There are thirty boxes in the secret room. Except for the first box which contains gold and silver jewelry, the remaining twenty-nine boxes all contain corpses. Five of the boxes contain skeletons, which suggests that these five people were the first to die and be put into the boxes.

The remaining twenty-five boxes contained rotting, unrecognizable corpses; these people must have died within the last few years…

Who could be so ruthless and insane?

After seeing so many dead bodies, the three of them lost all interest in taking any jewelry. Their stomachs clenched and they almost vomited. After a moment of stunned silence, the three of them stumbled out of the Water Curtain Cave.

"Ugh..." The three of them gagged in unison, feeling so happy to breathe in fresh air.

"Waaaaah, I'm never coming to this awful place again!" Song Tantan cried out, almost pounding her chest in despair.

“…Go back first, we’ll have to come back again.” Song Zhuiyan’s face was deathly pale, and she spoke in a weak voice.

Ye Moxun was the calmest. He gagged a few times, then sat on the icy pool in a daze. After a long while, he said, "Since we've run into them, we should bury these people and let their souls rest in peace."

Song Zhuiyan understood exactly what she meant. She nodded, got up, and prepared to go back and discuss it with others before bringing more people to help bury the people inside.

"Ah Xun, Ah Xun... Miss Song, Tan Tan, where are you?" It was Zhong Qingyi who came looking for them.

“Uncle, we’re here.” Ye Moxun’s response was not loud.

However, Zhong Qingyi had practiced martial arts since childhood and had exceptional hearing. Even though his nephew responded very softly, he still heard him and soon found the waterfall.

"Ah Xun, are you alright? What happened?" Ye Moxun's face was deathly pale, unlike her usual ashen complexion, clearly indicating that she had been frightened.

"Miss Song, Tan Tan, how are you?" What happened? Why did even Miss Song collapse to the ground?

Song Zhuiyan waved her hand weakly and said in a low voice, "Let's talk about it when we get back. Something big has happened."

Zhong Qingyi's expression changed. She put Ye Moxun on her back, picked up Song Tantan with one hand, and supported Song Zhuiyan with the other, walking step by step towards the village.

After leaving the waterfall and returning to the village, Song Zhuiyan recovered considerably. She was no longer terrified, her mood gradually calmed down, and she regained some energy, no longer needing Zhong Qingyi's support to walk.

"I can walk by myself now." Song Tantan struggled to jump to the ground. She couldn't see the ice curtain cave anymore, and she wasn't so scared. Her short legs were no longer weak and unable to walk.

Zhong Qingyi originally intended to take them home to rest first, but Song Zhuiyan said she needed to find Lin Fuhai. "This matter can't be delayed. Let's go and discuss it with Village Chief Lin." Lin Fuhai was still serving as the village chief, but for any important matters, he had to discuss them with Song Zhuiyan and Zhong Qingyi.

In Songlin Village, Song Zhuiyan and Zhong Qingyi wield absolute power.

It was already mid-afternoon. The villagers had found a lot of prey in the traps that morning and were overjoyed. They spent the whole day excitedly sharing the spoils. After lunch, they couldn't sit still and went to check the various traps on their skateboards to see if there was any prey.

Although they returned empty-handed, everyone was in a good mood. As soon as Lin Fuhai got home, he saw Song Zhuiyan and Zhong Qingyi sitting in the main room of his house.

Seeing their solemn expressions and the fact that they appeared together, seemingly waiting for his return, he sensed something was amiss. "Miss Song, Young Master Zhong, what's going on?"

By the time Lin Fuhai returned, Song Zhuiyan had already told Zhong Qingyi about the matter, and now Zhong Qingyi was going to tell Lin Fuhai.

"...So many lives lost at once, I wonder if it was all the work of one person. I don't know why the murderer left here." Zhong Qingyi's expression was unusually serious. Everyone had finally managed to make bricks and tiles here, build houses and settle down, thinking they could finally live a peaceful life.

But the thirty corpses in the Water Curtain Cave behind the waterfall told them that this place was not safe, but even very dangerous, and that a serial killer may have once lived here.

Lin Fuhai was a smart man, and he quickly came to the same conclusion. His face turned pale instantly. "This villain could come back at any time. We don't know where he's hiding. It's impossible to guard against him."

“We’ve lived here for over three months and haven’t seen that person. I think there are two possibilities.” Song Zhuiyan’s mind was racing.

"What two possibilities?" Lin Fuhai stared at her, his eyes wide.

"One possibility is that the villain went deep into the mountains and was eaten by wild animals, or he got lost and can't get out for the time being. Another possibility is that he left this place, but a sudden rainstorm caused a mudslide, so he can't come back." Of course, this is just her guess.

Zhong Qingyi nodded. "That makes sense, but it's very likely that there's more than one bad guy; there could be three or five."

Why not say it's a group? Because the stone house can only accommodate about five people at most, and the Water Curtain Cave is too damp to be suitable for living.

Of course, this is just speculation.

Regardless of the reason, the perpetrators should not return for the time being, or rather, they cannot return; they are safe for the time being.

"I was thinking, since we've stumbled upon them, shouldn't we bury those corpses and let those poor people rest in peace?" Ever since Song Zhuiyan saw the dead bodies in those boxes, she had been restless and felt that she needed to do something to put her mind at ease.

"What if we alert them?" Lin Fuhai was worried and couldn't make up his mind.

"Gather everyone in the village and tell them to keep their doors and windows closed from now on and not to go out without permission," Song Zhuiyan said in a deep voice.

Lin Fuhai looked at Zhong Qingyi, who nodded. Lin Fuhai then stood in the courtyard and started banging the gong. This gong was originally kept in the stone house. Thinking of this, Lin Fuhai stopped banging the gong and hurriedly went inside.

"This gong was given to me by you, Miss Song. It must belong to a villain. If I strike it, won't that alert the villain that someone is here? What if he's lost in the deep mountains and hears the gong and follows the sound?" He was really worried to death.

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