Chapter 58: The Human Is More Frightening Than the Ghost
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Huang Xi Village was a small village which was quite far from Rong City. It was located next to a mountain stream and there was only a narrow road leading to it. It had a population of just a few hundred people.
The villagers had been in a state of anxiety ever since the string of strange murder cases which occurred recently.
Despite the fact that this news had already been blocked off by the departments concerned, how could it be possible for them to hide the sudden deaths of over ten villagers from the other people in the village?
Moreover, quite a few people witnessed first-hand the gruesome state of the corpses and were now unable to sleep properly.
The government put in place a series of reassurance and consoling policies, yet, their effects were minimal. Fear and panic continued to emanate throughout the village, and some villagers even fled their homes in dread.
As the road leading into the village was too narrow, cars were unable to enter.
An Lin and Tian Lingling got out of the car at the village entrance and started traveling on foot.
After following a limpid stream for one kilometer, they finally saw the thinly scattered village houses.
The village sat before blue mountains and was also encircled by a crystal-clear stream. Speaking solely about the environment, it was especially pleasant and made one feel carefree and happy.
After the string of murder cases, though, a haze of dread obscured the faces of the villagers and even the atmosphere of the village became low-spirited and heavy.
Wang Dong, the village chief, was in charge of greeting An Lin and Tian Lingling.
Zhou Zheng, the head of the provincial public security department, had already notified Wang Dong of the visitors.
Wang Dong knew that his two visitors were the ones specially dispatched here to deal with the murder cases, thus, he went to personally greet them.
Wang Dong was over fifty years old and was a relatively healthy male.
He waited at the village entrance and, upon seeing that the special task force was comprised of a relatively young looking male and a petite and adorable girl, he couldn’t help but frown.
What’s going on? Such a serious murder case and the public security department just dispatches these two useless looking youths to deal with it?
Although there was uncertainty and discontent in his mind, Wang Dong still fulfilled his duty of greeting these two visitors.
An Lin didn’t talk any nonsense with Wang Dong and requested to be led to the scene of the murder straight away so that he could examine it.
There were three crime scenes in total, each in which an entire family fell victim. The manner of death was identical for each of the families, with their eyes being dug out and their vitality completely sucked dry.
An Lin and Tian Lingling arrived at the courtyard of one of the murder scenes. This was an area which had already been cordoned off.
Stepping over the cordon and entering the courtyard, they instantly felt a chill shoot through them, and their hairs involuntarily stood on end.
“Each of the murder scenes gives off a very sinister vibe. If I didn’t have to bring you here, I would definitely keep as far away as possible.” Wang Dong also felt a cold chill shoot through his sturdy body, and he shrank backward.
An Lin and Tian Lingling exchanged a glance and they both saw a hint of surprise in each other’s eyes.
They circled around the courtyard once and arrived back at the entrance.
“Chief Wang, please take us to the next crime scene,” An Lin said.
Wang Dong’s eyes widened. “Y-you’ve finished your inspection?”
Don’t normal police detectives examine every inch of the crime scene and ask all types of questions? Then, they slowly come up with a speculation after they’ve done all that?
These two just circled around the courtyard once, like tourists, and didn’t ask a single thing. It hasn’t even been five minutes yet and they’re already asking to go to the next crime scene…
Are they really here to solve the case and not just here to have a look around?
Seeing An Lin and Tian Lingling nod seriously, Wang Dong could only keep his dissatisfaction to himself. He led them toward the next location with a dark expression on his face.
At the next location, An Lin and Tian Lingling also used just five minutes to finish their inspection.
Wang Dong was expressionless as he led them to the third crime scene.
Just like that, Wang Dong finished taking them around to ‘tour’ these three locations in less than half an hour.
“Village Chief Wang, we’ve finished inspecting the crime scenes. We’ll stay at your house for a while and go back to check on the crime scenes tonight,” An Lin smiled.
Wang Dong: “…”
When they arrived at Wang Dong’s house, his wife had already prepared a sumptuous meal to greet them.
An Lin and Tian Lingling tucked in straight away and were full of praise for the delicious and natural tastes of the village food.
“Lingling, this chicken is amazing! Just a dabble of ginger salt and you’ll be able to taste the fragrance and richness of the chicken!”
“Fake Daoist Priest, this water spinach is also delicious! I’ve never tasted such sweet and delicious greens in the city. These are proper, pollution-free vegetables!
“Aunty, can you please cook another dish of this water spinach?”
Hearing their conversation, Wang Dong’s face twitched.
He felt as if he had received a pair of fake police officers to handle the case. It couldn’t be that these two were at his house to freeload, right?!
If it wasn’t for the fact that they showed him their documents, Wang Dong would’ve kicked them out long ago.
Contrary to Wang Dong’s sour mood, his wife was chuckling happily. She was very happy that her dishes had received the approval of the police officers.
…
Before they knew it, night set in.
An Lin and Tian Lingling once again left the village chief’s house.
This time, they didn’t let Wang Dong follow them.
There were barely any street lamps illuminating the village, and as they walked down a small and dim lane, they looked around warily.
“That chilling sensation is a sensation uniquely carried by attacks of evil spirits, and it can linger around the scene of the incident for a long time. That evil spirit has clearly reached the general stage already,” Tian Lingling suddenly said.
“One portion of the chill feels violent and ferocious, whilst the other portion feels obscure and deadly. There are two Evil Spirit Generals.”
Hearing this, an anxious look appeared on Tian Lingling’s delicate face.
“Judging by the locations of the crime scenes, the evil spirit attacks at random. I’m afraid that our patrol has to cover the entire area of Huang Xi Village.”
“Uh-huh… I’ve heard that strange sounds can be heard at night. We can use that as a point of penetration!” An Lin continued.
Due to the string of killings, none of the villagers in Huang Xi Village dared go out at night.
The narrow path was silent and still, and only the footsteps of An Lin and Tian Lingling could be heard.
There was an especially clear crunch every time they took a step.
A chilly gust of wind suddenly blew over.
Tian Lingling shivered and involuntarily grabbed onto An Lin’s sleeve.
An Lin sensed this and glanced at her strangely. “Cold?”
“M-hm,” Tian Lingling answered softly. She blushed slightly and nodded.
An Lin shrugged. “I’m only wearing this one shirt though, so don’t count on me to take off my coat and give it to you like they do in the movies.”
Tian Lingling rolled her eyes. “Who wants your coat? I wouldn’t wear it even if you had one!”
An Lin ignored her and continued walking forwards. This scared Tian Lingling and she hurriedly caught up to him.
An Lin was shrouded in shadows under the dark night sky.
Tian Lingling found the surrounding environment a bit creepy. This was a sensation that couldn’t be experienced during the day.
She couldn’t help but find something to say, as speaking was the only way she could suppress her terror.
“Fake Daoist Priest, do you think that we can beat the two Evil Spirit Generals?” Tian Lingling asked.
“We can’t beat them…” the male in front of her answered slowly.
Tian Lingling was baffled. “Why? Didn’t you just say that as a powerful cultivator who’s on the Immortal Rankings Board, you’d be able to dispatch the Evil Spirit Generals easily?”
A bone-chilling gust of wind swept over, and dark shadows danced about as the leaves rustled.
“Because…”
An Lin turned around to face Tian Lingling slowly. His eyes bulged and his tongue was sticking out.
“I’m… already…
“Dead…!”
“Wah!” Tian Lingling fell to the ground in fright. She screamed loudly and was scared to tears!