The people of Chaimu Village grew to like the young couple more and more, because they were truly kind people. Life was hard for the villagers, and whenever someone in the village was sick and didn't have enough money, or if someone's son wanted to get married and didn't have enough money, they could ask the young couple for a loan. The young couple never refused and always lent the money to the villagers readily.
It can be said that this young couple has done a great service to the villagers, and the villagers are well aware of this and are grateful to them.
The following year, the young wife of that family became pregnant, and the young man was overjoyed. When the villagers encountered him, they often saw him grinning foolishly.
They thought they would live out their lives peacefully and happily in Chaimu Village, but at the end of that year, a heartbreaking thing suddenly happened.
When the young woman was about to give birth, their enemy suddenly appeared. It was a rich young man dressed in gorgeous clothes, dressed like a peacock, who led ten burly thugs and stormed into the village with a fierce look.
First, they beat the young man severely, then they forced the young wife to harass her. The husband couldn't bear to see his pregnant wife being bullied. Ignoring the pain, he broke free from the thugs' restraints like a wild beast, even grabbing a knife and killing the two burly men holding his wife like a madman.
He created an opportunity for his wife to escape, but his enemy stabbed him in the back. Even in his dying moments, he refused to fall, screaming with all his might, "Run! Run! Don't, don't worry about me! Live, live on..."
The young woman was in tears, but she was also a decisive person. She gritted her teeth and ran towards a small bamboo grove in the village. She had lived in Chaimu Village for more than a year and was familiar with the environment. She quickly shook off her pursuers and hid in a secluded corner.
After she calmed down, she quietly sneaked back to the village. She found the old village chief and begged him to help her. At that time, the population of Chaimu Village was twice as large as it is now.
There were over seven hundred people in total, but the one seeking revenge only brought ten. If the villagers had helped, they could have driven the villain away. However, the villagers were timid and afraid of trouble. They feared that the villain had powerful backers. How could ordinary people like them be a match for those powerful officials? They couldn't win.
Not daring to take action, they could only close their own gates and stay away from trouble.
The only problem is that this young couple is from outside the village. If something happened to someone from their village, the villagers would risk their lives to help them out of consideration for their shared kinship. After all, we are all in the same boat; if one suffers, we all suffer; if one prospers, we all prosper.
At the critical moment, no one came to help the young woman. She couldn't even retrieve her husband's body because her enemy had taken it away. She begged the old village chief to lead the villagers to stop them. She didn't ask for anything else, just to get her husband's body back.
But no one helped her. She cried until she had no tears left and her eyes were almost blind, but still no one helped her.
"Later she ran to the swamp to commit suicide, and we never saw that young lady again," the village chief sighed and then stammered, "until more than ten years ago, a strange man suddenly came to Chaimu Village. The strange man would appear at night and would harm the poultry and livestock every time he appeared. If any villagers ran out to stop him, they would be beaten and injured. If he angered him, he would kill people."
"So you also guessed that the young woman didn't die, and that she came back to take revenge, causing trouble for more than ten years?" Zhu Lin asked in a calm tone.
"That should be the case, but we've never seen the strange man's true face. You all saw that his hair was so long it dragged on the ground, you couldn't see his face."
After finishing his sentence, the village chief looked gloomy and said, "To be honest, it was really too much for no one in our village to stand up for her back then. After all, that young couple had helped many villagers, and many people still haven't paid them back."
The year after the young couple's accident, Chaimu Village was suddenly hit by a drought, followed by a locust plague. Many people couldn't survive and had to flee, so the village dwindled in number until only a few of us remained. The village elders all felt that it was retribution for everyone turning a blind eye to the young couple's misfortune.
"Why would a madman help you kill refugees?" This is really puzzling.
The village chief looked bewildered. "We don't know either. This story goes back ten years. At that time, natural disasters started happening in various places, and refugees often wandered into our village. That madman was quite skilled; every time refugees entered the village, he would suddenly appear."
Because of his appearance, everyone thought he was a monster. Anyone who saw him would be terrified. The refugees were no match for him. Some were scared out of their wits and fled the village in a panic. Others who couldn't escape were knocked unconscious with a single blow and dragged into the swamp. That's all I know.”
After waiting for a while, seeing that Zhu Lin didn't say anything more and that no one else seemed to want to ask, Zhang Xiantao felt that there was a question that everyone had overlooked, but it was really crucial. So she stepped forward, kicked the village chief, and spoke fiercely.
"Then why did you lure us into the swamp? Knowing that the swamp is filled with miasma, why did you deliberately lead us there? What were you up to?"
The village chief felt a sharp pain in his back from the kick, suspecting that the little girl had broken all the bones in his back. The girl was sturdy and fiery, and acted in a very impulsive and rough manner.
"Speak quickly." Zhang Xiantao pretended to kick him again.
The village chief quickly begged for mercy, "I'll talk, I'll talk, please stop kicking me, grandma! It's like this, we noticed the madman likes to pull people into the swamp, so we're trying to curry favor with him. When someone comes to the village to stay overnight, we deliberately lead them into the swamp."
This tactic works quite well. Once the madman has taken in his followers, he'll only come to the village to cause trouble after a long period of time. Otherwise, he'd come every night. For the sake of the village's peace, we..."
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