Struck by Lightning

To confirm that the Jin Huo Ma Master Tang mentioned was the same person, Huang Xiaotao had someone send a photo of Jin Huo Ma to her phone, then showed it to Master Tang.

Master Tang nodded vigorously: "Yes, that's the kid."

I asked: "Do you have any recent photos of him?"

Master Tang laughed: "I don't have a phone with a camera function like you guys." Then he took out an antique Nokia phone and flashed it at us.

I asked again: "Did you know Jin Huo Ma before?"

Master Tang paused slightly, scratched his nose and said, "No."

I sneered, finally catching the fox by the tail. I stared straight at him and shouted, "You're lying!"

"No, no, I'm really not lying, I swear to God!" Master Tang said in fear.

"Swearing means nothing. Come back to the police station with us!"

Frightened by me, Master Tang immediately confessed. It turns out he's not a man of strong will. He hung his head dejectedly and said, "I admit it, Jin Huo Ma and I are actually from the same hometown."

Huang Xiaotao said in surprise: "This is such an important clue. Why didn't you mention it before?"

"Mainly because he has a weird habit that I look down on..."

Master Tang said Jin Huo Ma started working outside the village when he was a teenager. On construction sites with only men, what else could a group of bachelors talk about at night besides women? Jin Huo Ma was among those who loved to discuss women, and often looked at dirty magazines.

Over time, Jin Huo Ma became sallow and thin, with dark eye circles, suffering from premature ejaculation before he was even twenty.

Later he saved up some money from work and brought back a very sultry woman from the city. Everyone said Jin Huo Ma was lucky to marry such a vixen.

But some people revealed that this woman actually had a shady background. She married Jin Huo Ma purely to get the few acres of land his family had left.

Later it was discovered that the couple often quarreled. Some idle gossipers started spreading unfounded rumors.

The woman was unfaithful and began flirting with other men in the village. Soon she cheated on Jin Huo Ma and cuckolded him multiple times.

Jin Huo Ma was extremely upset. During that time when he walked around the village he kept his head down without a word. Whenever Master Tang saw him, he felt sorry for him.

But later something happened that not only made Master Tang stop pitying him, but also felt disgusted and looked down on him in his bones!

One morning, Master Tang saw Jin Huo Ma digging something on the back hill. When Master Tang went over to greet him, Jin Huo Ma quickly tucked it into his clothes with the look of a thief caught red-handed.

Master Tang felt strange at the time. After Jin Huo Ma left, he examined carefully and discovered that the debt-claiming ghost buried by the Old Li family a few days ago had been dug up.

At this point, I interrupted him and asked, "What is a debt-claiming ghost?"

"It's... it's..." Master Tang stammered, "A dead baby."

Huang Xiaotao and I were both shocked. Master Tang continued that infant deaths were common in rural villages. The villagers called them debt-claiming ghosts. These dead babies didn't even have coffins but were buried directly with cow and pig manure. Large rocks were also placed on the graves to prevent the debt-claiming ghosts from coming back.

Some families would invite Taoist priests to conduct rituals with chicken blood, black dog blood, talismans, etc. to suppress the ghosts and prevent them from haunting again.

Hearing this, I thought to myself that probably not all of these dead babies simply died prematurely. Some undesirable local customs still exist in rural areas today, combined with son preference, I've heard that some places drown deformed babies or unwanted daughters in the toilet.

I didn't interrupt Master Tang's account. He went on to say that when he checked several graves, he found all the dead babies were gone. Recalling the strange smile Jin Huo Ma showed him earlier, Master Tang suddenly felt creeped out!

Master Tang wasn't one to gossip. He went straight to Jin Huo Ma's home to question him about this. Jin Huo Ma begged Master Tang not to tell anyone, and admitted what happened.

He didn't know where he saw this folk prescription claiming it could cure illnesses. Originally he only wanted to cure his own condition, but after tasting it, he became addicted.

Master Tang said when Jin Huo Ma told him this, there was a bizarre smile on his face and a green light shining in his eyes, which was terrifying.

Master Tang scolded Jin Huo Ma harshly and told him to get out of the village immediately, otherwise he would tell everyone and Jin Huo Ma would certainly die without a place to be buried!

That night Jin Huo Ma left. Master Tang had kept this a secret in his heart. Every time he thought about it he felt disgusted and creeped out.

Throughout this, I observed Master Tang's expressions. Everything he said was true.

At this point, Master Tang lit a cigarette and took a deep drag, "I've seen it before in the village, dogs that eat dogs will go mad. Some immoral cattle farmers mix cattle blood into feed to fatten the cows faster, but those cattle will go mad in the end. I reckoned that people who eat other people will eventually become abnormal too."

I said, "One's own kind cannot be cannibalized. It's a law of nature, probably to ensure the survival of the species. Eating one's own kind will trigger the secretion of aninversion hormone, which is toxic."

Master Tang nodded, "You are more knowledgeable in science, which I don't understand. All I know is that cannibalism will incur divine retribution!"

I asked, "Since you knew Jin Huo Ma's true nature, why did you still buy pork from him? Weren't you afraid he might mix in other stuff?"

"Alas!" Master Tang sighed repeatedly: "I had no choice. That bastard Jin Huo Ma owed me 100,000 yuan which he couldn't pay back, so he used meat to offset the debt... "

Master Tang said he didn't expect Jin Huo Ma was also working in Nanjiang City after leaving the village. Since then Jin Huo Ma had become a wreck, starting drinking and gambling, owing 100,000 yuan in gambling debts. Master Tang was also blinded by lard and took pity on him. At Jin Huo Ma's repeated pleading, he took out the money he saved to build a house in his hometown to help Jin Huo Ma pay off the debt.

100,000 yuan was a huge sum for Master Tang. His wife and children were still living in a rammed earth house in their hometown. Master Tang was anxious and pressed Jin Huo Ma to repay the money several times, but Jin Huo Ma said he simply couldn't save up money. How about using goods to offset the debt? He happened to work at the Meat Union Factory and offered to deliver Master Tang 10 jin of pork every day, calculated at 20 yuan per jin.

The market price for pork was 25 yuan per jin, so it was a great deal. Moreover, the meat came straight from the Meat Union Factory and was very fresh. Master Tang agreed on the spot. Sometimes Jin Huo Ma delivered slabs of pork, sometimes minced meat. Later there was more and more minced meat. Master Tang never imagined it could be human flesh!

Huang Xiaotao asked, "Can't you tell the difference in taste between human flesh and pork?"

Master Tang said woefully, "For a period I did feel the meat tasted a bit off, but I didn't think much of it. How could I ever imagine that scrawny bastard would murder people!"