Chapter 428 - 203: The Actor
Chapter 428: Chapter 203: The Actor
Fang Shuwen glanced at the old man who called himself Chen Zhong and spoke softly,
"We are traveling Jianghu people. We happened to hear a noise from the well, and that’s how we found you.
"You’re safe now... We want to know what happened to you.
"You just said people died. Who died?"
Hearing this, Chen Zhong’s eyes widened. He was still terrified, but he had calmed down considerably.
He cautiously looked left and right. Seeing no one around, he whispered,
"They’re all dead. Everyone in the whole village has been killed!
"Everyone in the Chen Residence, from the master down to the servants.
"Wiped out completely!"
A chill ran down Miao Feichan’s spine. ’If this man really is Chen Zhong and what he said is true, then every single person she and Fang Shuwen had met on their way here was an impostor. Night Rain Tower was even more terrifying than she had imagined.’
She subconsciously glanced at Fang Shuwen and saw his expression was still as calm as ever. Recalling their earlier conversation, she suddenly understood.
’Fang Shuwen had never once let down his guard around "Landlord Chen" and the others.’
’From the moment they first met, to when they were eavesdropping by the rockery, and now to discovering the real Chen Zhong—no matter how the situation changed, he remained calm and self-possessed, not easily shaken.’
At this thought, Miao Feichan gave a wry smile. She had been in the Jianghu for years and thought she should be unfazed by anything by now, yet she found her composure was nothing compared to Fang Shuwen’s.
Fang Shuwen didn’t know what Miao Feichan was thinking. He just asked softly,
"Tell us the details. Who were the killers? Why did they do it?
"And how did you end up hiding in a well?"
Chen Zhong seemed dazed for a moment before he began to explain what had happened.
But he had been living in a state of constant fear. Even though Fang Shuwen had brought him out of the well, he was still in a panic.
His words were jumbled and he spoke haltingly.
Fang Shuwen and Miao Feichan listened, piecing the story together themselves. They soon had a general idea of what had occurred.
Chen Zhong didn’t know who the killers were.
They had just suddenly appeared a few days ago. With no explanation, they simply started killing.
The villagers were all common folk; how could they possibly stop them?
That night, Chen Zhong had had a few too many drinks. He woke up groggily in the middle of the night to relieve himself when he heard a commotion outside. He cautiously went to take a look.
He saw a group of men in black, their origins unknown, moving with incredible speed and killing without batting an eye. He knew instantly that a disaster had struck.
Wasting no time, he rushed to report to Landlord Chen.
After being woken up, Landlord Chen summoned the few Family Guards retained by the residence.
Before they could even come up with a plan, the killers were upon them.
Although Landlord Chen was a wealthy man, he had never witnessed such a scene.
Panicked, he immediately had the Family Guards protect him as he fled. Chen Zhong ran with them, but in the chaos, his limbs were weak from the alcohol he’d drunk that night. He didn’t get far before he tripped and fell hard to the ground.
He watched helplessly as Landlord Chen, protected by several of the Family Guards, disappeared into the distance.
It took him a great deal of effort to get back up, and he chased after them with all his might.
But when he turned a corner, he saw those few Family Guards being cut down on the spot, as if they were nothing more than vegetables.
Landlord Chen was on his knees, begging for his life.
The last thing Chen Zhong saw was someone striking Landlord Chen on the head with their palm.
The sight completely sobered Chen Zhong up.
The Family Guards were no match for these people. Following Landlord Chen was a dead end.
Chen Zhong didn’t want to die. The mortal danger, paradoxically, made him calmer. He suddenly remembered a secret room inside a dry well, discovered a few years ago when the courtyard was being renovated.
No one knew who had built the secret room. Once Landlord Chen found out about it, he had the well sealed.
Now, with cries of agony echoing throughout the Chen Residence, escape was impossible. But if he could hide, he might just survive.
He first slipped into the kitchen, grabbing some dry rations and water. Then he went into the courtyard and found the dry well.
With great effort, he pushed aside the Stone covering the well’s opening and carefully climbed inside.
He slipped through a small door in the well wall into the secret room. But when he tried to close the door, he found it was in disrepair from age and got stuck shut.
He couldn’t push it open again, no matter how hard he tried.
He didn’t know when the fighting outside had stopped. He could always hear people walking back and forth above him, so he didn’t dare let his guard down.
Surviving on his meager rations and water, he managed to last for several days in the dry well.
The food ran out, and the well was pitch-black and sunless.
He was starving, cold, and delirious.
He had no idea how much time had passed outside. On the verge of collapse, he began trying to open the door like a madman.
Unfortunately, the door wouldn’t budge.
The despair of being trapped alive finally overcame his fear of being killed.
So he took out his short knife and began tapping on the door, making a "TAP, TAP" sound.
He hoped those people outside would hear him and get him out, believing that even being killed was better than dying in that sunless, pitch-black well.
In the end, he didn’t attract the killers. Instead, he attracted Fang Shuwen and Miao Feichan.
The entire account was mostly pieced together from Chen Zhong’s own words, with some parts inferred by Fang Shuwen and Miao Feichan based on what he said.