Day 1 entering the village

Legend has it that there was a remote village in the north that worshipped an evil god. A young man disrespected the evil god, which enraged the god and punished him by cursing the villagers so that they would never live past the age of 30.

Centuries later, the villagers were controlled by the curse of short life, living a life worse than death. They tried to escape, but even after searching for the world's most famous doctors, they could not get rid of the evil god's malice.

Sixteen years ago, the River God passed by and dispelled the evil thoughts and hatred. Since then, the villagers have finally lived past the age of 30. However, the River God had only one request: no one in the village should commit any act of betrayal. Then, he disappeared from everyone's sight.

The villagers spontaneously built a statue of the river god and a temple for longevity, offering incense and prayers in gratitude.

Eight years ago, after a young couple in the village got married, the woman was caught by the villagers having an affair with a man from another village. Fearing divine punishment from the river god, the village chief and the villagers tied the woman up, threw her into a wooden cage shaped like a human, and soaked her in the river to beg for the river god's forgiveness.

The woman's husband secretly rescued her in the dead of night, only to find that his wife had already turned pale from being submerged in the river and was on the verge of death.

The man carried his wife on his back, kneeling and bowing every three steps to the river god statue, and prayed, "My wife has not betrayed me. If you are angry, I am willing to bear everything."

The incense sticks in front of him suddenly snapped, and a bloody gash appeared on the man's neck. His flesh seemed to come alive, tearing and splitting repeatedly...

With a "crack," the head, its eyes wide open, rolled to the ground, warm blood splattering across the wife's face. She lay there in terror, fainting. The headless man remained kneeling before the idol.

==

"Is that all?" Qian Fei listened with great interest, resting his chin on his hand, seemingly wanting more.

Lin Chaoying nodded. She had searched for information about Qingluo River in Taoyuan Village from several platforms, including Tieba, Weibo, and Douban, but only found this strange legend.

Qin Ming crossed his legs, scratched his head, and spread his hands, "What does this have to do with the scar?"

Qian Fei, using her rarely used brain, guessed, "Maybe this man is Scarface? And this woman is his wife? It's very possible!" The more she thought about it, the more excited she became. She stood up and said passionately, "Hey! Actually, that night Scarface rescued his wife, and then the two of them ran away! In the end, the village couldn't save face, so they had to make up a story that they were punished."

"No." Kong Yue asked her in confusion, "Why do you insist that the man is Scarface? His fierce appearance makes me worry that he's beheading people for the river god!"

“I think so too.” Jiang Chuan Gu’s hatred for Scarface intensified. “Scarface might be waiting by the river god every day to chop people up.”

"Hey, hey, hey!" Qin Ming offered a new idea: "You guys said Scarface is luring us over there, trying to trap us like a turtle in a jar! But he probably doesn't have much of his superpower left. After he was injured last time, I could take him down with just one finger, hehe!"

The group laughed awkwardly and ignored him.

Lin Chaoying reminded Qin Ming, "Have you made any arrangements on your end? Who knows if Scarface will start from today, the tenth day, or tomorrow?" Turning to Jiang Chuangu, she complained, "You didn't even talk to him a little more."

"You were there too," he said, hanging up the phone. When he called back, he found out it was a public phone booth. Jiang Chuan Gu silently protested internally, but outwardly nodded, indicating it was all his fault.

Kong Yue said sadly, "I don't want to go on a business trip!!"

Every time she went on a business trip with Qin Ming, they ate the worst food and stayed in the worst accommodations. Compared to budget travel, going out with Qin Ming to complete a mission was practically begging...

"Knock knock knock—" Qin Ming tapped the table, saying confidently, "It's alright! Don't worry! I'll lead everyone this time!"

Qian Fei directly exposed him, "Boss! This is our chance to make amends. Don't forget you ruined the last case."

Lin Chaoying chimed in, "That's right, put away your unfounded confidence."

Kongming asked, "By the way, are Lin Chaoying and Jiang Chuan Gu going?"

Lin Chaoying: "Go!"

Jiangchuan Valley immediately added, "I'll go with you!"

Before Qin Ming could object, he slammed down his phone and said, "I'll pay for this trip!"

Lin Chaoying didn't stop him and went along with everyone's wishes, feeling that Scarface's initiative in contacting them must have some hidden reason. Whether it was provocation or something else, she wanted to find out the truth, follow the clues to find Chu Tang's whereabouts, and uncover the truth of what happened back then.

After discussing it, everyone decided to pack their bags tonight and fly to Qingzhou early tomorrow morning.

Taoyuan Village in Qingzhou is not covered by any of the twelve streets, and its geographical location is so remote that there is no direct transportation. Lin Chaoying looked up a simple route: take a plane, then a bus, then a public bus, and finally walk three kilometers. She shared the information with the group of five.

She and Jiangchuan returned to the guesthouse, left the master's phone number, arranged for Zhou Pei and Linlin to look after the house, and renovated the rooms on the 4th floor.

Qin Ming received the four headquarters colleagues who came to work on behalf of Jiazhou in the latter half of the month. Qian Fei picked out a few pieces of sportswear that were convenient for combat and bought a set of knives to put in his bag. Kong Yue brought a box of medical supplies.

The next morning, the five people met at the airport. Jiang Chuan Gu arranged for them to travel in first class, which Qin Ming found very satisfactory.

Qian Fei jumped out to pour the oil and said, "Boss, if I come with you and don't walk, I'll consider you kind."

Lin Chaoying seized the opportunity to ask, "Qin Ming, how much psychological trauma did you cause them before?"

Qian Fei immediately said, "One year we were called to a meeting by headquarters. From Jiaozhou to Chongqing, you could either fly or take a train, but he took the two of us and set off a day early by car! He bought us a bunch of whole-grain bread along the way! I was constipated for three days!"

"Pfft—" Lin Chaoying almost spat out the water in her mouth. "Isn't this all public money? You're even trying to save on public money?"

Qin Ming didn't see anything wrong with it at all, "Public funds are money too."

Kong Yue whispered in Lin Chaoying's ear, "The boss's stinginess is determined by his personality, not by how much money he has."

Lin Chaoying gave a thumbs-up gesture to express her admiration.

The flight only takes a little over an hour, but the real ordeal begins with a bumpy four-hour bus ride that nearly makes them throw up the breakfast they ate on the plane. Then comes another two-hour bus ride on a loop. For seven hours straight, from morning till night, their stomachs feel like washing machines, churning and churning inside them.

Lin Chaoying, thinking about the remaining 3 kilometers of hiking, leaned against a tree by the roadside and cursed in despair, "That deadbeat Scarface, can't he choose a location in the city next time? I thought Hoh Xil was a very remote place, where did he find such a remote mountain valley!"

Jiang Chuan Gu handed her a thermos filled with warm water, saying, "Drink some water to calm down."

Qian Fei hugged the tree, breathing heavily, "I can't take it anymore. I can accept being beaten to death, but I can't accept being carsick for 6 hours... Ugh—" He squatted in the grass and vomited.

Kong Yue seemed to be in the best condition, helping to take care of Qian Fei who was not adjusting well.

Qin Ming wore sunglasses to cover his tired eyes and pale lips, vaguely revealing that he had been tormented by the mountain road, but he was putting on a brave face because of his pride.

Jiang Chuan Gu handed him a bottle of mineral water and reminded him, "We'll be walking on a mountain path later, and it's getting dark. Why are you wearing sunglasses?"

"Tsk!" Qin Ming took the water, pushed up his sunglasses with one hand, and said, "You don't understand, you have to look cool when you're catching someone. I'm going to avenge myself today!"

Lin Chaoying rolled her eyes at him and called Jiang Chuangu away, "Ignore him, grab your bag and let's go! Before it gets dark!"

The 3-kilometer mountain road wasn't as difficult as I'd imagined. The mountains in Qingzhou are quite different from those in Jiaozhou. The peaks in Qingzhou are lower and the space is more expansive, unlike the mountains in Jiaozhou, which are layered upon each other and densely packed.

After about 40 minutes, the group finally saw the cluster of houses halfway up the mountain, with the words "Taoyuan Village" written on a ten-meter-high stone in front of them.

"What! What did you say his name was?!" Qin Ming took off his sunglasses with one hand, pointed at the photo, and asked seriously again, "Not Scarface?!"

Before the five of them even entered the village, they were so hungry that they ate wontons at a roadside stall. When Qin Ming asked the owner about the scar, the owner said something that stunned everyone.

The old man reiterated, "Is Scar a person's name? This child's name is Wang Ge."

"Wang Ge?" Jiang Chuangu muttered to himself, feeling like he'd heard the name somewhere before.

Lin Chaoying nudged him with her elbow, "What's wrong? Why are you looking so gloomy?"

Jiang Chuan Gu said truthfully, "Wang Ge, that's a familiar name, but I can't remember it."

"Yes," Lin Chaoying agreed, recalling hearing it somewhere before. "If it's a name we're both familiar with, there's probably only one possibility..."

Jiangchuan Valley: "You mean it's appeared in the entertainment industry?"

"That's not right." Lin Chaoying was even more puzzled: "We've fought with him and met him before. If he's from the entertainment industry, wouldn't we recognize him by his face?"

Qian Fei acted quickly, sending the photo of the scar, the place name Qingzhou, and the name Wang Ge to his colleagues in the information network, asking them to help with the investigation.

Looking at the photo, the old man sighed, "This child didn't used to look like this. He was very pretty, wore glasses, was tall and thin, and had a lot of hair. How did he grow up like this? He must have suffered a lot. Look at the scars on his face..."

Qin Ming: "Uncle, are you talking about the same person? Are you sure you haven't mistaken me for someone else?"

The old man waved his hand and said firmly, "I'm old, but my eyes are very sharp. Even if some children look very different, their facial features won't change, and I can still recognize them."

The old woman, her back hunched, came out carrying freshly wrapped wontons. "Who are you talking about?"

Qin Ming picked up the photo again. "Auntie, look who this person is?"

The old lady leaned closer, squinted, and said, "Oh, isn't this Wang Ge? I saw him yesterday."

The group of people, who were each sitting at their stalls searching for clues, suddenly focused their attention on each other.

Qin Ming: "Have I seen this place before? At the village entrance?"

The old lady pointed to a small shop that was closed not far away and said, "He was making a phone call there. I saw that the child's face was deathly pale. Oh my, he has changed so much."

"Making a phone call?" Lin Chaoying guessed, "When you called Jiang Chuan Gu yesterday?"

Kong Yue: "Possibly."

The old man wiped the flour off his hands and said to the old woman, "Stop making it. Let's wait until they finish eating, then we'll pack up and go join the fun."

"Joining in the fun?" Qin Ming's curiosity was incredibly strong at this moment. He asked, "What kind of fun?"

The old lady smiled and said, "In Taoyuan Village ahead, a River God Festival is held every year on the summer solstice, and many tourists come to see it."

The old man reminded him, "We're from the next village. We set up a stall here during the peak tourist season to join in the fun, so we don't know much about Wang Ge. I saw him a few times when he was a kid, he used to come out to eat wontons. If you really want to find him, you can go to the village and ask. I remember that the gift shop at the village entrance is owned by his friend."