The old man took Song Ruilong out of the bamboo forest, stood on a very high mountain, and looked down, and could hardly see the end of the bamboo forest.

Song Ruilong sighed: "What a vast and boundless bamboo sea!"

The old man sighed again and said, "What about the big? If those ants are not remediated, they will be slowly chewed by the ants like my bamboo forest, and finally wither and yellow until they die. ”

Song Ruilong was also very sad when he saw such a good piece of bamboo sea, which would soon disappear, and said, "Old man, why don't you kill these ants with poison?"

Song Ruilong asked the question just now.

The old man sighed, "Hey! What's the use? We used more than a dozen poisons, including arsenic, and we used a dozen kinds of poisons, although a group of ants died, but soon a second batch of ants would break out. There are many villagers who say that they don't want bamboo, and they can eat it as much as they like. I couldn't bear it, so I came here to catch those ants. ”

Song Ruilong asked softly, "Have these ants never appeared before?"

The old man nodded, "Never." In the past, there were ants in this bamboo forest, and some of them were very small, and those ants did not eat bamboo, but usually ate the green worms on those bamboos, which was good for loosening the soil, and we didn't care about them. But since the outbreak of these big ants, the small ants have also disappeared, and the bamboo has been bitten with holes. Hey—"

The old man let out another long sigh. That kind of helplessness made Song Ruilong's heart sour, he felt that as a parent official, he couldn't share the worries and solve problems for the people, and he was really guilty.

Song Ruilong said: "Since there has been no incident of big ants biting bamboo before, why are there so many big ants suddenly this year?" Is this year's weather more unusual than last year's? ”

The old man shook his head and said, "The weather has been peaceful all these years, and there have been no major disasters. If there is an anomaly, it is that this year has had one more heavy rain than last year. But it's not right, this heavy rain will make the bamboo grow better, but I don't know where so many big ants come out? ”

Song Ruilong said: "Have you reported to the official?"

The old man sighed and said: "There were also cases of insects in bamboo in previous years, and the people found ways to treat insects by themselves, is it useful to report this kind of thing to the officials?"

The old man looked at Song Ruilong with some surprise.

Song Ruilong said: "No matter what difficulties the people have, this county commander will definitely not be able to escape." Think about it, if the bamboo that the people rely on for survival is eaten by ants, what will the people eat? The common people have nothing to eat, so what does the county order take to pay taxes to the state, but without taxes, the life of the county order is only afraid that it will not be easy. So, fellow countryman, you listen to me, tomorrow you will take the villagers, tell the county magistrate about your difficulties, there are many capable people in this county, they must have a way to subdue the ants, if not, the county magistrate will also send a report to the imperial court, when the time comes, it has attracted the attention of the emperor, and this insect control matter is not your own business. ”

The old man suddenly realized and said, "Oops! You're a master! Listen to your words, the old man and I are suddenly opened, and tomorrow I will discuss with the villagers to go to the county and talk to the old man about this insect plague. ”

Song Ruilong smiled and said: "Old man, remember, when you go tomorrow, it's best to catch a few of these harmful ants, so that others can see them, maybe there is really a way to cure insects."

The old man said excitedly, "Hey! Good. The old man's eyes rolled twice, looked at Song Ruilong, and said, "Childe, where are you from?" Where are you going? ”

Song Ruilong smiled and said, "Old man, where do you think I came from?"

The old man looked Song Ruilong up and down again, and said, "Childe seems to have come from a small path over there, if the old man is not mistaken, Childe came from a square and wide place under the Broken Soul Cliff."

Song Ruilong asked a little strangely: "Does the old man also know that place?"

The old man nodded, "Few people know about the place under the Broken Soul Cliff. If my family's land hadn't happened to be at the exit of that place, I wouldn't have known that there would be an open space under the Broken Soul Cliff. Many people look down at the Broken Soul Cliff of Yunlai Mountain, and see a place shrouded in clouds and mist, and they think that there is a bottomless abyss below, but who knows that there is a cave under the cliff. I was also idle, and when I was wandering around, I accidentally found it. ”

Song Ruilong said: "The old man is right, there are indeed very few people in that place who dare to go down from the Broken Soul Cliff, and if anyone goes down, they will definitely die." I was also curious, pulled the rope down to the bottom of the cliff, and when I came out, I thought this sheep intestine trail was a bit interesting, so I followed the path to here. I don't know how far this is from the Broken Soul Cliff? ”

The old man looked around and said, "This is the foot of Yunlai Mountain, you want to go up the Broken Soul Cliff, the nearest way is to go back from that sheep intestine path, and then climb up along the rope you go down the cliff." If you want to go down the mountain, it's very easy, you follow me, out of this bamboo sea, you will arrive at Liujiatun, my home is in Liujiatun. You can have a meal at my house in the evening and rest for the night. ”

Song Ruilong looked at the sky, when he went down the cliff, it was already noon, and now, it was late, and he was still thinking about Su Xianrong and Wei Xiaojuan.

Song Ruilong said: "The old man is from Liujiatun, so I don't know if the old man's surname is ......."

The old man said politely: "Your surname is Liu, and your name is Liu Wanshun."

Song Ruilong said: "Uncle Liu, I want to ask you about someone."

Liu Wanshun patted his chest and said, "Let's say, as long as it's from our village, there is no one I don't know."

Song Ruilong said happily: "That's good." Uncle Liu, I want to inquire about the situation of Liu Tiepan's family. ”

Liu Wanshun looked at Song Ruilong with some surprise and said, "Who are you from Liu Tiepan?" How do you know that there is a man named Liu Tieban in our village? ”

Song Ruilong smiled bitterly: "Uncle Liu, don't misunderstand. My father owed a man named Liu Tiepan ten yuan in Liujiatun back then, and my father repeatedly told me on his deathbed to return the ten yuan to Liu Tiepan. ”

Liu Wanshun said: "Oh, I see. Isn't it just ten cents? It's okay if you don't. But then again, Liu Tiepan is a relatively old-fashioned person, in our rural dialect, he just doesn't open his mind, elm head. You say, how good it is for his daughter to marry Zhao Liuhou from Ping'an County! But he didn't want to die. In the end, he was really killed by the robbers. ”