The Martial Lord of the Troubled World

Chapter 17 Acting as an Accomplice
Without Fu Guoping giving any orders, more than a dozen burly men from the Civil Affairs Department spontaneously chased after the dark figure.

The rest of the people stayed put and waited, their nerves on edge.

Fu Juemin didn't care about saving face and immediately jumped off the horse.

Riding on horseback would make him too conspicuous; he didn't want to be the first to become the basilisk's dinner.

Surrounded by strong men holding foreign guns, Fu Juemin felt a little more at ease. In just a short while, his right palm, which was holding the revolver, was already covered in sweat.

After only a short while, the men from the Civil Affairs Bureau who had run out began to return one after another.

The man at the head of the group cursed and walked up to the front of the group. He threw a child he was carrying on the ground and reported to Fu Guoping, "Second Master, it's a baby."

The child was filthy, pale and thin, and looked to be only five or six years old.

The child was thrown to the ground and cried loudly. Immediately following behind the crowd, an old woman in her seventies or eighties rushed out, hugged the child, and kowtowed to everyone.

Fu Juemin recognized the grandfather and grandson as the same elderly couple he had met on his way to the Civil Affairs Office that morning.

So he went up to Fu Guoping and whispered a brief explanation of the matter.

The old woman kowtowing kept talking in a dialect that Fu Juemin couldn't understand. Fu Guoping sent someone to ask her questions, and only then did he learn that the old woman and the young girl were originally villagers from Taoxiang Village.

The snake demon in the village ate people, so they escaped, but they had nowhere to go, so they could only hide in the forest and barely survive on the peaches in the forest every day.

After understanding the situation, Fu Guoping instructed someone to take the grandmother and grandson along and continue their journey.

Soon the group left the forest and walked down the earthen slope outside the forest for a while, and a village came into view.

The only path underfoot leads into the village. Standing at the village entrance and looking inside, there is not a single person in sight, not even a dog.

It was dinnertime, but not a single wisp of smoke rose from the village. The sun was setting, and the shadows of the distant mountains enveloped the village. From afar, a thin layer of blue mist seemed to rise from the village, making it appear even more silent and eerie.

"Second Master."

Everyone looked at Fu Guoping, waiting for him to give the order.

Fu Guoping glanced at the time on his pocket watch, then looked at the sun, and said calmly, "Everyone, retreat to the peach grove for the night, and enter the village tomorrow."

In at most an hour, the sun will have completely set. Entering a completely unfamiliar place in the dark to cause trouble for a terrifying snake demon is no different from delivering vegetables to someone's doorstep.

The old man and the young boy they had met earlier had lived in the peach grove for several days, proving that the peach grove was relatively safe at night. Fu Guoping's decision was perfectly sound, and no one objected. Everyone retreated back into the peach grove.

Before it got dark, the group cut down trees to make a fire and picked fresh peaches from the trees to eat with the dry food they had brought.

Fu Juemin didn't need to do anything. While everyone else was busy, he stood at the edge of the peach grove, gazing at the Peach Fragrance Village gradually being swallowed by the night, lost in thought.

I heard the sound of footsteps.

Fu Juemin turned his head, saw Fu Guoping, and called out, "Second Uncle."

"Scared?"

Fu Guoping stood beside Fu Juemin with his hands behind his back, squinted his eyes, and looked in the direction of Taoxiang Village with him.

"No."

Fu Juemin shook his head, his expression complicated, and said, "I just find it a bit unbelievable."

"Having lived for over a decade, I only just learned that water monsters and serpents still exist in this world."

"It's good that you're not afraid, because it's not the time for you to really be afraid yet."

Fu Guoping patted him on the shoulder and said earnestly, "There are many strange and wonderful things in this world."

"You'll definitely be taking over the family business from your father someday, so seeing more of the world now will build your courage and benefit you." Fu Juemin nodded, gazing at Peach Blossom Village ahead, and couldn't help but ask, "Second Uncle, how confident are you in dealing with that snake demon tomorrow?"

"How can you say for sure before you've seen it with your own eyes?"

Fu Guoping said calmly, "However, the forty-eight men who came this time are all elites from my Civil Affairs Department. The firepower they brought is enough to flatten the entire village more than ten times over."

If this still can't be solved, then it's truly unsolvable.

When the time comes, remember to ride your second uncle's fast horse and run as fast as you can.

Fu Juemin was speechless as he listened to Fu Guoping speak in the most nonchalant tone and the most straightforward words.

Just as he was about to ask Fu Guoping about the water monster at the dock, a bald, burly man strode up and said through gritted teeth, "Second Master, those two villagers from Peach Blossom Village are lying to us!"
This forest is not safe at all.

"As soon as it gets dark, the snake demon in the village will come out, and then all the brothers will be doomed!"

"Um?!"

The bald, burly man's words startled both Fu Juemin and Fu Guoping.

Fu Guoping frowned and asked, "What exactly happened?"

The bald, burly man pointed at the village and said, "The villagers colluded with the snake demon, deliberately keeping these two people alive to lure people into the village to feed the snake demon."

Why would they suddenly tell you all this?

Fu Juemin couldn't help but ask.

The bald, burly man shook his head. "Who knows? Maybe he's hurt too many people and feels guilty about it."

"Take me to see it."

Seeing that the bald, burly man was speaking unclearly, Fu Guoping walked into the woods with a sullen face.

Fu Juemin followed the team to the place where they were preparing to set up camp. He saw the old woman he had "captured" earlier, holding a child and crying bitterly.

Fu Guoping asked someone to inquire carefully and found out that when they were preparing dinner, a member of the Civil Affairs Department saw that the child was staring at the fire and drooling. They guessed that the old man and the child had not eaten for many days, so they served them a bowl of hot soup and gave them a few pieces of sesame flatbread.

While the elderly and children were eating, they suddenly burst into tears and then told the whole story in detail.

"According to this old fellow, there should still be living people in Taoxiang Village, a family named Huang Youde."

The snake demon originated from their family.

"The snake demon first ate everyone in Peach Blossom Village except for Huang Youde's family. Then Huang Youde went to nearby villages to trick people into coming in so the snake demon could eat them."

After the people in the nearby villages had been eaten dry and were afraid of being exploited, they tried to lure people from even more distant places.

The old woman and the young girl were Huang Youde's accomplices. They were not from Taoxiang Village, but villagers from the neighboring Lijia Village.

"The entire family of six, except for the two of them, were fed to the snake demon by Huang Youde. The fact that they had a change of heart and told us about it probably means they hate Huang Youde to the core and believe we have the ability to avenge them."

Under the peach tree, Fu Guoping listened quietly to the report from the interrogators.

"Those two accomplices, I shouldn't have pitied you."

The bald, burly man spat in disgust at the old man and the young man on the ground, then asked Fu Guoping, "Second Master, what do we do now?"

"We definitely can't stay in this woods tonight."

Fu Guoping pondered for a long time before finally speaking slowly.

(End of this chapter)