Ba ethnic group's bewitching charm - the executioner

Chapter 47

“I sent him the photo online, and he transferred the money to me through online banking.” Li Jianjun swallowed. “I’ve never met him, so I don’t even know if he’s a man or a woman.”

Qin Ge frowned and thought for a moment: "If you help us find the mask, I promise you won't let your wife know about this."

Li Jianjun nodded repeatedly, appearing completely obedient.

More than 20 years ago, there was an old man living in a small town on the northwestern frontier with seven adopted children. His name was Ba Rong. He hid in such a remote place to avoid being tracked down by the Ba people. Later, strangers came to the town and quickly disappeared. Sensing danger, Ba Rong resolutely sent his seven children to different cities, instructing them not to associate with each other.

The seven children were all orphans. Life only gained meaning for them after Ba Rong adopted them. They spent happy childhoods together, and as they grew up, they never imagined that one day they would be separated from their brothers and sisters, and that they would never be able to contact them again. Chu Yan was the youngest of the seven. Before parting, she secretly wrote six small notes and handed them to the others, each containing only a time and address.

After settling down in different cities, everyone lost track of the others. However, three months later, they met again. It was a note given to them by Chu Yan that allowed them to reconnect.

In the days that followed, the siblings would get together every now and then. Although they lived in different cities, they still maintained a deep bond of kinship.

Later, Ma Nan and Hong Mian disappeared together in the city where they lived.

After that, Chu Yan never saw Hong Mian again.

Six months ago, after overcoming numerous hardships, Ma Nan finally returned to the remote town with Chu Yan. The Ba tribe's high priest, Long Yang, unlocked his sealed memories, and he learned the truth. It turned out that his and Hong Mian's disappearances were all arranged by his father, Ba Rong.

Later, Ba Rong died on Peach Blossom Mountain. Besides grieving for his father's death, Ma Nan also felt a deeper worry: he feared he would never find Hong Mian and her daughter again. Afterwards, Chu Yan left without saying goodbye, leaving Ma Nan a note with the city and address where Hong Mian and her daughter lived.

In the end, Ma Nan was able to reunite with Hong Mian and her daughter, and the family lived happily together.

Although Hongmian wasn't involved in what happened six months ago, she had heard Ma Nan recount it in great detail. Therefore, while she couldn't forgive Chu Yan for betraying her four brothers, she couldn't harbor any resentment towards her. Just like Ba Rong, even though he adopted these children only to complete a trap for his annihilation of the Ba people, Ma Nan and Hongmian still held him in high esteem when recalling the past.

The moment Hongmian saw Chu Yan, she rushed forward and hugged her tightly, tears streaming down her face. She choked up when she heard Chu Yan's voice.

Xiaotong stood behind her mother, looking at this woman she had never met before with a mixture of curiosity and excitement—she didn't know whether to call her aunt or maternal aunt.

After a long separation, they naturally had a lot to say, but so much had happened in between that they didn't know how to bring it up. Fortunately, Xiaotong was there. When Chu Yan held her in her arms, a long-lost sense of kinship filled the air between them.

Hongmian greeted the policeman who brought Chu Yan. There were two other policemen downstairs, but now the three of them were standing together talking, and their expressions were not as relaxed as the two women.

Hongmian led Chuyan and Xiaotong upstairs. At her mother's prompting, Xiaotong obediently went to Ma Nan's study. This left only Hongmian and Chuyan in the bedroom. The conversation inevitably returned to reality. Chuyan hesitated for a while before telling Hongmian, "My older brother has likely been captured by the Ba people."

Hongmian's heart clenched immediately. At this moment, Chu Yan recounted the whole story from beginning to end, including how the Ba people found her in Shanghai two months ago, and how she had been imprisoned ever since. She had only heard about Xingxiutai from Qin Ge when she woke up in the hospital this morning.

"Will those Ba people harm Manan?" Hong Mian asked, her face filled with barely concealed fear.

“They need my elder brother to help them find the sacred artifact of their tribe. At least until the artifact is found, they won’t harm him.” Although Chu Yan said this, her face was filled with worry. She paused for a moment, then said solemnly, “The Ba people obtained the flaming chrysanthemum painting left by my father from me, thinking it was a clue to the Ba tribe’s sacred artifact. But I know they are wrong, because my father once told me that if anything happened to him, he would never let those Ba people harm me.”

Hongmian was exceptionally intelligent; she immediately discerned the underlying meaning in Chu Yan's words.

Ba Rong was a master strategist; otherwise, how could the shrewd Batu have fallen into his trap? Chu Yan was his biological daughter, and since he had promised not to let the Ba people harm her, he would certainly keep his word.

But he is already dead. How can a dead man protect the living from harm?

Unless he foresaw the danger Chu Yan would face before his death, and thus set another trap to deal with the Ba people. Perhaps, half a year ago on Peach Blossom Mountain, when he was ambushed by Yu Lei and knew he was about to die, his other plan was immediately put into action at that moment.

Perhaps the first step of that plan was to stuff a picture of flame-shaped chrysanthemums into Chu Yan's hands.

In the labyrinth atop Peach Blossom Mountain, Ba Rong prepared explosives for the Ba people, and none of Batu and his tribesmen who entered the labyrinth survived. If the flaming chrysanthemum pattern is still a trap, then what kind of pitfall awaits the Ba people this time?

On Peach Blossom Mountain, without Chu Yan's help, Ma Nan would have perished along with the Ba people.

Will he be so lucky this time?

Chapter 29

Amputation of the feet!

Ma Nan subconsciously took a step back, the word flashing through his mind. Amputation of the feet was one of the cruel punishments in ancient times by the Sanmiao people, later becoming one of the five punishments of the Zhou Dynasty. Some other texts refer to it as…?

The terms "fei" or "bin" all mean roughly the same thing: removing the kneecap or cutting off the feet. Both are forms of torture inflicted on a person's legs or feet, rendering them unable to walk.

I never expected that Zhao Sihai, with his fierce-looking face, would be killed in this way.

Judging from the situation, Zhao Sihai had clearly died from excessive blood loss, which explained the long trail of blood he left behind. This burly man, so full of life not long ago, had died so tragically in the blink of an eye. Those outside couldn't help but feel a sense of sorrow, a sense of shared grief, but even more so, fear.

Who killed Zhao Sihai? Was it the executioner hiding behind the scenes, or someone else here?

Or perhaps the judge was among these people all along.

First, Yang Zheng helped Yang Mei back slowly, then the pharmaceutical representative also shrank back. Ma Nan was hesitating whether to say something to everyone when suddenly the household registration policeman shouted, "Stop!"

Yang Zheng immediately stiffened, glaring at the police officer, as if he would charge at him if he said anything that might anger him. Yang Mei, who was beside him, immediately noticed and grabbed his arm tightly.

"It's safer when everyone is together," the police officer in charge of household registration said.

Everyone understands this principle: no matter who the murderer is, you can't kill someone in front of others. That's what movies and novels say, but the key point is that Yang Zheng simply doesn't want to be in the same room as this household registration police officer.

After the police officer finished speaking, Yang Zheng snorted and, still holding Yang Mei's hand, slowly walked away. The police officer watched their retreating figures, his chest heaving, clearly trying to suppress something.

“You’re a police officer, so don’t panic. We’re all counting on you to make the decisions.” Ma Nan quickly stood in front of him.

The police officer's expression softened slightly, and he turned his head away angrily.

“You’re right. If we’re all together, it won’t be so easy for the murderer to kill us,” Ma Nan said. “It’s best if the rest of us stay together so we can look out for each other.”

Liu Hongzhong hurried over, his voice still trembling as he asked, "Do all the people here have to die?"

The police officer opened his mouth but no sound came out; his cheek muscles twitched, clearly showing his own fear. Ma Nan hesitated for a moment before saying, "The killer will definitely continue killing, but he doesn't necessarily want to kill everyone here."

"Who will be the next to die?" Liu Hongzhong was even more frightened.

"Whoever is most afraid is the one who dies." The police officer glared at him and said irritably, "That's how it's always done in movies."

Liu Hongzhong shuddered, on the verge of tears: "What should I do? I don't want to die. Even if I do die, I don't want to die here."