How You Can Sue Me for My Crimes in Dreams

”It’s cheap. This place is seriously cheap!”

”Years ago, I think it was right when Hanhai Province was starting to develop. They zoned a huge plot of land for some kind of project.”

”But then the internet wave hit, and even though the land was already zoned, they decided to develop the tourism industry instead.”

”So the land just sat here, unused. No one proposed any new plans, so they started leasing it out. I saw that it was cheap and met my requirements, so I decided to snatch it up.”

Wang Chao explained honestly.

He wasn’t planning on raising cattle or sheep.

Those two are hard to raise. Cattle... it’s tough for the average person to scale up that kind of business. Plus, the market for beef isn’t as big as for other meats. Even in Xu Huo’s past life, when ninety percent of people could afford to eat meat freely, beef wasn’t something you could just eat whenever you wanted.

Sheep, on the other hand, could work. Wool and all that is extra income. But there aren’t many places to graze sheep in Hanhai Province.

All the places suitable for grazing have been turned into golf courses. You can’t find a proper pasture anywhere.

If you raise them in pens, the meat quality is bound to be poor. And besides, the market for lamb isn’t exactly booming these days.

”Pigs!”

”They’re a necessity. When you mention meat, most people think of pork. It doesn’t matter what the quality is like—as long as it’s fresh, disease-free, and parasite-free, it’s good meat!”

Wang Chao said cheerfully, pointing at a looming, dark mountain in front of them.

”Plus, this is a great place to let the pigs roam around. It’ll make raising them a breeze.”

True, this place was safe for raising pigs, but...

”The next time you drag me out here in the middle of the night, I’m going to crack your skull open.”

Xu Huo cleared the weeds in front of him with a stick he’d picked up, his gaze on Wang Chao slowly turning hostile.

”But I have to work during the day...”

Wang Chao ducked his head and muttered under his breath.

Fortunately, the grassy areas weren’t very large, and they arrived after just a few steps.

A village faintly appeared before them, the shadows of various thatched-roof huts looming in the silent night.

The sky was pitch-black, a crescent moon hanging high above. The mountain wind howled in their ears, but the village before them was utterly silent.

It was as if all life had been swallowed by the darkness. Not even a dog barked.

Let alone a single glimmer of light.

”Where are the villagers?”

Xu Huo’s brow furrowed.

”Who knows? Probably moved away.”

Wang Chao said as he led the way.

”This place used to be really poor, apparently. That’s why the higher-ups came to acquire the land for economic planning. But that got delayed, so everyone moved into resettlement housing.”

”Of course, they might have just taken the money and gone who-knows-where. Maybe to other provinces, or maybe they even left the country.”

The place was deserted, which was why Chao Zi dared to set up his operation here.

The farther a meat production farm is from people, the better.

There was no other way. If a few bastards decided to poison his livestock or spread some infectious disease, he’d be ruined, completely bankrupt!

People these days would actually dare to do something like that!

If you start making money in a populated area, you’d better share the wealth with the local loafers and villagers. If you don’t, they’ll make good on their threats to poison your stock.

Sharing the money is unfair to you.

But if you don’t, the jealous ones will definitely come after you!

The best-case scenario is you just lose a head of livestock every few days.

Take fish ponds, for example. People don’t just steal your fish; they’ll dump poison straight into your pond!

If it’s just one person, it’s manageable. But if the entire village around the pond is full of bad apples...

Then no matter how cheap the lease is, even if they paid you to take it, Xu Huo would advise you to get out of there immediately.

Otherwise, they might even sue you for something.

”Look, this is it!”

Wang Chao reached the edge of the village and let out a sigh of relief. Then he took a deep breath, put his hands on his hips, and gazed at the empty plot of land before them.

”I’m planning to spend twenty thousand to build a pigsty here, then another ten thousand on piglets. After that, I’ll buy machinery and feed. I’ll spend the first two years gaining experience and looking for sales channels.”

Before them was an empty plot, right on the very, very edge of the village.

In the distance were only a few scattered thatched huts. The ground was littered with firewood and dead grass, looking utterly desolate.

”Stop rambling. Let’s check the place first and see if there are any dangers.”

Xu Huo said no more and turned back to search the area.

He hadn’t forgotten why he’d come here. It was to avoid running into *them* later, which would result in both of them going home in a box.

As for the inspection, it was actually quite simple.

Wang Chao looked left and right, then scrambled onto a thatched roof, standing at its highest point to look for something.

Then he jumped down and climbed a tree, looking around like a monkey.

”Be careful, don’t fall.”

Xu Huo warned him, then let out a sharp breath and twitched his nose.

The next second, the surrounding air flowed into his nostrils. He could faintly detect a musty, rotten smell entering his lungs.

There was the damp smell of mold, and also a foul stench.

He could even smell the scents of animals that had recently come down from the mountain.

But...

He could smell everything, but there was no scent of people.

Well, except for the two of them, of course.

’Looks like there’s nothing here...’

Xu Huo breathed a sigh of relief.

But before he could even finish the thought, the next second...

”Ah, fuck!”

A sharp cry rang out. Xu Huo glanced behind him.

He saw Wang Chao’s dark silhouette seem to lose its footing and collapse, but strangely, he sank right into the ground.

”What’s going on?” Xu Huo strode forward.

”Dammit, what kind of asshole covered this up?”

”That fall nearly killed me! Fuck, I thought it was a haystack and just jumped. How is it a giant pit...”

Wang Chao spoke through gritted teeth. He looked up and saw the round, bowl-sized opening of the hole.

What was this place?

A well.

A well with a diameter about one and a half times the width of an adult’s shoulders.

It was pitch-black inside, and you couldn’t see a thing. There was no water, and it wasn’t very deep, so the fall hadn’t been too painful.

Wang Chao rubbed his butt and prepared to climb out.

But just as he started to push himself up, a force from behind yanked him backward, making him stumble.

He looked back, but it was still pitch-black. Reaching out, he could only feel the dry wall of the well.

He tried again, but found that something was still pulling on him.

”Ah, fuck, this is creepy...”

A shiver ran down Wang Chao’s spine. He reached a hand up toward Xu Huo.

”Bro, give me a hand! I can’t get up!”

”Tsk. I told you to be careful, didn’t I? Now look at you, you fell in. Good thing the well isn’t deep.”

Xu Huo chuckled and reached out his hand. He was just about to pull...

When suddenly, a scent reached his nose, making him freeze.

He froze, his body stiffening. After a moment of silence, he shifted slightly to the right.

And at that exact moment, the moon, which had been obscured by clouds, revealed a sliver of itself.

Bright moonlight spilled down, draping everything in a pale, gauzy veil.

The light shifted, enveloping Xu Huo, covering Wang Chao, and illuminating...

A hand.

A...

hand hooked around Wang Chao’s waist.

The hand was pale, limp, and incredibly stiff. It was hooked onto Wang Chao, as if desperately trying to drag him down, to keep him in the well.

This was...

Xu Huo froze.

”Bro, what’s wrong?” Wang Chao asked, confused.

Xu Huo didn’t speak. He raised his other hand and gestured for him to look behind.

Wang Chao turned his head suspiciously, but at the very moment he did...

The next second, the contents of the well appeared before him.

A pile of faces!

No, to be more precise, a pile of pale, dead heads!

Five or six heads with dried blood crusting their orifices and skin like rotting flesh were piled on top of each other. From the bottom of the well, their hollow eyes stared up at Wang Chao and Xu Huo.

”FUCK!”

Wang Chao’s pupils constricted violently, and his body shot upward in a pure stress response.

But unfortunately, the hand behind him seemed to clamp down. With a single tug, he was yanked back down, landing in the pile of dead bodies.

He struggled again... The hand, like a deboned chicken foot, instantly had its rotting flesh slough off the bone, getting snagged on his belt loop.

Feeling the close-contact touch of skin against his, seeing the pale, rotting face—like a wad of thick phlegm—right in front of him, Wang Chao’s own face drained of color.

Outside the well, Xu Huo stared blankly at the scene.

There were five or six heads beneath Wang Chao...

There weren’t *only* five or six heads beneath Wang Chao!

On this dark and windy night, the pale moonlight spilled into the well.

It fell upon the twisted, overlapping, deformed bodies, illuminating pale, stiff faces with empty, vacant eye sockets.

Xu Huo shut his eyes.

This wasn’t a shallow well. It was a deep well that had been filled up...

A deep well filled to the brim with corpses!!!

”It’s... over...”

DING...

...

...

「At the same time, in Jiangsan City.」

”Xiao Li, retire? You’re still young! Your forties are your prime. Hurry up and get yourself to Linlan City tonight. The city bureau will reimburse your travel expenses.”

”What? Tired of working big cases?”

”Come on, Linlan City is a tourist town. What kind of major cases could a place like that have?”

”At worst, you had that explosion case that caused such a stir. That’s over and done with. What else could there be?”

In the Jiangdong District Criminal Investigation Division, Li Jianye, who was working overtime, couldn’t argue with the other person and could only sigh.

”Alright. But just so we’re clear, Chief, if a big case comes up, I’m definitely coming back.”

”Come on, there aren’t that many big cases. They’ll all be minor ones, I’m sure.”

”Now get going!”