The man was just as straightforward as Ning Zhe, but he had no intention of bringing Ye Qing and the others inside the house.
He introduced himself as Shao Jianguo. He had enlisted in the army, and after leaving the service, he had joined Minqing Farm.
"I woke up in the middle of the night and realized something was wrong. I hadn't done anything, and I'd never heard of anything like this happening before. I just suddenly woke up and realized it was too quiet around me. The insects chirping at night and my comrades' snoring were all gone. There was no one in the room, and the lights wouldn't turn on. I felt my way around in the dark and found that the whole building was empty. When I went outside, it was pitch-black out there, too. After a while, the moon rose from the fields. It climbed quickly overhead and lit up parts of the area. That moon was white—a grayish white—and it didn't look like the moon I usually saw. I found something handy to use as a weapon and headed out. Then I ran into them." Shao Jianguo looked at Ning Zhe.
Ning Zhe said nothing.
"Some of them tried to kill me. I stabbed one of them in return, but my blade went right through him. I froze for a moment, and they attacked me from behind, smashing my head open. After I fell, they hit me several more times. My attacks did nothing to them. Only after I died did I understand what was going on."
After saying all this, Shao Jianguo showed no particular anger.
The people behind him were all furious.
It was easy to imagine that these newcomers had mostly been killed by the Imperial Guards and trapped here. Of course