Hearing the scream, the villagers immediately rushed to Widow Ma's house. Since the courtyard gate was locked tight, a few young men scaled the wall to get inside and open it. A crowd of people then flooded into the bedroom, where they saw a sight they would never forget for the rest of their lives—Mage Zhang was kneeling naked before the bed with a pistol in his mouth. The back of his head had been blown open, and blood pooled on the floor. And Widow Ma was huddled in terror at the foot of the bed against the wall, trembling violently.
The villagers were quite the gossips and immediately started chattering amongst themselves.
"I didn't hear anything about Widow Ma seeing someone. Who's this guy?"
"Exactly! Ever since her husband died, plenty of people have tried to set her up with someone, but she turned them all down. Where did this guy come from? And how did he die?"
