I took a deep breath to calm myself and slowly drove toward the villager carrying the fish basket.

The sun was blazing hot, and the road surface seemed to have softened from the heat, making a dull thud as the car drove on it.

When the car pulled up beside him, I rolled down the window and greeted him.

"Hey fellow villager! It's so hot today, and you look like you're walking with a lot of trouble. Where are you headed? I'm going to the small town up ahead. How about I give you a ride? It'll save you some trouble."

The villager stopped and slowly turned around, a simple smile on his face. His skin was tanned dark and shiny by the sun, and his face was covered with deep wrinkles.

"I'm so sorry."

"It's nothing, just a small favor!"

Seeing this, I quickly waved my hand and said, "Fellow villager, please don't be so polite with me. When you're traveling, you should help each other out. Please don't be so polite with me."

As I spoke, I quickly opened the car door, took a few steps to the villager's side, and helped him take down the fish basket.

"Good heavens, fellow villager, that fish basket of yours is really heavy!"

My fellow villager quickly reached out to stop me, saying, "Oh dear, no, no, this is too much trouble for you. I can do it myself."

I refused to give in, and while lifting it up with all my might, I said, "Fellow villager, don't be so polite with me. I'm young and strong, this is nothing!"

Seeing that he couldn't outbid me, the fellow villager kept saying, "Thank you so much, young man, you're such a kind person."

I smiled and didn't say anything. I steadily lifted the fish basket and walked towards the trunk of the car.

The fish in the basket were still splashing around, struggling and jumping, the splashing water wetting my hands and bringing a slight chill.

It really was a live fish!

The reason I offered to help him move the fish was that I wanted to check if it was alive or dead.

Earlier, Jinye said that something was wrong with this fellow villager, but the live fish seemed to indicate that everything was normal.

If the fellow villager was truly a dead person transformed into a spirit, how could he be carrying live fish?

Could it be that Mr. Jin made a mistake?

Is this fellow villager really just an ordinary person?

My mind was filled with doubts, and I couldn't help but steal a few more glances at my fellow villager.

He still had that憨厚 smile on his face, and when he saw the water splashed by the fish getting my clothes wet, he apologized profusely.

After the fellow villager got on the bus, he immediately spotted Luo Tianhe, who was lying unconscious in the back seat, and a look of surprise instantly appeared on his face.

"What's wrong with this guy?"

I casually explained, "Hey, he had a party with some friends last night and drank too much. He's still completely drunk."

Upon hearing this, the fellow villager frowned even more deeply and asked with a puzzled look, "You're injured like this and you're still drinking? Isn't that just degrading yourself?"

I shrugged helplessly: "That's just how this guy is. He always has this saying on his lips: 'Liquor is the essence of grain, the more you drink, the younger you get.' I've known him for so long and I don't know how many times I've tried to persuade him, but he just lets it go in one ear and out the other, he just doesn't listen."

The fellow villager glanced curiously at Uncle Jin sitting next to me, as if his gaze had been drawn to something, and paused for a moment.

There was a hint of doubt in his eyes.

Before I could even explain, Mr. Jin suddenly said, "I'm his grandfather."

The moment I said those words, a million grass mud horses galloped through my mind.

Damn it, this old man actually took advantage of me!

But I couldn't argue back then, so I could only laugh awkwardly.

He almost gritted his teeth as he said, "Grandpa, could you go to the back seat and take care of Brother Luo? He's had too much to drink, and I'm afraid he'll throw up in the car."

"Alright, my dear grandson!"

Mr. Jin chuckled and went to the back seat.

With the roar of the engine, the car slowly started moving.

As I drove, I tried to find topics to talk about and get closer to my fellow villagers.

"Hey folks, I see you're carrying such a big basket of fish, what are you going to do with it?"

The villager smiled憨厚ly, his wrinkles all bunched together.

“We go to the market up ahead to sell fish. That’s how our family makes a living. We need to earn some money to send our children to school.”

"Oh, I see."

I nodded, and then asked, "Fellow villager, what's your surname?"

"My surname is Zhao, and everyone calls me Old Man Zhao."

"Uncle Zhao, your fish looks so fresh, it's practically jumping around. It'll definitely fetch a good price," I praised, while keeping an eye on his reaction.

Old Zhao smiled, revealing a set of slightly crooked teeth: "Thank you for your kind words. By the way, where are you all headed?"

My heart skipped a beat, and I told a lie without batting an eye: "We're going to the small county town ahead; we have some business to take care of."

Along the way, I chatted idly with Old Zhao while I was steering the car.

They chatted enthusiastically about everything from his children's harvest this year to the mysterious disappearance of Widow Zhang's old ox a few days ago.

While I was talking to him, I was secretly observing his words and actions.

After observing for half a day, I still couldn't find anything wrong.

His speech and actions were natural and fluent, and his facial expressions changed with the topic of conversation without any flaws. He was exactly like a simple and honest old man from the countryside.

After driving for more than half an hour, we finally arrived at a small county town.

The county town was bustling with people, and the shops lining the streets were lined up one after another, offering a dazzling array of goods.

"Xiao Chen, let's stop here. I usually sell fish up ahead."

Uncle Zhao pointed ahead with his rough fingers.

I slowly applied the brakes and brought the car to a steady stop on the side of the road.

When he got off the bus, Jinye seemed to trip over something, stumbled, and uncontrollably lunged at Zhao Laohan, grabbing him tightly with both hands.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry!" Jin kept apologizing.

Old Zhao was startled by the sudden situation, but he quickly recovered and reached out to help Grandpa Jin up, asking with concern on his face.

"Brother, are you alright? Did you hurt yourself?"

"It's alright, I was just in a hurry to get off the bus, sorry!" Jin waved his hand with a smile.

Old Zhao didn't say much, just exchanged a few more polite words of thanks with me, and then left.

After Old Zhao left, I looked at Grandpa Jin with a puzzled expression.

"Jin, what are you doing? Why are you suddenly jumping on him?"

Jin Ye did not answer, but instead took out three silver needles from his pocket.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the tip of the silver needle was actually black.

"What's this?"

Jin nodded toward Uncle Zhao's back and said, "I deliberately fell down and stuck these three needles into the back of his head."

What is that?

With such a long silver needle inserted, he didn't react at all?

Is he really not human? But he looks exactly like a normal person.

I subconsciously looked at Old Zhao's back.

By this time, he had already set up a stall dozens of meters away and started selling fish.

"Could it be..." I suddenly thought of something.

Jin nodded: "If I'm not mistaken, he should be a ghoul."