On the other side.
Before the mountain forest in the direction of Chuncheng.
At this moment.
After finishing the call with Captain Zhao, He Qiao looked at Zhang Wei with some bewilderment.
Not long ago, shortly after Xiong Da, Xiong Er, and Guang Tou Qiang entered the mountain forest, they also entered to capture the red-clothed fierce ghost. However, after only a short while, they received a message from Zhang Wei saying that they didn't need to search anymore, as Guang Tou Qiang, whom he had called, had already caught the ghost.
He Qiao didn't believe it at first. It was a joke. That was a red-clothed fierce ghost. How could Guang Tou Qiang, other than sawing trees, possibly defeat a ghost?
Out of curiosity.
He called Captain Zhao to inquire about the situation. Before he could speak, Captain Zhao mentioned encountering Guang Tou Qiang, which left He Qiao and the others dumbfounded.
"Did you really catch it?"
He Qiao looked incredulous. Just as he was about to say something.
Rustling.
There was movement from the mountain forest ahead. He Qiao and the others instinctively looked and were all stunned.
It was Xiong Da, Xiong Er, and Guang Tou Qiang, dragging a disheveled red-clothed fierce ghost and throwing it in front of He Qiao.
After doing this.
The three of them gave a thumbs-up to He Qiao and the others and said in unison:
"All done. No need to thank us, this is what we should do."
"Done, I'm going back."
"Remember to pay Zhang Wei, otherwise I, Guang Tou Qiang, will be working for free."
With that said.
They turned back into figurines.
It was at this moment.
Zhang Wei walked over, picked up the figurines from the ground, and said with a smile:
"Captain He, you truly are the local Guardian Department. The figurines you chose are highly efficient."
"Cough, not at all, it's all thanks to Mr. Zhang Wei's prowess."
He Qiao was at a loss for words, beginning to understand Zhang Wei's peculiar ghost-exorcising methods.
Unconsciously.
They glanced at the figurines in Zhang Wei's backpack in the car, feeling a pang of heartache and regret. If they hadn't chosen the "Boonie Bears" figurines and had chosen others instead, would they also have come to life? If so...
"I remember there was a maid toy inside, and she looked very beautiful."
A teammate mumbled softly, with regret and pity on his face.
Liu Li and the others felt similarly, unable to resist recalling other attractive figurines. Compared to the "Boonie Bears" figurines, the others were much more appealing. For instance, there was a figurine that looked like a baby dressed in a suit, like a mafia infant, and another figurine of a girl in gothic attire that Zhang Wei called "Tokisaki Kurumi," and so on.
Regret.
If they were given another chance, they would definitely choose...
They all thought the same thing in unison.
However, they quickly dismissed the thoughts from their minds. Regardless, "Boonie Bears" was not bad. After all, without "Boonie Bears," the red-clothed fierce ghost would not have been caught so quickly.
At the same time.
The red-clothed fierce ghost looked at the Xiong Da, Xiong Er, and Guang Tou Qiang figurines in Zhang Wei's hand.
[Ding! The red-clothed fierce ghost is a bit bewildered.]
[Host has gained System Points +60.]
The system prompt sounded.
Zhang Wei immediately looked at the red-clothed fierce ghost, revealing a row of white teeth, and shook the Xiong Da, Xiong Er, and Guang Tou Qiang figurines, saying:
"Surprised? Unexpected?"
As he spoke, he leaned close to the red-clothed fierce ghost's ear and slowly said:
"Don't run into the mountains next time, there are boonies."
The red-clothed fierce ghost: "????"
Its mouth twitched, and it really wanted to curse out loud, but now its body and mouth were restrained by He Qiao and the others. It couldn't say anything and could only glare at Zhang Wei with eyes full of curses, silently cursing him.
On the other side.
He Qiao and the others paid no attention to the red-clothed fierce ghost's actions. After capturing it, they were all in good spirits.
As members of the local Guardian Department, they were well aware of how difficult it was to capture a ghost that had fled into the mountains. They had already prepared to search all night and even prepared for damage to the mountain forest.
"It's just past 12 o'clock, we can still get some sleep when we get back."
"Captain He, should we go and deal with the mountain forest? Has the mountain forest been damaged?"
"No need. Captain Zhao said the red-clothed fierce ghost was chased all the way and didn't have time to cause damage. This mission was very smooth, all thanks to Mr. Zhang Wei. We quickly captured the ghost and didn't affect the mountain forest. Huh? Mr. Zhang Wei, what's wrong?"
He Qiao noticed Zhang Wei looking at the mountain forest.
Zhang Wei shook his head and replied casually:
"Nothing, I was just wondering if there might be anyone in the mountain forest in the middle of the night, and what would happen if they encountered a ghost."
"There won't be anyone. Even if there is, it's likely to be a lumber thief, someone who steals wood, not someone from a tomb. We have a lot of people who steal and saw wood here. Mr. Zhang Wei doesn't need to worry. Even if the red-clothed fierce ghost encountered someone just now, it would be a lumber thief, and killing them would be eliminating a menace for the people."
Listening to He Qiao, Zhang Wei nodded and murmured:
"Lumber thieves, then it should be fine."
In his words.
His gaze was fixed in the direction of the mountain forest, his eyes flickering. No one knew what he was thinking.
...
In another part of the mountain forest, near the road.
At this time.
A car was parked here, with a person sitting in the driver's seat, and another person outside the car looking around as if on lookout, observing the surroundings.
The person in the car took a puff of his cigarette and said, leaning his hand against the car window, shaking the smoke:
"No need to be so nervous. There's no one here at this time of night, and this place hasn't been visited by many people recently. Stealing and sawing some wood won't be discovered. We're just waiting for Old Qian and the others to saw the wood..."
Before the word "done" could even escape his lips.
A terrified scream came from the mountain forest. Not only the person outside the car but even the person inside was startled.
"That's Old Qian's voice."
The person outside the car, already on edge, recognized the voice.
As expected.
The next second.
Four or five people rushed out of the mountain forest. They were Old Qian and his companions, as they called them. At this moment, their hands were empty, and they hadn't even brought their tools with them. They ran towards them in terror, shouting in fear:
"Help! There's a murderer, a Texas Chainsaw Massacre killer!"
"Run quickly."
"Murderer, there's a chainsaw-wielding murderer!"
They ran as if their lives depended on it, losing a few shoes but not even noticing, running desperately towards the car.
Once in the car.
They frantically urged the person in the car to drive.
Although they didn't know what had happened, the person outside the car was also scared by the actions of Old Qian and the others. He got into the car first and urged the person inside to drive. The person inside was no better off; startled, he didn't care about the situation and immediately stepped on the accelerator to leave.
After the car had driven a considerable distance.
Looking back at the road from the car, seeing no one pursuing them, Old Qian and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief, but the lingering fear on their faces spoke volumes about their continued terror.
It was at this moment.
The person in the car had time to ask what had happened.
In response.
Old Qian and the others did not hide anything and explained the situation, saying that they had entered the mountain forest not long ago to saw some expensive trees. Just as they were about to start sawing, they suddenly noticed movement nearby and then saw a bizarre scene.
It was a person holding a chainsaw, who seemed to be there to steal wood as well. But if it were just that, it would be fine. The key was that there were two bears standing beside him, those two bears could talk, and one of the bears was dragging a bloody person, who was weakly shouting "Save me" to them.
And the most terrifying part was yet to come.
When the person with the chainsaw discovered them, he seemed to realize they were lumber thieves and roared angrily:
"No illegal logging!"
Then.
The person charged at them with the chainsaw, looking like he was going to kill them with it. Especially when the two bears also roared at them, they were terrified.
"There's a murderer, no, there's a ghost, it must be a ghost who died in the mountains."
"It must be. I heard my grandmother say that you shouldn't disturb things in the mountains. The mountains have spirits. Don't we have customs like worshipping mountain gods in Xishuangbanna?"
They muttered incessantly.
By the end, they all speculated that it was likely because they had stolen too many ancient trees, and by doing such immoral and illegal things, they had angered the mountain gods of the forest.
Facing the words of Old Qian and the others, the people in the car and the person who was outside the car exchanged confused glances.
What was all this about?
Two talking bears?
A chainsaw-wielding murderer of lumberjacks?
How did this sound, apart from being terrifying, also a little... familiar?
Immediately after.
After Old Qian and the others calmed down a bit, the person in the car asked:
"What did that murderer look like? I feel like you must have misidentified him. Perhaps those two bears were just wearing thick clothes, and since it was dark, you couldn't see clearly. Maybe that murderer was a fugitive. Tell us what he looked like."
Old Qian and the others described the appearance of the murderer to the two people in the car.
Upon this description.
They became even more bewildered.
Yellow safety helmet? Bulbous nose, short stature, duckbill face...
Unconsciously.
The person outside the car, listening to their description, twitched his lips:
"Damn it, your description, how does it sound... so much like Guang Tou Qiang."
"Guang Tou Qiang?"
Old Qian and the others heard this and looked over. Old Qian even couldn't help but question:
"Huh? Guang Tou Qiang? Who is that? Liu Zi, you know that Guang Tou Qiang? Do you know him? Could he really be a fugitive? That's good, as long as it's not a ghost, tell me quickly, who is that Guang Tou Qiang?"
Facing the question.
The person called Liu Zi twitched his mouth:
"If that really was Guang Tou Qiang, then it would be much more terrifying than a ghost. How could you possibly run into Guang Tou Qiang? That's... a cartoon character."
As his words fell.
Everyone in the car was stunned...
This night.
For the red-clothed fierce ghost, it was a night of misfortune.
And this night.
For the lumber thieves, it was a night of chainsaw terror.
Regardless of whether the murderer was Guang Tou Qiang, a ghost, or a murderer, they all retired from their illicit activities on this night.
Also on this night.
In the Xishuangbanna region, rumors spread in the lumber theft industry about lumber thieves encountering retaliation from a chainsaw-wielding murderer.
...