"Got it, I'll prepare it right away," the girl said earnestly.
As she was busy frying the steamed buns, the village chief suddenly stood up and pressed the girl's head directly into the scalding hot oil. His family members, who were present at the time, were shocked.
The girl screamed in terror as the hot oil burned her face. Her agonizing cries could be heard throughout the entire divination village. As she struggled to pull herself away, the village chief spoke, "I know that after my death, you will remarry, so I cannot let you tarnish our family's name. Now I will ruin your beauty, so that in the afterlife, you and I can be together as husband and wife!"
The girl pushed the village chief away with all her strength and ran out of the house like a madwoman. The village chief soon died. Later, the girl, devastated, wandered around the village, crying for several days and nights, eventually losing her sanity.
She would attack beautiful girls passing through the village, tearing at their faces, muttering, "Give me back my beauty!"
Her family could no longer bear her actions and, in the end, stabbed out her eyes, broke her limbs, and locked her in a dead-end alley. They only gave her some food and water, allowing her to die there, wearing a white scarf around her neck.
The girl wandered the alley every day, seemingly insane, searching for an exit, but she was just walking in circles. Her eyes were blind, and she dragged her feet as she crawled around, looking pitiful.
At night, people often heard her laughing maniacally or crying. Sometimes she would cry for a while and then laugh, or laugh and then cry, which was very eerie.
Eventually, a passing villager discovered that she had died. Her neck was stained with blood from the white scarf, and it seemed that she had bitten off her own tongue in unbearable pain before dying.
After her death, her family thought they could finally have peace. However, strange noises continued to echo from the dead-end alley. The nearby villagers were so scared that they moved away. The alley was in the east of the village, and it was known as the "dead-end alley."
Because the female ghost liked the white scarf so much, she would strangle her victims with a white scarf whenever she killed someone!
I felt that what Zhang Ming said was quite bizarre and also a bit of a waste of time.
Liu Keqing, however, seemed somewhat frightened and said, "This story is really scary, but it sounds like it might be fake."
"Fake? Everyone in the village knows about it!" Zhang Ming retorted. Liu Keqing turned her head and ignored him, pouting her lips.
I asked, "Can you take us to this dead-end alley?"
Zhang Ming seemed like he was about to have a meal, but seeing that we were still busy, he stood up and said, "Alright."
I told him he could eat first, but he said he couldn't neglect our work, so he led us out of the house. Soon, he took us to the eastern part of the village. I saw many fields there, and Zhang Ming said, "The farm where the body was found is also here. Since no one plants crops here anymore, it's just left like this."
"Really?" I compared the farm fields with the dead-end alley and found they were less than 100 meters apart.
Zhang Ming continued, "It was definitely that female ghost who killed her, Officer."
I didn't respond. Soon he said he wanted to go back and eat, and I told Liu Keqing, "Let's head back."
Not long after Zhang Ming left, we stayed behind in the field for further inspection. We collected some water samples and spread some glowing chemicals, but found nothing. Perhaps if Zhao Simeng comes, she can check again, but for now, it wasn't necessary.
When we returned to the car, I was about to start the engine but discovered there was no fuel left. Liu Keqing was surprised, saying, "How could this happen? Didn't we fill up the tank before coming?"
I immediately felt something was wrong. Not a minute later, Zhang Ming appeared with a group of strong men, rushing at us from all directions, shouting, "These two damn cops, no matter man or woman! Beat them to death, break one of their hands, and I'll give you a cow!"
Zhang Ming yelled, and the group rushed at us. Seeing the situation was bad, Liu Keqing said, "Brother He Sheng, it looks like we've been surrounded!"
"That's right. Stay inside. I'll handle these people outside!"
Just as I was about to say more, Liu Keqing, faster than me, rushed outside. I was still planning to stop her, but she turned around and swiftly kicked the incoming men with iron pipes, knocking them down.
I was surprised, but I quickly left the car and joined her to fight side by side.
At that moment, even more strong men showed up, surrounding us. It seemed Zhang Ming had been bragging earlier to delay time and had called for all the strong men in the village.
Dozens of men with iron rods and shovels lunged at us. Liu Keqing and I separated, each dealing with several men. Using my He family martial arts, I landed a couple of hits to two men's faces, swelling them instantly.
Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my back as someone swung an iron rod at me. However, before they could strike, I swept them with my back leg and then flipped over, landing a hook punch on a man's nose.
The man let out a loud scream and covered his nose, stumbling backward. Seeing the blood, he shouted, "Blood!" and fainted.
Soon, Zhang Ming himself charged at me with a few other men. Realizing the danger, I tried to block with my wrist, but more men with iron rods were closing in. Even the strongest person can't withstand such a siege. As the saying goes, "Even ants can overwhelm an elephant." With so many people attacking, I couldn't keep up.
One of the rods hit my back hard, but it snapped in the process!
Seeing me as strong as steel, a few of the men were stunned. Zhang Ming kicked at my stomach, but I grabbed his leg, just as Liu Keqing knocked down a few of the men. She kicked Zhang Ming's back, and there was a loud "crack" sound — it seemed his spine had broken!
He screamed in agony and fell to the ground. The other men tried to continue the fight, but just then, Director Leng arrived with his men. They raised their weapons and shouted, "Stop! Stop!"
Many of the strong men were immediately subdued. Zhang Ming, however, cried out, "You killed my brother! I'll take revenge!"
"Your brother?" I was confused, but when I looked at Director Leng, his gaze flickered slightly. My sharp eyes told me that Director Leng was hiding something from us.
Since Zhang Ming and the others had attacked police officers, they should be arrested according to the law, with a maximum sentence of five years. However, he seemed unconcerned. As we were about to leave, I calculated, "Lock them up for six days!"