He Lingchuan smiled: "No matter what the reason is, it's best not to check this tonight."
"Oh why?"
"You are on someone else's territory, and you still want to dig up someone else's background?" Dong Rui clicked on him, "I'm afraid you won't be able to leave Chenjiazhuang alive, and you will end up being abandoned in the wild... just like that mother and daughter."
Li Xianwei shrank his neck and wanted to say "They dare"?
The words went around in my mouth twice, but they couldn't come out.
I only brought six or seven official servants with me, and they were not a large force. These rough and tough people from the countryside might really dare!
Dong Rui then added: "When we investigate in Zhuangzi, there are always people watching nearby. Most likely, Chenjiazhuang has some secrets, and we are afraid that we will dig them out."
This kind of Zhuangzi is a settlement with a big family name. It needs land and people. It usually lives its own life behind closed doors. It is difficult for outsiders to know any secrets.
"If the monster hadn't attacked and too many people died, Chenjiazhuang probably wouldn't have reported the crime." After entering the yard, He Lingchuan saw that there was no one idle here, and then asked County Lieutenant Li, "Do you know where Maodun and Xingyun Village are?
?”
"I know about Maodun. I'll send someone to check it out tomorrow morning." This can at least corroborate Ah Hui's statement. However, "I really don't know the name of Xingyun Village. I don't think I've ever heard of it."
"Liuxian County is not a small place and is mostly mountainous. How far can this mother and daughter go without mules and horses to travel by themselves?" He Lingchuan pondered, "I'm afraid County Lieutenant Li will have to do a thorough investigation when he gets back. There have been reports of villages and towns in your area.
It seems like it’s nothing unusual to disappear again.”
"Yes, yes, I will look through the account books when I return to the county."
He Lingchuan yawned: "Go to sleep, we have to be busy tomorrow."
A night of silence.
…
The next day, God's face was not good-looking, and the rain was not falling at all, and there was no pattern at all.
He Lingchuan and the others got up early in the morning and had a big bowl of mixed vegetable porridge in the yard. The farmer's earthen bowl was bigger than a human face. There was also a stack of shepherd's purse cakes that were fried until they were slightly burnt on the dining table. Pick one up and
, roll up the silver cabbage pickled with pickled pepper seeds, stuff it into your mouth, it has a crunch and bursts of pulp.
County Lieutenant Li thought he was a good eater, but he only swallowed three pieces of cake and the plate on the dinner table was all empty.
The three of them and the officials came out burping. Patriarch Chen hurriedly came forward to greet them with a smile, and asked the officials if they had made any new discoveries last night.
He Lingchuan spoke in an official tone and made a few prevarications.
The head of the Chen family personally sent everyone to the gate of Zhuangzi and watched them mount their horses and leave.
Everyone left Chenjiazhuang and walked into the forest. They couldn't walk more than fifty feet when the branches beside them rustled.
Lieutenant Li was startled and was about to call his men to alert him when he saw a monkey jump out of the treetop and land on He Lingchuan's shoulder.
He subconsciously looked at the ghost ape on Dong Rui's buttocks.
Another monkey? This one is much prettier and is wearing a round hat.
When Lingguang returned to the team, He Lingchuan asked him: "How is it? What did you find?"
Before Lieutenant Li led them into Chenjiazhuang yesterday, he assigned Lingguang to sneak into Zhuangzi at night to find out the shady secret. The two parties used eyeball spiders to communicate.
Only by investigating openly and secretly can the investigation of this case continue.
"Following your guidance, I discovered that there is a row of houses hidden in the dense forest in the north of Zhuangzi. There are villagers patrolling it, and no one can get close to it." Fortunately, Lingguang is not a nomad, and he does not need the consent of the villagers to enter or leave. "
That place is not difficult to find. On the surface it is a fruit-picking and wine-making workshop, but in fact there is a deep cellar dug under the house, which is blocked by wooden boards, tables, chairs and sundries, making it very hidden."
Lieutenant Li couldn't help but ask: "Did you get in? What's at the bottom of the cellar?"
"Brew-making vats, bottles—"
Lieutenant Li rolled his eyes secretly when he heard this, but Ling Guang immediately said: "There are also weapons, swords, guns, arrows, hooks and halberds. They are all complete, large in number, and new in appearance. The arrow clusters also smell of fresh wood."
Is that a weapon used by Chenjiazhuang for self-defense? Lieutenant Li frowned, sensing something was wrong.
"I only found one cellar, and there were hundreds of knives of different shapes."
"Hundreds of knives?" Lieutenant Li sneered, "Are they going to open a weapons shop?"
Zhuangzi, with three to four hundred people, had hundreds of knives, not counting other weapons?
County Lieutenant Li was not stupid either. After a second thought, he understood: "Okay, it turns out they are smuggling weapons!"
The Golden Plains are chaotic and turbulent, and the demand for weapons is far greater than in other areas.
Wool, fruits, wine, and the external livelihood of the Chen family are all used as cover to facilitate their private trafficking of weapons.
Chenjiazhuang is the fortress of arms dealers!
Of course, the extremely high profits from smuggling weapons are also due to the strict prohibition by the Pei State official.
Thinking of this, a layer of cold sweat broke out on Lieutenant Li's back. Fortunately, he didn't act rashly last night, otherwise these lawless gangsters might have killed people and silenced them.
He asked Lingguang: "How do you know there is Xuanxu under that row of houses?"
Lingguang looked at He Lingchuan and smiled without saying a word.
In fact, He Lingchuan also secretly placed an eyeball spider on the Chen clan leader last night to monitor his behavior. When they visited Chen's wife, Aunt Wu and others, Chen Ling became restless and mentioned the Northern Workshop to his confidants several times.
He also ordered the workshop to turn off the lights at night so that the inspectors and officials would not discover him.
Chenjiazhuang is not small, and the workshop is separated by trees. As long as the lights are not turned on, people who don't come often will not know that there is a building there.
When Chen Ling said this, He Lingchuan knew that something was fishy.
Sure enough, Lingguang went to investigate again and found the weapons at the bottom of the cellar.
"No wonder the patriarch of the Chen family concealed Ah Hui's mother and daughter because he didn't want to cause trouble. But we just visited two villagers and took a look at the scene of the thatched house. The most he could do was confirm that we discovered the existence of Ah Hui and her daughter." He Lingchuan told Li County
Wei said, "After we leave, Chenjiazhuang may have to transfer weapons."
He continued: "From this point of view, even if Ah Hui did not conflict with Chen Fu'ang and the other five people, it would have been difficult for Ah Hui to leave Chen Family Village."
Lieutenant Li scolded: "These bastards!"
Dong Rui yawned: "Hurry back to Liu County, County Lieutenant Li has to send someone to look for the body."
…
Xiao An tossed and turned and didn't fall asleep until almost dawn.
As soon as I fell asleep, everything was pitch black again.
Empty, lonely and familiar darkness.
So Xiao An knew that the monster was coming to catch her again.
Her eyes widened and she looked left and right. Running at this time would only waste her energy in vain. She had to confirm the direction first.
Soon, there was a strange clicking sound behind her, and something disturbed the air and came straight towards her.
An arm suddenly stretched out from the darkness, pale and thin!
Xiao An jumped forward and his arm flew away.
Now! Run, run!
She moved her short legs and rushed forward without looking back.
The monster behind her was chasing after her, and she could hear heavy footsteps.
She was also familiar with the rhythm of the footsteps. Xiao An even knew that as long as she kept running forward, the monster would always disappear.
But the last few times, the monster's pace has become faster and faster, and it has gotten closer and closer to her.
She could even feel the monster's breath on the back of her neck, which was wet and cold.
She didn't dare to look back, and she didn't know when she would be caught!
"Run!" My mother's voice came from nowhere. It was very urgent, but also very vague. "Xiao An, run!"
The monster's low roar suddenly rang in my ears!
Xiao An sat up with a groan, cold sweat covering his back.
Wake up, she finally woke up.
The surroundings were no longer pitch black, and the golden sunlight passed through the small window and shone on the dusty ground.
Even the dust becomes cute.
To be continued...