There were seven corpses lying side by side under the straw mat, some old and some young, the youngest child was only three years old.
Liu Ruyan inserted the shovel into the soil, clapped her hands, and stepped forward to take a closer look. She saw that these people looked haggard, as if they had died of a long illness.
"Judging from the clothing, these piles of corpses are not the missing doctors, but should be people from the village. There are seven deceased, three generations of ancestors and grandchildren. The clothes on the body are intact, and there are no traces of trauma on the surface. It is initially judged that they died due to illness."
Liu Ruyan turned her face and said to him: "This family of seven must have been extinct. After their death, they were hastily buried here by the villagers without setting up a tombstone."
Shen Yanchu was a little puzzled: "What caused the whole family to die of illness? Could it be famine?"
She shook her head: "Probably not."
In her previous life, she passed through Youzhou and had not heard of any famine in the area. Although Taiping Village was not a prosperous place, she still had enough food to satisfy her hunger.
She asked Shen Yanchu to fill in the soil, and the two of them walked around the village cemetery and found that many new tombs had been built nearby, some of which didn't even have tombstones.
"There is no doubt that it is an epidemic. Now the winter cold is coming suddenly, often accompanied by typhoid fever. No wonder there is an urgent need for doctors here." Liu Ruyan said to herself, taking off the cloth and sighing, "In a remote village like this, every time It takes several months to wait for a doctor who can ring the bell in the alleys."
She sighed and said quietly: "In my opinion, Yang Linpo's Huang Zhi is just a cover to attract quacks to the village."
Shen Yanchu raised his head and glanced at the sky: "It's getting late, it's time to go back."
The village is not big, and it only takes a moment to walk from the river to the village.
As the two of them walked along, they felt that the village was unusually quiet.
Now that the New Year is approaching, every door is closed. The villagers carrying firewood are occasionally seen, but they disappear in the blink of an eye.
Liu Ruyan looked around and suddenly pointed forward: "It's a snowy day, and there are still bamboo sheets drying on the roof."
Shen Yanchu raised his eyes and saw a hut built at the corner ahead, which was similar to the houses in the village.
But there were still flat bamboos drying out on the snow-covered roof, which probably contained dry goods such as mountain mushrooms. They were covered with a thick layer of snow, which made them look particularly awkward.
"We in the north have the custom of displaying New Year's goods every year, but recently there has been no sunshine, and there have been several heavy snowfalls, but the owner of the house has not taken back these New Year's goods." Liu Ruyan looked puzzled, "Not only that, Just now we walked along the way, and several rooms in succession were like this, just like..."
"There is no one in the room." Shen Yanchu said suddenly.
"Yes, it's like there is no one in the house. Except for those who died of illness, where have the rest gone?"
She thought about it, where would the villagers go if they were not in the house, and what connection did they have with the missing doctor?
When she returned to the village, Liu Ruyan was so hungry that she didn't even bother to say hello to her host and rushed into the kitchen.
She opened the lid of the pot and found only half a cold steamed bun left in the pot. She rummaged around in the bamboo pan again and finally found some radish and mushrooms, and made do with a bowl of plain noodles.
As soon as the noodles were served, Shen Yanchu appeared in the kitchen on time as if he smelled the food.
She concentrated on eating the noodles without raising her head, and said in a vague voice: "There are still noodles in the pot."
When raising villains, feed them regularly.
Shen Yanchu ate slowly at first. She finished the noodles first, scooped out a ladle of water and washed the dishes. Then she yawned and walked to the bedroom: "I'm sleepy today, I'll go to bed first."
Halfway through, she passed a side room. The door was closed, and a sob or two could be heard from inside.
She slowed down and looked into the house.
But seeing the dim candlelight, Mrs. Lin was sitting on the ground, next to a black coffin.
She immediately fell silent, but unexpectedly, the people inside heard the noise and looked over at her. When she saw the people standing outside clearly, Mrs. Lin was also surprised.
Liu Ruyan could no longer pretend not to see it, so she showed a hint of apology to Mrs. Lin and asked in a concerned voice: "What's in this coffin?"
Mrs. Lin stood up immediately and said excitedly: "There is no one here, it's empty!"
"Oh——" Liu Ruyan responded.
There was only a coffin in the house but no mourning hall was arranged. The other party did not lie.
Sister Lin continued: "Doctor Liu also knows that our village is remote, so we always prepare a thin coffin in case we die without a place to stay."
As she spoke, her voice became tearful again.
"Yes, yes." Liu Ruyan didn't know how to comfort her, so she said, "God is good at life" and fled back to the west room.
As soon as he entered the door, he saw Shen Yanchu sitting at the table.
He didn't raise his head, just took a cup, made a cup of hot tea, and handed it to the person who came through the door.
Liu Ruyan took the warm tea and couldn't help but sigh virtuously.
After getting along with each other for the past few days, she found that Shen Yanchu seemed to be indifferent, but he was thoughtful and very good at treating others.
It's actually not bad to keep him by your side.
After drinking the warm tea in the cup, Liu Ruyan slowly said: "I saw the peasant woman prepared a thin coffin. If I guessed correctly, it should be for her own child."
Shen Yanchu suddenly raised his head: "How do you say this?"
"The tablet." Liu Ruyan expressed her thoughts.
"There are memorial tablets in the room where the coffins are placed. I looked carefully and found that they were all erected for the elders in the family, so this couple is the only one left in the Lin family. But the strange thing is that this couple has passed their thirties. How come you don’t have a son and a half daughter?”
"It's really strange." Shen Yanchu walked towards the window lattice, and a lone star shone brightly in the night.
He closed the window: "Maybe after tonight, the truth will surface."
"When it comes to their own heirs, they can't wait too long."
Liu Ruyan put down the cup and tapped the wooden table with her fingertips: "These villagers may have suffered from some disease and rushed to seek medical treatment. They then came up with the idea of using Huangzhi as bait to attract some quacks to the village. Even Bai Zhi also came to the village. Alarmed."
Shen Yanchu also sat down at the table: "If you find the sick villagers, you can find the whereabouts of Bai Zhi."
"What you said is true, but you can't sit still and wait for death." Liu Ruyan didn't want to wait any longer, so she took the initiative and said, "I'll go meet them again."
She left just as she said.
Inside the room, Shen Yanchu made a cup of tea and held the cup with his slender fingers. The mist shrouded his face and blurred his face.
"Knock knock knock——"
There was a knock on the door. Mrs. Lin put on her clothes and stood up, asking hurriedly: "Who is it?"
"It's me, Mr. Liu. I'll leave the village early tomorrow morning. I came here specifically to say something to my elder brother and sister-in-law."
Sister-in-law Lin was stunned: "Didn't you say that you won't leave until you find someone?"
The figure outside the door shook slightly: "No, I have to go back if I have something to do. If I see a doctor named Bai, I have to ask my elder brother and sister-in-law to pass a message for me."
Aunt Lin glanced at the man, hesitated for a moment, and then said to Liu Ruyan, "Oh, okay."
After she walked away, the man crept out of bed and took out something from the cupboard.
"Master, what are you doing?" Mrs. Lin grabbed the man's arm.
The man threw the woman away with his backhand and whispered: "If you don't do anything, they will leave!"
"But……"
"But what, do you want to watch our son waiting for death, or are you saying that these two doctors are so handsome that you can't bear to do it?"
The woman closed her eyes, thinking of her still young child, and collapsed on the ground feeling discouraged.