When Anne asked this, Lin Shuo kept observing the old man's expression.

This old man's face was full of wrinkles, and his squinted eyes were not big, but they were shining.

As soon as Anne's question came out, the light in the old man's eyes seemed to freeze.

He was stunned, then sighed and said, "Hey, those outsiders are ignorant and have been punished." ”

"Aren't they from the same village as you?" asked Anne.

"That's a long story. The old man took two puffs of dry tobacco and said, "More than 70 years ago, when the Japanese occupied the northeast, my grandfather fled here with the villagers, and saw that there were mountains and rivers here, so he settled down.

But when I first settled, life was difficult. A group of croppers, the skill of hunting has long been returned to the ancestors, and the grain has been eaten again, and the first winter will not be able to survive.

Then every morning, everyone found that there were always dead animals by the river.

Roe deer, wild boar, and deer, the meat is fresh.

That winter, there were about 30 people in the village at that time, and they lived on these things.

My grandfather was curious, he didn't sleep one night, squatted by the river for a night, and finally saw the true body of the old man of the Black Water Dragon King.

It turned out that it was the old man who delivered meat to our village one by one at night.

Later, my grandfather found out that it was not only our village, but also the thousands of people who had fled from the south at that time, and who had settled here within a radius of several hundred miles, all received relief from its old people.

Since then, we have been here for hundreds of miles, and we all remember the kindness of the Dragon King.

We have a saying here, as long as you see the old man of the dragon king, the old man will remember it, and it will bless this person with a safe life.

Speaking of which, I'm actually blessed, I met when I was a child, and I was in the mountains all my life, so nothing happened.

However, the Dragon Lord has a taboo. That is, the things in the water can't be moved. If anyone moves, the old man will be unhappy. ”

Speaking of this, the old man stopped, picked up the teacup on the table, and took a sip of tea to moisten his throat.

Anne glanced at Lin Shuo and nodded slightly.

The mystery of the chain bridge on the river seems to have been solved. The fish didn't move, and it was probably the reason for the Black Water Dragon King.

However, then the two of them thought of Jalinda, which was only five kilometers away, and the names did not seem to have this taboo, and the two had seen many fishing boats.

It seems that once you leave the bank of the Heilongjiang River and enter the Outer Khing'an Mountains, the rules are different.

"Are you saying that the next village was made like this by the Black Water Dragon King because of the things in the water?" Anne quickly asked.

"Not really. The old man spit out the tea leaves in his mouth back into the cup, nodded and said, "This group of people has only moved here in the last two or three years, and most of them have not been happy in China, and they came here to work for a Russian forestry company, and they cut wood in the nearby mountains."

They saw that we were good here, and they made their home on the other side of the river.

This group of people, hateful!

We warned them not to touch what's in the water. They don't believe it, they catch fish in the river one by one, you say this, can the dragon lord agree?

It's been almost a hundred years, and I've never heard of the Dragon King making such a big fire.

If it was in the past, if anyone touched something in the water, the Dragon King came over in the middle of the night to eat a few animals of their family, it would be okay, and it would not hurt anyone.

As a result, this time, as you can see, the whole village has been crushed, and the people are gone.

Hey, you young people, listen up, the things on the mountain, you eat and drink for your life, it's okay, but you must take the idea of the water.

Lord Long, you haven't been in a good temper lately. ”

Anne nodded repeatedly: "You don't have to worry about this, those of us from the city can choke a few times in the water, who will touch the things in the water?"

"That's good. The old man seemed to be a little tired, yawned and said, "Okay, tomorrow morning, we still have a big business to do in our village." Tomorrow you will also hurry, so rest early. ”

"Old man, what's going on in the village tomorrow?"

"The envoy of the dragon king is coming to preside over the dragon king festival in the village. The old man said,

"Envoy of the Dragon King, who is that?"

"It's the one who can deliver the message to the Dragon Lord on our behalf. ”

"And such people?"

"Absolutely. The snake statue made at the entrance of our village is used to pray for the blessing of the dragon king's messenger. This matter is more important to us than the Chinese New Year. The old man said, "When I get busy tomorrow, I may not be able to take care of you." ”

"It's okay, old man, you're busy with you, don't worry about us. ”

"Okay, let's go to bed early. ”

......

That night, Lin Shuo and the four of them slept in the guest room of the old man's house.

It is said to be a guest room, but it is actually the room of the old man's youngest son. The old man wanted to keep guests, so he went to sleep in the second brother's house.

Yang Tuo and Liu Qing also came back after inquiring about the news at other homes. Four people were crammed into a room, two women were sleeping on the bed, and Lin Shuo and Yang Tuo were laying on the floor.

The four of them combined the news they heard tonight and found that it was basically the same as the old man's statement before.

"So, this Black Water Dragon King is the goal of our trip?" Liu Qing said softly.

"It should be. Yang Tuo said, "But I didn't expect that this strange creature would have such a good mass base in the local area." It seems that it is unlikely that this hunt will be supported by the locals. ”

"Are we still going to hunt it?" asked Liu Qing, "It sounds like this creature is more like the guardian of humanity." ”

"The local villagers within a radius of hundreds of miles are people, and the one hundred and eighty-two lumberjacks who disappeared are not people?" Yang Tuo said in a deep voice, "When will the fate of our human race be dominated by an animal?"

Anne then said, "Dr. Yang has a point. If it was really the Blackwater Dragon King who caused the disappearance of the one hundred and eighty-two lumberjacks, then it should pay the price. ”

"But those 182 people are just missing. "There is no evidence that they are dead." Shouldn't we find out?"

"That's right. Anne asked, "But where do you start?"

"I think the top priority at the moment is to find the so-called Black Water Dragon King. Yang Tuo said, "It's not easy to find someone in this barren mountain and wilderness, it's easier to find such a big guy." ”

"But don't talk about us, even if the locals want to meet the Black Water Dragon King, it will be even more difficult. Liu Qing said, "Haven't we inquired about Dr. Yang? Even they don't know where the Black Water Dragon King usually is. ”

"I heard the old man here say that tomorrow, the envoy of the Dragon King who can communicate with the Black Water Dragon King will come, which may be a clue. Anne said, "Mr. Lin, do you think there are really people in this world who can communicate with strange creatures like the Black Water Dragon King?"

"Since you know a little bit about the hunter's circle, why do you knowingly ask?" Lin Shuo said lightly.

Anne smiled: "Indeed, we heard that the Zhang family, one of the six hunters, has a secret skill in communicating with beasts. Moreover, the scope of activities of the Zhang family is also near the three eastern provinces. Do you mean, the Zhang family, may it have something to do with this Dragon King Envoy?"

"I didn't say that. Lin Shuo said in a deep voice, "The Zhang family is the most fierce in the six major families. In previous years, the largest number of people killed in their families had been killed.

They would never have anything to do with the Black Water Dragon King. Once it is involved, either they die, or the Black Water Dragon King dies, there is no third possibility. ”

Lin Shuo's words were loud, and the room was quiet for a while.

After a while, Anne asked, "Then this matter must have nothing to do with the Zhang family." Mr. Lin, I don't hide it, in addition to you, the person we originally planned to invite for this operation is the head of the contemporary Zhang family, Mr. Zhang Lianhai.

On the one hand, it is because the Zhang family is close to here, and on the other hand, we heard that the Lin family and the Zhang family cooperate the most tacitly, if the two masters act together, it will be foolproof.

However, Mr. Zhang seems to be missing, and we really can't find him. ”

As soon as Anne mentioned Zhang Lianhai, Lin Shuo was silent.

At night outside the Khing'an Mountains, there was no light pollution in the city, and the house was dark.

In the darkness, a small flame lit up Lin Shuo's face. He struck a match and lit a cigarette.

It was the old man's second son who handed Lin Shuo a cigarette during the day, and he kept it on his ear and didn't smoke it.

The small flame was quickly extinguished, and the brightness of the cigarette butt flickered in the darkness.

"Brother Zhang and sister-in-law Zhang died on Kunlun Mountain six years ago. Lin Shuo took a few puffs of cigarette and said in a calm tone.

"What?" Anne's tone sounded an octave higher.

"I know you're talking to me. Lin Shuo said, "But it's nothing to say now, after all, people have been gone for more than six years." ”

Anne was silent for a moment, then said, "You said before that our target this time was the strange creature on Kunlun Mountain back then?"

"Hmm. ”

"This Black Water Dragon King, is it really so powerful? Even your father and Mr. Zhang Lianhai joined forces, ......"

"Kunlun Mountain six years ago was not just a matter of a strange creature, it was not that simple. Lin Shuo interrupted Anne's words, and then pulled back to the topic that had been distant, "It is true that the Zhang family has the ability to talk to beasts, but this craft is not their unique skill at the bottom of the box.

In our hunter circles, this ability is not unusual. Half of the six families know this. Outside the Six Families, and even outside the Hunter Circle, there are people with similar abilities. ”

"At the same time, we can't rule out that this Dragon King's envoy can't communicate with the Black Water Dragon King. Yang Tuo interjected at this time, "He may use some deception techniques to take advantage of the relationship between the locals and the Black Water Dragon King to defraud and make profits." ”

"Hmm. Anne replied, "Looks like we're going to have to stay here another day." Tomorrow, let's meet this so-called dragon king's messenger together. ”