The moon was dark and the wind was high, the entire Fu Ze Village had only one lonely light on, making it particularly conspicuous.
Just as Wang Xi finished speaking, the door was kicked open with a bang.
Liu Ergou and Wang Xi were taken aback instantly, and when they saw who it was, they were scared out of their wits. Liu Ergou was even more frightened and collapsed onto the ground.
Wang Xi wanted to shout, but saw Chen Mo charging like a leopard. Just as he was about to cry out, Chen Mo struck his neck with a hand blade, knocking him out. Then he used the same method to knock Liu Ergou out as well.
Chen Mo glanced around the house, wanting to see if there was anything valuable.
The only thing he found in the urn was some meat from recent hunting trips in the mountain, and even that was running low.
The rice jar was even empty.
Chen Mo carried the two out of the house, then went back in to handle the traces he left behind, extinguished the light, closed the door, and carried the two toward Daze Mountain.
The reason Chen Mo didn't deal with them at Wang Xi's house was mainly to avoid blood splatter, making it hard to handle traces afterward. Secondly, carrying a dead body is heavy.
Chen Mo had been to the outskirts of Daze Mountain many times, already familiar with the terrain.
He had previously found a pit on the outskirts when catching a praying mantis, surrounded by lush shrubs and fairly concealed.
Chen Mo carried the two to the pit's edge and put them down.
Then he took a deep breath.
He had never killed anyone, although he had mentally prepared himself before setting out, he hesitated when it came to this step.
It was a resistance from deep within his subconscious.
But in order to eliminate future dangers.
Chen Mo's eyes turned cold, and he gripped Liu Ergou's head with both hands and gave a fierce twist.
There was a crisp crack, and Liu Ergou instantly stopped breathing.
Chen Mo touched Liu Ergou's nose to confirm he was breathless, his heart inexplicably quickening, a nameless feeling filled his mind.
Chen Mo kicked Liu Ergou's corpse into the pit.
"No..."
In an instant, Wang Xi woke up and seeing this scene, his face turned pale, but because of his broken leg, he couldn't run and could only crawl out like a long bug.
Chen Mo grabbed his ankle and dragged him back. To prevent him from shouting, he directly took out the machete from his waist and slit Wang Xi's throat.
Perhaps it was because he had just dealt with Liu Ergou, that when killing Wang Xi, Chen Mo acted extremely decisively.
Wang Xi did not die immediately but raised his hand to clutch his throat. He wanted to say something, but what came out was only blood foam.
"Relax, the dizziness is only temporary, it'll be over soon..."
Watching the blood gushing out of Wang Xi's mouth, Chen Mo's initial nausea turned his stomach, but then he thought, isn't this just like slaughtering a pig?
After Wang Xi stopped breathing, Chen Mo kicked him into the pit as well, then attached a handle onto the machete and buried them with earth.
Only after doing all this did Chen Mo leave.
He went to the riverside and washed his face. The icy river water poured onto his face, instantly dispelling the discomfort from killing before.
When he returned home and found Han Anniang still asleep, Chen Mo breathed a sigh of relief and climbed back into the room through the window.
That night, Chen Mo slept soundly.
...
The next day, Chen Mo was woken up by the need to pee.
Just as he lifted the blanket, the cold air outside made him quickly cover up again.
It was too cold, much colder than the previous few days.
He opened the window, and the cold wind rushed in fiercely, the whole world was whimpering, large snowflakes were floating in the air, and the yard was already covered with a layer of snow.
"Turns out it's snowing, but it's so cold."
Chen Mo closed the window and couldn't help rubbing his hands.
You must know, he is now a martial artist, Ninth-Grade Skin Refining Realm, with skin more resistant to the cold than ordinary people, yet even he was shivering, showing just how cold it was.
Even An Niang was no longer busy. When Chen Mo returned from relieving himself in the vegetable patch, he saw Han Anniang warming herself in the kitchen. When she saw him, she smiled softly, "Uncle is awake, the meal is ready, you can eat."
"Coming."
...
Chen Mo moved the table from the living room to the kitchen, and Han Anniang brought over the food heated in the pot.
Because of the fire in the kitchen, the temperature was higher than outside, yet Chen Mo still saw Han Anniang trembling from the cold and couldn't help but say, "Sister-in-law, it's so cold, wear more, don't catch a chill."
Han Anniang nodded, but Chen Mo saw her sit down without returning to the house to add clothes.
"Sister-in-law, wear more," Chen Mo said again.
"Hmm." Han Anniang still didn't move.
Chen Mo was taken aback, only then noticing that in the past two months, Han Anniang had only been wearing two sets of clothes back and forth, one of which was quite thin.
He thought of something and returned to his parents' room, pulling out a cotton coat from the cabinet that his mother used to wear, and without further ado, draped it over Han Anniang in the kitchen.
Han Anniang's face froze for a moment.
"Sister-in-law, this cotton coat was worn by my mother when she was alive; you wear it first for now. In a few days, I'll go to the county and buy you a new one."
According to the original memories, when Han Anniang first married over, she even had jewelry on her. But after that, Chen Mo never saw Han Anniang wearing any.
Does she not like wearing it?
With a bit of thought, it's clear Han Anniang must have sold it for household expenses.
No wonder, Chen Da needed money to marry a wife, then Chen Da and Elder Chen both passed away in succession, and burying them cost money too.
Even the stored grain for the winter at home required money.
And yet Han Anniang still had some money left.
Where did the Chen Family get so much money...
Chen Mo looked up, deeply gazing at Han Anniang, "Sister-in-law, you don't need to suffer like this anymore, I'll make sure you live a good life."
"Uncle..."
Upon hearing this, Han Anniang suddenly felt like crying, but she held it back, her cheeks flushed, and the previous fluttering feeling returned.
She was too shy to look at Chen Mo, speaking softly, "Uncle, you don't have to, this winter is short, it'll pass with some endurance. Better to use the money for buying grain."
"Sister-in-law, just listen to me, it's decided." Chen Mo assumed the posture of the head of the household and said.
Han Anniang could only nod, but inside she felt like candy had melted, so sweet, so sweet.
"Uncle, have some more." Han Anniang tightened the cotton coat around her and put some meat into Chen Mo's bowl.
Chen Mo took a bite, chewed a few times, and spit it out: "So sour."
"So sour, no way..."
Han Anniang also took a piece of meat, ate a bite and her expression changed instantly, it was indeed sour, but she didn't waste it, continuing to eat it, saying softly, "It must have spoiled."
Even in winter, meat can go bad, though it lasts longer than in the summer.
But at most, it lasts about seven days.
And from the time Chen Mo hunted the wild boar until now, it had long exceeded seven days.
What's more, there wasn't enough salt at home, enough to eat but far from enough to cure meat.
So they didn't cure at that time either.
After so long, it's normal for it to spoil.