The hyena girl was fiddling with an object in her hand; it looked like a watch.
Noticing Xu Xiaoyou's gaze, the girl clearly showed signs of unease. She gave a huff, silently tucked the watch away, and turned her head. After walking a few steps away, she continued to lean against the wall with her arms crossed.
Finally, Xu Xiaoyou’s gaze shifted back to the center of the room, landing on a group of middle-aged women. They were gathered in a huddle, incessantly discussing something. The entire room echoed with their chirping clamor, much like a rowdy vegetable market.
It reminded her of the busybodies at a village entrance; even a passing dog couldn't escape their scrutiny and criticism.
"The village chief is dead too..."
"Let me tell you, that old fellow looked all proper on the outside, but who knows how much stuff he was pocketing behind everyone's backs? His personal life wasn't clean either."
"Exactly, exactly. Hmph, I say it’s good he’s dead. And that bachelor Goudan from next door, always peeping at women while they bathe. I don't see him here either; he got what was coming to him."
"I think all those who turned into monsters deserved to die. Every one of them was shameless."
In the corner, the young girl’s eyes reddened again upon hearing this. Large tears rolled down silently. The youth comforting her frowned slightly, but it wasn't his place to say much.
"Shut up! Can't you all be quiet!?"
Finally, a man with bloodshot eyes couldn't help but roar. His voice echoed throughout the room.
He was one of the few educated people here. Usually, he taught the local children to read and write for free. The people here called him Xiucai, though it was unclear if the nickname was meant as praise or mockery.
The man often emphasized the importance of education to the children, calling it the foundation for the continuation of the spark of civilization, the thing that distinguished humans from the beasts of the wilderness.
But now, the man's heavy breathing filled the room, his chest heaving violently, his bloodshot eyes making him look like a beast himself.
The middle-aged women’s faces showed shock. They clearly hadn't expected this man, who was usually gentle and kind, to show such a side.
Soon, a stout, thick-waisted woman stepped forward, her tone sharp and biting. "What business is it of yours? If you're so capable, why don't you go roar at those monsters? What are you shouting at us for? You couldn't even protect your own son, look at what a useless wreck you are."
The man clenched his fists, gritting his teeth, before slowly lowering his hands. Like an injured animal in the snow, he curled up in the corner and covered his face, weeping bitterly.
Before, the man was a teacher who educated others; now, he was just a father who had lost his child.
Xu Xiaoyou flipped a coin between her fingers, silently watching the scene.
"I say, Second Aunt, why are you being like this? Let's just settle down. Everyone is..."
After the village chief's death, the youth responsible for gathering everyone here naturally became the backbone of the group. Under the weight of everyone's stares, he couldn't easily back down. He stepped forward to speak, but the woman rudely interrupted him:
"Whose side are you on anyway!? You're a Qin, I really wasted my affection on you when you were little. If it weren't for me and the village chief talking everyone into it after the disaster at Qin Family Village, this place wouldn't have even taken you in!"
"That's right, Xiao Yong. Speak properly to your Second Aunt and apologize," the other middle-aged women chimed in.
Hearing this, a look of complexity and helplessness crossed Qin Yong's face. Finally, he let out a deep sigh and said no more.
The youths behind him also found the situation difficult. Everyone knew these women had loud voices and were best left alone. They had managed to stabilize the people's emotions with great effort; triggering another conflict now would only make things more troublesome.
The injured and the young girls in the health clinic.
The hyena girl avoiding her gaze.
The teacher who was acting completely out of character.
Those middle-aged women, and the youths led by Qin Yong.
If the puppeteer was in this room, who would it be?
Xu Xiaoyou pondered inwardly.
A bit later, the screams of a middle-aged woman woke those who were lightly sleeping.
"Someone stole my watch!"
Displeasure appeared on the faces of those who woke up. The girls in the clinic were at a loss as they saw the injured patients being disturbed. The patients groaned in pain, and the girls frantically tried to comfort them.
Tang Xin, who had been woken up, let out a few weak murmurs. She slowly opened her eyes and realized the girl she was leaning against hadn't slept at all.
Xu Xiaoyou sat against the wall, her expression calm, lost in thought.
"Who stole my watch!?"
The bloated woman raised her voice, her thick neck straining as she searched the room in a rage. She first rushed to the clinic area, forcing a search on the two young girls.
The two girls were terrified, trembling and unable to say a word. It was only when they saw the woman's hand reaching toward a patient that they hurriedly spoke up to stop her.
The woman glared at them fiercely. Avoiding Lin Sheng, who was covered in an aura of blood, she rushed over to the teacher and pointed at his face. "Was it you?"
"It must have been you who stole my watch!"
The man's eyes were dull, and he ignored her.
Seeing him like this, the woman snorted coldly. "Looking at your pathetic state, you probably wouldn't dare do such a thing."
Finally, her gaze wandered around and locked onto the hyena girl in the corner. The latter clicked her tongue and looked away.
"It was definitely you! I heard long ago that you hyenas have sticky fingers. I guess it’s true!"
"You must be the one who stole my watch!"
With that, the woman stepped forward to forcibly search the girl. Unexpectedly, the hyena girl cursed and slapped the woman directly across the face. "Old hag, what the hell is wrong with you? What does it have to do with me?"
"You dare hit me?"
The woman was stunned by the slap. She stared at the girl in disbelief, the fat on her face twisting as she reached out to claw at the girl's face and pull her hair.
Qin Yong couldn't stand it any longer. This time, his voice was stern and sharp. "Second Aunt, if you keep making trouble, you'll be on your own this morning!"
The woman ignored his words entirely, because she clearly saw her watch in the pocket of the hyena girl's tattered robes. She began screaming and trying to brawl with the girl.
Qin Yong stepped forward and pulled the two apart, dragging back the middle-aged woman who was screaming and acting like she wanted to fight to the death.
As the scene in the room grew more chaotic and the arguing intensified, the girl who had remained silent in the corner finally spoke:
"The puppeteer is among us."
Everyone in the room froze and looked toward Xu Xiaoyou. The impression she had left when she entered the settlement during the day was very deep. Lin Sheng, who had been resting with his eyes closed, also opened them and reached out to grip the decapitating blade standing beside him.
"Your relatives who died or turned into puppet monsters... it’s all connected to that puppeteer."
"He is the one who killed the people here. He is the one who caused this disaster. And now..."
Xu Xiaoyou slowly raised her head, her calm gaze scanning everyone. "That puppeteer is right here among us."
The expressions on everyone's faces varied. The woman, who was already on the verge of losing her mind, seemed to find an outlet for her rage. She rushed forward, pointed at Xu Xiaoyou's nose, and shouted in a gravelly voice:
"I think this puppeteer you're talking about is you!"
"It must be you! Otherwise, how do you explain how nothing happened to the village for all these years, but as soon as you people show up, everything goes wrong?"
The people in the room also cast strange looks, eyeing the three members of Xu Xiaoyou's group with suspicion.
What the woman said wasn't entirely without logic. The village had been peaceful for many years; the last time they were attacked by a pack of beasts was decades ago. It just so happened that the very night these people claiming to be from the Dawn Agency arrived, a disaster occurred. It was hard not to link them to the tragedy that had happened today.
Lin Sheng crossed his arms and asked coldly, "Who do you think it is?"
Xu Xiaoyou smiled and spread her hands. "I don't know. I can only be certain that the puppeteer is among these people."
Lin Sheng asked, "Then what do you plan to do?"
The image of the hysterical woman flashed through her eyes. Xu Xiaoyou's tone suddenly turned cold:
"It's simple. If we just get rid of them all, there's no way we'll miss him."
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