Free Web NovelChapter 17: Chapter 17: Being an Accomplice
Before Fu Guoping could even give the order, a dozen or so burly men from the Civil Affairs Bureau took off on their own, chasing in the direction the dark figure had fled.
The rest of the men remained in place, awaiting orders. Everyone’s nerves were stretched taut.
Fu Juemin, casting aside all thoughts of dignity, scrambled down from his horse.
He was too large a target on horseback; he had no desire to be the first one to become the Snake Monster’s dinner.
Blending into the crowd, surrounded by able-bodied men armed with rifles, Fu Juemin felt a little safer. But in that short time, the palm of his right hand, which was clutching a revolver, was already slick with sweat.
After just a short wait, the men from the Civil Affairs Bureau who had given chase started to return.
The man in the lead was muttering curses. He walked to the front of the group, tossed a child he was carrying onto the ground, and reported to Fu Guoping, "Second Master, it was just a kid."
The child was filthy from head to toe, with a sallow, emaciated face. He looked to be only five or six years old.
Thrown to the ground, the child began to wail. An old woman in her seventies or eighties immediately darted out from behind the group, clutching the child and kowtowing frantically to the men.
Fu Juemin recognized them. It was the same grandmother and grandchild he had run into on his way to the Civil Affairs Bureau that morning.
He walked over and quietly explained this to Fu Guoping.
The kowtowing old woman babbled on in a dialect Fu Juemin couldn’t understand. Fu Guoping sent a man to question her. Only then did they learn that the old woman and the child were originally villagers from Taohuang Village.
The Snake Demon in their village was eating people, so they had fled. With nowhere else to go, they had been hiding in the woods, surviving on nothing but the wild peaches.
Once Fu Guoping understood the situation, he had his men bring the pair along, and they continued on their way.
Soon, the group emerged from the forest. They followed a dirt slope downward for a short distance, and a village came into view.
The only path led from their feet straight into the village. Standing at the entrance and peering in, they couldn’t see a single soul—not even a dog.
It was dinnertime, yet not a single wisp of cooking smoke rose from the entire village. As the sun sank in the west, the shadows of the distant mountains cloaked the settlement. From afar, a thin, blue mist seemed to hang over the village, making it feel all the more silent and eerie.
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The men looked to Fu Guoping, waiting for his command.
Fu Guoping glanced down at his pocket watch, then up at the sun. "Everyone, fall back to the peach woods for the night," he said calmly. "We’ll enter the village tomorrow."
In an hour at most, the sun would be completely set. Marching into an unfamiliar place in the pitch-dark to pick a fight with a terrifying Snake Demon was no different from serving themselves up for dinner.
The old woman and child they had found had survived in the peach woods for days, which proved it was relatively safe at night. Fu Guoping’s decision was sound. No one objected, and they all retreated back into the woods.
While there was still some light left, the men set about chopping wood for a fire. Their dinner consisted of the dry rations they’d brought, supplemented by fresh peaches picked from the trees.
Fu Juemin wasn’t required to do anything. While the others were busy, he stood at the edge of the peach woods, staring blankly as Taohuang Village was gradually swallowed by the encroaching darkness.
He heard the sound of footsteps approaching.
Fu Juemin turned to see Fu Guoping and called out, "Second Uncle."
"Afraid?"
Fu Guoping came to a stop beside Fu Juemin, his hands clasped behind his back. He squinted, gazing with him toward Taohuang Village.
"No."
Fu Juemin shook his head, his expression complex. "I just find it a little hard to believe.
I’ve lived for over a decade, and only now am I learning that things like Water Demons and Snake Monsters actually exist..."
"Good that you’re not afraid, because the time for real fear hasn’t come yet."
Fu Guoping clapped him on the shoulder. "This world is full of strange and bizarre things," he said earnestly.
"You’re going to take over your father’s business eventually. Seeing more of this now, building up some courage... it’ll be good for you."
Fu Juemin nodded. Staring at Taohuang Village in the distance, he couldn’t help but ask, "Second Uncle, what are our chances against that Snake Demon tomorrow?"
"Hard to say before I’ve seen it with my own eyes."
"However," Fu Guoping said calmly, "the forty-eight men I brought this time are all elite operatives from my Civil Affairs Bureau. And the firepower we’re carrying is enough to level this entire village more than ten times over.
If we can’t handle it with all this, then it truly can’t be handled.
If that happens, you remember to take your uncle’s swift horse and get the hell out of here..."
Fu Juemin was left speechless, hearing Fu Guoping speak such brutally pragmatic words in the most casual tone.
He was about to ask Fu Guoping about the Water Demon at the docks when a bald, burly man strode up to them. "Second Master," the man said through gritted teeth, "those two villagers from Taohuang Village... they’ve been lying to us!
These woods aren’t safe at all.
As soon as it gets dark, the Snake Demon from the village will come out here! We’ll all be goners!"
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The bald man’s words startled both Fu Juemin and Fu Guoping.
Fu Guoping’s brow furrowed. "What’s going on?"
The bald man pointed toward the village. "The people in there are in cahoots with the Snake Demon! They deliberately let those two go so they could lure people into the village to be fed to the monster..."
"Why would they suddenly tell you that?"
Fu Juemin couldn’t help but ask.
The bald man shook his head. "Who knows. Maybe after luring so many to their deaths, their conscience finally got the better of them..."
"Take me to them."
Seeing the bald man’s explanation was muddled, Fu Guoping’s face darkened, and he headed back toward the camp.
Fu Juemin followed him to the area where the team was setting up camp. He saw the old woman they had "captured" earlier, clutching the child and sobbing her heart out.
Fu Guoping had someone question her in detail and learned what had happened. While preparing dinner, one of the Civil Affairs Bureau members had noticed the child staring at the cooking fire and drooling. Guessing the two hadn’t eaten in days, he had given them a bowl of hot soup and a few pieces of flatbread.
As the old woman and child ate, they suddenly burst into tears and confessed everything.
"...According to the old woman, there are still people alive in Taohuang Village—a family by the name of Huang Youde.
The Snake Demon first appeared from their house...."
"The Snake Demon ate everyone in Taohuang Village except for Huang Youde’s family. Then, Huang Youde started going to nearby villages to lure people back for the demon to eat.
Once the nearby villages were either emptied out or too scared to fall for it, they started looking for ways to lure people from farther away.
This old woman and child are Huang Youde’s accomplices. They aren’t from Taohuang Village; they’re from the neighboring Li Family Village.
Their whole family of six, except for the two of them, was fed to the Snake Demon by Huang Youde. The only reason she had a change of heart and told us is that she must hate Huang Youde to the bone and figures we have the power to get revenge for her..."
Under a peach tree, Fu Guoping listened quietly to his subordinate’s report.
"You two lackeys for that monster! If I’d known, I never would have pitied you..."
The bald man spat on the ground in disgust near the old woman and child, then asked Fu Guoping, "Second Master, what do we do now?"
"We definitely can’t stay in these woods tonight..."
Fu Guoping considered this for a long moment before finally speaking.
