Sleepy Valley

Chapter 29

Qin Ge was speechless. At this moment, his head felt heavier and heavier, and his body was so weak that he could barely stand. Tang Wan, who was next to Sha Bo, had already collapsed into Sha Bo's arms while Hua Xiong was speaking. Sha Bo could no longer support her body and had already sat down on the ground.

Shabo's mind gradually emptied, but he still held on with all his might, for he had not forgotten his purpose in coming to Sleepy Valley. His gaze fell on Xue Mei, and Xue Mei's gaze met his. He saw some guilt in Xue Mei's eyes.

Shabo suddenly stood up and took a step forward, standing opposite Hua Xiong.

"Forget-me-not!" he said the three words heavily.

Hua Xiong seemed to pause for a moment, then his expression turned somewhat grave. Just as he was about to speak, Xue Mei, who was not far away, suddenly threw the medicine box in her hand on the ground, turned around, and ran into the room.

The room was filled with round glass bottles of different sizes, each containing a human specimen. Inside the formalin-soaked bottles, they displayed various expressions, yet all exuded an eerie and terrifying aura.

Xue Mei was stopped by the upright glass bottle as soon as she ran. Qin Ge and Sha Bo didn't know her intention, but Hua Xiong's face changed color. Without hesitation, he abandoned Qin Ge and Sha Bo and ran away quickly.

Qin Ge and Sha Bo tried to follow, but their legs gave way, and they finally collapsed to the ground. Before they lost consciousness, they heard the sound of shattering glass and Hua Xiong's angry shouts coming from inside the room. Then, a sharp gunshot rang out. Qin Ge tried to lift himself up, but finally fell back to the ground.

The incandescent light continued to flicker, and the buzzing sound persisted. In the flickering light and shadow, all the human specimens in the glass bottles appeared to be floating, each with a different expression.

When Xue Mei reappeared in her white dress, it was now covered in bloodstains. Her face was pale, as pale as the skin of a human specimen in a glass jar. She slowly walked to the fallen Qin Ge, Sha Bo, and Tang Wan, staring at them motionless for a long time, like a ghost whose soul had been ripped away.

A slight chill hung in the valley at dawn. When the skinny man awoke, his head throbbed with pain, followed by a shiver running through his body. He looked down, enduring the pain, and discovered he was only wearing his underwear. His exposed body was filthy, stained with blood and dirt.

The skinny man couldn't help but groan softly. He only remembered being forced to drink a lot of wine last night, and had no recollection of what happened afterward. He looked around, and a spasm suddenly ran through his body. A powerful force surged in his stomach, and he couldn't hold it in any longer, so he turned over and vomited.

The entire square was littered with naked people. Some were already dead, while others were still writhing and groaning. Almost everyone was covered in blood, and some had limbs that were missing. The groans rose and fell, carried far away by the wind before returning, taking on an eerie quality.

Beside the skinny man were two men whose heads were smashed to pieces, their blood turning a purplish-red and gradually congealing. They lay on top of a woman riddled with wounds, as if clinging to her even in death.

The skinny man was still vomiting when suddenly someone grabbed his neck forcefully. He struggled desperately but couldn't break free. He grabbed a sharp knife lying on the ground and turned to stab the man in the abdomen. The hand that was choking him loosened, and the skinny man turned around to see a face that looked like it had been drenched in blood.

He didn't know this person, but this person wanted to strangle him, so he had no choice but to kill him.

Blood gushed from the man's mouth, and the skinny man scrambled to the side in a panic. As he crawled, he suddenly felt a gaze upon him. He instinctively turned to the side and saw a pair of terrified eyes.

It was a child, lying among several corpses, staring at him without blinking.

The child's gaze was strange, as if he were looking at a monster that terrified him. What should have frightened him in this square were blood and corpses; why was he staring at the thin man with such fear?

The skinny man looked down and saw his emaciated body. His bones were visible beneath his skin; he looked like a sharpened reed, or a severed snake. The skinny man groaned heavily again, followed by a series of painful retching sounds.

—A body that even he himself couldn't help but vomit upon seeing.

His head was throbbing with pain, and he wanted to find some clothes to cover himself, but he had to hold his head tightly, otherwise the pain would make his head explode.

The skinny man lay on the ground, convulsing, clutching his head. He encountered several more pairs of eyes, all staring at him with that strange look. Behind these eyes, he saw terrified faces. Men and women, old people and children—they made no attempt to hide their fear, piercing the skinny man's heart.

The skinny man convulsed more violently. He couldn't shield himself from anyone's gaze; he couldn't even hide himself anymore. This was unbearable for him. Several women's faces flashed through his mind, some blurred, others clearly discernible. These women had all mocked him, and they had paid a heavy price for their mockery. Now, they were all surrounding the skinny man, pointing at his body and laughing hysterically.

The skinny man cursed something, and the women vanished. Blood began to flow from his head again, trickling through his fingers and staining his body. A bone-deep hatred shone in the skinny man's eyes. He met the gazes directed at him without flinching, flashing the most ferocious look at their owners. But at this moment, the skinny man knew he could no longer punish anyone who had mocked him.

The only person he can punish is himself.

As the first rays of sunlight refracted from behind the mountain and fell upon the square, the thin man died. He lay curled up on the ground, his face frozen in a vicious expression, but his gaze could no longer meet anyone, including himself.

The entire Sleeping Manor was bathed in sunlight, and the stench of blood gradually dissipated under the sun.

“He killed himself,” Xuemei said.

Qin Ge, Sha Bo, and Tang Wan, who had woken up one after another, sat around Xue Mei. Qin Ge and Sha Bo had already gone inside to check. Hua Xiong was found dead on a pile of broken glass. The broken glass was fragments of a glass bottle that originally contained a specimen of Qin Fangrou.

Even though Qin Fangrou was Qin Ge's sister, Qin Ge didn't dare to step forward. He simply took off his shirt and covered her with it.

“I just ran in and broke the glass bottle. He ran in and fell on the broken glass. The shards pierced his throat, and that’s how he died,” Xue Mei said expressionlessly, but her tone was very relaxed.

"Why did you go in and break that glass bottle? Was it to save us?" Qin Ge asked疑惑地, but he knew in his heart that it couldn't be the reason. Since Hua Xiong had Xue Mei inject them with anesthesia, he certainly wouldn't harm them anymore.

“I want to save myself,” Xue Mei said, “because I don’t want to be like these people, turned into specimens by him.”

Qin Ge and Sha Bo were stunned for a moment, realizing that Hua Xiong had already undergone a psychological change, and that what Xue Mei said might very well become a reality.

“Now, you should tell me everything about the forget-me-not,” Shabo said.

Xuemei hesitated for a moment, then looked at Shabo with some apology: "Now, I can only apologize to you because I deceived you. The photo I sent you was actually of my deceased sister, Xueping."

Shabo and Qin Ge exchanged a glance, then looked at Xue Mei together.

“I did this so that someone would come to Sleeping Valley because of Xueping, and thus discover Jiangnan’s secret.” Xuemei’s face showed a sad expression. “Because it was Jiangnan who killed my sister.”

Qin Ge and Sha Bo had already anticipated that Xue Ping's death was related to Jiangnan, so they were not surprised and were just waiting for Xue Mei to tell them the whole story.

"Six years ago, I married Jiangnan. My younger sister Xueping was only fourteen years old at the time. Jiangnan treated my sister very well, and I didn't suspect anything at first, until one day I saw a photo of Jiangnan's ex-wife."

Xuemei looked at Qin Ge: "Now I know that his ex-wife is your sister. I didn't expect that Xueping would look so much like your sister. I think that Jiangnan is good to Xueping, perhaps because of this."

“Lolita!” Shabo blurted out.

Qin Ge and Tang Wan immediately thought of what happened next, but Xue Mei looked at Sha Bo with suspicion. Sha Bo said, "Actually, Jiang Nan fell in love with your fourteen-year-old sister, but because she was still a minor, he married you so that he could be with Xue Ping legitimately. No one would have thought that he really loved a fourteen-year-old girl."

Xuemei nodded blankly.

"However, in Xueping's heart, she only regarded him as her brother-in-law. As she grew older and became a young woman, she inevitably had to have her own life. She fell in love, or someone began to pursue her. Jiangnan couldn't watch her be taken away by someone else, so he killed her."

Xuemei was extremely surprised; she didn't know how Shabo knew all of this.

Shabo finally told her the reason: "What I'm talking about is all from a novel by an American author. I never thought it would actually happen in real life. The only difference is that the protagonist in the novel fell in love with Lolita because he liked younger girls, while Hua Xiong liked Xueping because of his ex-wife."

Knowing about the Forget-Me-Not herb, the other mysteries surrounding their arrival at Sleeping Valley were resolved. Xue Mei's act of leading Qin Ge and Sha Bo to the cemetery and leaving the pattern on the invitation was a clue to their investigation of Xue Ping, drawing their attention to Hua Xiong. Xue Ping's grave was erected by Hua Xiong after her death to cover his tracks; her body had already been preserved as a specimen. When Sha Bo first arrived at Sleeping Valley, he showed Xue Ping's photo to the residents, but everyone said there was no such person in the town. This was because Du Chuanxiong of Sleeping Manor had already controlled the entire town with his wine, and no one dared to disobey the manor's wishes. The elderly couple who had to suppress their grief when the madwoman He Qing died were also for this reason. The infant specimen in the secret room was actually He Qing's missing child. Xue Ping thought everything was done discreetly, but she didn't realize that everything was under Jiang Nan's control, which was inextricably linked to Sha Bo's immediate questioning of Hua Xiong with Xue Ping's photo upon arriving at Sleeping Valley. That night, after Xue Mei led Qin Ge and Sha Bo to the cemetery, she was sent to the Sleeping Manor by Hua Xiong and placed under house arrest. It wasn't until last night, when the manor was in chaos, that she managed to escape and lead Qin Ge and the others to this secret room. After Qin Ge and the others entered the secret room, she was thinking about how to meet them when, unexpectedly, Hua Xiong found her.

Knowing that Hua Xiong had leukemia, fear began to creep into Xue Mei's heart. Moreover, when she heard Hua Xiong say, "Life is without joy, death without regret," she knew she could no longer wait. If Hua Xiong was prepared to die, then the only thing he couldn't let go of before he died was her. He had made specimens of his two favorite women; she was his current wife, and he certainly wouldn't let her go. Therefore, she acted first, rushing over and smashing the glass bottle containing Qin Fangrou's specimen. She originally intended to smash the one containing Xue Ping, but Hua Xiong was quick, arriving before she could break the second bottle. In a fit of rage, he fired at Xue Mei, but unexpectedly stumbled and fell onto the shards of the glass bottle, where he was stabbed to death.

Finally, Xue Mei said, "I will send you away from Sleepy Hollow."

"Wait a minute." Shabo looked worried. "I still have two students whose whereabouts are unknown."

"Are you talking about Yang Xing and Xiao Fei?" Xue Mei suddenly revealed a strange expression, and her eyes began to flicker. "Perhaps they have already left Sleeping Valley."

"Impossible, they would never leave without telling us."

Xuemei stared at Shabo for a while, then suddenly sighed and stood up: "Alright, if you really want to find your student, then come with me."

Shabo and the other two followed Xue Mei out of the secret room. It was already bright outside, and through the gaps in the house, the sunlight could be seen shining brightly on the square. The square was a mess; some people were crying and others were beginning to move around. The stench of blood had mostly dissipated in the sunlight.

Xuemei led Shabo and the others to another door and said, "Your student is inside."

The door was bolted from the outside. Sha Bo quickly stepped forward and pulled the bolt open when Qin Ge suddenly grabbed his arm. Sha Bo was startled for a moment, then a sense of fear crept into his heart.

Qin Ge rushed to open the door.

Yang Xing was the only one left in the room. Beside him lay a corpse—Xiao Fei's corpse.

The light from outside streamed onto Yang Xing's face. He cowered in terror, crouching in a corner, muttering incoherently. In his hand, he clutched a piece of bloody flesh, which had just been removed from his mouth, fresh blood still smeared at the corner of his lips.

Xiao Fei lay in front of a broken wine barrel, her clothes stripped off, her entire body seemingly soaked in blood. Blood continued to gush from some of her wounds.

Qin Ge and Sha Bo bent over and vomited at the same time.

Just as Tang Wan reached the doorway, Sha Bo turned around abruptly, grabbed her, and dragged her outside. Tang Wan repeatedly asked what had happened, but Sha Bo ignored her, continuing to run until they were in the sunlight. His face was deathly pale, and he was breathing heavily.

As he ran into the sunlight, Shabo's fear deepened.

He saw corpses everywhere, and some people dragging their mutilated bodies among them, groaning and moaning. The sunlight shone down on them without any obstruction, and the aura of death seemed so intense and eerie under the sunlight.

Tang Wan, who arrived shortly after, also began to vomit.

Sleepy Valley has become a valley of death.

end

In an auction hall in a small city in Northwest China, several bankrupt companies are being auctioned off.

The trading hall was packed. Although everyone present was dressed in suits, they couldn't hide their strong rural background. The main bidders at this auction were mostly farmers and entrepreneurs.

The auctioneer had successfully auctioned off a small agricultural machinery factory and a feed processing plant, and a satisfied smile began to spread across his face as he thought about the considerable sum of money that would follow.

The next company to be auctioned attracted no bids. The auctioneer asked three times, but no one raised their paddle.

There are two more companies to be auctioned, and if no one bids, the auctioneer plans to give up on that company.

Just as he asked the question one last time, the trading hall door suddenly opened, and a loud voice announced a number. The auctioneer was puzzled and curious about this unexpected guest.

The bidder was in his thirties, wearing a white shirt and black trousers. He had short, straight hair, slightly dark skin, and soft facial features with a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth. People with this kind of face must be very easygoing. The auctioneer instantly took a liking to this bidder.

Because that company only had one bidder, the auctioneer's gavel fell quickly.

After the auction, a reporter from the local television station interviewed the winning bidder. When the microphone was handed to the middle-aged man in white shirt and black trousers, he hesitated for a moment, then said:

"My name is Du Chuanxiong. I won the bid for this winery and will focus on improving the wine's recipe. I will also strive to penetrate all major and medium-sized cities in China in the shortest possible time, thanks to its superior quality..."

The wines were displayed in the store's counters, beautifully packaged.

The wine is sweet on the palate and has a lingering aftertaste.

Have you had any wine?

(End of article)

She was his current wife, and he would never let her go. That's why she acted first, smashing the glass bottle containing Qin Fangrou's specimen. She originally intended to smash the one containing Xueping, but Hua Xiong was quick and arrived before she could break the second bottle. In his rage, he fired at Xuemei, but unexpectedly stumbled and fell onto the shards of the glass bottle, where he was stabbed to death.

Finally, Xue Mei said, "I will send you away from Sleepy Hollow."

"Wait a minute." Shabo looked worried. "I still have two students whose whereabouts are unknown."

"Are you talking about Yang Xing and Xiao Fei?" Xue Mei suddenly revealed a strange expression, and her eyes began to flicker. "Perhaps they have already left Sleeping Valley."

"Impossible, they would never leave without telling us."

Xuemei stared at Shabo for a while, then suddenly sighed and stood up: "Alright, if you really want to find your student, then come with me."

Shabo and the other two followed Xue Mei out of the secret room. It was already bright outside, and through the gaps in the house, the sunlight could be seen shining brightly on the square. The square was a mess; some people were crying and others were beginning to move around. The stench of blood had mostly dissipated in the sunlight.

Xuemei led Shabo and the others to another door and said, "Your student is inside."

The door was bolted from the outside. Sha Bo quickly stepped forward and pulled the bolt open when Qin Ge suddenly grabbed his arm. Sha Bo was startled for a moment, then a sense of fear crept into his heart.

Qin Ge rushed to open the door.

Yang Xing was the only one left in the room. Beside him lay a corpse—Xiao Fei's corpse.

The light from outside streamed onto Yang Xing's face. He cowered in terror, crouching in a corner, muttering incoherently. In his hand, he clutched a piece of bloody flesh, which had just been removed from his mouth, fresh blood still smeared at the corner of his lips.

Xiao Fei lay in front of a broken wine barrel, her clothes stripped off, her entire body seemingly soaked in blood. Blood continued to gush from some of her wounds.

Qin Ge and Sha Bo bent over and vomited at the same time.

Just as Tang Wan reached the doorway, Sha Bo turned around abruptly, grabbed her, and dragged her outside. Tang Wan repeatedly asked what had happened, but Sha Bo ignored her, continuing to run until they were in the sunlight. His face was deathly pale, and he was breathing heavily.

As he ran into the sunlight, Shabo's fear deepened.

He saw corpses everywhere, and some people dragging their mutilated bodies among them, groaning and moaning. The sunlight shone down on them without any obstruction, and the aura of death seemed so intense and eerie under the sunlight.