Chapter 84
Chapter 84
Amid Wang Qiang’s terrified scream, Wu Xiaojiu turned his head stiffly.
The patch of dirt was completely empty. The ground, damp with predawn dew, did not even have a single footprint on it.
The air was deathly still. There was not so much as a whisper of wind.
“Don’t scare him. I’m a good ghost. I don’t scare my benefactors.”
At the bend in the dirt path, a pale hand suddenly gripped the roof tiles on top of the wall. A woman’s voice drifted over, slow and eerie.
Wu Xiaojiu felt an icy chill run from the soles of his feet all the way to the top of his head.
“Quit playing tricks. If you’re really not human, show your face and let me see.”
Bo Suihan’s voice came from behind him.
Wang Qiang kept tugging at him.
“Are you crazy?”
“It’s fine. Ghosts are afraid of light. We have something that can keep her in check.”
Bo Suihan showed no fear at all. Wang Qiang, speechless, flicked his wrist and revealed the silver watch on his arm.
“Yeah, brilliant idea. Let me check the time. Three in the morning!”
The moment he said that, the female ghost on the other side of the wall said, “Really?” In an instant, a gale whipped up through the mountains with a low, mournful howl.
A cloud of white smoke drifted over.
“I’m afraid you’ll be scared, so keep your heads down when you look at me.” The woman’s voice was still floating and eerie. The others obediently did as she said, especially Wu Xiaojiu, who was the most frightened of them all.
He lowered his head at once.
A pair of red high heels stopped in front of him.
“Who are you?” Bo Suihan did not waste any words. As soon as the female ghost came to a stop, he asked.
“I’m the Village Chief’s daughter, Wang Miaomiao. Didn’t you come here looking for me?” the woman answered right away.
“Actually, you’ve already found me. I’m what’s in that bag.”
The scene fell a little quiet. Trembling, Wang Qiang asked, “Why won’t you let us look up at you? Do ghosts and people really have two different appearances?”
“Mm~” The female ghost swayed, and from the tone of that syllable, it was clearly a denial. “It’s because I don’t have a head!”
The scene grew even quieter.
Wu Xiaojiu lowered his head even further, nearly bending himself in half.
He was truly terrified, especially after hearing the female ghost say she had no head. If his two companions had not been behind him, he might have fainted on the spot.
“Since you’re the victim, can you tell us how you were killed? And what does the Village Chief have to do with this?”
Bo Suihan’s voice did not tremble at all. Anyone could tell he was not afraid.
The female ghost seemed to find that novel too. Wu Xiaojiu saw her feet shift, revealing a dividing line between her calf and heel.
That was probably where the body had been dismembered.
The female ghost’s voice sounded again from above. “Dog urine softened that patch of ground. The tractor also had its tires changed that day. My body was actually transported away once midway. My stepmother used to work in bio-programming.”
After saying that long stretch of words, the female ghost suddenly let out a shrill scream.
“That person is here. He’s killed too many people. There are a lot of wandering ghosts here, so whatever you do, don’t walk alone at night!”
As soon as she finished, another black wind rose around them.
When Wu Xiaojiu opened his eyes again, the red high heels in front of him were gone.
The burly man’s voice came from behind them. “What are you three doing here?” Footsteps drew closer and closer. Once the burly man saw clearly who two of the three were, the unease around him faded.
But when he saw the open black bag, he tightened his grip on the sickle in his hand again.
“You opened the bag?”
Wu Xiaojiu spun around and hurriedly waved his hands.
“We came out for a stroll, smelled meat, and thought we’d feed the dogs. We’d only just opened the bag when you showed up.”
The burly man was still suspicious. He had only taken a few steps forward when Bo Suihan reacted and stepped in front to block him.
“The meat already smells like that, so there’s no way it’s safe to eat. This mountain path is pitch-black, and I’m getting a little scared and cold. Let’s go back. Places with dogs have strong yang energy.”
With that one sentence, he had struck the burly man right where it hurt. After hesitating for a moment, the man nodded.
Bo Suihan turned his head and hurriedly signaled to the other two.
Forcing down his nausea, Wu Xiaojiu put the severed limbs and chunks of flesh back into the bag and handed it to Wang Qiang.
“Hurry and take this back to the police station for testing. While you’re at it, check whether the person in the grave of the Village Chief’s daughter is still there. Also collect soil DNA from the scene, then bring her stepmother in for questioning. There’s something wrong with the body.”
After giving his instructions, he slapped Wang Qiang on the butt. Wang Qiang frowned.
“That’s a huge amount of work. I won’t be back anytime soon. If something happens to you two, how am I supposed to explain it?”
Seeing him look so righteous and honorable, Wu Xiaojiu was a little moved. “You really are a good man. Then I’ll go back, and you go to the Dog Farm.”
The moment he said that, Wang Qiang pressed his lips together in a smile.
“I was just being polite. Don’t take it seriously.” With that, he grabbed the bag and ran.
Wu Xiaojiu spat in contempt at his retreating back, but still steeled himself and returned to the Dog Farm.
When the burly man saw that he had come back so late, and that one of the three was missing, he frowned and asked in confusion, “Why are there only two of you? Weren’t there three people with their heads lowered back then?”
A cold wind swept past. Wu Xiaojiu shook his head repeatedly, feigning ignorance.
“It’s always just been us two brothers. From the time we left the Dog Farm until we came back, it was only the two of us. Are your eyes playing tricks on you? Where would another person even pop out from on this wild mountain road?”
Cold sweat broke out across the burly man’s back, and he sucked air through his teeth.
He had killed someone, so he was guilty. Ghosts and spirits were exactly his weak spot.
Sure enough, after Wu Xiaojiu answered that way, the burly man stopped asking questions.
Instead, he picked up a basin of rice paste from the ground and handed it to Wu Xiaojiu.
“You look kinder than your brother. You must be a good man who does good deeds and builds up virtue, with nothing on your conscience. Go on. Behind the Dog Farm, there’s a little wooden hut standing by itself. My girl lives in there. Take this bowl to her and let her eat.”
Although there was no slop in the flour paste, it wasn’t much better. It was just a bowl of toasted flour boiled with water in a pot. Edible, but not the least bit tasty. Still, the stuff was very filling.
Wu Xiaojiu looked at the dog-bowl-like vessel in his hands and assumed that the “girl” the burly man mentioned was the best dog in the Dog Farm.
Holding the basin, he headed to the Dog Farm’s backyard in fear and trepidation.
The stench never let up the entire way.
After the torrential rain came several days of blazing sun.
The odors that had soaked in suddenly evaporated all at once, and dried dog droppings were scattered everywhere throughout the yard.
That was especially true once he reached the backyard. It was practically the norm.
Wu Xiaojiu moved like a dancer on a knife’s edge, standing on tiptoe as he carefully inched forward.
“Good thing these are dogs. If a person lived in this kind of environment long-term, wouldn’t they go insane?”
He shuffled all the way to the little wooden hut.
Wu Xiaojiu felt even more certain that he had been right.
The little wooden hut was dilapidated and speckled with mold. Mushrooms had even grown out of some of the cracks.
Most importantly, there was no buffer at all between the hut and the muddy ground. There were even several soft piles right in the middle of the hut.
Holding back the foul stench, Wu Xiaojiu opened the door and slipped inside in one swift motion.