It was raining heavily outside, the sky and the earth were almost connected, and there were lightning and thunder accompaniments from time to time.
Not long after Qishan put on his clothes and fell asleep, he was awakened by a loud knock on the door. He opened his eyes and stood up, straightened his clothes, and was about to put on his clogs and open the door when Shen Tang opened the door before him.
The visitor was wearing a bamboo hat and a raincoat and looked anxious——
It is the village chief of Qianjia Village.
Shen Tang turned sideways and invited people into the room.
"It's raining heavily outside, my father-in-law comes first to talk."
Muramasa waved his hand and declined: "No, no."
Qishan stepped forward: "My father-in-law looks anxious, but something happened?"
"Have you guys seen Ayan?" It was windy and rainy outside. Muramasa's face was wet with rainwater, and it was dripping down. He didn't bother to wipe it with his hands, and his voice was a little trembling, " That child... just disappeared without looking at him!"
Shen Tang asked doubtfully: "Who is Ayan?"
"That's the child who was playing with Xiao Langjun earlier."
When he said this, he knew who Shen Tang was.
It turned out to be that little kid who looked stupid and stupid,
His name is "Ayan".
Shen Tang looked at the situation outside the house and shook his head: "We have been in the house and haven't seen him. When did he disappear?"
Muramasa: "Just now, a quarter of an hour at most."
When Shen Tang heard this, his expression darkened visibly.
A quarter of an hour is fifteen minutes.
The rain outside was so strong that even the coir raincoats and bamboo hats could not stop it. The wind was howling and the rain was pouring. You could still vaguely hear the howling of wild beasts from the mountains, which was very disturbing. If a child disappeared in such weather, he was probably not found in the village. Did the jackals, tigers and leopards take it away?
This is what Muramasa is most worried about.
He said: "It's okay if you are naughty and run out to play, but you are afraid that you will be picked up by a big insect coming down the mountain..."
In recent years, there have been few harvests due to drought, heavy taxes, and wars. The villagers are not living a good life, and the wild beasts in the mountains are also not living a good life. They often go down the mountain to look for food. It is okay to just take away the livestock raised by the villagers. I am afraid that they will be killed. The child was taken away.
Similar tragedies have occurred three times in the past two years.
Qi Shan took off the bamboo hat hanging on the wall, put it on his head, tied the rope, and said: "Don't worry, old man, I will also help you search, and you will always find the child. Thinking at the best, maybe the child was killed by Zhuangzi. It’s unclear whether the servants will take him back..."
Muramasa sighed.
He also hoped that everything was just a false alarm as Qi Shan said, and that the child was not missing or snatched away by a big insect but was taken back, but he knew that this possibility was slim. Ayan was not taken seriously, and in Zhuangzi's life Quality is just about starving.
Half a month ago, I stayed in the village for four or five days before being picked up - this was the result of a deliberate reminder from the villagers of Qianjia Village who met an old woman. The weather was so bad tonight, let alone expect them to come to pick me up in the rain.
Shen Tang said: "I will also help find him."
Qishan glanced at it and said, "You can just forget it and don't check what the weather is like outside? Otherwise, no one will find you and lose you."
Muramasa was grateful for Qi Shan's help, but he did not approve of Shen Tang's going out. This young man was still childish. He was 11 or 12 years old and was very thin. He looked only five or six years older than A Yan.
"These worries are unnecessary. How could I lose it? No matter how bad it is, it is better than asking the villagers to look for someone in the dark." Shen Tang borrowed a raincoat and bamboo hat from Muramasa, and Muramasa worriedly handed her a handful of firewood for chopping firewood. Knife, if you are unlucky enough to encounter a big insect, it can hold it together.
"Ayan!"
Heavy rain made the land muddy.
Although Shen Tang's eyesight was good, she would step into puddles from time to time, causing mud and water to splash when walking, making the hem of her clothes dirty. For a quarter of an hour, she searched the fields near Qianjia Village but could not find Ayan. Other villagers also had no harvest.
The longer time goes by, the less confident everyone becomes.
Qi Shan asked Muramasa where Zhuangzi was, and he planned to go to Zhuangzi to ask - although the possibility of being picked up was unlikely, but what if?
Shen Tang volunteered: "I'll go too."
Muramasa sighed: "Then I'll trouble you two to make a trip."
The villagers of Qianjia Village searched closer to the mountains. The same was true for the child that had been taken away by the big insect before. They searched all night but could not find it. Finally, they found intestines, minced meat and bones dragged out in the grass at the foot of the mountain.
"Yan Ling is so magical, why doesn't it have a rainproof function?"
Even though she was wearing a coir raincoat and hat, Shen Tang still got soaked in the rain. The feeling of the cold clothes sticking to her skin made her extremely uncomfortable. If the night wind blew into the gaps in the coir raincoat, it would raise goose bumps.
Qishan said: "Maybe."
Who allowed so many words and spirits?
Moreover--
"Even if there is one, not all speech spirits can learn it. In the hope that there is such a speech spirit in the world, it is better to wear more rain gear."
Shen Tang trotted to keep up with his footsteps, not caring that his heavy steps would splash sewage. It was already dirty anyway, so no matter how careful he was, he said: "Are there any lighting objects that will not get wet by rain? Marching in heavy rain, walking It’s also convenient for traveling at night…”
Qishan: "..."
Zhuangzi is not very far from Qianjia Village.
The two of them followed the muddy path, one foot deep and one foot shallow, and walked for two-quarters of an hour before they found it. It was a courtyard surrounded by low walls, with dark tiles and white walls vaguely visible. The courtyard was pitch dark, with no light. From a distance, it looks like a curled-up black shadow of a beast.
Shen Tang stepped forward, raised his hand and knocked on the door.
Dong dong dong——
At this time, a bolt of lightning jumped in the clouds, illuminating half of the sky, followed by deafening thunder.
She was worried that she wouldn't be heard from inside, so she changed from knocking on the door with her fingers to making a fist to knock on the door, and gradually increased her force - bang bang bang!
Just when she thought there was no one in the house, she vaguely heard a man answering impatiently: "Who is knocking on the door?"
After a while, the door opened.
The middle-aged man who opened the door was wearing a short brown robe and a turban. He seemed to be dissatisfied with someone disturbing someone's dream in the middle of the night. He glanced at Shen Tang and Qi Shan with an unkind expression. One was tall and the other was short, and they were both of the same age. Big, his expression seemed slightly relaxed and a little more kind.
"Who are you two?"
Shen Tang replied: "We are travelers staying in Qianjia Village. I heard from the village leader that the child named Ayan came from your village. He played in the village during the day and did not go back. He disappeared not long ago. The village leader was worried that he was attacked by a big insect. Take it away and look for it everywhere."
After hearing Shen Tang's words, the middle-aged man's expression softened a lot: "Oh, Ayan has been brought back, please worry you two."
Got it back???
Shen Tang frowned slightly.
Cover it with a bamboo hat and restore the normal color.
At this time, Qi Shan crossed his hands and saluted the man, and said with a gentle expression: "The young man in my house is fine, and we can rest assured. It's just that it's dark, the road is narrow, and the wind and rain are strong. Can I borrow the money from your house temporarily?" , allow my two brothers to take shelter here to take shelter from the rain?"
When the middle-aged man heard this, he hesitated for a moment.
But he still turned aside to let Shen Tang and the others in, and said: "You two are also running in the rain for the sake of your children. You are just taking shelter from the rain, so of course you can. But it is too late now, everyone in the house has gone to bed, and we cannot entertain you. I hope you can forgive me."
Qishan: "This is natural, just have an eaves to shelter from the rain."
The two followed the middle-aged man into the small courtyard.
There were several trees planted in the courtyard, and hemp ropes for drying clothes were tied between the tree trunks. There were clothes hanging on the hemp ropes - seven or eight pieces for adults, and one piece of children's clothes that had been washed, turned white, and patched.
Shen Tang glanced out of the corner of his eye and looked away without trace.
