That cat, Yuan Xiaobai gave it a name called "Ami", I dont know what it means, anyway in those days when Wen Bin went missing, it became our greatest reliance.

  At the same time, strange things began to appear in the village. Firstly, the water level of those originally bottomless pools began to drop rapidly, sinking tens of meters every day. Secondly, around 12 oclock every night, a faint red glow could be seen on the top of West Mountain, accompanied by clear and distinct sounds of gongs, drums, and chanting. Thirdly, any household with infants would find that they would not sleep at night, crying until dawn. Fourthly, households with dogs found that their pets were unusually quiet, hiding in their kennels and refusing to come out, yet the sound of someone passing through the village could often be heard around midnight.

  The elderly people in the village said that it was a troop of ghosts passing through, and those sounds were made by them. Some people got up at night to urinate and saw a row of people wearing white mourning clothes passing by the door, and they were so scared that they peed their pants. For several days, everyone tacitly agreed that this kind of thing was better believed than not. So every night, doors were closed, lights were turned off, and people went into their houses early, and we did the same.

  Yuan Xiaobai is a girl, she also moved into our room, with a curtain in between. During the day, the three of us would borrow Miao Lans hunting dog to search for people in the mountains, and after five days, there was still no news from Cha Wenbin.

  On the fifth evening, we were just about to fall asleep when there was a knock at the door. Pangzi was overjoyed, thinking it was Cha Wenbin who had returned, and he rushed to open the door without even putting on his clothes. However, standing outside the house was Lao Zhi Shu.

  Thats an old fox, he wont come out of his den without a taste of chicken meat. His purpose in coming here is nothing but those few pieces of gold.

  The water in the pond was about to dry up, he was afraid that someone in the village would discover it first and wanted us to go down first. After all, people die for wealth, birds die for food. He felt that this disaster had not brought him any harm, which proved that his fate was very strong, so why care about the legend of a female ghost claiming lives?

  The fat man bluntly gave the order to leave: "Dont go, at least we wont go. If you want to go, find someone else. We still have to enter the mountain tomorrow and need to rest. Besides, the village hasnt been peaceful these past few days." Then he deliberately glanced out the window and whispered: "Haunted..."

  That old thing is indeed not a good seed, and its playing rogue here: "Hey, I dont care about the trouble youre causing, this was your idea in the first place, now you want to back out? No way!"

  Hearing him say this, I also retorted: "We cant control what happens at the Lower Tanyard either."

  "Mind your own business? Alright, you guys spit out the stuff I brought that day, those canned goods, fruits and pastries. As long as you spit them out in their original form, this matter has nothing to do with you." The old man took a puff of his cigarette and glanced at Yuan Xiaobai on the bed: "A few little rabbits ran to my place to cheat and eat, theyre not afraid, Ill tell you, when I was in the Northeast, I was in the Anti-Japanese United Army, what kind of storm havent I seen? If you really dont go, thats okay too, you guys choose one of two roads."

  "The first road, my son was planning to marry a wife, you came and deceived all the betrothal gifts I had prepared, so his marriage naturally also fell through. Either, let this girl be my daughter-in-law; or else, I will report to the superior that your performance here is showy, with stubborn bourgeois thoughts, and there are even suspicions of colluding with the enemy. The top is currently investigating the death of the special envoy these days, as far as I know, he was interrogating you that day!"

  "You!" I was so angry that I couldnt speak, and I really didnt expect this old thing to put its mind on Xiaobai. "Dont talk nonsense, he was clearly killed by the disaster just like everyone else!"

  "Who can prove it? In my opinion, its just that during the interrogation process, you guys revealed your true nature and took advantage of the opportunity to kill him. Thats good too. Tomorrow, Ill send someone to take you to the county." The old man said, making a gesture as if he was about to leave. The fat guy grabbed hold of him, laughing, and said: "Hey, Old Branch Secretary, look at how youre treating us like children! Its not a big deal, we just went down to catch some fish. Well go, well go! Tomorrow morning, you can stay home and wait for news. The big yellow fish in this pond are really delicious, lets stick to the old rules, one half each. You can rest assured."

  "Half? Haha!" The old man suddenly burst out laughing, then glared at us fiercely and said: "Youre eating our villages food, living in our villages houses, and you still want to haggle with me over prices? Im telling you, whatever you catch, bring it all back to me. If one yellow croaker is missing, Ill report to the county that youre colluding with the enemy and murdering people!"

  "Alright, alright!" Fatso grasped the old mans hand, beaming with a smile: "Youre a magnanimous person who doesnt hold grudges against insignificant people like me. Ill take care of this matter, you can rest assured, it wont go wrong, if theres even one mistake, you can ask for my head!"

  "Hmph, good for you for knowing better!"

  I watched that old thing walk far away, closed the door and pushed it towards the fat man with one hand, pushing him onto the table and bumping into a daze. I shouted at him: "Are you crazy? Did you agree to this? This is clearly going to send us to our graves! Old Qi isnt dead yet, do you think Cha Wenbin was joking when he told us?"

  "Whats wrong with you!" The fatty also lost his temper, pointing outside the window and yelling: "You have the nerve to yell at him!"

  I turned my face away and sneered, "At least I wont treat him like a slave, letting others manipulate him!"

  "Alright, stop arguing!" Yuan Xiaobai advised: "What are you still fighting about? Fatso, we cant agree to this. That person wasnt killed by us, so many people in the village have died, did we do it all? Were clear and innocent, whats there to fear from his slander?"

  "I said it too!"

  "Im telling you, are we clean?" The fatty sneered: "Heh heh, in this world, who can you talk to about being clean? Xiao Yi, was your dad really a counter-revolutionary? And Xiao Bai, wasnt your father a legitimate businessman but still labeled as a capitalist? And my father, didnt he just stand up for an old comrade-in-arms who was wrongly accused? What crime did he commit? Clean! You guys are really naive. If they say youre black, then youre black. This is what it means to be under someones roof, you have no choice but to lower your head."

  Fatsos words left me and Xiaobai speechless. Yeah, how did we end up in this savage village anyway? Did we forget ourselves?

  I still felt resentful: "So just let him have his way?"

  "Go ahead and have your wild dreams! Just you wait, Ill fix him good. Little memory, tomorrow you come with me, well go to the lower mill and swindle that old thing some more."

  "What do you want to do? Kill someone and silence them?"

  "Murder? Thats against the law, we cant do that. Giving him a lesson is necessary though. Xiao Bai, lets wrap things up and leave, well meet at the village entrance tomorrow evening. We cant stay in this haunted place any longer, we have to run!"

  According to Fatsos plan, I went down first, and then Fatso went to find Branch Secretary half an hour later, saying that a large amount of treasure was found and he needed to go down together to move it. With his moral character, he would definitely be tempted by money, and after he went down, Fatso and I flashed into the cave we discovered that day, and then cut off the ladder.

  The next morning, I went down first as agreed, to the second pond that I had drained of water the day before. Half an hour later, Fatty ran to the branch secretarys home, whispered something in his ear, and the old man was deceived.

  The fox was always cunning, he stood on it and wandered around but refused to go down. According to the agreement, I raised my flashlight and flashed it three times upwards. The old thing ensured that there was someone below before saying to the fatty: "You go first, Ill follow behind!"

  "Alright, Uncle Cheng, calm down. Weve found a treasure trove below and theres a golden Buddha statue that neither I nor Xiao Yi can move! This time were really going to get rich!"

  That old thing heard this and his mouth was about to split open with laughter, as he crawled down and said: "Hehe, kiddo, dont worry, Uncle wont treat you guys unfairly! Hey, slow down, slow down!"

  Pangzis speed was naturally faster than his, and in no time he disappeared from Laozhi Shus line of sight. But at this critical moment, how could he still care about that? After all, there was only one ladder left, and Pangzi had gone down first and could still fly! This was the real "one rope to bind a thousand ants", no one could escape!

  When I saw the fat guy appear in front of me, I grabbed his foot with one hand, which scared him so much that he almost lost his grip and fell off.

  "Come in, come in!"

  I pulled Baozis hand and dragged him inside, fortunately his figure could barely squeeze in. As soon as he came in, he whispered to me: "My little Xia Ye, dont stretch out your hands like a zombie, this dark place is really scary!"

  "Has he come down?"

  "Shh! Listen carefully, its almost here!"

  Sure, here is the translation:

  "Sure enough, before long I heard the old mans heavy breathing. The headlamp on his forehead swept past me, but at that moment his attention was focused on his feet and he didnt notice us. Another four or five minutes passed, and then I heard someone shouting from below: "Where are you two little rabbits?"

  I took a peek and that old thing was holding a miners lamp shining it everywhere, this guy, youre done for this time!

  I resolutely pulled out the machete from my waist and cut off the rope ladder at the entrance with a "swoosh" sound. The rope fell to the ground with a "thud". The old man looked up, and I also turned on the mining lamp and shone it directly at his face: "You old scoundrel, dare to trap us? You can slowly wait for death down here!"

  To my surprise, the old man didnt get angry, but instead burst out laughing and said: "Little rabbit, youre still a bit tender for playing with me!"

  "Go ahead, you can keep being stubborn, but we wont play along, goodbye!" After saying that, I reached out to grab the ladder outside, but grabbed nothing. I felt around upwards and it didnt feel right. Just now, I clearly remembered that the ladder was cut off at this opening, wheres the ladder?

  "You really think I dont see through your tricks? Honestly, Ive long expected that youre not up to any good. My two sons have already pulled up the ladder upstairs, and Im trapped. You two can forget about leaving too! How dare you, just watch me deal with you when I get out, along with that little woman of yours. None of you will be able to escape, and Ill send all of you to the county!"