Free Web NovelChapter 253: Chapter 214: Ambush
"Is this Nong Fayo, brother?" Yang Xiao slowly walked up, greeting the man.
The old man lifted his cloudy eyes to look at Yang Xiao. Only then did Yang Xiao and his companions notice that the old man had a sickly yellow complexion, and his eyes were full of bloodshot vessels.
"Cough... cough..." The old man couldn’t stop coughing, "Yes... it’s me. You’re here to ask about that matter, aren’t you?"
"We’re from the county’s land bureau and wanted to inquire about the situation at Dongzhou Apartment."
But as soon as Yang Xiao had finished speaking, he saw Nong Fayo’s face change, "Lies, you’re with the police. I’ve taken you to the scene before, I... cough... I’ve told you many times, that place shouldn’t be visited, it should be sealed off forever. Even... even the name of the place shouldn’t be mentioned. You don’t listen, you just... you just won’t listen."
"Brother Nong, what happened there? What do you know?" Seeing that the other party had laid his cards on the table, Yang Xiao couldn’t be bothered to pretend anymore. Dealing with such people, sometimes being straightforward works better.
"Dead people... all dead people... There are ghosts there! There are ghosts!" Nong Fayo’s skinny hands gripped the armrests of the recliner tightly, he was gasping for breath.
"Did you see them?" Yang Xiao asked.
"If I had seen them, I would not be alive. I saw how those people died, it was too horrific. There will be no murderer for you to catch, you can’t catch the murderer because it was ghosts, all done by ghosts." Nong Fayo became increasingly agitated, as if recalling the terrifying scene of yesteryear, "Listen to this old man, stop investigating it, do you want more people to die?"
Yang Xiao pretended to be scared by the old man’s words, hesitated for a while, and finally let out a sigh, "Alright, thank you then, take care of yourself."
After finishing, Yang Xiao didn’t hesitate and turned to leave immediately, which surprised Zhuge Zhijie—he wondered if the trip had been in vain since they had learned nothing.
But the next second, Xi Menxiu grabbed his arm and whispered urgently, "Let’s go, don’t just stand there, hurry."
Although he didn’t understand why, Zhuge Zhijie instinctively followed the two out. As they were about to leave the yard, a voice suddenly called out from behind them, "Young fellas, if... if you have an unavoidable reason to go there, come back and find me. I have something you may use, it’s in the house. This old man... I... cough cough... cough..."
Yang Xiao acted as if he hadn’t heard, leading Xi Menxiu and Zhuge Zhijie away. Trailing behind, Zhuge Zhijie seemed to realize something as well. Yang Xiao and Xi Menxiu’s pace appeared normal, not fast in frequency, but the strides were much larger than usual. He had to walk quickly to keep up with them.
Moreover, Yang Xiao had reached toward his waist at some point, where Zhuge Zhijie knew a handgun was concealed.
They returned to the car without incident, where Yang Xiao instructed Xi Menxiu to honk the horn a few times. Moments later, Yang Xiao’s expression darkened, "Let’s go, quick!"
"What happened?" Zhuge Zhijie, sitting in the back seat, was utterly confused.
"It’s an ambush," Yang Xiao pulled out his gun and held it tightly, staring in the direction of the house, meanwhile his other hand rummaged in the backpack, his eyes filled with vigilance. "The man we just talked to wasn’t Nong Fayo."
Zhuge Zhijie’s eyes widened, "Not him? How do you know it wasn’t him?"
Xi Menxiu stepped on the gas, driving back the way they came. The sky had already grown dark, and it looked like rain was imminent. Xi Menxiu seemed even more nervous than Yang Xiao, her hands trembling, "Zhijie, please use your head. Look at this weather, it’s about to rain, and the whole yard is full of grains and dried vegetables laid out for drying. These people aren’t in a hurry to gather the vegetables, and they still have the mood to waste our time with nonsense? Is that plausible?"
Yang Xiao gripped the Drama Robe inside the backpack tightly and continued explaining to Zhuge Zhijie, "Also, their guard dog is missing. I felt it was too quiet around here before. Village guard dogs are fierce, and they bark nonstop when strangers are nearby, but did you notice? During the time we were there, not a sound came from the nearby houses, no response even when Xi Menxiu honked the horn."
Now, Zhuge Zhijie felt a cold sweat run down his back, "If Nong wasn’t the man we just talked to, then who was he? And... what about that woman?"
"I don’t know." Yang Xiao instructed Xi Menxiu to keep her cool, drive slower, and not let the other side realise they might have been exposed, although he was 90% sure they had been.
Once they entered the urban area, Yang Xiao immediately made a call to Director Nalan and also contacted the local Patrol Defense Bureau. Upon receiving Yang Xiao’s information, the local Patrol Defense Office acted immediately, dispatching a team to Nong Fayo’s residence.
Before this, Yang Xiao had already received photos of Nong Fayo from the local office to verify his identity. Indeed, upon comparison, the man was not the one they had just met.
About half an hour later, the local Patrol Defense Office found Yang Xiao. The team was led by Secretary Meng, the same female secretary as before. She was pale, "Captain Yang, I’m sorry for our oversight. There really was an incident over there. We found Nong Fayo’s body in the backyard. The scene is... the scene is rather complicated, we need you to take a look in person."
Soon they were back at the brick and tile houses, which were by now encircled and had police cordoning off the area.
Secretary Meng led Yang Xiao and his companions through the gate. The scene in the yard was still the same as before. With the drizzle and the grey surroundings, an invisible pressure seemed to descend.
The dirty wooden basin used by the middle-aged woman, the recliner "Nong" had sat on, and the pair of wooden crutches were all left in their places—only the people were gone.
Of course, the grains scattered on the ground and the dried radish hanging out, including clothes on the washing line, were all being soaked by the rain.
Passing through the old brick and tile houses and entering the backyard, the stench of feces mixed with an unknown fishy smell hit them hard as they approached. Several people in white coats were gathered near the pigsty at this moment.
There were no pigs in the pigsty, just a large blue tarpaulin, with some damp straw scattered around it. The tarpaulin bulged underneath.
Seeing Yang Xiao and his team arrive, a man in a white lab coat and a mask walked over and lifted a corner of the tarp, revealing a hole that had been dug out, with 8 or 9 bodies lying haphazardly inside. The bodies, one layer on top of another, were mostly elderly men and women, and there was also a young girl with two ponytails lying upright among them.
"Damn it..." Xi Menxiu cursed through gritted teeth.
"Captain Yang, there are a total of 11 bodies here, all from nearby farming households. Nong Fayo and his wife are among them," Secretary Meng paused and took a deep breath, "There are no survivors in this area."
Yang Xiao looked at the man who had pulled back the tarp, dressed in the white lab coat, "When did these people die, and what was the cause of death?" Yang Xiao had not yet seen any blood.
The man pushed his glasses with the back of his hand, his voice low, "They would have died around 2 hours ago. The cause of death... it’s quite strange. They were strangled to death, and moreover, it was self-strangulation."
"Strangled themselves?"
"Yes, as odd as it sounds, based on the fingerprints extracted from the necks of these victims, we can confirm that they all strangled themselves. How they managed to do so remains unclear." After saying this, the man stepped back as if to avoid suspicion.
"It’s the Resentful Eye," Yang Xiao stated without hesitation. freewebnσvel.cøm
"Right, it must be. Someone here has activated the Resentful Eye and awakened the ghosts within it. Evil Cultivators, it must be them!" Xi Menxiu hadn’t expected to run into those people here.
Yang Xiao couldn’t help feeling waves of fear, remembering how that old guy had tried to trick them into entering the house. If they really had gone in, it would have meant certain death.
"Got a smoke?" Yang Xiao looked at Xi Menxiu.
Xi Menxiu was momentarily taken aback, but then quickly understood, "Yes, Captain, the smell is strong here; shall we step outside to smoke?"
"Mhm." Yang Xiao nodded to Secretary Meng, then placed an unlit cigarette in his mouth and started walking outside while calling out, "Zhijie, you take one too."
Zhuge Zhijie, who also never smoked, followed along cooperatively.
The three of them left the courtyard gate and stood beside a ditch next to the dirt road, each with a cigarette, whether they knew how to smoke or not.
"Captain, what do you want to discuss?" Xi Menxiu asked pointedly, aware that Yang Xiao had something to say.
Yang Xiao watched the staff bustle in and out of the nearby courtyard and slowly exhaled, lowering his voice, "Don’t you think something’s off? According to the time of death, those Evil Cultivators arrived just before us."
Zhuge Zhijie caught on, "Are you saying they came for us?"
"It seems so, someone must have leaked the news," Yang Xiao said in a hushed tone, his gaze towards the patrolling staff outside tinged with a sense of unfamiliarity.
"You suspect someone from the Qingfeng Patrol Defense Bureau?" Xi Menxiu also felt a surge of alarm—if that was the case, they were in deep trouble.
"I don’t know. There are many ways for information to be leaked, it’s not necessarily the fault of local Patrol Defense Office, but one thing is certain, we are being watched," Yang Xiao shared his speculation, "The Evil Cultivators have no reason to suddenly trouble us. I suspect this was an accident, perhaps they also stumbled upon the same Nightmare World task as I did."
Zhuge Zhijie nodded, "I’ve reviewed some of the decoded files, and there are indeed precedents for this. Evil Cultivators will take out public officers they deem a threat to their Nightmare World task in advance, and of course, we would do the same if we had the chance."
Xi Menxiu, now aware of the gravity of the situation, looked at Yang Xiao worriedly, "Captain, if that’s true, then you’re definitely exposed. The Evil Cultivator assigned to the same task already knows your identity. At that time, with the enemy in the dark and you in the light, he will take every opportunity to strike at you."
"That’s not important. I’m worried about something else right now," Yang Xiao glanced at the sky; it was getting dark, and it was possible that those Evil Cultivators might attempt a night attack.
"We’ll stay at the Qingfeng Patrol Office tonight," Yang Xiao knew what would be most advantageous for them.
"Isn’t that like walking into a trap?" After hearing Yang Xiao’s analysis, Zhuge Zhijie immediately felt like aside from the three of them, no one else could be trusted—the information could very well have been leaked by the local Patrol Defense Office.
Xi Menxiu, however, understood and nodded repeatedly, "That’s right, we’ll stay at the Qingfeng Patrol Office tonight. Nowhere could be safer than there. Even if someone is in cahoots with the Evil Cultivators, they wouldn’t dare act against us there. Heh, if a team captain and his two team members were to die under unclear circumstances here, no one in the Qingfeng Patrol Office would escape responsibility."
"Furthermore, report this matter to Director Nalan. Also, Zhijie, find a secure route. Don’t use the public channels of the Office. Get a personnel list with photos from Beibei and the others at the Qingfeng Patrol Office," Yang Xiao instructed.
"You’re going to investigate them?" Xi Menxiu frowned, "Captain, your time is running short; don’t waste it here. You’d better think about what to do in the Nightmare World."
Yang Xiao looked once more toward the bustling figures not far away. Most of them wore uniforms identical to the one hanging in his office, "No, I want to recognize these faces. If I do run into them in the Nightmare World, it’s good to be prepared."
Zhuge Zhijie became even more confused, "What do you mean? Didn’t we just talk about the Evil Cultivators? Why involve the people from Qingfeng Public Office now?"
"It’s better to be safe than sorry. I’ve survived till now relyimg not only on this face but also on being cautious; better safe than sorry," Yang Xiao said, tossing his cigarette butt to the ground and extinguishing it with one stomp.
