Peach Haven Village (26)

Xiao Jian found a set of wooden throwing knives and led Ding Shi into the courtyard.

The way one threw flying knives varied with distance. At close range, it was called a wrist dart, where the dart was flicked out using the strength of the wrist and fingers, making it ideal for sneak attacks and almost impossible to guard against. However, willow-leaf flying knives were slightly larger than ordinary darts and unsuitable for sneak attacks. Likewise, their flight range and lethal range were somewhat greater than those of ordinary darts.

As a former sacrificial bride, Xiao Jian was quite beautiful. But as a gentleman—and a gentleman whose attention had been drawn to the flying knives—Ding Shi remained completely unmoved. He studied earnestly for two hours straight, only stopping when Xiao Suan had finished preparing the ingredients and Xiao Jian went to cook.

Ding Shi had basically mastered the techniques for throwing flying knives. All that remained was more practice.

On the sixth day, at seven in the evening, night fell.

While Ding Shi was having dinner with Xiao Suan and his sister, he heard a system notification. He opened the system interface with a thought and saw that the dungeon's danger level had been adjusted again, from Low to Medium.

Seeing Ding Shi spacing out, Xiao Suan asked, "Brother Ding Shi?"

Ding Shi came back to himself and pulled five knives from his bank card, placing them on the table. "You two, I'd like to buy some miscellaneous goods."

Xiao Suan smiled and poured Ding Shi some wine. "Brother Ding Shi, take whatever you like."

Ding Shi did not stand on ceremony. He downed the wine in one gulp, finished dinner, and began rummaging around Xiao Suan's house.

Half an hour later, Ding Shi bade the siblings farewell, mounted his bicycle, and headed for Third Lady Temple.

Outside Third Lady Temple, there was no one in sight.

Ding Shi entered the temple and saw White Cloud Daoist sitting solemnly in meditation on a cushion. Other than him, there was no one else in the temple.

Ding Shi asked, "Daoist, has everything been going smoothly?"

White Cloud Daoist gently shook his head. "This humble Daoist has never fought her before and does not know the depths of her abilities. I am not confident I can trap her."

Ding Shi asked, "Daoist, assuming Third Lady's soul escapes and becomes an evil ghost, is there any way to avoid her pursuit?"

White Cloud Daoist replied, "When an evil ghost kills, it is constrained by the Heavenly Dao. As long as one does not violate its taboos, there is nothing it can do."

"What if someone violates those taboos?"

White Cloud Daoist did not answer. After murmuring, "Infinite Heavenly Worthy One," he closed his eyes and said nothing more.

"Little Ding."

That familiar voice came again. When Ding Shi went outside to look, wasn't it the village chief with a satisfaction rating of ninety-nine points?

The village chief said, "Little Ding, tonight you'll go with the groom's party to receive the bride. You'll be in charge of setting off firecrackers. Set off one string every hundred steps, and another at every intersection."

Ding Shi asked, "Where are the firecrackers?"

The village chief said, "The supply and marketing cooperative delivered them to my house this afternoon. Go get them directly, then rest for a few more hours. Gather with everyone at the village entrance before midnight."

Ding Shi agreed and rode toward the village chief's house. The village chief's daughter-in-law was just about to leave. After chatting with Ding Shi for a few moments, she told him she was going to Haitang's neighbor's house to prepare ingredients for tomorrow's noon banquet.

The daughter-in-law said, "Ding Shi, two chickens still haven't returned to the coop. Keep an eye out for them."

"Sure." Ding Shi agreed readily.

Ding Shi first found the two bags filled with small strings of firecrackers. He did not turn them into cards, lest the villagers decide it was demon magic. After washing his face, soaking his feet, and pouring out the water, Ding Shi went to check the chicken coop in the backyard. He did not see the two chickens the daughter-in-law had mentioned. Just as he turned to leave, he heard the sound of a chicken flapping its wings outside the backyard.

Ding Shi braced himself with both hands and vaulted onto the wall. He noticed movement in the grass ten meters away and pulled out his flashlight, shining it over.

A woman in a red bridal gown was biting into a hen's neck, noisily sucking its fresh blood. Wasn't that Third Lady?

The beam fell across Third Lady's face, but she did not react. After a while, she released the chicken in her hand and turned to look at Ding Shi on top of the wall.

Ghost Third Lady? Old Daoist, can you handle this? Why is Ghost Third Lady drinking chicken blood?

No, I got it wrong. This isn't Ghost Third Lady. This is Zombie Third Lady.

Having realized this, Ding Shi immediately held his breath.

Zombie Third Lady moved with terrifying speed, darting beneath the wall in an instant. She looked up at Ding Shi, who was only inches away. Tilting her head, her gaze swept back and forth around him. Ding Shi remembered Blind Zhao's words: zombies searched for prey by following breathing, and sounds around prey might also draw their attention. Although Blind Zhao was a scamming bastard, the information he provided was fairly reliable.

Zombie Third Lady turned around and slowly walked along the path outside the back wall, one step at a time, until she caught the scent of a living person or animal.

Ding Shi dropped down from the wall, landed on his toes, and tiptoed back into the village chief's house as if he were in a cartoon. Only then did he dare to breathe deeply.

Third Lady had originally been one entity, but the old Daoist had split her into two, doubling the threat. Whether Ghost Third Lady could be suppressed was still uncertain, while Zombie Third Lady had already begun wandering through the village.

A multiple-choice question. First: go see White Cloud Daoist and explain the situation. This was the wrong choice. First, White Cloud Daoist's master was not skilled at catching zombies. Second, White Cloud Daoist was currently focused on suppressing Ghost Third Lady. Telling White Cloud Daoist now would do nothing but distract him.

Second: find somewhere to hide. One option was Bighead's natural village. There were two li of uninhabited land between that village and Peach Haven Village. Since Zombie Third Lady followed the scent of breathing, she was unlikely to go there. Another option was Blind Zhao's house. It was far from the villagers, and Blind Zhao had some ability; at a critical moment, he could hold her off. The last option was White Cloud Temple, catching Third Lady off guard with a return strike. Since you came into the village, then I'll go into the coffin.

As for the task assigned by the village chief, given the current situation, the main mission was basically impossible to complete. Did the village chief's side mission still have any meaning?

"Wang Wu? Wang Wu?"

Sun Qi's voice came from outside. Ding Shi walked into the courtyard and said, "Come in."

Sun Qi pushed the door open with a backpack slung over one shoulder. She furtively looked around and asked in a low voice, "Is there somewhere convenient to talk?"

Ding Shi gestured for Sun Qi to sit in the living room. "I'm the only one home. What is it?"

Sun Qi said, "I got hold of something good."

As she spoke, Sun Qi took out three cards: a detonator card, a five-kilogram explosives card, and a fuse.

These things had vanished from civilian life in modern times, but in that era they were not uncommon and were not strictly regulated. Starting in 1991, firearms were comprehensively confiscated, and in 1996 legislation was passed to confiscate firearms. As for bullets, they had also been fairly common. Who born after 1975 had not played with a few bullets as toys?

Back then, children in some areas had a form of entertainment: blasting fish.

Step one: pick up small penicillin bottles from hospitals. Step two: fill them halfway with gunpowder, insert a fuse, then roll paper into rings and tightly pack the gunpowder down to the bottle opening. Step three: seal the bottle opening with soap and let the soap dry.

That was how a small bomb was made. Next, light the fuse and throw it into deep water. A few seconds later, a flash would bloom beneath the water, followed by a low, muffled boom. Then large numbers of fish would float to the surface belly-up.

The prototype for these small bombs was reservoir fish blasting. One blast could throw up water dozens of meters high, and an entire stretch of water would be covered in pale fish bellies. The sight was incomparably spectacular.

As an undercover agent, Ding Shi was merely a criminal, not a terrorist. He had no experience making homemade bombs. Still, he knew the theory. Ding Shi inserted the detonator into the explosives, then inserted the fuse into the detonator. That was it.

Sun Qi described how she had obtained the bomb. Ding Shi, distracted, was thinking, This thing can only blow up villagers. What use is it? But seeing how much Sun Qi liked it, he did not want to dampen her enthusiasm. After casually responding a few times, he intended to send her away.

Just as Ding Shi was seeing her out, sounds came from the chicken coop in the backyard—wings flapping amid the frightened squawking of a flock of chickens.

Damn it, Zombie Third Lady. Are you really going to keep tormenting the same household?