Half an hour later, next to the bed that Ji He had made, two other quilts were also tidied up. Ruan Qing'an, blushing, sat obediently to the side, while Jiang Shihe had been busy all day.
Ji He stood to the side, her face expressionless. Ever since Xia Changhong was killed, these two had really become more and more unrestrained.
As for kicking them out...
Ji He had considered it, but before she could refuse, she failed.
After a busy day, it soon got dark. The three remaining people, no longer in that strange Uncle Zhang's house, settled down a bit and got a good night's rest.
...
Meanwhile, late at night, at Uncle Zhang's home.
The lit oil lamp emitted a faint light. Uncle Zhang, holding a pipe in one hand, sat with his legs crossed, leaning against the table. Opposite him was the gaunt old man who had led the way that day.
The gaunt old man smiled, revealing a mouthful of black teeth: "Old Zhang, the person who came yesterday, didn't he stay here?"
"Originally, they were supposed to disappear tonight."
Uncle Zhang said, taking a slow puff of his cigarette: "I don't know where they're hiding. Even if they really don't come back, it's not a big deal. They can't escape the territory of our Fengxian Village anyway."
"There are two women this time, not enough to go around."
The gaunt old man chuckled and said, "Every household is short of women, Old Zhang, don't even think about taking them all for yourself."
Uncle Zhang chuckled: "How could that be? It's just that we can make a move on that Ji He sooner rather than later, since she's all alone. As for the other one, Ruan Qing'an, she's not easy to deal with. The man next to her doesn't look like someone to be trifled with; he's not someone to be trifled with."
"Otherwise, when I first discovered them, I would have tied those two women up immediately. Why would I have bothered to hide them?"
"That's right, we have to kill that man."
The gaunt old man spoke casually, his attitude chilling to the bone.
After taking a swig of his drink, he revealed his blackened teeth and said, "But that Ruan Qing'an is probably Aunt Li's daughter. It's a pity she ran away back then. I didn't expect her to come back one day. Not bad, she's a good catch."
"That's right. There must be quite a few men who want to marry this woman. I'm leading them to find that crazy woman, Aunt Li, so they can walk around the village and see what she's like. I guarantee she'll produce a fine son!"
Upon hearing this, the gaunt old man burst into laughter: "Hahaha, that's for sure. First, arrest the person, then pay up and see who buys them."
"I don't want it anymore, I just want to make a profit."
Uncle Zhang took a deep drag and suddenly burst into laughter.
As the two were talking, Uncle Zhang turned to look out the window. Seeing that it was getting darker, he laughed, a somewhat lewd laugh in it: "Did you call anyone?"
"They called, and they've all come!"
"Okay, let's go then, it's about time."
Uncle Zhang tossed aside his pipe, then pulled a blood-stained and rusty axe from the corner, patted it in his hand, and said, "Go arrest them!"
Soon, after Uncle Zhang and the gaunt old man left, in complete darkness—without torches or oil lamps, only a throng of people visible—the atmosphere in Fengxian Village was exceptionally oppressive. Only a faint, sparse moonlight pierced through the dark clouds.
Finally, people could get a clearer view of the terrifying and frightening scene in the open space in front of Uncle Zhang's house...
All the men of Fengxian Village gathered here.
Whether old or young, they all stood here, in the darkness, their hands holding various farm tools: hoes, axes, and hammers...
On their faces, the expressions were all identical: greedy as hyenas, vicious as ghosts, fanatical and foolish.
—Like a ghost living among humans, wearing human skin.
Uncle Zhang stood at the front of the crowd, his hunched back dragging an axe, walking step by step at the very front: "Let's go."
Meanwhile, at the other end of Fengxian Village.
In the room lit by an oil lamp, Ji He sat on the quilt with a blank face. Next to her was Ruan Qing'an, who had his eyes closed and pretended to rest, his ears turning bright red. In the middle, separated by a bed sheet, lay Jiang Shihe.
Even so, Ji He could feel the gaze coming from the other side, a gaze that was fixed on Ruan Qing'an...
Ji He: I shouldn't be here, right?
Suddenly bombarded with a dose of sweet romance by an ambiguous atmosphere, Ji He was wide awake. She simply got up, leaned against the wall, and took out the clues she had collected that day to organize them.
It was a crumpled piece of paper, yellowed and old, as if it hid many secrets.
This is what Ji He found in the ancestral hall.
However, just as she was about to read it, she heard Xia Changhong's footsteps, so she had to put it away and hurriedly walked out. As a result, she still hasn't read it.
When she couldn't fall asleep, Ji He finally remembered.
Only after she unfolded the paper and flattened it did Ji He take a closer look by the light of the oil lamp. But the next moment, her pupils suddenly shrank, and her expression became somewhat out of control.
And at that very moment—
"What's wrong, Ms. Ji He? What are you looking at?"
Ruan Qing'an sat up from under the covers at some point and looked intently at Ji He. Jiang Shihe, who was standing to the side, also lifted the sheet covering him, and the two of them looked over at the same time.
Holding the clues: So you were just waiting for me, huh?!
At this moment, Ji He felt like she was the NPC who provided the clues, while the other two were the players who were exploiting her.
What did you see?
At this moment, Ruan Qing'an moved a little closer and looked over curiously. Ji He originally wanted to avoid him, but just then—a gloomy gaze fell on her.
She turned her head stiffly and met Jiang Shihe's eyes.
After a brief silence, Ji He decisively handed over the crumpled paper: "It's okay, see, it's not a big deal."
Jiang Shihe's identity is mysterious, as is Ruan Qingan's.
I can't afford to offend either of them, so I'll just let it go.
Ji He comforted herself, thinking that once she was sure she had a way to achieve the goal, she could use all the hidden items. At that time...
She lowered her eyes, a hint of malice in them.
Holding the crumpled paper and examining it, Ruan Qing'an couldn't help but frown. After looking at it over and over, he said, "This is an old newspaper. It's an old report about Fengxian Village. It should be from the woman who was trafficked to this house."
"Fengxian Village is a backward and traditional village. In the word 'phoenix,' the phoenix represents the male. On the basis of male chauvinism, Fengxian Village believes that men have a high status and can become immortals, so women are extremely oppressed."
"More and more women are leaving, and no other women from outside the village are willing to come here, so this place has become a well-known bachelor village in the surrounding area, and they can only buy women from outside."
Ruan Qingan paused: "This newspaper reports a sharp increase in the number of missing women, urging women to be more vigilant..."
For a moment, the room fell silent.
The earlier anomalies had already given them pause for thought, but now the true evils of this village were being exposed.
Just as Nguyen Thanh An was about to speak—
Her ears twitched slightly as she suddenly heard footsteps outside.
\u0003\u0003\u0003
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com