This bug is amazing!

Chapter 260 The Invincible Man
Ji Yi was no longer sleepy. She quickly got up, dressed, and left the room.

"An'an, lock the door when you're home, and don't let anyone in except me!"

He quickly went to another room and shook An'an awake from her bed. The latter was still sleepy, but she forced herself to sit up and agreed to Ji Yi's request.

Ji Yi immediately went out.

Just in case, he hid the knife that Xie Ping had sharpened in an inconspicuous corner of the courtyard before leaving the courtyard.

Now is not the time to resort to force. If someone were to walk around with a knife, it could further incite unrest.

He walked quickly towards the sound of gunfire, and in the distance, he saw Liu Zhaohua holding a pistol, and the two people who had fallen in front of him were an elderly couple.

Besides them, Hao Hao was also present. He was hiding in a bunker and said, somewhat emotionally distraught:
"We didn't do it, why are you hitting us?!"

He, a middle-aged man, almost cried. He had made money outside and wanted to give back to his hometown, so how did he end up in this mess?

"I don't care who did it, murderers must pay with their lives! If we can't find the killer, I'll kill you all!"

As he spoke, two more shots were fired.

The sheer terror of a father who has lost his daughter is self-evident.

This is an invincible person with no worries.

Ji Yi watched this scene from afar, not daring to peek out easily. After all, the other party was a veteran criminal police officer. Even if he lost control of his emotions now, his muscle memory from many years of experience was enough to make the bullets hit accurately.

Ji Yi surveyed the surroundings. The other villagers seemed to have noticed the commotion, but they all watched from a distance, and no one dared to stop an old policeman carrying a weapon.

"Bang! Bang!"

Liu Zhaohua fired two more shots at Hao Hao's cover, then clicked as he took out a new magazine from his waist and changed it.

Only then did Ji Yi notice something: Liu Zhaohua had way too many magazines!

"With such thorough preparation, did he already have plans to kill someone during his trip back to his hometown?"

Ji Yi couldn't help but feel ashamed. Among a group of unarmed villagers, this killing god was simply an existence with cheat codes.

If nothing unexpected happens, an experienced, armed, strong man is more than capable of slaughtering a mere twenty people, not to mention that half of them are elderly.

"No. If we let him keep killing like this, I definitely won't be able to handle him on my own in the end."

Ji Yi quickly assessed the situation.

"Unless we gather others to subdue Liu Zhaohua, he will be defeated one by one, and in the end, he will be the only one to win."

This leads to a collective action dilemma.

Who would be willing to risk being shot to engage in close-quarters combat against a ranged opponent? And who would dare to be the vanguard?

While a dozen or so people could certainly take down a thug with a handgun without considering the consequences, the mortality rate would be far from low.

Before subduing Liu Zhaohua, it would be incredibly easy for him to take a few people down with him.

When a wolf enters a flock of sheep, the sheep have no choice but to stand still and let themselves be slaughtered. Even if there are enough sheep in the flock, they will only be killed one by one by the wolf.

"We still have to rely on ourselves. The odds of winning against a gunless person are low, but not zero."

Just as Ji Yi was pondering a strategy to deal with the enemy.

Suddenly, a tall figure appeared in sight.

Dugu Hong.

He was carrying a large iron pot he'd picked up from somewhere in one hand, and a hoe in the other, looking like a degraded version of a gun-and-shield soldier.

But the composure and calmness on his face greatly masked the rustic feel of his equipment, and Ji Yi felt as if he were seeing a real knight.

"Fuck."

Without saying a word, Dugu Hong picked up an iron pot and a hoe and ran straight toward Liu Zhaohua.

Upon seeing this, Liu Zhaohua immediately opened fire.
"boom!"

"clang!"

The bullet was blocked by Dugu Hong lifting the iron pot. Because the shooting angle and the curvature of the pot just met a certain condition, the bullet was deflected!
Iron pots are not bulletproof materials after all. In fact, it can be said that these large pots used for cooking in rural areas are not in the same league as real bulletproof steel. Normally, ordinary bullets would be enough to penetrate them.

But Dugu Hong seemed to have planned it all out, using the concave arc of the iron pot to cause the bullet to ricochet.

Is it a coincidence or...?

Ji Yi felt as if she were in a low-budget, poorly made, and somewhat unrealistic movie.

Damn it, could this guy have just gotten incredibly lucky?
But what happened next directly shattered Ji Yi's doubts.

As if he had foreseen the future, Dugu Hong swung his extremely thick hoe and faced the gun barrel.

"boom!"

With a loud bang, the bullet struck the tenon of the hoe blade and the wooden handle, but thanks to the 30mm solid forged iron, the blow was blocked!

"This poet defies the heavens?"

Besides requiring amazing reaction speed and predictive ability, these operations also require precise calculation skills, an understanding of the power of firearms, and the strength calculation of various iron farm implement materials in order to make the two extremely low-probability bullet-blocking effects successful.

And it's not over yet.

After blocking two shots, Dugu Hong quickly dodged by adjusting his position, causing the old detective's bullet to graze him and miss.

At this moment, Dugu Hong was already very close to Liu Zhaohua.

Just then, Dugu Hong turned his body and assumed a posture of gathering strength.

then
whoosh-

The iron pot was flung out like a discus thrower, flying straight toward Liu Zhaohua.

"Boom!"

Left with no other choice, Liu Zhaohua fired at the iron pot. After two shots rang out, the iron pot exploded with a loud bang, sending fragments flying everywhere.

Fortunately, the distance wasn't too close, and the fragments scattered but didn't hit Liu Zhaohua.

He was lucky, really; if those shattered fragments had hit him, they would have at least caused a significant wound.

But this is not over yet.

Immediately following was a javelin shot toward Liu Zhaohua!

It turned out that the bullet had damaged the joint of the hoe, so Dugu Hong took the opportunity to break it and remove the hoe body to turn it into a spear.

This time, Liu Zhaohua wasn't so lucky. With a "thud," the wooden stick pierced his neck.

"Well!"

Liu Zhaohua let out a painful howl, and his pistol fell to the ground.

He gripped the wooden stick embedded in his neck, as if trying to do something, but the thick stick had already damaged an artery, and there was no way to save him; pulling out the stick would only hasten his death.

His eyes were filled with intense resentment as he stared intently at Dugu Hong before quickly collapsing to the ground.

Dugu Hong, however, didn't even glance at Liu Zhaohua, but instead looked at Hao Hao, who was hiding behind the wall.

"You've been shot and need treatment. Let's stop the bleeding first."

As he spoke, he began to tear off pieces of his clothing and picked up sticks and other items from the ground.

Ji Yi was stunned even from a distance.

He used to think he was watching a corny hero movie.

Looking at it now, this is fucking like a science fiction movie!

He was absolutely convinced that if this man named Dugu Hong ever had the idea of ​​killing the entire village, he could succeed even if he was unarmed.

When dealing with Liu Zhaohua, Dugu Hong had obviously arrived in a hurry, grabbing kitchen utensils and farm tools as he came.

If he had been prepared, a homemade javelin could have been just as lethal as a pistol.

Fortunately, this invincible guy didn't have such a strong desire to kill.

Seeing that Liu Zhaohua was dead, some villagers finally mustered up the courage to come out and gather around the scene of the incident. The village elders, who were originally xenophobic, now looked at Dugu Hong with extremely complicated expressions.

The expression—a mixture of respect and fear, a desire to please, and a hint of disgust—was quite fascinating.

This meeting was held even faster than the previous two.

Half an hour later, the rest of the villagers had gathered together.

Ji Tu picked up her notebook and began to summarize:

"Sanshi Village originally had 25 people. Before the 'disappearance' truly began, Old Zhang was killed by Wang Aotian and was discovered during the day on the first day, leaving 24 people remaining."

"That night, Wang Aotian was burned to death by unidentified people, and the first person to disappear was Xie Ping. So the next day, there were 22 of us left."

"On the night of the second day, Liu Chuchu was strangled to death, and Old Lady Zhao disappeared. At this time, there were still 20 people in the village."

Yes, Liu Chuchu was indeed killed.

There were two purplish-red handprints on her neck, and the cause of death was suffocation.

"On the third day, which is today, Liu Zhaohua shot and killed two people, but was killed by Dugu Hong in retaliation. Now there are only 17 people left in the village."

In just a few days, eight people died.

Apart from two who disappeared without a trace, the other six were murdered.

The atmosphere in the conference room became even heavier, with many people feeling both fear and apprehension, their eyes frequently glancing at Dugu Hong.

Some even suspect that the visitor's claim of "investigating the legend of the mysterious disappearance" was just a pretext.

He just wanted to commit murder legally, didn't he?

Just then, Ji Yi stepped forward and broke the gloom, giving everyone a new clue:

"I have a clue about Liu Chuchu's death. She was not killed by a human, but rather by something mysterious."

Ji Yi was referring to Lao Zhang, of course.

As for why Liu Zhaohua escaped unharmed, it was because the courtyard where the father and daughter lived had two houses.

Theoretically speaking, it is possible that if the people in one house are captured, the people in another house could be safe and sound.

The strange thing is that Liu Chuchu must have experienced the ghost knocking on the door before she was strangled to death. Liu Zhaohua was so close, he should have been awakened by it too.

But he was completely unaware of this until the next morning when he finally rose up and committed the murder.

Ji Yi wanted to ask for more clues to determine Lao Zhang's killing patterns, but unfortunately, Liu Zhaohua was already dead.

Getting back to the main topic, during the meeting, Ji Yi recounted how Lao Zhang was strangled to death and how Grandma An An had protected him.

Most of these statements are true, but some of the information about the sources of the information is false.

Dugu Hong was very interested in the "strange" things Ji Yi mentioned, asked a few more questions, and then fell silent and pondered on his own.

Others, however, seemed less concerned about the so-called eeriness, especially the elderly, who were clearly more worried about being killed by a young, strong person one day.

Ji Yi quickly found a new focus:
"I have a question. If one of the dead happens to have received the 'live' note, when the gods designate a new survivor, will they write a new note for each person, or will only the chosen person be able to see it?"

An elderly person answered this question:
"After the person who received the slip of paper dies, everyone will receive a new slip of paper that night. This serves as a reminder that the person who received the slip of paper has changed, and the seven-day village-wide disappearance schedule will be recalculated."

As the old man spoke, a hint of sadness appeared in his eyes:
"But judging by the way they're dying now, it probably won't take more than seven days to determine the ultimate winner, right?"

The entire room fell silent once again.

This time, still no one mentioned who went to find the person who wrote the word "alive".

But it seems that some kind of bottom line or principle is quietly collapsing and disintegrating in everyone's hearts.

Someone glanced at Dugu Hong subtly, then they looked at each other, seemingly plotting something in tacit agreement.

"The nail that sticks out gets hammered down."

Ji Yi murmured.

But for him personally, the fact that everyone started targeting Dugu Hong wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

The meeting soon ended in an even more somber atmosphere.

Ji Yi returned to the room and began to analyze the information in the copy.

"Judging from the current trend, just surviving is extremely difficult, let alone uncovering the truth about the Hidden Village. We have absolutely no clue what to do."

"And judging from the expressions of the villagers today, they have probably mentally prepared themselves and are ready to take action."

They fought each other until only one person remained.

Ji Yi glanced at the sharpened knife on the table.

"Is this instance really just a test of human nature? I feel like I've missed too much information, which has caused me to lose sight of the whole picture of the instance."

If only we had a data-driven perspective.
Oh well, they're just material possessions anyway.

It's fun to use cheat codes, but sometimes you still have to rely on real skills and hard power.

Ji Yi frowned and pondered deeply, and the day quickly passed.

It was 10 p.m. that night.

Ji Yi didn't go to sleep. Instead, he carried a knife and groped his way outside in the dark.

Under the cover of night, his face was covered, with only his eyes showing.

"According to the rules, the two hours between 10 o'clock and 12 o'clock are actually the time for 'legal killing'."

Those who follow the rules will sleep during this time, while some dishonest people can take the risk of doing something bad.

It's not that you can't commit a crime before 10 PM, but being awake and asleep are two different things, and the difficulty of killing someone is vastly different.

Ji Yi had no intention of using any light source; doing so would only expose herself.

He could only rely on his senses of smell, hearing, and touch to move silently through the darkness.

Their destination was Dugu Hong's residence.

"If nothing unexpected happens, something big is likely to occur on his end."

Thinking it over, Ji Yi carefully lay in wait and soon spotted some furtive figures on the road.

"Sure enough, after witnessing such a powerful threat, many people reached a consensus."

Ji Yi became more careful, trying her best to blend completely into the darkness.

For the next half hour, Ji Yi could hear rustling and clattering sounds coming from Dugu Hong's residence.

But soon, all the chaotic sounds disappeared, leaving only the dull "thump, thump, thump" sounds.

It was like something was being swung around and smashed onto the soft soil.

Ji Yi frowned, a sense of unease creeping over her.

But he couldn't suppress his curiosity and proceeded more cautiously and slowly.

Finally, he arrived at Dugu Hong's courtyard and saw a tall figure in the courtyard, vigorously swinging a hoe.

His movements combined strength and skill, and soon, a long, narrow pit, deep enough to bury a person, was dug.

There were actually five or six such pits in the courtyard!
'Pits? Why dig so many pits?'

Ji Yi was puzzled, but soon he saw the scattered corpses on the ground!
Those are the ones who came to kill Dugu Hong tonight!

"The holes we dug in advance are no longer enough."

At that moment, Dugu Hong's voice suddenly rang out in the courtyard.

"And I need to go to sleep before midnight, so there's no time to dig another hole to bury the body."

"So, can you go home first tonight?"

(End of this chapter)