Li Liang might have been an idiot, but when he turned vicious, he really scared me.
Because he wasn't trying to scare us. He really meant to chop us up!
"Holy shit!"
Song Xiaotian jumped in fright and yanked me aside.
The cleaver slammed down right where I had been standing.
An idiot had scared me so badly that my legs were shaking.
"Old Lady! Is this really necessary?"
"We only wanted to ask you a few questions! Why are you telling your son to attack us?"
It wasn't just that the Old Lady was unreasonable. She wasn't listening to us at all. She gave Li Liang another order. "Liang, hack them to death! They're the ones who drove your father and sister to their deaths!"
At those words, Li Liang's vacant expression twisted into a savage grimace. "Dad! Sister! Bad people! I'll hack you to death!"
He swung the cleaver, slashing at us again and again.
I dodged several blows and nearly got hit. Seeing how bad things were getting, Song Xiaotian immediately grabbed me and ran. "Run! Screw the questions! This whole family is insane!"
I abandoned any thought of asking more questions and took off.
Li Liang was still an idiot, after all. He chased us for a while, then suddenly stopped when he realized he couldn't catch us.
After losing him, Song Xiaotian and I leaned against a roadside tree, catching our breath and complaining about the Old Lady.
"That Old Lady is something else. If she didn't want to talk, fine. Why try to chop us up?"
"And she actually told her son to do it."
I said her hatred of the police probably had something to do with her husband's death.
The old man had told us that after Li Xiumei committed murder, life in the village had become difficult for her family.
In a place like this, everyone's social circle was confined to the village. Li Xiumei's family had probably been ostracized by the villagers and bullied plenty in their daily lives.
Unable to bear the isolation and rejection, Li Xiumei's father had hanged himself.
After his death, life must have become even harder for the Old Lady and Li Liang.
"But she can't blame the police for that."
Song Xiaotian grumbled, "It's not like the police drove her husband to his death. If she wants to blame someone, she should blame the villagers. Besides, it all started because her daughter did something utterly monstrous. I really don't understand how her mind works."
I sighed. Some people simply refused to listen to reason, and there was nothing you could do about it.
If I'd known, I wouldn't have pretended to be a cop.
But something the Old Lady had said caught my attention...
"Xiaotian, the Old Lady told Li Liang that the police had driven both his father and his sister to their deaths."
"She seemed to know Li Xiumei was already dead..."
But that couldn't be right.
Song Xiaotian paused too. "Wasn't Li Xiumei's body... only dug up recently? How did the Old Lady find out from so far away?"
I said there might be something strange going on, and it looked like we'd have to go back tomorrow.
Song Xiaotian's eyes widened. "Go back? Aren't you afraid her son will chop you up? Besides, she hates the police that much. Do you really think she'll talk to you?"
I sighed and said we'd see tomorrow.
It was so late now that we should find a household willing to put us up for the night.
We could stay in this village tonight instead of going to another one.
We were just about to leave when we happened to pass the house where someone had died.
I saw a mourning tent set up in their courtyard. There weren't many people around. Some were keeping vigil, but they had fallen asleep with their heads on the tables. Only a few Yin-Yang Masters were still beating gongs and chanting.
I also spotted someone familiar: the old man Song Xiaotian and I had helped at the village entrance.
He was draping a piece of clothing over a sleeping child, probably worried the child would catch a chill.
The old man noticed us too and smiled at us from a distance in greeting.
We waved back without going over, then continued on our way.
It was a funeral, after all, and at night too. Better to keep our distance.
After wandering around a little longer, we picked a house with its lights still on and went to ask if we could stay.
We mainly chose it because it was better built than the others and would be more comfortable to sleep in.
We knocked, and a man in his fifties opened the door, studying Song Xiaotian and me warily.
"You are...?"
I hadn't planned to pretend to be a cop again. I was just going to offer him money.
But Song Xiaotian edged forward and said, "Sir, we're police officers from the city, here to investigate a case. It's too late to travel now, so we'd like somewhere to rest. This is the village chief's house, right? Sorry for the trouble, but could you get him for us?"
The man quickly said, "I'm the village chief. Are you... really police officers?"
Song Xiaotian pulled out an ID. When I looked, I realized it was actually his police ID.
The village chief glanced at it, and his tone immediately became courteous. "Oh! You really are officers from the city. Please, come in, both of you."
He invited us inside and busied himself serving us tea and water.
"What brings you two out here? Has something happened?"
"No."
Song Xiaotian smiled. "We're here to ask Li Yujiao's family about a case from fifteen years ago."
After explaining why we'd come, we also told the village chief how the Old Lady had ordered her son to attack us.
The village chief was furious. "That whole family is crazy. They've got the strangest tempers. Please don't stoop to their level. Their son is an idiot-there's something wrong with his head. If you're still upset, I'll go give them a talking-to tomorrow."
I quickly said there was no need. We were only here to ask a few questions.
"Just have a proper talk with the Old Lady tomorrow and ask her not to get so worked up. We'll leave once we've asked our questions. You don't need to scold her."
The village chief nodded. "No problem. I'm the village chief, after all. She'll have to show me some respect."
After we talked for a while, the village chief arranged a room for us. It was quite clean.
Once we were inside, curiosity got the better of me, and I asked Song Xiaotian how he'd known this was the village chief's house.
Song Xiaotian laughed. "In a village this poor, this is the only house built this nicely. It's even got tiles on the walls. Whose house would it be if not the village chief's?"
It clicked. Then I asked why he still had a police ID when he'd been fired from the force.
Song Xiaotian said, "I secretly kept it. Makes things easier. Get some sleep. We still have to visit Lü Zhengxian's family tomorrow."
This guy is really something. He actually has the nerve to pull a stunt like that.
It was late, so Song Xiaotian and I lay down and went to sleep.
But I must have drunk too much water during the day. In the small hours, I couldn't hold my bladder any longer and got up to use the toilet.
As I got up, I instinctively picked up my phone to check the time.
It was only three in the morning.
I stumbled out of the room, groggy, and stood there for a while before figuring out which way the toilet was.
Once there, I lowered my pants and started to relieve myself.
Halfway through, I suddenly noticed someone standing outside.
Only a pane of glass separated us. I was so terrified that I nearly lost my soul, and my stream stopped dead.
I looked closer and realized it was Li Xiumei's younger brother. He stood outside holding a cleaver, his eyes fixed unwaveringly on me.
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