Chapter 37

The Deep Buried Sins of Village 04

Os crouched beside Liu An's body, frowning, "Could it also be the work of that legendary warrior?"

"Do zombies climb windows?" Jiu Yi looked out the window into the frightening darkness.

He felt on his shoulder, Elisa seemed to hop nervously a couple of times, then swiftly dived into his pocket, peering out with half her head, appearing quite scared.

"Elisa, what's wrong?" Jiu Yi gently stroked Elisa's head. At the same time, he also felt an unusual presence, as if multiple pairs of eyes were watching them from the nearby darkness, lurking and observing them.

Jiu Yi stepped back from the window and asked Os, "Don't you find this place a bit eerie?"

Os shrugged, "I think we should stay awake tonight, wait for dawn, call the police, and then leave."

As they spoke, a sudden loud banging on the door echoed from downstairs.

The two exchanged a glance— who could it be at this hour?

Soon, hurried footsteps sounded below, and Feng Yi asked, "Who's there?"

"It's me, Aunt Feng," a middle-aged man's voice replied.

"Oh, Xiao Qin, what's up?" Feng Yi stood at the door, questioning the visitor.

"We were patrolling and noticed something odd about your friend's car," the man said. Alarmed, Os leaped downstairs to find the car's tires punctured—all four of them flat. How could they drive it now?!

"It might be the village kids being mischievous," Xiao Qin suggested to Os, "If you don't mind, we can lend you a vehicle."

"Oh, really..." Os nodded, "Then we'll trouble you in the morning."

"The village vehicles are needed in the morning," Xiao Qin said expressionlessly to Os, "So you can only drive at night. No worries, we know the way well. We'll take you to the hospital and then bring the car back."

Os was taken aback. Was this an indirect way of asking them to leave immediately?!

Jiu Yi stood behind the second-floor window, looking down. Elisa peeked out, then retreated back into the pocket, her large eyes fixated on Jiu Yi, showing unease.

"I'm uneasy too, Elisa," Jiu Yi said softly, stroking her, "There's malice hidden in these people's eyes."

Mo Fei and Anger, in the next room, naturally heard the conversation outside.

"Anger, it seems like they want us to leave," Mo Fei whispered to Anger. "Doesn't it feel like there's something off about everyone in this village?"

"They don't want us to leave, Mo Fei," Anger shook his head. "They want us dead!"

Mo Fei was startled, "What?"

"If they just wanted us gone, they wouldn't need to puncture the tires and have us switch to their car," Anger glanced at the time. "It's only about two hours till dawn. Can't they wait even that long?"

"Do you think they'll tamper with the car, planning for us to die in an accident?" Mo Fei frowned, "But why?"

Anger sat on the bed, hugging his knees, and suddenly burst into laughter.

"What's the matter, Anger?" Mo Fei, seeing Anger still in the mood to laugh, was somewhat helpless.

Anger yawned, and Mo Fei, checking his forehead, found the fever had subsided, feeling a bit relieved. "What should we do, Anger? It's not safe here."

However, Anger shook his head, "Under the current circumstances, this is the safest place!"

"Why?"

"Because Aunt Feng is here," Anger revealed a surprising reason to Mo Fei. "So, in the entire village, only here is the safest."

"What do you mean, Anger?" Mo Fei's frown deepened as he listened.

"Why would that warrior enter Aunt Feng's house to kill us?" Anger asked.

Mo Fei was taken aback, "Did we obstruct something?"

Anger nodded, "The previous victims were all attacked outdoors, seemingly encountering 'zombies'. But tonight, the zombies spared so many patrolling outside and chose to enter the house, looking for us?"

Prompted by Anger, Mo Fei started to think and indeed found some inconsistencies. "Right, and entering the house to go upstairs, that's not something a zombie would do," Mo Fei stood up, "Moreover, he moved in and out of Aunt Feng's house with ease!"

"Some villagers complained about Aunt Feng calling Doctor Wei in the middle of the night for a check-up, but no one complained about her calling us here," Anger said with a smile. "Don't you find that contradictory?"

"Anger, could Aunt Feng be related to this case?" When Mo Fei first saw Aunt Feng, he felt a sense of kinship and was reluctant to believe she was involved in a series of terrifying murders.

Anger shook his head, "She doesn't know, otherwise, she wouldn't have called me."

"So, what's the conclusion? Who is the murderer?"

Just then, Os and Jiu Yi entered the room, with Os saying helplessly, "Anger, if we can't identify the murderer right now, we're probably going to be kicked out soon."

"We can't get in their car," Anger shook his head. "That car's definitely been tampered with, unless you don't want to live."

Os and Jiu Yi exchanged surprised glances. "What should we do then, Anger? They have more people!"

"Can we call the village chief here?" Anger asked Os, "I'd like to have a talk with him."

Os nodded and went downstairs. After a while, the village chief came up.

The village chief, not young anymore, walked in with a somber face, sat down on the sofa in front of Anger, and asked, "Young man, feeling any better?"

Angler smiled and nodded, "Yes, much better."

"Really?" the old man asked, "What do you want from me?"

"Where is that person?" Angler asked abruptly.

The village chief was startled and frowned, "Who?"

"The one you all collaborated to protect, even if it meant killing someone from your own village," Angler said indifferently, "What's his relationship with Aunt Feng?"

The village chief's face turned pale, staring at Angler for a long time before shaking his head, "I don’t know what you’re talking about."

"You wouldn’t wait for the police to come with their dogs to search the mountains tomorrow morning, so you plan to send him away tonight?" Angler gazed at the village chief, "Where do you plan to hide him? In the trunk of a car? So that you can sneak him away in the chaos when our car crashes?"

The village chief was stunned, eyes wide, "You..."

Os and Jiyi exchanged a glance, then rushed downstairs. The villagers had already parked two cars below, one to lead the way and one for Angler and his group to use.

Os immediately noticed that the trunk of the car used by the villager leading the way was not properly closed, seemingly intentionally left slightly ajar. He rushed over and flung open the trunk lid.

Inside the trunk, there was a person lying down. It was hard to discern their age due to a long beard, which appeared unkempt and untrimmed for some time. The person was thin enough to slightly curl up and fit inside the trunk.

"Os."

While Os was still in shock, Jiyi called out to him in a low voice. Os turned around, only to see the villagers had surrounded the car, holding hoes and hammers.

"Hey." Os drew his gun, "Back off! You should know what you're doing, right?"

The villagers, however, seemed unmoved, their eyes filled with murderous intent. Elisa, who had just poked her head out, quickly withdrew, and Jiyi also looked tense. Although Os had a gun, they were outnumbered...

At this critical moment, police sirens were heard at the entrance of the village. The villagers turned to look, seeing two police cars and a riot control vehicle driving in.

After the police cars stopped, Shen Yi and Sun Qi got out, followed by the riot police.

Shen Yi was making a call for backup, while Sun Qi, with a megaphone in hand, told the villagers, "Put down your weapons, be rational!"

Os and Jiyi finally breathed a sigh of relief. The timing was perfect, but they were puzzled as to why Shen Yi had suddenly appeared. The phone lines were down, and the police station said they could only arrive tomorrow afternoon.

"Angler had already spoken to Emma in advance," Shen Yi explained. "If the call at eleven or twelve was disrupted, we were to come here as soon as possible, no matter what."

Os and Jiyi exchanged glances, completely dumbfounded. Angler had instructed this beforehand? He knew about this before he came? How long had this guy been planning this? Terrifying!

Aunt Feng, hearing the commotion outside, also came out, puzzled, "What's happening with you all?"

As she asked, her eyes fell on the person standing beside the car with his head lowered, the one who had just crawled out of the trunk. Stunned for a long moment, Aunt Feng exclaimed joyfully, "Xiaohui! Xiaohui, when did you come back?!"

The young man kept his head down, looking utterly ashamed.

Shen Yi and the others approached the car and looked inside, only to see a metal box containing a mummified corpse bound with bandages, and... a knife. The knife, long and sharp, was stained with blood.

Os glanced at the man called Xiaohui, "The one who pretended to be a **samurai and committed murder, was it you?"

Xiaohui nodded, "Yes, it was me."

"No, it wasn't!"

At this moment, the village chief shouted from the second floor, "It wasn't him! It was me."

"And me!"

Several strong villagers stepped forward.

"Let's wait for Angler's conclusion," Shen Yi suggested, stroking his chin while looking up at the small building.

Mo Fei asked the village chief, "What exactly happened?"

The village chief sighed deeply, looking at Angler, "When Aunt Feng told me she was bringing a young detective to solve the case, I, an old man, thought it was all deception, child's play. But I never expected such miraculous things to actually exist." He then asked Angler, puzzled, "How did you know all this when you were sick upon arrival? Are you not really a detective, but some kind of wizard?"

Angler smiled and shook his head, "The reason is simple! I never believed in zombies from the start."

The village chief frowned, shaking his head in confusion.

"When digging a well, a body wrapped in bandages was discovered in a box, buried deep underground. The box was a relic from the war era, along with a commando knife... quite legendary and imaginative," Angler said, raising an eyebrow slightly, "If it weren’t for the subsequent zombie murders, I wouldn’t have been suspicious. But when the zombies started killing, doubts arose."

The village chief frowned, "Is that what made you suspect us?"

"After eliminating all legendary, superstitious, and unscientific elements, the entire incident boils down to this— a body and a knife from years ago were found buried underground in the morning, and at night, the person who took the knife was murdered," Angler, feeling dizzy from sitting too long, lay down a bit, and Mo Fei brought him a cup of hot water.

"The reason for the murder after the discovery of the body is simple - knowing something that shouldn’t be known! Uncovering a secret buried deep underground," Angler said calmly, "Any police officer handling such a straightforward case would consider this possibility. The person who unearthed the body was murdered to silence them, having stumbled upon clues that led to the killer."

"Then..."

“That old farmer died from falling down the mountain,” Anger continued, “An old man who often climbs mountains wouldn’t carelessly tumble down, unless someone was chasing him, or he saw something frightening and ran away, or... was pushed. There are many possibilities, but certainly not the work of zombies! As for Dr. Wei, she’s a doctor in a small mountain village. Any doctor with knowledge of anatomy could see the abnormalities on these corpses. I vaguely heard her comment on the matter; she doesn’t believe in zombies, even despises the idea, indicating she already knew the truth. When she left, she refused Mo Fei’s offer to accompany her, insisting on leaving alone. I guess, she was going to see you, right?”

The village chief listened to Anger’s explanation, finally laughing, “Hehe... impressive indeed, I can’t comprehend how you think.”

“Elisa is very uneasy,” Anger whispered, “It’s afraid of the scent on Mo Fei. Mo Fei’s hands did have blood, but there’s another scent! The scent on Liu An makes Elisa even more uneasy, too many mixed odors! He was surrounded by all of you before making this decision, to take the blame, just like many years ago, when that child took the blame for him, right?”

The village chief’s aged face, after the surprise faded, showed endless regret, finally breaking into tears, “It’s not their fault! Feng Yi and Xiao Hui are innocent, the entire village is guilty! Buried underground is our village’s collective sin.”

Anger nodded slightly, as if knowing this was enough, and leaned on Mo Fei, saying he wanted to sleep a bit more.

Mo Fei made him comfortable and covered him with a blanket.

The village chief took out a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to Mo Fei.

By then, Shen Yi and the police had arrived upstairs. The village chief extended his hand, allowing them to handcuff him. As he left the room, he said to Mo Fei, holding the paper with a herbal prescription, “I’m an old Chinese medicine practitioner, this prescription can help him recover.”

The village chief was then taken away.

In the room, Jiu Yi sat next to Anger. Elisa, feeling the danger was gone, jumped down and snuggled next to Mo Fei.

Anger barely opened his eyes again, poked Elisa, and hugged Mo Fei’s arm, drifting back to sleep.