When Tang Xianzu went to the house of the friend that took the silver spear, he saw that many villagers had gathered around. They were pointing at the house. From their faces, he knew something had happened to his friend!

Tang Xianzu immediately entered the courtyard. He was surprised to see all of his friends who had joined the digging operation yesterday.

However, they were on all-fours, shoving grass and wheat ears from the ground into their mouths. Their eyes looked blank. They sometimes craned their necks and neighed like horses.

“Horse neighing?” I thought it was a little weird. Those people ate grass and neighed like horses. The spirit this time is actually a horse?

But if it was a horse, how could we explain the shadow by Tang Xianzu’s bed? I wasn’t that dumb to think that it was just a nightmare. After considering things, I thought of one possibility. The deceased used to be an intimidating person with great talent in martial arts. He fought and died with his horse. When they died, their spirits were attached to his weapon. That was how the current situation came to be!

However, this was just my assumption. I needed to see the silver spear to reach a conclusion.

I pondered then asked Tang Xianzu to tell me the address of his four friends. Since Tang Xianzu was hurt, he couldn’t accompany us.

“The other folks have tied them up. You should go see our Village Elder. He will support you.” Then, Tang Xianzu gave me a phone number. I asked him to stay and fully recover in the hospital.

I took Li Mazi back to my shop. We needed to prepare some things before going to Tangjia.

Tangjia Village was a mountainous village around seventy or eighty miles away from us. I thought that we wouldn’t be able to drive our car to the village. However, when we reached the village entrance, we recognized that the mountainous road had been leveled. I knew it was the work of that real estate investor.

On the way there, I called the Village Elder. When we reached the village entrance, he was waiting for us there.

The Village Elder was a man around sixty years old. He wore a faded white Chinese suit and a pair of rubber boots. Although he had wrinkles on his face, his eyes were resolute. His back was straight, and he looked righteous.

After a few greetings, I went straight to the topic. “Sir, how are those people?”

The Village Elder lit up a cigarette. After puffing a few times, he started to tell me the story.

At that time, he got a report about those unusual young men. He hurried to gather people to go there. When he saw them eating grass on the ground, he shouted, “What are you doing? Are you sick?”

But they paid no attention to the Village Elder. They were like stone pillars. No matter how hard the others tried to pull them up, they didn’t move an inch. Eventually, the Village Elder had to call all the strong men in the village to subdue them and tie them up.

Those men were watched the entire time. The villagers even sent someone to spoon-feed them.

Li Mazi interrupted, “But, how do they use the toilet?”

The Village Elder felt embarrassed. “If we untie them, they will become crazy again. We have to let them relieve themselves in their pants.”

I felt so awkward. But it was true that this was the safest method.

After tying them up, the Village Elder went to their houses to enquire about their actions. Eventually, he learned that these young men had risked their lives and went to that piece of evil land!

Immediately, the Village Elder dragged those men to the Achievement and Virtual Memorial Arch in the village. The so-called Achievement and Virtual Memorial Arch was the ancestral hall where the villagers worshipped those who had made great contributions to the village.

The Village Elder was old and experienced, so he knew they were being pestered by the foul things from that land. He brought them to the memorial arch in hopes that the righteous power of their ancestors could temporarily save their lives. At the same time, he told Tang Xianzu to find me and seek my help as soon as possible.

After telling me the story, the Village Elder asked, “Why didn’t Tang Xianzu return with you?”

He made me realize something else. When Tang Xianzu left the village, he wasn’t hurt. When he appeared at my antique shop, he was almost dead. What happened to him?

To assure the Village Elder and to know what to do next, I immediately called Tang Xianzu. “How did you get your wounds?”

Tang Xianzu stammered. It seemed he didn’t dare to tell me the story.

My voice grew serious. “I request to know the truth! If you don’t tell me, your friends will die. There is no doubt about that. The people who live in Tangjia Village will also be in danger.”

“Umh…” Tang Xianzu sounded more hesitant. Even though we were on different ends of the phone line, I could imagine him shivering. He didn’t dare to tell me. I guessed I shouldn’t force him now. Right when I thought about ending the call, he suddenly opened his mouth. “Master Zhang, do you believe there are ghosts in this world?”

“If ghosts don’t exist, I would be out of business!” After receiving confirmation from me, Tang Xianzu took a deep breath. Then, he started to tell me his story.

“I went to your shop the night before, but the shop was closed. I didn’t know when you would open again, so I went to find a small hostel to stay in. While I was sleeping, the temperature suddenly dropped by around ten degrees. I heard neighing sounds. I had heard those sounds from my friends, so I got up immediately. Then, I saw a tall and big figure in the room.”

“What did he do to you?” I blurted that since I guessed that the person was possibly the projection of the otherworldly item.

“He was riding a big, white horse and wore white armor. He was headless. Yet, I could hear his sneer! He slowly raised the silver spear in his hand. At first glance, I knew it was the silver spear we had dug up the night before. I knew he had come to retaliate. I jumped off the bed and ran away.” Tang Xianzu still sounded fearful. “While running, I wanted to scream to ask people to help me, but my throat seemed to be blocked. I couldn’t make a sound. I was so panicked that I didn’t choose the right road. I ended up in an alley with a dead-end. The headless horseman sneered again. He said something that seemed to come from his stomach. I didn’t understand. Then, he raised his spear and aimed it at me.”

Xianzu paused for a while. “It seemed that the headless horseman was playing with me. He didn’t want to kill me. It was obvious that he could finish me off at any time, but he didn’t. While the headless horseman was aiming his spear at me, I heard a rooster crow. Then, both the horseman and his horse disappeared. I was wounded, but I tried my best to go to your shop. I met Li Mazi there, but I fainted after talking to him.”

After hanging up the call, I pondered about what I had just heard. Did that spirit want to show mercy or did he want to play with Tang Xianzu for a while before killing him?

With that thought, I asked the Village Elder, “The men you’ve tied up, do they look strange?”

The Village Elder shook his head. “No, I’ve asked strong and muscular men to guard them. Except for eating grass and neighing, they don’t do anything strange.”

I frowned and thought that Tang Xianzu was hiding something from me. According to him, his friends wanted to melt that silver spear, with him being the sole exception. Yet, he was the only one that was visited by that spirit. Until now, nobody got hurt except for him. It wasn’t logical at all!

Li Mazi also recognized this. He shot me a look then motioned his head toward the Village Elder. He wanted me to investigate the Village Elder. He was the one that had asked Tang Xianzu to find me, after all.

However, I had a feeling that the Village Elder wasn’t a bad guy. There should be something ambiguous about Tang Xianzu. I thought about it then asked the Village Elder to take us to the Achievement and Virtue Memorial Arch to see those men. Unexpectedly, the Village Elder looked hesitant. It was as though he didn’t want to take us there.

Li Mazi fumed. He pulled me and said that we should leave. Li Mazi’s words made the Village Elder worried. The old man hurriedly grabbed us then told us the truth.

“No, it’s not that I don’t want you to meet them. But you should know that those men have been pooping in their pants these days. We can’t open that hall for you to see them. It’s so horrible, you know. In addition to the horrible stench, they have blisters all over their bodies. They look as though they are scalded. When those blisters pop, a lot of pus oozes out. The folks in our village think that they may have an infectious disease. We don’t want to get close to them.”

Li Mazi advised him, “Please think about it. Are all the other villagers okay? If it was an infectious disease, the people who have gone there must be infected already…”

The Village Elder’s eyes reddened. He sighed. “Since you are here, I can feel rest assured. Before you came, I had to tell the folks that it was an infectious disease. If I told them about the paranormal activities, the entire village would fall into chaos!”

Since we didn’t mind the conditions, the Village Elder didn’t stop us anymore. With his hands clasped behind his back, he guided us to the mountain. Many villages had their graveyard on the mountain or behind the mountain. Tangjia Village was no exception.

Along the way, I observed the surroundings. It was as Tang Xianzu had told me. The excavators had messed up the fields a lot. The people here couldn’t grow crops now.

If that real estate investor left, I thought the villagers here wouldn't have the money to recover their crops.

I suddenly remembered the mysterious piece of land Tang Xianzu had told us about. “Village Elder, where is that strange piece of land?”