Put away your magical powers now!.

Chapter 281 [New Mission] (6700)

Chapter 275 [New Mission] (6700)

Originally, after Chen Yan and Lu Sisi finished their phone call, they planned to head to the Domain Realm again.

If he were to go to the realm again this time, his target would be the City of No Return in the southern border of the realm, the territory of the Ghost Clan—this time he hoped to find the Ghost Clan and be able to contact the Ghost Clan's ancestor, who was also his own grandmother…

That's why accidents are hard to predict.

Just as Chen Yan was making preparations, considering all the things that might happen and what he might encounter on this trip to the realm, and even preparing all kinds of supplies in his storage jade pendant—he even bought some local specialty foods.

But just before Chen Yan set off, he received a phone call from Ouyang.

"Hey buddy, I need a job urgently! I'm busy with other things right now, could you come over?"

On the phone, Ouyang sounded very rushed.

Chen Yan paused for a moment, then tried to deflect: "I've also been..."

"No, bro, it's about performance, performance! What's that saying again, KPIs!" Ouyang sounded a bit anxious.

Chen Yan laughed: "I'm just an assistant, and a damn intern assistant at that. It doesn't matter to me how well I do my job."

Ouyang paused for a moment, then sighed, "Just for my sake, okay?"

After a pause, Ouyang Fei quickly said, "As you know, our team is a newly formed team, just the two of us. With only two people working, our performance is definitely much lower than other teams. I'm under a lot of pressure. I've been working myself to the bone these past few months."

This task is an urgent assignment from above, but I'm currently tracking down a mountain spirit, and I'm about to make progress, so I really can't leave.

Let me tell you, if our team's performance is poor, our entire team's compensation will be downgraded next year.

As the team leader, I can't even hold my head up in front of my colleagues.

"Brother, I've always treated you well. Every time you come over, I treat you to the best food and drinks, and I even cook for you myself. You have to help me with this!"

Chen Yan sighed: "...Alright."

"Don't worry, it won't take you too long. I've looked at this mission. The opponents aren't strong; they're just some rural demons and monsters causing trouble. They've only caused deaths, so they're considered evil. Once you get there, find out who the enemy is, and just chop them down with one sword!"

After saying that, Ouyang hurriedly hung up the phone. A short while later, he sent over some information, which included the address and some details about the task.

Chen Yan glanced at it and immediately picked up his phone again to call the old fox, You Suyi.

Why do you have to do everything yourself when you have your own henchmen?
However, to Chen Yan's disappointment this time, the old fox Su Yi also politely declined Chen Yan's request.

"Fellow Daoist Chen Yan, I am currently abroad with my son, and I'm afraid I won't be able to help you this time. I apologize!"

Chen Yan exchanged a few polite words with a sense of helplessness and then hung up the phone.

Well, the old fox has it tough. He rarely sees his own son, and despite the immense wealth of the He family, he hasn't had a chance to enjoy it properly. He's also been doing quite a few tasks for him these past few days.

It's rare for them to have a day off, taking their son on a trip abroad, so let's not bother them.

What else can I say? Do it yourself!
·
Huizhou, Fuyang Prefecture.

Leaving the prefectural city, it takes more than an hour to drive to Taihe County, and then another hour or so to drive to the countryside.

This is already the westernmost part of Huizhou. This area is basically the economically underdeveloped part of Huizhou.

As for roads at the township level, well, that's a whole different story.

The bumpy ride caused Chen Yan's body to sway back and forth in the car.

The driver was hired from the city and seemed to have mild road rage. He kept cursing in the local dialect, complaining about his car, criticizing the local government for inaction, and questioning whether some of the companies that contracted to repair the road had embezzled project funds...

Chen Yan remained silent, simply leaning back in the back seat, crouching down and closing his eyes to rest.

Around noon, the car arrived at Dongliang Township, which is under the jurisdiction of the county. We stopped at a noodle shop in the town that looked relatively clean.

The car was parked on the side of the road. It was clear that the roads in the town were in a terrible state, with many places on the road surface damaged and covered with broken gravel that would be blown up by the wind.

Aside from holidays and festivals, the town looks quite desolate—these days, young people have all gone to work in big cities, and the countryside is usually sparsely populated, except during the Spring Festival when people return home.

After Chen Yan and the other drivers sat down, they ordered two bowls of noodles.

Yes, it's the famous Huizhou mutton noodles.

Ironically, this thing is called Huizhou Banmian (Huizhou flat noodles), but it's actually very famous in Hebei, with Huizhou Banmian restaurants everywhere.

Actually, the true place of origin for this thing is Taihe County, Fuyang Prefecture, Huizhou.

The noodle shop was not crowded. Apart from Chen Yan and the driver, there was only one other table occupied by an old lady with a little girl, presumably bringing her granddaughter to eat.

The little girl was wearing a slightly dirty school uniform, and her hair was a bit messy. There was a student's backpack on the stool next to her.

The old lady was dressed simply but neatly and cleanly. Judging from her appearance and demeanor, she didn't seem like a country person, but rather like a city person.

The little girl was eating the noodles heartily, while the old lady looked at the girl with a complicated expression, and occasionally reached out to wipe the sweat from the little girl's forehead with a tissue.

Actually, the weather is already cool at this time of year, so where does the sweat come from?
However, there was a clear look of heartache in the old lady's eyes.

A short while later, the owner personally brought over two bowls of noodles.

Seeing the owner's oily face and limping gait, Chen Yan took the initiative to get up and take the bowl of noodles. The owner chuckled, walked out, squatted by the curb in front of the shop, and went to smoke.

Chen Yan sat down, smelled the steaming aroma from the noodles, and nodded.

Huizhou-style flat noodles are made by coating the noodles with sesame oil, giving them a natural aroma. The broth is typically made with beef or mutton, with mutton being the most common.

One bite, and you're hit with a rich, oily sensation.

People who don't like oily food might not be used to it. However, this type of cooking method often originated in economically underdeveloped areas.

These are generally rural areas, regions where a lot of heavy physical labor is required.

For people who do heavy physical labor, what they love is the aroma of oil!

The driver, a seasoned traveler, was a bit of a wild fellow. He quickly slurped down a bowl of noodles, wiped his mouth, and pulled out a pack of cigarettes to offer one to Chen Yan.

Chen Yan politely declined with a smile. The driver smiled back, then walked to the door, sat down next to the boss, and started smoking and chatting.

Chen Yan ate the noodles one bite at a time, sip the soup with each bite, and occasionally pick up a small piece of mutton.

The lamb was served in small portions and thinly sliced, but it tasted great and was soaked in the broth.

Considering the low price of a bowl of noodles, Chen Yan didn't complain about the limited amount of mutton.

There was some noise at the next table. Chen Yan glanced over and saw that the old lady was whispering something to the little girl, but the little girl just kept her head down and ate her noodles, occasionally shaking her head.

The movements were small, but the head-shaking posture was very resolute.

As the old lady spoke, her eyes reddened.

After finishing her noodles, the little girl looked up at the old lady, who seemed somewhat troubled.

After hesitating for a moment, the little girl softly called out, "Grandma."

"Eh?" The old lady reached out and touched the little girl's hair.

"Could you...buy me a bag of milk candy?" The little girl looked up, seemingly a little embarrassed.

"...Okay, of course!" The old lady turned her head and wiped her eyes. She took the little girl's hand and left the noodle shop. They didn't go far, but instead went to a small rural supermarket next door.

Chen Yan finished the last sip of noodle soup, got up, scanned the code to pay for the noodles, and walked outside the store.

"Boss, are you done eating? Oh... Yang'er Village, where you're going, isn't far." The driver walked over and said loudly with a smile, "I haven't been to Dongliang Township much either. There was a problem with the navigation before. Also, I just asked the noodle shop owner. The road to Yang'er Village was temporarily closed due to repairs. Now we're taking a detour from another village and can get to Yang'er Village from there."

In small rural areas, road repairs and rerouting mean navigation software updates aren't as frequent.

Chen Yan nodded: "Okay, let's go then. No rush, finish your cigarette first."

The driver wasn't being polite. He had noticed that the passenger in the car didn't smoke the whole way, so he felt embarrassed to light one himself and had been holding back for quite a while.

It's clear that although this driver has a mild case of road rage and is a bit talkative, he is a decent person.

As they were talking, a voice suddenly came from behind: "Excuse me, sir..."

Chen Yan and the driver turned around and saw the old woman leading the little girl behind them.

The old lady was the one who spoke.

"From what I just heard you talking, are you going to Yang'er Village?"

Seeing that Chen Yan didn't speak, the driver took the initiative to ask, "Is there something you need?"

The tone was actually quite polite, but people from the South are generally not used to saying "you" (您).

The old lady gave a cautious smile and slowly said, "I see you're driving a ride-hailing car, right?"

As he spoke, he glanced at the car parked on the side of the road, with two large characters clearly visible on its side: "Beep Beep".

This time, the old lady didn't wait for the driver's reply before explaining her purpose: "We are also going to Yang'er Village. It's hard to catch a bus to the countryside, and it takes more than half an hour. I don't want to stand by the roadside with my child waiting."

"Could you give me a ride to Yang'er Village? I can pay for the fare."

The driver didn't refuse this kind of thing—after all, he could earn more money for each trip.

The driver glanced at Chen Yan instinctively, who smiled casually and said, "I'm fine, there are still seats in the car anyway."

The driver smiled and looked at the old lady: "How about this, a bus ticket costs two yuan. But this is my car, it's more comfortable than the bus. You two can give me five yuan in total, and I'll take you to Yang'er Village, how about that?"

The old lady nodded: "Okay, thank you."

The little girl on the side just looked down at her toes and didn't say anything. However, Chen Yan noticed that she was clutching a bag of candy tightly in her hand. It didn't look like any big brand candy. The packaging was colorful and looked a bit cheap.

After getting back into the car, Chen Yan took the initiative to sit in the front passenger seat, leaving the back seats for the grandfather and grandson.

Throughout the journey, Chen Yan kept his eyes closed and remained silent, but he overheard the grandfather and grandson talking quietly in the back seat.

Actually, it was mostly the old lady who did the talking, and the little girl would occasionally respond with a few words.

The old lady's local dialect wasn't very fluent, but I could understand about 50-60% of it.

It was nothing more than telling the little girl to take care of herself, be careful, and eat well. And to remember to call me if anything happens.

And so on.

The relationship between the grandfather and grandson was somewhat strange, but Chen Yan had no intention of meddling in other people's business and simply rested quietly along the way.

The car stopped at the entrance of Yang'er Village, and Chen Yan got out.

I paid the fare to the driver by scanning the QR code, and then I watched as the old lady also scanned the QR code for the driver and chatted with him for a few more minutes.

It turned out that the old lady had only brought the little girl back; she herself still had to return to Taihe County.

The driver was quick-witted—among drivers, there aren't many who are dull and unresponsive.

He asked a few more questions and learned that the old lady wanted to go back to the county town, then to the long-distance bus station, and take a bus to Fuyang Prefecture!

What a coincidence! The driver himself was heading back to Fuyang Prefecture.

The driver was overjoyed. He had thought he would be driving back empty after such a long journey, but he didn't expect to be able to pick up a passenger on the spot.

So he readily negotiated the price with the old lady.

The old lady seemed very frugal; after the driver quoted two prices, she shook her head both times.

Finally, the driver thought that he wouldn't get a penny if he drove the old lady back empty, but if he could give her a ride, every little bit helps. So he lowered the price again.

The old lady then nodded.

"Wait here for me, I need to take the kids home first."

"Okay, no rush," the driver readily agreed. Since the journey back to Fuyang Prefecture would take nearly two hours, waiting an extra ten minutes or so wouldn't be a big deal.

When all this happened, Chen Yan had already left.

He strolled into Yang'er Village and, after looking around, he had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

He grew up in the village and was familiar with the situation there. With just a glance, he knew that the local rural areas were probably not doing very well economically.

Most of the houses in the village look rather dilapidated; there aren't many that are beautiful and shiny.

The villagers also raise chickens at home, but not in large numbers.

The stray dogs that roamed around the village were all thin and skinny, with little fat.

The village's power lines were crooked and twisted on several utility poles.

Chen Yan didn't rush into the village, but instead strolled around Yang'er Village for a good half hour.

Finally, he returned to the village entrance, but the old woman and the driver had already left. Chen Yan then walked to a small shop at the village entrance.

The owner sat behind the counter playing on his phone, not even looking up when he heard someone come in.

The shelves were a bit empty, with hardly anything on them. There were hardly any snacks, and only two or three kinds of drinks: cola, orange juice with pulp, and milk.

The rest consisted of some daily necessities, which was barely enough to be considered complete.

In the countryside, there are hardly any young people in the shops; most customers are elderly people living alone, so there aren't many people buying snacks.

What do you expect empty-nest elderly people to buy and eat, like sunflower seeds, dried fruit, or potato chips?

Chen Yan bought a can of Coke and two packs of Jinwan cigarettes. Only then did the shopkeeper look up, and his expression softened a bit.

Chen Yan immediately opened a Coke, sipped it slowly, and chatted idly with the boss.

The boss was a middle-aged man, looking to be around forty years old—though he was probably a few years younger than he actually was.

Chen Yan noticed that the boss was playing a mobile game on his phone, so he chatted with him casually for a few minutes. After they started to feel a little more familiar with each other, he managed to get a few more information out of the boss.

He used the same excuse he always did – saying he was visiting a classmate's house.

"Boss, I heard from my classmate that something strange happened in your village a few days ago?"

Chen Yan deliberately acted like he was very gossipy and curious.

The shop owner was initially displeased upon hearing this, but after Chen Yan opened a pack of Jinwan cigarettes and handed one to the owner, the owner's expression softened slightly.

However, the boss was also a shrewd person. He glanced at Chen Yan and said, "I don't think you're here to see your classmate. You're here for that matter, aren't you?"

Chen Yan chuckled.

The boss's eyes darted around: "You...you're not one of those people who make short videos online, are you? A few days ago, after what happened, I saw a few of them come into the village with their phones, holding up filming poles and filming everywhere, chattering away and asking everyone they met about things."

So you're following the same path, right? A short video blogger? Inquiring about that matter, trying to generate traffic?

Chen Yan laughed, deliberately feigning that he had been seen through: "Boss, you're so clever!"

The boss smiled smugly: "That's right! You said you came to see your classmates? What classmates? All the young men your age in our village have gone out to work or go to university. The ones left in the village to go to school are all little kids—who are you classmates with?"

Chen Yan simply said that he was a short video blogger, and then bought a few more packs of cigarettes. After paying, he returned the cigarettes to the shop owner.

The boss immediately understood, and his smile widened. He even brought over a stool for Chen Yan to sit down, and while smoking, he started talking to Chen Yan.

·
Yang'er Village is a small village with fewer than one hundred households.

The most common surname in this village is not Yang, but Li.

As for why, that's due to historical reasons, which Chen Yan neither understood nor bothered to inquire about.

However, a strange thing did happen in the village a few days ago.

·
In the western corner of Yang'er Village, there is a family surnamed Li, and the male head of the household is named Li Guohua.

She is probably around forty years old.

In his youth, he was wild and left the village early to seek his fortune in the world.

After working for several years and saving up some money, he partnered with a friend to buy a used truck and started working as a freight driver.

The long-haul truck drivers are actually a mixed bag.

Li Guohua was naturally wild. After a few years of this, although he made some money, he was led astray and became addicted to gambling.

That is, gambling.

If you get this stuff on you, how can you expect to be okay?

In less than two or three years, all the money he had earned from running a freight business was gone.

In the end, he even sold the car and returned to his hometown in the countryside in disgrace.

However, he didn't come back alone; he brought his wife and children with him.

Li Guohua's wife was ill; the exact illness was unknown, but she had been sickly for many years. After returning to Yang'er Village with Li Guohua, Li Guohua's life was not easy.

He went out to explore the world at a young age and saw a lot of the world, which made him restless.

Back in the countryside, he didn't like to honestly farm and grow crops, always feeling that farming didn't make much money.

So he would occasionally do odd jobs, always thinking about going out to work again. He also contracted out all the land in the village to people and collected some rent.

A few years later, his wife died of illness, and her funeral was handled hastily.

He was broke, his wife had died, and he had picked up a bunch of bad habits outside.

After his wife died, Li Guohua, who was raising his child alone, lost the person in the family who could persuade him to stay in line, and completely let himself go.

Less than a year later, he was arrested and detained twice for gambling.

After he left, he stopped gambling—not because he changed his ways, but because he was broke.

But this person's temperament became increasingly extreme, and gradually, his conflicts with his neighbors grew larger and larger.

It started with a dispute over the homestead land, which led to frequent arguments.

Later, the neighbor even rented land from Li Guohua's family, and the relationship between the two families improved slightly for a period of time.

Then, another commotion broke out.

Because the neighbor rented Li Guohua's land and combined the two families' land into one piece, instead of planting grain, they somehow managed to get an order and permits from a cigarette factory and started planting tobacco leaves!
The income from this is much higher than growing grain, and the orders are stable, with cigarette factories guaranteeing to buy it all.

Seeing his neighbors' lives getting better and better, Li Guohua became resentful.

They rented my land!

Li Guohua wants to raise the rent, but the contract he signed before hasn't expired yet, and his neighbor refuses to raise it.

In rural areas, contracts and such are generally not very useful for these kinds of matters.

But Li Guohua is a local, and so is his neighbor! Moreover, the other person is doing better than him and has more influence in the village.

Even if Li Guohua wanted to make a scene, he couldn't.

Li Guohua has a wild nature; he will cause trouble even if there is no reason. He often points at his neighbors' houses and curses loudly. Several times, he even grabbed a shovel and tried to rush into their houses, but was stopped by his fellow villagers several times.

The neighbor's family wasn't intimidated either; it was a family of one man raising two sons, both young men in their early twenties.

If a real fight broke out, Li Guohua would not come out on top—and that was indeed the case; Li Guohua had actually suffered losses twice, both openly and secretly.

Just six months ago, the two families finally got into a big mess.

The neighbors made money and built a new house.

When someone else started building a new house, Li Guohua went to their house to cause trouble, insisting that the neighbor's house construction had ruined his family's feng shui.

They're just jealous of how well other people are doing and want to extort money from them.

In the countryside, such scoundrels and idlers are not uncommon.

However, the two families did not get along well to begin with, and there had been frictions before. The other family also had two young and strong sons.

That very day, Li Guohua was dragged down to the field and given a severe beating.

After being beaten, Li Guohua became increasingly resentful. In the middle of the night, he secretly got up and started planting tobacco in the fields where the two families had planted their own trees...

A bucket of diluted paraquat was poured out!

As a result, after a few days, the tobacco leaves that were growing well all over the ground withered and died.

This is tantamount to cutting off the neighbor's path to making money!

Losing the harvest is a loss. If there's no goods to deliver when the order is due, we'll have to pay a penalty for breach of contract!

After some careful questioning, the neighbors, though somewhat suspicious, eventually learned that it was Li Guohua who had done it.

This time, Li Guohua got a severe beating.

The two ravenous sons of the neighbor, along with the neighbor's male head of household, stormed into Li Guohua's house with shovels. They smashed his house to pieces, beat Li Guohua until his head was bleeding, and even broke one of his legs with a shovel!
After this incident, the eldest son of the neighbor took the blame alone and was locked up.

He even said that once he gets out, he will definitely torment Li Guohua to death!
Li Guohua stayed in the hospital for a while. After returning to the village, he walked with a limp and stopped going out and causing trouble.

Everyone says that Li Guohua has really chickened out this time and doesn't dare to cause trouble anymore.

And so, after a period of quiet...

Suddenly one day, the male head of the household and his second son in the next house died overnight!

His death was extremely gruesome!

·
"That day, the scene was huge! Four or five police cars from the county came! Lots of police officers wearing big hats, and forensic doctors in white coats, were going in and out of the house, and they even put up a cordon! They wouldn't let anyone get close!"
I was standing outside watching...

Oh dear!! The blood inside the house has spilled onto the ground outside!!

Later, I heard from others that the scene was terrifying! The whole room was covered in bloody footprints!!

Listening to his boss winking and talking to him, Chen Yan put on a surprised expression and asked, "So... who killed him?!"

"Later, the official explanation was that it was very strange!"

The autopsy results stated that the male homeowner got up in the middle of the night, sneaked into his second son's room, and slashed his second son's throat with a knife! Then he stabbed his body eighteen times!

Then, after killing his second son, the man wandered around the house several times. The bloody footprints left throughout the house later were all his!
After killing his son, he wandered around the house for a long time, his feet stained with blood, before finally returning to his room and sitting back on his bed…

As the boss finished speaking, his face darkened, he took a deep breath, and made a throat-slitting gesture with his hand.

"One cut! Slit your own throat!"

(End of this chapter)