Chapter 13: then translation of chapter title

Ma Wang Village is much like the Big Peng Village we passed earlier; the whole village is surrounded by a thick log wall, with only four gate exits to the east, west, south, and north, and each gate has watchtowers on both sides.

When Wang Wu ran to the village gate together with Ma Chuo, the sentry on the watchtower also saw Wang Wu trailing behind Ma Chuo and his daughter.

But he asked nothing and simply opened the gate. Ma Chuo didn't enter right away; instead he stood at the doorway, looked up and asked the village militia on the watchtower, saying:

"Someone died in the village?"

"Yes, Brother Ma." The young man on the watchtower nodded at Ma Chuo: "It happened last night. You went to He Xi Xian on business the day before yesterday; yesterday was fine during the day, but at night a family member had an incident."

"Whose family member died, and what exactly happened?" Ma Chuo asked again.

"The dead is from Widow Ma's household on the east side of the village; the deceased is Widow Ma's younger brother-in-law, but the exact circumstances…" The young man scratched his head awkwardly, "Well… I'm not too clear on it either; you'd better go see for yourself."

"Alright."

Ma Chuo nodded, then immediately ran toward the east side of the village. Wang Wu followed behind him, and after observing the interior of a human village he had never seen before, he stayed behind Ma Chuo.

The village's area is not small; the residential district is enclosed by massive log walls, each log standing over five meters tall and very stout.

These log pillars are driven deep into the ground and are linked with reinforced structures and supports, making their defensive strength evidently excellent.

Moreover, the village militia on the watchtowers, besides the bows and crossbows in their hands, are also equipped with short armor and waist knives; the militia on the watchtowers of Big Peng Village had the same setup.

It's evident that the productivity of this world with an ancient artistic style is quite good; the militia in a village not only have bows and crossbows, but also wear armor, and it's iron armor.

Although this armor may be of little use against monsters, after all they are unshapeshifted monsters—beast‑like demons—whose massive bodies and strength can crush a person and their armor into mush.

Of course, the armor of regular troops is another matter.

Shu Niang had previously told Wang Wu not to think about catching people to eat, mentioning the "iron horse"; the so‑called iron horse refers to human heavy cavalry equipped with armored riding gear.

Of course, Shu Niang herself had only recently taken a human form, so she hadn't seen this thing, but Zhu San Niang had. Because the mountain stronghold she once stayed in was exterminated by the human court, and the humans deployed their "iron horses" at that time.

Heavy cavalry that can move unhindered in mountainous terrain and launch charges is terrifying enough just to imagine.

After entering the village and running a distance behind Ma Chuo, Wang Wu found that the interior of Ma Wang Village is quite large.

The village has many houses, more than one inn, and quite a few people on the roads. Compared with the Guan Dao outside, where you might walk half an hour without meeting anyone, it's like another world.

Wang Wu saw several cargo‑laden wagons in the inn's stables, travelers chatting and eating at a table by the inn's entrance, and some village patrol militia.

They wore the same style of armor as the militia on the watchtowers, had waist knives at their hips, carried bows and crossbows on their backs, and held long spears in their hands.

Wang Wu ran behind Ma Chuo, and many people's eyes were on him along the way, both women and men. Moreover, many people commented on Wang Wu, most of them commenting on his appearance.

Human appearances in this world are quite normal, just like in my former hometown; most people have ordinary looks, and both ugliness and striking beauty are not that common.

However, people here are on average fairly tall; in such a small village, most men are about the same height as Ma Ling's father Ma Chuo—just over 1.7 m, around 1.75 m is common, and there are some men around 1.8 m.

Women's height is generally around 1.6 m, with some at 1.7 m, but it's rare to find someone as tall as Ma Ling.

So far, aside from Ma Chuo's daughter Xiao Ling, he has only seen one older woman taller than 1.75 m; she is a bit taller than Ma Ling, stout, and probably close to 1.8 m.

The east side of the village is a short distance from where Wang Wu and the others are, and the three ran for a while before arriving.

When they reached the spot the village militia mentioned, Wang Wu saw a corpse wrapped in a white cloth lying quietly in front of a house.

Around the corpse, a crowd had already gathered.

There were not only villagers, but also some people whose attire clearly marked them as outsiders from the jianghu.

Two men had swords on their backs and bells at their waists, looking like Taoist priests. There was also a middle‑aged man dressed in very ornate clothing embroidered with floral and bird patterns.

Two soldier‑type men accompanied him, wearing black heavy scale armor that protected from shoulder to arm; their legs were covered with skirt armor, armpits protected with guards, and they wore iron boots.

Moreover, through the lower skirt armor, Wang Wu could see the chainmail they wore underneath, a very long set that extended down to the thighs.

Both soldier‑type men were not wearing helmets; they were kneeling on one knee before the corpse, lifting the white cloth covering it, observing while reporting something to the ornate‑clothed man.

"What's going on?"

Ma Chuo stepped into the group, looked at an elderly man in a hemp long shirt, and asked.

"Brother Ma." The elder, hearing Ma Chuo's voice, turned his head toward him, his face brightening, "You finally returned! Quickly, quickly, come and see!"

Speaking, the elder walked to the corpse and ripped off the cloth covering it, which had been stained red with blood.

In an instant, a tattered, broken corpse appeared before everyone.

There was no gasp of surprise, after all those gathered were not ordinary people.

The body had been assembled into a human shape, but its parts were already separated; the chest was gnawed to raggedness, much of the internal organs were missing, the face was half‑gnawed, and the hands and feet were only bones with a little flesh attached.

"The village has been attacked by a monster!!"

The elder looked at the man's corpse on the ground, his face filled with sorrow as he spoke to the nearby Ma Chuo.

Ma Chuo said nothing, but also walked to the corpse's side, squatted down, and silently observed.

"This wasn't done by a monster."

At that moment, after watching the corpse for a while, Wang Wu heard the elder's words and spoke up.

In an instant, everyone turned their gaze toward him.

(End of chapter)