Chapter 201: Grandpa's Name Is Han Duo

Why did this happen?

I collapsed on the ground, drenched in cold sweat; I admit I was scared stiff. Anyone who saw such a corpse, I think their face wouldn't look any better than mine.

I had seen dismemberment cases and headless corpses before; I thought my psychological resilience had grown strong after all those experiences. Yet, when I saw Chen Biao's corpse, I couldn't help but feel a fierce shudder from deep within.

It's too bizarre! From the neck down, his body was ruthlessly peeled open—intestines, heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys all gone, leaving only a thin layer of skin. Even his genitals were taken away, and bright red fluid flowed from his lower body, spreading across the ground.

But why does Chen Biao's face show such an expression? This is too bizarre—his liver had been hollowed out, yet his face still bore a happy, joyful smile.

Urgh… I finally couldn't hold back my stomach's churning, leaned against a tree and vomited. Meanwhile, Pangzi actually managed to tolerate the corpse's oddity, reached in to feel around, and said thoughtfully, "It's still warm—looks like the killer hasn't gotten far."

We're all human; sometimes I really envy Pangzi's larger build. At least he's more sturdy, and his courage is a bit bigger.

"Hai Sheng, his intestines were just dug out not long ago!... Pangzi had just turned around when he suddenly furrowed his brows and shouted loudly, 'What is that?'"

As he shouted, Pangzi quickly turned around, clutching a copper coin in his hand, and threw it toward a dark corner.

With a squeak, a monkey-like creature darted out from the corner; its movements were extremely agile. As it flashed across my vision for a moment, I could only barely see that it resembled a monkey covered in fine, velvety fur.

"Chase…" Pangzi immediately made up his mind, kicked off his shoes and chased after that monkey-like creature.

I too had to muster my spirit and follow behind Pangzi in pursuit.

That thing's speed was truly astonishing—almost every step we took, it leapt like lightning racing, leaving us a long trailing afterimage.

With a boom, a light drizzle began to fall from the sky. It forced us, who had been sprinting through the night, to slow our steps. Just then, the monkey-like creature stopped on a tree a few meters away from us.

Almost as an instinctive reaction, I immediately seized the opportunity, chanted a spell, and threw the command flag from my waist at it. Just as I flung the flag, a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky; the creature turned its head at that instant, letting me see its appearance clearly.

In that flash of lightning, a ferocious monster was revealed: it had an owl's eyes, a monkey's face, its neck covered in snake scales, yet it possessed a human torso.

When the lightning flashed, its hair stood on end, like the cold gleam of an owl's eyes. At the corner of its mouth dangled a long object; upon closer inspection, I saw it was a segment of intestine—a human intestine.

"Ow—" a mouse-like painful howl escaped it, and the monster fell from the tree.

It wasn't struck by my command flag; instead, it was impaled by a red whip and flung down.

Coincidentally, just as the whip ensnared the monster, my command flag arrived. The flag's tip struck the red whip squarely, pinning it to the tree, which gave the monster a momentary gap to break free of the whip and fall.

"Don't run…"

"Don't run…"

Seeing the monster dart into the village's ruined temple, two loud shouts and a girlish cry rang out. Three figures, without prior agreement, chased after it in the same direction, all the way into the ruined temple where it had fled.

At the same time, relying on the faint light, I and Pangzi finally saw clearly the woman wielding the whip.

She was a woman dressed entirely in red, seemingly fond of the color—even her boots were red.

On her head she wore a red headpiece that looked somewhat elaborate, seemingly of an ethnic minority; even her wrists were wrapped with a red cord.

Her eyes were large, her nose bridge high and straight, her forehead broad, her eyebrows thick—clearly she belonged to the hot-tempered, hard-to-provoke type.

After entering the ruined temple, the woman kept a grim face; after searching for a long time and failing to find any trace of the monster, the woman in red stomped her foot hard, shaking the dust on the ground.

"Huaguang Dharma Sect, Yinshan Dharma Sect! You actually dare to pull a 'chapter footnote' (midway robbery) on me—what gall!" The woman crossed her arms and glared at us angrily; her eyesight was extraordinary, and at a glance she could tell our Dao lineage.

But upon hearing her speak, I and Pangzi were instantly stunned. Her accent was unmistakably that of Guangdong, Hong Kong. Indeed, if one were a northerner whose business got snatched, they'd usually say "black eating black" or "midway robbery"; only southerners would say "cutting in" and "issuing a chapter footnote."

Pangzi and I stared at each other… What kind of situation is this? A pure northern accent, ethnic minority attire, yet her speech carries a southern tone? And when did we ever cut in on her or issue a chapter footnote against her?

"Speak, I've been chasing this Masked Beast for months—from the town's casino all the way here, several li, my boots worn through two pairs. I was about to catch him, but you two completely messed it up. How do you think you should compensate me?" The woman in red brandished her whip with vigor and threatened us fiercely.

Pangzi and I exchanged glances; finally I mustered the courage and stepped forward,

"Miss!"

"You bitch—" I hadn't even finished speaking when she kicked me hard in the abdomen.

Let me tell you, have you ever seen a guy get kicked into the air by a woman?

Whether you believe it or not, that's the fact. Although my foundation isn't as solid as Pangzi's, I've practiced some basic skills since childhood. But this woman's kick is damn overpowered and unbelievably fast. By the time I came to, all I could do was clutch my stomach and lie on the ground wailing for my parents.

"Damn it, you two have completely ruined my business. If you don't give me an explanation today, I'll have you come in standing and leave lying flat!" Even though he just beat me up, it feels as if we killed his father, and we are irreconcilable.

"Fuck your sister, is there anyone this unreasonable?" I, clutching my belly and breaking out in cold sweat, felt a surge of anger rising from my heart. Even if that monster is important to you, you don't have to be this unreasonable, do you?

This can't be resolved… Only six words fill my mind. So I gritted my teeth, stood up, and prepared to go all-out against this little girl.

Who would have thought, Pangzi stepped forward, blocking me, and waved his hands anxiously at the woman in red: "Hey, miss, let's talk it out; worst case, we'll pay you."

Pangzi's comment made me roll my eyes involuntarily—can money really settle this? Anyone can see that this monster is extremely important to the woman in red, or else there's an irreconcilable grudge. In short, judging by how anxious she is about the beast, money definitely won't fix it.

Who would have expected that after Pangzi said that, the woman in red suddenly widened her eyes, her gaze toward him sparkling with bright light.

"Compensation, how much are you prepared to pay?" the woman in red demanded, fixing her eyes on Pangzi.

"Um…" Pangzi scratched his forehead, then searched his person, pulled out a few thousand from his pocket, counted them, and told the woman in red, "I've got about three thousand here!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the money vanished with a swoosh; upon closer look, it was already in the woman in red's hand.

The woman in red licked her finger, then, like a miser, slowly counted the money she'd taken from Pangzi. After a moment, she satisfiedly tucked the cash into her bosom. Then, as if remembering something, she fixed both eyes tightly on my pocket.

"What are you trying to do?" I instinctively clenched my pocket tighter; this woman's gaze exudes a strong aggression.

"What are you doing? Naturally, it's to pay compensation!" the woman in red said, her eyes flashing with malice as she approached me, cracking her finger joints.

………………………………

After one round, in the time it takes to smoke half a cigarette, my desperate resistance was crushed in two or three moves—I was stepped on mercilessly, and the little over two thousand I had on me was taken. To add insult to injury, she produced paper, ink, and brush from her person, wrote an IOU for five thousand, and forced my fingerprints onto it.

Meanwhile, Pangzi merely stood aside, watching silently, occasionally chuckling to himself, with no intention of stepping in to help.

After the imprint was finished, the woman in red finally lifted her foot from my back, satisfied.

"Five thousand in cash, five thousand in IOUs. Though it can't compare to the wealth on that Masked Beast, it's enough to make up for my loss, elder sister! Seeing how you two lads are so reasonable, I'll let this slide—elder sister won't hold it against you." The woman in red stood at the door, arms crossed, giving us a smile that said, "I'm being lenient with you."

After she had finally had her fill of tormenting me, she then walked out the door, heart satisfied.

As she reached the doorway, the woman in red stopped, turned her head, raised a thumb at her own face—her arrival was as manly and domineering as ever.

"Seeing how reasonable you two are, if you ever need help, you can report my name. Remember, my name is Han Duo…"

Me: "……"

"Wait!" Just as Han Duo stepped one foot out the door, I, still collapsed on the ground, hastily reached out a hand and shouted at her.

"Oh, you think your muscles and bones aren't loosened enough yet?" Han Duo turned back, cracking her fists with a snap-snap.

"Not..." under her lewd might, the rhythm of my head shaking was no less than that of a rattle drum. Finally, I shrank my neck back and asked weakly: "Um, Han Duo, even if you force me to write an IOU, do you know my name, where I live? And do you know where to collect that money?"

This is indeed a problem, even Pangzi felt doubtful, and looked over at Han Duo.

Han Duo shrugged indifferently: "Who knows? Anyway, I know I won't lose out this way." After saying that, she laughed ha-ha and strode purposefully out of the ruined temple, leaving me alone, wanting to cry but tearless, lying in the ruined temple.

What's wrong with today, I inexplicably encountered a lunatic, inexplicably got forced into writing an IOU, my luck is so bad that even my grandma doesn't pity me and my grandpa doesn't love me?.