"Officers, you've come such a long way, but I have no food fit to serve you." After finishing his story about what they often ate, the village head sighed. "All I can offer you now are rooms to stay in and some hot water so you can bathe and rest."
"No need. We intend to investigate first!"
The Station Chief flatly declined the village head's kindness. "We didn't come here to enjoy ourselves in the first place. We came to resolve this matter, and the sooner, the better!"
"Yes, yes, of course. You make a very good point, sir." The village head nodded repeatedly, then suddenly added, "But officers, because our village offended the river god, you must never go outside once you've gone to bed at night. Even if you hear something outside, don't open the door and come out lightly. One more thing: it's best to have two people in each room, not one, and not three."
"Why?"
The Station Chief was baffled. What kind of bullshit rules were these?
The rule against going outside was understandable. After all, the river god was very likely an evil spirit, and it was normal for evil spirits to wreak havoc at night.
But this rule about how many people could stay in a room—what kind of bullshit was that?
He had led teams so many times, yet he had never heard of such a rule. This was rather strange!
"Well... I don't know either." Terror filled the village head's face as he brought it up. "If someone stays alone, they might die inexplicably in their room. That's how one of my concubines died."
"As for having more than two people in a room, someone none of them knows might suddenly appear, or someone might suddenly disappear."
"My first wife gave