Village Chief Chen, Li Laosan, Liu Dazhuang, Butcher Zhang, and four other men who had been awakened felt as if they had been doused with ice water; their hearts pounded wildly, and cold sweat instantly soaked through their thin clothes!

"My God!" Li Laosan's voice cracked, his eyes wide with shock. "Who...who's talking?! Selling...selling brothels? Mining? Did you hear that?!"

"I...I heard it!" Liu Dazhuang's face was deathly pale, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked, his knuckles turning white. "Right in my ear! Saying that the old and the young...slit their throats! You all heard it?"

Village Chief Chen's lips trembled, and he couldn't utter a single word. He felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

He looked at Butcher Zhang beside him.

Butcher Zhang's face, which was usually expressionless, was now as gloomy as the bottom of a pot, and the veins on his hand, which was gripping the short-handled butcher knife beside his pillow, were bulging.

In the corner and on the other side of the shared bed, other men were still snoring loudly.

"Quick! Wake them up!" The village chief finally found his voice, hoarse and urgent.

Li Laosan and Liu Dazhuang immediately rushed over and shoved the others forcefully.

"What are you doing! Can't a person get any sleep?!" The person who was woken up impatiently shook off Li Laosan's hand.

"Exactly! What's all the fuss about! I'm exhausted!" another man complained, rubbing his eyes.

"Wake up, everyone! Something terrible has happened!" The village chief leaned closer to them, his voice low but filled with unprecedented panic, and quickly recounted the terrifying conversation he had just overheard.

"What? Sell...sell to mine? Slit...slit your throat?" The men were half-asleep, but their faces immediately lit up with disbelief. "Village chief, are you...having a nightmare? What are you talking about?"

"Exactly! In the dead of night, where did that noise come from? Even if the people from Wengjia Village were really going to do something so despicable, would they be shouting so loudly right under the window? They're not stupid! Are they afraid we won't hear them?"

This statement was immediately echoed by several other men.

"Yeah! That's outrageous! Impossible!"

"Why didn't we hear a thing? Are you all still half asleep?"

"You're so jumpy, you scared the living daylights out of me!"

Liu Dazhuang, who was already holding back his anger, completely exploded upon hearing this. "Bullshit! Did a donkey kick my ears?! We all heard it clearly! That voice was eerie, like breathing right into our ears!"

Li Laosan was so anxious that he stamped his feet. "It's absolutely true! I heard 'sending people to brothels,' 'selling illegal mines,' 'slitting one's throat,' and 'sleeping drugs' very clearly!"

At this moment, a man named Zhao Laoliu, who had previously been somewhat dissatisfied with the village chief's questioning of Weng Laojiu, spoke up sarcastically, "Hey village chief, it's not that I'm criticizing you. Before, Manager Weng treated us so kindly, but you, on the other hand, kept asking us all sorts of questions, like you were investigating a thief! You pointed at the spikes on the wall, nailed the windows shut, and even asked about their clothes and jewelry! You made them feel so embarrassed! Now look what's happened! They can't even sleep soundly at night, they dream about him trying to harm us."

His words immediately struck a chord with some people.

"Old Six is ​​right! Village Chief, aren't you being too suspicious?"

"Yeah, they're kind enough to offer us a place to stay, and we're going to suspect them of being bad people? That's not fair, is it?"

"I think it's because they've been terrified by those grain-stealing scourges during the day that they see everyone as a bad guy! That's why they're having bad dreams at night!"

"A dream?!" Butcher Zhang suddenly raised his head, his eyes sweeping over Zhao Laoliu and the others like knives. "Several of you had the same deadly dream at the same time? And you all heard the same things in your dreams? Which of you has ever had such a bizarre dream?"

"This..." Zhao Laoliu choked for a moment.

Old Wang's slow, tinged voice, laced with superstitious panic, rang out, "Could it be... that the mountain god, seeing our disrespect, has sent down demonic sounds... that have brought misfortune into our dreams?" His rambling, mystical pronouncements only added to the eerie atmosphere.

As Village Chief Chen listened to these questions and complaints, especially the old grievances that Zhao Laoliu brought up, he became both angry and anxious, and his face turned red.

He pointed to the window, then to his ears, "I'm not deaf yet! That sound just now was definitely not a dream! Someone is trying to kill us! Tonight!"

The room was completely divided into two factions.

The village chief, Li Laosan, Liu Dazhuang, Zhang the butcher, and others were on high alert and extremely anxious; the others, however, were unconvinced and thought they were making a mountain out of a molehill and disturbing everyone's peace.

The two sides stared at each other, neither able to convince the other.

The room was eerily silent.

The cold, malicious voice appeared only once before disappearing.

But its lingering echo, like a venomous snake, lingered tightly in the hearts of Village Chief Chen, Old Man Li, Liu Dazhuang, Butcher Zhang, and others.

“Whether we misheard or had a nightmare,” the village chief’s voice was low and hoarse but resolute, “this place is not for sleeping tonight! Leaving now is probably impossible, but everyone must be alert tonight! No one can close their eyes!!”

"Yes! We have to tell the people in the other houses!" Li Laosan said urgently. "Tell them all to be vigilant! Don't drink water! Don't eat anything! If they really have to exchange for grain, don't touch the food after you get it. Wait until you're out of this village!"

The proposal was met with an immediate response.

"Yes! Go quickly!"

"Let's go, let's go!"

The group no longer paid attention to the questioning looks and dissatisfied grumbling from Zhao Laoliu and the others.

The village chief took a deep breath, suppressed his worries, jumped off the bed, and strode to the door.

He composed himself and reached out to grab the latch.

He pulled the door open forcefully!

Squeak—

The door opened!

The dim light from the lanterns instantly flooded the dark room!

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