Chapter 30

Chapter 30: Mountain Bandits

As usual, Mei Yinghan gathered his spirits and took on the task of continuing the questioning, gently saying, "It’s been quite some time already… May I ask, do you still remember what they did when they came here? And where they went when they left?"

The middle-aged woman fell into thought, and the others present slowly came back to their senses, all looking at her.

It wasn’t just the woman they were looking at. The crowd that had gathered earlier, upon hearing their conversation, chimed in to recall together, saying, "The hero and heroine seemed to mention they were going to visit the heroine’s family."

"The heroine’s family is in…"

"I remember, it’s to the west!"

"Hey! Do you even need to state the obvious? Didn’t you hear these two young heroes say that’s their senior sister? She was already on her way to see them."

"Hiss, it’s been over a month, and they still haven’t gone back?"

"Could something have happened?"

"Bah, bah, bah! Don’t jinx it!"

Listening to these remarks, the expressions of the four searchers shifted gradually from anxious and earnest to solemn… and finally, to helplessness.

It was the middle-aged woman who noticed the changes in their faces and comforted them, "The hero and heroine clearly have exceptional martial skills. Even if they’re delayed for a bit, nothing will happen to them."

The Jun brothers forced a smile, "Thank you for your kind words."

The woman added, "But as for where they went, I’m afraid we don’t know."

The Jun brothers had already anticipated this outcome. Hearing her words now, though disappointed, they accepted it, "We’ve traveled this far, and being able to hear news of our senior sister and brother here is already a stroke of luck."

The woman said, "Just follow the road west and search carefully…"

The Jun brothers were about to nod when the woman suddenly let out an "Oh!" and quickly corrected herself, "I said it wrong! How can you go west? No, no, you gentlemen need to take a detour."

Everyone was stunned. Mei Yinghan asked, "What’s that about?"

The woman hesitated, lowering her voice, "To the west of Tan Family Village, there’s a residence of a wealthy man. But a few years ago, something happened to that family, and not a single person survived!

"At first, we didn’t know that place was dangerous. We sighed over their misfortune, but people still passed by there from time to time. But then, new incidents started happening…"

If they hadn’t met Bai and Mei the previous night, the Jun brothers wouldn’t have thought much of this.

If Bai and Mei hadn’t experienced the events in Guang’an Prefecture earlier, hearing about Tan Family Village’s past wouldn’t have stirred much thought either.

But now, as the woman spoke, all four of them were completely drawn in.

Jun Yang, being steadier than his younger brother, gritted his teeth and pulled a few copper coins from his sleeve—originally meant as payment for information, as giving too much would be inappropriate—and pressed them into the woman’s hand, asking, "Big sister, would you be willing to sit down somewhere and tell us about this in detail?"

The woman was taken aback, "I’ll tell you, but how can I take your money?" She tried to refuse.

Jun Yang insisted, "After all, we’re taking up your time."

The woman still didn’t want to accept the money. But at this moment, Bai Zhengliu interjected, "Big sister, you don’t understand. The senior sister our little brother is looking for has always been very interested in these kinds of things. What you’re saying now is an important clue for them, and they need to ask you in detail! But if you don’t take the money, they’ll feel bad and won’t dare to ask further."

The woman couldn’t help but laugh, "You young folks are too polite!" In the end, she didn’t refuse.

The group moved to a tea stall. Jun Yang paid for tea and snacks for the five of them, and they listened as the woman began to recount in detail.

"I couldn’t say much in front of all those people earlier," the woman said. "That family met with disaster on the day of Master Tan’s grandson’s full-month celebration, attacked by mountain bandits!"

The group exclaimed, "Mountain bandits?!"

The woman sighed, "Exactly."

Through her words, a tragedy from years ago slowly unfolded before the four searchers.

Master Tan was the wealthiest man in Tan Family Village. Unlike others, his family didn’t live in the village but had built a separate residence on a nearby mountain.

It seemed Master Tan had once been an official, though the woman didn’t know the specifics. What she emphasized were other details: though Master Tan was kind and wealthy, his household had always felt empty. It wasn’t until he was in his late thirties, nearly forty, that he finally had a single son, whom he cherished like the apple of his eye. Even the daughter-in-law he chose came from a prominent family in the city.

The couple had a good relationship and were very filial to Master Tan. By all accounts, this should have been a perfect situation. But Master Tan had one lingering worry: he wanted a grandson.

That wasn’t a big issue. Not only Master Tan but also the newlywed couple were eager to add to the family.

However, Master Tan’s son, being born late in his father’s life, had always been frail. Having a child was no easy task for him. The family hoped day after day, month after month, until finally, a year after the marriage, the daughter-in-law became pregnant.

When the child was safely born, Master Tan walked with a spring in his step. For the full-month celebration, half the village was invited to the feast. They didn’t even need to bring gifts—just a word of blessing was enough to make Master Tan beam and invite them in to dine.

That wasn’t all. Besides the delicacies served at the house, Master Tan also arranged a ten-day flowing banquet in the village. Though it didn’t feature the abalone and sea cucumber served at the main event, it was still filled with chicken, duck, fish, and meat, showing his generosity.

So, while the villagers might usually feel a bit envious of Master Tan’s wealth, on such a joyous occasion, they would still smile and say, "What a happy event."

Unfortunately, the much-anticipated flowing banquet never came to pass.

On the day of the full-month celebration, the villagers finished their meal and left the Tan residence. The next morning, a worker employed by the Tan family arrived early. As soon as they pushed open the door, they were hit with the stench of blood.

The woman clicked her tongue and sighed, "The person who saw that scene was so horrified they fell ill and passed away not long after. What a tragedy!"

The entire Tan family died that night. From Master Tan and his son and daughter-in-law to the newborn grandson and the in-laws who had come to help—eight people, not one escaped.

The authorities soon arrived and followed the tracks, but as far as the woman knew, the mountain bandits who committed the murders were never caught. They abandoned their weapons a few miles from Tan Family Village, and then their trail vanished.

The Tan family tragedy remained an unsolved case. Over the years, despite several changes in local officials, no one had been able to crack it.

At this point, the four listeners’ faces grew heavy.

Compared to the "Chang residence," this seemed like a purely human-caused disaster. But thinking of the missing Nie and Lu couple and their connection to this, the four couldn’t afford to be careless.

After some thought, Bai Zhengliu asked, "This is an old case. Big sister, you mentioned earlier that there were later incidents—what were those?"

The woman sighed, "At first, it was just people passing by at night who heard sounds coming from the Tan residence. It was lively, as if they were still holding a banquet.

"Later, even during the day, people passing by could hear noises! Tell me, isn’t that terrifying?"

The four said, "This…"

It was indeed terrifying. The Jun brothers couldn’t help but think.

The woman continued, "That’s not all! The most important thing is, though the authorities sealed the Tan residence, some people thought that since the bodies had been cleared, they could sneak in and take things. But those who had that idea never came out again!

"Ma Er from the east end, and Feng Liu and Wang Chongxi, who always hung out with him—I heard with my own ears that in the days before they disappeared, they were planning to steal from the Tan residence.

"And it’s not just those with sticky fingers. If it were only them, you could say they got what they deserved if something happened. But there were also some honest folks, drifters from other places with no home to return to. They did small, honest businesses. Some, with nowhere to stay, went into the Tan residence. And then? They never came out either.

"That place isn’t just a rundown estate—it’s a ghost house that swallows people!"

By the end, the woman patted her chest, looking as if she had scared herself.

That was all she could say. Realizing they couldn’t get more information from her, the group sincerely thanked her. Jun Yang also asked the tea stall owner to pack another portion of snacks for the woman to take home as a small token of their gratitude.

Perhaps feeling that she had indeed shared something important, this time, though the woman verbally declined, she didn’t get up from her seat. Only after accepting the snacks did she give a short laugh and say, "Alright! I’ve said all I can. I hope you find your people soon."

The group thanked her again. As she left, they gathered to discuss—

"You shouldn’t believe everything she said."

Before they could even start, someone interrupted.

The four turned toward the voice and met the gaze of the tea stall owner. He spread his hands, looking helpless, "Ma Er, Feng Liu, and the others clearly went to work at a gambling house in the city! They made sure to tell everyone before they left, acting like they’d hooked up with some relative or something, as if they were going to be the bosses!"

The four were stunned. The Jun brothers’ emotions fluctuated, hard to describe. Bai Zhengliu, seeing this, took over, "What about the businesspeople she mentioned?"

"Hmph," the tea stall owner shook his fan, "That was a castrator! How big is Tan Family Village? How many pigs are there to castrate? Once they finished their business here, of course they moved on to the next place. Ghosts? Nonsense! Don’t let her ruin our reputation with that talk!"