Compendio de hombres apuestos en el mundo de las artes marciales

Capítulo 58

"Old man, we've heard people say that this town is cursed by evil spirits. What do they mean by that?" Zhan Yun's expression was gentle, but a hint of confusion showed in his eyes.

The old woman sat on a bench. Upon hearing this, she hesitated for a long time, her words evasive. Then she sighed deeply, her somewhat cloudy eyes glistening with tears: "What a tragedy! It's all my karma, retribution, retribution!"

The three listened quietly. "This happened almost fifty years ago. Back then, this wasn't a town, just a small village called Bitter Water Village. There was a family named Sheng in the village, and the couple were good people. But..." The old woman sighed again before continuing, "But later, they had a daughter, but this daughter, she wasn't human, she was a demon!"

"That child was born with bluish lips and bloodshot eyes. The midwife, who was also from our village, was terrified when she saw the baby and said the child couldn't be kept. But the couple couldn't bear to part with her. After the villagers found out about this, they avoided the Sheng family and no one wanted to associate with them. The child rarely went out, and when she did see people, she was very shy. The children in the village secretly called her a little vixen."

"Later, when the child grew to the age of fifteen or sixteen, he gradually became very handsome, with red lips and white teeth, and a pair of large, captivating eyes. However, the pupils of his eyes still had a reddish tinge in them, which made them look very strange. The young men in the village both loved and feared her. Men, women, and children all said that a bewitching demon had appeared in the Sheng family, with a face that could bewitch souls, but those eyes were frightening to look at."

"A year or two later, strange things started happening in the village. Old Zhang's livestock died inexplicably, and their hearts were ripped out. This happened twice more, one after another. Finally, someone said that bloodstains were found behind the Sheng family's house, so everyone grabbed their weapons and broke into their house. As soon as they entered the Sheng family's house, they saw the Sheng family's daughter with her hands covered in blood, holding a heart, her eyes bloodshot. Some people said that the girl was laughing at the time, and while laughing, she was licking the blood off her fingers."

Seeing that the old man remained silent for a long time, the three pressed him for an answer: "And then what happened?"

The old woman blinked, her face wrinkling into a strange grin as she smiled. "And then? Then the demon was burned to death. Thirty years have passed! Thirty years later, that little demon has returned as a vengeful ghost to harm people in town! The little demon..." With that, the old woman stood up, leaning on the edge of the table, and walked away, ignoring the three of them.

The three left the coins on the table and got up to leave the porridge shop.

“This is interesting.” Zhan Yun tapped his palm with his folding fan, his crescent-shaped eyes revealing a thoughtful look. “The girl who died thirty years ago also had blue lips and red eyes, which coincides with the description of the white-clad man by the night watchman that night. No wonder the people in town say that this is a curse from an evil spirit.”

Xiao Changqing seemed to have thought of something, and smiled mysteriously. He then asked excitedly, "Little Duan, where are we going next? What are we going to do?" Having waited two whole months with Duan Chen for a case, and one that was so bizarre and strange, Mr. Xiao was eager to get started.

Duan Chen looked up at the carriage still parked not far from the alley entrance before saying softly, "Let's go to Doctor Xia's house again and ask him in detail about what has happened in the past six months."

After speaking, the three went into the alley. They knocked on the door a few times, and soon Doctor Xia answered. Seeing the three returning with their bundles, Xia Luzhen's eyes widened in surprise: "What's going on?"

After inviting the three into the house and pouring them several cups of piping hot tea, Zhan Yun spoke first: "Dr. Xia, the three of us had breakfast this morning at a porridge shop not far from the alley entrance, and the old man selling the porridge told us some things. We've come here to ask you about some things..."

"Don't tell me the three of you want to investigate this matter?!" Xia Luzhen was initially incredulous, her eyes widening as she watched the three nod. Then, she waved her hands frantically, shaking her head like a rattle-drum: "This is unacceptable! Unacceptable!"

As he spoke, he snatched the teacup from Xiao Changqing's hand and coaxed the three of them out, saying, "You three should hurry and go wherever you need to go. Don't waste your lives in this cursed place! If we people from Bitter Water Town can't leave, that's our fate. We can't let others suffer like this..."

Xiao Changqing, pushed so hard, slapped Xia Luzhen away and sat back down comfortably in a chair. Xia Luzhen had probably never seen anything like this before, and for a moment she sat there dumbfounded.

Duan Chen and Zhan Yun, standing to the side, each glanced at Xiao Changqing with a hint of helplessness. But Master Xiao clapped his hands with a smile: "Alright. Doctor Xia, now, obediently tell me everything you know."

Duan Chen's lips stiffened slightly, and a hint of embarrassment appeared on his usually calm face. Zhan Yun coughed twice, almost bursting out laughing. Xiao Changqing, however, was completely oblivious. He pulled Duan Chen back to the table, brought him a cup of tea, and gestured towards Xia Luzhen with his chin, saying, "Speak."

Xia Luzhen was completely bewildered by him: "Huh?"

Duan Chen, holding his teacup, looked coldly at the middle-aged man with his phoenix eyes: "Why is Doctor Xia so apprehensive?" Seeing Xia Luzhen's expression suddenly change, he continued: "Has someone investigated this matter before?"

Xia Luzhen kept her mouth tightly shut and didn't say a word for a long time. When she spoke again, her eyes were already slightly moist: "I didn't believe in this evil before either. I have a good friend who is a constable in Suzhou Prefecture. He also lived in this Kushui Town when he was young. About three months after this incident, five girls had died in succession, and a twelve-year-old girl had just disappeared. That family was my neighbor, and I practically watched that girl grow up."

"But by then, the rumors of evil spirits and curses had spread throughout the surrounding villages and towns, and the county government was no longer paying attention to it. So, I wrote to my friend, hoping he could come and investigate who was pretending to be a ghost and doing such a heinous thing." At this point, Xia Luzhen sighed again, a bitter smile appearing on her lips: "To be honest, before that, no matter what the people in town said, I didn't believe in ghosts or monsters."

"So you believed it after that?" Duan Chen asked calmly, his face expressionless.

Xia Luzhen shook her head with a bitter smile, a look of confusion in her eyes: "I don't know. I don't know if it was human or ghostly, I only know that this is not something an ordinary person can handle. My friend..." Xia Luzhen choked up as she spoke, "I now deeply regret asking my friend to get involved in this mess. His little girl just turned one year old, and now she has lost her father. I'm so sorry to his wife, so sorry to his two children..."

"Dr. Xia." After a moment of silence, Duan Chen called out softly, then continued, "Was your friend also hung on a tree by the forest after he died?"

Xia Luzhen was taken aback, then gently shook her head: "No, not at all. But..."

"But what?" Xiao Changqing asked with a hint of urgency.

Xia Luzhen shook her head somewhat blankly and replied, "This matter is rather strange. When my friend arrived in town, the first thing he asked for was to examine the bodies. He had some connections with a coroner at the local government office, so he knew a little about autopsies. After examining two bodies, my friend seemed very excited and kept saying that he was sure he could catch the murderer. Moreover, he told me very confidently that the murderer was not a ghost or monster, but definitely a human."

"The very next day, he went into the woods alone. I wanted to go with him, but I didn't know any martial arts and was afraid that I would only cause him trouble, so I stayed outside the woods with Awen. But he didn't come out until dark. I felt something was wrong. It was winter then, and Awen persuaded me to come back. We dragged each other all the way to the town entrance, and there we saw... there we saw my friend, his head cut off and hanging on a pole under the eaves of a house at the town entrance. His knife stood there gleaming, with a lock of hair wrapped around it."

The Seven Life Sect?! Upon hearing this, the three men's expressions changed drastically. If yesterday's news that all the corpses had been drained of blood merely made them think of the Seven Life Sect, whose actions were similar, now the story of the knife-bound hair-cutting made them almost certain that the strange events in the town were inextricably linked to that evil sect that had vanished thirty years ago.

The three exchanged glances, and Zhan Yun casually asked, "Dr. Xia, did another young woman go missing last night?"

Xia Luzhen seemed still lost in the memories of that day, unable to pull herself out. Zhan Yun asked her twice before she snapped out of her reverie, her expression a mixture of joy and worry: "I went out just now, and I haven't heard anything from anyone. But it doesn't really matter now. Lately, almost every few days someone goes missing. Nothing happened last night, but today, tomorrow..."

After inquiring about the young man named Awen's address, the three got up to take their leave. Xia Luzhen was also somewhat listless. She got up and saw the three to the door, then hesitated and said, "Please be careful, all three of you."

As the three reached the alley entrance, they bumped into a young man running hurriedly—it was Ah Wen from yesterday. Upon seeing them, Ah Wen, patting his chest and panting, explained, "There are...two more corpses, hanging by the woods..."

Author's note: There will be an update tomorrow at 9:00 AM.

It's said that Zhanzhan and Chenchen will have a significant breakthrough in this volume.

Ahem, it's a breakthrough in my heart and soul! May the cotton be pure, ╭(╯^╰)╮

Well, physically, I think there will be some too~

By the way, do you guys want to leave a comment? Even though I can't reply, I read them every day with great enjoyment!

Furthermore, Wenwen's points are so low. With low points, she can't appear on the leaderboard and won't be seen by more people.

Your comments and ratings help my post get into the public eye, right? Plus, you get points for twisting your fingers!

57

Chapter Four: Ochre Powder • Hair Needle...

The three of them, along with Awen, drove the carriage to the woods northeast of the town. They saw several middle-aged men standing under a tree not far away, looking up and shouting, seemingly giving instructions.

Duan Chen frowned slightly, but before he could speak, Zhan Yun had already leaped out. Xiao Changqing, who was driving the carriage outside, couldn't help but chuckle when he saw this: "The kid's improved!"

Before the car had even come to a complete stop, Duan Chen used his lightness skill to get to the front, only to see everyone staring wide-eyed at the tree. The young man who had been climbing the tree earlier had just been brought down by Zhan Yun using his lightness skill and was now looking up at it with great interest.

Duan Chen looked at the towering tree in front of him, which was at least five or six zhang tall. He took two steps back, gathered his strength, and leaped into the air. When he was halfway up, he pointed his toes and pushed off the tree trunk, finally managing to stand on the trunk where the corpse was hanging.

Zhan Yun extended one arm to support Duan Chen's waist, afraid that she would lose her balance if she came up. He then waved to Mr. Xiao, who was rubbing his hands together, ready to climb up, and raised his voice to say, "Senior, please don't come up. The tree trunk is already too weak. We'll be down soon."

Duan Chen moved cautiously, glancing down. The rope had wrapped around the corpse's waist, then around its neck, and finally tied a knot in the horizontal branch. Adding to the eeriness, a bow was tied around the knot.

This is… Duan Chen bent down, wanting to investigate. “Careful.” Zhan Yun, whose arm had been around Duan Chen’s waist, tightened its grip, pulling the beauty firmly into his embrace. At the same time, the tree trunk snapped with a “crack.” Two figures, one in green and one in white, landed gracefully. Xiao Changqing had already leaped up to catch the falling body and placed it on the stretcher that the others had prepared beforehand.