Chapter 1348: Conflicting Accounts

"A monster kicked open her door and wanted to eat her. So her mother hugged her and ran out the back door." The boy continued, "But from this moment on, no matter where they fled, the monsters would eventually track them down in the dark. They couldn't stay anywhere for long."

He Lingchuan pursued: "What did those monsters look like?"

"Strange-looking, they would glow under the fire. Many had horns on their heads, and the horns all looked different; they could make shrill laughs and deep roars, and even talk."

"Why were the monsters chasing them?"

"I asked too, and Little An said she wanted to know too. They fled for a long, long time and were already very tired." The boy peeled a candy and ate it, "She also said that her father was very fierce and scary, and animals and people would scream in fear when they saw him. Sometimes, he would mercilessly cut them into pieces."

"I didn't believe it, and Little An said she originally lived in the mountains, in a very large house."

Chen's wife interrupted: "Killing people and cutting animals, sounds like a butcher! That crazy woman said her second husband was a peddler; what peddler does this! The little girl is not honest and is lying to scare my son."

The boy also said: "We scolded her and her mother for being crazy, and she said everything she said was true, then ran back to the grass shed to find her crazy mother."

True? But Little An's description differed from the past events her mother told when she was clear-headed. Which version was correct? "A crazy woman giving birth to a little crazy girl is nothing strange." Chen's wife looked eagerly at the silver, "What else do the officials want to ask?"

"Besides Chen Family Manor, where was their last stop?"

"Don't know." Chen's wife sent her son back to the room.

Dong Rui spun the silver on the table: "How do you know Chen Fu'ang went to have an affair with her?"

"Three days after that little slut came to Chen Family Manor, Sister-in-law Wu saw Chen Fu'ang slipping out of the dilapidated grass shed, still tying his pants!" Chen's wife gritted her teeth, "I scolded him, and he denied it, saying that the ones playing with the crazy woman were those cousins, and he was just watching from the side."

"Did the mother and daughter leave anything behind?"

"Don't know, at least I don't have it here."

Everything that should be asked had been asked, He Lingchuan nodded and stood up, leaving the silver behind and walking away.

Out of the house, Old Man Chen asked him: "Have the officials finished asking?"

"No, take me to find Sister-in-law Wu."

On the way to Sister-in-law Wu's house, He Lingchuan also heard snippets of conversation drifting out of other villagers' homes, mostly about trivial family matters, occasionally arguing, bickering, or scolding children.

There was also a pair of brothers who were cursing the Green Intent Manor for monopolizing the timber business in the nearby county.

"What are you afraid of? Our Chen Family Manor is not to be bullied either."

"Last time the manor produced a batch of timber, the new coffin shop in Baishui Town came to buy it and offered a good price. But within three days, the Wuma family came over and argued with the patriarch for a long time."

Hearing the name "Green Intent Manor," He Lingchuan's heart moved, but he didn't stop and continued forward.

Sister-in-law Wu's house was much larger than Chen Fu'ang's, and it didn't have that unpleasant musty smell; it could be seen that the family was better off, and they hadn't suffered any losses in the previous monster attack on the manor, with the whole family intact.

Sister-in-law Wu was thin and shriveled, looking nearly fifty, but actually only in her early thirties; she was recognized as the "good old person" of Chen Family Manor.

Chen's wife had just said that Sister-in-law Wu's temperament was like a bamboo tube pouring beans, and she was straightforward in doing things and speaking. But when He Lingchuan found her and mentioned the words "crazy woman," Sister-in-law Wu's eyes shifted a bit: "I only delivered food to her twice; her mind was unclear, and we didn't talk much."

He Lingchuan suddenly said: "Have you talked to her daughter, Little An?"

"No, no."

He Lingchuan looked at County Magistrate Li, who immediately said: "But Chen Fu'ang's wife saw it and even said you gave her two bowls of sweet potato water."

Sister-in-law Wu opened her mouth to argue, but County Magistrate Li's face hardened: "If you dare to commit perjury and delay the official case, I will invite you back to the county to eat prison food for a month!"

This sounded illogical to Dong Rui, but Sister-in-law Wu was so frightened that she trembled all over and subconsciously looked out the window.

"Looking at anyone is useless." County Magistrate Li was not good at other things, but he knew the psychology of the villagers very well and knew how to bluff people most effectively, "This case must be handled by Baiting County! Think about it, this is a major case involving more than a hundred lives; it's a responsibility that even your Patriarch Chen cannot bear, and you, a mere woman, dare to carry it? Are you really not afraid of death?"

Sister-in-law Wu hesitated.

Seeing that there was a chance, County Magistrate Li pressed on: "If you refuse to confess truthfully, you will immediately be arrested as an accomplice hiding clues! Once a major criminal like this is arrested and returned to the county, they will first take off their pants and give them thirty heavy beatings, and their buttocks will be beaten to a pulp; this is just a warning. Family members cannot visit or send medicine, and by the time the case is half-tried, you will probably die in prison!"

Sister-in-law Wu clenched and opened her hands several times, walked to the door to look around, and then whispered: "I'll say it first, this matter has nothing to do with me at all."

"Understood, understood, just say it." County Magistrate Li turned to comfort her, "If you confess honestly, then nothing will happen."

Sister-in-law Wu couldn't sit down either, so she stood and said: "The caravan brought that mother and daughter back from outside, and Chen Fu'ang and his brothers went to the patriarch to plead for them to let the crazy woman A-Hui manage the livestock shed, but actually, they were coveting her beauty. When I went to deliver food to A-Hui, I saw these men coming out of the grass shed. Anyway, she was already half-crazy and an outsider, so the people in Chen Family Manor didn't bother to care, and they were bold..."

He Lingchuan interrupted: "There were five of them in total, right?"

"Ah, yes."

"Chen Fu'ang's wife said that on the night the monsters attacked Chen Family Manor, this mother and daughter also disappeared inexplicably."

Sister-in-law Wu rubbed her palms on her trouser legs several times, looking hesitant.

County Magistrate Li was impatient: "What time is it, why don't you confess quickly!"

"Ac-actually, I don't know when they disappeared." Sister-in-law Wu whispered, "That noon I went to deliver food, but I heard A-Hui screaming in the grass shed, 'Dare to sell my daughter, I'll fight you to the death,' and then there was a clattering sound, and the voices of Chen Fu'ang and the others, 'Hold her down, she's even crazier.' I was embarrassed to listen anymore, so I went home."

"When I went again in the afternoon, the grass shed was actually locked. I looked through the crack in the door, and it was empty inside; there was no one left."

He Lingchuan spoke at the right time: "What about her daughter?"

Sister-in-law Wu shook her head: "Don't know. I went to ask Chen Fu'ang what was going on, and he said A-Hui ran away with her daughter. I wanted to ask a few more questions, but Chen Fu'ang was very impatient, scolded me for being a gossipy woman, and drove me out."

He Lingchuan nodded: "Tell me about that girl, Little An."

"A-Hui's daughter is also a bit strange, talking to herself and unable to play with other children. The children all laughed at her for being a crazy child born to a crazy woman." Sister-in-law Wu thought for a moment, "Little An kept telling me she wanted to go home, but her mother didn't want to. The mother and daughter often argued about this."

He Lingchuan pointed out the suspicious point: "Little An said her home was in Xingyun Village; but her mother said they came from Maodun?"

"Right, right." Sister-in-law Wu immediately said, "I also found it strange; later I thought about it, was her mother from Maodun and married into Xingyun Village?"

"Do you know these two places?"

"Never even heard of them." She had never left within fifty miles of Chen Family Manor in her life.

The last question: "Did this mother and daughter leave anything behind?"

Sister-in-law Wu shook her head like a rattle: "Nothing at all!"

After the questioning, He Lingchuan stood up and intended to leave, but Sister-in-law Wu remembered one thing: "By the way, there is another strange thing: Little An mentioned to me that her father was particularly scary."

"Her father?" Having heard it at Chen's wife's place just now, County Magistrate Li didn't take it to heart, "Is she talking about A-Hui's dead husband?"

"I thought so too, but Little An said she lived with her father for a period of time and only escaped recently."

Recently? He Lingchuan and Dong Rui looked at each other, while County Magistrate Li asked: "A-Hui's second husband died not long ago; did Little An think this was her escape?"

Children don't know what "death" is; seeing that her father no longer appeared and her mother took her away, perhaps she thought she had escaped.

"I don't know either."

He Lingchuan suddenly asked: "How exactly scary was her father?"

"She discovered in private that her father would lock animals and people in stone houses or cages, making them scream in pain. Little An heard that kind of screaming more than once and wanted to cover her ears every time." Sister-in-law Wu said, "It sounds like her father is a butcher. She also told me that her father always locked them in a cave, and there were two large stones at the entrance of the cave, one very white, and the other was..."

She tried hard to recall for a long while: "Oh, it was bright red!"

"Very good." He Lingchuan encouraged her, "Anything else?"

"Oh oh, yes, I remember." Sister-in-law Wu added, "Little An said her father could help her drive away monsters, although only for a while. Her father was also very good to her; if it weren't for wanting to go home so much, she probably would have stayed by her father's side forever."

"Father"? He Lingchuan pondered for a moment, stood up and said: "Thank you, Sister-in-law Wu, you're fine now."

After the questioning, Sister-in-law Wu let out a long sigh of relief, and the group left the house.

In Chen Family Manor at night, there were only sparse lights. He Lingchuan passed by a house and could still sense someone peeking through the crack in the door.

This manor was not friendly to them either.

County Magistrate Li also entered the state: "Next location, where to?"

"Grass shed."

If there were still clues, they were probably hidden in the grass shed where the mother and daughter had lived for many days.

Walking in the manor, Dong Rui suddenly remembered something, took out a small flute, and blew hard.

There was no flute sound; he seemed to be performing a mime.

But only twenty-odd breaths later, the nearby trees rustled, and something jumped over: the Ghost Ape.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1349 =====