Chapter 158: The Wild Boar Bride!

The commotion at the commune reached the Liu Family Bay two days later.

Third Master Liu, who had gone to the commune to pick up a package, brought back news that Director Wang's family was in shambles: some crippled, some driven mad, and some reduced to complete idiocy.

Although feudal superstitions were strictly prohibited nowadays, it couldn't stop everyone from gossiping behind closed doors!

Rumor had it that a wild boar had attained immortality and transformed into a wild boar bride, specifically seeking the lives of unfaithful, scheming men!

Wang Youcai and Wang Defang had reaped what they sowed, which was why they were discovered and punished by the wild boar spirit!

Families who had previously suffered at the hands of the two men even began to secretly worship the wild boar spirit, thanking it for dealing with the black-hearted Wang family and avenging their loved ones!

When Ming Dai heard about this, she maintained a calm and composed expression on the surface, but inside, she was laughing her head off.

Zhou Sinian frowned in mild displeasure; Ming Dai had clearly told him that he was portraying a ghost king who commanded ten thousand ghosts, definitely not an immortal wild boar!

At the same time, the fact that Ma Yinglong had visited the commune and gone to Crowing Rooster Mountain put Ming Dai on high alert.

She still remembered Wang Youcai and Ma Guifen mentioning that her brother had forbidden anyone from disturbing the "madman."

Ming Dai guessed that this Director Ma of the Revolutionary Committee might be one of the three factions secretly keeping Zhou Sinian under surveillance.

She just wondered which group he belonged to and what his purpose was in monitoring Zhou Sinian.

Furthermore, how he had discovered the hidden items in the mountain and why he hadn't hauled all of them away remained a mystery.

Ming Dai shared her thoughts with Zhou Sinian, and the two of them heightened their vigilance.

Meanwhile, inside the commune hospital, the Wang family finally regained consciousness.

Ma Guifen and Wang Youcai were relatively fine. Apart from being jittery and constantly babbling about ghosts, they were still coherent.

Wang Defang, however, had completely lost his mind. He couldn't bear the sight of the color red; even the tiniest speck of red could trigger a fit of madness, and he would shriek that the wild boar bride transformed from the boar spirit was coming to drag him away to be her husband.

Ma Yinglong felt a severe headache coming on as he looked at his chaotic brother-in-law's family. However, the items hidden in the mountain were far too important. If they were simply lost, he wouldn't be able to give an account to his superiors—he had to force the family to spit the truth out!

As for their claims about ghosts in the house and an immortal wild boar, Ma Yinglong didn't believe a single word.

He knew Wang Youcai too well; the man was simply a greedy and spineless coward.

Ghosts?

He figured the only ghosts were the guilty ones in their own minds!

Because Wang Defang was making such a tremendous uproar, Ma Yinglong had him moved to a different ward, finally finding an opportunity to interrogate the couple.

Although Wang Youcai and Ma Guifen had regained their sobriety, they were still scared out of their wits.

The couple huddled together on a single bed, casting wary glances all around. Occasionally, the sound of passing footsteps outside would send them into shrieks of terror.

Gazing at the pale-faced, scatter-brained couple, Ma Yinglong took a deep breath.

"Youcai, where are the things!?"

Wang Youcai trembled as he replied, "They were taken by the wild boar spirit!"

Veins bulged on Ma Yinglong's forehead. "Youcai, don't play the fool with me. I'm asking you seriously! To be honest with you, those items don't belong to me; someone else stored them in the mountain and left them in my care! I can let slide what you took previously, but the rest must be returned! If you want money, you need to have the life to spend it! Do you understand?!"

Terrified, Wang Youcai burrowed into his wife's arms and shook his head with a bitter smile, "Big Brother, they really were taken by the wild boar spirit! I don't know how, but our house became cursed by it. The things we took earlier all vanished into thin air right before our eyes. Not only did I see it, but you can ask Guifen! She saw it too!"

Ma Guifen clutched her quilt and nodded frantically, "It's true, Brother! My necklace, earrings, and everything in the house vanished into thin air! Even the things Youcai buried in the courtyard turned into pig manure! It was the same in the mountain—we really saw the wild boar spirit! It wore a red wedding gown, complete with a flower crown and a veil. Its face was terrifyingly pale, and its mouth was dripping with blood! If I hadn't carried Father's gravestone and run, relying on his old man's protection, we wouldn't have made it back! Brother! There really is a wild boar spirit!"

Ma Yinglong stared at the two of them with a deep frown. He still refused to believe in any damn wild boar spirit! It was simply too absurd!

Yet he also knew that this younger sister had been terrified of him since childhood and lacked the nerve to lie to him. Since she claimed she saw it, she must have truly witnessed something.

Ghosts might not actually exist, or perhaps they weren't true spirits—they could very well be human beings.

His very first thought turned to Zhou Sinian, who had been dumped into Liu Family Bay.

After all, that person had claimed he knew......

After questioning the couple a few more times and finding their accounts consistent, and having his subordinates return from investigating near the Wang residence—confirming that the house often echoed with ghostly wails in the dead of night, the household belongings were pitifully scarce, and the large pit in the middle of the courtyard contained pig manure—everything matched what the couple had described.

With a furrowed brow, Ma Yinglong walked out of the commune hospital, beckoned his trusted subordinate over, and gave a series of instructions.

The spring sowing in Liu Family Bay was in full swing. While busy working in the fields, Ming Dai and Zhou Sinian also cleared out the village clinic so that she could officially start work once her exams were over.

Prompted by Ming Dai's warning, Zhou Sinian paid extra attention to any movement inside and outside the village.

Soon enough, he detected anomalies.

In the dead of night, Ming Dai, sleeping outside the spatial realm, was awakened by a sensation of being watched.

The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Zhou Sinian wearing a red hanging-garden straw hat, standing on the edge of the heated brick bed and staring down at her.

The cold moonlight streaming through the window turned his face ghastly pale, and coupled with the bright red hat, Ming Dai was nearly scared out of her wits, instinctively reaching out a hand.

"Slap!"

Holding his cheek, Zhou Sinian looked at her with an expression of utter disbelief, grievances beginning to well up in his eyes.

Only after striking him did Ming Dai snap back to reality and scramble up hurriedly.

"I'm sorry, I was half-asleep. Just half-asleep."

Clutching his face, Zhou Sinian retreated a few steps toward the doorway and aggrievedly protested, "Ming Dai, you hit me!"

Looking at the open door, Ming Dai felt a helpless resignation. "You didn't sleep in the middle of the night, you picked my door open, put on a hat, and stood on the bed to scare me! It's completely normal for me to hit you!"

Thinking about it for a moment, Zhou Sinian lowered his hand, conceding that she had a point.

Having forgiven Ming Dai, he leaned closer and pointed toward the direction of Wild Boar Ridge. "Ming Dai! Two people just went up the mountain!"

Hearing that someone had gone up the mountain, Ming Dai instantly perked up.

"When? How long ago did they go up?!"

As she spoke, she quickly dressed and climbed down as well.

Zhou Sinian, already recovered, excitedly pointed a flashlight at his own face. "Just now. They even came and prowled around our house first, checked that we were both at home, and only then headed up the mountain. I listened to you and pretended I didn't notice them! The moment they left, I came to wake you up!"

Ming Dai gave him a thumbs-up. "Good job. Come on, let's follow them and take a look!"

The two of them slipped out quietly, avoiding the path the two men had taken and choosing an alternate route toward the previous cave.

Ming Dai guessed that the antiques had likely been stored in that cave originally, only to be covertly moved outside and buried later.

As for the person who transferred them, it was very likely Director Ma.

Arriving at the foot of the mountain, Zhou Sinian carried Ming Dai on his back as they scaled the sheer cliff face from the bottom.

Frightened out of her wits, Ming Dai clung to him for dear life and tried to negotiate whether they could take a different route.

Zhou Sinian shook his head; this was the only route that would allow them to reach that position ahead of those two men.

Ming Dai had no choice but to compromise, her small hands locked tightly around him, not daring to loosen her grip for even a second.

Fortunately, they reached the mountain safely. Just as Ming Dai let out a sigh of relief, the sound of rustling branches drifted over.