Before everything goes out

"It's been found!"

"The village chief brought back the bodies of Magan and the others!"

Upon seeing the cart, the villagers who had been gathered around the courtyard rushed towards the village entrance.

Even Feng Xiuhui, who had just been crying and making a fuss, broke free from Niu San and ran away quickly.

Because of her daughter...

She is Ah Ji's second sister, and also one of the villagers who were kidnapped.

Soon, the courtyard was emptied of people.

Following behind the Niu brothers, Li Fei and Lin Wen also flowed with the crowd toward the village entrance.

"Are you alright?"

"no."

"That's Ah-Ji's mother. She's a bit shrewish, but not a bad person."

"Hmm, it's nothing, Village Chief Liu, what's wrong..."

"He went into the mountains before dawn without calling anyone. He can handle things by himself."

"...With the bracelet here, doesn't he need to look at the map?"

"No need this time. Those dogs have sharp noses. They can just follow the way we came back and find our way back."

On the road.

Niu Wenbing explained everything that had happened to Li Fei.

Lin Wen followed behind, but kept looking back at the courtyard.

The door was tightly shut, and inside was Bai Xiaowu, who had seen everything.

"I'll go call Xiao Wu over."

Lin Wen turned around, but Li Fei grabbed her arm.

"Wait, her mother's body... has mutated drastically. Maybe we shouldn't look at it and leave something to remember her by."

The image of the highly distorted female corpse flashed through Li Fei's mind again.

The Niu brothers beside him nodded silently.

Let alone Bai Xiaowu, a child, even the three adults felt a chill down their spines when they thought about it afterwards.

Regarding "humanoid beings," those things that resemble humans but are not entirely human...

This is a physiological discomfort ingrained in human beings.

"this..."

Lin Wen hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.

"No, Xiao Wu won't agree."

After saying that, she turned and left, going back home.

Watching her retreating figure, Niu San scratched his head:

"I have nightmares just looking at this. How can such a young child handle it?"

Li Fei kept walking:

"I don't know, but Bai Xiaowu is no ordinary child."

As they spoke, the three of them arrived at the village entrance.

The body on the cart had been simply covered with a white sheet, so it didn't look so frightening...

It's still scary, just a little better than the pile of rocks.

The family members who arrived first, with red eyes, lifted a corner of the white sheet, and after confirming the body of their loved one, covered it again with pale faces.

It wasn't anything else, but I was mainly horrified by the deformity of the corpse.

"Village chief, this is..."

"Even without sunlight, after mutating, you'll still recognize your own family, right?"

"I can recognize it..."

"That's good."

Liu Yongxiao stood beside the car with his hands behind his back, expressionless.

The sight of the deformed corpses forced the tears that were welling up in the eyes of the family members to be held back.

Families you know well can turn into corpses in the blink of an eye.

It's bad enough that they've become corpses, but to be transformed into such a horrifying state is naturally hard to accept for a while.

During this awkward moment, Lin Wen arrived with Bai Xiaowu.

"etc..."

Having learned from the villagers' experience, Li Fei reached out to stop Bai Xiaowu, wanting to lay the groundwork first.

Unexpectedly, the other person slipped under his arm and stood in front of the cart.

"Mother..."

Bai Xiaowu's eyes trembled.

Beneath that uneven white cloth lay Bai Xiaoyan's corpse.

Even through the white cloth, just by looking at its shape, one could imagine the horrific state of the corpse, which was far more deformed than the other corpses around it.

To Li Fei's surprise, Bai Xiaowu did not hesitate at all and directly reached out and lifted it up.

"hiss..."

"This is too much..."

When the body was fully exposed, everyone present gasped in shock.

Even Lin Wen, who was standing next to Li Fei, was startled despite having mentally prepared herself, and unconsciously took a half step back.

Bai Xiaowu himself, however, did not show much expression.

She simply kept her lips tightly closed and silently covered the white cloth back up.

"Little Five..."

Li Fei and Lin Wen exchanged a glance and stepped forward to try to comfort her, but they saw Bai Xiaowu turn her head away, her eyes red as she forced a smile.

"It's okay, I already cried last night, and it'll make me feel better."

This kid is way too mature...

Li Fei choked for a moment, then handed Bai Xiaowu back to Lin Wen.

soon.

Whether it was influenced by Bai Xiaowu or the recollections of the past flooding back, I don't know.

The surrounding villagers gradually accepted this fact, and each family burst into tears.

There were sobs and weeping.

Even that shrew Feng Xiuhui was lying on Sister Aji's corpse, tears streaming down her face.

This time, Li Fei realized that she wasn't acting.

After the people had finished crying, Liu Yongxiao covered them with the white cloth again.

"Take a few more glances if you want to see it, or you won't have the chance once it's burned."

These words completely awakened the villagers.

They put their fear aside and crowded around to lift the white sheet, taking one last look at their loved one's body.

then.

Liu Yongxiao gave a shout, and several large dogs pulled the cart toward the river.

"Wasn't the corpse already mutated? Why are we still burning it?"

Following behind, Li Fei asked Niu Wenbing in a low voice.

"Just in case, this is the village rule: when someone dies, they have to be cremated."

Niu Wenbing explained in a low voice.

Niu San then took out the dry firewood and torches that he had prepared beforehand.

When the car arrived at the riverbank, Liu Yongxiao gave him a look, and he piled up the body and firewood a few steps away from the river.

A fire was lit, and it burned fiercely.

The sound of the river water was loud, mixed with the crackling of firewood, and a foul smell was emitted.

It smells a bit like the stench of rotting meat, but milder.

"Mutated animals smell like this when burned, so they shouldn't be eaten."

Staring at the fire, Li Fei heard Niu Wenbing's explanation.

While the fire was burning, Liu Yongxiao looked at the gathered villagers.

By the riverbank, illuminated by the firelight, as the grief subsided, a wider range of expressions began to emerge on the dozen or so faces...

There was fear, reluctance, and anger.

There are a total of 21 households in Shuanghe Village, and someone from each household was present.

Parents, children, or other blood relatives.

The people burning in the fire were their most familiar relatives.

Taking this opportunity, Liu Yongxiao revealed the plans he had made before leaving home that morning:

"Fellow villagers, since everyone is here, let me, Old Liu, say a few words."

"They were told to go with Huanzi beforehand, and Huanzi promised to take them to live inside the wall for a while and send them back within six months..."

"Now it seems that they were just fooling us. If I had known it would turn out like this, I, Old Liu, would never have let them go so easily."

"You know my character."

The villagers nodded silently.

Liu Yongxiao was ruthless in his internal management, and even more ruthless in his external management.

I remember a few years ago, a group of refugees fled to Shuanghe Village and raped and murdered a woman. Liu Yongxiao chased after them and skinned them alive, leaving them to dry on the only road outside the village for half a month until they were dried into mummies.

If Huanzi hadn't had a gun, and if Liu Yongxiao hadn't wanted to show some leniency...

Those rings would never dare to act so recklessly.

"Now, the villagers I took away are dead, all shot dead. Logically, I should seek revenge..."

"But the rings, except for Li Fei who has amnesia, have all died at the hands of Grandpa Tree. Now, they are several walking corpses, wandering in the woods to the north."

"This is the retribution they deserved. It's God's mercy that helped us get revenge."

"only..."

"But we can't just let it go like this."

"Firstly, walking corpses retain some of their habits from when they were alive. Who knows, one day they might come back to the village to steal some livestock to eat, or kidnap some children again."

"Secondly, we still have two fellow villagers whose whereabouts are unknown."

Upon hearing this, two faces came to mind for the villagers.

A dark-skinned, tall woman.

She Qingqing, daughter of the She family.

A scholarly-looking man who wears glasses.

Niu Zhiyuan is the second son of the Niu family.

These two were the only two among the nine kidnapped people whose bodies were never found.

"Therefore, I make this promise to everyone here."

After all that buildup, Liu Yongxiao gave his conclusion in a serious tone.

"Give me, Old Liu, a week to prepare. After a week, I will personally lead the team to the mountains to find the walking corpses of the Rings and eliminate the trouble forever."

"At the same time, I will do my best to find Niu Jia Erwa and She Qi's daughter."

"I want to see him alive or dead."

"so..."

"Is there any company willing to provide manpower?"