Chapter 313: The Hidden Prey

Far from the town, in the freezing cold, it must have been dangerous during labor. "Where did she come from?"

"She said Wenze Village, but I don't think so."

At this moment, Liutiao ran back and said to the group, "Come and look, I've found something."

He He Lingchuan strode after her to Old Ding's house. The fellow was a miner, a bachelor for nearly thirty years who still lived in a mud-brick hut. The inside was a mess, filled with wine vessels everywhere; the jars and pots were all empty, and the foulest thing was a chicken-feather quilt. Fortunately, the door was open, blowing away some of the stench.

However, Liutiao leaped onto the roof of Old Ding's house and began to pull at the thatch: "Look."

The wind and snow in the northwest were always more severe than in Panlongcheng, so the roofs here were steeper, covered with thick bamboo tiles and thatch. It was woven and stacked layer by layer, and now piled high with thick snow, looking just like a person wearing a tall hat.

Just looking at the snow on these roofs, it seemed as if it could crush the house.

The white snow and thatch had already been pulled open by Liutiao to create a gap, and now she tore away more thatch, revealing what was inside. Everyone gasped in surprise.

There was actually a person hidden inside.

A dead body, frozen stiff.

The skinny man hauled Village Chief Hu up to the roof and pointed at the dead face revealed in the straw: "Is this the one surnamed Ding?"

The dead man's eyes were still wide open. Village Chief Hu met his gaze and let out an "Ah!": "It really is Old Ding, he... ugh!"

His gaze flickered, accidentally catching a glimpse of Old Ding's upper body, and he couldn't help but lower his head and retch.

The deceased had been disemboweled; his heart, liver, spleen, stomach, and kidneys were all gone, leaving only a few sections of intestine—the murderer probably disliked the taste.

Then the facts were already clear: that night, Old Ding had only stepped a few yards out of the house when the murderer hoisted him onto the roof. No wonder there was only that one line of footprints in the snow; the man-eating monster had been lying on the roof all along and never touched the ground.

Liutiao suddenly added: "The one surnamed Ding died a lingering death. Look at his throat; he must have been eaten alive."

There was a bruise around Old Ding's neck, blood seeping from the corners of his mouth; the agony before death was frozen on his face. The monster had pressed down on his throat while feasting to keep him from screaming.

In other words, he had watched helplessly as the monster devoured him alive.

Village Chief Hu had just straightened his back, but upon hearing this, he vomited again.

The weather was too cold, so Old Ding's corpse froze quickly. Hidden in the thatch, it didn't attract attention, which was why he was "missing."

He He Lingchuan asked Liutiao: "How did you find it?"

"It smelled." Liutiao twitched her nose, "My nose is sharp."

"..."

"This thing even buries its food after eating." Xu Chun asked Village Chief Hu, "That morning, did you find any other strange footprints in the snow near your town?"

"Uh... I didn't see any, and no one else came to report any." Village Chief Hu hesitated, "Around here, we often have grouse, deer, and the like passing through."

"Old Ding died after the pregnant woman from out of town left?"

"Oh, the other way around. Old Ding died, and that pregnant woman was scared out of her wits, packed her bags, and left." Village Chief Hu gave a bitter smile, "She was six months pregnant and moved heavily; how could we have imagined she had any connection to a murder case?"

"Where did the pregnant woman stay?"

Village Chief Hu led the group to the last small hut at the end of the street: "She stayed here for several days. I even had people send her charcoal and food."

The room was empty, the charcoal brazier had long since frosted over, and the thin quilt on the heated brick bed was as stiff as iron. He He Lingchuan entered the room and scanned it, seeing nothing unusual—after all, the furnishings were as simple as his own wooden hut—but when he lifted the quilt on the bed, he found a bloodstain on the mattress.

"It looks like a claw print." Liutiao put her palm up to compare, "It's only half the size of my palm."

The claw print was only half the size of a woman's palm, and the group looked at each other. The gossiping woman had snuck in to watch and couldn't help but say: "Could it be a little ghost?"

"You guessed right." Another team member nodded, "This is a ghost fetus."

As soon as the last two words were out, the woman felt a chill run through her entire body: "C-could it be that the man-eating monster crawled out of her belly?"

The patrol guards all nodded. Panlongcheng had been offering a reward for the Jindu ghost cubs for quite some time.

The woman was terrified and muttered: "I told you she was strange; just getting close to her made me feel creeped out."

Village Chief Hu was about to speak, but Liutiao made a shushing gesture at him, letting the woman continue: "Did she have a grudge against Old Ding?"

"Old Ding was a drunkard; when he drank too much, he loved to go crazy." The woman said, "On the third night the woman came to town, Old Ding went 'bang, bang, bang' to smash her door, saying he wanted to be the godfather to the child in her belly. The woman didn't dare open the door no matter what, so he vomited all over her doorstep. He didn't say a word when he woke up the next day, and was scolded a bit by the village chief."

"Oh, oh, let me tell you, let me tell you—" the woman remembered something else, "A few days ago, Ah Zhen's laying hen went missing, and the six-year-old kid next door pointed the finger at this woman. We all thought it was impossible because her belly was so big she couldn't bend over. Now that I think about it, why was it impossible? She was carrying a ghost fetus!"

Another patrol guard touched the corner of the table and suddenly said: "There are a few pinches of stove ash on this... it might be incense ash."

"She burned incense here. If she also stole a chicken, she might have been offering it to the gods." Duan Pei Xinyu laughed, "It's getting late, let's head up the mountain quickly. If we hurry, we can still get home for dinner."

With that, the group took the mine map from the village chief's hand, left the town, and set off for the mine.

The sand leopard Shanze was still lying on the rock, saying to the patrol guards: "The evil thing in that mine also attacks demon beasts. Now no monsters are willing to get close, and I still have to supervise the work, so I won't go in with you."

By now, half a mile of the mountain road had been cleared, but rocks were still sliding down from the mountain from time to time. Carriages and horses couldn't pass yet, so the group had to proceed on foot.

The obstacles made of snow and rock couldn't stop these agile patrol guards at all, let alone Shanze.

Therefore, the group quickly crossed the blocked section and headed toward the mine.

Three miles later, they reached the mine.

Its entrance was very narrow, only as wide as two large doors, hidden beneath the mountain wall and covered by a few old pine trees.

There was a row of low houses beside the mine. Miners wouldn't sleep in the cave, so these houses were where they usually rested.

However, the bungalows were all empty now, and there were still some bloodstains on the ground.

He He Lingchuan noticed that a low wall had left bloody claw marks, an inch deep into the wall—the monster seemed to have only three toes.

"This thing's claws are quite sharp." Duan Pei Xinyu saw it too. The bungalows were built with local materials, using stone, and this piece of bluestone was quite hard. He drew his blade and made a mark, sparks flying. "Cut it off and see if it can be crafted into a magic treasure, preferably a grappling hook."

Seeing his relaxed demeanor, He He Lingchuan reminded him: "Do not lower your guard. The later a Jindu ghost cub is born, the stronger its power."

Panlongcheng had already captured and killed six ghost cubs, and only three remained at large. According to Dong Rui, these few were even more formidable.

Duan Pei Xinyu looked at him and smiled: "You're certainly steady. It's fine, I'll take the lead." He turned to call his teammates, "Let's go, into the cave."

What is wrong with this guy? He He Lingchuan sensed hostility.

It was Duan Pei Xinyu's deputy captain, Wang Xu, who lagged a few steps behind and whispered to He He Lingchuan: "Apologies, please don't mind it. Our captain has been in a bad mood lately and snaps at everyone."

His tone was very friendly, and He He Lingchuan returned a smile: "No matter."

Wang Xu offered a conciliatory smile, nodded, and trotted away.

Xu Chun also smiled and waved at He He Lingchuan, ordering his own squad to enter the cave.

Menban rubbed his chin: "You've been too much in the spotlight lately; no wonder that guy doesn't like you."

He He Lingchuan hadn't yet removed the "No. 7 Arena Champion" sign from his person, so he was very likely to have people turn their heads as he walked down the street, especially young girls who always liked to rub up against him.

Where there is admiration, there is naturally jealousy and disdain.

He He Lingchuan had his team members make some preparations before following them in.

The three teams entered the cave, all holding high bundles of fluorescent grass. This light was more stable than torches and just as bright, which patrol guards often kept for missions.

The construction of the mine was labor-intensive and usually narrow and low; tall people like He He Lingchuan could only move forward bent over, and in some places, they even had to bend their knees.

What He He Lingchuan was calculating was how they would be able to fight if they encountered an enemy in such a low and narrow place.

On the way, they saw two mine carts, both empty, with bloodstains on the handle of one of them.

They had seen two pools of blood since entering, and they had identified it as human blood, but they hadn't seen a single corpse.

The group became even more vigilant; even the previously lackadaisical Duan Pei Xinyu had two poison darts in his hand—in the Panlong Wilderness, careless warriors didn't live long.

Fortunately, after not walking long, the path widened, as if they had entered a natural rock tunnel, and water began to seep from the surrounding rock walls.

There was a lot of seepage in the tunnels, and sometimes one would even encounter underground lakes. The group didn't pay much attention to it, confirming the water droplets were non-toxic before continuing.

Before long, Liutiao covered her nose and said: "It's a bit smelly in this cave."

Xu Chun also said: "The intersection ahead isn't marked on the map at all."

A three-way intersection appeared in front of them, all looking the same in size and width, with pitch-black darkness in the depths of each.

"Shall we move together, or each choose a path?"

The skinny man immediately said: "The opponent wants us to split up most of all, to defeat us one by one. I think we shouldn't let them have their way."

He He Lingchuan shook his head inwardly; this fellow was usually quite good at reading the room, so why was he useless at a critical moment? Sure enough, Duan Pei Xinyu pointed to the leftmost path: "I choose the west path, you all do as you please."

Xu Chun frowned: "Do you really want to split up?"

"It wouldn't be good to be wiped out in one go by the opponent either." Duan Pei Xinyu said sternly, "Look at how narrow the path is; if all twenty-plus of us walk the same way, how can we maneuver if we encounter an enemy?"

This made sense. He He Lingchuan tilted his chin at his teammates and, without further words to the others, was the first to walk into the middle passage.

Xu Chun watched their team's fluorescent light disappear at the end of the passage and shook his head: "Has he offended you?"

Duan Pei Xinyu gave a scoff and led his team to the left.

He He Lingchuan and the others walked deeper and deeper, and soon there was no more movement behind them.

The skinny man whispered: "How could Village Chief Hu give us a wrong map?"

The Chifeng mine had been under development for some time, and many paths had been opened inside; it was easy for anyone who wasn't an old hand to get lost, which was why the map had been drawn.

(End of chapter)