The autumn night wind, though not as cold as winter's, still chills the heart.
There was no moon in the sky, only a few stars hanging far away on the horizon. The towering mountains, like standing giants, seemed to be eyeing this sparsely populated, nameless village with menacing intent.
When the night is deep and quiet, the sounds of every blade of grass and every tree around us are especially attractive to our attention.
Xiang Wan walked alone on the country path, her footsteps so light they were almost floating.
A rustling sound came from afar.
Not long after, a very faint call of a cuckoo was heard, and an echo rang out in the distance.
Xiang Wan hurried forward and arrived at an abandoned thatched hut in an unnamed village. He pressed his body tightly against the wall and looked out through the cracks.
A group of masked men, each carrying a large knife, silently crouched as they approached the village entrance.
The leader held a torch, the flame illuminating his fleshy face.
"Master, it's him!"
Du Juan's angry voice rang in her ears. Xiang Wan nodded, signaling her not to alert the enemy.
Having seen her memories, how could Xiang Wan not know this person?
I never imagined that the person who survived the massacre of the village in my previous life would be the culprit!
"Wang Er, are you sure everyone is in the village and no one has gone out and not returned?"
"Don't worry, it's always been these people. Now that this place is cut off from the outside world, don't leave any survivors. From now on, I'll be in charge of everything."
"That's ruthless!"
"Stop talking nonsense and get to work."
"Brothers, charge!"
A dozen masked men carrying knives walked past Wang Er, lit a few torches, and spotted the nearest house. They inserted daggers into the door cracks and pried open the bolt.
Three burly men tiptoed inside, while the rest waited outside.
Xiang Wan quietly retreated, jumped out of the window on the other side, leaped into the backyard of the house, and entered the room through the window onto the roof beam.
The family was fast asleep, the three of them huddled together on a kang (a heated brick bed).
The three robbers exchanged glances, and one of them took out a handkerchief, about to cover the mouth and nose of the house's occupant. Xiang Wan waved her hand, and dust drifted down. In less than three seconds, everyone in the house collapsed to the ground.
Xiang Wan jumped down, immobilized the three robbers with acupressure, dragged them to the corner, and waited quietly behind the door.
Half an hour later, someone couldn't contain himself and muttered, "Why did it take so long? Boss, should I go check?"
The leader nodded, and three more robbers entered.
Xiang Wan used the same trick again, binding them all together.
Another quarter of an hour passed, and the remaining men sensed something was wrong. The bandit leader led the group inside, knives in hand. Wang Er, however, quietly retreated, found a place to extinguish his torch, and hid.
There were about seven or eight people coming. If we couldn't take them all down at once, a fight could easily injure the homeowner.
This time, Xiang Wan could no longer hide. Ying Mian walked towards them and, without saying a word, threw a handful of powder over their heads and faces.
The bandit leader, who was at the back, sensed something was wrong and quickly covered his mouth and nose before retreating.
When those men saw Xiang Wan, they swung their knives to slash, but the knives were too weak to lift in mid-air and they all fell to the ground, leaving only the bandit leader and his men who hadn't inhaled much of the drug powder still standing.
Who is here?
The bandit leader watched Xiang Wan warily, gripping his broadsword tightly with both hands in a defensive stance.
Xiang Wan drew her exorcism sword and smiled coldly, "Ghost appraiser!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than the sword was swung out, aimed straight at the bandit leader's face.
The remaining two robbers rushed over to stop them.
These are all desperate criminals; otherwise, they wouldn't have committed such a heinous act as massacring a village.
Xiang Wan showed no mercy, each strike aimed straight for vital points. Wherever the sword light touched, blood seeped from wrists and ankles.
To avoid causing unnecessary trouble, Xiang Wan also silenced them by pressing their pressure points when she made her move.
Why not freeze?
Nonsense, how can they feel the despair of being slaughtered and powerless to resist if they don't fight back?
When dealing with vicious bandits, Xiang Wan always preferred to fight fire with fire. But she couldn't kill anyone, so how could she let them get away so easily?
"Dujuan, you can go find Wang Er now. Remember, he can't die."
Xiang Wan opened the cloth bag and released the cuckoo.
"Okay, thank you, Master!"
Du Juan leaped over the bandit leader.
"Ah, ah!" The three sober bandits watched the ghost float by, their mouths agape, unable to utter a sound, their eyes almost popping out of their sockets.
Xiang Wan picked up the torch that had fallen to the ground, leaned closer to the bandit leader, and gave a sinister smile, "Don't be hasty, the show has only just begun."
The dim firelight illuminated a pale yet ghostly face, and the bandit leader was so frightened that he quickly closed his eyes.
People like them are not afraid of getting blood on their faces when they kill, and they are reckless when they have a knife in their hand. They only become afraid when they can no longer hold the knife or stand up.
Xiang Wan got up, picked them up one by one, and threw them all into the uninhabited thatched hut.
Having committed so many evils, they must reap the consequences before facing official punishment. It wasn't much; it was merely a nightmare woven by Xiang Wan for all of them, releasing their deepest fears and swapping identities with those they had harmed. Besides, how could they not personally experience the massacre that all the villagers, young and old, had endured in their previous lives?
It's still a long way from dawn.
"Wang Er~~~Wang Er~~~"
A cuckoo drifted past Wang Er, and a chill ran from his heels to the tips of his hair, raising goosebumps all over his body.
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