Chapter 14: 014 Horse King Village (Part 3)

What lofty opinion do you have?

Upon hearing Wang Wu's words, Ma Chuo rose from the ground, walked up to Wang Wu, clasped his hands in salute, and asked.

Although this matter has nothing to do with you, sir, you still came to take a look; I am deeply grateful.

"Not at all." Wang Wu smiled and nodded, "Big Brother Ma has also helped me a lot." Afterwards, he went to the corpse, squatted down like the few people before him, although he didn't need to do so, but doing so would make him look more professional.

Although it's obvious this person was eaten, it's definitely not by a monster; Wang Wu is quite certain of that.

He himself is a monster; he can naturally tell whether a person was eaten by a monster. This corpse has no monster aura, but another kind of breath.

"This person's body is reeking of monster aura; why do you say, sir, that the Horse Widow's younger brother-in-law was not devoured by a monster?"

At this moment, another person objected to Wang Wu's words. Wang Wu looked at him; it was the middle-aged man in fine clothing.

"Monster aura?" Wang Wu looked at him somewhat surprised. He could sense monster aura due to his cultivation technique, but do people in this world also have means to sense it?

Could it be that I've already been exposed?

But then he thought: since I've come all the way here, if my monster identity were truly exposed, I would already be hunted down and killed, not merely objected to by this middle-aged man here.

As for Horse King Village, although the village gave him a feeling that made this monster quite uncomfortable, it was merely discomfort, a level that could be completely ignored, just like the feeling from the Monster-detecting Stone.

"Of course." The middle-aged man nodded, "This corpse is suffused with monster aura; at a glance one knows it's the work of a demon. You say it's not the work of a demon, sir; although you have a dignified appearance, just based on this sentence, it's probably hard to convince everyone……"

"Monster aura is monster aura, but that doesn't mean this is a monster." Wang Wu said, "This person was eaten by an evil corpse."

"How can you prove it?" the middle-aged man continued to ask.

"By following the corpse qi, we can find that dead person." Wang Wu replaced the white cloth over the corpse, stood up, walked out of the crowd, and looked toward a certain spot in the village.

Afterward, he turned his head to Ma Chuo and asked: "Does your village bury the dead within the village?"

Hearing this, all the Horse King Village people surrounding the corpse were stunned. Then their expressions sank in an instant.

"What do you mean?" Ma Chuo looked at Wang Wu, "Is this a man-made disaster?"

"I don't know." Wang Wu shrugged.

Humans do not bury the dead in residential areas; they bury them outside, far from dwellings.

Although Wang Wu doesn't understand the people of this world, he has seen the cemeteries outside Wang Gu Lin where villages bury their dead.

Because he went there to take tribute food—chickens, ducks, fish, meat, etc. —he had to admit that human craftsmanship is far superior to that of monsters, after all, with all kinds of seasonings, the food at least has some flavor.

Unlike monsters, which roast and eat whatever they catch, some even eat it raw. Salt, frankly, is not something just any monster can obtain.

"Can you locate the evil corpse's position, sir?" Ma Chuo asked.

"Yes." Wang Wu's gaze followed the black line on the corpse now covered again with white cloth; it wasn't far, just in the vegetable patch beside the house where the corpse lay.

The village also has some vegetable patches; usually people plant a few vegetables in their own courtyards for themselves, not every household has one.

Some diligent families will plant a bit, while others are too lazy to bother.

After Horse Widow's husband died, her family's vegetable patch lay fallow for a long time, until Horse Widow's younger brother-in-law—that is, the younger brother of her late husband—entered her household, and then her vegetable patch began to have things planted again.

Horse Widow's younger brother-in-law returned to the village last year, after his older brother was killed three years ago by people from Da Peng Village. His name is Ma Wang; before returning, he was an apprentice at a tailor shop in He Xi Xian, honest and diligent.

Because he feared that Horse Widow and his brother's children—two widows and orphans—would have no one to look after them in the village, Ma Wang finished his apprenticeship early and returned home to care for his brother's widow and children.

Horse Widow herself had some beauty, and Ma Wang happened to be at the age of vigorous passion.

Thus, over time—two months, three months—the two naturally came together like dry tinder meeting fire.

In the village, no one spoke against it; instead, they envied Ma Wang's brother for having such a fine younger brother, and praised Ma Wang accordingly.

Not only was he willing to care for his brother's children, he also did not despise his brother's wife.

Although Horse Widow is indeed quite attractive, after Ma Wang's brother died, the village was not lacking young men willing to take her on.

"Is the corpse in the vegetable garden?" Ma Chuo noticed Wang Wu's gaze, and before Wang Wu could speak, he asked.

"Yes." Wang Wu nodded, "Just beneath the vegetable garden; dig and you'll find out."

"Good."

Thus, Ma Chuo immediately summoned a few people and headed toward Horse Widow's vegetable patch.

The vegetable patch consisted of three plots, each about twenty square meters, quite small. After bringing several strong youths from the village to the vegetable patch, Ma Chuo ordered: "Go get some hoes, dig it all up."

"No need." At that moment, Wang Wu, who had also come along, interrupted, pointing to one of the vegetable plots and saying: "Just dig this plot; it's right below."

At that moment, a youth had already run over with an iron hoe; hearing Wang Wu's words, without a word he began to dig.

The youths were full of strength, and the soil in the vegetable patch was already loose; before long, as large clods of earth were turned up, people also saw some things beneath the dug soil.

It was a corner of a piece of clothing.

That middle-aged man also brought his two attendants along; upon seeing the corner of clothing unearthed in the vegetable patch, his gaze toward Wang Wu also shifted.

"Young hero, you are truly extraordinary; I admire you." His face showed admiration as he clasped his hands toward Wang Wu and said.

"You're too kind, sir." Wang Wu returned the salute, then looked again at the ground.

As the soil was shovelful by shovelful scooped out, the thing buried underground also revealed its full appearance.

Just like the monster Wang Wu encountered when he went to find Zhu San Niang that day.

Its body was stretched out long and long, with no flesh under the skin, clinging tightly to the bones.

Its eyeballs protruded outward, almost about to burst from their sockets.

This 'corpse' lay still in the pit that had been dug out; its two eyeballs had square pupils like a goat's, gazing at the people who peered over the edge.

Its mouth was split open, filled with interlocking sharp teeth.

As Wang Wu said, this is an evil corpse.

(End of chapter)