Vol 2 Book 2 Chapter 10 (2/2)

“Lei San’er, it has to be him. He wants to help that rich guy take all of our land. So he set fire to the forest and the mountains,” an old orchard owner exclaimed.

Some villagers had considered the filming crew to be the culprits, only to find no motives to support such an accusation. But Lei San’er, although his motivation existed, his audacity baffled all villagers: he cut off the only way for the villagers to make a living.

“Lei San’er, it’s him! It has to be. I’ll kill him—” The old man squeezed through the crowd in an untempered rage. Several villagers who still hesitated to believe it followed him. A few firefighters followed the group in a hurry after receiving a signal from their superior; they had called the police already, but they would need to control the situation before the arrival of authority.

“Let’s go. Let’s go have a look too.”  Li Yiming picked Bai Ze up and trailed behind them.

Lei San’er’s residence was at the edge of the village. A desolate earthen house with a half-rotten wooden plank serving as its door. It did not look like a place where someone could live at all. The old villager who led the way was very agitated. With a bamboo pole in his hands, he sent the plank flying with a kick. A few uttered curses later, he was inside with a couple of other villagers. Most of those who followed them, however, had to wait outside since there was barely enough room for a few people inside the residence. As the firefighters, who arrived last, pushed through the crowd and made ready to enter the building, the villagers inside dashed out of the building, stricken with an expression aghast from terror. One of them sought the support of the wall and vomited without minding those around him. The old villager who led the way had to be dragged out of the building by someone else. He had quivering lips and a blanched face and his weapon was nowhere to be seen.

The firefighters were surprised and quickly dove into the entrance. However, they also quickly retreated. A few guarded the entrance with a horrific countenance while one went to report to their superior.

“It’s karma… It’s karma…” The old orchard owner uttered as he recovered slightly from his shock. His followers who had also entered the building were whispering to the others. Different reactions were seen, other than the shock common to all; some quickly pulled their relatives away, while others wanted to take a look inside as well. However, with the firefighters posted at the entrance, they could not satisfy their curiosity.

Li Yiming stood far away from them, so he could only hear fragments of what was being said. “Karma”, “gone”, “eaten”.

He looked at Bai Ze, who shook her head. “It smells strongly of blood.” She said after a long silence.

As night slowly fell, the crowd dispersed. Some dared to stay around and await the results, while most of the villagers left hurriedly. A tense atmosphere was slowly creeping into the minds of each and everyone present.

“What happened?” Fang Shui’er and her a.s.sistant appeared behind Li Yiming. He heard her question, but did not turn his head back to answer it: he had too many reasons to stay on his guard against Fang Shui’er.

Fang Shui’er did not repeat her question; she was as wary as he was. The two groups of people, each with their own consideration, stood side by side without speaking much. Zeng Qian, however, looked at Bai Ze more than a few times, as if she was waiting for something to happen.

The highest-ranked firefighter soon arrived on scene, and he went through the same routine as those before him. He stayed on his phone after a brief visit inside the room, and his subordinates set up a perimeter around the entrance. The officials of Ning Village had also arrived, but instead of entering the room, they worked on those who lingered and attempted to convince them to go home. Li Yiming had the courage to stop a villager after putting Bai Ze under Liu Meng’s supervision. “Hey big bro, do you know what happened here?”

“He’s dead. Lei San’er is dead. Apparently his body has been shredded to pieces. It’s horrible. You should leave as quickly as you can, the police will be here soon. I think that they’ll question everyone. Get ready for it.” a cursory answer, and the villager hurried away: he evidently did not want to discuss the matter, but still slipped a few words since Fang Shui’er was there.

Li Yiming frowned upon hearing the answer. Fang Shui’er and Zeng Qian exchanged a glance. Bai Ze lowered her head in contemplation and Liu Meng paled. “Let’s go back to the filming site.” Fang Shui’er left with Zeng Qian. Li Yiming turned around to look at the entrance to Lei San’er’s home, which was still guarded by the firefighters, and proceeded to lead Bai Ze away.

The filming staff began to gather their equipment; it seemed inevitable that the filming would be delayed, and the sudden turn for the worse took a toll on the moods of everyone present. Xiao Hei sat in a corner by himself, and, when he saw that Fang Shui’er came back, he welcomed her with nothing more than a cold glance. A gasp was heard from the crowd when news about the death of Lei San’er had reached them, and chattering began. The village official who welcomed them scuttled to Xiao Hei and whispered into his ear. Xiao Hei beckoned to the floor manager and he joined the negotiation as well.

“Alright everyone, please calm down. There has been an accident in the village. We’re going to do a headcount now and return to our hotel to await the investigation by the police department. We’d like to ask you for your cooperation. We’ll decide on the filming schedule later,” the manager said through a megaphone. He did not explain the reasons behind his decision and simply exhorted the staff to go back to the buses.

The suddenness of it all left little room for objections. As Li Yiming carried Bai Ze in the middle of the others, Fang Shui’er suddenly proposed. “Yiming, how about you ride in my car?”

This came to the astonishment of the filming crew and roused Li Yiming’s alertness. “With all that’s going on, I’m afraid that it’ll scare Bai Ze. My car is more comfortable,” Fang Shui’er explained gently with her soft voice.

Had something extra about Bai Ze prepared for today, but am too busy to finalize it and release it. Please wait a slight bit for tomorrow!