This village is not small. Before getting close, Qin Xiao estimated that there were at least thirty or forty households in the village.
This is already a relatively large village in Xiling.
There was a pond at the entrance of the village. When I led my horse across the pond, I saw several people at the entrance of the village talking and whispering. One person saw Qin Xiao and others coming and immediately reminded his companions. The others immediately stopped talking and looked at Qin Xiao with strange expressions.
.
Qin Xiao was young and handsome, so naturally he took the initiative to step forward, cupped his hands and said, "I'm sorry to disturb you."
They didn't speak, just looked at Qin Xiao. Qin Xiao was a little embarrassed when he saw that the other party was not enthusiastic, but he also knew that there were a few strangers suddenly coming to the village. The other party didn't know the details, so naturally he wouldn't be too enthusiastic.
"While we were on our way, one of our companions fell ill." Qin Xiao had been in prison after all. With a smile on his face, he said obediently: "It's getting late, so I want to stay overnight in your place and boil some hot water.
Let’s take a rest and ask a few of us for our convenience.”
Someone saw that Qin Xiao and others were carrying knives. They looked at each other and one person asked: "Who are you?"
"We are escorts." Qin Xiao had already thought of his response.
"The village does not accept outsiders. If you go thirty miles east, you will reach the county seat." One person said: "There is nothing to eat in the village, so it is difficult to keep people here."
Qin Xiao could also see that although these people were wearing cotton-padded jackets, they were very worn and patched, and each of them had a yellow face and skinny muscles, as if they had not had enough to eat all year round. He wondered why the people in the pass were so poor.
He didn't waste any time, took out a banknote and handed it over, still smiling and saying: "We don't live in vain, here are twenty taels of silver, please accept it."
Twenty taels of silver is certainly not a small amount.
The villagers' eyes were shining like hungry wolves seeing their prey, and Qin Xiao suddenly felt that something was wrong.
Although it is natural for people to love money, these people did not hide their desire for money. They really did not hide it at all.
One person reached out to take it and said: "I am the security chief of the village. There is an empty house over there that no one lives in. You can live in it, but you have to leave early tomorrow morning." He stretched out his hand towards a dilapidated house not far away.
He pointed, but before Qin Xiao could say anything, the man said again: "Remember, don't go out at night. There are dozens of strong men in the village, so I'm not afraid of you."
Qin Xiao felt funny, thinking to himself that if these people really had evil intentions, they would not be afraid even if there were dozens more strong men.
After the villagers dispersed, Qin Xiao called a few people to the dilapidated house, tied up the horses, and entered the house. A musty smell penetrated his nose. The house was very poor and there was no furniture. Fortunately, there were two rooms on the left and right.
There is also a bed.
Qin Xiao lit the lamp, but heard Yu Wenchengchao suddenly say: "Do you smell the smell of blood?"
"The smell of blood?" Several people were surprised. Han Yunong looked around and suddenly walked to the wall and squatted down. Qin Xiao went over with an oil lamp and saw that there were blood stains on the wall, but the blood stains were gone.
It was dry, and it had obviously been handled by someone, leaving not much blood stains.
"There are some here too." Yuwen Chengchao whispered.
Several people looked over and saw Yuwen Chengchao picking up a stone from the door. Sure enough, there was blood on the back of the door panel.
"There is blood on this stone." Yuwen Chengchao took it and handed the stone to Han Yunong. After Han Yunong took it, he saw that the stone was not big, but it had many edges and corners. Two of the edges were stained with blood and had dried.
.
He gathers
(This chapter is not finished, please turn the page)
He went up to it, smelled it, wiped it with a finger, and said with a solemn expression, "It won't last long, only half a month at most."
"There have been fights and even murders here," Yu Wen Chengchao said softly.
Du Hongsheng was weak. Although Qin Xiao felt that the room was very strange, he still helped Du Hongsheng into the room first. The bedding on the bed was torn and dirty, and even exuded a strange smell. For a while, he could not find new bedding, so he
Neng said: "Sir, I've wronged you. You have to rest first. I'll go to other villagers to see if there are any beddings to buy."
Du Hongsheng said feebly: "No, thank you for your trouble." He couldn't hold on any longer, so he lay down on the bed.
Qin Xiao went to the back to find firewood, lit a fire in the house, and said to Du Hongsheng, "Sir, I'm going to boil some hot water." When he got outside, he saw Han Yunong and Yu Wen Chengchao were still checking in the house, and asked in a low voice.
: "Captain, is this place weird?"
"It's very weird." Han Yunong often handled cases in Xiling. At this time, he couldn't help but survey the scene. Yu Wen Chengchao held an oil lamp to illuminate the scene.
"This house has been treated, but there are still remnants left. It can be concluded that a murder occurred in this house." Han Yunong was very sure: "I checked the path of the blood stains, from the room to the door. If the judgment is correct,
If it were true, at the time of the incident, the fight should have started in the room. Someone wanted to escape, but was already seriously injured in the room. Someone was chasing him from behind. It is not clear whether the person rushed out of the room, but if he wanted to escape,
People are under attack all the time."
"Did this happen recently?"
"No more than half a month." Han Yunong frowned: "If a murder occurs, it should have been reported to the official. The scene of the crime cannot be dealt with immediately after the incident. Unless the official has come and taken away the prisoner, the villagers will
The place was treated, but not cleaned up.”
Yuwen Chengchao whispered: "Captain, the villagers in this village are a little weird. When we entered the village, did you notice that several families of villagers were hiding behind the windows and peeking at us? Their eyes...
..I can’t describe it, it’s just weird and spooky.”
"I also discovered it." Han Yunong said: "But I thought it was outsiders entering the village, and they were wary."
"Could it be that outsiders lived here before, and then the villagers sought money and killed the outsiders?" Qin Xiao thought of the greedy looks on the villagers' faces when they saw the banknotes. Thinking about it now, he felt strange.
Han Yunong shook his head and said: "There is no evidence, we can't wear hats randomly. But there is something weird in this village. When we entered the village, everyone was in the house and did not come out. It was just adults. There should be children playing outside in the village. You guys
Do you see any children?"
Both of them shook their heads.
"Let's be careful and be careful." Han Yunong said: "We will take turns to be on duty at night, and we will leave as soon as it gets light."
In fact, actual people also know that even if the villagers here have evil intentions, the skills of three people are more than enough to deal with these villagers.
Qin Xiao arrived in the kitchen. Fortunately, there was a yellow wooden bucket, but there was no water in the water tank. He said hello to Han Yunong and went out to fetch water from the pond.
The sky had darkened. Qin Xiao walked past several houses carrying a wooden bucket. He deliberately slowed down and looked to both sides from the corner of his eye. Sure enough, he found that behind the window, there were eyes staring at him. He was in this deserted village.
Being stared at from behind the window, Qin Xiao actually felt that his hair was standing on end and felt uncomfortable all over.
(This chapter is not finished, please turn the page)
Clothes.
He went to the pond to get water, and when he came back, those eyes were still staring at him. Qin Xiao quickened his pace and returned to the house, feeling relieved.
"What's wrong?" Yuwen Chengchao couldn't help asking when he saw that Qin Xiao was a little nervous.
Qin Xiao smiled bitterly and said: "You are right, they were hiding behind the window and watching me. I got goosebumps all over my body, and my heart is beating so fast even now."
Yuwen Chengchao smiled and said: "Don't be afraid, we have knives in our hands, I don't believe they really dare to attack us."
Qin Xiao went to the kitchen, washed the pot first, then boiled half a bucket of hot water, and found two old rice bowls. After washing them, he carried the bucket to the room and fed Du Hongsheng half a bowl of hot water.
Han Yunong got the dry food, and Zhang Rang prepared a lot of dry food for several people, which was enough for half a month. Qin Xiao first fed Du Hongsheng a little, and then went over to sit down with Han Yunong and eat dry food with hot water.
"How is Master Du?" Yuwen Chengchao asked.
Qin Xiao said: "It's probably due to overwork. It's not a big deal if you take a good rest."
"That's good." Yuwen Chengchao said: "Master Du is a civil servant. This continuous bumpy situation is really not easy."
Han Yunong sighed: "If it weren't for you two, Mr. Du and I would have lost our lives." He showed a hint of shame: "Fan Ziqi secretly trained so many cavalry in Xiling, but we didn't know anything about it. It's really...
inability."
"Captain, there is no need to blame yourself." Yuwen Chengchao said with a bitter smile: "I am from the Yuwen family, and even our Yuwen family knows nothing about this."
"The Fan family is in Fan County, and the guards at Kunlun Pass are his people. They have been secretly communicating with the Wutuo people." Qin Xiao said: "Their swords are very sharp. I heard they are made of refined iron ore from the Wutuo people.
.There are many mines in Fan County. They secretly build armor weapons. With the Fan family covering it up, how could we know about it?"
Yuwen Cheng said: "But I don't know how many Deathwing Cavalry there are. Now it is estimated that it may have reached a thousand."
"At least that's the number. On New Year's Eve, three hundred cavalry entered the city in Turtle City, and there were only a few more in Fenggan City." Qin Xiaodao: "That night, there were at least two hundred people in Heiyang City. Counting this,
There are still a thousand Deathwing Cavalry. Without this capital, Li Tuo would not dare to act rashly." Then he also smiled bitterly and said: "When Zhonglang and I were about to arrive at Fan County, Fan Ziqi sent money and food.
At that time, I thought he had sincerely surrendered to the imperial court. The granary in Heiyang City stored a large amount of grain. I really thought it was given to the generals, but now that I think about it, it was their own military grain used to supply the rebels."
Han Yunong said: "Although the Fan family has strong financial resources, they also need to build weapons and equipment and store food. The number of cavalry they train secretly will not be too many. With their family's financial resources, they cannot support a large number of cavalry."
"But now that Xiling is under their control, the Zhen family's wealth will certainly be taken away by them. Even the wealth donated by the Yuwen family will all fall into their hands." Qin Xiao frowned and said: "In addition, the Xiling family is afraid of the Fan family.
With the knife in their hands, they will definitely donate their money. With this money in their hands, they will quickly recruit troops and horses, and even purchase weapons and equipment in large quantities from Wutuo."
Yu Wen Chengchao clenched his fists with a stern expression. At this moment, he suddenly heard a shrill cry coming from outside, like a ghost howling. The three of them were all frightened and stood up at the same time.