NOVPUBMountain-leaning Village, although not too far from Linjiang County City, was hidden in the mountains and only accessible by a narrow, rugged path leading to the outside world.
Additionally, most villagers surnamed Zhang rarely had outsiders visiting except for the traveling peddlers.
Given the characteristics of the "Demon," Wang Chen’s first deduction was that the Bloodsucking Ghoul who had created the massacre was hiding among the villagers.
Thus, a thorough search was necessary.
However, with hundreds of people in Mountain-leaning Village, it was clearly unrealistic to gather everyone at once.
The village had both hunters and gatherers of mountain goods, and it was normal for those who were far away not to hear the call to gather.
Having understood the situation, Wang Chen decided to wait in the village.
"Sir, please sit at our humble abode first."
The elderly village chief earnestly said, "Let my wife brew you a pot of Cloud Mist Tea."
Wild tea grown amidst the cloud-wreathed mountain peaks was collectively called Cloud Mist Tea, which was considered a top-grade mountain product due to its low yield and difficult harvest, thus holding considerable value.
In an effort to please Wang Chen, a junior officer of the Blood Cloak Guard, the old village chief did not hesitate to pull out all the stops.
"No need to trouble yourself."
However, Wang Chen waved his hand, "I will walk around the village."
He paused, then added, "Let the villagers disperse, have someone keep a watch here, anyone who returns should wait at your house first, I’ll come by later."
Of course, the old village chief had no objections and immediately arranged for villagers to wait at the entrance of the village.
Wang Chen wandered around Mountain-leaning Village on his own.
The small village, backed by the mountain, was surrounded by peaks and lush greenery, making the environment quite pleasant.
The scattered earthen and wooden houses were distributed on the hillside, connected by paths paved with stones.
Walking around, Wang Chen noticed that the Spiritual Energy here was noticeably higher than inside the county city.
If the density of Spiritual Energy in the Haotian Realm was 10,000, Linjiang City merely had 1, while Mountain-leaning Village could reach 3-5.
Although these were still miserably small numbers, they were somewhat interesting to Wang Chen.
One must know this world had the inheritance of Taoist Skills, and even though it wasn’t the same system as the Immortal Realm, there were many similar aspects.
For example, the Demon Identifying Talisman Wang Chen kept in his pocket, which he had analyzed seriously and gained substantial insights from.
If the environmental Spiritual Energy was just a bit richer, Wang Chen might have practiced both martial and magical skills!
Focusing on martial arts as the main, and magic as supplementary, was also a path to strength.
When he arrived at the best house in the village, which was the old village chief’s home, several villagers had already returned.
Wang Chen, as usual, checked each one but found nothing.
However, ten people were still not back.
"Sir, it’s already midday."
The old village chief respectfully said, "My wife has stewed a pot of chicken soup, and there are some mountain goods; please make do with what we have for lunch."
Wang Chen’s arrival was unexpected; the old village chief was not well-prepared and could only have his wife kill a laying hen and gather stored mountain goods like wild mushrooms, bamboo fungus, and yellow chestnuts to create a rather generous lunch.
Of course, "generous" was only relative to Mountain-leaning Village standards, and the old village chief was quite worried about neglecting such a distinguished guest.
"Thank you for the trouble."
Wang Chen could see the trepidation in the old village chief’s heart and said with a smile, "As long as it fills the stomach, it’s fine."
The meal was definitely to be eaten; not eating would truly be frightening.
Although Wang Chen had not been in this world for long, he had already integrated into his identity, fully aware of the deterrence a person holding a position not inferior to the county magistrate had over the common folk!
The meal of eight dishes and one soup clearly showed that the old village chief’s family had given their all. The cooking skills were unremarkable, but the ingredients were good, especially the old hen stewed with plenty of mountain produce, which tasted really fragrant.
The old village chief even had his son fetch bamboo wine from the mountain for him to drink.
Around Mountain-learning Village, many bamboo plants were cultivated, and the wealthier villagers would fill the hollow stems with homemade rice wine, then seal them to ferment slowly, eventually producing bamboo wine with a distinctive flavor.
Wang Chen drank two tubes, finding it soft, sweet, and carrying the unique fresh aroma of bamboo.
He truly enjoyed the taste and pulled out a silver ingot to throw on the table, "How much bamboo wine does your family have? I’ll take all of it."
"Not at all, not at all."
The old village chief fumbled hurriedly, "If the lord likes it, I am willing to offer all of it."
Since the establishment of Mountain-learning Village, Wang Chen was definitely the most important personage to visit this village. Unlike other officials, he didn’t extort or blackmail, so the old village chief was already extremely grateful and dared not accept Wang Chen’s silver!
Wang Chen frowned and scowled, "Are you treating me like a corrupt official?"
The old village chief immediately knelt down.
Though nearly having a heart attack from fright, he knew well enough that Wang Chen truly did not want to take advantage, so he had his family buy up the bamboo wine from the village.
Wang Chen sat in the old village chief’s house and chatted with him.
Realizing that Wang Chen was truly different from other officials, the old village chief gradually relaxed and started to open up bit by bit.
Unlike most of the villagers who had stayed in the village from generation to generation, the old village chief had once possessed the skills of a Samurai and had traveled around for many years, visiting numerous towns and cities.
Later, after being heavily wounded by bandits, he was forced to return to Mountain-learning Village to live.
Thus, this old village chief had a wealth of life experiences. When he discovered yesterday that Zhang Xiaoqi’s family had encountered a disaster, he immediately sent people to the county town to report the news and seek help.
Wang Chen asked, "Have you noticed anyone acting suspiciously in the village lately?"
The old village chief thought for a moment, then shook his head with a bitter smile, "No, truly no."
If there had been someone suspicious, he would have told Wang Chen from the start, never daring to hide it until now.
The matter of "Demons" was no small affair, and what the old village chief feared most was that Wang Chen would return to the county town without finding any clues, while the Bloodsucking Ghoul might come out to commit crimes again, causing the villagers’ hearts to collapse.
Indeed, many villagers were already in a state of panic.
Meanwhile, during Wang Chen’s conversation with the old village chief, more villagers kept coming back.
But the result was the same, Wang Chen’s Demon Identifying Talisman showed no response. 𝖓𝖔𝖛𝔭𝖚𝖇.𝔠𝖔𝔪
As dusk approached, out of the fifteen people sent out earlier, fourteen had returned and been checked.
The last one was not seen!
The old village chief began to feel uneasy and instructed his son to lead people to search.
Wang Chen asked, "Who is this last person who hasn’t shown up?"
The old village chief hesitated for a moment and then answered, "He’s Zhang Shitou, living up in the mountains. He’s a hunter and often goes out hunting."
"Oh no!"
He clearly remembered something, slapping his thigh vigorously, "Three months ago, Zhang Shitou had a conflict with Zhang Xiaoqi’s family. Could it be…"
The old village chief dared not ponder deeper, while Wang Chen abruptly stood up, "Let’s go, take me to this Zhang Shitou’s house!"
Intuition told him that this hunter, Zhang Shitou, had a significant connection with the massacre of Zhang Xiaoqi’s family!
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First update delivered.
