Folk Strange Stories Part 1: The Witch Ancestor of Miao Township Chapter 8 Section 2: Fat Man

"Do you know him?" someone suddenly said from behind. I was startled and turned around to find a plump face looking directly at me. The person repeated, "Do you know that Miao person?" The tone in Fatty's voice was unfriendly, lacking courtesy, which made me somewhat uncomfortable. "No, I don't," I replied coldly. Is your drug enforcement agency so significant? Even if it's significant, it can't control the military, can it?

After that, I immediately walked over to Lao Wang and lowered my voice, saying, "Captain, it seems like we've been set up." I recounted what Guide Lao Lin had said to Lao Wang. Lao Wang furrowed his brows upon hearing it, "Are you suggesting this is Lao Lin's scheme? What does this surname Lin want to achieve?"

One of Lao Wang's good traits was that he didn't dwell on things that were hard to figure out. What was the point of bothering? He took off his helmet, scratched his straw-like hair a few times, and said, "Whether it's Lao Lin or not, we can discuss it after we're out." Just as he finished speaking, Fatty had already walked over. By this point, Fatty's tone had improved significantly, and he said to Captain Wang, "What kind of cryptic talk are you two engaged in? Who is this Lao Lin, this Miao person?"

No matter how Fatty said it, he was still one of us. Aside from looking a bit sleazy and speaking in an exaggerated manner, he didn't have any other noticeable flaws. Lao Wang hadn't intended to keep him in the dark, so he recounted the situation regarding Lao Lin. Fatty's eyes narrowed into slits as he listened, "Damn it, we've most likely fallen into Lao Lin's trap. He didn't have good intentions when he let Mott in."

Liu Jingsheng chimed in, "We can deal with Lao Lin's situation later. He won't escape. Right now, what's important is how we're going to get out."

"Let's go inside and explore." Lao Wang made the decision, "Jingsheng, Chunlei, Lazi, the three of you come with me to explore the secret chamber. The rest of you stay here and watch over the prisoners."

After making his decision, Lao Wang looked at Fatty with a smile that wasn't quite a smile, "Why don't you join us?"

Fatty's face had turned pale, "I'm not going. Even if you beg me until the sky splits, I won't go in. Am I crazy? We just barely escaped, and you want us to go back and court death?"

Lao Wang said, "You've been inside the secret chamber, so you understand the situation. We need your assistance. If you don't go in…" Lao Wang gestured toward Mott and the others, "Do you expect any of them to go in?"

Seeing Mott and his henchmen still shaken, Fatty began to hesitate. I started to fan the flames, "The corpses in the secret chamber are likely impostors sent by Lao Lin. He's plotting to seize the drugs Mott has hidden here. Think about it, more than a ton of narcotics – even if Hollywood's top special effects team were hired to stage this, it would be nothing more than a drizzle." Truthfully, I didn't even believe the last part I said. For no reason at all, I had activated my clairvoyance again and suddenly felt like I was being watched by something in the grand hall. If you were to say there was nothing like that, I wouldn't believe it even if you killed me. But in order to get out of this eerie place as soon as possible, I started to make up nonsense.

Fatty's mind began to churn. After blinking his small, beady eyes several times, he proposed a condition, "I'll be the last one to go in."

"Fine! No problem." Lao Wang readily agreed, handing over the Beretta pistol that had been confiscated from Mott earlier, "Is using this okay?"

"Let's make do with it." Fatty took the magazine out, inspected it, and still felt a bit uncertain. "Can't you give me an automatic rifle? Not the ones you have, just an AK47 would suffice."

Lao Wang wasn't sure about Fatty's capabilities. If they were to give him an AK47 and an unforeseen situation occurred, if he wasn't harmed by whatever was inside the secret chamber and then got shot by Fatty, that would be too unjust. So, he said, "You don't need a submachine gun for the final stretch. The pistol should be enough to boost your confidence." Fatty didn't insist on having something else.

Finally, Lao Wang asked Mott for precise details about the passage in the secret chamber. The four of us advanced toward the collapsed entrance to the secret chamber in tactical formation, with Fatty lagging far behind. Prepared as he was, he would turn around at the slightest hint of trouble.

The four of us positioned ourselves on opposite sides of the collapsed entrance and could faintly see the torches left by Mott inside. The flames flickered intermittently, accentuating the eeriness of the interior. Unfortunately, the torchlight was insufficient to illuminate the entire room.

Lao Wang gestured to Liu Jingsheng, who nodded. He reached into his military backpack and took out a tactical flashlight, tossing it into the entrance. As it flew through the air, Lao Liu applied a subtle force, causing the flashlight to spin continuously.

As the flashlight was thrown inside, the four of us rushed in from different angles. We followed the rotating light until it landed on the ground. However, we didn't see the so-called corpses mentioned by Fatty and Mott. Instead, we found the bodies of four henchmen on the ground, along with boxes of narcotics piled up.