Wu Xiang smiled brightly, "Money is nothing, we have a group of ten people, and we pay the money at the inn outside the capital. I see that there are only two people in your family, but the room is spacious. Prepare a bed for our lady. Others It is enough for a person to have a mattress to rest on."
Granny Zhang was overjoyed when she heard the words, "Then the old lady is going to prepare."
After she finished speaking, she handed the water to Bo Ruoyou, and Bo Ruoyou bent her lips to take it, and then Granny Zhang pulled Yu'er into the inner room, the smile on Wu Xiang's face quickly faded, and motioned for Bo Ruoyou to go to the door while walking.
Bao Ruoyou walked quickly to the door, and said amidst the pattering rain outside: "I saw young women's clothes in the inner room, and some pearls and hairpins. There must be a mistress in this house."
Wu Xiang squinted her eyes, "But she said that her daughter-in-law died of illness a few years ago, I can tell from your expression that there is something different, so I thought that we are all here today, if we leave today and come back tomorrow, I don't know what will happen, so I will decide Stay overnight." As he spoke, he said with some guilt: "We used to go out to the city to do business, and some of us slept outside, but you never thought about it, this time I have to work hard for you."
Bo Ruoyou bent her lips, "Captain, don't think that way. I have gone to villages and towns for autopsies before, and I have traveled a long way. It's just that there are some weird things here, and our safety is the most important thing."
Wu Xiang reached out and took the bowl in her hand, "Have someone fetch your water bag from the carriage, you'd better not touch the things here."
Wu Xiang has been a headhunter for many years, and has seen many cases, large and small. In terms of vigilance, she is naturally more vigilant than Bo Ruoyou. She responded without drinking water, and Wu Xiang glanced into the inner room again. , then smiled and walked to the door of the inner room, "Grandma Zhang, do you want us to help?"
Bo Ruoyou followed Wu Xiang and walked over.
The farm house is naturally no more exquisite and rich than the houses in the capital. There are two wing rooms on the left and right sides of the main room, and the inner room is behind the main room, with a corridor in the middle. After that, there are three square bedrooms, all of which have doors. Granny Zhang With Yuer in the middle room, the door is ajar at the moment, and you can see a lot of old furniture in the room at a glance. Because of the age, the furniture has turned black, making the whole room look darker of.
Bo Ruoyou glanced over, and saw that the young woman's clothes piled up on the open chair just now were gone, and the two jade hairpins that had been placed on the desk next to the bed by the back window disappeared at this moment, Granny Zhang Just as he was taking out some quilts from a cabinet, he gasped and said, "You don't need to help, the old lady can still do this little thing."
The boy named Yu'er stood beside the bed, looking at Granny Zhang with a dull expression. He was wearing an indigo coarse cloth gown. Although the material was ordinary, the stitches were very fine. Bo Ruoyou signaled to Wu Xiang, Pointing to the place where the woman's clothes were originally placed, and then pointing to the robe on Yu'er, Wu Xiang quickly understood.
He looked back at Hou Yang, pointed to the side rooms on both sides, Hou Yang nodded, and glanced at the side rooms lightly. When the next few people came back, they all shook their heads at Wu Xiang. Bo Ruoyou saw it in his eyes, and doubts arose in his heart.
Just now, when she saw that Yu'er's robe was well made, she guessed that there was a mistress in the house, and when she thought of the newborn baby, she even wondered at that moment if there was a woman who had just given birth in the inner room. But when I walked to the door and looked, the inner room was empty, only two women's clothes were suspicious.
Granny Zhang found out all the quilts that could be used at home, but there were only seven or eight beds, and most of them were old and turned yellow. She then pointed to the bedroom in the southeast, "This young lady is resting here. The bed in that room is where the old woman sleeps, and the old woman and her grandson rest here tonight, and this is the room where the son sleeps on weekdays."
Granny Zhang has trouble in her legs and feet, and her hands seem to have some problems. Seeing how difficult it was for her to walk with a few quilts in her arms, Bo Ruoyou still stepped forward to help, and Wu Xiang followed them. When they entered the bedroom that Granny Zhang said, she could Seeing that the house was full of things used by the old man, Granny Zhang changed the bedding tremblingly. Although her movements were awkward, her face did not show fatigue.
After changing the place, she went to the wing room again, "There is a big kang in this room, just squeeze together, and I will find you two straw mats, and a mat on the floor of the shop can be used for one night."
Wu Xiang responded kindly, and Granny Zhang asked again: "Do you want to cook for you?"
Wu Xiang waved his hand, "No need, we are traveling with dry food."
Granny Zhang responded, Wu Xiang first took out two taels of silver and put it down, then asked Granny Zhang, "Grandma said that Guzhang Village is fifty miles away?"
Granny Zhang nodded, and Wu Xiang turned to look at the heavy rain outside. The rain hadn't slowed down, and the sky seemed to have a hole. The torrential rain poured down, trying to cover the small village between the mountains in the rain.
There is a dense rain curtain in front of him, and looking farther away, there is a towering ridge. Because he is too close to the ridge, there is a feeling of being blocked from sight, and Wu Xiang feels depressed for a while.
"Mother-in-law, do you know what kind of plague that year was?" Bo Ruoyou asked.
Granny Zhang recalled for a moment, "It seems to be a plague like typhoid fever. People will vomit blood, and then die unconsciously after sleeping for a few days. I have never seen it with my own eyes. People in the village don't like to walk with people from other villages. After a long time, people outside also forgot about them, and after the plague broke out, it was a long time before anyone discovered them, and at that time, everyone died."
"This matter has alarmed the Qinshui County government office. At that time, the government sent people to collect the corpses. They buried all the dead people and burned several houses. The village was completely dead. I heard that the officials who went there also Some were dead, some were crazy, they said they were frightened, although there were not many people in that village, there were nearly a hundred people, they were all dead when they entered, and they were all rotten, it’s scary to think about it.”
After Granny Zhang finished speaking, she hugged her grandson by her side, and after talking for a while, she became less wary of Wu Xiang and the others. Wu Xiang frowned slightly, "Plague is not a trivial matter, and there is often no cure. If the sick people run out, they will infect people outside. This place is not far from the capital, and if it spreads to the capital, it will be a big deal. Fortunately, the people in their village don’t get along with the people outside.”
Times have changed, Wu Xiang's words are also common thoughts, but thinking that the whole village is dead, the tragedy is still shocking, he didn't say much, and continued to ask: "So, the village of Guzhang Village, Has disappeared for more than ten years?"
Granny Zhang nodded, "Yes, it has been gone for more than ten years. Nowadays, even young people in their twenties can't remember it. There are old people in the family who know it, but it's scary to hear it. It's also quite unlucky, if someone who has nothing to do asks the old woman, the old woman won't bother to say."
After a pause, Granny Zhang warned: "Don't believe in the method of praying for gods that you asked about. Back then, Guzhang Village was punished by the water god. You are all wealthy officials and masters in the capital, why bother asking for these? "
Wu Xiang smiled, "Grandma Zhang doesn't know, it's quite difficult to be an official in the capital, if this method is really useful, then of course I have to try it, the people in Guzhang Village were punished, but it was because the sacrifices were not enough ?”
Granny Zhang shook her head, "I don't know about that. Their village is very weird. Because they don't go out of the village all the year round, they rely on God to eat. When the harvest is not good every year, where is there any surplus food to sacrifice to the gods?" Woolen cloth?"
Wu Xiang was puzzled, "Sacrificing food to the gods? It's very simple. I still think of these weird gods, and I want to use other rare things to sacrifice."
Granny Zhang pulled her lips, "Other rare things? Then they can't even get them out. They are all untouchables in remote areas. What rare and precious things can they have?"
Wu Xiang continued to ask with a relaxed expression, but suddenly there was a knock on the courtyard door of Zhang's house, the knock was heavy and urgent, and it seemed abrupt and harsh even amidst the deafening voice, Granny Zhang's complexion changed slightly, and she took a He took the umbrella and walked out of the house.
Yu'er wanted to follow, but Granny Zhang walked so fast that he was stopped by the rain and stood still under the eaves.
Bo Ruoyou and Wu Xiang also went out.
The raindrops fell on the ground, and then shot up and landed in front of the door. Seeing mud spots flying on Yu'er's shoe, Bo Ruoyou pulled him back, but Yu'er was startled, turned around, The little face looked at her in horror.
Bo Ruoyou hurriedly said: "Don't be afraid, I think your shoes are going to be dirty."
Just now Zhou Liang had gone to the carriage to get the water bag and snacks, Bo Ruoyou handed a piece of bean cake to Yu'er, "This is a snack from the capital, it's very sweet, try it."
Yu'er froze for a moment, then took it tremblingly in his hand, hesitated for a moment, lowered his head and took a bite, maybe it was really sweet and delicious, and he swallowed the remaining few bites with a relaxed expression.
Bo Ruoyou looked at it and smiled, and went to look at the gate of the courtyard. The door was ajar. Granny Zhang was standing in the courtyard with a somewhat familiar face outside. one of the men.
Bo Ruoyou smiled and asked: "We met this person this afternoon, who is he?"
Yu'er also looked at the courtyard door, "It's Uncle Zhang."
Bo Ruoyou didn't ask much, just gave him another piece of snack, and asked him again, "Then what's your name?"
"Zhang Yu." After speaking, he took the snack.
The mother-in-law's surname is Zhang, the grandson's surname is also Zhang, and the man from the same village outside is also surnamed Zhang
Bo Ruoyou frowned slightly, and Wu Xiang seemed to find it strange. At this time, Granny Zhang finished speaking, closed the courtyard door and came back. Hold on, go straight to the kitchen, it's getting late, and their mother-in-law and grandson are going to have dinner.
Soon there was a sound of ding ding dong dong in the kitchen. Wu Xiang and the others had indeed brought dry food. He first ordered everyone to eat some dry food, and then looked anxious at the falling night. If it wasn't raining, he still wanted to go out Check the situation in this village, but now the night is dark and the rain is so heavy, it really makes them really trapped here.
After Granny Zhang took her grandson to eat, and locked the kitchen, she went back to the main hall, found out a few oil lamps, and then took her grandson to rest. At this time, Wu Xiang asked: "Zhang Mother-in-law, how many households are there in this Black Water Village?"
Grandma Zhang said: "There are only six or seven households. Originally, there were more than ten households, but later on, many of them moved out when their children and grandchildren became successful. There are a few families with empty houses on the northwest side. Just moved away."
Wu Xiang asked again: "Where does your son work?"
Granny Zhang said, "On the pier."
The Gyeonggi Ferry is only two days away from here, this statement is reasonable, Wu Xiang stopped asking, Zhang Granny took Zhang Yu into the bedroom, and closed the door to block all sight.
Wu Xiang ordered Hou Yang to stay outside, and took everyone to the side room with the kang, and after entering the door, Wu Xiang said: "Wake up tonight, this village is quite strange, I will go after investigating it tomorrow."
A clerk asked, "Do you want to go to Guzhang Village?"
Wu Xiang pondered for a while, "Go, not only go to Guzhang Village, but also go to the Qinshui county government to ask what happened back then. How could anyone still use that method of sacrificing to the river god?"
The heavy rain was still pouring down, Wu Xiang said again: "You guys rest here later, Xiao Bo can't live in that room alone, it's safe for me and Lao Zhou to rest there with someone."
In such a situation, naturally they didn't care about so much, everyone agreed, and Bo Ruoyou frowned slightly looking at Ye Yuxiu, who was very powerful outside, "Usually, such sacrifices don't only sacrifice once or twice, and that's the problem." , the dead baby died not long after it was born, and it is only a few days away from now. Although the baby died, the mother should not have recovered."
Wu Xiang was sure, "Grandma Zhang knows about Guzhang Village, and she also heard about the long-term workers of Guzhang Village from her predecessors. Although these are rumors, some people may know them very clearly. Everyone thought that there might be a hostess, but Granny Zhang said that her daughter-in-law died of illness two years ago, so she is very strange here. Maybe the mother is her daughter-in-law. The daughter-in-law is hiding, perhaps, somewhere else in the village. The long-time worker also said that many families in Guzhang Village had children who died, and he will go to visit tomorrow about this matter."
"Even if the matter of Guzhang Village has nothing to do with this village, I think there are more than one small village like this in the surrounding mountains. They are close to Guzhang Village, and they are all mountain people. I'm afraid they will believe in these ghosts. If no suspicious person has been found in this village, the surrounding areas will also have to look for it." At this point, Wu Xiang said with some headaches: "The cases with these mountain people are the most unpredictable, they are either extremely afraid of you, or they hate you very much. You, and others are too ignorant to speak clearly for a long time."
The other yamen servants showed signs of agreement, and Bo Ruoyou hurriedly said: "There are not many people in this village, so go and ask every household tomorrow, this mother-in-law... I don't know if she is really hiding something."
At this moment, the night was already dark, but in this place, there was no clue to the case, and everyone couldn't sleep. While talking about this case, Wu Xiang also talked about the previous cases of dealing with the mountain people. There were hardships and jokes. When Bo Ruoyou heard it together, he felt that the Jingzhao government office looked glamorous, but the people working under it were really hard.
Gradually, the night was getting dark, Granny Zhang and Zhang Yu were silent, but around midnight, for some reason, there was a sudden exclamation in the room of Granny Zhang and Zhang Yu, Wu Xiang's expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly walked from the wing room After walking out, Bo Ruoyou followed closely and headed towards the inner room at the back. Wu Xiang didn't shy away from it, and pushed the door open.
His hand is strong, the door bolt is already old, he guessed it, the door bolt fell to the ground with a bang, and the door opened accordingly, Wu Xiang asked urgently: "What happened?"
The mother-in-law and grandson in the room were taken aback for a moment, then turned their heads to look outside, their expressions changed slightly, and Wu Xiang lowered her eyes very quickly.
There was no danger in the house, but the roof was leaking. Granny Zhang probably got up in a hurry. She was only wearing an inner sheet, and her calves were exposed. Even though she was an old man, she was rude. Don't follow others.
Granny Zhang went to find a robe to put on again, but during this period, Bo Ruoyou saw Granny Zhang's calf clearly, and finally understood why Granny Zhang was lame.
Her calf was originally skinny, but the skin on the right leg below the knee was covered with large and small sarcoma, which made the leg look horrible and deformed, and Bo Ruoyou instantly felt the hairs on her arm straighten However, the part of the calf down to the ankle has blood vessels swelling and protruding, clinging to her thin skin like a worm.
Bo Ruoyou was shocked when she saw it, she felt that this kind of deformity seemed familiar, but she couldn't remember where she saw it before, and before she could figure it out, Granny Zhang had already put on her clothes. There was a puddle of rainwater on the ground inside the house, and when I looked up at the roof, I saw that there was a big gap in the roof, and the rainwater was dripping in.
"Why is this room leaking so badly? Mother-in-law, go back to your room and sleep. I'll just rest in the outside room tonight." Bo Ruoyou stood at the door and said.
Wu Xiang looked in at the moment, feeling embarrassed, "I'm sorry, I heard the commotion, I thought something was wrong, I came in a little too quickly, the door latch is broken."
Granny Zhang looked a bit ugly, Wu Xiang persuaded: "Tomorrow the rain will stop, we will help you repair the house, your mother-in-law and grandson go to the next door to rest first, anyway, this place is not easy to live in."
Granny Zhang hesitated for a moment, then looked around the room, and she seemed to see nothing wrong, then she nodded, "Since that's the case, then our mother-in-law and grandson will not shirk it, this house is really old , it will leak after a while, and the roof was repaired earlier."
Granny Zhang found a foot basin and came over to wash it underneath, and then took her grandson to her house.
Wu Xiang and Bo Ruoyou looked at each other. Although Wu Xiang had just glanced at it, he saw something. He and Bo Ruoyou retreated to the main hall and asked softly, "What's the matter with that leg?"
Bo Ruoyou just didn't look away, she read it all in a few moments, stroked the back of her hand to relieve the shuddering feeling, "It's a disease, I should have read it in some medical book, but I just forgot. "
Wu Xiang frowned, "It's very common for people to have problems with their legs and feet when they get old, but I've never seen such a thing."
Seeing Bo Ruoyoulu thinking hard, he comforted him: "It's okay, it has nothing to do with the case, so don't worry about it."
Bo Ruoyou felt that she couldn't figure it out, and her heart was a little stuck. When she was a child studying medicine, she only learned simple pharmacology. Although she read a lot of medical books, she later became a doctor, so she only learned about medicine. The art of identifying the cause of traumatic death, so at this moment, my head really feels a little empty.
After returning to the wing room, it wasn't until the middle of the night that everyone felt a little sleepy. The place where the head of the kang was leaning against the wall was released. Bo Ruoyou put a thin quilt on her body and fell asleep leaning against the wall, while the others lay in disorder. Going up and down the kang, it was like this until midnight, and in the early morning of the second day, when the first rooster crowed, Bo Ruoyou woke up instantly.
Others also woke up one after another. At this time, the rain outside finally eased, and the rain was falling, and the mountains became more foggy. There were two "squeaks" from the main entrance, and Wu Xiang went out to see , but saw Granny Zhang walking out carrying a burden. Before he could make a sound, Granny Zhang had disappeared outside the door.
Wu Xiang hastily ordered a government servant to follow.
Seeing Granny Zhang leave, Bo Ruoyou went to find Zhang Yu, and when he found him, he saw him feeding the chickens behind the eaves.
There is a messy barn at the back of the house, where there are a lot of firewood and fodder, and more than a dozen chickens are kept in it. Zhang Yu is holding a small dustpan with crushed brown rice in it, and is sprinkling the brown rice into it by the handful. Going to the chicken coop, it rained, the side of the barn was muddy, and there was a pungent smell of chicken manure, but Bo Ruoyou didn't mind it, she walked up with her skirt, Zhang Yu saw that she was a little bit nervous at first. He was on guard, but seeing her friendly face, and thinking of eating her bean cake yesterday, his expression quickly eased.
Bo Ruoyou smiled and said, "When mother-in-law is not at home, are you the one who feeds the chickens?"
Zhang Yu nodded, and Bo Ruoyou said again: "The robe on your body is beautiful, who sewed it for you?"
"It's... mother... mother and mother-in-law..."
Bo Ruoyou's eyes moved, "Your mother—"
"My mother passed away two years ago." Zhang Yu said quickly, and then walked in through the back door with a small dustpan in her arms.
Bo Ruoyou saw him running so swiftly and still answering like this, she felt as if someone had taught her, she blinked, and followed in through the back door, Granny Zhang's room door was closed, it was Zhang Yu who ran in After closing it, Bo Ruoyou went to the main room where the rain was leaking.
Wu Xiang stood in front and followed after hearing the movement. Bo Ruoyou entered the room, opened the visible cabinet door and took a look, but she never saw the woman's clothes she saw yesterday, even the jade clothes. The hairpins are all gone. She and Wu Xiang couldn't search carefully for a while, and after retreating to the wing room, the clerk who followed Granny Zhang also came back.
"Catcher, she went to a house in the east of the village, where a one-armed old man came out to greet her."
Wu Xiang glanced outside, seeing that the rain was getting lighter, she said, "I'll take a few people outside to visit, to see if there is anything weird about this village, Xiao Bo, you stay here, I'll be back soon."
Bo Ruoyou responded, and Wu Xiang left the yard with the others.
In the capital, Huo Weilou learned that Bo Ruoyou hadn't returned all night, so he frowned and asked Fu Gonggong: "What kind of case requires you to stay outside the city?"
Mr. Fu said fairly: "It's still the infanticide case. It is said that a village was visited. The village believed in strange gods. Wu Xiang suspected that someone believed in these things and used babies as sacrifices, so he took people there. , I am afraid that I will ask Youyou to go with me because I am thinking of the need for an autopsy in the village."
Huo Weilou frowned for a moment, "How far is that village? Couldn't make it back last night? It rained again last night."
The last time Bo Ruoyou was on the verge of life and death was on a night of heavy rain, so this time he was particularly worried, Mr. Fu said fairly: "It is said that it is twenty miles away, but I didn't rush back last night, I'm afraid I was caught by something. , but the people in the government office said that Wu Xiang brought a lot of people, so there shouldn't be any accidents."
Huo Weilou rubbed the black jade finger on his finger, his eyes darkened, "There is no way we can't make it back after twenty miles, I'm afraid we really found some important clues, what's the name of that village?"
Mr. Fu said fairly: "Gu... Guzhang, yes, it is Guzhang Village, and the name is a bit strange."
Huo Weilou's back leaning on the back of the chair suddenly straightened slowly, "I seem to have seen this village in some old official documents."