In Zhang Youcai's house, everyone in the house bowed their heads and pondered. An Ruyi habitually looked at her watch. asked, "Rufei, what time did you discover the demonic qi on the night you were attacked?"

"It's probably about 1 o'clock in the night. ”

"I don't think you have to think about it anymore, it's almost a little bit now. As long as we discover that demonic aura, all mysteries will be solved. An Ruyi said slowly.

Everyone listened to what Ruyi said and nodded in agreement. It just so happened that Qian Xiu had just healed Liu Rufei's injuries and spent a lot of mana. The three mages immediately entered the state of cultivation, and An Ruyi lay down with his clothes closed.

Although there are differences between men and women, everyone is a child of the rivers and lakes, and there is no need to avoid suspicion. Strangely, the time of the night passed in a flash. That demonic aura did not appear again, and after six people died in succession on the sixth day, the village finally returned to calm again.

After a night of cultivation, his tired expression also improved slightly. Zhang Youcai's family made breakfast early, and everyone continued to analyze after eating breakfast. At this time, An Ruyi's talent as a police officer was fully demonstrated.

"Instead of us sitting in the house and thinking, let's go to the scene of the crime and see if there are any clues to follow," she said. ”

"Yes, yes, why didn't we think of that?" said Wang Dabao, slapping his thigh.

"This is called a specialization in the art industry! We mages hunt ghosts and subdue demons, and if we want to solve a case, we need the police!" said Qian Xiu's eyebrows. That look was even happier than boasting about himself.

Yes, yes, with Detective An Da here, it doesn't matter if the gods and horses are here. Wang Dabao's goods immediately became inflammatory, and began to stay and shoot horses. The three men and one woman immediately left Zhang Laohan's house in the midst of talking and laughing and marched in the direction of Ha Toad.

After about half an hour, everyone finally arrived at Toad Stone. Qian Xiu saw from a distance that a toad-like stone was standing on the top of the mountains, with its back to everyone as if it was about to jump up and soar into the sky! When you look closely, this stone is about 10 meters high and about 20 meters wide. The toad's head sticks out of the cliff, and the toad's mouth is slightly open. Toads have a gentle back and can climb up to the top of a cliff.

When Qian Xiu climbed to the top and looked into the distance, it was the chime hammer peak that echoed with the toad stone in the distance! I saw that the mountain peak was exactly the same as the mallet used by women for laundry in ancient times. From a distance, a peak protrudes thick at the top and thin at the bottom, standing proudly like an optimus jade pillar! And where the mountain peak is located is directly in front of Bangmao Village. On the left and right sides of the peaks, there are also villages looming.

"Hurry down, there's a hole here. Qianxiu, who was looking at the beautiful scenery from the top of the peak, was suddenly interrupted by Wang Dabao's voice at the mouth of the toad.

Qian Xiu flew down from the toad's head, approached Wang Dabao's side and took a look, only to see that there were two hollows in the north and south under the toad's abdomen, and the east and west were connected to the north and south. "Rufei, did the people who attacked you that day gush out of this hole?"

"Well, this is exactly the place. Rufei nodded back.

"In that case, I'll go into the cave and take a look. After Qian Xiu finished speaking, he flew into the cave with the dragon sword in his hand. The three of them waited anxiously outside, and returned after ten minutes.

"How is it, have you found anything?" asked Liu Rufei.

"It's nothing, I'll talk about it when I go back. Qian Xiu deliberately raised his voice and said, "This place is a good place to travel!" After speaking, he motioned for the three of them to follow him to leave the original way and return.

"Qian Xiu, what's going on?" Entering Zhang Youcai's house, Liu Rufei couldn't wait to ask.

"There's something strange about the toad stone! I found an entrance into the ground in its belly, and it seemed to have a demonic aura overflowing. It's just that there is a magic circle to isolate it, and ordinary people can't find it anyway. "Humility replied.

"Oh, that humanoid monster must be hiding in this cave. Liu Rufei continued: "Tonight, we will explore the toad cave at night. ”

Qian Xiu lowered his head and pondered for a moment, and said, "Rufei, I know that you are eager for revenge, but this matter should not be reckless." We are in the light, and the enemy is in the dark......"

While a few people were discussing, Zhang Youcai, who was out, shouted in the courtyard: "A few distinguished guests, it's not good, Nancun died again last night!" he walked as he spoke, and walked into the house quickly.

"Uncle Zhang, what's going on? Don't be in a hurry and speak slowly. Rufei said.

"I went out for a walk this afternoon, and the people in the village were happy that there were no deaths in our village yesterday. I was chatting happily with a few old friends, when suddenly news came from Nancun that a person had died in their village. And the way of death is exactly the same as in our village, and he is also unharmed, and he died somehow. Zhang Laohan said anxiously.

Everyone in the room gasped when they heard his words. Could it be that the monster found out that a mage had appeared in the mallet village and changed direction? Or was there something else hidden?

Originally, An Ruyi wanted to go to Nancun to see the deceased, but Rufei told her that it would be in vain to run errands. Because the deceased lost three souls, there was no injury at all. Qian Xiu also understood this, and strongly persuaded An Ruyi not to go.

Qian Xiu lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Uncle Zhang, your old man is an authentic Chengde person, do you know how the Chime Hammer Peak and the Toad Stone are formed?"

"Speaking of our Chengde, it's blowing a horn through the window (famous)!" Zhang Youcai heard that Qian Xiu mentioned Chengde, and his pride suddenly grew!

"We have countless places of interest in Chengde since ancient times! Among them, there are ten most famous scenic spots. There are poems as evidence: the summer resort scenery is the most strange, the wind and magic ridge look at the east, the Luohan Mountain is full of people, the big words of the chime hammer peak are not false, the toad stone lies facing south, the hot water stream in front of the Dehui gate, the cockscomb hangs on the moon for 3,000 zhang, the monk's hat is even more than hundreds of clouds, the Chaoyang Twin Towers hide the fairy, and the Lingzhi is long in the ingots cave. Today, let's just talk about Chime Hammer Peak and Toad Stone......

...... The dragon girl stole the Dinghaishen Needle and plugged the sea eye into a mallet mountain. The sea receded, and Chengde became thousands of acres of fertile land. All kinds of creatures of the water tribe also returned to the Dragon Palace of the East China Sea with the seawater. The dragon girl and the young man who fell in love lived happily together. And along with the dragon girl, there is also a toad spirit.

It turned out that the toad essence left behind was originally the toad marshal of the Dragon Palace, and it had a long-term crush on the dragon girl. Marshal Toad looked forward to it all night, and the young man who fell in love with the dragon girl finally returned to the underworld after exhausting his soul. Originally, according to Marshal Toad's idea, it could naturally live with the dragon girl.

Who knows that the dragon girl would rather observe the festival for her deceased husband than live with the toad marshal. As time went on, Marshal Toad became resentful and began to take out his anger on the nearby humans. During the day, it transforms into a tiger and leopard, killing the livestock of nearby people. At night, it used demonic energy to harm people and kill people, and the people of Chengde were miserable.

It is said that the autumn harvest of a year is imminent, and there is only one autumn rain missing. One day, suddenly the clouds were overcast, lightning and thunder roared, and the autumn rain that the people were looking forward to day and night came in a flash. When the toad marshal saw that the heavy rain was coming, he had a poisonous plan. It revealed its true body and entered the air more and more, and the toad's mouth opened wide and swallowed all the autumn rain into its belly.

The people nearby had no choice but to ask for help from the dragon girl. The dragon girl had already heard of Marshal Toad's usual evil deeds, so she tricked Marshal Toad into going to the foot of Bangmao Mountain and started a big battle with it. The toad spirit was defeated by the dragon girl, and was turned into a toad stone by the dragon girl, and the dragon girl also turned into a mulberry tree and grew on the halfway of the Bangmao Mountain, monitoring the toad spirit's every move day and night.

This is the legend of Bangmao Mountain and Toad Stone, and it is said that as soon as the Toad Stone runs, Bangmao Mountain will fall down and bury the toad essence under the rubble. At that time, the eyes of the sea will be reopened, and Chengde will become a vast ocean, and even the top of the monk's hat will be full of slag. ”

"Oh, it turned out to be such a legend. After Qian Xiu finished speaking, he lowered his head thoughtfully.

"Qian Xiu, are we going to the Toad Cave tonight?" asked Wang Dabao.

Qian Xiu bowed his head and was silent, Liu Rufei said: "I don't think I can let Qian Xiu recover his mana overnight tonight, and we will be exploring the toad cave tomorrow night." Also, let's see if Nancun will die again tomorrow?"

Qian Xiu glanced at Liu Rufei gratefully, because only the two of them knew how much mana Qian Xiu had spent to heal him yesterday.

An Ruyi, who had been silent, suddenly asked, "Uncle Zhang, do you know what these dead people have in common?"

"What do you have in common?" Zhang Youcai shook his head confusedly.

"Do you know their specific age?" An Ruyi continued to ask.

"I don't know very much about this, but I can ask them one by one, and it should be very easy to do. ”

"Okay, then it's hard Uncle Zhang, you run around and ask the actual age of these deceased. ”

"Okay, I'll go. After Zhang Youcai finished speaking, he turned around and went out of the house to inquire in the village. The people in the room continued to discuss the case.

There was not much time, and Zhang Youcai hurried back. He didn't even bother to take a sip of water when he entered the house, and said, "I have inquired clearly, and a total of six people have died in our village. Three children died in the east of the village, two in their 80s and one in 81. The second baby and the dog in the middle of the village are both 72 years old. The last one to die was called Hadron in 58 years and is 31 years old this year. ”

The dead were men and women, small and strong. Everyone thought about it for a long time, but they didn't have a clue, and there was nothing to do with the deceased. An Ruyi was also at a loss and couldn't think of a better way.

Later, An Ruyi said: "Since it is a monster that harms people, it is naturally different from ordinary murder. Can we think about it from the perspective of a monster, why it holds the spirit of the deceased hostage, instead of mutilating living beings like ordinary monsters? ”

"That's right, what Detective An said makes so much sense, we can think about it from a different angle. Wang Dabao agreed.

"Qianxiu, Rufei, you two think about it, what is the role of demons holding the spiritual bodies of ordinary people hostage?"

The two faced An Ruyi's question and immediately fell into deep thought. After a while, the two of them looked at each other and exclaimed almost at the same time, "Soul Sacrifice!" To say that one or two ordinary people's spirit bodies have no effect on monsters. The monster continues to hold the souls of ordinary people hostage, and there is only one explanation: sacrifice!

Following this clue, everyone's thinking was immediately clear. And Qian Xiu finally found the common denominator of the deceased, that is, the dead were all people with "wooden lives"! The mallet mountain, the toad essence, the soul of the person with wooden life, and an extremely terrible thought immediately formed in Qian Xiu's mind.