Chapter 75 Sister Fang didn't deceive or force him; he paid her...
Taking advantage of Bai Yuan's distraction as he turned his head, Liang Youyi brandished his knife and rose up, intending to strike first by surprise.
However, his rudimentary skills were hardly enough. Bai Yuan easily snatched the long knife with a twist of his wrist and placed it against Liang Youyi's neck: "If you want to avenge your daughter, why are you arresting Doctor Ding?"
His movements were as swift as lightning; with a knife to his neck, Liang Youyi dared not make a move: "Who exactly are you? What are you doing here?!"
"Didn't you bring me here?!"
Liang Youyi stared in disbelief: "What...? You were following me!"
Bai Yuan didn't waste any words: "What about the others?"
"What other people?"
"Don't play dumb with me. At least a dozen people have gone missing from Fengkou Village in the past two weeks. Where are the others?"
Liang Youyi replied coldly, "I don't know."
"Did you kill him or hide him somewhere?"
"I only tied up these few."
"If you don't talk, I'll send you back to the county government office."
Liang Youyi remained unfazed, repeating, "I only tied up these few."
Bai Yuan stared into his eyes: "You killed someone, thinking you've avenged your daughter? It's a pity Liang Taohua didn't die at Wang Sanhu's hands; you killed the wrong person."
Upon hearing this, Liang Youyi abruptly turned his head, his eyes widening in disbelief. After a moment, he suddenly turned sinister: "So what if you killed the wrong person? He deserved to die. What do you know? How much do you know? Who else killed Tao Hua?"
Bai Yuan twisted his wrist, and the long knife shot out, embedding itself in the cave wall.
Liang Youyi was stunned for a moment: "You..."
“I don’t know, but I’m here to find the real culprit,” Bai Yuan said. “Actually, whether you kidnap someone or kill someone, I don’t really want to get involved, but if you wrongfully kill someone, it will easily cause me trouble.”
Liang Youyi didn't understand: "What do you mean?"
"It means that you can take revenge, but you cannot kill someone unjustly."
"Everyone in Fengkou Village knows that Peach Blossom was killed by Wang Sanhu. He deserved to die!"
Without any evidence, Bai Yuan didn't bother arguing with him and turned to walk towards Doctor Ding.
"What are you doing?!" Liang Youyi shouted, about to take action to stop him.
Bai Yuan subtly shifted his body, kicking Liang Youyi in the back of the knee with his toe, causing the latter to kneel on one knee. At the same time, Liang Youyi grabbed the knife on the cave wall, pulled it out forcefully, and the blade sliced straight for Bai Yuan's neck.
With a mere hair's breadth of difference, Bai Yuan remained unmoved, his fingers clamping down on the incoming blade. Liang Youyi suddenly exerted force but could not gain an inch, then felt a sharp pain in his abdomen and was swept away.
Having taken a real, hard blow, Liang Youyi suddenly vomited a mouthful of blood, curled up and clutched his abdomen, his face contorted in pain as if his internal organs had ruptured.
Bai Yuan hadn't expected that flesh and blood would be so easily kicked; she had only given it a light kick—or rather, a very light one. She tried to go forward to check, but as soon as she took a step, Liang Youyi reacted as if facing a formidable enemy, his face turning pale with horror. He coughed up blood and scrambled to his feet, fleeing the cave as if Bai Yuan behind him were some kind of monstrous flood.
Bai Yuan immediately stopped: Was he afraid of her?
She didn't want to hurt anyone, but her internal energy was sometimes sluggish and sometimes blocked, making it difficult to control her movements. This was entirely due to the person who had plotted against her from behind.
After all, this person had the audacity to pull out a knife and slit her throat; he deserved to suffer this fate and had no one to blame but himself.
Liang Youyi, clutching his aching stomach, had only taken a few steps when he collapsed and lay motionless.
Surely he can't just die like this?
Bai Yuan stepped forward to check his pulse. Fortunately, he had only fainted and was out of danger. So he temporarily ignored Liang Youyi and turned to untie Doctor Ding. The three people beside him rushed over and made "woof woof" sounds to Bai Yuan to help.
Bai Yuan noticed that the other three had various injuries from torture, while Ding Langzhong was only in a sorry state, with minor abrasions on his head, face, and arms.
After being bound for two days, Dr. Ding's old bones were stiff and numb; he couldn't even stretch them after being untied. His mouth was also numb from being stuffed with coarse cloth for so long, making his speech incoherent: "Girl..."
Bai Yuan completely ignored the other three people who had come from the cocoon and asked Doctor Ding, "How did you end up being tied up here by Liang Youyi? Where's the coachman?"
"We got lost on our way back, and the carriage suddenly went out of control in the woods!" Doctor Ding rubbed his cheek and straightened his tongue.
How could the carriage have gone out of control?
"How terrifying!" In his panic, Doctor Ding grabbed Bai Yuan's wrist. "We've stumbled upon something!"
Bai Yuan frowned, his lowered gaze fixed on the hand that Doctor Ding was holding, and he forced himself not to pull away: "What is that?"
Doctor Ding was very agitated: "It's something unclean! There's something unclean in the forest! I saw it with my own eyes!"
The three people who had come from the pupa froze.
Bai Yuan: "What kind of thing?"
"The figure looked like a pale white shadow in the fog. There was a group of them, seemingly suspended in mid-air, floating without their feet touching the ground, carrying some kind of box—no, no, not a box, but a sedan chair. They were carrying sedan chairs. The driver and I were so scared that we abandoned the carriage and ran like mad. We got separated while running, and I don't know where I ended up. Then I bumped into that person," Dr. Ding pointed to Liang Youyi outside the cave where he had fainted. "It was the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere. I didn't know if he was a human or a ghost. I was so scared that I turned around and ran away. I didn't expect him to catch up and hit me. When I woke up, I was tied up here."
Clearly, Liang Youyi thought that the suddenly appearing Doctor Ding had discovered his kidnapping of villagers, and fearing that Doctor Ding would cause trouble, he tied Doctor Ding up as well.
He knew that Ding Langzhong was not a villager of Fengkou Village and had nothing to do with Liang Taohua's affairs, so he clearly distinguished between gratitude and resentment and did not cause any harm.
In just two days, Doctor Ding was quite frightened and his nerves were on edge: "Quick, girl, we must go and report to the authorities. That man... he killed someone."
"Who did Liang Youyi kill?" Bai Yuan wondered. Could it be that Liang Youyi killed all the other villagers?
“That guy is called Fang, Fang something,” Ding Langzhong pointed to the other three, “They know. They were imprisoned here and saw it with their own eyes. If you don’t believe me, ask them.”
The other three nodded vigorously.
Bai Yuan pulled out the coarse cloth that was used to gag one of the men: "Who did Liang Youyi kill?"
The man immediately cried for help, repeatedly begging the innocent man to release him.
"I'm asking you, who did Liang Youyi kill?"
"Sister Fang, he killed Sister Fang, he will definitely kill us all too. Girl, please save us and let us go."
This man had a pointed mouth and monkey-like face. He asked the innocent man, "What's your name?"
"My name is Ma He."
Bai Yuan: "Horse Pointed Mouth?"
Ma Jianzui was surprised that the other person recognized him and nodded blankly.
Bai Yuan pointed to the short, thin woman beside him: "Her name is Sun Xiaoniang?"
Sun Xiaoniang, whose name was called, nodded even before Ma Jianzui.
So, the remaining one, could it be: "Old He Si"?
Old He nodded repeatedly in agreement.
After confirming their identities, Bai Yuan removed the "seal" from their mouths, but was in no hurry to untie them: "I have some questions for you to ask. You must answer truthfully and not hide anything. Once things are cleared up, I will naturally untie you."
The three of them asked in unison, "What did you say?"
"Besides the three of you, Cao Dali, and Sister Fang, has Liang Youyi kidnapped anyone else?"
All three shook their heads.
Bai Yuan harbored doubts, but did not dwell on the matter too much. Instead, he asked Liang Youyi why he killed Sister Fang.
Of course, it was that damned Cao Dali who caused all this trouble. They were just gossiping behind each other's backs, offering well-intentioned or ill-intentioned reminders, but they never expected that their words would lead to disaster. They became the ones who knew the truth and were captured and severely tortured by Liang Youyi.
As is often the case, where there are many people, there is much gossip. When people sit together with nothing to do, they gossip about everyone else's family, digging up every possible piece of gossip. A few kind words are quickly exchanged, but baskets full of unpleasant rumors can be poured out. Especially the simple-minded woman Cao Dali brought back, who has been constantly shamed by gossip, even when villagers laugh at her to her face as a slut, she remains oblivious to their insults.
Whether the cause was Cao Dali saving Liang Taohua, or whether Cao Dali was originally the source of all evil, no one can say for sure.
Even though Liang Youyi tortured him severely, Cao Dali stubbornly refused to admit it, insisting with tears streaming down his face that he had saved Xiaohua and was also the victim. This was one of the reasons why Liang Youyi never killed him.
Liang Youyi hated the people of Fengkou Village with a passion that made him grit his teeth, because his beloved Taohua had suffered humiliation and died there.
Inside the cave were stone tables and benches, covered in dried bloodstains. According to the three men, Liang Youyi would tie them to the tables and benches in turn and torture them, asking about Liang Taohua's experiences in Fengkou Village over the past two or three years, who had hit her, cursed her, and humiliated her.
Bai Yuan had learned some things from Cao Dali before, and it would be unbearable for a father to hear those things, let alone Liang Youyi tortured these people who knew the truth to make them tell the whole story.
After releasing Cao Dali, the authorities arrested Wang Sanhu. His colleagues in prison turned a blind eye, allowing Liang Youyi to interrogate him at will as long as no one died during his detention. Under the torture of having his teeth pulled out with pliers, Wang Sanhu finally confessed that he had not tricked or forced anyone, and that he had paid for it.
While Cao Dali was away on his journey, Xiao Hua was taken care of by Sister Fang. As long as he paid her, Sister Fang would wash Xiao Hua and bring her to his kang (heated brick bed) in his cave dwelling.
Sun Xiaoniang, Ma Jianzui, and He Laosi were completely unaware of this matter. They only learned about it after being kidnapped and interrogated by Liang Youyi. They discovered that Sister Fang had been secretly engaging in such shady dealings.
There are no brothels or pleasure houses in these poor, remote places. Even if there were, these villagers, who are penniless, couldn't afford to go.
So, readily available fools, regardless of cost, can be squandered and sold cheaply. Just a few copper coins can be leaked through the fingers, or salt or grain can be exchanged for them.
Some men have wives and it's inconvenient to bring them home so their wives won't find out. Sister Fang even specially set aside a cave dwelling for Xiao Hua to live in. As a result, whenever a man pushes open the door to enter the room, Xiao Hua will habitually take off her clothes.
Even someone as cold-blooded as Bai Yuan felt a surge of anger upon hearing this, and it's no wonder that Liang Youyi took such drastic measures.
Sun Xiaoniang said in a chill, "That Liang Youyi is a ruthless man. He tied Sister Fang to a stone bench and stuck needles into her ten fingers. The needles were so long that he didn't pull them out. He interrogated her about who she knew. Sister Fang named more than ten or twenty people." They were all men from Fengkou Village, including some old men in their sixties or seventies.
Bai Yuan coldly asked, "Did Cao Dali know about this?"
He Laosi chimed in, "Although they didn't have a wedding ceremony, that idiot is still Cao Dali's wife. How could she possibly let him know? She must have done this behind his back."
“To be honest, Cao Dali treated this idiot really well before,” Sun Xiaoniang said frankly. “I live across the hall from him, and I’ve never seen him beat or scold him. When the idiot knocked over a flour sack and rolled around in it, he would always pull him up and clean him up first, and tell Xiaohua not to thrash around. He never got angry. If it were me, seeing her wasting grain like that, I would have grabbed a stick and beaten her to a pulp.”
It was because Sun Xiaoniang said that Cao Dali treated Xiaohua well that Liang Youyi didn't kill Cao Dali with a single blow.
However, he showed no mercy to Wang Sanhu, nor did he show any leniency to Sister Fang. He arrested these people to find out clearly how the people of Fengkou Village treated Xiaohua and how they heartlessly and cruelly killed her.
Xiaohua was pregnant, and Sister Fang had forced her to take medicine twice, resulting in two abortions and causing her great suffering. Perhaps the simpleton had learned her lesson, because later when she was forced to drink bitter medicine, she refused no matter what, and even if she was forced to, she would vomit it up. Sun Xiaoniang said, "It was just a coincidence that the simpleton had particularly severe morning sickness this time, vomiting everything she ate and drank, so she vomited up all the medicine. The baby was steadily growing in her belly, and it was Cao Dali who came back from his journey that discovered it."
Coupled with the various rumors circulating in the village, Cao Dali simply kicked the idiot out of his house and let Wang Sanhu take him back.
Wang Sanhu didn't have the patience to serve a fool, nor could he tolerate her stupidity and idiocy. Besides, he had to do everything himself, from eating and drinking to relieving himself. So, not long after, he kicked Xiaohua out of the house.
Since Cao Dali doesn't want it anymore, and everyone can trample on an unclaimed fool, who would be willing to spend money?
Little Flower was abandoned outside like a tattered rag, and from then on, she had nowhere to go and nowhere to go.
"Sister Fang took money and provisions from Cao Dali, then turned around and took money and provisions from others, selling the idiot back and forth," Sun Xiaoniang said indignantly, her conscience not yet dead. "Any family's daughter would hate someone so much that she would want to tear them to pieces if she were treated like this. It's no wonder that Liang Youyi pricked her fingers with needles, pulled out all ten of her fingernails, and tortured her to death."
Bai Yuan frowned, suddenly remembering the severed hand in the mass grave: "Did Liang Youyi also use the torture device on her?"
Without a second thought, Sun Xiaoniang nodded: "Yes, I have."
Bai Yuan: "Where is Sister Fang's body?"
Sun Xiaoniang: "Liang Youyi threw her into a mass grave."
Bai Yuan: "When?"
Sun Xiaoniang: "Just a few days ago."
It matches up.
A few days ago, the masked man killed Xiao Tiezhu. Old Zhang and his wife went to find a matchmaker to find a bone lining for their child. At night, when they passed through a mass grave, suddenly a hand grabbed Tiezhu's mother's ankle tightly...
The elderly Mr. and Mrs. Zhang, terrified, thought they had encountered a ghost, but it was actually Sister Fang who was still alive.
Driven by fear, the couple not only chopped off one of each other's hands but also smashed Fang's head to pieces.
Bai Yuan recalled that Zhou Yaren had told her something that morning: he had found the skeleton and human skin of the person who had lost a hand in the mass grave, and he knew immediately that it was the work of that Gu master.
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