Chapter 1341: Each Holds Their Own Viewpoint

Chapter 1327: Conflicting Accounts

“She peeked through the door crack and saw, under the firelight, many monsters rushing into the village, killing everyone they saw, adults and children alike.”

“One monster kicked open their door, wanting to eat her. But her mother embraced her and ran out the back door,” the boy continued. “However, from that moment on, no matter where they fled, the monsters would eventually track them down in the dark. They couldn’t stay anywhere for long.”

He Lingchuan pressed, “What did those monsters look like?”

“They were grotesque and glowed under the firelight. Many had horns on their heads, and the horns varied in appearance. They could let out shrill laughs and guttural roars, and some even spoke.”

“Why did the monsters chase them?”

“I asked about that too,” the boy said, peeling a candy to eat. “Xiao An said she also wanted to know. They had been fleeing for a very long time and were exhausted. She also said her father was very fierce and terrifying; animals and people would scream in fright when they saw him. Sometimes, he would mercilessly cut them into pieces.”

“I didn’t believe her, but Xiao An said she used to live in the mountains, in a very large house.”

Chen’s wife interjected, “Killing people and cutting up animals? Sounds like a butcher! That madwoman claimed her second husband was a peddler. What kind of peddler does that? That girl is dishonest, just lying to scare my son.”

The boy also said, “We called her and her mother crazy, and she said she was telling the truth, then ran back to the thatched hut to find her crazy mother.”

The truth? But Xiao An’s account differed from her mother’s past stories when she was lucid. Which version was correct?

“It’s no surprise a madwoman birthed a little mad child,” Chen’s wife said, gazing eagerly at the silver. “What else do the officials want to ask?”

“Besides Chen Family Village, where was their last stopping point?”

“I don’t know.” Chen’s wife sent her son back inside.

Dong Rui spun the silver on the table. “How did you know Chen Fu’ang went to her for an affair?”

“On the third day that hussy arrived in Chen Family Village, Sister Wu saw Chen Fu’ang sneaking out of the dilapidated thatched hut, fastening his belt as he went!” Chen’s wife gnashed her teeth. “I scolded him, and he denied it, claiming it was his cousins who were messing with the madwoman, and he was just watching from the side.”

“Did that mother and daughter leave anything behind?”

“I don’t know, at least not with me.”

All questions asked, He Lingchuan nodded, stood up, left the silver, and departed.

Outside the house, Old Man Chen asked him, “Are your questions finished, official?”

“No, take me to Sister Wu.”

On the way to Aunt Wu’s house, He Lingchuan also overheard snippets of conversation drifting from other villagers’ homes, mostly about trivial household matters, occasionally quarrels, and parents scolding or hitting children.

There were also a pair of brothers, loudly cursing Greenery Manor for monopolizing the timber business in the nearby county towns.

“What’s there to fear? Our Chen Family Village isn’t easily bullied.”

“Last time, a batch of timber from the village was sought after by the newly opened coffin shop in Baishui Town, and they offered a good price. But within three days, the Wuma family came over and argued with the clan elder for a long time.”

Hearing the name “Greenery Manor,” He Lingchuan’s mind stirred, but he didn’t stop, continuing onward.

Aunt Wu’s house was much larger than Chen Fu’ang’s, and it lacked that unpleasant musty smell, indicating a better household and no losses from the previous monster attack on the village; her entire family was present.

Sister Wu was thin and wizened, appearing to be almost fifty but actually just in her early thirties, and was widely regarded as a good-natured person in Chen Family Village.

Chen’s wife had just said that Sister Wu was straightforward in her actions and speech, like beans spilling from a bamboo tube. But when He Lingchuan found her and mentioned “the madwoman,” Sister Wu’s gaze became evasive: “I only delivered food to her twice. She wasn’t lucid, so we didn’t talk much.”

He Lingchuan suddenly said, “Did you talk to her daughter, Xiao An?”

“No, I didn’t.”

He Lingchuan glanced at Deputy Magistrate Li, who immediately said, “But Chen Fu’ang’s wife saw you and said you brought her two bowls of sweet potato water.”

Sister Wu opened her mouth to argue, but Deputy Magistrate Li’s face hardened: “If you dare to commit perjury and delay an official case, I’ll have you thrown into the county jail for a month!”

His words sounded illogical to Dong Rui, but Sister Wu shivered in fright and instinctively glanced out the window.

“Looking at anyone won’t help,” Deputy Magistrate Li said. While incompetent in other matters, he understood the rural mindset and knew how to bluff effectively. “This case must be handled by the county! Think about it, this is a major case involving over a hundred lives—a responsibility even your clan elder can’t bear. Do you, a mere woman, dare to take it on? Are you truly tired of living?”

Sister Wu hesitated, wanting to speak but holding back.

Seeing a chance, Deputy Magistrate Li pressed on: “If you don’t confess truthfully, you’ll immediately be arrested as an accomplice for harboring clues! Once major criminals like this are apprehended, they’re taken back to the county, stripped, and given thirty planks, their buttocks beaten to a pulp—and that’s just a warning. Your family won’t be allowed to visit or bring medicine, and you’ll likely die in jail halfway through the trial!”

Sister Wu’s hands clenched and unclenched several times. She walked to the door, peered out twice, then whispered, “Let me say first, this matter has nothing to do with me.”

“Of course, of course, just tell us,” Deputy Magistrate Li turned and reassured her. “If you confess truthfully, nothing will happen to you.”

Unable to sit, Sister Wu stood and said, “When the caravan brought that mother and daughter back from outside, Chen Fu’ang and his brothers went to the clan elder to plead for the madwoman A Hui to manage the cow shed, but it was really because they lusted after her looks. When I went to deliver A Hui’s meals, I saw those men coming out of the thatched hut. Anyway, she was already half-mad and an outsider, so the people in Chen Family Village couldn’t be bothered to interfere. They just felt safe and bold...”

He Lingchuan interjected, “There were five of them in total, correct?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Chen Fu’ang’s wife said that on the night the monsters attacked Chen Family Village, the mother and daughter also mysteriously disappeared.”

Sister Wu rubbed her palms on her pant legs several times, her face full of hesitation.

Deputy Magistrate Li grew impatient: “What are you waiting for? Confess now!”

“A-actually, I don’t know exactly when they disappeared,” Sister Wu whispered. “That afternoon when I went to deliver food, I heard A Hui screaming in the thatched hut, ‘If you dare to sell my daughter, I’ll fight you to the death!’ Then there was a clattering sound, and the voices of Chen Fu’ang and the others saying, ‘Hold her down, she’s gone crazier.’ I felt uncomfortable listening further, so I went home.”

“When I went back that afternoon, the thatched hut was locked. I peered through the door crack; it was empty inside, no one was there.”

He Lingchuan interjected, “What about her daughter?”

Sister Wu shook her head. “I don’t know. I even went to ask Chen Fu’ang what happened, and he said A Hui had run off with her daughter. When I tried to ask more, Chen Fu’ang became very impatient, called me a gossiping old woman, and drove me away.”

He Lingchuan nodded. “Tell me about the girl, Xiao An.”

“A Hui’s daughter was also a bit strange, rather mysterious, and couldn’t play with other children. The kids all called her a mad child born of a madwoman.” Sister Wu thought for a moment. “Xiao An always told me she wanted to go home, but her mother didn’t. The mother and daughter often argued about this.”

He Lingchuan pointed out the discrepancy: “Xiao An said her home was in Xingyun Village, but her mother said they were from Maodun?”

“Yes, yes,” Sister Wu immediately said. “I found that strange too. Later, I wondered if her mother was from Maodun and married into Xingyun Village?”

“Do you know these two places?”

“Never heard of them.” She had never left within fifty *li* of Chen Family Village in her entire life.

“Last question: Did the mother and daughter leave anything behind?”

Sister Wu shook her head like a rattle drum. “Nothing at all!”

With the questioning complete, He Lingchuan stood up, intending to leave, but Aunt Wu remembered something: “Oh, oh, there’s also something odd: Xiao An mentioned to me that her father was particularly terrifying.”

“Her father?” Deputy Magistrate Li, having just heard this from Chen’s wife, paid it little mind. “Are you talking about A Hui’s deceased husband?”

“I thought so too, but Xiao An said she lived with her father for a period and only recently escaped.”

Recently? He Lingchuan and Dong Rui exchanged a glance, while Deputy Magistrate Li asked, “A Hui’s second husband only died recently. Did Xiao An perhaps think that’s how she escaped?”

Children don’t know what “death” is; seeing her father no longer present and her mother taking her away, she might have thought she had escaped.

“I don’t know either.”

He Lingchuan suddenly asked, “How exactly was her father terrifying?”

“She privately discovered that her father would lock animals and people in a stone house or cages, making them scream in agony. Xiao An heard those screams more than once, wanting to cover her ears every time,” Aunt Wu said. “It sounds like her father was a butcher. She also told me that her father always kept them in a cave, and at the entrance of the cave were two large stones, one very white, and the other was...”

She struggled to recall for a while: “Oh, it was bright red!”

“Very good,” He Lingchuan encouraged her. “Anything else?”

“Oh, yes, I remember,” Aunt Wu added. “Xiao An said her father could help her drive away monsters, though only temporarily. Her father was also very kind to her; if she hadn’t wanted to go home so badly, she probably would have stayed with him forever.”

“Father?” He Lingchuan pondered for a moment, then stood up and said, “Thank you, Aunt Wu, you’re free to go.”

With the questioning concluded, Aunt Wu let out a long breath, and the group exited the house.

In Chen Family Village at night, there were only sparse lights, a dozen or so points. As He Lingchuan passed a household, he could sense someone peeking through a door crack inside.

This village wasn’t friendly to them either.

Deputy Magistrate Li had also gotten into the swing of things: “Where’s the next stop?”

“The thatched hut.”

If there were any more clues, they were likely hidden in the thatched hut where the mother and daughter had lived for many days.

Walking through the village, Dong Rui suddenly remembered something, pulled out a small flute, and blew it forcefully.

There was no sound from the flute; he seemed to be performing a pantomime.

But after only about twenty breaths, the nearby trees rustled, and something leaped over:

A ghost ape.