A wrinkle formed between my brows.
Lao Liang is a smart man, he is very smart. If he was even more intelligent, it would be normal. However, he is controlled by the zombie master, so he is not as smart as before.
But Mrs. Liu... how could she have been burned?
But Lao Liang isn't afraid of angering the old man?
The most crucial issue is that with this arrangement, I won't be able to actively draw the old man out, let alone set up an ambush...
"Dead thing, why don't you open the door? The vegetables are cold, and you must have been kicked in the head by a donkey!" The voice of his wife could be heard from inside the courtyard.
This is quite common in the countryside.
I exhaled a puff of stale air and left the courtyard of Jin Zhao's house.
At that moment, I felt like a headless fly.
Besides, Hei QI came back just to do something.
But now, it's still just temporarily put on hold?
Walking on the village road, I felt aimless.
I was about to contact Hao QI to see how things were going when, unconsciously, I found myself at the entrance of the village.
But, there was a large crowd of villagers gathered around the village entrance.
The villagers were talking in different directions, and I couldn't hear what they were saying.
There was a faint stench in the air, mixed with a strong putrid smell.
After a person's death, they will lose control of their bladder and bowels, and that is the smell.
A dead body at the village entrance?!
Initially, I had no interest in looking.
Life, death, old age and illness are all normal phenomena. It's possible that an old person from someone's home went to sunbathe in the noon and passed away.
But some villagers saw me and shouted that LUO Xian Shen was there. Pull him over to take a look!
Immediately, a few villagers approached, saying they were inviting me, but they pushed me forward noisily.
Only when I reached the front of the crowd did I see, under a large, sturdy willow tree, a hemp rope was tied.
A person's tongue was hanging out so long that it was dangling down to their chin.
Stools and urine were trickling down his pants leg, dripping drop by drop.
The putrid smell became even stronger...
The person's neck was covered with purple bloodstains from the rope.
The person had huge black circles under their eyes, and their eyes were swollen, looking like goldfish eyes!
My head made a thumping sound.
It was like a gun that had been loaded, exploding with a bang!
This person was none other than the village chief, Jin Zhao!
In that moment, the blinding sunlight was dazzling, and my face felt like it was contracting.
The fierce cold was threatening to consume me...
Earlier, Jin Zhao clearly went home and entered the house...
No... that's not right...
I suddenly raised my head and stared at the scorching sun in the sky, my eyeballs staring unstop.
When I took out my phone and checked the time, it was 12:15 in the afternoon!
I walked out and arrived here, which took about ten to fifteen minutes.
That means Jin Zhao must have returned at noon, when it was overcast and dark?
The corpse is here, so the one who returned must be a ghost!
The villagers' chatter continued, and everyone was wondering why the village chief had committed suicide.
Some people said they saw the village chief coming from the western part of the village, smiling and greeting people just a moment ago. But in the next moment, he was hanging a rope on an old willow tree and tying it. No one knew what he was doing. After he finished tying the rope, he suddenly slipped inside, and his neck was abruptly snapped. There was no time to save him...
I didn't say a word. Even when the villagers asked me, I kept my mouth shut tight.
Everything after that became simpler.
A dead body was found at the village entrance, and the victim happened to be the village chief. This would certainly attract the attention of the police.
I was inevitably questioned by the police.
When the village chief's wife arrived and saw the body, she fainted immediately.
We spent the whole day on this and the police came up with a preliminary conclusion that the person died simply from hanging themselves.
However, the body needed to be taken back, and after an autopsy, a final conclusion could be made.
The villagers dispersed, but I stood at the village entrance for a long time without moving.
In the three days since I returned, one thing after another has happened, not so much in quick succession, but it's all because I sought it out myself. Yet, the outcome is something I can't seem to contain...
The death of Jin Zhao must definitely be related to Lao Liang!
He came back like a ghost, and didn't let me go to Lao Liang's house... There must be a big problem there!
I thought of the warning from the ghost and shivered with fear again.
The sunset was like blood, and the setting sun's rays cast my long shadow.
Although Jin Zhao's body was taken away, the smell of feces and urine could still be faintly smelled.
At this time, when children usually run and play freely, and villagers take a break after a day's work to chat and gossip, the village road was quiet, with no one in sight.
Standing there for so long, I finally made up my mind...
I've been hitting a series of dead ends, and if I'm not careful, I might die.
Even though the old man is a potential threat, as long as he doesn't come to find me, I won't go to look for him.
As for Lao Liang, I'll avoid him for now.
After all, he is very cruel. Jin Zhao just asked a question and was killed directly.
I can't let him cause me to trigger the zombie god prematurely...
This complex situation can only be resolved with Hao QI's help.
I exhaled deeply and dialed Hao QI's phone.
After a few rings, Hao QI's excited voice came through.
"Brother-in-law."
I got straight to the point and asked Hao QI if the arrangements for manpower were in place.
Hao QI's tone was very relaxed as she told me that there were quite a few people. The Zhou family sent four very formidable Crown Princes, and they also brought some friends, which was an unexpected surprise!
I calmed down slightly and asked Hao QI when they would be leaving, and left the village address with her.
Hao QI just said that they would be leaving today. They were waiting for some friends of the Zhou family, which caused a delay. She was actually going to contact me as well.
I left the address for Hao QI and then hung up the phone.
The twilight grew deeper, and the darkness was about to engulf the last ray of daylight.
I turned around and headed back home.
When I arrived at the gate of my yard, I vaguely felt a prickly sensation.
Following my instinct, I looked back, and I saw a hunched man with a bald head and protruding teeth standing at a distant crossroad. He was also short.
My pupils contracted. It was Lao Liang, wasn't it?
Lao Liang was staring at me and smiled with his mouth, even extending his thumb and flicking it downwards.
My eyelids twitched slightly, and I went directly into the yard, closing the door behind me.
The provocation was too obvious; how could I possibly go over there?
I even felt that he killed Village Chief Jin Zhao in order to lure me over there.
I took out the black dog's ash and black donkey's hoof, and made another layout in my yard as per the method. Then I went into the kitchen to cook some food.
After eating, it was completely dark.
Sitting alone in the yard, I looked up at the sky, and it was foggy with a ghostly moon, stars invisible.
During this time, Hao QI sent me a message saying where they were, and they would probably arrive at the village I gave them around dawn.
I calmed down a little.
I didn't feel so alone before, but now, that feeling makes me feel like this village is a strange vortex. If I'm not careful, I might be sucked in.
As time passed, the night grew deeper. I was about to go indoors to sleep, rest up, and be ready for when Hao QI and the others came to go up the mountain.
As a result, there was a knock, knock, knock at the door.
The yard door was locked, so the person knocking at the door couldn't be a ghost.
I asked cautiously, "Who's there?"
"It's a person," the answer was muffled, but it was still easy for me to recognize that it was Lao Liang speaking.
