As soon as the rain stopped, there was fog between the mountains and valleys. Bo Ruoyou thought that the mountain road would not be dug for a while, so she asked Wu Xiang to take her to see the vacant houses.
Wu Xiangzheng couldn't sort out his thoughts, so he took Bo Ruoyou to the northwest.
The valley here is surrounded by mountains on three sides, but there is a gap on the northwest side. The mountain road descends from the southeast and goes all the way to the northwest. land.
It rained all night last night, and the carriage was difficult to move before approaching. Bo Ruoyou got out of the carriage and followed Wu Xiang to one of the farmhouses. As Wu Xiang said, the farmyard was overgrown with weeds. The water was overflowing, the doors and windows were rotten, and the fence wall that stood outside also rotted and fell to the ground. The houses are all mud walls. At this moment, the doors and windows are all gaps, and the roof has also collapsed.
Bo Ruoyou looked around, and then looked at a few houses not far away, chose a house on a higher ground and walked over, Wu Xiang led the servant to follow her, walking and said: "If you want to live here safely, you really have to dig the ditches in advance in heavy rain, otherwise the yard will be flooded with water and it will be too damp to live in."
Bo Ruoyou nodded and did not answer. When she reached the second vacant farmhouse, she frowned.
The house here is also surrounded by weeds, the trees in front of and behind the house are also long to block out the sun, the doors and windows are rotten into black gaps, and the roof is slightly collapsed. Looking at it, Bo Ruoyou feels a strange feeling in his heart Worse.
"Wu Butou, do you see that these vacant houses have a feeling, as if...their houses have been vacant for about the same time, and Granny Zhang said that they all moved out after their children had a good future outside. Yes, it doesn't make sense for several families to move away together, and Granny Zhang and the others are all sick, so what about the few families who moved away?"
After Bo Ruoyou finished speaking, Wu Xiang's eyebrows twitched, and she turned her head to look at the small village, feeling inexplicably chilled, "If you want to inquire about this matter, you have to go to the Qingshui county government office to see if there is anything in the household registration booklet. There is no change, it's just that this place is remote, and there is no right place, so even if someone changes their place of residence, the government government will not be able to control it."
After Wu Xiang finished speaking, he went to look at the vacant farmhouse in front of him, only to see that the house was completely covered by the shade of trees all around, giving people an inexplicably eerie feeling like a deserted village and wild grave, and he frowned several times. Wrinkled, "Do you want to go in and have a look?"
Bo Ruoyou didn't think this place was scary, so she nodded and walked towards the dilapidated courtyard gate.
Therefore, there is no stagnant water in the courtyard, and walking is not that troublesome. Wu Xiang drew out the saber at his waist to open the way, and soon a group of people came under the eaves. Wu Xiang said: "I have never seen this place before , we entered the yard in the next two households, the houses are empty, and some old household items have decayed long ago."
Wu Xiang pushed open the door of this deserted house, and the door panel, which was only half left, fell to the ground with a "bang", startling a cloud of flying dust. Wu Xiang coughed lightly twice as he was choked, and brushed the dust away with his sleeves Before going in, Bo Ruoyou followed behind, and after entering the door, she saw the empty main room.
The floor of the house is dusty, the beams are covered with cobwebs, and the reptile corpses are shriveled on the cobwebs. They have been dead for many years. There are no tables, chairs, beds, or curtains in the house, only some old felt blankets are left. The rags were piled on the ground, and it seemed that any other valuable and movable things had been taken away. Bao Ruoyou took out a handkerchief, covered her mouth and nose, and walked towards the inner room. Just as she reached the door of the inner room, she There was a sudden stop in the footsteps.
On the dusty floor of the inner room, there were actually several muddy footprints. Her expression changed slightly, and she hurriedly called Wu Xiang in. Wu Xiang went to the door to have a look, and immediately realized that something was wrong.
Wu Xiang looked left and right, only to see the empty rear window, and the footprints on the ground were still wet, which showed that someone came in only a moment ago, "someone has been here." Wu Xiang's hand holding the knife tightened, Going to the rear window, there is also a piece of barren grass outside the rear window, and the fence wall further away is on the ground, no matter who comes, it is unimpeded.
Wu Xiang leaned on the window sill and jumped out, and soon found a line of footprints on the barren grass. He looked around vigilantly, but he didn't find any figure. When he walked out of the fallen fence behind, he saw a dense wormwood field. The footprints could be seen at first, but if you searched further, you couldn't find them.
Wu Xiang came back dejected, but Bo Ruoyou was already comparing the size of the footprints: "The length of the footprints is more than seven and a half inches. This person should be more than five and a half feet tall. He is probably a man." After speaking, Bo Ruoyou straightened up. He frowned and said: "The house is so dilapidated, how could anyone come here? And it just happened to be here not long before we came—"
The footprints in the inner room were quite messy, but they did not go to the main room, which showed that the purpose of the visitor was obvious. Bo Ruoyou looked carefully and found that the footprints were walking towards the north wall of the inner room. She raised her eyes and looked When I went there, I saw two dilapidated boxes and cages piled up under the north wall, and some old clothes and papers were piled on the ground together with dust, and it was obvious that the pile of things had only been turned over.
Bo Ruoyou called Wu Xiang back, "Captain Wu, there is a difference here—"
Wu Xiang came in through the window, saw Bo Ruoyou pointing at that place, and strode over, planed the sundries with a knife, but saw a two-foot-square wooden step on the flat ground, on top of the step There was a lock, Wu Xiang opened the lock neatly, and pulled up the pedal again. As soon as the pedal was pulled up, a black buzzing hole was instantly exposed.
This is the cellar of the house!
Wu Xiang frowned, "Is this the cellar that already existed? Did the people who entered the house come to this cellar?"
Bo Ruoyou nodded, "The footprints turned around in the room, but they came here. Do you want to go down and have a look?"
Wu Xiang nodded, and ordered the yamen guard to stay in the house, took out a fire pocket to light it up, and then stepped on it after digging down. Down from the cellar was a wooden ladder, which had been in disrepair for a long time. Two steps were missing, but fortunately Wu Xiang was agile and fell to the ground not long after. Bo Ruoyou looked down worriedly, but could only see a dim light.
Wu Xiang took the fire folder and calmed down before seeing the appearance of the cellar. The place is four or five feet square, and the place is not small. The perennial humidity has made the cellar full of moss. There are several wooden cabinets and bamboo strips. The baskets were stacked in the corner of the cellar. On the moss, there were obviously messy footprints, which further confirmed that someone had gone down to the cellar a moment ago.
The house has been abandoned for many years, and the cellar is even more difficult to be discovered. Why do people go down to the cellar
Wu Xiang squinted his eyes and looked around, but at first he didn't see anything unusual. Although the sundries were piled up in disorder, they were all ordinary things, and they were also covered with moss and mildew. A pile of shriveled chrysalis shells was seen on the ground.
After handling cases for many years, Wu Xiang is very familiar with this kind of chrysalis, it is a corpse insect!
His heart tightened, and he followed the traces of the chrysalis shells and walked a few steps to the north of the cellar. At this moment, he finally saw the densely packed corpses of corpses piled up with the baskets and cabinets, and some of them were like spider webs. It was a handful of gray hair that was dry and knotted with moss and mildew spots. Only when you get close can you see the strands.
Wu Xiang's complexion changed, and she called up again, "Xiao Bo, I'm afraid you have to come down."
Bo Ruoyou was a little worried at first, but when she heard this, she immediately understood that there must be something found in the cellar. Holding her skirt, she carefully climbed down the wooden ladder, and just when she stood still, she saw the chrysalis of corpse insects on the ground.
So many corpses and chrysalis can only be produced in places where people have died and the corpses have been left for many days. She quickly walked towards Wu Xiang, and saw the hair on the ground again. Rot, and the hair will fall off only when the corpse is rotted or the corpse is eaten away by the corpse insects to the point where the bones are almost exposed.
Bo Ruoyou yelled upwards, ordering Zhou Liang to bring the wooden box for the autopsy, Zhou Liang turned around and went out, Wu Xiang also asked the servants above to prepare torches, the two of them went out, and after a while, Zhou Liang went all the way Trot brought the wooden box over, and sent the wooden box to the cellar. Soon, the torch was also sent to illuminate the cellar even brighter.
Bo Ruoyou put on the gauntlet, and carefully picked up the hair stuck to the moss on the ground. The tangled hair had been there for many years and would break if touched. The corpse and pupa shell were picked up and packed in a wooden box, while Wu Xiang lit a fire beside him, his expression became more and more serious, at this moment, Bo Ruoyou found something suspicious under the bamboo basket.
It was a strange stone-like object, which had fallen in the moss all the year round, and was also stained with green moss. Bo Ruoyou picked it up and looked at it, and Wu Xiang also came closer, "What? Stone or wood? "
Bo Ruoyou shook her head, "It might be a human bone."
Wu Xiang felt a chill down her spine, corpses of insects and pupae shells all over the floor, as well as human hair and suspected human bones, all of which indicated that there had been at least one corpse in the cellar here.
Bo Ruoyou first put the human bones in his hand into the wooden box, and then leaned over to grope carefully on the ground. The damp and stuffy feeling in the cellar was very uncomfortable. The moss and mildew spots on the ground had accumulated for many years, and it was rare It's not easy to find broken bones falling into it. Bo Ruoyou groped for a while, and when Wu Xiang moved the bamboo basket and wooden cabinet away, he found two hard objects like stones.
After careful identification, she found that it looked like human bones. Apart from the bones and hair, there were also some broken clothes in the cellar. Bo Ruoyou also put away these cloths. After careful inspection, there was no other abnormality before meeting with Wu Xiang. Crawled out of the cellar.
As soon as they got out of the cellar, several people breathed a sigh of relief, and with the bright light outside, Bo Ruoyou confirmed that the object in his hand was a human bone, "I can be sure that it is a human bone, but I don't know which part it is. "
Bo Ruoyou glanced at the dark cave entrance again, "If it's true, as Granny Zhang said, all the people in these families have moved away, then there will be no human bones in the cave. This is the cellar of the inner room. Generally, valuables are stored, and there is no reason to put human corpses in it, and it can be concluded that there must have been a murder case in this house."
Wu Xiang's expression suddenly turned serious. She didn't find any mothers earlier, and she didn't find any other babies who died, so she only felt that the village was weird, but she didn't find any evidence. Now it's very different, Wu Xiang immediately said: "I will dig If the passers-by find it, there is no need to leave for a while, if someone has come here, I am afraid that they took the bones away, and this person is very likely to be the murderer."
The Yamen messenger went to call for someone, Bo Ruoyou looked around, showing hesitation, Wu Xiang asked, "What's the matter?"
Bo Ruoyou said: "You have to find a place to clean the bones before you can determine where the bones are from the person."
Wu Xiang thought for a while, "Either go back to Granny Zhang's house, or go to Heishuitan. I have checked in general in the morning. The Heishuitan in their village is just to the northwest."
Bo Ruoyou immediately said: "Then let's go to the Black Water Pond to have a look."
Wu Xiang nodded, and took Bao Ruoyou to check the house before leaving. Along the small path in the village, the carriage did not go fast. When they arrived at the black water pool, it was already the time of two incense sticks. Hidden under the mountain wall on the northwest side, surrounded by towering forests, the entire pool is five feet square, and the water in the pool is so dark and buzzing that you can't see the bottom, you can only hear the gurgling sound of the water coming from the mountain And it flows out along the trickle, I don't know where it goes.
Bo Ruoyou took out those human bones and washed them by the stream. Soon, the original gray-brown color of the bones was revealed. The shapes of the three bones were different. She discerned for a while before saying: "The first joint refers to the bone, and the second and third joints should be It is a broken skull, judging from the bone quality and the length of the phalanx, it should be the skeleton of an adult male."
Wu Xiang stared, "Someone died in the house, either the owner or someone who knew about the cellar and hid the corpse here after the murder." His face darkened as he spoke, "It's a pity that the people in this village didn't tell the truth. , I’m afraid they won’t be able to find out just by asking them, we have to find clues by ourselves, how tall are the people who went to the house you said just now?”
Bo Ruoyou stood up, "More than half a foot, less than six feet."
This kind of stature can be considered tall, Wu Xiang thought back, "The elder brother of the Wu family is not so tall, but the brother of the Zhang family is not short. What are you doing?"
Bo Ruoyou collected the human bones as evidence, washed the gauntlets and put them away, then got up and left with Wu Xiang. After walking not far, she suddenly felt a light on her back for no reason, as if someone was hiding Like spying on her in the dark.
Bo Ruoyou's heart shuddered and she turned around to look, only to see the sparkling lake water blown by the mountain wind, and the surrounding trees and wild grass also rustled, but there were no people, only a few birds flew up from the forest .
Wu Xiang didn't know what happened to her, so she turned around and asked, "What happened?"
Bo Ruoyou shook his head, and walked back to the carriage along the path. Wu Xiang suspected the Zhang family brothers in his heart, so he wanted to take Bo Ruoyou to the door of the Zhang family brothers to have a look, but he never thought of it. Walking to the door of the Zhang family brothers, they saw the yamen who were digging the road and the Zhang family brothers walking down the mountain road together.
Wu Xiang's expression changed slightly, "Why are you together?"
Hou Yang also went to dig the road, and upon hearing that, he said, "The two Zhang family brothers knew that the road was blocked, and they were still working, so they helped us dig the road together, and they have been digging for two hours."
When they entered the door, the footprints in the house were not completely dry, so most of the people who went to the abandoned house went there within an hour, but the Zhang family brothers had already helped them dig the road for two hours, and there were a group of government servants. To testify, Wu Xiang swallowed the words he was about to ask, but apart from Zhang's brother, it was difficult to find a tall and tall man among other adult men in the village.
There are only four adult men in the village right now, besides the Zhang family brothers and the Wu family elder brother, there is also a one-armed old man. It's so tall.
Wu Xiang looked at the mountains and forests and fields in a daze for a while, it's not possible that there are other people hiding in this village that they don't know
Wu Xiang said: "You guys came at a good time, do you know how many years the owner of the highest house in the east of the village has been away?"
The brothers of the Zhang family looked at each other for a moment, and the eldest brother of the Zhang family took a step forward and said, "It's been more than ten years, I don't remember clearly, people moved away when our brothers and parents were still there."
When they said this, both of them had normal expressions, Wu Xiang frowned, "What's the name of the family that moved away?"
The two brothers looked at each other again, a little dazed, and the eldest brother said: "I can't remember this, but it is also surnamed Zhang. The people in our village used to be a family, and later the surname Wu was added. , there are only two surnames in this village, and it doesn't count if they are distant relatives, but there is always something to do with the two generations."
Wu Xiang asked again: "In your village, is there anyone who disappeared without an explanation? Or something happened?"
The two people still looked at a blank look, "No, people in the village have no skills like us, so they farm the land honestly. Those with some skills, or young and strong, go out to find a living. The son of Mrs. Zhang's family is In this way, everyone lives in the same place, and they are all like their own people, and no one has been heard of disappearance."
Wu Xiang felt a little restless in her heart. She always felt that the village was full of strange things, but she couldn't find any traces. "Do you know what caused the illnesses of Granny Zhang and sister Wu's family?"
The eldest brother of the Zhang family scratched his head honestly, "Grandma Zhang heard that she is old, and the younger sister of the Wu family has a weak disease brought out of her mother's womb. What's the matter? Does this have anything to do with the matter that the officials want to investigate?"
This is another question, but Wu Xiang can't find any mistakes, as if some clue has been sent to him, but he can't see it through a layer of gauze. He waved his hand to tell the Zhang brothers Go back first, wait for the two of them to go far away, and then tell Hou Yang and others, "Human bones and dead insects were found in the east house. There must have been a murder case in that house. Don't worry about digging the road now. First, go to the east to clean up the empty space." Search the house carefully to see if you can find anything else."
Hou Yang's expressions perked up, he came here for the infanticide case, but he found human bones in the deserted house again
At this time, everyone headed towards the northwest together, and soon they arrived at the farmhouse with stagnant water. Not only were weeds overgrown and dilapidated, but also a lot of rainwater had accumulated in the yard. Wu Xiang asked Bo Ruoyou to wait in the carriage , and brought people into the yard, Bo Ruoyou had no choice but to sit in the carriage, watching them search from the window lattice, while subconsciously holding the handguard in his sleeve.
She has been away from the capital for two days, and if she stays today, if she hasn't returned home for two nights, Cheng Yunzhi will probably be worried, and Huo Weilou, I don't know if he knows that she has gone out of the city, she holds the handguard warmly, and the bottom of her heart is also She felt a bit astringent, although there were many yamen guards by her side, so she didn't have to worry about safety, but in this remote and weird mountain village, strangeness, loneliness and exhaustion all overwhelmed her heart, and she was a little uneasy after all.
When I thought about it, I felt suffocated and sour in my heart, and my thoughts seemed to be oppressed by something, and I couldn't get up the energy.
It would be great if Huo Weilou was here.
Thinking of this, she sighed again, Huo Weilou is Wu Zhaohou, no matter what this case does not need to bother him, at this moment he is busy with other court affairs inside and outside the palace, he will never tire As long as the emperor has an order, as long as the country needs it, he can go through wind and rain without fear of hard work. He is as majestic as a mountain, and he can bear the heavy and difficult responsibilities.
Bo Ruoyou's heart was suddenly filled with energy, exhaustion was swept away, and she felt full of strength all over her body. She put the guard on and got out of the carriage, and walked into the hall along the muddy side of the yard.
As soon as he reached the door, Wu Xiang came out from the inside. Seeing her coming, he was slightly surprised and said, "There is water everywhere here, so it's not for you to rest on the carriage."
Bo Ruoyou shook her head, "What can you find out?"
Wu Xiang didn't say anything, just led her into the west wing of the house, then pointed to a few pieces of broken porcelain piled on the ground, "Do you recognize this thing?"
The tiles were covered with dust, and a clerk removed the tiles, revealing the pattern underneath, she felt familiar at first, then raised her brows, "This should be a porcelain vase, did you see it at the Wu family's brother and sister's house? "
Wu Xiang's eyes lit up slightly, "Exactly! I stood outside this house and looked at it in the morning. At that time, I only saw sundries piled up in the wing room, but I didn't know what it was. I just found out that it was porcelain tiles. I thought it was The fragments left by the owner when he moved away, but upon looking at them, they seem familiar."
Bo Ruoyou frowned, "Could it be that you couldn't move it before you left, and then gave this thing to the brothers and sisters of the Wu family?"
Wu Xiang frowned and shook her head, "I don't think so. Do you see any big objects in this house? Ordinary people have clothes benches, cabinets, and beds, all of which are large pieces of furniture. These things are gone. How can a porcelain vase be there?" Will you give it away? And although these porcelains are not expensive, for ordinary farmers, they are precious things, so why give them away?"
At this point, Wu Xiang said: "Besides this thing, there is another discovery."
After he finished speaking, he brought Bo Ruoyou to the back door of the house. Outside the back door, a servant was squatting on the ground, roughly washing something with the stagnant water in the back yard. Wu Xiang walked to the door and asked, "Clean Is it finished?"
"Okay, catch the head and see—"
The yacha turned around, holding a wooden board that had been rotted to the point where only half of it was left. There had been a lot of dust and mildew stains on it, but it had been washed clean at this moment, and the tiny holes that had been scoured could be seen. In addition, mottled black paint can still be seen, and under the black paint, there are a few intermittent characters.
Bo Ruoyou debated for a while, then asked in surprise, "Is this a memorial tablet?"
Wu Xiang responded, "That's right, it's the memorial tablet. This thing and a pile of tattered drapes and curtains were piled up in the back room, most of them were decayed into a pile of sawdust, but the remaining half can still be seen. It was supposed to be a memorial tablet, but now the top half of it is decayed. Generally, no matter how they move, it is absolutely impossible to leave the tablet. Even if the tablet is damaged, they will choose to repair it instead of discarding it. It is disrespectful to the ancestors, and it is quite unlucky."
Of course Bo Ruoyou understood this truth. She looked at the wet half tablet, and suddenly leaned over to take it over. After a long while, she gestured to Wu Xiang: "Captain, just take a look, Is this character, no matter what, it is impossible to be the word 'Zhang' and the word 'Wu'."
The handwriting was originally written with vermilion lacquer, but now there are only a few spots left. Bo Ruoyou gesticulated on it for a long time, and he was sure that this was not the village's surname. Wu Xiang also gesticulated twice, and then frowned, "Then The Zhang brothers are lying, there are not only two surnames Zhang and Wu in this village."
Looking at the tablet, Bo Ruoyou suddenly frowned and said, "To know this, you just need to look at the tombs in the village. They have lived here for generations, and there are always inscriptions on the tombs."
Wu Xiang's expression shook slightly, "It's indeed possible!" He said as he walked out, ordered a few government officials to search the other two empty houses, and ordered two people to look for graves in the village, waiting for him to enter again. Looking into the room, Bo Ruoyou's expression was particularly heavy.
Bo Ruoyou looked at Wu Xiang, "What if the vacancy of these houses is not due to the owner moving away?"