Chapter 144: Death Disaster

The leading man seemed to notice the strong woman’s nervousness and smiled gently, “Don’t be anxious, think slowly and speak slowly.”

He then turned to his subordinate, “Go, get three meatloaf. Come here.”

The subordinate immediately retrieved three meatloaf from his bag.

The aroma of meat filled the air. The leading man handed the meat patties to the strong woman.

“Auntie, you can think about it while you eat. After you finish eating, you still have time to talk.

The more carefully you speak and the more accurate the information you provide, the higher the reward we will give you.”

The leading man continued to subtly influence her.

The strong woman kept nodding and swallowing her saliva.

After getting their permission, Da Zhuang’s mother handed one of the meat patties to her son, broke the other one in half, gave half to Da Zhuang’s father, and ate half herself.

She planned to save the remaining piece for the next day.

Da Zhuang devoured his meat pie, and his parents followed suit without hesitation.

The other villagers of Xinghua Village, already hungry, were driven even further by the aroma of the meat. They could only swallow their saliva in longing.

Perhaps they hadn’t thought of that group of people before, but after hearing the strong woman’s description, they all remembered them.

Someone stared at the three meat patties with covetous eyes.

Yang Lizheng had been observing the villagers’ expressions, his mind racing to find a way to resolve the crisis and ensure everyone’s safety.

He couldn’t act rashly under their watchful eyes.

Noticing someone’s intent, he calmly approached the person, held their hand, stretched out his palms one by one, and finally slapped his palm hard.

The person, startled for a moment, quickly understood the meaning behind the gesture.

In an instant, everyone was alerted.

A wave of terror washed over them. This group of people were their companions, and they had killed five of them. If the truth came out, their lives would be forfeit.

Everyone stared intently at the strong woman, who had spoken so freely, praying that she wouldn’t reveal anything she shouldn’t. Otherwise, they would all be doomed.

The leading man, seemingly giving the strong woman time to reflect, was actually observing the villagers of Xinghua Village from the corner of his eye, taking in their every move.

He saw the greed, nervousness, and worry reflected in their eyes.

The leading man narrowed his eyes slightly.

After the strong woman finished eating, he slowly asked, “Have you thought everything through?”

The strong woman nodded, “When we were walking on the official road, we met a group of them. They were walking behind us. Later, they overtook us.”

“Did you see who killed them?”

Da Zhuang’s mother shook her head, “No.”

“You just said they overtook you, right?”

Da Zhuang’s mother nodded, oblivious to the murderous intent in the leading man’s eyes.

“Then when will you see them again?”

The strong woman was taken aback and shook her head, “No, no more.”

The leading man frowned, and his subordinate shouted harshly, “How dare you play tricks on us.

“It’s time to draw the knife.

The strong woman was terrified and took two steps back. The leading man glanced sideways at his subordinate.

The subordinate immediately held his breath, lowered his head, and took a step back.

The leading man smiled reassuringly and said, “Auntie, don’t be afraid.

My subordinate is a bit quick-tempered, and his concern can cloud his judgment. Please don’t take offense.”

“No, it’s okay,” the strong woman replied awkwardly, trying to mask her fear.

“You were walking behind them, so you should have seen their corpses. I just want to know if anyone desecrated their remains.

If you’ve seen someone touching their corpses, just provide a description of that person, and I assure you there will be a substantial reward,” the leading man continued, pressing for information.

The strong woman shook her head, “I haven’t seen that. We took another road, not the official one.”

The man’s men scoffed, “What a coincidence?”

It was clear they didn’t believe her.

In their view, it was highly likely that after King Yun’s people were killed by their own, this group had passed by and looted the belongings of those in King Yun’s Mansion.

They speculated that she was afraid to admit it now, fearing blame.

Seeing their skepticism, Da Zhuang’s mother pointed to the other villagers from Xinghua Village and said, “You can ask them; we are from the same village. We all left together at that time.”

The leading man had already suspected they were in a group, and even without Da Zhuang’s mother saying so, he was prepared to question the others.

Yang Lizheng stood up decisively and said, “Sir, she is right. If it is the group you’re talking about, we did meet them, but shortly after, we took a different path and didn’t stay on the official road.”

“So I don’t know when they were killed, and I never saw them again.”

When Su Yin and the others returned from their investigation, the entire group had been wiped out, leaving no survivors.

Only his family and two clan elders knew the truth. With those two elders now dead, his family was the only one left who knew.

As long as they kept the secret, Su Yin and the others would remain safe, giving them a chance to survive.

Fortunately, fearing that this incident would incite panic, he hadn’t informed the entire village.

Otherwise, given the strong woman’s nature, had she revealed the details earlier, they would likely be in grave danger.

“Why did you change your route?” the leading man inquired.

“There are two reasons. First, we heard there was a water source between the valleys. We had used up most of our water and wanted to replenish our supply.

The second reason is that the trail also leads to Yongqing County, allowing us to accomplish two goals at once without having to take the longer original route.”

Yang Dashu chimed in, “That was indeed the case. We were low on water and needed to find a source.

Knowing there might be water there, we naturally went that way, which is why we didn’t see the bodies of your companions. We don’t know when they died.”

The other men in Xinghua Village also stood up to corroborate the story, each eager to get rid of these dangerous individuals as quickly as possible.

The villagers of Xinghua were afraid of being discovered for killing five of the men’s companions, but they didn’t realize that their guilty conscience made them easy targets.

The leading man could sense that they were hiding something.

“I’ll ask you again, is there anything missing?”

Everyone shook their heads.

However, in a flash of silver light, a sharp knife sliced across Yang Dashu’s neck. Blood spurted from the wound, and his head rolled to the ground.

This sudden murder sent shockwaves through Xinghua Village and the refugees gathered nearby.

“You, you…”

The leading man suppressed his gentle smile, his eyes turning cold as he stared at the villagers of Xinghua, looking at them as if they were already dead. “You didn’t tell the truth. This is what will happen.”

He pressed the knife against Yang Lizheng’s neck, “I’ll give you one last chance. Are you hiding something from us?”