Corpse Recovery Diver

Next, the three groups began reporting their investigation results.

Xue Liangliang checked the construction site, which appeared mostly normal. Of course, since the site was still under suspension, it was hard to detect anything unusual.

However, Xue Liangliang and Lin Shuyou noticed some details, like many corners of the site having altars and incense burners, and some places had talisman paper stuck on them.

This indicated that the construction company had some suspicions about the frequent accidents on the site and had probably invited some local master to perform rituals for protection, though it hadn't worked.

Tan Wenbin collected a lot of useful information during his visit to the village.

On New Year's Eve, some villagers claimed to have seen Cui Hao and Li Ren in the nearby mountains because they were wearing work uniforms, and only the technicians in the construction team wore such clothes in the village.

Yet, when someone called out to them, the two ran away like frightened animals, leaving the villager doubting his eyes.

Another villager said that on the second day of the lunar year, after going back to his wife's family and returning the next day, he found a lot of their holiday goods stolen but money was left on the table.

Tan Wenbin suspected that Cui Hao and Li Ren might still be alive, but they're hiding in the mountains, afraid to show up in the village.

The ones stealing things and leaving money were likely them, given their questionable survival skills as outsiders compared to local village children.

Additionally, the villagers reported that in recent years, not only in their village but also in nearby villages and towns, there have been persistent rumors about a child-snatching old woman.

The story was about children encountering a shabbily dressed old woman while playing, who would take their hands and ask questions.

The bolder children would break free and run, while the timid ones would cry, drawing adults.

However, no adult had ever seen this woman, and no known cases of real child abductions emerged in recent years.

The children often forgot about it after a night's sleep or exaggerated the tales over time.

Adults saw it as children's mischievous fibs, possibly intensified by grand storytelling about the "Old Transgender" from households, causing children to believe every old woman they saw was her.

Normally, the villagers wouldn't bring this up, but one family strongly believed their child who claimed to have seen the Old Transgender wasn't lying.

It was right after the New Year, when their daughter, son-in-law, and grandson living in another province returned to the village to visit them.

Their grandson, who didn't even speak the local dialect and couldn't play with village kids, arrived at night. By morning, he claimed that an old woman pulled him outside during the night and patted him all over, saying "No, not satisfied."

The grandson was so scared he developed a fever, prompting the daughter and son-in-law to leave the village early with him.

Drinking mates commented that the daughter and son-in-law couldn't handle mountain life. The father retorted, claiming his daughter was doing well and his son-in-law helped chop wood and do chores, without city folks' airs. It was just unfortunate timing for his grandson encountering the Old Transgender.

Li Zhiyuan shared his experiences in the Miao village.

Tan Wenbin flicked off ash from his cigarette and remarked with a laugh:

"Seems like this Old Transgender tale is the Grimm's Fairy Tales of Yun, Gui, and Chuan kids."

Run Sheng, who had been munching on compressed biscuits, took a long drink of water and sighed. By day, he functioned like a tractor; now he'd finally refueled.

While eating, he had been listening intently, though most of it went in one ear and out the other, but some stuck in his mind.

Run Sheng burped and said:

"She's acting like she's picking children."

...

In a damp underground cave, thick liquid occasionally oozed from the surrounding rock walls, eventually forming crystal-clear stalactites.

Below, there was a tiny shrine.

The clear shimmering runes around the shrine were now mottled and faded.

The thick, heavy iron chains on the central platform were all broken and decayed.

A disheveled woman sat there, her skin rough and cracked, with some gashes so deep her bones were visible.

She hung her head, patting her belly with her hand.

"Slap! Slap! Slap!"

With each pat, her belly swelled bigger and bigger, the skin became transparent, like glass, revealing what lay inside.

Inside was a baby, eyes closed, body pitch black, silent and still.

The woman's hands kept rubbing her transparent belly, her left eye fierce and sinister, while the right eye showed kindness and compassion.

"Child, after so many years, mother has finally found a satisfactory you.

Mother will keep showing him to the mirror, so you can become him precisely.

You'll love how he looks and everything about him because he's both handsome and smart, hehe…"

As the woman spoke and rubbed, the black hue of the child's skin slowly faded, turning to the texture of an ordinary normal child, growing continuously from infant to child, presenting an utterly discordant sensation.

Although his size matched a real five-year-old child, he was still in the woman's belly, yet to be born.

Moreover,

The child's appearance had developed a strong resemblance to Li Zhiyuan,

———

This chapter is short, so don't worry; there is another one during the day to cover today's word count.