When he came downstairs, Wu Chengsi asked the shopkeeper who was calculating the abacus: "Store, we want to go to the coast, how should we go?"
The shopkeeper stopped, raised his head and said, "Just go out of the east gate and walk east for a dozen miles."
After a pause, he reminded: "But when you encounter a red leaf forest, you must remember to go around from the south. You can't enter that forest."
"Why can't we enter?" Wu Chengsi's eyes lit up. He remembered that Zhou Shang had mentioned the red leaf forest.
The shopkeeper looked around and said mysteriously: "There are ghosts in that forest. Many people never come out after entering the woods. Even their bodies can't be found!"
Zhuge Sanyuan smiled and said: "There are many people? In other words, there are also people who are fine after going in?"
"That's true. People who enter the woods either disappear or nothing happens. I heard that some people see things they shouldn't see in the woods. What do you think they are if they are not ghosts?"
Zhuge Nan and Wu Chengsi looked at each other. They both remembered Zhou Shang's words. She said that others suspected that she and her father had seen hallucinations!
Zhuge Nan immediately asked: "What did they see?"
The shopkeeper thought about it and replied: "Village Chief Zhang of Nancun is one of the people who survived the red leaf forest. He said that he saw a desert and a lake. Do you think this is not an illusion?"
Zhuge Nan said to Wu Chengsi: "Sir, do you think what Miss Zhou saw was also an illusion?"
He always felt that Zhou Shang's words were unbelievable, and he could only explain them through hallucinations.
Wu Chengsi was silent for a while and said: "Let's not rush to conclusions yet. We can wait until we have visited the red leaf forest and the coast to see the situation."
Then he asked the shopkeeper: "By the way, doesn't the government care about Hongyelin's affairs?"
"The government can't control it even if it wants to."
"Can't control it?"
The shopkeeper smiled bitterly and said: "I heard that the previous county magistrate also sent people to investigate, but all the detectives who went in to investigate disappeared. No one was found alive or dead."
He sighed and continued: "From now on, the government no longer dares to send people into the forest."
Wu Chengsi's face darkened, and Xu Wenqing's master and servant even turned pale after hearing this.
Lu Wei whispered: "Miss, Mr. Wu seems to want to go to the Red Leaf Forest. Let's not follow him!"
Xu Wenqing glared at her, saw Wu Chengsi looking over, and said hurriedly: "I'm not afraid, not at all."
Wu Chengsi smiled slightly and walked out of the inn, and Xu Wenqing hurriedly followed.
The group of people left Linhai County through the east gate, and it was approaching Youshi.
Wu Chengsi was worried that he would be delayed and the city gate was closed, so he walked very quickly along the way.
Xu Wenqing's master and servant all trotted to barely keep up.
Not long after walking forward, a dense forest appeared ahead.
Xu Wenqing was afraid that Wu Chengsi was going to enter the forest, so he hurriedly pointed to a path extending southward and said: "Master Wu, the shopkeeper should be talking about this road. Let's go around it quickly!"
Zhuge Sanyuan said: "Sir, there must be something strange in this dense forest. If you want to go in, let me go and investigate first."
Wu Chengsi shook his head and said: "Let's go around it first. Let's make preparations and explore this dense forest another day."
At this moment, everyone walked around the red leaf forest along the path.
After walking for seven or eight miles, the sound of waves hitting the rocks could be faintly heard. After walking for another half a mile, the field of vision suddenly became empty, and a blue and open sea appeared in front of everyone.
The coast in front drops straight into the sea. When you reach the shore, you can see from a distance that the sea is very calm, like a piece of blue silk, clear and smooth.
Looking down, the sound of sea water hitting the rocks was loud, and the splashing white water showed the violent side of the sea.
Han Cheng suddenly pointed to a corner in the north and said, "Sir, there is a beach over there."
Wu Chengsi turned around and saw a gray beach, and several people walked around it along the coast.
Stepping on the soft beach, Wu Chengsi looked to the north and saw a square house in the distance.
That must be the house Zhou Shang saw.
Wu Chengsi quickened his pace and came to the front of the house.
After looking up and down, I found that the house was made of iron sheets and was wrapped with a layer of cowhide.
After thinking for a while, I was immediately relieved. This is the seaside, and wooden houses are easily affected by moisture and rot. The special materials of this house are obviously used for waterproofing.
Wu Chengsi walked to the house and found that the door was unlocked. Just as he was about to push the door open, Han Chengsi said: "Sir, let me do it."
Pushing the door open, he walked in first.
"There's nothing wrong inside." Han Cheng's voice came from inside the house.
Wu Chengsi stepped through the door and looked around.
This small house is about ten square meters, and it is quite ornately decorated, with a brocade bed, a table, a chair, an incense burner, and carpets on the floor.
In addition, there are some fishing tools hanging on the wall, which are exactly the same as what Zhou Shang described when he saw the hut for the second time.
Zhugenan immediately lay down on the ground, used his housekeeping skills, and inspected the hut inch by inch.
Wu Chengsi came to the bedside and found that there was a layer of dust on the bed. Apparently no one had been to this small room for a long time.
On the table beside the bed, there are some small objects such as nine-ring rings and Luban locks.
The owner of this hut should be Wu Wei, which means that he should also be the owner of these small objects.
Wu Chengsi was slightly surprised. He did not expect that this domineering Baron Pingchang would have such a hobby.
This room was probably used specifically for fishing, and it can also be seen that Wu Wei loved fishing.
At this moment, Zhugenan stood up, frowned and said, "Sir, I didn't find any blood stains."
Wu Chengsi nodded and said, "Okay, let's go out."
When they came outside the house, they saw Xu Wenqing and Lu Wei piling sand on the sand. After seeing them come out, they both stood up hurriedly.
"Let's go and have a look in front." Wu Chengsi said, looking to the north. This beach is so long that you can't see the end of it to the north.
Everyone walked along the beach for a while, until they reached the end of the beach, and found nothing else.
When they reached the coast, Wu Chengsi's eyes brightened and he saw a dense forest in the distance to the northwest.
Wu Chengsi turned back and glanced at the beach again, touched his chin and said, "Miss Zhou must have passed through that red leaf forest."
Zhuge Nan nodded and said: "They walked through the woods, went to the beach from here, and then went all the way south and found the iron house."
Then he added: "Miss Zhou said that the house changed completely in one night, and there was no blood on the ground. It's impossible."
Wu Chengsi said: "But that's what she said."
"Didn't the shopkeeper just say that there is something wrong with the forest? She must have seen hallucinations!" Zhuge Nan said firmly.
Wu Chengsi frowned and said nothing.
Judging from Zhou Shang's words, except for the unexplainable corpse in the hut, there were no errors or abnormalities in other places.
This doesn't feel like an illusion.
Moreover, what happened in Hongyelin was also very strange. He had just uncovered Li Yunxian's pretense not long ago, and he definitely didn't believe that it was something sneaky.
There was indeed a problem in that forest, but he believed that it was not ghosts that caused the problem, but people!
…
Come to the inn again.
"Shopkeeper, I want to ask you about someone."
The shopkeeper, who was busy settling accounts, suddenly heard a voice.
When he looked up, he saw that the person speaking was a man wearing yellow cedar, followed by a skinny old man.
The shopkeeper smiled and said, "I wonder what the guest wants to ask?"
"An hour ago, did a young woman with big eyes and a round face move into your inn?" Mr. Huangshan asked.
The shopkeeper smiled apologetically and said: "Sir, you also know that a small shop cannot reveal the identity of its customers casually."
Bang. The skinny old man put down a lot of money on the table.
The shopkeeper suddenly looked embarrassed, as if he was weighing the situation.
There was another clang, and there was another bunch of money on the table.
The shopkeeper showed a painful expression, as if his greed was about to swallow up his professional ethics, but there was still a little missing.
Bang!
This time what was placed on the table was a knife.
The pained expression on the shopkeeper's face disappeared instantly, and he said without hesitation: "Yes, such a girl does live in the shop. There are four men and another girl traveling with her."
The Huangshan man said calmly: "Are they in the store?"
"No, they asked about the direction of the coast, maybe they went to the beach. By the way, they also asked about the red leaf forest." The shopkeeper answered very carefully.
"Red leaf forest?" The Huangshan man raised his eyebrows.
The shopkeeper looked around and said mysteriously: "There are ghosts in the woods, can you..."
The Huangshan man sneered and interrupted: "Okay, help me get a room next to that girl."
When the shopkeeper saw him turning around and leaving, he hurriedly asked: "Sir, don't you go to the room and have a look?"
The Huangshan man didn't answer and walked out of the inn.