Chapter Twenty-Nine: Someone Died?

A thought began to grow wildly in her mind: if she could help the police find the human traffickers' hideout and arrest them, it would be a great achievement. The police would not only commend her but also reward her. At that time, she would definitely be able to recover some of the reputation that Bi Yuntao had ruined.

More importantly, she now had a legitimate reason to keep her money.

Then her mother will no longer have to sigh and worry about her daughter not being able to get married.

Without hesitation, Lin Baozhu quickened her pace, bypassing the winnowing threshing ground and heading towards the back mountain. The closer she got to the old locust tree, the narrower the dirt path in the woods became, and the more weeds and thorns appeared. No one noticed that she was carrying a delicately crafted wicker basket.

This basket was a little gadget she wove from a mutated vine she killed years ago. It can absorb impurities and toxins from food, but the scraped powder is highly poisonous. If you stand on even a little bit of it, the toxin will seep into your skin through your pores. What's most amazing is that different people react differently to the poison.

This thing appears to be a small gadget for holding things, but it is actually a powerful weapon she uses for self-defense.

Lin Baozhu paused under the old locust tree, observed for a moment, and then stopped following the faint path. Instead, she turned to the side and went straight into the denser woods beside the road, her figure quickly being hidden by the tangled branches and leaves.

After walking for about five minutes into the woods, a pungent, nauseating stench of decay drifted over on the wind…

She knew that smell all too well; during those desperate "ten years," it was like a leech clinging to her bones. It was… the smell of a rotting corpse!

She held her breath and carefully followed the scent forward. Just as she avoided the bushes that blocked her view, the scene by the pool made her gasp.

It was a humanoid object, its entire body swollen.

It was so bloated that it was floating on the edge of the murky pool, its whole body deformed and its features so distorted that it was impossible to recognize it!

From the swelling of the corpse

Judging from the degree of swelling and the pervasive stench, this thing had been soaking in the water for at least a day or two, and it floated to the surface yesterday.

Lin Baozhu's mind raced: If the human traffickers were hiding here, they would never leave a corpse exposed in broad daylight! This stench would eventually attract villagers who were gathering firewood or herding sheep on the mountain. Once they reported it to the brigade, the police would surely come to investigate, wouldn't that expose their own secrets?

The conclusion is clear: the human traffickers' hideout is most likely not near this pond. But since a body was found here, it must be reported to the police.

She suppressed her churning stomach, glanced one last time at the floating corpse, then turned without hesitation and quickly retraced her steps out of the woods. A secret escape.

Lin practically started running, sprinting towards the village.

Lin Baozhu glanced at the corpse, then returned the way she came...

As they approached the village, she panicked, tears streaming down her face. Upon seeing the brigade leader in the crowd, she cried out, "Brigade leader, something terrible has happened!"

Lin Tiezhu, who was arguing animatedly with several veteran commune members about the soil moisture problem, was startled by this howling scream, and his precious pipe fell to the muddy ground at his feet with a "thud".

The captain winced in distress, quickly bent down to pick it up, and vigorously wiped it on his coarse cloth jacket while glaring at Lin Baozhu with annoyance: "You brat! What are you yelling about? Your captain here eats well and sleeps soundly. I could climb all the way to Nanshan Ridge in one go and be fine! I'll live to at least ninety-nine if I don't live to a hundred!"

Lin Baozhu leaned against the tree, slightly out of breath.

After resting for a while, he pointed towards the back mountain with a pale face and said, "The brigade leader is dead! There's a dead body in the pond behind the mountain!"

The old captain managed to steady the pipe in his hand, which fell to the ground again. He struggled to steady his trembling legs and said, stammering, "Look...look carefully? It really is...a person?"

"How can this be bad? That person was indeed bloated from being soaked."

Lin Baozhu patted her chest, nodding vigorously with lingering fear: "That person was soaked to a crisp."

"It looks human... but... but it's definitely a dead person! If you don't believe me, quickly send two people with me... to take a look!" Her voice was filled with suppressed panic and lingering fear. Of course, all of this was an act. The original owner was a village girl, and it wouldn't be in line with her character to be too calm upon seeing a corpse.

Lin Baozhu's shout was like a thunderclap from a clear sky. The once noisy and bustling Yangchang seemed to be paused, and then a chaotic discussion broke out in the crowd.

"Someone died? This back mountain is usually frequented by people from our village, and we've never heard of anyone going missing."

"Hey, I heard a couple of days ago that a former educated youth from Tianzhuang Brigade went missing and hasn't been found yet. Tianzhuang isn't that far from here..."

The captain took a deep breath, looked at the chaotic winnowing, and shouted, "Stop arguing! Baozhu, lead the way!"

"Um!"

Lin Baozhu responded, and Old Man You's face was no longer as pale and frightening as before!

The captain's gaze swept across the crowd: "Tiesheng, Gangzi, Dazhu, Shitou, you guys grab your weapons and come with me. The rest of you stay here."

As he spoke, his gaze swept over several elderly women who were eagerly standing on tiptoe to peek, and he said unhappily, "What are you all looking at? Why are you getting involved in this kind of thing?"

The people being talked about pursed their lips but dared not refute.

Although they couldn't go in person, their desire to watch the excitement didn't diminish in the slightest. They stood together in groups of three or two, chattering away about their guesses.

*

Lin Baozhu led the captain to the pond. When the people saw the corpse in the water, they all turned pale and were filled with terror. Some of the more timid ones even vomited while holding onto the tree trunk.

The captain hurriedly walked out of the woods, and in his haste, he tripped and fell, his shoe flying off...

"Quickly, report it to the police! Report it immediately!!"

As he spoke, the brigade leader got up from the ground and hurriedly instructed the others: "Tiesheng, you ride the brigade's bicycle and take me to town. Gangsheng and Dazhu, you two stay here and don't let anyone come near. Wait for us to come back."

Although he was afraid, he remained relatively clear-headed. Only when he was about to leave did he suddenly remember Lin Baozhu beside him.

“Baozhu, it’s dangerous here. You go back to the village with Tiesheng. Don’t forget to whip it with willow branches to get rid of the bad luck. Leave this to us adults.”

Lin Baozhu gave a soft "hmm," said nothing more, and turned to walk quickly back to the village road...

As soon as Lin Baozhu stepped into her own courtyard, she saw Lin Erlang, Lin Sanlang, and Lin's mother pacing back and forth anxiously!

"Oh my, my little darling!"

When Lin's mother saw her return, she rushed over and grabbed her arms, looking her up and down and front and back several times. She breathed a long sigh of relief when she saw that her clothes were unharmed except for some mud.

Then she reached out and poked her arm, her voice full of worry: "You silly girl, what were you doing at the river fork? You almost scared your mother to death."