That night, Qin Mubai brought three of his confidants, a hundred cavalry soldiers, disguised themselves and took an inconspicuous pony carriage out of the county seat of Ji County.
The important witness Liao Lirong was captured by Baiqi secretly ordered by Qin Mubai on his way to Chang'an to deliver a letter, and is now being detained in an inconspicuous small village more than thirty miles away from the county seat. Qin Mubai did not go to the interrogation last time, but only faked his confession, which basically confirmed the fact that he was involved in the case. Li Ke wanted to find the account book of transactions and inputs to ensure that there was nothing wrong. It can be seen that he was also cautious in this case and did not want to make any mistakes.
It was getting late, and the little carriage was walking alone on the inconspicuous mountain road, and the wheels of the carriage made a rustling sound on the road. Three soldiers took turns driving the carriage, while the others took a nap in the carriage.
Not far away, the Baiqi soldiers who were driving stopped the carriage and said to Qin Mubai: "General, we have arrived at Zhu Chengwen's gravesite. Do you want to get out of the car now to pay homage?"
"That's fine." Qin Mubai had previously told him to pay homage when he passed by. It won't be so conspicuous at night. Furthermore, Qin Mubai also wanted to find someone to understand something. After Zhu Chengwen was buried, did anyone come to visit his grave
Leaving one person to watch the carriage, Qin Mubai led one person to the other to Zhu Chengwen's cemetery.
Zhu Chengwen went north alone to serve as an official. After Qin Mubai and others arrived, he, a seventh-grade county magistrate, was buried with court etiquette. I chose a fairly good Feng Shui cemetery and asked an old hunter who lived nearby to help take care of it to prevent the grave from being washed away by mountains and rivers or dug up by wild animals. I usually scattered two pages of paper money from time to time. Weed the grave.
Qin Mubai and three other people came to the old Orion's house and knocked on the door.
The old hunter is alone, he is sixty years old, but his body is very strong. He lives alone in this mountain forest and goes up to the mountains to hunt for a living every day.
After opening the door, the old hunter saw the stranger in front of him and asked in confusion: "Where did these three distinguished guests come from?"
Qin Mubai smiled slightly: "Old man, we are official family members. We have been ordered to come to you to give you money and food. There are other things I want to ask you."
"Oh, it turns out to be the official master! Come in quickly!" The old Orion knew what was going on as soon as he heard it, and quickly welcomed Qin Mubai and the other three in. Qin Mubai asked his entourage to carry a bag of rice that had been prepared and gave him dozens of copper coins, which was regarded as payment for his "salary" for taking care of Zhu Chengwen's grave.
"Thank you, thank you so much!" The old Orion took the rice and bowed with tears of gratitude. He hurriedly wiped the porcelain bowl with his sleeves and poured tea for the three of them.
"There's no need to be busy, old man. Let's just ask some questions and leave right away." Qin Mubai said with a smile.
"It's so late at night, why rest here for the night before leaving?" The old hunter suddenly showed a look of horror, glanced out the window in a panic, and said in a low voice, "There is no peace in this forest recently, you three nobles Guests, why don't you just stay in this old man's house for one night? There are many people, so you won't be afraid of mistakes!"
"Mistake?" Qin Mubai frowned in surprise, "Why did the old man say this?"
The old hunter's movements stagnated for a moment, then he put down his tea bowl and carefully squatted beside Qin Mubai, whispering: "Recently, this forest has been... unclean!"
"Ha! No way!" Qin Mubai smiled, "Can it still be haunted?"
"Hey! -" The old Orion was so frightened that he sat back and sat back, "Young man, please don't talk nonsense in the middle of the night!"
"Okay, okay. I won't say anything. Don't be nervous, old man. Come sit down and tell me slowly if you have anything to say." Qin Mubai stepped forward to help him up, gave him a small piece of paper to sit on, and comforted him, "Perhaps you don't know this yet? We are the imperial commanders. We are imbued with the aura of the emperor and possess the power of the divine reed and dragon. We are not afraid of evil. If you have any hidden secrets, just tell me."
The two pawns behind Qin Mubai almost laughed out loud: Our general is really good at making things up!
"Really?" The old man seemed to have suddenly received a reassurance. He was no longer so panicked. He looked at Qin Mubai flattered and murmured: "So you are... the Hundred Cavalry General sent by the emperor? No wonder Tangtang Yi It’s so majestic!”
"Old man, if you have anything, please tell my general!" said a soldier, "My general has never been afraid of heaven and earth. All humans and ghosts are afraid of gods and Buddhas."
"Shut up!" Qin Mubai scolded angrily, turned to the old man and smiled, "Old man, if you have something to do, it's okay to say it. Although you live alone in this mountain forest, you are also a citizen of the Tang Dynasty. Since you If you have trouble, we have the responsibility to help you.”
"What a good man!" The old man nodded gratefully, swallowed hard, and whispered...
"Actually, the old man has been living here alone since his wife died twenty years ago, and he has no children. He is half buried in the loess, so he has nothing to fear. But a few nights ago, I went into the mountains to collect The hunter came back, but he was so frightened on the way that he almost fell ill."
"That night, I was carrying a bow and arrow and carrying a hare. When I passed the grave of the county magistrate Zhu Chengwen, I took a second look, fearing that some wild beast would dig up his new grave. But this glance didn't matter. I was so scared that I almost lost my soul!"
The old man's voice was low and nervous, and the atmosphere at the scene became a little weird and dull. Qin Mubai and the other three people were all very courageous after special training, but at this time they couldn't help but feel the hairs on their backs stand on end, and their backs were numb.
"Old man, what did you see?" Qin Mubai asked softly.
"I saw it!..." The old man suddenly opened his eyes and looked out the window nervously. After making sure there was nothing strange outside, he whispered nervously: "A female ghost was kneeling in front of Zhu Chengwen's grave, crying. "
"Female ghost?" Qin Mubai frowned, "Why do you think she is a ghost?"
"Why, why isn't it a ghost?" The old man was so nervous that he said hurriedly, "The old man was always brave and didn't expect it to be a female ghost. He thought it was one of Zhu Chengwen's relatives who came to pay homage to him in the middle of the night. So he went up I wanted to say hello and ask him if he wanted some scented wax paper money or something. Unexpectedly, I called out 'girl' as I approached, and then he disappeared."
"Swish?" Qin Mubai and the other three were stunned at the same time, "What kind of 'swish' method?"
"Just... that female ghost can fly!" The old man was so nervous that his hands were shaking. "Right in front of my eyes, with a swish, she disappeared and flew away! I was so scared that I... I almost... Peed my pants!"
The two pawns behind Qin Mubai suddenly looked at each other: "Is it really a female ghost?"
"Nonsense!" Qin Mubai shouted, "Why does the female ghost come to Zhu Chengwen to cry for nothing? She must be his relative or good friend. Haven't you heard that there are so many strange people in the world, and some people have a unique light skill? It’s not impossible with physical skills.”
"That's true," one of the soldiers said, "among the knights who travel around the world, many have Qinggong. The most famous one is the Chang'an hero Shi Wanbao during the Tang Dynasty. It is said that he has the Qinggong Kungfu to fly over walls and fly over walls. Like an eagle, it’s breathtaking.”
"Qing Gong?" The old man was startled and waved his hand hurriedly, "No, no, it's Qing Gong - it's just flying!"
"Okay, old man, don't be nervous. Now let's go to Zhu Chengwen's grave and take a look. We will know everything naturally." Qin Mubai patted him on the back, "You have a rest, there is no need to follow."
"Then you have to be very careful!!!" The old man was enthusiastic and followed him out the door with many instructions, for fear that something might happen to Qin Mubai and the others.
The night of late autumn is particularly desolate and decaying. The autumn wind carries the dead leaves flying in the forest, and the strange sound of rustling is endless. Although the forest is not big, it is very dense, and there is not much sunlight on weekdays. At night, the cold wind blows and the air becomes gloomy.
For an ordinary person who has an instinctive fear of darkness, walking in a place like this in the middle of the night would be frightening, let alone visiting graves. However, when Qin Mubai was training Baiqi, he always had special subjects to train his courage. It is like walking through a snake pit barefoot, using a wooden sign above your head as a target for people to shoot arrows, and so on. Therefore, the people of Baiqi are much more courageous than ordinary people.
Even so, including Qin Mubai, walking in such a gloomy place couldn't help but feel a little cold in his heart. The only difference from ordinary people is that the more terrifying and tense the place, the more calm they become, their eyes and ears listening in all directions, and their vigilance is unprecedentedly high.
The three of them walked to Zhu Chengwen's grave without saying a word, carrying some incense candles and paper money. I looked around and listened, but there was nothing unusual.
"General, no abnormality was found. The female ghost is not here!" the soldier said.
"Are you still looking forward to seeing her?" Qin Mubai smiled teasingly, "Maybe it's because the three of us grown men are so strong that she dare not come out! Stop talking nonsense and get down to business. "
"yes!"
The two pawns took out incense, candles and other items and got busy. Taking this moment, Qin Mubai walked around the grave and observed carefully, and found that there were some ashes with burned paper money on the grave. The grave was unusually clean without a trace of weeds, and the tombstone had been polished. I don’t know if the old Orion man took good care of him or if someone came to pay homage from time to time.
At this time, Qin Mubai found a trace of bright red blood on the simple wooden tombstone. Next to the blood stain, there was a trace of black silk, which was obviously scratched on accidentally.
"Jiangnan Lake silk?" Qin Mubai picked up the silk and looked at it for a long time, and said in surprise, "I have seen this kind of Lake silk with the best and unique texture at Li Ke's house. Generally speaking, It is more popular in the Jiangnan area, and Li Ke also brought it from Anzhou. Could it be that the people who came to pay homage to Zhu Chengwen were from Jiangnan? Then they are probably Zhu Chengwen’s family members!”
"General, that's it." The soldier lit the incense and candles, laid out the tributes, etc., and came to call Qin Mubai.
Qin Mubai thought for a moment, then deliberately raised his voice a little, and said: "The dead are the most important. Although I don't know whether you, Zhu Chengwen, are traitors or evil, I miss you and die in a foreign land and become a ghost, so I came here to pay my respects." You. I hope you are alive in heaven and can help me to thoroughly investigate this case and find out the murderer. Rest in peace!"
After saying that, Qin Mubai was ready to bow down.
At this moment, the three of them tilted their heads and stood upright at the same time, and grasped the handle of the knife in unison.
"Who?!!!" The three of them shouted angrily in unison, facing a certain direction in the darkness.
Because they all heard that there was a person, just like a ghost, walking towards this way silently!