The sworn ceremony was able to proceed normally thanks to the blind man's guidance. Afterwards, Lu Pingchuan thanked him again, and then everyone spread out straw and lay down to rest.
Mo Li and Lu Pingchuan lay in the northwest corner, Chu Huairou slept in the southwest corner, the mute slept alone in the northeast corner, Nanfeng and Changle slept in front of the statue, the fat man slept in the southeast corner, and the blind man slept on the right side of the palace door.
The bonfire gradually extinguished and the palace fell into darkness.
At the fourth watch, the blind fortune teller began to cough suddenly and violently.
Nanfeng heard that he was coughing uncomfortably, so he got up, revived the embers, and threw a few firewood in.
"Thank you." The blind man thanked him in a low voice.
"It's okay." Nan Feng returned to the sleeping place and wanted to lie down again, but suddenly found that Chang Le, who was sleeping next to him, was missing.
By this time, the rain had stopped. Nanfeng went to the latrine to have a look and found that Changle had not gone to the toilet.
"Old sir, someone in the house went out. Do you know when he left?" Nanfeng asked the blind man.
"Before I coughed," the blind man said calmly.
At this time, Nanfeng didn't have time to think about whether the blind man's cough was a coincidence or intentional, "In which direction did you go?"
"Going south," said the blind man.
Nanfeng became more and more anxious upon hearing this, and immediately woke up everyone. Everyone shouted loudly from near the main hall, but Chang Le did not come back.
"Before the sworn vows, he said that he didn't want to implicate us. Now it seems that there is something behind his words. Let's think carefully about whether someone has offended him recently. I suspect he is out for revenge." Lu Pingchuan speculated.
The fat man shook his head and said, "No way, he's been sick these days and hasn't been out much."
While the two were talking, the mute gestured to Nanfeng. Nanfeng understood, "The hatchet is gone, he went out with the knife!"
Everyone was shocked when they heard this and went out with knives at night. The matter was serious.
"I'll go out to look for him. Don't run around." Lu Pingchuan turned around and went out.
"I'll go with you." Chu Huairou followed.
"We're going too." Nanfeng, Fatty and the others also wanted to follow.
Chu Huairou turned around and waved to him, "You stay!"
Everyone stopped when they heard the sound. Chu Huairou and Lu Pingchuan were their leaders, and they would obey their orders.
Even if they stayed in the ruined temple, the four of them were still uneasy. Something like this had never happened before. They were worried that Chang Le would hurt others, and they were also worried that others would hurt Chang Le.
After the anxiety, Nanfeng calmed down and said, "Fat man, you were in the temple all day yesterday. What happened yesterday afternoon?"
"Nothing happened. After you left, Changle and I went to the woods behind to collect firewood. Then it started to rain, so we asked him to come back first," the fat man said.
"How was he feeling at that time?" Nanfeng asked again.
"Very good." The fat man replied.
"What was he doing when you came back?" Nanfeng asked again.
The fat man thought for a while and said, "When I came back, he was already lying down. I talked to him, but he ignored me. I thought he was asleep and didn't think much about it."
"Who else was in the temple when you came back?" Nanfeng asked.
"There is no one but himself." The fat man shook his head and said.
Nanfeng didn't ask any more questions. He wanted to find out what caused Changle's abnormal mood, but he seemed to have reached a dead end here.
After a while, the fat man suddenly remembered something, "No, someone came back. When I came back, I saw a packet of medicine on the table."
"I sent back that packet of medicine." Li Qiye said.
Nanfeng turned to look at Mo Li, "What was Changle doing when you came back?"
"Move the wood to the temple." Mo Li said.
"Have you spoken to him?" Nanfeng asked.
"As I said, I met my eldest brother when I came back. He was waiting for me on the street. The more anxious I was to leave, the more he refused to let me go. He pulled me and asked a lot of questions." Li Qiye was a little frightened.
"What did you ask? Speak slowly and don't be anxious." Nanfeng comforted him softly.
"He asked me where I got the medicine, and I said my eldest sister got it. He asked me where I got it, and I said it was at Jishi Pharmacy. Then he asked me if I had gone to the drug store with my eldest sister, and he also asked her where she stayed. How long have you been there, and you asked me why I came back, and I seem to have asked about other things, I can't remember." Li Qiye looked at Nanfeng timidly, "What I told is the truth, I'm not lying."
After Li Qiye finished speaking, Nan Feng tilted his head and looked at the fat man, "Did you see Chang Le knocking over the bowl of medicine with your own eyes?"
"Yes." The fat man nodded.
Nanfeng turned around and gestured to the mute, instructing her to stay in the temple to take care of Mo Li, then waved to the fat man, "Come on, follow me to Jishi Pharmacy."
"Why are you going to the drug store?" The fat man had not yet responded.
"Chang Le wants to kill the doctor at the medicine shop." Nan Feng rushed out.
By this time, the context of the matter was very clear. Changle suspected that the eldest sister used her body to change the medicine with the doctor in order to treat him. The reputation of the doctor at Jishi Pharmacy did not seem to be very good, which aggravated Changle's suspicion. Changle knocked over the bowl of medicine because he felt it was dirty, and the reason why he wanted to kill the doctor was not only to avenge his eldest sister, but also because his pride was hurt. Young men are men too, and some Humiliation is unbearable for men.
After leaving the ruined temple, Nanfeng started running as fast as he could. Jishi Pharmacy was only five miles away from the ruined temple where everyone was. They had been delayed for a long time before. Changle must have arrived at Jishi Pharmacy by now.
"Nanfeng, wait for me." The fat man called from behind.
Nan Feng was anxious and did not slow down.
The fat man yelled again, "We can't help if we go there empty-handed, we have to find someone."
"What guy are you looking for?" Nanfeng didn't look back.
"Of course he's the one doing the fighting. That old guy bullied my eldest sister, so I have to beat him to death." The fat man gasped for air and followed more and more reluctantly.
"Who can you beat?" Nanfeng frowned. He was indeed afraid that Changle would kill someone, but he was even more afraid that Changle would kill the wrong person. All of this was Changle's own guess. Whether this was the case or not was not yet certain.
Jishi Pharmacy is a large courtyard with front and rear courtyards. When we were still a hundred steps away from the pharmacy, a shrill scream came from the backyard of the pharmacy. The scream was made by a woman, which seemed extremely harsh in the quiet early morning.
When Nanfeng heard the sound, his heart trembled, and he rushed forward. Jishi Pharmacy has two doors, one is the main door to the south, and the other is the small door to the northwest. The small door is open at this time, and it is almost five o'clock. , the morning was hazy, and from outside the door, one could see a dead dog lying outside the kennel inside the door, and a dead chicken not far away. A closer look revealed that it was the one that everyone had killed during the sworn relationship last night.
Nanfeng didn't think much. After entering, he ran to the main room to the north. The door of the main room was also open. After rushing in, the scene in front of him made Nanfeng take a breath. A short and fat man wearing only shorts. The man fell to the ground five steps away from the door. His neck was almost cut off, leaving only some skin and flesh attached. There was blood everywhere in the room, and a middle-aged woman was cowering in the corner, trembling with fear, and begging for mercy incoherently.
Changle was standing in the middle of the room, grabbing the teapot on the table and filling it with water. The hatchet in his left hand was still bleeding.
This horrific scene scared Nan Feng to a standstill. The strong smell of blood in the room made him almost want to vomit. It was not until Chang Le put down the teapot that he realized what was happening. He rushed over and grabbed Chang Le, "Run quickly."
What he didn't expect was that Changle didn't run with him, but struggled to throw away his hand, "I won't leave, get out of here quickly."
Before Nanfeng could answer the call, the two drug store clerks had already run into the backyard from the front yard.
Nanfeng didn't care to speak and grabbed Chang Le's wrist again and dragged it out.
Changle is a head taller than Nanfeng, and much stronger than him. Normally, Nanfeng would not be able to drag him, but he is already ill, and the previous fights were all supported by a mouthful of anger. After it subsided, he almost collapsed and was dragged out of the room by the south wind.
When the two guys saw them coming out of the main room and Chang Le carrying a knife, they immediately knew something was wrong. One of the older ones grabbed a pole from the corner and asked, "Who are you?"
"Ah Fu, I was killed by them." A woman's cry came from the room.
The waiter named Ah Fu didn't dare to step forward when he heard the mistress's shouting. He grabbed the pole and shouted loudly, bluffing.
The young man didn't find the guy who was taking advantage of them, so he grabbed a broom in his hand and said, "I recognize them. They are the little beggars from the Earth Temple."
"I am the one who killed the person, it has nothing to do with my brothers. You can tie me up to see the officials." Chang Le tried to break away from Nan Feng's pull again.
Seeing the man rushing forward, Nanfeng snatched Chang Le's long knife and held it in his hand, "Don't come over here, don't come over at all."
The two guys were taller than the two of them. After seeing clearly that they were just half-grown men, their timidity gradually faded away and they shouted murder while trying to attack them.
The hatchet used by Nanfeng was only about a foot long, and the pole was much longer than the hatchet. Ah Fu swung the pole and beat him hard. Nanfeng dragged Changle, who was unwilling to leave, and it was difficult to dodge, so he was beaten one after another.
Just when Nan Feng was complaining incessantly, the fat man rushed in from outside the door, holding a door stick in his hand, and attacked Ah Fu from behind, knocking Ah Fu down with the stick.
"What are you doing standing there, run away." After the fat man succeeded in the sneak attack, he went to chase the other one.
Nanfeng took the opportunity and dragged Chang Le out. As soon as he went out, he found Lu Pingchuan and Chu Huairou running towards here from the north.
When the two of them got closer, they saw the hatchet in Nan Feng's hand and Chang Le, who had a blank look on his face, and vaguely guessed what happened.
"He killed the doctor?" Lu Pingchuan looked at Nanfeng.
"Kill." The arrival of the two men made Nanfeng feel more at ease. "Brother, they recognized us."
Lu Pingchuan frowned when he heard this, but he did not panic. After thinking quickly, he said, "The ruined temple can no longer live in. Huairou, you take Changle away. I will go back to the ruined temple and take away Mo Li and Big Eyes. Nanfeng, you Let’s go separately with the fat man.”
"Where will we meet?" Chu Huairou asked quickly.
Lu Pingchuan shook his head, "Together they are too conspicuous. If we go separately, each one will be counted as one if they leave."
Chu Huairou nodded heavily, pulling Chang Le and running south.
"Huairou, did Changle kill the wrong person?" Lu Pingchuan asked.
Chu Huairou turned around after hearing the sound, but she did not answer Lu Pingchuan's question. She just glanced at the two of them and pulled Chang Le away in a hurry...