ACIFITFDB – Chapter 15

Chapter 15: You Can Kill It, Are You Coming?

Huang Quxie, still grumbling, carried the little girl away, leaving Qin Xian hidden in the darkness.

Before leaving, he had asked the girl about her brother, getting a rough description: a young man in his early twenties, with short black hair, pierced ears, and a fondness for white T-shirts.

This information was as good as useless; picking ten young men with the same description would likely yield six identical individuals.

Qin Xian sighed, hoping the person was alright and that he could directly ask for his name.

He looked up at the row of temporary shophouses on the dirt slope. Each one had a light on, suggesting live broadcasts were likely in progress. Qin Xian placed his hands on the slope and easily scaled it.

Several surveillance cameras were installed outside the sheds. A closer inspection revealed that one of them was pointed directly at a window.

Qin Xian lowered his head, picked up a small pebble, placed it on the side of his index finger, and with a forceful flick of his thumb, shot the pebble out like a bullet, hitting the camera lens precisely.

“Crack,” a crisp sound echoed. The red light on the camera flickered defiantly twice before extinguishing.

Now he could approach and investigate more boldly. Qin Xian, silent as a cat, darted up the slope and went to the window of the westernmost room first.

Inside the cramped room were many broadcasting stands and props, but the most striking feature was the decor.

The walls were covered with the yellow earth bricks commonly used in old houses, and the floor was packed with trodden, dark brown soil, making it look very much like the interior of a rural old house.

On the dirt floor stood a simple wooden bed, covered with an old-fashioned red floral quilt. An elderly person with a face full of wrinkles stared blankly at the ceiling, their mouth open, only two teeth remaining. Their face was severely shrunken, and they mumbled incoherently.

Beside the bed, a young man in worn clothes was carefully cleaning the elder’s body for the camera, his expression exceptionally patient and gentle. While cleaning, he spoke to the viewers in the live stream. If one looked closely at the elder’s face, they would notice their hand weakly grasping the young man’s arm, desperately resisting. But this feeble resistance had no effect.

The young man ignored it, chattering about the hardships of life, his touching stories about his parents, and so on. In the angle unseen by the camera, when he touched the elder’s body, his expression showed a fleeting disgust. Clearly, the person on the bed was likely not his father.

Qin Xian narrowed his eyes slightly, seeing a large number of comments and gift effects constantly appearing in the live stream.

He frowned and moved to the second window. The scene inside had changed. It was set up like a rural kitchen, with an old-fashioned stove that looked quite realistic.

A person who appeared to have intellectual disabilities sat on a low stool, drooling, facing the camera. Another elderly woman, hunched over, was spoon-feeding them.

The camera only focused on their upper body, but their trouser legs were already stained with spoiled and foul-smelling leftovers. Some had been stuck to their pants for who knows how long, turning dark brown. The stench could be smelled even from the window.

The following rooms were equally shocking.

In one room, a man was talking to what seemed to be an autistic girl, facing the camera. But behind the camera, he held a long needle against the girl’s thigh.

In another room, two people with physical disabilities were kowtowing to the camera. But opposite the camera, stood two burly men holding long sticks.

Qin Xian quickly scanned all the rooms. Approximately thirteen rooms were currently broadcasting live. The content was mainly about using illness, disability, and the elderly/weak to evoke sympathy and gain donations, with some even selling products.

A dozen live streams, not yet on a large scale. If the number increased to over twenty, the danger level of this place would rise exponentially.

Of course, at this stage, getting one person out safely was not an easy task.

Qin Xian acted swiftly, circling the building and successfully locating the main power switch. With a single stone, he smashed the circuit breaker.

Swish, the entire row of houses plunged into darkness, startling the occupants.

“Huh? Power outage! The broadcast is interrupted!”

“What’s going on? Why the power outage?”

“The villa is still lit up. The circuit breaker for this building must be faulty. Let’s go out and check!”

Qin Xian quickly moved away after smashing the breaker, crouching under the window of one of the rooms.

He had confirmed that a person with all four limbs amputated lay on the bed. Around twenty years old, with short black hair, this was likely the little girl’s brother.

Qin Xian climbed onto the window, kicked his leg, and shattered the glass.

Due to the live broadcast setup, these windows had no iron bars, which gave Qin Xian more convenience. The moment he climbed in, someone pointed a stick at him and questioned him.

“What r…”

But before he could finish speaking, Qin Xian, in the darkness, kicked his chin, causing him to fall straight down without a sound.

Qin Xian turned and lifted the person on the bed onto his shoulders. A pungent, sour smell wafted towards him, but he didn’t even blink, only feeling how incredibly light the person on his shoulder was.

A body without limbs was even lighter than the little girl.

Qin Xian carefully grabbed the person and climbed back over the window, quickly rushing to the back of a cattle shed in the darkness.

He placed the person on the ground and breathed a sigh of relief, pressing himself against the wall to check for any movement.

“You… Who are you…”

The man suddenly spoke, his voice extremely weak.

Qin Xian observed and asked, “Are you Lou Xingye?”

The man replied in a whisper, “Yes…”

“I’m here to save you, sent by your sister. Don’t speak, conserve your energy. I’ll get you out.”

“…You, you should leave. I’m beyond saving. Hurry and go… There are ghosts here…”

Qin Xian turned and asked, “Ghosts? What kind? Can you describe them?”

But Lou Xingye couldn’t hold on any longer and his head lolled to the side, losing consciousness.

Qin Xian quickly leaned over to check, and after confirming there was still faint breathing, he relaxed. However, the current situation meant he couldn’t leave the man behind. He had initially planned to deal with the anomalies here, but he had to change his plan and get the man out first.

Qin Xian tore his jacket into strips, tied the man to his back, and rushed out from behind the cattle shed.

Outside the cattle shed was an open field with little cover. People were already sweeping the area with powerful flashlights, searching for them.

Qin Xian crawled on the ground, advancing through the desolate fields.

The腥-smelling soil was almost at his nose, the weeds scratched his exposed skin, causing intense itching, and mosquitoes buzzed around him. But none of this made Qin Xian frown. He carried someone on his back and moved with agility, covering a field in three to four minutes.

However, the fields stretched on and on, making it unrealistic to crawl out of the village this way. Qin Xian decided to crawl to the vicinity of a house and hide in an alley to recover his strength.

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out not far away, startling a group of people who rushed in that direction.

A gun? Although this village was rife with criminals, given the strict gun control in the country, these villagers shouldn’t have managed to get their hands on firearms.

The only one who would use a gun was Huang Quxie. Had he not escaped?

Qin Xian found a dry ditch and carefully hid Lou Xingye inside, then stood up and casually walked towards the direction of the gunshot, blending in with the villagers in the night.

He didn’t get too close to anyone else. In the darkness, it was hard to distinguish, and no one paid him any mind. After all, no one being chased would act so relaxed…

The gunshot came from near a two-story villa. Qin Xian observed the surrounding terrain and estimated potential hiding spots, choosing to slip into the semi-open kitchen behind the villa.

As soon as he reached the stove, a dark gun barrel was pointed at his face.

Qin Xian immediately ducked to the side and said, “It’s me, why didn’t you guys get out?”

Huang Quxie paused for a moment, then immediately lowered his gun and said, “It’s not safe here, we need to move.”

Behind him, the little girl’s head peeked out, timidly nodding.

Qin Xian pointed directly at the ditch behind the kitchen, “There’s no water in here for now. Crawl in, turn right. Your brother is also over there.”

The little girl’s eyes lit up immediately. Ignoring the dirt, she crawled into the ditch without a word.

Of the three, Huang Quxie was the most inconvenienced. Being too tall, he could barely fit into the ditch. With every bit of progress he made, the rough cement surface scraped his skin.

But Huang Quxie remained silent, following closely behind.

The money earned in this village was substantial, and the drainage ditches were well-maintained. Possibly due to their use for irrigation, they were deep and covered. People searching the ground would find it difficult to notice the ditch by their feet hiding people.

Qin Xian led the two to Lou Xingye and then crawled out of the ditch to find a small corner to rest and understand the situation.

As soon as the little girl emerged, she hugged her brother tightly and shed silent tears.

Huang Quxie tugged at his collar with concern, but Qin Xian remained calm. He directly asked, “Why didn’t you manage to escape? What did you encounter?”

Huang Quxie replied, “It was pitch black outside, we couldn’t get out… Charging outwards, the next second we’d find ourselves back at the village entrance, like being trapped in a ghost wall.”

Qin Xian’s expression grew serious. “Then it seems impossible to escape on our own. A domain has formed here. Without defeating the owner of this place, we cannot leave. Of course, perhaps it’s only like this at night and returns to normal during the day, allowing escape.”

“Domain? What do you mean?” Huang Quxie asked, confused.

Qin Xian replied concisely, “You can think of it as there being a ghost here. This ghost is very powerful, so it has put the entire village in a sealed area, preventing people from escaping. This domain should not be very strong; it likely dissipates during the day. But at the very least, we have to wait until after nine o’clock. Lou Xingye might not last that long. We need to get him to the hospital as soon as possible.”

Huang Quxie asked, “Do you have a way out?”

“Kill the owner of this domain.”

Huang Quxie and the little girl gasped simultaneously.

“Just us?! Against an entire village and a terrifying ghost??”

The little girl lowered her head in embarrassment, as she and her brother would likely be a burden rather than a combat force.

But Qin Xian was so calm it made him seem incredibly confident. “You can kill it, are you coming?”

Huang Quxie’s scalp tingled. As a police officer, his rational mind should advise hiding until sunrise, but at this moment, he inexplicably felt a degree of trust in the person before him.

He gritted his teeth. “Alright, I’m with you! Really, who are you anyway…”

Qin Xian ignored his latter question and crouched down in front of the little girl.

“From now on, you need to be strong. You must continue to hide here and protect your brother. If anything happens, use your small size to squeeze into narrow corners. We can’t take you with us, do you understand?”

The little girl wiped away her tears and nodded firmly, tightening her grip on her brother’s arm.

Author’s Note:

——————–

Cat Qin: You can kill it.

The Two: I don’t trust ordinary confident people, but someone this confident, I can’t help but believe…

While writing, I’m also learning to paint. I’m very busy every day, but in order to paint little interactions for my product… I’m working hard!! [Glasses]