"Captain Zuo, you're back so soon?!"
"Captain Zuo, how is the investigation going into the case of Mr. Chen's family? Is there really a ghost there?"
Zuo Zhengyang returned to the county government office without stopping. The runners and clerks he met on the way came up to him and inquired about his whereabouts, but he politely declined. After asking where the county magistrate was, he went straight to the back hall.
The door of the back hall faces west. Min Changwen, dressed in an official robe, stroked his beard and looked at a piece of paper in his hand. Steam was rising from the brewed tea. When he heard footsteps coming in, he turned his head, looked over, and put down the article with a smile.
"Zhengyang is back."
The figure stepped over the threshold and cupped his hands: "Zuo Zhengyang greets the county lord."
"Sit down and talk." Min Changwen stretched out his hand for him to sit down next to him, called the servant from the back hall, and brought another cup of tea. The two exchanged a few pleasantries and then got down to business.
"Did you find anything at the Chen Mansion?"
Zuo Zhengyang took off the two long knives from his back, sat down, and took a sip of tea, "There are some!" As he said that, the constable who was waiting outside the door brought a blood-stained knife and a folded bed sheet into the hall.
He stood up and pointed to the sharp weapon on the tray.
"Please look, County Honorable. This is the weapon that ripped open Chen Yaoke's stomach. The previous victims all had their livers and gallbladders ruptured, and their flesh and blood withered. The ways of death between the two are very different."
Min Changwen put down the teacup, stood up and walked over, but also looked at the knife carefully.
"Captain Zuo is saying that Chen Yaoke was not killed by a female ghost, but was slashed in the belly by someone with this sharp weapon?"
"That's right!"
Zuo Zhengyang nodded and pointed to another tray of gray sheets stacked on it.
"That day there was a haunted scene. Among the crowd there was a strange man in a grey cloak who was confronting the ghost. This bed sheet was exactly what Zuo found while searching in a corner of Chen's house. There were also footprints of more than one person on the ground. The knife that killed Chen Yaoke was also confirmed by Mr. Chen to be the evil-repelling item given by the strange man!"
Min Changwen pursed his lips, twirled his beard and walked a few steps. After thinking for a moment, he stopped at the threshold and looked back at Captain Zuo.
"… But what if the evil spirit is angry that the strange man protected Chen Yaoke, and uses the gift he gave to kill the person who protected him?"
"What the county lord said is not without reason." Captain Zuo lowered his head and cupped his hands, saying, "I will continue to investigate this case, but for now, I dare to assert that Chen Yaoke's death was definitely not caused by a ghost."
"But this county wants to close the case as quickly as possible."
"County Master, human life is at stake!"
"No, if it's someone who deserves to die, it has nothing to do with God!"
…
At this time, a group of people who appeared and disappeared in this incident were running around the shops in Fushui County, buying two donkey carts full of food, cloth, and even a few piglets and lambs, which they tied behind the carts.
Lu Liangsheng changed his attire into a dark blue robe and shoes, combed his hair neatly and tied it with a silk scarf, and bought a wolf-hair brush, inkstone, and a few blank books. At first glance, he really had the temperament of a young scholar.
However, after a few rounds, several taels of silver were spent, which scared Lu Pan and others so much that they stopped buying and dared not buy anymore. After all, the five hundred taels were earned by Lu Liangsheng.
We walked through the long and busy streets and when we were leaving the city, we picked up the old donkey that we had left there. It was almost dark.
In order to avoid any disturbances and avoid being discovered, they set out on the return journey overnight, leading pigs and sheep and driving donkey carts. Having seen evil spirits and monsters before, Lu Pan and his eight companions felt that walking at night was no big deal.
Moreover, he has a master disciple like his eldest nephew by his side, and even the head of the government office...whatever it is, he admires him.
Soon, the county town with its lights on was left far behind them and disappeared at the end of the bend in the mountain road. It was not until the second half of the night that everyone got over the excitement of getting 500 taels of silver for free, and Lu Liangsheng also felt tired.
"Uncle Pan, let's rest nearby."
"good!"
Lu Pan handed over a bag of water and asked others to pull the donkey carts closer and bring the pigs and sheep over. Everyone was eager to rest and did everything quickly, lighting a bonfire and cooking food.
The clay pot was boiling. Lu Qing scooped a bowl of porridge made from dry food, looked at his nephew holding it in his hand, and chuckled.
"Liangsheng, eat it while it's hot. It has meat in it, so it's delicious and tasty."
"Uncle Qing, you should eat and rest quickly."
The young man saw Lu Qing off, and while flipping through the book that the old man from the county government had given him, he drank some meat porridge by the light of the fire. Although he could recognize the characters, the contents were dry and difficult to understand, and he felt overwhelmed.
When the eight big men finished eating and fell asleep around the fire, Lu Liangsheng quietly took the package and opened the gap.
"Master?"
Taoist Zixing opened the bag, crawled out, and let out a long sigh.
"You just realized now that your master is still here? I almost suffocated to death."
He let out a breath, then staggered over to the pottery bowl on the ground with his flippers on his back, and looked inside.
"There's also meat..."
"Specially reserved for Master."
Lu Liangsheng went over and sat down beside him, waving the "Rites and Music" in his hand.
"Master, can you pass on everything in this book to me?"
The toad sitting on the stone holding the pottery bowl turned his head to glance at the title of the book, then turned back and tried hard to chew the pieces of fat.
"If I knew how to do it, I would still be eating leftovers from you... If you don't practice morality, why would you be an official?"
The surroundings became quiet, with only the sound of insects chirping in the weeds. In the light of the campfire, Lu Liangsheng put down the book, looked at the eight big men sleeping soundly over there, and spoke softly.
"Master, do you think what I did that night was right?"
The Toad Taoist seemed to be full. He pushed away the pottery bowl, lay down with a small stone as his pillow, and rested his webbed feet on his other short bent leg.
"A nice guy."
Next to him, the young man lay down with his head resting on his head, staring at the half-moon in the night sky without blinking.
"… Her parents and brother are all dead, but she is still alive and strong, yet she has to endure such a crime. I can't bear to see it… I always feel that God shouldn't treat her like that."
Taoist Toad did not say anything. In his vague memory, there seemed to be a girl who lived a strong life, but was eventually drowned in the river. So many years had passed that he almost forgot what she looked like.
His thoughts drifted away for a moment, he shook his head, and repeated the sentence just now.
"Goody-goody!"
Lu Liangsheng looked at the moon and laughed. He suddenly got up, ran to the donkey cart, and searched for a blank scroll. Toad sat up and watched him set up the easel by the fire.
"What are you going to do?"
"painting… "
The scroll was spread out on it. Lu Liangsheng ground the ink he had used before, picked up the brush, looked at the blank scroll, and recalled the woman in the white dress in the mist that night.
The tip of the pen lightly touched it...
The Toad Taoist yawned, just looked at the young man with a focused gaze, waving the pen with a smile on his face from time to time, shook his head, and lay down again.
The howling of wolves could be heard from the distant foothills.
The flame gradually died down, and the figure who was painting over there stopped after a long time. In the faint light of the fire, the blank scroll was filled with a beauty in flying gauze, which looked lifelike.
Finally, write the word "Hong Lian" in the lower left corner.
Lu Liangsheng had just finished his painting and was quite satisfied with it. After looking at it for a while, he felt tired and lay down next to the Toad Taoist and fell into a deep sleep.
The half moon in the night sky was gradually covered by clouds.
The wind blew through the woods, making a slight rustling sound. The flames of the burning dead branches, with a light blue color, fell down with a whoosh, and a thin mist gradually rose around.
A figure floated out of the mist.
Among the eight people who were sleeping soundly, someone was awakened by the cold. Lu Qing rubbed his eyes and sat up. When he saw the vague figure, he was so scared that his face turned pale. He lay down again and poked Lu Pan next to him with his hand.
"Lao Pan, the evil ghost is here!"
Lu Pan was awakened by his tickling. He propped up half of his body and squinted his eyes to look in the direction he was pointing.
"What the hell is going on... Ouch!"
The words suddenly changed, and he quickly closed his eyes, slammed them back, and closed his eyes: "Don't look, go to sleep."
"How can we sleep? Will she absorb our yang energy?"
“Who knows?”
Lu Pan felt something floating over his head. He was so scared that he closed his eyes tightly. He grabbed Lu Qing's face with his hands and tried to pull it outwards.
"Lao Pan, you bastard." Lu Qing was willing to show weakness and also used his hands to pry him away.
However, a faint feeling of tiredness came over them, and after moving a few times, they fell asleep.
The surging mist stopped for a moment, and the graceful figure in the middle slowly landed on the ground. Without making any sound, she bowed to the sleeping Lu Liangsheng over there.
"…I am Nie Honglian, thank you for your help, sir."