A cold wind cut through the courtyard. Brother Da Bi collapsed in terror and sobbed, begging for mercy over and over. Regret gnawed at Brother Da Bi. Of all the slums they could have robbed, why had they chosen a villa that screamed trouble from the start?
And this woman was a devil, a devil who killed without blinking.
Gou Yitian had been right. This whole family was perverted. Who else would set traps filled with nails? Who else would rig so many giant nets? Who else would stash this many crossbows? The woman even wore a gun at her waist. Was the rice at home not good enough, that he had to come rob here?
"Oh right, I forgot there are two in the pond and eight outside," Jing Shu said, turning to haul up two bodies from the pond with a net.
Under the villa's bright lights, Jing Shu's silhouette looked demonic, and the once green vegetable beds were stained red.
Brother Da Bi hammered at the iron cuff on his ankle, wishing he could hack it off and run. There is a saying: once the golden circlet is on, you are no longer a mere mortal, and worldly desires cannot touch you. When the blood-soaked bodies were dragged from the pool, Brother Da Bi's sobbing cut off with a hiccup.
Jing Shu used a stick to rap the corpses. With a shake, fish dropped from the bodies into the water. The placid pond suddenly erupted as more vicious fish lunged up, mouths gaping, and clamped down on the flesh again.
Jing Shu frowned, lifted the two corpses with her stick, and dumped them beside Brother Da Bi with a thud. Water splashed across Brother Da Bi's face.
"Xiao Dou, come. Eat." As Jing Shu spoke, she jabbed a shovel into each pit in turn. The wet, tearing sounds were clear. Whoever lay inside was absolutely beyond saving.
The fat chicken came trotting. Jing Shu removed the helmet with the spike, and Xiao Dou went to work, savaging the fish clinging to the bodies. In moments the fish were gone, and so was much of the flesh.
Brother Da Bi gaped at the sight of Wang Qian's half-eaten body with stark white bone showing. Li Rui had only his upper half left, the lower half gone. Now Xiao Dou had pecked what remained into a sieve.
At last Brother Da Bi understood how those other corpses had ended up riddled like strainers.
Seeing the twisted, struggling expressions still frozen on the faces of the dead, Brother Da Bi retched until only sour bile came up.
"No, she is not a devil. They are demons. I want to go home. Please, I beg you, spare me. I will do anything."
The seven or eight still breathing watched the brutality and vomited as well, sobbing as they heaved. This was hell. Too frightening. Those who had any strength left clawed forward, trying to wrench their ankles free.
They had thought tonight would be easy prey. The apocalypse had come. They had cut and robbed countless families with knives. The police could not control them. They thought they were invincible.
But today…
They had met demons. The fish ate people. The chicken ate people. The master killed without blinking. Even those apples were probably poisoned.
They were either begging or swearing, nothing new or clever enough to catch Jing Shu's interest. Jing Shu could not be bothered to talk. Jing Shu began to finish them one by one.
Dead or not, Jing Shu twisted each neck first.
Seeing the bodies thinning out and realizing his turn was near, Brother Da Bi started to stammer, "I, I, I can take you to k-k-kill Brother Da Ri. They are in Building No. 2, fifteen men. A-a-and there are more than forty scattered under other buildings."
Jing Shu rubbed her chin and thought for a moment. "Why make it complicated? Call and lure the men from Building No. 2 here."
Brother Da Bi swallowed, eyes darting. "What about the ones under the other buildings?"
"Why would I care about them?" Jing Shu snorted. If anyone had stood up earlier and united against these thugs, Jing Shu might have set a net for them all. Since no one did, everyone could sweep only their own doorstep.
Well, Wang Qiqi might be worth saving. Jing Shu would ask later.
Brother Da Bi fished a phone from the pile of bodies with shaking hands. Seeing the woman sharpening her blade, Brother Da Bi shook harder.
The woman frowned. With such a fierce expression!
"Act convincing," Jing Shu said, impatient.
Even Brother Da Bi's voice started to shake.
"Hello? Da Bi? How did it go?" The line crackled with whoops and catcalls, and the faint groans of women.
"Success. A big success," Brother Da Bi said, unable to stop the tremor in his voice.
"Then what is wrong with your voice?"
Brother Da Bi burst into noisy tears. Jing Shu's frown deepened, and when Jing Shu was about to leave no survivors, Brother Da Bi scrambled to buy himself a little more life.
"Da Ri, there is not only an energy car. There is a whole pool of water. The pond is full of fish. There is an apple tree loaded with apples. And there is an old hen. I am so excited." The fish ate corpses. The apples were poison. The hen killed people. Woohoo.... It's terrifying.
"Good. Keep the people under control. Gou Yitian wants the woman. We will make the villa our base, then go house to house. Do not spare a single one."
Brother Da Bi cursed that idiot a thousand times in his heart for leading them to demons tonight, but said aloud, "Fine. Come split the supplies. Have the others keep guard."
Beep. The call ended.
Jing Shu took the phone, patted him down again to make sure there were no more ways to communicate, then flipped the trap switch. Jing Shu dragged him out like a chick, tied him with rope, and tethered him beside the chicken coop.
Then Jing Shu tossed the corpses into the pits one by one. The immobilizing trap at the door was reset. Grandpa Jing set up the inner traps again. Jing An collected every bolt and turned off the lights.
Darkness swallowed the villa. Jing Shu stood next to Brother Da Bi, blade at his neck. "You know what to say." Brother Da Bi nodded, stiff as a board.
Footsteps approached soon after, along with the faint glow of phone screens.
"This is the place?"
"Brother Da Ri, that woman is here," Gou Yitian said, unable to contain his excitement.
Jing Shu nudged Brother Da Bi.
"Da Ri, is that you? Hurry. The brothers are waiting for you," Brother Da Bi roared.
"Why is the blood stench so strong?" Da Ri frowned. Then Da Ri remembered that Da Bi had taken more than forty men. A few might have died, but this was a bit too quiet. Not their style.
Before Da Ri could decide what felt wrong, Gou Yitian kicked the door open. "Brother Da Bi, you left that woman for me, right? If I do not torture her worse than Wang Xuemei today, I won't be named Gou."