Chapter 58: Shards of Memory

  On a mountain lake shore, I sit on the grassland, staring blankly into the distance.

  "The hundred-year limit has arrived, we are all going to die." A familiar voice came from behind.

  I turned my head, and it was a beautiful woman who looked exactly like Cai Lingyu. Unlike Cai Lingyu, she didn't have that much aura of killing intent, but rather had a calm face with a hint of faint melancholy in her eyes, as if she had seen through the ups and downs of the world and no longer had any turbulent emotions in her heart.

  I seem to be familiar with this woman, I let out a bitter laugh and looked up at the sky saying: "How many times has it been already, can't remember anymore."

  The woman didn't say a word, and walked into the thatched cottage not far away. A few minutes later, she took out a long sword with countless precious stones inlaid on it, which was so magnificent that it reached an extreme point. As the sword came out of its scabbard, its radiance dazzled my eyes, and I narrowed them, quietly watching as the treasure sword pierced into my heart.

  No pain, warm blood gushed out from the chest.

  The girl smiled and softly said: "See you in the next century."

  Then I closed my eyes and lost consciousness.

  ……

  "Ah!" I suddenly woke up with a start, opened my eyes and immediately saw Old Lady Chen's wicked old face right in front of me.

  All I saw was her holding a human hand bone, with five white fingers on top burning with green ghost fire, and she was blowing the unknown black air coming out of the ghost fire onto my face.

  "You... you... can't be... awake..." Old Lady Chen stuttered in shock upon seeing me wake up.

  I was suddenly enraged, and I grabbed Chen Apo, who was standing there in a daze, and with a quick flip of my body, I jumped out of bed and pressed her heavily to the ground.

  Chen Aipo was an old woman, surprisingly with incredible strength. At this moment, I couldn't care about respecting the elderly and loving the young anymore, so I gave a heavy kick to this old witch's belly, only then did Chen Aipo become obedient with a sob.

  "Zhu Pai, come quickly! I've caught the person!" I shouted loudly towards the outside of the house, my throat feeling extremely uncomfortable. Only after touching it did I discover that a piece of human skin was tightly wrapped around my neck.

  I finally managed to tear open a small piece of human skin with great effort, took a deep breath and felt a wave of fear.

  "Impossible, impossible!" Old Lady Chen looked at me like a ghost, her old face twisted in terror as she kept shouting: "How can you possibly break my magic! You're not human, you're a ghost!"

  "Hmph, you old witch, you're not even human." I cursed, and with one kick, the human hand bone turned into a pile of bone dust.

  At the same time, "Ah!" Chen Ah Po covered her mouth and let out a loud cry, foaming at the mouth as she fainted.

  I didn't dare to be careless and stepped on Chen Ah Po's foot without letting up at all.

  At this moment, the door was suddenly burst open by Zhu Pai and others, and several people rushed in with guns. I narrowed my eyes, and indeed the door lock had been secretly opened by Chen Apo.

  "Hong, are you okay...? This... could it be... her?" Zhu Pai stared at Chen Apo who was lying on the ground unconscious, asking me uncertainly.

  I nodded, and immediately Zhu's eyes lit up, and he gave a signal. Several police officers understood tacitly, quickly took out handcuffs and put Chen Apo under arrest.

  I hastily reminded: "This old witch will cast a spell, must be searched, hands and feet must be tied up."

  "Ha ha, don't worry, Officer Hong, we're not too familiar with these things." A policeman replied with a smile, and soon they searched Chen Ah Po's body and found several pieces of human bone-like instruments similar to law enforcement equipment and several incomplete pieces of human skin.

  The police took Chen Apo away and detained her with her son Feng Chiren.

  Zhu pouted slightly, looked at me and I understood what he meant. "I'm tired, take a rest, you guys go ahead."

  "Alright!" Zhu Pai reported with a grateful expression, pointing at the two policemen and ordering: "You guys stay outside and protect Hong's informant well. If anything goes wrong, you'll be beheaded by me!"

  "Yes, sir!" The two policemen stood at attention and gave a military salute.

  Immediately, Zhu Pai led others in a flurry out of the house.

  Everything was all right, I closed the door and used scissors to tear off the human skin wrapped around my neck. My soul was still in shock, and I fell onto the bed. The bedding had already been soaked with sweat, feeling very cold.

  The surroundings quickly fell silent, but I couldn't calm down for a long time. Zhu Pai must have already led people to gather the villagers and prepare to search the village overnight to catch Feng Ai Zi. Since Chen A Po is here, it's highly likely that Feng Ai Zi is also here.

  I'm not interested in going with them to catch thieves, and it's better not to go. After rolling around at the bottom of the police station for a few years, I still understand the necessary rules. Catching thieves is what the police do, why should I, a secret agent from the confidential system, join in the fun? Isn't that stealing someone else's credit? Besides, I've already caught one Chen Ah Po, and I have to leave some soup for others, leave some credit, so we can meet again in the future.

  But more importantly, I'm still shaken and my mind is preoccupied with that strange dream, I need to calm down and think it through.

  I took a drag on my cigarette and replayed that dream sequence in my mind. The feeling at the time was vague, but it felt incredibly real. I could sense the deep powerlessness and frustration under the pressure of fate within me back then. This feeling was too real, so real that it was excessive. Rather than calling it a nonsensical dream, it's more like a fragment of a sealed memory.

  This feeling, how can I describe it? It's as if... a certain memory buried deep in my mind has been revived.

  "Haha, what am I thinking? How is that possible. If it's really a memory, doesn't that mean I'm already dead?" I shook my head and threw away this absurd idea.

  After a pack of cigarettes, I thought of a reasonable explanation. The woman who looked like Cai Lingyue, the mountainous area, the lake, and the thatched cottage, all these scenes were exactly the same as the photos taken on the Jin Hua wheel.

  This can't be a surprising coincidence, it can only be said that there are thoughts during the day and dreams at night. It must have been my deep impression of those top-secret photos that led to this immersive nightmare. Thinking back, I was harmed by Chen Ah Po's witchcraft, almost choked to death, with severe brain hypoxia, anything could have appeared as an illusion.

  At that time, I was only one step away from heaven (okay, maybe it's hell), when a person is unconscious, they should recall the most impressive memories of their life, or what I thought was my last obsession before death. But why? Why did I dream of being killed by someone, and in such a bizarre scene?

  I tossed and turned all night without falling asleep, the smoke in the room made my eyes red. When it dawned for a while, I slowly walked out of the side house.

  Zhu Pai and they did not appear, even Chen A Po and Feng Chi Ren were nowhere to be seen.

  Did I let them get away? At this time, the two little police officers who were responsible for protecting me walked over with hot congee and explained what had happened last night.

  Zhu Pai ordered the villagers to surround the village with guns, and all the villagers, regardless of age or sex, were called out for a thorough search. As a result, during this carpet-style search, it was discovered that an elderly widow living in the east of the village had gone missing. This elderly woman rarely went out and few people knew her, relying on others for support. It was said that Chen Aipo had the closest relationship with her and often entered and exited the old lady's home. When Zhu Pai searched her room, he found a well-made human skin mask and some pickled human flesh. The human skin mask was verified by the villagers to be the face of this elderly widow!

  I gasped, quickly reacting: "Ah, no wonder we couldn't catch her before! This Chen Ah-po is a demon who disguised herself as an old lady that originally existed in this village. She can deceive everyone by occasionally showing her face with the mask on. She plays two roles at once, and whenever needed, Chen Ah-po can disappear and reappear at will, while the original lonely widow was long ago skinned and eaten by her."

  No wonder we couldn't find her in the mountains, our direction was completely opposite.

  "What about Feng the dwarf? Did you catch him?" I asked hastily.

  The two little policemen shook their heads. I had just let out a sigh when they immediately said, "Don't worry, Agent Hong, our superior has a way to lure that dwarf out."

  "Huh?" I wondered, what did Zhu Pai want to do.

  "Haha, Chief Zhu is leading the villagers to make a big show of it, beating gongs and drums to let that cowardly Feng hiding in the mountains know that we're going to burn his wife and son to death!" The little policeman said excitedly, wishing he could also go watch the commotion.

  "Haha, don't worry that the man-eating devil won't show up! At that time, heh heh, we'll have snipers lying in wait and execute him on the spot!" Another little policeman laughed and said to me: "Hong Intelligence Officer, want to go take a look at Feng's downfall together?"

  I shook my head, indicating no interest. From Chen Ah Po's adventure to rescue her son, it can be seen that the three of them have a good relationship, and Feng Ai Zi is not someone who can watch his wife and son die with his eyes open. Zhu Pai's conspiracy is very likely to succeed.

  Take a step back, even if Feng didn't appear, Chen Ah-po and Feng Jia-ren would still have been burned to death. At that time, under the prevailing circumstances, using private punishment in rural areas was not uncommon, it belonged to extreme folk customs, and the Taiwanese government at that time couldn't control so much.

  I sighed, not knowing whether to pity Old Lady Chen and her family or be glad for their comeuppance. If it weren't for me, perhaps no one would have discovered their secret, but on the other hand, more people might have fallen victim to their evil ways. Maybe everything is just fate.

  Walking aimlessly in the village, too many things have happened these past few days and I'm still feeling dazed. The man in the suit told me to take it easy, but that's easier said than done in a place like this.

  That night there was a heavy rain, and Zhu Pai and his group didn't return until noon the next day.

  Three more bodies were also carried back together.

  Feng Ai Zi took advantage of the heavy rain to rescue people, but was shot by an ambush and became a beehive. Chen Ah Po and her son bit their tongues and died.

  Up to now, the three man-eating demons lurking in the mountain village have all died. Zhu Pai bid farewell to me and carried the corpses back to the city to report the situation. Looking at his triumphant expression, it seems that the reward is inevitable. Before leaving, he solemnly told me that if I need any help in the future, just look for him.

  The matter of Chen Ah Po has finally come to an end.

  For several days, I have been alone in the original room of Chen Ah Po, isolated and having very little contact with the villagers, a kind of indescribable strangeness.

  Later, a Mercedes-Benz car came to the city, still the original one, and quietly took me away. All the way, I was blindfolded and had no idea where I would go.

  From then on, I never returned to that mountain village. Much later, I heard from someone that after I left, the villagers contracted a very strange illness one by one and died within a month, almost everyone perished suddenly, and it was said that their deaths were extremely tragic.

  The entire mountain village became a dead zone. It turned out that Feng Ai Zi had put highly toxic poison in the village's well before he died, killing everyone. He used the lives of hundreds of villagers as sacrifices for his family.

  As time passed, the mountain village was gradually flattened and transformed into a famous resort area, where some strange incidents of tourist deaths often occurred.