Wang Ge felt extremely uncomfortable under Yan Ning's gaze, and after glancing at the drone, he completely panicked.

He forced an awkward smile, waving his hands haphazardly:

"Ahem, well, it's all a misunderstanding! Never mind, I, Wang Laowu, am not an unreasonable person."

"Stay if you want, stay as long as you want! Just ignore what I just said!"

Before he could finish speaking, he acted as if his backside was on fire, disregarding all pride, and abruptly turned around, rushed back into the house, and slammed the door shut.

When Yan Ning saw Brother Wang slink into the house, she didn't bother to say anything more.

Sun Wuji slapped his thigh and laughed, "Sister Ning, you're amazing! You made him run away with his tail between his legs after just a few words!"

Yan Ning simply replied, "If you don't want people to know, you'll only be safe from the consequences if you haven't done anything wrong."

[It has to be Yan Ning, he's just too strong!]

[Brother Wang got knocked out just like that, hahaha!!]

Would Brother Wang dare let anyone into his room? He wouldn't!

Yan Ning took out the crumpled map and looked at it in the dim light of the night.

"We're lucky," she said to everyone. "The road out of the valley happens to pass through Willow Village, so we can take care of Cuifang's matter along the way."

Alright!

Qi Minghao was the first to respond, "It's a good opportunity to go to the village and see if we can get a free meal?"

The next morning.

The group followed the directions indicated on the map. The mountain path was rugged, and their legs ached from walking.

The sun was almost directly overhead when a sparse cluster of houses finally appeared, perched crookedly on the earthen slope.

Several old willow trees at the village entrance drooped listlessly, their branches almost touching the ground.

The village was unusually quiet, exuding an air of desolation.

Just as they reached the muddy road at the village entrance, an old woman sewing shoe soles looked up and scanned them from head to toe.

She was wearing a faded blue cotton jacket, her face filled with astonishment:

"Hey! Where are you all from? Your outfits... tsk tsk, so flashy, like you're performing in a theatrical show!"

Qi Minghao, quick to speak, immediately put on a smiling face and leaned closer:

"Hello, ma'am! We're participating in an outdoor variety show. We're just passing through that deserted valley and stopping by our Willow Tree Village to rest."

The older woman's eyes immediately fell on Jiang Yao and Xie Huaiye, her face crinkling into a wide smile, as if she were seeing her own sons.

"Wow! These two young men are so handsome! They look like movie stars! Do they have girlfriends yet?"

"It's already past noon, you must be starving! Come on, let's go to Auntie's house, she just steamed some cornbread, all you can eat!"

As she spoke, she reached out to grab Xie Huaiye's arm.

Xie Huaiye had never seen anything like this before. His handsome face flushed slightly, and he quickly took half a step back, waving his hand awkwardly.

"Auntie, thank you, but you really don't need to! We...we want to ask you about someone."

This middle-aged woman's eyes lit up when she saw a handsome guy!

[I envy this auntie; she got to see two top-tier handsome men, Jiang Yao and Xie Huaiye!]

[Hilarious! Xie Shao's face is totally embarrassed, hahaha!]

The woman became even more enthusiastic when she heard that she was asking about someone; her eyes lit up.

"Who are you asking about? I know everyone in our village! Tell me, tell me!"

Xie Huaiye composed himself and asked, "Do you know a man in the village named Hunchback Zhang? Where does he live?"

"Hunchback Zhang?"

The smile on the middle-aged woman's face froze instantly, as if she had heard something offensive, and she curled her lip in disgust:

"Hey! Why bring up that old bachelor? He's over sixty, his wife doesn't even have a hair on her head, he's always so slovenly, who in the village wants to be with him? He's bad luck!"

She pointed to the end of the dirt road at the village entrance, "Look, it's huddled in that dilapidated old temple at the intersection!"

"Hey, what do you want with him?"

The older woman looked at the group of flashy young people with suspicion.

Yan Ning took a step forward, her eyes narrowed slightly, her gaze sharp, her voice not loud, but chilling:

"Let's settle some old scores with him. More than ten years ago, he killed a woman named Cuifang."

"Cui...Cuifang?!"

The woman gasped as if she'd been pricked by a needle, her eyes widening in shock.

The warmth from before vanished without a trace, leaving only fear on his face.

She waved her hands frantically and took two steps back:

"Oh my God... I had no idea! There's food stewing on the stove at home, and it's all burnt! I have to get back right away!"

After saying that, she didn't look back, picked up her small stool, and ran away in a flash.

[This middle-aged woman was so enthusiastic just a moment ago, but now she's running so fast!]

[Looks like this middle-aged woman isn't a good person after all!]

[He's probably done a lot of bad things; he ran away as soon as he heard the authorities were coming to settle scores!]

Yan Ning frowned slightly when he saw the old lady's reaction.

Following the direction the old woman pointed, everyone walked towards the intersection and indeed saw a dilapidated little temple.

The walls of the small temple were badly peeling, revealing the blackened adobe bricks underneath.

The door was crooked, the window paper was tattered, and weeds grew rampant at the temple entrance.

They exchanged glances, held their breath, and quickly moved closer.

Sun Wuji tentatively pushed the broken door, and it creaked open, revealing a crack.

When everyone looked inside, they saw a hunched figure huddled in a corner on a pile of tattered straw.

"Huff, huff, huff..."

He was snoring loudly, fast asleep.

A strange smell, a mixture of musty, sweaty, and other indescribable odors, wafted towards me.

Su Muyao frowned and muttered to herself:

"Ugh, it stinks! How many days has it been since you showered?"

"It really does smell terrible." Xia Wantang couldn't help but cover her nose as well.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!