In the early morning, the air was fresh, and the group headed for the mountain. The sunlight hits the moist land through the gaps in the bamboo leaves, casting fine silhouettes on the ground, and the dew slides down from the bamboo leaves, blooming like flowers in the morning light of April, with the fragrance of bamboo leaves rendering all Chen Zimo's senses, a peaceful and quiet, but in his heart, this bamboo forest always reveals a little dangerous taste.

Along the way, only Sun Yun was lively and active, looking left and right for a while, chatting with Zimo and Ling Feng from time to time, while the other three were silent, vigilant around, only Ling Feng sometimes responded with a few words. In a blink of an eye, it was noon, and the group was not relieved until they came out of the bamboo forest at the foot of the mountain and walked on a sheep intestine path.

"Let's take a rest, according to our footsteps, we should be able to reach Nanshan Town on the mountain by evening!" said Wang Duwei, who was walking in the front.

The three of them sat together, Chen Zimo leaned against a big bluestone and drank the water in the kettle, looking around vigilantly from time to time, since entering the mountain, the ominous feeling was even stronger.

Suddenly, there was a rustling sound in the bamboo forest on the side, this sound seemed so clear in the silent bamboo forest, almost at the same time, Zimo and Ling Feng drew their swords and shouted at the source of the voice: "Who is it?"

It didn't take long for three people dressed as hunters to emerge from the bamboo forest.

"Who are you?" Chen Zimo asked loudly.

The three of them looked at each other, then at the four of them, and finally their eyes fell on Wang Duwei's body, and then said: "My lord, the three of us are the hunters of the nearby Zhuangzi, just because there is really no rice to cook at home, so we went to the mountain to try our luck, disturbed the four adults, and hope for forgiveness." ”

Chen Zimo looked at the person who spoke, this person was wearing an old leather coat, his tall body looked a little thin, a thin face, with some not very thick beards, because his face looked sickly pale, the beard looked like a black one, with a hunting knife hanging from his waist and an ordinary hunting bow on his back. Others are dressed similarly.

Ling Feng took the lead in putting away the sword in his hand. "Where are you going?"

"I heard that there are a lot of prey in Nanshan Town, so we are going to try our luck there together. ”

At this time, Sun Yun, who was behind, said: "We are also going to Nanshan Town, why don't we go together! ”

At this time, Chen Zimo secretly thought in his heart that this was a little inappropriate, he always felt that something was wrong with these three people, but he couldn't say it. Turning his head to look at Ling Feng, seeing that he didn't say anything, he didn't say much opposition, put away his sword and sat back in his place.

After a few sips of water and a short rest, they continued their journey up the mountain, only this time with three more hunters. The rest of the road was not bumpy, and the group walked smoothly, but on the way, Xiao Yun kept talking and laughing with the three hunters and Ling Feng, and seemed to be used to Chen Zimo's stuffy gourd, and he no longer asked him to say anything, which made Zimo feel a little uncomfortable.

The hunter who took the lead also kept chatting with Xiao Yun about interesting things about hunting in the mountains, and scared her from time to time. Everything was uneventful until the end of the path.

By this time, it was already evening, and a hint of early spring chill was gradually coming, and the humidity in the air was getting heavier and heavier.

Wang Duwei, who was walking in the front, stretched out his hand and nodded in the air, then put his index finger in his mouth, and said after a while: "It's going to rain heavily, let's go faster." ”

After walking a short distance, we entered a steep cliff road, with a shadowy valley on the left and a wet rock wall on the right.

Chen Zimo, who walked at the back, had been paying attention to the movements of the three people, and the three hunters walked very easily, looking quite familiar with this mountain road.

Bypassing a cliff corner, a large bluestone stands on the side of the road, and three words are engraved on the bluestone: Nanshan Town.

This small town is located near the mountainside, and around the big bluestone at the entrance of the town, it suddenly opens up in front of you. It was evening, but it was so quiet in the mountain town that there was not even a trace of cooking smoke in sight.

Zimo and Ling Feng looked at each other, and at this time the hunter said: "It is because of the monsters on the mountain, many animals died in this town, and then they spontaneously organized the young adults in the town to go up the mountain to fight monsters, but unfortunately they all went and did not return, and then the government came, and there was still no result, and the successive dead people made people panic, and all the people who could go in this town were gone, and it became this uninhabited town." ”

The hunter's tone was full of lamentation, and at this time, the raindrops the size of beans fell from the sky, and the group stopped doing too much sighing, and walked quickly towards the town.

The town is full of houses, but under the darkness it looks like a devouring beast, sleeping and waiting for its next prey. The feeling of dilapidated desolation has spread all over the town in less than a few months, and people can't help but fill in more sighs for no reason.

"There's an earthen temple in the middle of town, it's not bad there, let's stay there tonight!" said the hunter first.

Wang Duwei also echoed this proposal, which was indeed good, and as the rain became heavier and heavier, everyone had no objection, and walked briskly in the footsteps of the hunter.

Entering the earthen temple, everyone hurriedly lit a fire, and the warm light of the fire illuminated the surroundings. This temple is not very large, similar to the kind of small temple seen in the countryside, you can see it all at a glance, directly opposite the door is a small offering table, behind which is a statue of the god who has long been unable to see who it is. It's just that there has been no tribute on the offering table for a long time, and it is covered with dust. The window paper on the windows around was already full of holes, and the raindrops were blown in by the wind from time to time, hitting the ground and getting wet.

Taking advantage of the fact that the rain was still not heavy, the three hunters found some dead branches and grass around and filled them into the fire, and a trace of warmth spread. Chen Zimo sat closer to the door, observing the situation outside.

The small temple is located at a T-junction, the surrounding situation is unobstructed, in the dark, only the small temple has light, as if it is a dead sea in a lonely island still a little life.

Suddenly, a few dogs barked, and out of nowhere, an old yellow dog barked, barking at the people in the temple.

At this time, Xiao Yun walked over. "Looks like we've got its territory!"

Saying that, he stretched out his hand and touched the head of the old yellow dog, the dog was also strange, he didn't hide, he was touched by Sun Yun like this, as if it was still very comfortable, Chen Zimo also took out the jerky from the bag on his waist and put it at the door.

The old yellow dog saw that these people were not in danger, so he walked in, took a bite of dried meat, and devoured it, Sun Yun saw that the old yellow dog was eating fragrantly, and no longer bothered it, and went straight back to the fire. And Chen Zimo didn't bother, and sat down on his knees against the pillar of the door, while the old dog also lay beside him and tasted the jerky.

The bored Chen Zimo stroked the old yellow dog's head while closing his eyes and calming down, and suddenly the old yellow dog let out a whining sound and fell to the ground, black blood flowed from the corners of his eyes and mouth, Chen Zimo on the side was stunned, and in less than a moment, the dog was out of breath.

The others sat by the fire and chatted, not noticing the situation here, Chen Zimo, who was stunned for a moment, suddenly reacted and shouted to the people by the fire: "Don't eat dry food, dry food is poisonous." ”

Everyone was stunned, and the hunter immediately spit out the dry food that had bitten half of it. Ling Feng and Wang Duwei were the first to get up and walk over, and when they saw the dog's corpse, they hurriedly took out the dried meat in the bag on their waists and looked at it in the light of the fire.

Wang Duwei suddenly sniffed. "There's a problem, there's a faint floral scent on this jerky. ”

Ling Feng also took out the jerky and sniffed it, and also smelled that something was indeed wrong, and at this time, the three hunters behind also sniffed the food in their hands.

"There should be no problem with your food, ours has been poisoned. ”

As soon as Wang Duwei's words fell, everyone looked at each other, and a different atmosphere permeated in this small temple for a while.

"This food was prepared yesterday in the garrison camp, and we ate this last night, but nothing happened, indicating that the food was poisoned today. Sun Yun said lightly.

Ling Feng also nodded. "We were on the road at noon, and we only drank a few sips of water during our break, and no one ate, and everyone's food was in their own waist bags. As he spoke, he looked at the crowd. "So the poisoners should be among us. ”

The rain outside knocked on the bricks and tiles of the eaves, and then converged into a column of water and fell through the cracks, and the dry branches burning in the fire made a crackling sound that seemed so clear.

At this time, the hunter who took the lead took the lead in breaking the treacherous and oppressive atmosphere. "Why don't you eat the dry food we brought!" he said, taking out a blackened and hard biscuit from his bosom and handing it over.

Sun Yun turned his head to look at Ling Feng and Zimo, and when he saw them nodding, he thanked them and took the cake, broke it into four pieces and distributed it to everyone, after everyone ate, they didn't make a sound, Zimo and Ling Feng moved the dog's corpse outside, and quietly returned to the temple.

Wang Duwei arranged the order of the night vigil, the first shift was Ling Feng and a hunter over there, and Chen Zimo was arranged to the last shift before dawn.

Everyone fell asleep, and the snoring gradually sounded in the small temple, but Chen Zimo couldn't sleep, his mind was full of thinking about who had poisoned him, and suddenly a feeling of being secretly peeped at rose in his heart, which made him creepy.

The rain outside has no intention of stopping, and the noise makes people sound a little calm. Chen Zimo, who turned over, vaguely saw Ling Feng and Wang Duwei standing at the door, muttering something, but he didn't pay much attention to it under the thick sleepiness, and continued to fall asleep.

I don't know how long it was, but a chill woke him up suddenly. Seeing that it was still late, he saw that the hunter who took the lead was sitting by the fire and playing with a stick, he saw Chen Zimo who woke up, nodded and ignored it. Turning his head and seeing Wang Duwei sitting by the door, looking outside with his back to the temple, Chen Zimo tightened his clothes and walked up.

"What are you looking at?"

Wang Duwei raised his eyes and glanced at Zimo. "It's nothing, just thinking about something, it's not your vigil yet, you can sleep for a while!"

"No, I can't sleep, I'll sit here and talk to you for a while. After speaking, Chen Zimo tightened his clothes and sat down beside Wang Duwei.

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?"

"Tell me about Uncle Wang! I want to hear about him. ”

"Brother Wang, it was many years ago, he had just been transferred from the city defense army to the Governor's Mansion, and he was very good friends with your father, and at that time, I had just entered the Governor's Mansion not long ago. Once, the overseer sent us to a village in the western suburbs to investigate the robbers, Brother Wang, he and your father rushed over with more than ten of us, unexpectedly, there were spies in the team, we just arrived in the village and fell into the ambush of the robbers, at that time I remember, from several houses around about forty or fifty robbers, armed at us, armed at us, we were cut down by them to the ground. ”

Scenes of the past kept emerging in Wang Duwei's mind.

"At that time, I was just a small soldier, I didn't understand anything, and I was naturally frightened when I saw this scene, and suddenly an arrow shot over, and I was so frightened that I froze in place. At this moment, a plate axe stood in front of me, flicked away the arrow that was coming at the door in front of me, and I heard Brother Wang shouting: What are you still doing in a daze? After saying that, he rushed up again, you are Brother Wang for the first time to save me, I remember it vividly and will never forget it. That time we suffered heavy casualties, Brother Wang was also seriously injured, it was your father who carried him back alive, I still remember your father, he was a big man, an admirable person. ”

"It turns out that there is still this past!"

"Brother Wang is also the same as me, he was born in a poor family since he was a child, and he hopes to have a military career in the army, so that he can be more beautiful in the future. ”

"Then what's going on with my father and Uncle Wang and King Fu?"

"I don't know this very well, but once Brother Wang said when he was drunk, he went to the command of King Fu and intended to pull your father over, and your father thought about it again and again and was willing to change to a new way, but unfortunately I don't know how to leak the news and caused an unprovoked disaster, but I also sighed that the sky was jealous of the talent!"

At this time, there was a murmuring sound behind them, and the two turned their heads to look, it turned out that the hunter had changed shifts, and Wang Duwei also stood up, patted him on the shoulder, and turned his head into the temple to sleep for a while.

The rain outside was gradually showing signs of weakening, and a light began to appear on the horizon. Chen Zimo asked the hunter who was keeping vigil with him to pick up something that could be burned, and he also walked out with some urine, and was about to have a hearty time at the corner of the street not far away, just when he put on his pants, he suddenly saw someone not far away, he hurriedly turned around, and the black shadow also ran in the direction of the small temple, and soon disappeared.

Chen Zimo came to the place where the man was just standing, and saw that there were still a pair of vague footprints on the wet mud under the corner of the wall, which proved that he was not wrong just now, he hurried back to the small temple, only to see that everyone in the small temple was still sleeping at this time, he looked at everyone's shoes with an unmoving expression, one of the hunters' soles was wet, and the soles of Xiao Yun and Ling Feng were also wet.

"It seems that that man is trying to fool around!"

At this time, the hunter walked in with firewood, and when he saw Chen Zimo who was thinking, he was stunned for a moment, ignored it, and went straight back to the fire.

Chen Zimo, who returned to the fire, thought carefully about the figure just now, if he didn't guess wrong, he was the one who poisoned him.

But who is that man?