That afternoon, Gaoshan County.
"Yawn..."
Because he had not slept all night and was on the road continuously, even the alchemist could not help but feel a little sleepy. Wei Wushuang patted his cheek, braced himself and said, "Finally we are here again - although we need to find out the source of the evil spirits, how should we proceed?"
"You guys make a reservation for tonight's accommodation first, and I'll go find an acquaintance to find out the situation." Xia Fan looked around for a moment, then walked towards the corner of the street.
"Do you have any acquaintances here?" Wang Renzhi asked unexpectedly.
"Well, we met on the day we got rid of the ghost."
"Brother Xia, is the inn available yesterday?"
Xia Fan didn't even look back and directly gave a thumbs up to show receipt.
After passing through the street with little traffic, he turned and turned into the alley. Li, who had arrived here first and was waiting, followed side by side, and at the same time handed over a hat of the same style.
Xia Fan kept walking, put on his hat and asked, "No one noticed you on the road, right?"
"No, this is not the first time I have traveled far away. But do you need to wear this? There is nothing to cover up, so I have to prepare an extra one."
"This is called identity equipment. Since we want to investigate this matter secretly, naturally we cannot wear the official uniform of the Privy Council."
"Then what are we now?"
Xia Fan glanced at the fox demon whose face was half-hidden under the black gauze, and raised the corners of his mouth slightly, "How about the knight?"
Li stayed for a long time before shaking his head and muttering, "I always feel that you have unrealistic illusions about me and yourself."
"What did you say?"
She looked away, "No, it's nothing. Have you figured out what to do?"
"Not yet, but there have been six evil incidents that required the Privy Council to dispatch in three years, and it is really strange that they are all concentrated in one county. You told me that evil spirits do not happen for no reason, and I asked the locals, There have been no major disasters in the past three years, and the weather has always been smooth." Xia Fan analyzed, "Since such frequent evil spirits have made some people miserable, maybe we can ask them some questions that we have ignored. Information."
It didn't take much effort for him to find a family of county residents that he had "sponsored" the day before yesterday.
"Hello, is there anyone in the house?" Xia Fan knocked on the door.
"May I ask who it is..." An old voice came from inside.
"I'm Xia Fan, I don't know—"
"Ah, it turns out to be my benefactor!" The door opened quickly, and standing inside was an old man in his sixties with a wrinkled face - in this era, a person of this age can already be said to have lived a long life. , "Thanks to your help, my land can be saved. Please come in quickly, please come in quickly! Aren't you on duty today?"
"I have a day off today. Isn't Chow Tai Fook at home?" He vaguely remembered that the sponsor's name should be this.
"My unscrupulous son is still busy in the fields. Is my benefactor looking for him for something?"
It turns out that this person is Chow Tai Fook's father, Xia Fan thought to himself. At the same time, he noticed the raised calluses on the other person's fingers and the brown skin exposed outside his clothes. Apparently this old man has also been working in the fields for a long time, but now that he is old, he can no longer take on the heavy physical work.
"I just want to ask him about something."
"Oh haha, then you ask me the same thing. I grew up here since I was a child. If Dafu knows, I must know it too."
"So annoying."
"Hey, why are my benefactors so polite? I'm afraid I've wronged my benefactors in this small place."
"I'll be guarding the door." Li La lowered the brim of her hat and glanced at Xia Fan.
Xia Fan nodded, bent down and walked into the house.
The surrounding air suddenly became much cooler. There was not much light inside, and only a few wisps of light from the roof could be seen. The ground underfoot was uneven, and it was obvious that the ground had not been treated, and it still retained the dirt from when the house was built. But its surface has become dark and solid over decades of trampling.
As the old man said, this house is indeed not big. The hall is only three or four meters square, and a set of old cabinets and square tables have to be packed in. Even if you add the back room, woodshed and toilet, it probably won't be much spacious. From the ancient furniture and furnishings, it is enough to estimate the level of their family. It is difficult to imagine that the other party has been farming here all his life.
"My dear friend, I don't have tea here, I only have well water to drink."
"Water will do." Xia Fan found a chair and sat down.
He staggered and scooped up a bowl of water, handed it to Xia Fan, then returned to the threshold and sat down, "My dear friend, what do you want to ask?"
"I mainly want to know about the evil spirits. Do you remember any unusual things that have happened in the past few years? Especially around the time when the evil spirits appeared."
"Hmm... I have to think about this." The old man pondered for a moment and then began to slowly describe the evil incident in Gaoshan County. Although his speech was slow, his words were quite clear and it was not difficult to understand. This lecture lasted for more than two hours and spanned nearly eight years.
Throughout the entire narrative, Xia Fan did not get much information about the abnormal death. In addition to regular deaths such as death from old age and illness, the deaths and injuries caused by neighborhood disputes, petty theft, and secret rape mentioned by the old man were also extremely limited, and they were basically dealt with quickly by Magistrate Hu. If we put aside the "evil tax" aspect, Hu Huairen can be regarded as a diligent parent official.
Wei Wushuang was actually right - apart from being frequently invaded by evil spirits, life here had hardly caused any disturbance.
Could it be that this place is naturally suitable for breeding evil spirits
No, evil spirits are not a theory of Feng Shui, but are actually caused by Qi. Even if it is a recurring cycle of evil nights, it must be based on tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of dead people.
And Chow Tai Fook's father continued to talk about evil spirits that harm people.
"Going further, it was sixteen years ago... when Dafu was just a baby. At that time, it seemed that the Qujiang River overflowed its embankments, and a water ghost rushed towards us... "
"Wait a minute," Xia Fan suddenly noticed something strange, "The last time eight years ago was sixteen years ago?"
"I won't remember this wrong. It wasn't long after Dafu was born. He is only seventeen years old now."
"Then - what about further forward?"
"Well," the old man said with a thoughtful expression, "It's hard to remember, but it should be five or six years at least."
Isn't this frequency difference too much
Xia Fan made some mental calculations, and if he counted up the evil incidents mentioned by the other party, there would be only two incidents from eight years ago to twenty years ago, and a total of eleven incidents from eight years ago to now, and they become more and more concentrated as time goes by. , for example, there have been six cases in the past three years.
What happened
"So... Gaoshan County hasn't seen many evil spirits before?"
"Not really," the old man rubbed his neck. "There were quite a few when I was a child. I probably lived a stable life for more than ten years in the middle. But it was better than now. At least there was no evil tax. The Privy Council House If the officials are too busy, we will pool money to hire the more famous Taoist priests in the state to eliminate the disaster, but now, alas..." He sighed deeply, "There are not many good people like you anymore. .”