Fan A's words made Wang Li's heart difficult to calm down for a while, and he didn't even want to investigate the arson case in Butterfly Valley for the time being.

It's a pity that Zhang Jiao is not in front of him, and even Taiping Dao is not in front of him, so the specific details and truth are naturally unknown.

If it weren't for the temporary apostasy of the Tang and Zhou dynasties, I'm afraid that only until the official uprising of the Yellow Turbans would the Eastern Han Dynasty court be aware of it, and the case of He Lin is only the tip of the iceberg of Taiping Dao, even if Wei County has now wiped out the foundation of Yecheng Taiping Road, but Zhang Ze, Yuan Wei and others still did not take these so-called mud legs to heart.

looked up at Fan A and Qian Yi, and saw the two leaning on the stone table like sculptures, their brows tightly locked, and their faces were blank.

Wang Li rubbed his head and sighed: his eyebrows are like the moon in front of him, and the moon on the horizon is like a hook, but he can't take away a trace of worry.

……

A few days later, Wang Li stood at the entrance of the vegetable market, the crowd on the street was still bustling, and the people in the wine shop were still loud and peaceful.

The entrance of the vegetable market has been cleared and cleaned up a few days ago, if it weren't for the fact that there was still a little blood on the bluestone slab, who would remember that there was a tragic fight here at noon that day?

Along Anping Street, through Shangyang Avenue and then turn to Yongfeng Street in the south of the city, Xinma went all the way down, and saw the lanterns hanging high at the door from a distance, although there were no lights, Wang Li's heart was still warm.

Tang Qing, Zhu Tong and the others, who were dressed as vendors on the opposite side of the door, nodded, knowing that this was the guards under their command who were worried about their own safety, so they deliberately kept an eye on the guards here. Wang Li took two bags of prey from the horse and threw them over, and then he took the reins in one hand and pulled Zhi'er into the gate with the other, and saw his mother looking at him with a smile. Xia Yu's family gathered around, looking at Zhi'er with concern, with a little expectation in her eyes, and tears were dripping.

"Mother! Sister! My lord! Zhi'er had already broken free from Wang Li's hand, rushed forward, hugged Xia Yu's neck and cried with joy.

Wang Li tied the reins of the horse to the willow tree on one side, walked quickly to Wang Jia's side, pushed the golden mountain and poured the jade pillar, and knelt in front of his mother with his legs upright: "The child is not filial, and he has not been under the knee of his mother for many days, which makes his mother worried!" ”

"Hurry up!" Wang Jia pulled Wang Li up, looked up and down, and blamed; "Li'er, you've eaten all the hardships, you've been busy outside for a while, and your mother can't help, I see that you have lost a lot!"

Wang Li has lived a fairy-like life in the past few days, that is, there is no case to work in, and there are no troubles around him, either fishing by the lake, or picnic in the mountains, the carp, pheasants, and ducks in Butterfly Valley have suffered a lot of seedlings, how can they be reduced? But he didn't say anything, but felt that his mother's nagging was the most beautiful voice in the world.

Wang Li pulled his mother and sat down next to her, but saw that Xia Yu's family had already gathered around and was about to kneel, Xia Yu's family naturally learned from Zhi'er's mouth that Zhi'er's illness had been cured, and they were grateful.

Wang Li raised his hand, snorted at the jujube red manu who was tied to the side, and said: "Xia Fei, Xia Weng doesn't have to be like this, if you really thank you, you might as well go to the kitchen to pick up two fish and pheasants, Li Ke is already hungry." ”

Xia Yu naturally knew that this was the young master's own family, rubbed her red eyes, ran to the willow tree, unloaded pheasants, ducks, roe deer and carp from the horse, and dragged the family into the kitchen.

No one bothered, Wang Li accompanied his mother for an afternoon, finished the game cooked by Xia Yu, and went to rest.

When I woke up, it was already dawn, I felt refreshed, and before I washed, I heard my mother calling in the hall: "Li'er, have you ever woken up?" Qian Yi Qian Langjun is here! ”

Wang Li hurriedly finished washing and put on his clothes, but when he saw Qian Yi dressed in dust, he bowed his head and bowed: "My lord, the county guard is invited!"

……

Wei County Governor's Office.

Zhang Ze, dressed in a red dark coat and wearing a cloud-cut crown on his head, was pacing back and forth in the hall, his eyes blazing but quite anxious.

Hearing a sound of footsteps outside the door, Zhang Zefang raised his head, but he had already seen that Wang Li had already stepped forward to worship and said, "Thief Cao Peng Wang Li to meet Ming Gong!" ”

"Deyu has had a good rest?" Zhang Ze saw Wang Li rushing over, and urgently helped Wang Li up, obviously very happy to see Wang Li let Zhang Ze.

"Don't dare to ask Lao Minggong, Li has always been fine, but I don't know what Ming Gong is sending?"

"Originally, Deyu has been quite tired recently, and I didn't plan to alarm you, but this matter is very important, and there is no suitable candidate in the hands of this county for a while, so I have to bother Deyu." Zhang Ze nodded at Wang Li and said anxiously, "Yesterday, the Liyang County Order (1) made people urgently report to the state, and dozens of young and strong villagers in Hongfengdu, under the jurisdiction of Liyang, were infected with strange diseases at the same time a few days ago, and their whole bodies were stiff and unable to speak. What's even more strange is that for three or five days, these villagers disappeared one after another in the middle of the night. ”

"The plague?" Wang Li was stunned, but he was not a doctor, so how could he treat it? "The subordinate is not a disease doctor, this..."

"Nope! The county's suspicion is not as simple as medical service, and there must be a hidden story behind this case. Zhang Ze waved his hand, raised his head, looked at Wang Li solemnly and said, "The Liyang County Commander has strictly ordered You to surrender, and the pavilion chief assisted the thief Cao to visit and search everywhere, and everyone searched for dozens of miles in two days but did not find any of them. That's why the county wants you to check it out again! ”

……

"One heavy mountain, two heavy mountains, the mountains are far away, the sky is high, the smoke and water are cold, and the acacia maple leaf pill."

The maple leaves in early winter are the most insufficient, and the most famous maple leaves in the whole Jizhou are the Liyang red maple crossing.

Liyang was called Jundi in ancient times, left and right 伾 (pī) floating (2), belt Qiwei (3), east control of the Yellow River, west according to Montenegro, the terrain is dangerous, and the white horse is only separated by a river, since ancient times the soldiers must fight for the place. The famous Battle of Cao Yuan and White Horse in the Three Kingdoms took place on the opposite side of the Wei River, and Hongfengdu is located on the side of Liyang in Jizhou, which is a tributary of the Wei River.

On both sides of the ferry, maple trees are forested, and the maple leaves are like fire. From a distance, the fiery red maple leaves dyed by the frost wind were like raging flames, soaking half of the sky. The evening breeze blows, and the maple leaves flutter with the wind, like beautiful butterflies flying in the air.

On the north bank of the ferry, there is a village, in which the buildings are stacked on top of each other, which seems to be prosperous, but it seems to have long been dilapidated, sparsely populated, and broken branches and fallen leaves can be seen everywhere. It was dinner time, but there was not much cooking smoke in the village, and occasionally a few old people came and went in a hurry, covering their faces with their hands.

The maple leaves are the most acacia, and the acacia is more into the bones, could it be that the people in the village have gone through spring and autumn, and they can't see this acacia that goes into the bones?

The liquor shop in the village has long since closed, and a wine banner is slanted out of the window, which looks old in the afterglow of the sunset. There is an avenue next to the wine shop from north to south, which is indeed the only way from Liyang to Hongfengdu.

Three or five miles north along the avenue, there is a city god temple on the side of the dense red maple forest, a god is enshrined in the temple, the god wears a crown and wears a red robe, the appearance is dignified and majestic, and a line of words is carved on both sides of the god: Gong Gai Sanjie, An Han is a person.

The god turned out to be Ji Xin, a general in the early Han Dynasty, when Xingyang City was trapped, Ji Xin took the top of Liu Bang to help him get out of trouble, so he was cooked to death by Xiang Yu. Feeling that his loyalty and righteousness were tragic, Gaozu changed his Sangzi West to Anhan County, and even ordered the world to seal the city god, and still feast on the people's sacrifices. An incense burner was placed in front of Na Ji Xin, and dozens of pillars of incense were burned in the incense burner, and the temple was full of smoke.

Although there are no believers in front of the temple, there is Li Shu behind the temple. The four men dressed in Li Shu were all dressed in gray clothes and black jackets, but only one young man was dressed in plain white and dark clothes, with a black ribbon tied around his waist, and white clothes and black hair.

I saw the young man in white sitting cross-legged on the ground, his back upright, and asked one of them, "Tan Po, have you figured out the situation?" Tell us more about it. ”

That Tan Po is the thief Cao of Liyang County, who has been anxious about the matter of Hongfengdu these days. Tan Po wiped the sweat from his body and said: "When I return to join the army, the specific situation of the lowly position has basically been fully understood, and the lowly position is allowed to come together." ”

"About five days ago, the chief of the Hongfeng Ferry Pavilion suddenly reported to He County Order, saying that more than a dozen young people at the Hongfeng Ferry suddenly contracted a vicious disease, their limbs were stiff and they could not move, their faces were blank and they could not speak, and they were lying on the bed like living dead, neither drinking nor eating.

He County Ling initially thought that there was some kind of plague in Hongfengdu, so the special Qian master and the two doctors from Baicaotang returned to Hongfengdu with the pavilion chief to treat the patients and explore the cause of the disease. ”

Although this He County Order did not come in person, this handling was also appropriate.

Wang Li secretly pondered to himself, nodded, but listened to Tan Po continue: "As a result, that night, the master of the Qian and the two doctors had already returned to the city, and reported to He County Order, the disease obtained by the patients of Hongfengdu was not a plague but a strange disease, and the two doctors ordered everyone to carry all the patients to the ancestral hall for placement and prescribed some herbs for hanging death, but they were helpless against this disease.

Therefore, the two of them went back to the city with Qian Zhushu to ask Zhang Xuan, a famous doctor in Baicaotang, and he didn't know that he was in the army, this Zhang Xuan was the son of Zhang Sanji, a famous doctor in Yecheng, although his medical skills were not yet superb, but he had won the true biography of Zhang Shenyi. ”

One of the people in the seat bowed his head to Wang Li, it was Fan A. It turned out that Wang Li knew that this matter was very important and involved patients, so he not only brought Qian Yi and Sun Cai with him, but also invited Fan A from Butterfly Valley to go out of the mountain.

Wang Li saw Fan A nodding, but secretly said to himself in his heart, the doctor who can get Zhang three doses of seven or eight points, and can be recognized by Fan A, must naturally have a few standards, and his medical skills should be very good, how can he be helpless?

However, after thinking about it, Wang Li did not interrupt Tan Po's words, and listened to him continue, "On the second day, He County ordered the three doctors to escort them back to Hongfengdu. Who knows, as soon as we arrived at Hongfengdu, we were immediately overwhelmed by the local people. The crowd is raging, and they want us to repay the lives of our children and daughters.

I waited for some verification to learn that all the patients who had been placed in the ancestral hall last night had disappeared, and even the two soldiers who had left the money keeper at the door to guard the people were all missing. ”

Wang Li asked, "Do you know what happened in the ancestral hall?" ”

Tan Po shook his head and continued: "When he found out that something was wrong, he immediately reported to He County to ask for help from the county, and asked the three elders in the township to come forward to appease the people. On the other hand, he arranged for his subordinates to find clues.

Unfortunately, we searched the entire ancestral hall and found no traces of a fight, nor any obvious clues. Everything was as usual in the ancestral hall, and the two soldiers and the young men seemed to disappear naturally that night. ”

"And then?"

A hint of jealousy appeared on Tan Po's face: "Later, I sent someone to escort the three doctors back to the city, leaving six brothers to find out the whereabouts of everyone with me. That night, there were seven of us, divided into three groups to visit the village and the nearby deep forest, and I sat alone in the ancestral hall.

At dawn, the pavilion chief ran over again and said that there were more than a dozen young men in the village who were suffering from a serious disease, and their symptoms were exactly the same as before. And our brothers are also just... Only one group returned, and the other two groups of four brothers have not been heard from so far.

Listening to the old man in the village, the red maple crossing is a... The ancient battlefield, and the whole village is built here... On this battlefield. Joining the army, do you think it will be... Could it be? ”

"Mandrill ghosts? Or a soldier who died in battle? Young and strong men have the most yang energy, where did the mandrill wild ghosts and soldiers' heroic souls come from so short-sighted? Wang Li raised his eyebrows and sneered, "Tan Po, there is no need to mention the rootless talk again." In the past few days, He County Decree has added a lot of soldiers to you, but what new discoveries have you made? Tan Po! ”

Wang Li has grown up under the five-star red flag since he was a child, how can he be superstitious about this mandrill and wild ghost? Mandrills are just a big monkey, and I've seen them in the zoo several times!

With a shout, Tan Po came back to his senses and continued: "On the third day, He Xian ordered two teams of ten people to assist the lowly post. We planned to continue to monitor the new patients, but most of the villagers tried their best to stop us from placing the patients in the ancestral hall, and only two families were allowed to carry us to the ancestral hall after our good words. ”

I'm afraid that only orphans and widows are left in those two families, and they can't rob you, right?

Wang Li glanced at Tan Po.

Tan Po scratched his head and continued: "That night, more than 20 of us didn't go out anymore, and we didn't dare to close our eyes, all of them stayed outside the ancestral hall, and there was nothing wrong that night. It wasn't until the morning of the fourth day, when we entered the village again, that we found that all the chickens and dogs in the village had died mysteriously, and none of us knew about it. ”

All chickens and dogs are dead?

Is this what it means that chickens and dogs don't stay!

Wang Li snorted coldly, and the corners of his mouth raised and sneered: "You group of big men are all fucking cowards, and when they were frightened by a few thieves, they nested in the ancestral hall and didn't dare to move, and let many people ignore it, what is the matter?" There are others who haunt you, and you don't know it! ”

"Joining the army is not a shirk, and I want to do something for the villagers, but... I can't do it. These are not human things, but... Yes... There are ghosts! Tan Po lowered his head, and the voice of the huge man trembled faintly, "Not to mention that those two groups of brothers Qingzhuang and mine disappeared out of thin air for no reason, those dead chicken dogs and brothers have also been to see them, all the chicken and dog corpses have dried up overnight, and there is not half a drop of blood in the organs." ”

"Dry and bloodless? All chickens and dogs are dry and bloodless? ”

Qian Yi and Fan A thought about it, Qi Qi shook his head at Wang Li, one is a disciple of a generation of famous doctor Hua Tuo, and the other has been dealing with poisonous dead corpses all year round, the two of them are well-informed, and they don't even know the cause and effect, what kind of weirdness is this?

"Exactly! However, we continued to investigate and found that there were still five or six families, a total of eight or nine young people, who were not sick or missing, but they were very safe, and even the chickens and dogs in the family were not harmed in the slightest. ”

"Oh? How can this be? Do you know why? ”

Tan Po licked his tongue, glanced at Wang Li with palpitations, and said: "According to the villagers, a Taoist passed by the village a month ago and warned everyone that there were powerful ghosts hidden here, and the Sanqing Patriarch could keep him safe.

Because these families listened to the admonition of that person, they all worshiped the Sanqing patriarch at home, worshipping day and night, and dusting night and night. The Taoist had the heart of everyone to the Tao, so each family sent a talisman to exorcise ghosts, and pasted it on the back door of everyone's house. ”

Exorcism?

Everyone couldn't help but shudder, and suddenly felt a chill all over their bodies.

A cold wind blew, and the smoke in the temple danced in the wind, like an invisible hand, drifting wantonly.

Exegesis:

(1) County order: In the Han Dynasty, counties were set up below the county, large counties (more than 10,000 households) set up county orders, and small counties (less than 10,000 households) set up county magistrates, who were the highest magistrates of a county.

(2) Lingfu: Da Lingshan Mountain and Fuqiu Mountain

(3) Qiwei: Qihe and Weihe