Chapter 241 Openly Repairing the Plank Road

Ling Xiaoning gave a sullen response.

Chen Mu nodded and looked around the bedroom that belonged to Wan Xiao Yuan.

"We shall rest here tonight. Brother Wan, you sleep in the outer room. Since Xiao Ning has already disguised himself, to be safe, he will stay in this room tonight. Miss Shen, I must trouble you to rest in the side room next door."

"Feng Qing and I will keep watch. Feng Qing will take the first half of the night, and I will take over for the second half."

Upon hearing this, Wan Chongshan shook his head.

"Brother Chen, you have been traveling for days. Let me keep watch instead. My heart is anxious, and I cannot sleep."

"You are injured and need to conserve your strength. You will need to deal with the village head tomorrow. Go and rest. You promised me when we came here that military orders are like mountains."

Hearing the words 'military orders,' Wan Chongshan stopped insisting and nodded silently. Shen Suning pulled the visibly uncomfortable Ling Xiaoning aside, whispered a few words of advice, and then retreated from the room to go next door.

Chen Mu leaned against the wall, fully clothed, and closed his eyes to rest. The perception of airflow brought by the Wind and Rain Induction Mantra quietly spread out. Within a radius of three zhang, any unnatural movement of air could not escape his detection.

Everything was ready, waiting only for the hidden demon to walk right into the trap.

...

At the first light of dawn, three or four early-rising villagers had already gathered at the gate of Wan Chongshan's courtyard, peering inside. Seeing Chen Mu and his companions lead their horses out, the villagers subconsciously took a half-step back, their eyes filled with expectation, yet faintly tinged with unease.

Chen Mu mounted his horse with agile movements, his face devoid of expression. He merely gave a slight nod toward Wan Chongshan, who was standing at the entrance.

"Brother Wan, we have recorded the details of the case here in full. We are now returning to the division to report."

His voice was neither high nor low, just loud enough for the surrounding villagers to hear. His tone was so flat it bordered on perfunctory, as if he were merely going through the motions.

Standing inside the threshold, Wan Chongshan's complexion was even more haggard than last night. There were dark circles under his eyes, and his lips were chapped. He cupped his hands toward Chen Mu, his voice hoarse.

"I have troubled you to make this trip, Brother Chen. Chongshan... thanks you here."

He spoke these words listlessly, filled with deep helplessness.

The onlookers looked at each other, and some couldn't help but mutter softly.

"They're... leaving just like that?"

"Just like those constables from the county office before. They come for a look, ask a couple of questions, and then dust off their hands and leave..."

"Sigh, what else can we expect? The masters from the Demon Suppression Division are so busy. Our little village..."

The murmurs were hushed, no one daring to speak loudly. Wan Chongshan hung his head, his hands clenched at his sides.

Chen Mu, however, seemed not to hear the discussion at all. He turned his horse around and said to Shen Suning and Feng Qing behind him.

"Let's go."

With a nod, the three of them spurred their horses and left. The fine dust kicked up by the hooves obscured their figures.

"Brother Chongshan!"

A young man suddenly rushed out from the crowd, grabbed Wan Chongshan's arm, his eyes wide and bloodshot.

"You... you're not going to do anything either? Xiao Yuan is your own sister!"

Wan Chongshan trembled all over, slowly raised his head, his voice dry and hoarse.

"I... I am only accompanying them this time... I cannot make the decisions. I must return to the division to report to my superiors before... before we can send more people to investigate."

He spoke with difficulty, his tone filled with choked-up emotion and helplessness.

The young man stared at him blankly. His expression shifted from expectation to disappointment, and finally to anger. He violently flung off Wan Chongshan's hand, took two steps back, his lips trembling, but he couldn't utter a single word. He turned and pushed through the crowd, running away.

Wan Chongshan stood where he was, watching the young man's retreating figure. His shoulders slumped, and the sighs around him grew heavier.

"Even Chongshan..."

"He's a master from the Demon Suppression Division now, how could he possibly care about us in this small place?"

"Forget it, forget it. Let's just accept our fate..."

The villagers shook their heads and dispersed one after another. A moment later, Wan Chongshan also mounted his horse, squeezed his legs against the horse's belly, and with the clip-clop of hooves, his figure disappeared at the village entrance.

...

On the other side, the village head, Wang Laogen, was squatting on the stone steps at his doorway, clutching an old pipe and puffing away furiously.

Clouds of smoke swirled around, obscuring his old face and making his expression difficult to discern. One could only hear the occasional long sigh mixed within the smoke.

Several passing villagers stopped and gathered around.

"Uncle Wang, have the masters from the Demon Suppression Division... really left?"

Wang Laogen didn't look up, merely snorting a puff of smoke from his nose.

"They left. Same behavior as that bunch from the county office. They come for a look around, and it's completely useless."

A woman nearby immediately turned red-eyed.

"Then... what about the girls in our village... what is my Xiao Cui going to do..."

A young man heard this and stamped his foot, with a bit of a "might as well give up" attitude.

"What can we do? We'll just have to leave it to fate! In this world, demons and monsters run rampant. What hope do we common folk have other than praying to the gods and Buddhas?"

But someone else was unconvinced and, hands on hips, argued with him.

"But isn't that what the Demon Suppression Division is for? They take the imperial salary and eat the emperor's grain..."

"Enough, enough. Everyone stop talking."

Wang Laogen finally raised his head. His cloudy, old eyes were filled with the weariness of having seen through the ways of the world.

"They have more important cases to handle. In our poor, remote village, losing a few girls—what kind of big deal is that to them?"

The words were harsh, but they were the truth. The crowd fell silent.

Wang Laogen took another fierce puff of his pipe, and the smoke made him cough violently until tears streamed down his face. A villager nearby looked on with pity and hurriedly tried to comfort him.

"Uncle Wang, don't be too..."

Wang Laogen waved his hand to stop the coughing, though his voice was even hoarser.

"Sigh, I really feel for those girls! They were all at the prime age of sixteen or seventeen, and just like that, they're gone..."

"And another thing... another thing is that my own family matters don't give me any peace either."

The few people nearby were stunned and hurriedly asked.

"Your family? What's wrong with your family?"

Wang Laogen wiped his face and said in a low voice.

"A few days ago, there was a disaster in my hometown. I have a distant niece whose parents are both gone, and she came all alone to seek refuge with me, her uncle."

The villagers quieted down and pricked up their ears to listen.

"That girl is named Jinniang. She has a hard life, only sixteen. Her parents passed away suddenly, and she was the only one left in her family. I took her in, originally intending to find her a steady family in the village to marry into, which would be the least I could do for her deceased parents. But who would have thought..."

He tightened his grip on the pipe and frowned.

"This whole business happened in the village, and all those who went missing were unmarried young girls. I haven't dared let her step out of the house these past few days, for fear... for fear..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood what he meant.

A woman let out an 'oh' and slapped her thigh.

"Exactly, Uncle Wang! Now that you mention it, I remember too. The four who went missing—Carpenter Li's Xiao Cui, Widow Zhao's Xiu Gu, Hunter Liu's youngest daughter, and Chongshan's Xiao Yuan—aren't they all unmarried young girls!"

"Right, not a single one who is married has gone missing!"

"Then the demon... is specifically targeting unmarried young girls?"

The murmurs started up again, filled with some terror and lingering fear.