Meng Chengxi: "He's really bold. I bet Shao Dong has a lot of yellow talismans on him."
“Yes, only someone with a lot of guts would do something so heinous.” Shi Jinzhe lifted his leg and walked inside. The snakes on the roadside scattered to both sides, revealing a path that could be walked on.
The houses in Shaodong look unremarkable from the outside; they are just the most common old bungalows in the village.
Seeing that the door was bolted, Meng Chengxi used his knife to pry open the bolt through the crack in the door, and the group pushed the door open and entered.
The room was old and worn. There were a few photos of him with TV reporters on the wall. The washbasin by the door had peeling paint on the edge and the base of the stand was shiny black. It looked like it had been used for many years.
The room was lit, but there was no sign of Shao Dong. Sheh directed Shi Jin to go to a side room.
It's more accurate to call it a storage room than a side room. It's filled with old and broken things: wooden stools with broken legs, moldy quilts, and many other items that you can only see in rural movies made in the 1980s and 90s.
Yet, this small storage room was spotless, with a clean wooden floor and a clean, one-square-meter open space in the center.
Shi Jin knelt down on the ground, making Sheh change his sitting position. He used his fingernails to feel the ground little by little and found a hidden clasp in the wood grain.
He pressed down with his finger, the latch unlocked, and when he pulled it, he found that the wooden board was locked from the inside.
"Shekh, I'll have to trouble you to open it."
Sheh bent down and touched the wooden floor with her hand. Centered on her fingertips, the brown wooden floor was like burning paper, with dark brown scorching lines appearing at the edges. The floor was burned through, and the metal lock underneath made a click.
She leaned out, her neck tilting downwards, and withdrew her hand. Scales grew on Shekh's feet, which were resting on Shi Jin's broken leg, and they gradually closed and lengthened.
Shi Jinzhe saw her prop herself up and take a step back: "Be careful."
Shao Dong must have made preparations for locking the door; he even has yellow talismans to ward off evil spirits. Who knows what strange things he might be doing down there?
Sheh lifted the door panel, her upper body almost parallel to the ground. She flicked her tongue and hissed twice, causing the snakes outside the house to stir.
Hiding in the basement, Shao Dong turned off the lights, held an old-fashioned hunting rifle in his hand, raised the muzzle to aim at the wooden board above, held his breath, and gradually pressed the trigger harder.
A cold wind blew in through the crack, and he shivered inexplicably. He immediately pulled the trigger, and just then, a blurry purple figure crashed in.
Shao Dong felt a sharp punch to his chest, and then he was thrown against the basement wall.
The hunting rifle was smashed to pieces, and he vomited a mouthful of blood. In the darkness, something wrapped around his body.
Powerful muscle groups surrounded Shao Dong in layers, and the fine, earthy scales made him realize that this was a snake, and a very large one at that.
Shi Jinzhe turned on the light, walked down the basement stairs, and saw Shao Dong tightly coiled up by a thick Burmese python.
Sheh stood at the top of the stairs, his hands clasped in front of him, his demeanor elegant, showing no trace of the brutality he had displayed when he had just lashed out at Shao Dong with his tail.
Shao Dong dared not breathe too loudly, fearing that the snake on his body would exert its strength again. He stared at Sheh, his pupils slightly dilated, revealing a sense of anxiety and unease.
"If you're not people who care about charity, then who are you?"
“We are your fathers.” Meng Chengxi led Chai Anan into the basement. Chen Shu and Li Jiaoyang, who had difficulty walking, were left upstairs with Qu Yang to keep watch.
He looked around and said sarcastically, "This basement is nicely decorated, like a luxury hotel."
He handed Shi Jinzhe two portable hard drives, saying, "They're full of videos he filmed. He's not just harassed those people outside; he's also harassed some girls. He's a real scumbag."
Meng Chengxi kicked Shao Dong hard twice in the face. "Chai Anan has been caught by us. You can't escape. Confess honestly."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
“I don’t know why I don’t dare to look at Chai Anan.” Sheh circled around Shao Dong, his snake tail coiling into a circle, trapping him inside.
“And Li Xin.” She pointed into the air, and a semi-transparent figure slowly appeared in a corner of the basement.
Li Xin was enveloped in mist, her severed neck lolling to the side; it was unclear when she had entered.
Shao Dong avoided eye contact, stubbornly insisting, "What are you talking about? What are you looking at? I can't see anything, uh..."
The Burmese python on his body writhed, and Shao Dong suddenly found it difficult to breathe, his face turning red from holding his breath.
With a wave of his hand, another figure appeared at the basement exit. "And Lin Xiaohe too."
The three girls were crammed into the basement, their deaths all exceptionally tragic. When Chai Anan saw Lin Xiaohe and Li Xin, he silently lowered his head.
Shekh didn't want to waste time: "Lin Xiaohe was killed by Chai Anan. I'm asking you how Chai Anan and Li Xin died."
"……I have no idea."
Seeing that Shao Dong remained silent, the python changed position, coiled around his neck, and exposed his arms, its purple tail hooking onto Shao Dong's arm.
With a sudden twist of his wrist, a scream erupted from the basement as Shao Dong's arm went limp on the floor, like a deflated rubber tube.
Upon hearing that sound, Meng Chengxi turned to Shi Jinzhe and muttered, "Even when I turn fresh celery, it doesn't make that crisp sound. This bone must have shattered into pieces..."
He paused, as if he had thought of something. This crushing bone fragmentation looked so much like how that blond player died.
"ah!"
Another scream rang out as Shao Dong's other arm was crushed as well.
He pleaded, "I'll talk, I'll talk, I'll tell you everything."
The yellow talisman was useless against this monster. No matter how long the stalemate continued, he couldn't escape. It hurt too much; he couldn't bear it any longer!
"Confess honestly."
Shao Dong nodded repeatedly, "Okay, okay, I'll confess honestly. You're right. It was Chai Anan who killed Lin Xiaohe. She took Lin Xiaohe into the woods and pushed her down, because she didn't want anyone to know what happened here."
Sheh glanced at Chai Anan, who lowered her head and made no comment.
"continue."
“A volunteer teacher named Qin Jingyu used to come here. That teacher was no pushover. These girls had all lost their virginity, but they still insisted on being witnesses because of her. After Lin Xiaohe disappeared, Li Xin, who knew about these things, suspected Chai Anan.”
She tried to get an opportunity from Chai Anan several times, but he couldn't find one. Then, when the business owners came to the village again, Li Xin, being beautiful and academically gifted, was specifically requested by one of them.
Shi Jinzhe asked, "Who is this boss, and what is his relationship with the Crown Group?"
"I don't know the specifics of their relationship, I only know he's very rich, everyone calls him Boss Huang, and he likes these young girls..."
Shao Dong smiled obsequiously, attempting to incite the vulgar desires of the other two men present, his words laced with male arrogance: "These days, even high school girls might not find virgins, so they have to be younger..."
The air in the basement grew even colder. Chai Anan, who hadn't reacted until now, became agitated, roaring as he jumped up, "Boss Huang... Boss Huang..."
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