Translator: Cinder Translations
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"When Zhao Xiangmei was caught by the police, my mother was at the scene," the woman said. "According to her recollection, Zhao Xiangmei was apprehended in the Qian family's large courtyard, already seriously injured. Her whole body was covered in blood, her hair was matted with blood and dirt, and her forehead was torn, making her original appearance unrecognizable."
"Her appearance was ruined, but her voice should still be recognizable," Chen Xiaomeng said.
The woman's face twisted as she shook her head. "It seemed like her throat was also damaged; she couldn't speak at all, not even a sound."
"When the police brought over some of the women who had been abducted, hoping they could identify whether Zhao Xiangmei was the one who had trafficked them, someone shouted, 'Kill her!' Then, the parents, who had been holding back their anger, lost control and rushed forward, breaking through the barricade and taking her away."
After this, both Jiang Cheng and Chen Xiaomeng understood what happened.
The unfortunate woman, believed to be a human trafficker, was beaten by the enraged parents and her body was abandoned near the Han Zhen Lake.
Of course, she was still alive at that time.
When they heard this, Jiang Cheng and Chen Xiaomeng exchanged subtle glances.
They had been to Han Zhen Lake before—it was deep in the mountains, with rugged paths and hidden locations. Even the younger people from the village couldn't find their way there.
So, how did the parents of those women find it?
Clearly, someone had secretly guided them.
First, there was a bait-and-switch. Then, they deceived everyone, and finally, they destroyed the body.
The Qian family had swapped their own daughter, Qian Jianxiu, with an innocent trafficked woman, and they made Qian Jianxiu take on the identity of the missing woman.
This explained why all 29 abducted women were alive.
None had died.
Jiang Cheng squinted his eyes. He now knew where Qian Jianxiu was hiding—at the Anping Inn in Anping Town!
That woman in the dark room, whose face had been destroyed, was the murderer from 20 years ago—Qian Laocun's daughter, Qian Jianxiu!
And the one the ghost was after was her!
This also explained why the ghost would leave disfigured bodies near Anping Town after killing them.
It was a silent threat!
Jiang Cheng remembered the blood-red eyes he had seen deep in the Han Zhen Lake. Those eyes were full of resentment.
She had been tortured alive, and after death, her reputation was destroyed. No wonder.
As a fellow woman, Chen Xiaomeng could empathize with this unfortunate woman's plight even more. She couldn't imagine what it would be like if such things happened to her.
From being a wealthy young lady, she was reduced to living in such a remote mountain village.
She was tortured and humiliated, only to finally be rescued by the police, only for her appearance to be ruined, her voice silenced, and her own family to misunderstand her, killing her out of rage.
She endured repeated beatings with her frail body but still refused to give up her last breath.
It wasn't some noble belief that kept her going; it was hatred!
Pure hatred.
When she crawled up to the stone tablet with her broken arms and wrote a curse, that blood-soaked young woman was already dead.
And from that moment on…
The nightmare of Xiao Shijian Village began.
This once fragile, timid woman had transformed into the most terrifying vengeful spirit. No one knew how much rage she had carried in her frail body.
She wandered in the night, dragging those who had harmed her into the abyss.
Jiang Cheng could imagine the pain and fear the men must have felt before they died. They would kneel and beg for mercy, struggling and screaming in agony.
What a poignant picture it must have been.
As he thought of this, Jiang Cheng couldn't help but laugh.
Evil defeated by evil, blood repaid with blood—that's what true justice looked like.
Since the sun embraces crime, let the darkness be the one to judge justice.
The woman stared at Jiang Cheng in wide-eyed disbelief.
She couldn't understand why the man in front of her was smiling, and the expression on his face seemed even more terrifying than his previous indifference.
At this thought, she trembled involuntarily.
Chen Xiaomeng stared intently at Jiang Cheng's profile. His eyes, hidden in the darkness, seemed to merge with the night.
"Go on," Jiang Cheng said, suppressing his smile, gazing at the woman with a mysterious expression that neither she nor Chen Xiaomeng could comprehend.
It seemed like... he was in a good mood.
The woman's breath suddenly quickened under Jiang Cheng's gaze.
Without realizing it, since he started laughing, she had been holding her breath, afraid to make a sound.
"When my mother saw the stone tablet, she was even more convinced of her judgment. She said that although Zhao Xiangmei looked very graceful, she was an illiterate, incapable of reading or writing," the woman said nervously. "So the dead person couldn't have been Zhao Xiangmei."
"In that era, very few women could read or write, and there wasn't a single literate woman in the village, so the person who left the blood-written curse must have been one of the trafficked women."
"Does your mother know which of the trafficked women could write?" Jiang Cheng asked.
The woman shook her head. "No. The trafficked women were all kept separated to prevent them from organizing and escaping the village."
"Did your mother tell anyone else about this?"
"Ha—" The woman exhaled a deep breath, her eyes flashing with unmasked anger. "Of course she did! She couldn't bear to let a woman, who had suffered like her, die without clearing her name. She didn't want Zhao Xiangmei to get away with it."
"She tried to report it everywhere, but no one took it seriously, especially the Qian family. They insisted that the case was closed, and the main culprit, Zhao Xiangmei, was already dead. Her body was dumped in the Han Zhen Lake."
"At that time, Qian Laocun had already been taken by the police, along with some of the Qian family men, but the Qian family was powerful in the village, and they were still the ones in charge," the woman explained.
"My mother couldn't eat or sleep because of it and eventually fell ill. She had to stay at home to rest," she continued, her tone suddenly turning icy. "One day, when I returned after working, I found a few people from the Qian family, along with the village doctor, at my house. They said they were here to treat my mother."
"I didn't believe they had good intentions and tried to kick them out, but they didn't say anything and just left with their things."
"After they left, I noticed that my mother's mouth had some drug residue and dark stains on the pillow. I went back to the stove and found a freshly washed bowl."
"Since then, my mother has never been able to speak again, and her lower body became paralyzed. She could only lie in bed, unable to go anywhere," the woman said through gritted teeth.
(End of the Chapter)
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