That girl took Old Qiu down the mountain again, and to his surprise, he followed her back into the village. This made Old Qiu extremely anxious, as he knew that if Master Qian found out, he would be in grave danger. So he lingered at the edge of the village, refusing to go inside.

  Qiu Da Ye grabbed the girls arm and said: "We cant go in, the people inside will kill us."

  He didnt expect that girl to give him a strange smile, and with almost no effort, she left Old Man Qius side. He described it like this: "She wasnt walking, I felt like she was floating over, who walks that fast? In an instant, she was already several meters away."

  "Didnt you go with him?"

  "No, I wouldnt dare." Old Qiu continued to say. The girl walked halfway and he didnt dare make a sound, so he could only stare at her because his eyes were special and could see clearly in the dark night without light.

  That girl went to the house of Qian Shu Ye, and the door was stuck with a wooden wedge as thick as a teacup from the inside. He didnt see the woman push the door at all, it was as if the door wasnt closed, she floated in directly, passing through the wall!

  This was the first time in so many years that Old Qiu felt a chill run down his back, and his scalp tingled with numbness. He began to ponder the girls words.

  Not long after, he saw the woman come out of the house and go to another room where Qian Shu Yes subordinates lived. This time before entering the house again, the woman deliberately looked at Old Man Qiu over here and even smiled at him. This smile scared Old Man Qiu so much that he directly fell to the ground with a thud.

  That woman walked through the wall again, and in less than a stick of incense, the door opened, and a man came out from inside. He was walking towards the outside of the house like he was sleepwalking, all the way to the edge of the water pool, where he fell in with a "splash". Then, the second man did the same thing. Qian Shu Ye had five subordinates in total, one died in the pool that afternoon, leaving four. These four people followed suit, one after another, jumping into the water pool.

  Not long after, the girl returned again. She came to Old Man Qius side and said to him: "You are still an honest person, you told the truth and didnt do evil with them. But you had greedy thoughts and took something that belongs here, so I want you to keep this secret forever." After saying these words, she turned around and left alone.

  Qius grandfather was also very frightened at the time, and he didnt look like the same person as the injured woman before. Looking at the girls back, he asked: "Miss, what do you mean by this?"

  "I didnt say Id bring you to see something, did I?"

  Old Qiu said, "At that time, the womans head was completely twisted around, but her body was facing away from me!" Then he gestured with his hand: "Her tongue was this long!"

  I took a rough measurement, and if its as big as Old Qiu said, thats half the length of an arm, and its still human!

  "In the end, I heard that woman tell me to stay in the wilderness village for the rest of my life and not go out, and never mention this matter again, otherwise she would come looking for me." Old Qiu looked at us and said: "So, kids, its not that I dont want to say, but I cant say."

  "How can you say that again?" asked the fatty.

  "Ive grown old, and my time is limited. These past few days, Ive been having chest pains. Youre all watching those few ponds, I think its only a matter of time before something happens. Looking at your characters, none of you are bad people, so Ill tell you this: from now on, dont go near those ponds anymore, keep a distance."

  Zha Wenbin stopped the fat man who wanted to continue asking and said, "Old Man Qiu, I have something else to ask you. Your daughter... whats her relationship with this matter?"

  "Its said that there is a ghost, and this is my retribution! Ive been stuck here without leaving, but Qian Shu Ye didnt die, he escaped. I saw him running in front of me, shouting that there was a ghost. Qian Shu Ye has some connections, the amulet on his body is from Qingcheng Mountains Tianshi Dao protective charm, said to be personally consecrated by Tianshi Zhang Daoling, one of only 108 pieces in this world, and he just so happens to have one, maybe that thing saved his life."

  In the thirty-first year, the Japanese arrived in Northeast China, and many refugees fled to the forest. The Wild Mens Village also ran into our village of three households. I had been alone in this village for over a decade, so it was naturally good to have someone come as neighbors. I divided two rooms for them.

  It was a chaotic time, and it was fortunate that there were no major incidents. This village was remote but also safe. There was a family with a daughter who became my wife six months later. A year after that, we had a baby girl and were truly overjoyed. At that time, supplies were scarce. One family originally had a silversmith business outside the village. I thought about getting a longevity lock for our child, so I took out the gold coin from under the box. Because at the time, I had promised the person not to leave the village, but didnt say anything about not being able to move the gold.

  My daughter was wearing a long-life lock and had been living in peace, so I didnt pay much attention to it. At night, the cornfield often has wild beasts coming to ruin the grain, usually someone needs to keep watch. When she was seven years old that night, I went to the cornfield as usual, just across from that small hillside, now there is a house built on it.

  That night the moon was full, I dozed off in the field, and suddenly a gust of cold wind blew up, and I woke up with a start. Then I saw a woman standing outside my house door, looking at me with a smile, I recognized her, it was the woman who got hurt that year. I didnt even have time to run, I ran as fast as I could, halfway through, I saw my wife holding my daughter, the two of them walking step by step towards the water tank. I shouted, I called out, I threw stones, and within less than 10 meters away, I watched with my own eyes as my wife jumped in holding my daughter...” By this point, Old Man Qiu was already crying uncontrollably, sobbing uncontrollably.

  I was puzzled and asked: "Why? They shouldnt have any grudges against that woman."

  Qiu Da Ye became excited again, slapping his thigh and saying: "She said that anyone who has touched those treasures cannot leave, how could I have forgotten?!"

  Originally, a week before the incident, Old Qius daughter-in-law had taken their daughter out on a trip. She had been in this village for eight or nine years and naturally had many relatives outside. That day, her father-in-law took his daughter and granddaughter out to see if there had been any changes after leaving home for so many years. Who knew that the Japanese were still there, and Northeast China had become Manchukuo, so the three of them rushed back overnight.

  That long-life lock was always worn by his daughter, and his wife had naturally touched the lock. The next night, his father-in-law also jumped into the water tank, and the whole family disappeared without a trace.

  We all thought it was unbelievable, this is an era that emphasizes atheism, and we were all educated in Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought, which emphasizes materialism. Although when we first arrived, we did encounter the "zombie" incident, but that could still be explained. Now, hearing about this matter sounds like utter nonsense.

  On the way back, Paozi asked Zha Wenbin: "Zha Ye, this kind of thing is only understood by you among us brothers, is there really such a thing in the world?"

  Cha Wenbin did not answer directly but instead asked: "Do you think what he said sounds fake?"

  Fatso shook his head, Yuan Xiaobai said: "I think its true, the key is that we are now..."

  "Ah, that gold coin!" I suddenly remembered too: "We all touched it, and Old Branch Book as well. This is terrible, will that female ghost come after us?"

  Zha Wenbin called off the few of us and said: "Whether its good fortune or bad, if its bad luck, we cant avoid it. Tonight, all of you get ready to set out, including Xiaobai, no one can stay home alone. We have to go to Old Man Qius house, something might happen tonight. Also, Pangzi, in a while, go to the Shi familys house and retrieve the gold coins, no matter what, we must get them back."

  "Alright, Ill go take care of it. Do you want me to call him over as well?"

  Cha Wenbin said to the fat man, "No need, its not his turn for now." Then he said to me, "Xiao Yi, wait a moment and come with me to find some things. I need an inkstone, a bundle of hemp rope, red, green, yellow, and black paper, a red silk thread, and seven copper coins."

  "He continued to command us: Also, Xiaobai, go to the village and buy a big rooster, the older the better. And tell Zhang Auntie to cut two sets of paper clothes with red and green paper, shell understand what you mean. Pangzi, when you come out, bring the black dog from the Shi familys house too. The candles, incense, and paper money are all at the village temple, grab some while youre at it."

  We each took our tasks, Cha Wenbin took the axe and returned to the north of the village, where there was an old peach tree that only bloomed but never bore fruit. He chopped it down with a few swift cuts. This was extremely dangerous behavior in those days, although the peach tree did not bear fruit, the fruit trees belonged to the collective assets of the village, and if someone made trouble, we would definitely be punished!

  Back home, Cha Wenbin started to get busy. Those tree trunks were cut into wedges, one branch could only be cut into one wedge. The main trunk of the tree was finely polished by him until it was almost dark. When Pangzi returned with Hei Gou, we found that Cha Wenbin had already made a wooden sword, which was a real peach wood sword!