Linbiangui Village-Infinite Streaming Chapter 20

Villagers Go Missing

After leaving Uncle Liao’s house, Chen Jin’s temples throbbed incessantly. The image of the old woman from Changlin chewing food lingered—her cloudy eyes were constantly lowered, as if indifferent to everything around her, but when she occasionally looked up, her pupils seemed to hide hooks dipped in poison.

“What are you thinking about?” Wu Zeng waved a hand in front of his eyes. “You don’t actually believe she can communicate with spirits, do you?”

Chen Jin didn’t answer, lowering his head to kick away a stone at his feet.

The wild grass by the roadside was bowed by the night dew, and tiny droplets of water clung to the tips, resembling some kind of malicious surveillance.

“Aunt San Rong? She’s an elder from the nearby Changlin village. She doesn’t have sons or daughters, and her husband passed away long ago. Most Changlin people left to work elsewhere after they couldn’t fish anymore, so she lives alone at the head of the village. She knows a lot about fortune-telling and luck. We usually invite her to participate in our activities for good luck.”

The words Uncle Liao spoke during the day were branded onto Chen Jin’s mind. The old woman at the village head, who was ignored years ago, had now become a spiritual master. Where did the rumors of good fortune come from, and how could such a massive change occur in just five short years?

The night was dim, and the sudden, sharp barking of a guard dog, kept by an unknown household, echoed in the air, stirring up anxiety.

He had no appetite during the day, but now, deep in the night, he was ravenous. Chen Jin stumbled into the small convenience store in his worn-out slippers. The ham sausages piled in the glass counter were covered in dust, and spiderwebs filled the corners, with only a bag of dried squid looking relatively fresh.

Chen Jin stuffed the dried squid into his mouth, while his other hand ran through his hair, trying to force out the excess moisture. Water droplets falling from his hair tips spread damp marks in the hollow of his collarbone.

Wu Zeng leaned against a rusty iron shelf, the sharp sound of him tearing open the vacuum packaging with his teeth ringing out. His gaze was fixed on the small patch of Chen Jin’s shoulder exposed while he was drying his hair, appearing deep and prolonged, making it impossible to discern what he was thinking.

Chen Jin turned around, a squid tentacle dangling from his mouth, and met Wu Zeng’s loosely focused gaze. “What do you think they saw that made them believe this old woman has the ability to communicate with spirits?”

“Maybe it was the sight of her spontaneously combusting. That certainly left a deep impression on me.” Wu Zeng used a plastic spoon to scoop up the plum jam from a glass jar. His fingertips were stained red by the acidic brine—a product highly recommended by the convenience store owner just moments ago.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, the surroundings suddenly became terrifyingly quiet, leaving only the crisp sound of dice rattling in the air.

“Plums are a specialty of Mengle Village.” A graceful woman leaned against the doorway of the card parlor, her slender white hand playing with two dice in a bucket. “Since you two young men are here, why not come in and play a round?”

Looking inside, two teacups had been placed on the table at some point.

The moonlight plated the red bricks above the card parlor’s doorway with a silver edge. The jade pendant dangling from the woman’s earlobe glowed faintly green under the moonlight.

The plum jam on Wu Zeng’s small spoon dropped in response, spreading a dark red stain on the front of his white shirt.

Chen Jin’s expression was solemn, his Adam’s apple unconsciously bobbing. Going in would surely lead to trouble, but the method for breaking the deadlock in this world could not be avoided.

Wu Zeng looked at Chen Jin’s furrowed brow, his eyes dark and unreadable, but his tone was teasing as he leaned closer: “Good students who abide by the law shouldn’t go there.”

With that, he put an arm around Chen Jin and turned to leave. Chen Jin did not struggle. After the calamity of his previous life, his relationship with Wu Zeng seemed to have grown much closer now.

The moment their figures disappeared, the sound of the dice abruptly ceased.

The morning mist had not yet dispersed, but the main road was already filled with crowds heading to the market, and strange rumors were circulating freely on the streets.

Three baskets of bloody ribs were piled in front of the butcher shop. The owner, Sister Li, was whispering to Sister-in-law Shuan next to her: “Did you hear? Brother Wang’s son can’t be contacted either…”

Chen Jin sat on a bamboo stool at a breakfast stall. The secret rumors the two women were quietly discussing all reached his ears. At this moment, Chen Jin paid close attention to every anecdote.

His chopsticks idly poked at the rice noodles in the bowl. A splinter accidentally pricked his palm, startling Chen Jin. Before he could examine it closely, Wu Zeng suddenly appeared behind him. “Things that cause harm should be removed early. Don’t wait for them to rot into the flesh.”

He gripped Chen Jin’s wrist with one hand, and with a gentle twist of two long fingers, the errant splinter was pulled out. “I just can’t stand to see beautiful things injured.”

Chen Jin suddenly recalled the heavy rain night when he was fourteen. His second uncle had beaten him with a wooden stick because his wet umbrella had soaked the carpet. A splinter from the stick had accidentally lodged in his face but wasn’t treated in time, eventually becoming a black mole on his face. Every time he looked in the mirror, it was like a difficult-to-heal old wound, recounting the misery of that night.

Seeing Chen Jin suddenly lost in thought, Wu Zeng simply smiled and patted his palm, then walked towards the two women at the butcher shop, two bags of items appearing in his hands at some point.

“Sisters, what were you just talking about?” Wu Zeng addressed them warmly, but it startled the two women, who instantly fell silent. Their heads, which had been close together, hastily separated, leaving only awkward embarrassment on their faces.

Wu Zeng stopped at the chopping block, shaking the bags of fruits and vegetables in his hand across the hanging meat hooks. “I saw both of you at Uncle Liao’s house yesterday. I only had time to say a quick hello then. It’s truly a pleasure to see you again now. Sisters, you must tell me all about the stories of this village.”

Sister Li and Sister-in-law Shuan vaguely remembered seeing the two young men at Uncle Liao’s house yesterday. They had thought the young man was remarkably handsome then, and now he was acting so friendly, appearing harmless with every smile and gesture. Their hearts, dormant for many years, couldn’t help but pound a couple of times.

“We didn’t… say anything, ha.” Sister Li put down the cleaver she was holding and nervously wiped her hands on her apron. Sister-in-law Shuan turned her head away, using both hands and feet to sprinkle water on the freshly picked vegetables. What was usually a routine task now felt somewhat awkward.

Wu Zeng skillfully walked to the back of the stall, grabbed a small stool, and squatted between the two women. “Sister Chen already told me yesterday that the two of you are the most well-informed in the village. I’m a writer, and I specifically came here to collect village anecdotes. If you tell me what you know, and the book gets published later, you’ll get a share of the royalties.”

Isn’t that just calling people gossips? Does using nicer words make it not an insult?

“We don’t know anything…” Sister-in-law Shuan looked uncomfortable, still trying to refuse.

“If you don’t trust me, don’t you trust Sister Chen?” Wu Zeng squatted on the dark green plastic stool, reaching out to crack open a salted peanut and placing it on the table for them to eat, separated from the shell.

With Sister Chen’s name brought up, the two women clearly softened.

“It’s nothing much, just that several people who went out to work in the past two years suddenly lost contact.” Sister Li spoke vaguely.

“Oh? Where did the people who lost contact go?”

“There were many places: Yue Dong, Shan Le, An Xue, and so on. They all went to big cities because that’s where the money is.” Sister Li began counting them off on her fingers.

“If you can’t contact the person, can’t their companies or workplaces be reached either?” Wu Zeng held a piece of orange peel between his fingers, suspended over the table edge. He pushed the peeled orange, wrapped in a snow-white napkin, towards the two women, his fingers always half an inch away from the fruit flesh.

The two women suddenly looked tense, unconsciously leaning closer and lowering their voices to whisper: “Do you know? When we call the companies, they all say the person doesn’t exist.”

The remnants of food, mixed with saliva, flew towards him.

Wu Zeng silently retreated three inches, his hand resting on the table edge. He meticulously wiped his finger joints with a disinfecting wipe. “Perhaps they said they were going to these places, but they were lying?”

Sister Li became inexplicably agitated. Her mouth opened and closed wide, and Wu Zeng could see undigested peanut fragments between her teeth. “Impossible! They said they were going, and they went! They even sent money back, how could it be fake? They only went missing later!”

Sister-in-law Shuan silently shook her head at Wu Zeng, signaling him to stop talking.

Wu Zeng understood.

The rice noodles in front of Chen Jin had long gone cold, the pork bone broth developing solidified oil slicks. Wu Zeng hadn’t finished his conversation yet. Chen Jin raised his hand, “Boss, give me a new bowl.”

“With so many incidents, have they been reported?”

“Of course we reported it! We told the village office about every single case, but what could they do?!” Sister Li sounded angry.

It seemed this matter would involve Li Ming Ming. Unless absolutely necessary, Wu Zeng really didn’t want to seek him out.

“With all these things happening, is there any local explanation in the village?” Wu Zeng asked from a different angle.

“What do you mean?”

“Many people left, but not everyone who left had an accident. I’m wondering if they might have violated some local custom or belief?” The occult is the ultimate solution to everything.

“You know what? There really is one!” Sister Li clapped her hands, sounding somewhat excited. “Our village has a ‘Qing Girl’ in the Meizi Ravine. She has protected Mengle Village for hundreds of years, but now many people leave to work for money, and they say the Qing Girl cursed them so they can never return.”

“Sister Li, three pounds of meat for me.” A regular customer arrived, and Sister Li picked up the cleaver again to cut meat. “Coming!”

Sister-in-law Shuan muttered quietly to herself, “Only she believes that nonsense. She just won’t admit her husband cheated her.”

Wu Zeng said nothing, smiled, stood up, thanked the two sisters, and left.

“To Li Ming Ming’s place?” Chen Jin asked.

“To the village office!”

Isn’t that the same thing? Chen Jin didn’t understand what kind of fit he was throwing now.

The village office did indeed have many files on migrant workers who had gone missing, but the staff’s organization was clearly lacking. The materials were stored very haphazardly, making it difficult for the few people present to look through them.

“Oh, Chen Jin, why are you looking at these? It’s a waste of effort, isn’t it?” Li Ming Ming wailed.

“If you don’t want to work, you don’t have to look. We didn’t ask you to help.” Wu Zeng didn’t even lift his head, his voice icy. He hoped the man would leave immediately. “If nothing is done, that’s why the people’s problems become unresolved suffering!”

He went through file after file.

Finally, a familiar face appeared in an archive box—it was Sister Li. Her husband had gone missing after leaving for work two years ago.

No wonder her reaction was so strong when they spoke to her today.