（26）

The man was kind-hearted, and since he knew that the two of them were not from Zhangqiao Village, he made up his mind to send them back to Fenglai Town, so as not to sleep in the wild, so that he could feel at ease.

Zhao Lingwei looked at Yu Wenlei and hoped that he would get an idea. Yu Wenlei shook his head and said to his father-in-law, "Old man, don't bother. We still have important matters, and we will return to Fenglai Town. ”

The captain then thought that this little girl was already powerful, but she still wanted the young man to make up his mind about everything. Looking closely at the young man, with a long sword on his back, he is old and calm, and he must be even more extraordinary, and he is worried that it is redundant. So he leaned over and thanked him, propped the boat and left.

The two abandoned the boat and went ashore, walking briskly on the stone path in the mountains, when the smoke curled in the distance, and it was almost dusk. In front, a shepherd boy rode on the back of an ox and played a flute, swaying forward. From time to time, the cow made a "moo" sound, as if singing in harmony with the shepherd boy's flute.

Zhao Lingwei stepped forward and shouted, "Child, my sister asked you something, do you know where Qiuyue's family is?"

When the child heard someone talking, he put down the flute, turned his head, looked at Zhao Lingwei, and said with a smile: "Sister, you are so beautiful, as beautiful as the fairy in the painting." ”

Zhao Lingwei is often praised for her beauty, and she has long been accustomed to it. Now in this wild place, it is the first time to be praised by the children of a mountain village. She immediately smiled like a flower, the autumn waves flowed, and she smiled and said, "You tell my sister how to go to Qiuyue's house, okay?"

"Are you going to Sister Qiuyue's house? The child pointed to a big willow tree in the distance, and then said, "But Sister Qiuyue hasn't been at home for a long time, and I heard that she went to a city far away, and only her grandfather and grandmother are at home. Sister, are you also from the city?"

Zhao Lingwei nodded and said, "Yes, sister, I and Qiu Yue are friends, and this time I came to visit her father and mother on behalf of your sister Qiu Yue." ”

The kid said "oh", squinted at Yu Wenlei, then shook his body and jumped off the back of the cow, knelt down in Zhao Lingwei's ear, and whispered: "Sister, let me ask you, who is the black brother in the back? Is he your companion?"

Yu Wenlei turned his face away, pretending not to hear, but said fiercely in his heart: "This stinky little ghost is clearly darker than me, and he dares to say that I am not black." It's really hairy on his face, and he says that others are goblins. ”

Zhao Lingwei chuckled, didn't say anything, and reached out to pat the child's head. turned back to Yu Wenlei and said, "Let's go." ”

Yu Wenlei "snorted", and a vertical jumped over the child's head, falling lightly in the distance, and walked slowly. The frightened child said "Mom!" and fell to the ground. Zhao Lingwei held back a smile, reached out to help the child, and chased forward. The two walked side by side and disappeared into the distance in an instant.

The two came to the big willow tree, Yu Wenlei pushed open the firewood door, slowly walked into the courtyard, and shouted, "Is anyone there?"

In the room, an old woman pushed open the door and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

Yu Wenlei arched his hand and said, "Dare to ask if this is the mansion of the autumn moon girl?"

The old woman said: "What is the mansion and the house, we countrymen don't have so many rules, I am the aunt of Qiuyue." The two of you are here to find Qiuyue, please come in and talk. "Then open the door and greet each other with your hand.

Yu Wenlei and the two walked into the house and sat down. Qiu Yueniang poured tea and water, and said in her mouth: "I'm sorry, two, there is nothing to entertain in the countryside." Qiuyue's father went to the neighbor Zuoli to do something, and he was not at home. Alas, the village has not been peaceful lately. I don't know what the two of you are doing when you come from afar?"

Yu Wenlei was just about to speak, but Zhao Lingwei suddenly preemptively said, "Grandma, that's the case." The two of us, like Sister Qiuyue, are also from Anping Mansion...... Human. This time I came out to do something, and Sister Qiuyue asked me to give you some silver. So saying, he took out a piece of silver from his bosom and laid it on the table.

Who knew that Qiu Yueniang was not moved, but said lightly: "Alas, this silver is of little use in our countryside." Qiuyue, this girl, why don't you save it yourself and buy some clothes or something. She's not too young, she should ......"

As he spoke, a loud cough came from outside the door, accompanied by footsteps approaching. Qiu Yueniang's face was happy, and she said, "Her father is back!" After speaking, she got up and opened the door, and sure enough, it was an old man wearing a hat and standing at the door.

The old man took off the hat and handed it to Qiu Yueniang, only to find that there were outsiders in the house. He was slightly surprised, and then when he saw Zhao Lingwei, he was even more shocked, and stammered: "You, you shouldn't be the eldest lady, right?"

Zhao Lingwei was surprised: "Uncle, do you recognize me?"

As soon as the old man saw the confirmation, he immediately knelt on his knees and said, "See the eldest lady!"

Qiu Yueniang said in a daze: "Miss, she just said that she is a descendant of Anping Mansion, and she came to visit us for our girl Qiuyue." ”

The old man's face sank, and he reprimanded: "Nonsense! This is the daughter of the city lord of Anping City, don't kneel down quickly." ”

Qiu Yueniang sighed, fell down and bowed. Zhao Lingwei hurriedly stepped forward and helped the second elder up. said in his mouth: "The two old men don't want to do this, torture me." Dare to ask Ah Gong, how did you find out my identity?"

Qiuyue's father sat down tremblingly and said, "Two years ago, I sent Qiuyue into the city, and I saw you walking into the mansion from a distance outside Anping Mansion. I heard others say that you are the daughter of the city lord, the eldest lady of Anping Mansion, I wrote it down. You weren't that old back then, but your appearance hasn't changed much. Today, the eldest lady came to the humble house, so that I, a mountain villager, don't know what to do. ”

Yu Wenlei, who was sitting on the side, suddenly asked: "I don't know where the old man came from, I see that your trouser legs are covered with new soil, and it doesn't look like the mud in the field." Just now, I heard Grandma say that you go to help the neighborhood with things. If you take a chance, you can't help dig a pit?"

Qiuyue's father glanced at Yu Wenlei and exclaimed: "This little brother has good eyesight, I really just crawled out of the dirt pit, old man." Alas, you don't know, something strange has happened to our Zhangqiao Village!"

Yu Wenlei and Zhao Lingwei were both taken aback, and asked in unison, "What's the strange thing?"

Daddy Qiuyue untied the dry tobacco pouch from his waist, put the tobacco pouch pot into the cigarette pouch, and opened his fingers to fill it with a solid press. Then light the fire, get close to the cigarette pouch pot, and then put the cigarette pouch in your mouth, take a deep breath, and spit out a puff of green smoke. The two of them knew that he had something important to say, so they held their breath and pricked up their ears to listen intently.

After a while, he made up his mind and said in a low voice: "The eldest lady doesn't know, recently we have two graves in a row here, and the coffin is missing. ”

"Is it tomb robbing?" asked Yu Wenlei with a surprised expression.

Father Qiuyue spat out a puff of green smoke and said, "Yes." It stands to reason that this place is poor and remote, and the population is sparse. It is a problem for our ordinary people to have enough to eat, and where to save any money, it is even more impossible to have any valuables to accompany the funeral.

Our village has a lot of forests and trees, and after people die, most of the coffins used for burial are relatively heavy, and I don't know why this tomb robber even carried the coffin away. You must know that the coffin is not light, and it is impossible to carry it away with the strength of one or two people. What's even more bizarre is that this tomb robber only excavates the dead who have been buried in the last year or two, but the old grave that has been buried for more than ten years next to it is not disturbed. ”

Hearing this, Yu Wenlei asked, "Dare to ask the old man, how many coffins have been stolen in the village?"

Father Qiu Yue said: "Counting this time, this is the second case. The first theft occurred three days ago, when Old Man Liu's grandson, Gouwa, went to herd cattle on a hillside. He stumbled upon a grave at the foot of the hill and ran back to report it to the villagers.

When they heard that they had gone to take a look, they found that the shaved earth had not yet dried, so they assumed that someone had dug up the grave the night before and stole the coffin. Everyone felt that this matter was strange, so they talked about it. Some people think that this is the work of the monster, and only the monster can drag away this large coffin without knowing it. Some people retorted that even a youkai couldn't carry a coffin on its back, at most it would eat the dead people inside.

Later, the villagers checked and checked, but they didn't find any results, and everyone dispersed.

Who knew that today, Tiger Head's father came to me in a panic, saying that Tiger Head's mother's grave had also been stolen, and it seemed that it should have happened in the last hour or two.

I hurriedly called everyone to rush to the grave, and sure enough, just like last time, a big pit was dug by something, and the coffin was gone. This kind of thing happened twice in a row in three days, and everyone was frightened, and some shouted that they wanted to report to the officials, but it is impossible for the government to take care of our foreign land. Besides, what if this kind of thing is done even if the government comes?

There are also people shouting to invite a Taoist priest and mage to subdue demons and catch ghosts, and someone next to him interjected and said, didn't a wandering Taoist come half a year ago, and he stayed here for a while, and then he didn't know where to go. For a while, the whole village panicked. Miss, what do you say you can do?"

Zhao Lingwei nodded, pondered for a moment, and said, "Grandpa, why don't you take us to the scene to inspect it now, and we can make a decision again." ”

Qiuyue's father looked outside the house, and was embarrassed: "It's not a secret, eldest miss." The graveyard is some distance from the village, but I am afraid that before we reach it, it will be dark. I see that it is getting late, otherwise you and this son will stay in the cold house tonight, and I will take you there early tomorrow morning. I wonder what you think?"

The Qiu Yue Niang also echoed on the side: "Yes, yes, eldest miss." You see that the sun has gone down the mountain, the mountains are different outside, and it is dark when it is dark, and I see that you will stay here for one night, and it will not be too late to see it tomorrow morning. ”

Zhao Lingwei looked at Yu Wenlei, and Yu Wenlei bowed slightly. Zhao Lingwei said: "Okay, since the second elder is so good, then it is difficult to be gracious, where there is Lao Grandpa and Grandma." ”

That Qiu Yueniang was very happy when she saw Zhao Lingwei agreeing, and hurriedly started to prepare dinner.

Since the second elder left home, the family has been a lot deserted, and today finally came to the distinguished guests, which is naturally a warm hospitality.

Yu Wenlei and Zhao Lingwei are all people who have never seen their mothers since they were young, and after watching Qiu Yueniang busy before and after, she couldn't care about wiping her sweat profusely, and she also had a satisfied expression, and there was a warmth in her heart.

After dinner, Zhao Lingwei arranged to rest in Qiuyue's boudoir, and the two old men picked up a grocery room for Yu Wenlei to rest.

After the old couple finished cleaning up, they took Yuwenlei to the grocery room, and said embarrassedly: "Yuwen Gongzi, this place is a little smaller, if you find it inconvenient, or you can live in a big house, we will live here." ”

Yu Wenlei smiled and waved his hand and said, "It's okay, uncle, that's fine." Then he pointed to a thick log in the corner and said, "Uncle, why do you put such a huge piece of wood in the house?"

Qiu Yueniang replied casually: "Yuwen Gongzi doesn't know, this is the coffin of our old couple, I hope you don't look at it." Our coffins here are different from the outside, they all cut the logs directly and then hollowed out inside. Wait until we're 100 years old, and then paint it black. ”

Hearing Qiu Yueniang say that she would paint this log black in the future, suddenly, Yu Wenlei remembered what Zhao Lingwei said during the day, which should be "Ship fish, rice and live people." "That's right, this is it! Yu Wenlei was empowered and suddenly woke up. A chill spread down his spine until his face turned pale and his eyes lost the sparkle of heroic sharpness.

The boat that I met by chance in the Tuozi River during the day, there were no other living people on the boat except for the captain, and the black thing in the cabin should be a coffin. It's just that the coffin is not the same as usual, it is directly dug out of logs and painted black. So at the time, I just felt puzzled, and I didn't think about it deeply. The log of this size, which is seen here today, if painted black, is the same as that contained in the cabin.

Thinking of this, he immediately turned around and walked out of the house, walked to Zhao Lingwei's room, knocked on the door and shouted, "Miss Zhao, we have to leave here immediately!"