dabao. Although he entered the house looking droopy-eyed and crestfallen, the moment his face appeared on camera, he lit up with joy and secretly flashed a V sign.

After quickly finishing his interaction with the viewers in the livestream room, Dabao finally had time to raise his head and observe the environment.

The more he looked, the more alarmed he became.

A faint feeling of regret emerged in him.

Then he saw the young man sitting on the sofa in the dim room.

He could only see him indistinctly, but felt that his aura was special, making people unable to resist taking a few extra looks. Especially those eyes. Even though he could not clearly see that face, he could still see that those eyes were very dark and very bright.

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