Chapter 14: The encircled village and Lin Chen

The scream was from a girl, and it was more of a heart-rending cry than a scream.

The village was usually very quiet at night, and since it was built on a mountain, the sudden cry of pain sounded so clear and so abrupt in the night. With that cry of pain, the sound of a dog barking followed, and then the noisy voices of people.

My master and I had already been drinking a little, but hearing this cry of agony, we were suddenly sobered up. I have an amazing memory, and I immediately recognized that this cry of agony was Irene’s voice. I stood up and said to my master, “Master, it’s Irene. This is definitely Irene’s voice.”

The expression on the master’s face suddenly became complicated, and he muttered, “She is the real silly girl.” After that, he looked up, stood up suddenly, pushed me, and said loudly, “Hurry, hurry, something might happen.”

My heart tightened. Something bad was going to happen? What was going to happen? Irene was a girl who was tough on the outside but soft on the inside. Although she had given me a hard time when we first met, I had gotten to know her well over the past six months and knew that she was a good person who valued friendship more than anyone else. I also remembered that six months ago, she had asked me to run away with her, and I felt even more strongly that something bad could not happen to Irene.

My master and I hurried down the mountain. At this time, many places in the Miao village were lit up, and the voices were getting louder and louder. I had a bad feeling, so I grabbed my master and ran faster and faster, almost reaching the place where Irene usually lived. But at this moment, I heard many voices of “no,” followed by a muffled sound, followed by the screams of the crowd, and a few sounds of crying and wailing.

My hand went cold. Could it be that something had happened to Irene? I turned to look at my master, whose expression had become even more complex, with a hint of sadness. He sighed repeatedly, “Silly girl, silly girl. Why can’t you see things more clearly?”

My legs were a little weak, but I still walked towards the place where the accident had happened. At this time, the sound of wailing had become more and more frequent, and the murmurings of the crowd also entered my ears, but I could not hear clearly.

A minute later, my master and I arrived at the scene of the accident. There were already many people gathered in the alley. It was then that I heard people talking: “How could Irene jump from there?” “Yes, Irene doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would do such a thing. Tsk, tsk… how pitiful.” “How could it be Irene? Is there any hope? Hey…”

My master and I pushed our way through the crowd, but we saw several people in the middle of the crowd, crying loudly. I recognized these people as Irene’s parents and her brother. The other person, I saw and couldn’t help but feel heartache, was Ru Xue.

But the next moment, I didn’t care about my heartache anymore, because I stood over and found that the person in the bloodbath in Ru Xue’s arms was precisely Irene. Looking at her, her consciousness had already become blurred, and she was breathing out more than she was breathing in, so she was probably beyond help.

“Where did she jump from?” my master asked behind me, and someone immediately replied, “From there, from the stilted house on the upper floor, she jumped directly into this alley. How can she be saved?”

I didn’t have time to think about it, and I walked over to Yu Xue, who was shaking all over. I held Yu Xue’s hand, and it was cold.

Ru Xue is a light-hearted person, and others always find her hard to approach. They are polite to her but rarely get close to her. She doesn’t have many close friends, and Irene is one of them. I know that, like me, Ru Xue is actually very sentimental. I know that Ru Xue is very sad right now, so sad that she can’t express it.

Eileen’s eyes were a little unfocused at the moment. Ru Xue only knew to hold Eileen, but she couldn’t say anything. But I could see from the look on Eileen’s face that she must have something to say to Ru Xue. I endured my sadness and said to Eileen, “If you have something to say, you can say it. I’ll let Ru Xue listen.”

Irene raised her trembling hand, and I immediately helped her hold it. She pulled on Ru Xue’s clothes with great difficulty and whispered, “Ru Xue is so sad that she doesn’t know what to do. I can only lower my head and listen for Ru Xue.

“Ru… Ru Xue… yes… I’m sorry, I, we… know that there is a letter buried… buried… buried under the tree.” After she finished speaking, Irene suddenly vomited a mouthful of blood. My hand immediately trembled, and I immediately held Irene, saying, “Irene, don’t say these things. You hold on. There is salvation. There is salvation.”

At this moment, Ru Xue suddenly reacted. First, a tear rolled down her cheek, then more tears followed. She looked at me sadly, and when she heard me say that there was hope, she also said, “Eileen, don’t say anything to me. Really, Chengyi said that there is hope.”

The village witch doctor and Ling Qing’s grandmother also arrived, as if there really was a way out. However, Irene’s face revealed a strange smile, accompanied by a look of despair and sadness. Her mouth mumbled, and I hurried to listen, but all I heard her repeat was a name. Because her voice was so weak and intermittent, it took me a long time to hear clearly that she was saying a name鈥擫in Chen.

“Who is Lin Chen? Where is Lin Chen?” I quickly turned around and looked around, but no one answered me.

But at that moment, my arm felt heavy and my heart sank. I knew that Irene had gone. Ruoxue had no strength, so I almost carried Irene for her. I knew that when a person dies, all their strength leaves their body, so they feel especially heavy.

I didn’t turn around. I didn’t dare to look back at this scene, but I felt Ruoxue, who was leaning against me, suddenly leaning against me. Irene’s parents and brother rushed over and took over Irene’s body.

I quickly embraced Ruoxue. Ruoxue looked at me with a pale face and an expressionless expression. Suddenly, she said to me, “Tell me, why did Irene die?”

I held her tightly. I didn’t know how to answer Ru Xue, but I felt that Irene’s death must have something to do with Lin Chen, but now was definitely not the time to say it. Ru Xue was still asking me why Irene died. I couldn’t say it out of my heart. I touched Ru Xue’s long hair, but I heard that she was silent. I looked at her anxiously and realized that the girl had fainted because of excessive grief.

Just as the crowd was in a panic, I heard an arrogant voice ring out from the mountain: “The great witch of the Yueyan Miao village, Ling Qing, come out! What helpers are there? Come out!” The voice was shouted through a loudspeaker, extremely arrogant. Who could it be?

I was holding Ru Xue, a little confused. The crowd was even more agitated. My master came to my side at some point and said, “Have someone take Ru Xue back to the house to rest. You and I will go down. It’s the people from the Black Rock Miao Village and the people from that organization.”

I looked at my master in surprise. How did he know? But the situation was chaotic, and it was obviously not the time to talk. I handed Ru Xue to Fan Fan and Tuan Tuan, and asked them to take Ru Xue back.

At this moment, an old voice rang out in the crowd. It was the great witch of the Moon Weir Miao village, Boqie. He said in a strange tone, “Our thousand-year-old enemy has arrived. Ling Qing, I and a few friends will go meet them. Those who are not involved should go back to their houses.”

I don’t know if the great shaman always speaks in a strange tone, but I know that the great shaman is indeed very majestic. When he speaks, no matter how chaotic, agitated, or curious the people are, they begin to slowly disperse.

I was relieved. If it had been this chaotic, even if there had been a fight, the situation would have been difficult to handle.

But just then, I heard an unusually arrogant male voice: “I’m here to find Irene. Give Irene to me.”

I looked in the direction of the sound and saw a tall man walking alone on the road from the entrance of the village. He was dressed in black and looked arrogant and mysterious.

I stepped out and asked, “Who are you? Why are you here to take Irene away?” I didn’t tell him that Irene had just died, but I had a hunch that this person might be Lin Chen.

“Who am I? You don’t need to know! I’m here to take Irene away. I don’t think it matters if there’s one more woman, and it’s okay to take her with me.” As he spoke, the man had already walked ten meters away from me.

I saw that this was a very manly man, with deeply carved facial features, but with a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, which made him look a bit bad.

I couldn’t help but ask angrily, “Are you Lin Chen?”