I was startled when I saw the young lady crying. It seemed she was quite hard to please— a bit of a spoiled brat, but unable to handle any perceived slight. Just a simple question, and here she was, crying.
I quickly reached out to catch her tears though, because those tears were precious. And she was crying so much...
However, as soon as my hand touched her tears, I felt a jolt, as though I had been electrocuted. I looked up at her, wide-eyed and in disbelief. Her tears... they were warm!
Seeing the young lady crying, Huang Jiu, that scoundrel, immediately scolded me, "What kind of person are you? You made the young lady cry."
Before I could respond, he transformed into a suave gentleman, gently approaching and wiping away her tears from her face.
But just as quickly, he shivered and returned to his usual form, jumping onto my shoulder. He pointed at the young lady and asked, "Are you human or a ghost?"
I wanted to ask that too. But I was sure of one thing— she was a ghost. But how could a ghost's tears be warm?
Noticing that Huang Jiu and I were standing far from her, the young lady became even more upset, her shoulders trembling as she said, "I chased after her. I saw her meet with Mr. Tang, and soon after, an old man with white hair came. They all got into a car and left."
"They left?" I asked, surprised.
She nodded, her tears streaming even more. "I wanted to stop them, but the old man looked very powerful, and I was scared... Woo-hoo!"
Huang Jiu and I exchanged a glance, unsure what to say as her tears flowed like a river. I never imagined the young lady—who had come with such a high-and-mighty attitude—would break down like this.
It seemed like not only Lai Youwei had issues, but also this young lady. However, the information she brought back confirmed what Huang Jiu and I had suspected, saving us from the trouble of verifying it.
And with those people gone, I felt much more at ease. As for why the young lady's tears were warm, we both had no idea. We could only chalk it up to the unique feng shui of this place.
I finally managed to console her and dry her tears, and we headed back to the village. I dropped her off at the village's main team and then made my way to the village chief's house.
Along the way, Huang Jiu and I continued discussing her, and even Huang Jiu—who had seen many things—sighed and said, "The world is so big; there's no telling what strange things you'll find."
When I arrived, Li Erwa and the others were already waiting at the village chief's house. The village chief's wife was a sharp-tongued woman who looked tough, but she still treated us well, boiling eggs for us.
After eating a bit, she spread out some straw mats in the hall for us to rest. Li Erwa and the others were truly exhausted and immediately fell asleep, snoring loudly.
I circulated my internal energy to keep myself from feeling too tired, though I did feel a bit drowsy. However, I didn't dare sleep. I closed my eyes and drifted in and out of sleep until I heard the rooster crowing. That's when I finally fell into a deeper sleep.
But just as I was getting comfortable, someone shook me awake with urgency. I opened my eyes to see Li Erwa's anxious face.
I rubbed my eyes and sat up, asking, "What's going on?"
"Brother Li, Xu Chuang just told me that the three corpses they brought back to the village have gone missing!" Li Erwa anxiously grabbed me and pulled me out.
I was still groggy from sleep and pulled him back, saying, "Slow down and explain properly!"
Li Erwa blushed and, after a lot of fumbling, managed to get the point across— the three bodies of their companions, who had been killed by the ghostly spirits, were missing.
I asked, "Did they go missing on the road, or here in the village?"
"In the village... no, actually, it seems like they were on the road!" Li Erwa was a bit flustered, his thoughts a bit jumbled.
I sighed and asked, "Where's Xu Chuang?"
"He heard that you didn't sleep until dawn, so he told me to let you rest. He's outside by the fire, but I was afraid something bad had happened, so I came to wake you up!" Li Erwa scratched his head, looking proud as if he had done something significant.
I gave him a sidelong glance, thinking to myself, "Without comparison, there's no harm."
Turning back, I saw Huang Jiu still lying down, making an angry muttering sound. I said to Li Erwa, "I'll go out, you wake Huang Jiu up."
With that, I quickly ran out of the house. As soon as I stepped outside, I heard Huang Jiu cursing loudly, "You dumb idiot, you fool, you big fool!"
A shiver ran down my spine, and I smiled as I entered the side room.
By the fire pit, Xu Chuang stood up as soon as he saw me. I patted his shoulder and sat down next to him, signaling him to explain what happened.
Xu Chuang spoke clearly and quickly. "Last night, I brought the bodies of my three companions back to the village. Since they died unnaturally, their families didn't want the bodies to come inside. We temporarily placed them in an abandoned mill near the village. I had the young men from their families stand guard outside, but as dawn approached, we all fell asleep. When we woke up, the bodies were gone, and only a trail of footprints remained on the ground. It looked like the corpses had walked out of the mill by themselves."
I asked, "The bodies walked out by themselves?"
Xu Chuang nodded. "Yes."
I continued, "When I was in the mountains, your uncle said that those three didn't die by the hands of the drought demon, but rather a ghostly spirit. Is that true?"
Xu Chuang replied, "They were mesmerized, and they strangled themselves. We tried to pull them apart, but we couldn't. We had to watch them strangle themselves to death."
Xu Chuang's eyes reddened as he recalled the event. In the countryside, death was a common occurrence, but these three had been his close companions, making it much harder for him to bear.
With a lump in his throat, Xu Chuang said, "Master Li, we don't dare to trouble you with revenge, but we need your help with their remains."
It was clear that Xu Chuang, like many people in this business, understood the risks of their work—death could come at any time. When they caught Lai Youwei, Xu Chuang didn't immediately take action because he trusted that there was more to the story.
I looked down at the matchstick I was holding, an idea suddenly flashing in my mind. I stood up and said, "Gather everyone. We're going to the Hidden Dragon Cave."
Huang Jiu stormed in, looking furious, followed by Li Erwa, who had bloodstains on his face, looking as though he had been reprimanded.
Without needing to say anything, I ignored him and picked up Huang Jiu. With the group in tow, we headed straight for the mountains.
When we reached the graveyard of Zhao Laowai's wife, we saw three figures standing like wooden posts, their lower halves sunk into the muddy ground, stiffly upright.
Judging by Xu Chuang's expression, these were indeed his three companions' bodies.
Not far from them, hanging from a large cypress tree, was a person.
As the chilly morning wind blew, the body slowly turned, and when it faced us, I saw it was Zhao Laowai.