Bo Ruoyou was so shocked that she froze on the spot, but the deep worry in Huo Weilou's eyes hadn't dissipated yet. He looked her up and down very quickly, and saw that she was still in good health before raising his brows slightly, and then looked behind her, only Zhou Liang Looking at a servant, his eyes suddenly darkened, "Are only a few of you here?"
Only then did Bo Ruoyou slowly come back to her senses, she put down her hand on the door bolt, nodded first, and then asked in a difficult voice: "Why did Lord Hou come here?"
Her eyes were terrified and frightened, but at this moment they were brightly lit, looking at Huo Weilou motionlessly, the most tense strings were broken, and she was still a little dazed, even though she was asking him, she still felt like a dream.
Huo Weilou looked at her deeply, "You haven't returned to Beijing for two days, why do you think I came here?"
Bo Ruoyou's heart became hot, and she still looked at him without blinking. It turned out that only two days had passed, but the first time she saw him just now, she felt like years had passed, Huo Weilou's words meant Clearly, her slow-response heart beat violently twice, and only then did she feel that her hands and feet had warmed up after being overly frightened just now, and then the tip of her nose felt a little sore.
Seeing that she only looked at him but didn't speak, Huo Weilou's eyes changed from unexpected to joyful, and now there was a look of forbearable grievance, his heart softened, and he couldn't help but leaned over to hold her hand. Her palms were covered with cold sweat, and he saw that she was still in panic, so his voice softened, "How is the current situation?"
Bo Ruoyou's expression was lifted by this statement, Huo Weilou is here! There is even more hope for finding Wu Xiang's disappearance!
She took a deep breath to force herself to calm down, and quickly explained: "This village is weird, they should be people who escaped from a village that had a plague many years ago, and the dead babies were used as sacrifices by them. I didn't know it when I came here, but I found something unusual during the investigation, and I stayed here for two days, and now I can be sure that they have done other evil things, but the most important thing is that Wu Butou disappeared—"
Her tone became more and more urgent, and she subconsciously grabbed him with her backhand, "Wu Butou followed Granny Zhang out of the house two hours ago, and later Granny Zhang came back, but Wu Butou never came back. We have found two families, of which A pair of brothers are also missing, I suspect that the two brothers are going to attack Wu Butou."
Her voice became tense, her eyes were even more anxious, she was asking for help from him, Huo Weilou understood it, and her voice became a little slower, "Don't worry, someone knows where Wu Xiang went."
Bo Ruoyou froze with anxiety, "Who knows?"
Huo Weilou turned to look at the gate of the courtyard, "Bring people in!"
After finishing speaking, two servants of the Marquis's Mansion came in with a man, who had already been tied up and covered with mud stains. Bo Ruoyou recognized this man as he was the eldest brother of the Wu family.
Huo Weilou said: "On the way here, I happened to meet them. He was taking his sister on a night walk. We were asking for directions, but we saw his flaws. Then we found out that you were indeed in this mountain after using some tricks."
It was only now that Bo Ruoyou was thinking about seeing the people who came with Huo Weilou. This time Huo Weilou was not carrying embroidered emissaries, but servants of the Marquis Mansion. The others were also wearing ordinary clothes, and they did not see any dragon decorations. In front of these attendants, he still held her hand tightly, Bo Ruoyou knew it was impolite, but the thought of her struggling only came up for a moment and then died down.
The eldest brother of the Wu family was pushed and knelt on the ground by his attendants. At this moment, he was no longer as honest as he had seen in the daytime. His face was pale and his head was covered with cold sweat. Dangerous building.
How could Huo Weilou be moved by his expression, he asked without changing his face: "Do you know where Wu Butou went?"
The elder brother of the Wu family still stared at him, but Huo Weilou didn't have much patience. He glanced out of the courtyard, although he didn't say anything, it immediately changed the face of the eldest brother of the Wu family, and he swallowed hard, "Go to the black He went to the water pool with Aunt Zhang, and we found out later that he had escaped from the steep slope beside the road, but there is also a cold pool below, if he didn’t know how to swim, he might have drowned already.”
After Huo Weilou finished listening, he turned around and asked Bo Ruoyou, "Do you know where the Black Water Pool is?"
Bo Ruoyou nodded immediately, then turned around and told the yamen servant, "Did you hear that? Go find Hou Yang and ask him to look for Butou Wu near the Black Water Pool. He will definitely find him."
Huo Weilou ordered a few more servants from the Marquis Mansion to follow, and the group of six quickly left the courtyard.
Looking at the direction of the gate of the courtyard, Bao Ruoyou was still nervous, Huo Weilou squeezed her palm: "Don't worry, as long as there is no accident, you will definitely be found. The yamen's head catcher is quick and quick, and he won't do it so easily." .”
Bo Ruoyou raised her eyes to look at him, her eyes were full of trust, and she responded in a low voice.
Huo Weilou looked at her, the more he looked at her, the more uncomfortable he felt, so he stepped into the door, saw Zhang Yu, and heard someone yelling and scolding in the inner room, Bo Ruoyou explained the identities of the two, Huo Weilou frowned , looked at the empty wing on the other side.
He ordered someone to go inside to light the lamp, and when the lights in the wing room were lit, he dragged Bo Ruoyou into the door, and the attendants retreated tactfully, and there were only two of them left in the room. The back really relaxed.
The room was simple and simple, Huo Weilou took her to sit on an open chair, and then pulled a chair for himself to sit in front of her.
The two were almost facing each other, Huo Weilou spread her palms, brushed the wet sweat on them, and looked up at her again, "If I come tonight, will you wait here all the time?"
Bo Ruoyou thought of a moment ago, and couldn't help trembling her fingertips again, nodded and said: "Yes, there is a very high possibility that something happened to Wu Butou, so I asked others to go to him first. Just now, Lord Hou came, I thought …”
Huo Weilou held her hand tightly, "You thought someone from the village came?"
Bo Ruoyou let out a "hmm", seeing his pulsing eyes, bewildered enthusiasm on his face, and fearing that he would think he was timid, he continued: "The people in this village look very simple, They also don’t leave the village all year round, but they not only believe in gods and use babies as sacrifices, but also do other evil things, most of them are people who escaped from the plague village, and all the original villagers here were murdered by them.”
"All of them add up to only a dozen people, but they murdered the entire Heishui Village. After occupying the magpie's nest, they have lived here for so many years. If we hadn't found this place this time, the world would be afraid No one knows about this, the house we live in, that old lady, actually used her own granddaughter to sacrifice to the river god..."
The more Bo Ruoyou talked, the more creepy she felt, and sighed: "They all look simple and honest, but they are all murderous people. For those weird gods, they even don't hesitate to their own relatives, so I find it scary."
This is indeed the scariest part of this village. Bo Ruoyou didn't have to say what he was thinking, but he said so much unconsciously. After he finished speaking, his heart felt relieved. Huo Weilou squeezed her again after hearing it Palm, "The village you mentioned was plagued by the plague, but it's called Guzhang Village?"
Bo Ruoyou was startled, "Master Hou knows?"
Huo Weilou nodded, "You didn't come back all night the first night, so I felt something was wrong, so I went to ask the yamen why he left the city, and then I learned that Wu Xiang had found out about Guzhang Village's belief in the river god, and it happened that this time I have read the dossier about the plague in Guzhang Village."
Bo Ruoyou was a little puzzled, so Huo Weilou told about the plague in the land of two lakes five years ago, and continued: "I read this file at the time, but I didn't look at it carefully because it didn't start from the flood, but this village I But I have some impressions."
Bo Ruoyou understood, "Wu Butou wanted to send someone to the Qinshui county government office, but he didn't send someone to ask because of lack of manpower. He thought that he would return to the capital tomorrow, but he didn't want something to happen tonight."
Huo Weilou listened and sighed, "You are right to be vigilant, this place is remote, and they are all desperadoes, but if they move their minds, there will be no room for it. I will find out about Guzhang Village in the afternoon, see you at dusk You didn’t worry about bringing people out before you returned to the city, and there were no traces along the way. If Guzhang Village started from the capital, it would not be the way you walked. for you."
Bo Ruoyou was a little moved. They only came to this mountain village after stopping and stopping. It must have been very difficult for Huo Weilou to travel all the way at night, but he still arrived tonight, when she was most frightened, and her heart was burning hot. On the face, he asked: "Master Hou came out like this, will it delay Lord Hou's business?"
Huo Weilou laughed, "Even if it's delayed, I should come."
Bo Ruoyou's face was slightly red, and the corners of her lips moved a few times before finally saying: "I was a little scared at first, but now that Master Hou is here, I am not afraid anymore."
Huo Weilou tightened his grip on her hand, and there was some heat in his eyes, he looked at her deeply for a moment, but he just said: "If this is the case, then I think it's worth it."
Bo Ruoyou's panic disappeared at this moment. Looking at Huo Weilou in front of her, she felt inexplicably that the edges and corners of his body were soaked in tenderness. She didn't know if it was because she hadn't seen him for two days. She glanced outside: "Master Hou, this time, They are all servants of the Marquis Mansion."
She had always seen him running around with embroidered clothes, but this was the first time she saw him without any embroidered clothes.
The corners of Huo Weilou's lips curved slightly when he heard this, "Only Wu Zhaohou wears embroidered clothes."
Bo Ruoyou was inexplicable, "You are Wu Zhaohou..."
"Yes and no."
Huo Weilou's tone was unpredictable, and Bo Ruoyou hadn't reacted yet, but someone had come back from the yard outside, both of her expressions changed, Huo Weilou let her go first, "I'm afraid Wu Xiang has news."
Bo Ruoyou's hand was released, and she was a little surprised, she thought he would ignore these things...
She was anxious to see who was coming back, so she walked out first, and when she got out, she saw Hou Yang immediately, and Hou Yang quickly stepped forward, "Girl, I found the head catcher! It's really at the Black Water Pool!"
After finishing speaking, Hou Yang saw Huo Weilou standing behind Bo Ruoyou, his expression changed, and he hurriedly saluted.
Huo Weilou waved his hand, Bo Ruoyou asked anxiously: "How about arresting the head?"
Hou Yang nodded, "No injury, just fell into the water, and then was blocked by the two brothers of the Zhang family, the arrester caught one of them, but was run away by the other one, the other one is still there now, because the arrester When the head fell into the pool, human bones were found in the pool, and their altar was also found, the head arrester asked the girl and Lord Hou to take a look."
Bo Ruoyou breathed a sigh of relief first, then was startled, human bones? altar
She hurriedly turned her head to look at Huo Weilou, "Master Hou, do you want to go?"
Huo Weilou nodded, and ordered Hou Yang, "Lead the way."
Leaving two attendants to watch Granny Zhang and the others, Bo Ruoyou and Huo Weilou left the courtyard, and as soon as they left the courtyard, they found that besides Huo Weilou's horses, there was an ox cart parked outside the courtyard, and the ox cart fell asleep. The individual is the younger sister of the Wu family. She has been ill in bed for many years, and now she is sleeping paralyzed on the bullock cart wrapped in a quilt, with the quilt covering her head and face.
It was only then that Bo Ruoyou understood why the elder brother of the Wu family was so obedient. She had never seen the younger sister of the Wu family that day, so she wanted to go and see it now. As she was going, Huo Weilou stopped her, "Don't go and see Yes, she was ill."
Bo Ruoyou also wanted to confirm this matter, but seeing Huo Weilou said so, he dismissed the idea, and this place is not far from the Black Water Pool, so they walked all the way to the Black Water Pool. On the way, Bo Ruoyou asked: "Hou Since I have read the dossier, I should know what happened to the plague in Guzhang Village back then."
Huo Weilou nodded, "It happened fifteen or sixteen years ago. At that time, not only Guzhang Village, but also several villages around Guzhang Village were also sick. It's just that the location of Guzhang Village is convenient for closing the mountain, so the government sent all the patients to the hospital. They were sent to Guzhang Village, and several exits were sealed to prevent them from coming out, and people from outside were not allowed to enter."
At this point, his voice became heavy, "You have studied medicine, you should know that this kind of plague can only be treated in this way. After closing the mountain, it was to make the people in the village self-sufficient. Because of the strangeness of this plague, some people will die, but some people can survive here, and it has been sealed up for more than half a year, but none of the people in this village survived."
"The situation in the village is very tragic. Those who died early have almost turned into bones. The government sent people into the village to collect the corpses and buried more than a hundred people. Since then, Guzhang Village and its surrounding mountain villages have become deserted. land."
What Huo Weilou said was almost the same as Bo Ruoyou's guess, she sighed: "At first I thought everyone was dead, but that's not the case, some people escaped, came here, and even killed the villagers here—"
What happened to Guzhang Village is a tragedy, but the villagers here are so innocent. The two of them were silent for a while, but the sky turned gray at this moment. This frightening long night is finally coming to an end, and the sky is about to dawn!
When they reached the Black Water Pool, more sunlight would come out through the clouds, and there was no need to light torches. Hou Yang led the way, and along a winding path, the group arrived at the deep pool under the Black Water Pool. Ruoyou saw the stone statue of the child and the brothers of the Zhang family who were lying beside him. He was injured on his forehead, blood flowed all over his face, and he collapsed weakly at this moment.
Wu Xiang was standing on the edge of the pool, dripping wet, looking into the bottom of the water. Hearing the sound of footsteps, he turned around. When he saw Huo Weilou, Wu Xiang stepped forward in disbelief, "It is said that Master Hou has arrived, Xiao People still can't believe it, it's really Lord Hou! The villain pays homage to Lord Hou!"
Huo Weilou waved his hand, and Wu Xiang said anxiously: "Has this case alarmed Lord Hou? Or is it because the villain wasted time, so Master Sun asked Lord Hou for help?"
Huo Weilou said indifferently: "No, this case is still your Yamen's case, and the envoy will not intervene."
"Then the Marquis—"
Wu Xiang didn't understand, but she didn't dare to be careless.
Huo Weilou frowned slightly, and then said solemnly: "This Marquis is not here for official business, but for private business."
private matter? This time it was Wu Xiang's turn to be full of doubts, "This place is remote, why does Hou Ye want to come here?"
Huo Weilou glanced at Bo Ruoyou, and said without changing his face: "Of course it's a very important thing."
Wu Xiang still wanted to ask, but Wu Zhaohou didn't have his turn to intervene in his private affairs, so he hurriedly said respectfully: "So that's the case. Fortunately, Lord Marquis is here, and he has helped us a lot this time!"
Bo Ruoyou's cheeks were slightly red, but luckily it was still dark for others to see clearly, she hurriedly said: "Boss, I already know what caused their illness, Granny Zhang was caught by Hou Yang and the others as soon as she returned. , the brothers and sisters of the Wu family wanted to escape, but they were bumped into by Lord Hou, and they were also caught. Before the others went to see, one of the Zhang family brothers ran away here?"
Wu Xiang nodded, "Hou Yang told me." Pointing to the people on the ground, "I saw them plotting to attack us from above, these two brothers, and the boss of the Wu family, are the most ruthless Hot, it's good to catch them now, his brother can't escape very far, I have already let the people who came over just now chase after him, Xiao Bo, the most important thing right now is another matter, and this matter will have to work hard for you. "
He turned and pointed to the pool, "There are many human bones in the ground. After I fell down, I accidentally brought out a piece. Just now I went down to feel for it, and I found another piece. I will go down to salvage it after dawn. Fished out a lot, and these few stone statues, you have no idea that I was so scared that I almost died here just now!"
Seven stone statues, about the same height as real people, stood beside the black and buzzing pool, and even Bo Ruoyou felt chills in her heart, but she turned her eyes to look at Huo Weilou, and saw him standing at the side calmly, Unexpectedly, the bottom of her heart was at ease, and she didn't realize that there was something frightening. She stepped forward and carefully read the seal script on it.
Huo Weilou stood with his hands behind his back, although he was also exploring the water pool and stone statue, he had no intention of stepping forward to ask more questions, he only saw the wind sweeping past Bo Ruoyou from time to time, but although he didn't come here for business, Wu Xiang felt uneasy in his heart Incomparable.
When Bo Ruoyou walked to the farthest stone statue to have a look, he approached Bo Ruoyou cautiously, and whispered: "Xiao Bo, what is the purpose of the Marquis coming here? "
Bo Ruoyou was gesturing to write down the seal script, when she heard this, her hands froze, "Didn't Master Hou say it, it's his private matter."
Wu Xiang clicked her tongue, "Xiao Bo, you really don't know Hou Ye, you think too simply, what kind of person is Hou Ye, and how remote is this place, would he come here for any personal business?"
Wu Xiang touched his chin, and suddenly his eyes changed, "Could it be that it's about Weicang, Qinshui County?"
Bo Ruoyou looked puzzled, and Wu Xiang said: "The Weicang in Qinshui County is located in the southeast of Qinshui County. It is not far from here. Could it be that the imperial court is going to rebuild the Weicang? You don't know, the war in the northwest is tight, and the military equipment Insufficient supplies. A few days ago, it was revealed that the grain stored in Weiwei was replaced with moldy grain. Then he colluded with the grain merchants and pocketed all the money he got. It is so corrupt that even the chief executives of the Ministry of Accounts and the Ministry of War They all ate and hung up."
Although Wu Xiang didn't go to court, Sun Zhao was a close minister of the emperor, and Bo Ruoyou also knew about it, but Huo Weilou came here this time not because of Wei Cang, she smiled wryly, "I don't know about that."
Wu Xiang shook her head, "I think Lord Hou treats you very kindly, I think you know it."
Bo Ruoyou was a little guilty, and quickly turned the conversation to the human bones in the pool. After two sticks of incense, the sky was already bright, and Wu Xiang recruited two good water yamen to go down to the pool to fish for human bones.
While watching them scoop up bones, Bo Ruoyou looked at Huo Weilou, and realized that Huo Weilou had stood by for a while, with no intention of leaving, so she walked over to Huo Weilou, and whispered: "Your Majesty, come here at night." Come on, when do you plan to return to Beijing?"
Huo Weilou asked unhurriedly: "Do you want me to go back earlier?"
Bo Ruoyou quickly shook her head, "Of course not, I just thought that Master Hou is busy, and I don't know when it will be salvaged this time, and there is more than one person's skeleton here, and the bone examination will take a lot of time. Enough, Master Hou didn't come here for business, so it's not good for Master Hou to watch from the sidelines."
Huo Weilou turned his eyes to look at her, "The official business in Beijing is over, you don't have to think about it, I just ask you, do you want me to stay, or do you want me to return to Beijing immediately?"
Bo Ruoyou was momentarily at a loss for words, "I—"
Huo Weilou said again: "I will do whatever you want me to do."
Bo Ruoyou was taken aback for a moment, and felt that it was impossible for Huo Weilou to say such words. She looked at him suspiciously, but saw that his serious face was not a joke. up.
Huo Weilou looked at her deeply, her heart beat faster and faster, thinking of him coming overnight, she finally said: "Then Hou Ye will stay for one day, just one day is fine."
Huo Weilou raised the corners of his lips, but he didn't say anything, but he was obviously much happier.
Bo Ruoyou didn't know whether to laugh or cry. On the other side, Wu Xiang fished out a bunch of large and small bones from the bottom of the water. He gritted his teeth and said, "Why do I feel that the water is getting colder and colder? Do these people know that someone Avenged their grievances, and they all ran out?"
While yelling, he looked around, only to be so frightened that the face of the Yacha who was fishing with him changed drastically, he laughed silently again, touched the water drops on his face and shouted to Bo Ruoyou on the shore: " Xiao Bo, if you take a look around, you can find several skulls, there should be many people, but now there are only a pile of bones left, it is really difficult to determine the identity of these people."
Huo Weilou heard the words and said: "The Marquis has sent people to the Qinshui county government office before coming here. As long as you find the household registration booklet and see who are the people who settled here, I think the identity of the deceased can be ascertained as soon as possible."
Wu Xiang showed joy, and said rather flattered: "Thank you, Lord Hou, sending people there will definitely get twice the result with half the effort, and it will save the little people a lot of trouble. Lord Hou is really sympathetic to the little people, and the little people really have nothing to repay—" "
Wu Xiang finished speaking, thinking that Bo Ruoyou was recommended by Huo Weilou, and Huo Weilou had stayed for so long, and only Bo Ruoyou could talk to him, so she smiled and said: "After returning to Beijing, let Xiao Bo thought of a way to thank Lord Hou on behalf of the little people."
Bo Ruoyou was wondering why it was her, so she heard Huo Weilou asking her from behind: "Oh? Then how will Bo Ruoyou thank Benhou for his work?"