Chapter 26: The Mysterious and Bizarre Events at Shi Family Village

  Wu Sanlang's wretched appearance was something he had never seen before since his fall.

  Shi Jin hastily jumped up and grabbed Wu San's shoulders, shouting: "What nonsense are you spouting!"

  "Wo San Dog pointed westward, his voice trembling: "At first I didn't believe it either, but this...this...is really a ghost!" As he spoke, his eighteen teeth chattered uncontrollably, causing his words to become muffled and indistinct."

  Shi Jin couldn't help but think of many things, hearing Chen Da say that Wu Sanlang was fearless in the face of danger every day. Even during the prison break that year, he didn't back down a single word. But today, he ended up like this, and even someone who had studied Buddhism would be afraid of ghosts - it seemed there was something fishy going on.

  Shi Jin was puzzled in his heart, but he also felt that things were not ordinary. He hastily asked him: "What's the fuss about? Tell me and let me hear."

  "Wǔ Sān Gǒu pointed with one hand at the front gate of Shǐ Jiā Zhuāng and said, 'It's right there, brother will know when he sees it.'"

  When Shi Yan was drifting in the rivers and lakes, he often used his superb skills to "make trouble" in some wealthy families, but it was just for money, clothes and goods, and he didn't believe in ghosts. Today, seeing that there is such a thing in the Shi family's village, he volunteered: "Brother, I'll go and meet that ghost!" And then asked Wu Sanlang to lead the way.

  Shi Jin stretched out his hand to stop him and said, "Let's go take a look together!"

  Shi Jin and the others followed Wu Sanlang to the front of the camp, where they saw the moonlight illuminating the ground, making the vast grassland shine like snow. Just above this, Shi Jin's sharp eyes caught sight of a corpse lying outside the camp gate.

  When I was running a butcher shop in the county town, I had seen all sorts of bloody things. Now that I've taken to the grasslands, licking blood off my knife is something I do even more often, and I've grown numb to the sight of people dying horribly - what's it to me if these few bodies fall to the ground?

  Shi Jin felt somewhat dissatisfied in his heart and was just about to walk over to take a closer look and investigate what kind of death it was.

  At this time, Wu Song grabbed Shi Jin's arm tightly and shouted: "Brother can't go! Can't go!"

  Shi Jin was born with a straightforward temperament, daring to think and act. Wherever there's something to avoid, he'd say: "What's wrong with you now? You're being so evasive and hesitant, not at all pleased. Let go of your worries and take a look, what's there to be afraid of?"

  Wu San's dog listened with his hands down, but didn't relax, and hastily said: "No way! Brother, listen to me!"

  Shi Jin nodded and looked at him: "Alright, you speak."

  Wu Song looked around cautiously, as if afraid of being overheard, and then leaned in close to Shi Jin's face, whispering in his ear.

  Shi Jin's heart felt uncomfortable, tonight this Wu San dog is so effeminate, it's really infuriating!

  But then Wu San said in a low voice, "Brother, not long after you returned, the replacement night watchman came to report that all three brothers from the previous shift were found dead outside the camp. I took my knife and went out to take a look, but the camp gate was already surrounded by more than half a circle of people, and no one dared to approach."

  Shi Jin curiously said: "Just thinking now is like this, standing here, staring blankly?"

  Wu San's dog face had a bitter expression as he said, "At first, I was also angry at their cowardice, but then they told me that just now two of my brothers went over and didn't make a sound before falling down, never to get up again."

  Shi Jin glared at Lao Da, staring straight at the corpses scattered all over the place.

  "Two under my command also disbelieved, so I invited them to follow me and see for themselves."

  At this point, Wu San's voice dropped even lower and trembled slightly: "I watched them pass by with my eyes wide open, just as they were about to reach the corpse, two of them fell down at the same time and never got up again..."

  After Wu Song finished speaking, Shi Jin looked at him seriously and said: "What's going on?"

  "How did I know, it was also heard from the elders before, if a person dies miserably and becomes a fierce ghost, if they have something left to cherish in the world of the living, on the eve of the seventh day after death, they can still come back and take another walk."

  Wu San Dog stared blankly at the ground with his eyes and said, "Today is just the eve of that seventh day, if it wasn't for the disturbance of evil spirits, how could this be?"

  Shi Jin listened and didn't believe this nonsense, but since the person died in such a suspicious manner, he wanted to investigate further, so he went off on his own to think about it.

  His foot had just taken a few steps, when suddenly the wind moved behind him, and someone with lightning speed tightly hugged Chen Da around the waist. All that could be heard was Wu San's voice shouting from behind: "Brother can't go!"

  "Don't mention evil spirits, I don't believe in this nonsense! Let go!"

  Wu Song's dog was holding on tight, but wouldn't let go. Shi Jin was annoyed and turned around, with one swift motion he grabbed Wu Song's dog and flung it to the side.

  Wu Song fell on one side and before he could steady himself, he saw Shi Jin running in that direction, so he hastily rolled and crawled to intercept him.

  Shi Jin took a backflip seven-star step, jumped over to one side, and forced Wu San Dog to stumble and fall.

  In this brief moment, Shi Jin had already taken quick strides and walked fifty paces away, arriving at the place where the corpses were lying.

  Wu San saw it, and his heart cried out in alarm. He wanted to go back and pull him back, but it was too late. His heart was afraid that his brother would also fall down, and he couldn't help feeling desperate. He let out a loud and fierce howl, as if he could scare something away.

  But the ghost was not frightened, and instead gave Shi Jin a good scare.

  Shi Jin heard the sound and his heart skipped a beat, he habitually turned his head to look back, but in that moment of distraction, his foot was caught on something unknown, and with a thud, he fell to the ground.

  Wu San looked and saw that his brother had indeed fallen, and he couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow in his heart. He immediately knelt down, closed his eyes, and two streams of tears rolled down. Shi Qian's heart also skipped a beat.

  At the moment Shi Jin fell to the ground, he heard a faint rustling sound passing by his ear and brushing against his cheek. And where Shi Jin landed was right among the corpses.

  Shi Jin felt that something was amiss, and just as he was about to get up, his gaze inadvertently swept over the corpse in front of him. He saw a blood hole on the corpse's neck, with a black-feathered short arrow piercing through its throat.

  Shi Jin realized at this point that there was no ghost or monster, but rather someone secretly attacking, just pretending to be supernatural. Thinking of this, his mind unknowingly recalled the phrase "hanging sheep's head and selling dog meat" that Zhu Wu had said earlier.

  Shi Jin seemed to have understood the other party's trick and decided to play along, teasing them thoroughly.

  This black feathered short arrow, originally a dark weapon of the rivers and lakes, is light in body and silent, with a short and sharp head. The range is not far, and it must be close at hand to succeed, so it has been abandoned for many years.

  Never expected to see you here.

  Shi Jin held his breath and carefully listened for any sound. He thought to himself, "In just a moment, I will definitely find out where you are."

  At this moment, Wu San Dog did not know all these, but gritted his teeth, furious and indignant, and with a loud roar, he suddenly jumped up, pulled out the wooden knife, and rushed towards this side.

  When he saw Wu Sanlang being so unreasonable, he hastily pulled him back and said to his blood-red face: "You take care of the brothers at home, I'll go take a look!" After that, he set off immediately.

  Wu Song didn't know who this man was, but he had also heard the servants in the yard mention that this person's lightness kung fu was superb. He was also a noble guest at Shi Qian's table, so he didn't dare to compete with him for anything. With his heart hanging on Shi Qian, he looked at Shi Qian and others with hopeful eyes, and then went over there.

  Shi Jin immediately recognized the angry roar of Wu Sanlang and knew that Shi Yan was coming. His heart tightened, knowing that something bad was about to happen. He quickly grabbed the long spear next to the corpse and held it tightly in his hand. As Shi Yan approached, he aimed at the spot where Shi Yan would land and swiftly turned the spear around, holding it close to the ground and thrusting it forward.

  At that time, Shi Jin was thinking of one thing, who would have thought it would be like this. It was just a fall, and with a thud, he fell behind Shi Jin's back.

  At this moment, Shi Jin's eyes were sharp and he noticed a slight movement in the grass twenty steps away from him behind a tree with thick foliage. It must be that scoundrel shooting an arrow.

  At this time, Shi Xiu was about to shout out loud when he saw Shi Jin slightly turn his face towards him and make a hand gesture. Shi Xiu immediately stopped shouting, knowing that there were people lurking nearby.

  At this moment, the crowd of rascals standing in front of the stronghold saw that their own big boss and the good fellow had fallen inside, and they were bitterly disappointed. One or two of them with quick minds saw that things were not going well and immediately rode to report the news to Mount Shao Hua.

  Shi Jin carefully observed for a moment, twenty steps away, under a tree, in the thick grass, it was possible to hide two people. After making up his mind, he made a hand gesture to Shi Chuan, preparing to take down that guy and see through their tricks.