Chapter 21: Red Fang X Abnormality

  "I said: 'Since it's like this, you all go back and rest first, tomorrow morning immediately start the investigation.'"

  After everyone left, I lay on the bed and took out my tablet to look at some materials, but I couldn't sleep. The room was old and shabby, with unpainted walls made of brick, like exposed bones. Above my head was a yellow light bulb, suspended from the ceiling by a deep green electrical wire. A layer of black grime covered the surface of the bulb, making the light dim, plunging the entire room into a dull, murky darkness. The room had many cracks, and occasionally cold air seeped in, causing the light bulb to sway back and forth, casting an eerie glow that made the walls seem indistinct and shadowy.

  Liu Long Village is indeed too old, this kind of lamp with electric wire hanging down and the switch is also a pull line, it belongs to the 1980s, now generally rural areas are hard to see such electric wires.

  The atmosphere is eerie beyond measure.

  However, this environment was not difficult for me who grew up in an orphanage since childhood. I lay on the hard wooden bed and listened to music for a while before falling asleep quickly. I don't know how long I slept, but suddenly I opened my eyes abruptly. Many people may have had such an experience: when sleeping in a strange foreign land at night, they suddenly hear some strange sounds or feel that there is someone moving around them, and wake up abruptly.

  The first thing I saw was the light bulb in the room emitting a yellow glow, swaying back and forth. A group of white moths were flying around it, some even violently crashing into the bulb with a loud thud.

  The second thing I saw was a row of sharp teeth in the crack on the wall behind me. This row of sharp teeth didn't look like human teeth, each tooth was very fine and pointed, like an iron nail, and every tooth was bright red.

  The first thing that came to my mind was a row of dental tools. But in the second second, the row of teeth in the crack moved, and the distance between the upper and lower rows of teeth opened up and down - just like a person's mouth suddenly opening wide.

  But I couldn't see any other parts, because all that could be seen through the crack was a row of sharp red teeth. I couldn't see anything else like eyes or nose - these must have been there, but were blocked by the brick. All I could see was the teeth outside the gap.

  It wasn't until then that I realized the goosebumps on my hands had all stood up, one by one. No matter whether these rows of teeth outside belonged to a human or some kind of wild beast, the feeling of being spied upon in my room at midnight made my heart feel hairy.

  Based on my impression of the layout of Old Huang's house, this tooth is outside the house rather than inside. From the whole room, it is at the back of the house.

  "The teeth" had obviously sensed that I had discovered it, but this row of "teeth" did not intend to escape and remained motionless facing the gap.

  "How blatant!" My anger suddenly surged, and I jumped out of bed, rushing to the gap. "Teeth" had just quickly disappeared. I looked through the gap to see if I could see anything, but unfortunately, it was pitch black outside, and I couldn't even see my fingers when I stretched out my hand.

  "You're still hiding quickly." I said to the gap. I went back to bed, picked up my phone and looked at the time, it was 11:21. I took out a powerful flashlight from my luggage, opened the door of the room, and when I walked into the hall, I found that there was a candle lit on the dining table in the hall, the flame flickered, and the shadow danced. Behind the candle, Du Huang Niu sat on a wooden chair like a snail, under the dim light of the fire.

  Strictly speaking, he wasn't sitting but rather crouching on the wooden chair because his legs were also planted firmly on the chair. Due to his severe hunchback, it seemed as if his entire body was curled up into a circle. His head however was straining to face me horizontally, I don't know if his line of sight allowed him to see my face.

  In the dim candlelight, Du Huangniu's old face was gloomy and terrifying. A thin layer of frost-like chill spread across his gaunt face, he stared at me with a cold gaze, majestic and powerful, like lightning in the night sky.

  "Hey kid, are you leaving?" His voice was like a knife, cold and sharp.

  "Uh, I have something to go out for a bit, and I'll be back soon." I didn't wait for Du Huang Niu's agreement or not, I just walked out of the house. Because the answer was obvious, he would stop me from going out.

  I went out of the house, and the night sky in the mountain village was so dark and profound, yet so clear. The sky was filled with silver stars, each one shining like a diamond. I ran quickly out of the courtyard and came to the back of the house, locating my room's position. What made me feel regretful was that the ground was covered with withered grass, so there were no footprints or any other traces left behind.

  I shone my powerful flashlight around, but apart from startling a few black wild cats and spotting a brown snake coiled on the tree trunk, I didn't find anything. That row of "teeth" escaped quite quickly - if it wasn't human, what kind of animal would have such teeth?

  Cats, mice, dogs, snakes, I've seen their teeth, none of them are. As I thought about it, I went back inside the house. Du Huang Niu didn't go back to his room, and I had expected him to wait for me.

  "It's so late at night, where have you just gone?"

  "Grandpa Cow, I just saw something unknown outside the room looking at me, so I ran out to see what it was."

  "Oh? Have you seen what it looks like?"

  "No, when I went out, that animal was already gone."

  "Young people, I see you're not too bad to this old fellow like me. So let me give you some good advice: take your friends and leave Liusong Village tomorrow. This is not a place where you should stay."

  "Grandfather Niu, Village Head Du also reminded me that Liu Long village is not safe after dark, but I really can't think of what kind of thing is threatening this village and making it unsafe. Grandfather Niu, can you tell me?"

  Du Huang took out a dry cigarette, puffed twice and said: "In short, it's not safe. Look at this village, it's almost dying, before it dies, it will take all the people here with it."

  Du Huang Niu said something so absurd with such a serious tone and expression, the strong contrast made me feel both eerie and ridiculous.

  "I'm afraid we can't leave yet, Uncle Niu. We still need to conduct some scientific research."

  "You guys didn't come to Liulong Village for any scientific research, you're here to investigate Du Jie's father, aren't you?"

  I was secretly surprised, but since the purpose had been seen through by Du Huang Niu, I felt that there was no need to continue hiding it, so I directly said: "Hehe, been found out by Old Man Niu."

  "Our village doesn't have any treasure or anything worth scientific research. And in the past, some journalists came to our village trying to dig up some dirt on Du Jie's father."

  I think I've already chatted with Old Man Niu, so I took the opportunity to ask: "Old Man Niu, I really don't understand, since everyone knows that Du Jie is now a billionaire, with his financial resources and material wealth, he could easily cover every inch of land in Liu Long Village with gold. Why can't he improve the environmental conditions of Liu Long Village?"

  "It's not Du Jie's fault, when he just started to make a name for himself, he said he wanted to repair the road and rebuild, but we were always opposed to it, including his father."

  "Opposed?"

  "Hehe, yes, opposed. Du Jie has said countless times that he wants to reform Liu Long Village, but unfortunately, we old folks have always been against it."

  "Why oppose it? Isn't pursuing a happy and high-quality life very normal?"

  "Hey kid, it's late, go back and rest. I had a bit to drink tonight and said too much. Some things aren't as they seem on the surface. Anyway, this place really isn't suitable for you all, listen to an old man's advice and hurry back to your own place."

  I returned to my room, and my sleepiness was completely gone. It seems that Yongcun Village is indeed hiding some secrets, Du Jie had arranged for someone to investigate his father before, but it seems that he didn't get the results he wanted. What point should I use as a starting point to investigate the secrets of Du Jie's father?