Chapter 46: A Lover's Murder

Wine?

I was startled at first, but quickly snapped back to reality. Unhooking the flask from my waist, I blurted out, "I have some! I've got wine!"

As soon as I handed the flask to Old Chen, he threw his head back and took several huge gulps. His eyes turned bloodshot, and the deathly pallor on his face was instantly washed away by the rush of alcohol.

I quickly asked, "Old Chen, what on earth happened? Weren't you going after that screaming woman? How did you end up here?"

While speaking, my eyes suddenly caught sight of dense, bloody gashes all over Old Chen's body. Some wounds had already scabbed over, but others were still... bleeding profusely.

"Old Chen, your injuries..." I stammered.

He merely gave a gentle wave of his hand and leaned back against a nearby pile of dirt.

After letting out a long breath, he looked at me and said in a gloomy voice, "Sanqi, that woman's scream was actually... that mountain ghoul! It was... luring people in, and once I took the bait, the beast ambushed me."

Hearing this, I exclaimed in shock, "A mountain ghoul?! Old Chen, a mountain ghoul... can it make a sound like that? And you actually managed to survive an ambush by a mountain ghoul!"

When I first encountered that mountain ghoul, I had always assumed such a creature would only make sounds resembling the roars of wild beasts.

That feminine shriek had appeared so abruptly that I never once associated it with the mountain ghoul. So now, for Old Chen to tell me that the scream of a woman had actually come from that ghoul...

And on top of that, for Old Chen to have escaped with only injuries from a sneak attack by that beast—that was truly badass.

For a moment, I found it utterly unbelievable.

Yet, facing my astonishment, Old Chen just sneered. "What's a voice? In these deep woods, plenty of bizarre things happen! As for that mountain ghoul... it's a long way from killing me!"

I nodded reflexively, my mind involuntarily drifting to the sheepskin scroll that the two human-like foxes had buried by the creek. I was half-tempted to pull it out and show it to Old Chen.

Suddenly, two miserable human screams pierced the air in the distance.

"Ah!"

The moment I heard those shrieks, I didn't even need to guess. It was obvious that unfortunate pair had been bitten by the red-necked vipers.

After all, just as we were coming in earlier, I had seen several red-necked vipers slithering toward that tree hollow.

"Let's go! Take a look!" Old Chen frowned, pulling me up as he scrambled back to higher ground.

I nodded lightly, slipping my hand back out from inside my jacket where I had been clutching the sheepskin scroll.

***

Soon enough, the two of us were lying flat in a nearby clump of bushes, watching two stark-naked figures sprinting frantically through the ancient forest, chased closely by three or four red-necked vipers.

Seeing this, Old Chen, who was lying right beside me, whispered, "Forget it, Sanqi. Those two aren't going to make it! Let's get out of here!"

I turned my head, puzzled, and asked, "Why?"

"They've already been bitten by the vipers multiple times! Coupled with running around aimlessly like headless chickens in these deep woods, they won't last much longer!"

"Oh, I see!" After a moment of thought, I added, "Right, Old Chen, when I was coming in, I saw a corpse hanging from a tree. Are those two part of the same group?"

Old Chen paused, then bit down on his cigarette while lying in the brush and smiled at me. "Sanqi, you saw that corpse too?"

I swallowed hard and nodded. "Yeah! Damn, it scared the living daylights out of me when I first laid eyes on it!"

"Heh! Well, Sanqi, since you saw it, I might as well tell you—while I was being hunted by the mountain ghoul, I stumbled right into the affair involving these three people!"

"Great!" I nodded.

Old Chen took a puff of his cigarette, pondered for a moment, and slowly recounted what he had encountered after escaping the mountain ghoul's pursuit.

He said that owing to the tense situation, he hadn't known where he was running, but by a stroke of bad luck, he had run into three tourists visiting the Greater Khingan Mountains—two men and a woman, all young.

Judging by their accents, they seemed to be from Guangdong, and the man and woman among them were a married couple.

At this point, Old Chen took a swig of wine and smiled. "Sanqi, that guy you found hanging from the tree just now... was the husband of the woman who was making out with another man inside that cave!"

"Huh?" I froze for a second.

Because if that was true... if the hanged man and that woman were husband and wife.

Then why on earth was this woman fooling around with another man?

After a brief moment of contemplation, the truth dawned on me. Looking at Old Chen, I spoke first, "I think I get it! Those two treacherous bastards... teamed up to strangle the woman's husband... and left his body hanging in the woods?"

Hearing my conclusion, Old Chen nodded silently, his voice calm.

"Exactly! That's right. Sanqi, this is just like what I told you before: never trust anyone in the deep woods!"

I remained silent, feeling my mind descend into a brief state of chaos.

***

Because, how should I put it?

I had always believed that human beings, however wicked, fickle, or ruthless they might be, still possessed some shred of inherent human nature.

Even fierce tigers don't eat their own cubs, after all!

Yet, looking at it now, that simply wasn't the case.

When human malice truly turns venomous, they won't even spare their own husbands!

Perhaps sensing the dull, vacant expression on my face, Old Chen patted my shoulder and offered some comfort. "Sigh, Sanqi, I know you've experienced the coldness of human relationships. But those were just the most superficial aspects of human nature! In these remote, desolate ancient forests deep in the mountains, the evil within human nature is magnified to its absolute limit. In time, you'll come to feel it."

Listening to Old Chen's guidance, I pondered for a long while before finally nodding. "Yeah, I understand."

***

While we were talking, the two naked figures had been chased by the vipers right beneath a massive tree.

Driven perhaps to the absolute pinnacle of terror, the man's face twisted with pure hatred. He snatched a thick branch from the ground and swung it directly at the pursuing vipers.

Right at that instant.

A swift rustling sound cut through the air.

Two Amur leopards suddenly lunged out of the nearby brush at lightning speed, each sinking its fangs straight into the unguarded necks of the wretched pair.

Squish!

Blood instantly gushed from the necks of the man and woman like a fountain. Upon witnessing this carnage, the red-necked vipers scattered in all directions, vanishing into the undergrowth within moments...

"It really is Amur leopards!" I whispered in a rush upon seeing the scene unfold.

Old Chen, however, narrowed his eyes as he stared at the two big cats, lost in thoughts unknown...