The previously chaotic crowd in Widow Zhao's courtyard quieted down considerably upon hearing my words.

The village team leader looked at me and frowned, saying, "The cause of death of these two sheep is unknown. They were likely carrying germs. Before leaving, Captain Zhang from the Public Security Bureau instructed me to burn the sheep carcasses, then bury them deeply with lime for harmless disposal."

"You've misunderstood. I didn't buy this sheep to eat."

I smiled at the team leader: "I'm a biology college student. I came with my relatives to Uncle Xiong's place to buy mountain products. We wanted to do some research while we were at it. I just heard that a sheep in the village was killed by bats, so I wanted to come and take a look. Don't worry, I'm not buying this sheep to eat. I just want to check it out. I'll cook it myself after I'm done."

Widow Zhao immediately perked up: "Captain, did you hear that? He's willing to buy my sheep, and he's not doing it to eat them, so there's no problem, right?"

"Alright, but after the sheep is sold, you're not allowed to cause any trouble!"

The captain was worried about how to deal with Widow Zhao's matter. When he saw me step forward, he said to Old Xiong, "You have to keep an eye on this. I'm leaving it to you. That sheep absolutely cannot be eaten."

"Don't worry, I've been hunting my whole life, how could I not know something like this?"

Old Xiong agreed, then waved to the crowd: "Alright, everyone stop watching here, it's over, everyone disperse!"

After Old Xiong finished speaking, the villagers felt that there was nothing more to see and dispersed.

After the captain and the others left, Widow Zhao turned her gaze to Old Xiong: "Old Xiong, my husband is a distant relative of yours. By rights, he should call you Third Cousin. You wouldn't be conspiring with the captain and the others to lie to me, would you?"

"Don't worry, sister, I'll buy your sheep."

I smiled at the woman, then took out my wallet, pulled out all the cash inside, counted it, and handed it to her: "I have a total of 1,800 or 1,900 here, is that alright?"

Widow Zhao looked at me unreasonably: "Are you kidding me? These are all adult male rams. They'd be worth at least 1,500 each if you transported them outside the mountains!"

"That's enough for you. If they hadn't wanted to buy it today, you wouldn't have gotten that 1,800 yuan! Erlaizi already told me that the insurance company paid you 1,000 yuan, and the forestry department's compensation hasn't arrived yet. So, in the end, you're not losing any money."

Old Xiong scolded, "They bought your sheep just to do a survey. They won't even eat them. They're already being generous by giving you money. If you keep making trouble, I'll take them away."

"Okay, okay, I'll take the loss."

Widow Zhao took the money and, feigning innocence, said, "Hurry up and get these two sheep out of here. What kind of place is it with so many of you gathered in my house, a widow's house?"

After we bought the two sheep from Widow Zhao, we carried them out of the yard and found a secluded open space to inspect them.

I used my flashlight to examine the sheep carcass in front of me and found that its neck was stained with blood. I parted the wool to check and found two bloody holes about three centimeters apart on its skin, as if it had been pierced by nails.

I used a knife to cut the wool around the wound and asked Xu Le beside me, "Take a look, was this wound caused by a zombie?"

"uncertain."

Xu Le shook his head at me: "This is the first time I've ever seen a zombie. I've never seen wounds caused by a zombie before, but according to the records, it doesn't seem like it."

Old Song interrupted, asking, "What's the problem? Is the spacing too small?"

"No, there are too few teeth marks."

Xu Le explained, "As far as I know, zombies suck blood by using their four fangs with pores to draw blood from their targets. However, these two sheep only have two tooth marks on them, which doesn't match what I know."

I turned to ask, "I remember you said before that when you created the zombie, you removed its teeth and nails to prevent it from hurting people. Is it possible that the people creating the zombie here, to prevent it from hurting people and to prevent it from being caught too easily, only removed its two lower teeth?"

"It's okay, that's not possible."

Xu Le used his knife to cut open the sheep's carcass and continued, "This sheep has been drained of blood, and there's only one tooth mark on its body. If there was only one bat, it probably wouldn't have been able to suck so much blood... Uncle Xiong, we need to go into the mountains to find the place where these two sheep carcasses are. Is that convenient?"

“I am your guide, so what’s inconvenient about it?”

Old Xiong wasn't a talkative man. After agreeing, he added, "There are many rules in these mountains. You can go into the mountains if you want, but once you're in the forest, you have to listen to me."

"no problem."

Xu Le nodded, then added after a moment's thought, "Uncle Xiong, you know what we're here for. If your ban aligns with our objectives, we hope you can understand."

"I'm helping you to get things done, not to argue."

When Old Xiong heard what Xu Le said, he didn't say anything. After taking us to dispose of the two sheep carcasses, he went home to get a hunting rifle and led us into the woods outside the village.

Chanan Village was once an old forest farm. There used to be a railway line outside the village that led into the mountains, but it is now abandoned and the tracks are nowhere to be found. It has become a small path leading into the mountains.

Walking along the railway into the mountains, there are large areas of tree stumps on both sides of the road.

The forest here is different from the woods we've been in outside. We walked for about half an hour and finally stopped in front of an abandoned train station in a valley.

Upon arriving here, the surrounding trees have grown as thick as the pillars of ancient buildings. It is said that timber dealers who come here to illegally log timber can earn more by transporting just one such tree than they would in a year working in the south.

Xu Le saw that the railway had come to an end and asked Old Xiong, "Uncle Xiong, we've walked four or five kilometers, haven't we? Aren't the people from your village tired from traveling so far to herd sheep?"

“The sheep herders in our village are all Oroqen people, and they always carry guns when they go out to herd sheep! There are all kinds of wild animals in this forest. If the sheep flocks get too close to the village, they can easily attract some carnivores to the area around the village, threatening the safety of the villagers.”

Old Xiong shone his flashlight on a path leading up the mountain next to the abandoned station and walked ahead first: "You all line up behind me. Don't panic no matter what happens. There are many traps and snares left by hunters and poachers in this forest, and some of them are poisoned. They could be deadly."

Hearing what Old Bear said, we all became more vigilant and, armed with our weapons, entered the forest path.