"Lujia Village..."
The oil lamp swayed, illuminating the man's face. His powerful eyes under his thick eyebrows swept over the three words "Yazui Ridge" written on the paper, and then fell on the three words "Chen Yaoke".
"In October... Liu Erlong and his gang of bandits robbed Lujia Village... and were killed that night..."
"On the fifth day of August, Chen Yaoke was cut open with a knife at home. There were no signs of anyone touching the windows and door locks..."
As the night sky in the courtyard gradually changed from pitch black to dark and a hint of paleness appeared in the eastern sky, Zuo Zhengyang suddenly opened his eyes wide and hurried to another room to rummage through the drawers and cabinets, trying to find the document that had been sealed and handed over to the next captain.
The pages rustled in his hands.
At some point, it stopped.
His eyes stayed on one piece of content, and Zuo Zhengyang's face suddenly changed. It registered the names and addresses of forty idle men, nine of whom were from the same place - Lujia Village.
As a detective, he should not have ignored these clues, but he was always focusing on the fact that the sorcery was harming people, and he became blind.
"Call everyone together!" Zuo Zhengyang held the booklet, his hands trembling slightly.
Soon, the constables in the building ran out in a panic, dressed in robes and holding weapons, and gathered in the courtyard to discuss in a low voice.
"I don't know what the captain who is about to be promoted has done to wake everyone up at this time."
"There may be a new case..."
"Could it be that there has been some progress in the matter of Mr. Chen's family?"
…
The discussions gradually died down, and the two doors of the main room creaked open. Zuo Zhengyang, wearing the uniform of a constable, with two long weapons inserted behind his back and a slender blade hanging from his waist, strode out.
"Is everyone here?!"
"All ready—" everyone shouted.
Zuo Zhengyang clenched the scabbard and nodded to the detectives. He knew that he had found the clue and would soon be able to find the person behind the scenes.
Although Chen Yaoke's death was different from that of his servants and the mountain bandits, they were ultimately related.
"No matter who you are... I will find you out..."
The morning sun had risen. He stood there, about to call everyone to go out, but suddenly, his open mouth closed again, and his eyes looked straight at the constables under his command.
Yesterday afternoon, in the carriage, the old man’s words came out, lingering in my ears like an illusion.
“… Every mountain, every soil, every sound of wind and rain must be seen and heard…”
One mountain, one soil, listen...
land?!
In connection with the recent rumors and the young man's spring-like smile when he accompanied the chief clerk to Lujia Village, Zuo Zhengyang unconsciously loosened his grip on the knife handle, and the warmth of the winter morning light shining on his body gradually turned cold.
"It's Lu Liangsheng..."
… The county magistrate and the chief clerk actually knew about it a long time ago, but I, the chief constable, was the last one to know about it.
In the sunlight, Zuo Zhengyang was trembling slightly until someone called him, "Captain, what's wrong with you?"
"It's okay, it's okay..."
Here, Zuo Zhengyang spoke several times, looked at the golden light, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened his eyes and waved to his men: "All... disperse, it's okay."
After running around for several months, from investigation to interrogation of passers-by, he finally turned his attention back to the bandits and saw clues to arrest the wanted criminals. Now, all this has become useless.
The sunlight shines on my face, making it look pale.
Zuo Zhengyang slowly turned around and returned to the house. The detectives stood there in a daze, staring at his back, and started whispering to each other.
"What is this captain doing?"
"Maybe I should go... and have another go."
"Let's go, let's go back and take a nap... It's so damn unlucky, I was woken up before dawn, and I'm just standing there like an idiot..."
The constables left the courtyard in twos and threes, looking back at the main hall over there from time to time, and couldn't help but mutter a few complaints.
However, that afternoon, they received news that Captain Zuo was about to leave Fushui County for Hegu County.
After the heavy winter snow, the snow melted and the road became muddy. Two long swords were hung on the side of the horse. Zuo Zhengyang hung his luggage, led the horse, looked at the bustling street scenes around him, and slowly walked out of the north gate.
There was a carriage parked at the long pavilion outside the city, and two people were waiting in the pavilion with wine and drinks. They were the county magistrate Min Changwen and Wang Shuhua. They had worked together for more than two years and always came to see them off.
The county magistrate lifted his wide sleeves, raised his wine glass with the old man beside him, and spoke.
"Why is Zhengyang leaving in such a hurry? The New Year is just a few days away. It won't be too late to leave after the New Year or the beginning of spring."
There was a look of reluctance on his face.
Across from him, Zuo Zhengyang held up his wine glass with both hands and said with a smile, "I have to leave sooner or later. Anyway, I am alone, so it's good to report in early. It's the end of the year, it doesn't matter where you spend it."
"Well, Zhengyang is so diligent, maybe he will be promoted in the future."
"The chief clerk is exalted."
The three talked for a while and then said goodbye. Zuo Zhengyang jumped on the horse, bowed to the two people who got on the carriage, shook the reins, and galloped away. After walking for a distance, he let out a "whoosh", stopped the reins, and turned to look behind.
The outline of the city wall in the distance stood in the red glow, as did the carriage that was gradually moving away.
“… Lu Liangsheng.” He whispered the name softly.
Zuo Zhengyang half-closed his eyes for a moment, then he squeezed the horse's belly and shouted, "Gee!" He galloped away and disappeared in the rosy glow.
…
The glow of the sunset spread, burning the sky red.
At the foot of Mount Qixia, the mountain was bustling. Grandpa Lu, leaning on a pear wood stick, sat on a rock, basking in the sunset, and smiling as he watched the renovation of the dilapidated houses in front of him. One by one, the strong-armed villagers carried wooden beams to the roofs and moved the green tiles over.
In the messy courtyard, the broth in the big pot was boiling.
There were also people who were tired. They wiped the sweat off their faces, took the boiled pork bone soup from Lu Xiaoxian’s hands, and drank it down in big gulps. It was a refreshing feeling.
Lu Laoshi was riding on the roof, his face flushed, and he was excitedly directing the craftsmen. At one moment, he stepped on empty air and fell down, but his body stopped in mid-air and slowly descended to the ground.
In the fading red glow, a girl's shadow can be vaguely seen flashing by.
Soon after, the night enveloped the sky and the earth. In the warm yellow kitchen, there was an extra pair of bowls and chopsticks on the newly laid round table. Sun Yingxian wanted to take it, but was hit by the woman with her chopsticks. Li Jinhua looked at the dark night outside the door and smiled. She was no longer afraid and was even grateful in her heart.
As time passed, the newly built house left traces of wind and rain. The winter snow melted and it was no longer cold. Lu Xiaoxian, wearing her newly bought shoes, chased a wild rabbit in the field.
The flying rabbit broke through a clump of grass and was met with a hideous face with blood coming out of all seven orifices. It was so frightened that its legs kicked up, its body froze, and it fell to the ground with a bang.
Lu Xiaoxian ran over, grabbed the two long ears and lifted them up, then looked at the ghost face in front of her with a smile and gave a thumbs up.
Behind the bushes, Nie Honglian put away her grimace, smiled with dimples on her cheeks, then raised her thumb and shook it, her figure like a breeze blowing across the field.
She likes her current life and everything around her.
Back in the courtyard, the fence was covered with blooming morning glories. A little Taoist priest with an ox nose was drawing talismans with a brush, his face covered in ink.
Lu Laoshi was sitting in the donkey shed, still thinking about the frame, when his wife pulled him away by the ear.
The Toad Taoist was still lazy, but he had a small cabinet filled with new clothes. Occasionally, he would sit up and look through a cookbook...
A bird chirped softly, folded its wings and landed beside the water tank. Opposite the open window, a boy who had grown another year older was flipping through a book and reciting its contents.
Lu Liangsheng raised his head, looked at the woman who was smiling at him, and smiled too. Sometimes he would pick up a brush and ink to add flowers and birds, two green pines, and a swing to Hong Lian on the scroll.
It's spring again, with birds singing and grass growing.
It was late at night and the lights were swaying gently. A breeze blew, caressing the pages of the book. Hong Lian walked closer with lotus steps and gently fiddled with the wick. The light became brighter, illuminating the shadow of a person writing on the window frame.
The ink marks that had not yet dried exuded the fragrance of ink and books. Lu Liangsheng looked at a piece of written calligraphy. Soon, he stretched comfortably, blew out the light, and returned to the bed, looking more and more like a scholar.
The cypress trees outside the house sprouted tender leaves and then turned yellow, day after day, as spring went and autumn came.
It is the three-year child examination.