It was already more than six o'clock in the evening when we returned to Ling'an Temple, and Old Man Peng's house was not enough to live, but we all brought tents, and after a while, Old Man Peng's dilapidated house was full of colorful tents.

Old man Peng took out his dirty tea-making pot, glanced at us, and said with a smile:

"Oh yo, my old man's house has never been so lively, I don't know, I thought my second baby was going to get married!"

Everyone laughed, and the haze brought out from Pujiling suddenly disappeared.

Although we brought back the rest of the wild boar, we decided not to eat wild boar at night, and after a few days of wilderness life, today we are going to taste the colors and additives of modern society.

We poured out all the supplies that Xiang Wei brought, what luncheon meat, instant noodles, what potato chips, chocolate, etc., plus the dried meat and potatoes that Erwa took out, this meal is comparable to a night snack stall in a provincial capital.

The second baby built a bonfire in the middle of the tent, and everyone began to talk about it when they had almost eaten, and the old man Peng was very happy, and took out the bud wine he had beaten from the bottom of the mountain, and everyone listened to the old man Peng tell the fragrant story of his youth while taking a sip of wine.

At this time, Qiu Yan came over, she pulled my clothes, and motioned for me to go to the house with her, accompanied by Xiang Wei.

After entering the house, Qiu Yan sat down on a chair against the wall, and Xiang Wei and I sat on a bed alone.

"We'll go back to the county tomorrow, but before we go back, we'd better figure out this place in advance." Qiu Yan said.

I nodded and said:

"Well, that's what I was trying to say, this white-haired monster, the person in the coffin, and the person lying on the bed, we have to have a clue before we can make the next plan."

"It's certain that the person on the bed must have a connection with those coffins, but I can't figure out this white-haired monster, could it be that your Tujia family still has the habit of using apes as pets?" Xiang Wei asked.

I shook my head and smiled:

"I don't know what the habits of the Tujia family are, but this white-haired monster shouldn't be a pet, I wanted to say it before, when I went to check the body of the white-haired monster with Erwa, I found that it was cold, it stands to reason that it was only a moment after it died, and the corpse should still be hot.

So, I suspect this white-haired monster must have been dead for a long time, probably as long as the man in bed! ”

Qiu Yan's eyes widened and asked:

"You mean, this white-haired monster died in the Ming Dynasty? How is this possible, it's obviously alive and kicking, didn't the second baby also say it, it will still eat! ”

"I don't know, but I believe it's all related to the corpse rot fungus, maybe the corpse rot fungus has other effects, but no one has discovered it yet."

Qiu Yan was thoughtful, and after a moment of silence, she said:

"Maybe there will be an answer in that book, but it will take some time to recover that book."

I stretched out my hand to Qiu Yan again and said:

"What about the stone? Take it out and take a look. ”

Qiu Yan took out the stone from her pocket and put it in my hand.

I took the stone and looked at it for a while, but I didn't see anything abnormal, so I returned it to Qiu Yan.

"This is an ordinary jadeite, it may be worth a lot of money, but it is estimated that it will not help us much on this trip." Qiu Yan explained

I nodded, agreeing with Qiu Yan's opinion, and at the same time I felt a little pity, just for such a stone, the white-haired monster gave its life for hundreds of years in vain.

"But what does this white-haired monster have to do with these people?" Xiang Wei asked.

Qiu Yan stood up and replied:

"Maybe it doesn't matter, maybe it's complicated, maybe the man on the bed and the white-haired monster coexisted in the cave for a long time, and then the person died for unknown reasons, and his body grew corpse rot fungus, and the white-haired monster lived in the cave for a long time, and over time it was affected by corpse rot fungus, which caused it to live for hundreds of years."

After Qiu Yan finished speaking, she walked over to the baggage we had left in the house, which contained the things we had packed out of the coffin.

"Let's clean up these things now, if there are no clues, we will leave them to Uncle Peng, these things are hundreds of years old, maybe they can be sold for a few bucks."

I listened and walked over, who knew that when I looked over, I found that there were a few more burdens, I don't know why, I opened the baggage and looked, and found that there were some bottles and cans, and I dared to love Qiu Yan They brought back those copper and silver utensils in the white-haired monster cave.

I thought to myself, aren't we really grave robbers?

Qiu Yan probably saw my doubts, she smiled and said:

"These things are all left for Uncle Peng, since we have found out, don't waste it, let Uncle Peng take it out and sell it, so that we can save some money for the second baby to marry a daughter-in-law."

Since Qiu Yan said this, I don't have any doubts, let's unpack those burdens immediately and check them one by one.

There are very few things found in the coffin, and I analyze that the people in these coffins and the people in the cave are likely to be a family, and what may happen during this period caused most of the family to die, so the person in the cave can only hastily dig a joint burial pit and symbolically put a few things as a burial.

The most important of these may be the mask, Qiu Yan said it was the mask of the ghost head village, but I don't think so.

I've read in some books that in ancient times, the only people who could use masks in ancient times were those priests, such as the Mayan priests, and some indigenous people, and their shamans would wear masks.

Flipping through them, we found nothing but some gold, silver and jade, no books, no scrolls, not even a word.

At this time, Qiu Yan handed over something:

"He Zimu, what do you think this is?"

I took it and saw that it was a black carved box, kind of like an ink fountain, and a lid.

I opened the lid and saw a dark red mass inside, smelling a bit like cinnabar.

"And this." Qiu Yan handed over another brush-like thing.

This brush is made of metal, the bristles are still very soft, the barrel is covered with a layer of black rust, at the end of the brush, there is a black bead, the bead is a bit like glass, but it is smoother than glass. Moisten some.

I felt a little gloomy, but I couldn't help myself not to think about it that way.

At this time, Xiang Wei also found something, and he shouted:

"My grass and firewood knives can also be used as funeral goods, what does the family think?"

Qiu Yan and I moved over when we heard the sound, only to see Xiang Wei holding a woodcutter with a rotten handle in his hand, the style of the knife is very ordinary, and it can be seen in the homes of ordinary people living in the mountains, but the texture of this knife can be seen, after hundreds of years, this knife is still shining, and there is no rust at all.

I took the firewood knife and rubbed it in my hand for a while, I couldn't help but think of the corpse in the cave, and my ancestors, I imagined them wearing robes and hanging boxes full of cinnabar around their waists, and then holding the firewood knife in their hands, driving the corpses in the deep mountains and forests.

"It's a corpse chaser's thing, right?" Qiu Yan asked softly behind me.

I wanted to deny it, but everything in front of me told me that this was the corpse chaser's thing.

I didn't answer Qiu Yan, but put these things in my backpack, and then we rummaged through the pile of funeral miscellaneous items for a while.

"That's it, I don't think there are any other clues, He Zimu, wrap up the selected things!" Qiu Yan commanded.

In the end, I took the box, the pen, and the firewood knife, and Qiu Yan took the mask, and we packed the rest of the valuable things and threw the rest out.

At this time, it was already dark, and there were snoring sounds outside, Qiu Yan woke up the old man Peng, and said that we will leave early tomorrow morning, and all the gold, silver, copper and jade will be left to him, and he can deal with it as he wants.

In the end, Qiu Yan also gave Old Man Peng 5,000 yuan and a business card, saying that if you need anything in the future, you can call her.

Old man Peng sighed and thanked him, and we went back to our beds and rested.

I was lying in a tent, but I couldn't sleep, I really didn't expect to meet my peers in such a form, and before that, I didn't even think there were my peers in this world.

The whole family was killed, and not a single one was left alive, perhaps because I was also a corpse chaser, and I was full of anger.

The next day, we got up very early to do everything, and when we left, the second baby hid behind the house with a bitter face and refused to come out, so we gave the rest of the mules and horses to Old Man Peng.

Qiu Yan held Old Man Peng's hand and said:

"Uncle Peng, sell the things in the house, the money is enough for you and Erwa to live in the county, if you have any difficulties, call me, I will do my best to help you."

Old man Peng smiled and said:

"Hehe, I just showed you a way, you left so many things, my old man is embarrassed, you can rest assured, I will definitely not suffer the second baby."

After speaking, Old Man Peng turned to me again and said with a smile:

"He boy, my old man knows that you are not a simple person, but I still have something to tell you, this dead man has a dead man's world, and it is not a good thing for the living to deal with the dead for a long time, and in the future, you have to think twice about everything!"

I nodded and smiled:

"Okay, Uncle Peng, I remember everything!"

We said goodbye to Old Man Peng one by one, and then walked down the mountain, and the second baby with three dogs quietly followed us for a long time before leaving.

After going down to the foot of the mountain, Xiang Wei drove over the two off-road vehicles that had been parked nearby, we got on the off-road vehicle and slowly drove out of the mountain, I looked at the misty mountains behind me, as if I saw an old man with a bent waist, the old man was full of stories, smiling and saying goodbye to his children and grandchildren.

The car quickly drove back to the county seat, looking at the high-rise buildings in the county, I felt like a world away when I thought back to the events of the past few days.

Qiu Yan called Li Xianfu in advance, so when we arrived, the room was already full of banquets, and we were warmly welcomed by the people in the room like triumphant heroes.

Xiang Wei brought a total of 20 people over, except for the three of them, a total of 17 people living in Li Xianfu's house, these people saw us, all of them shook their fists, and asked us where our next target was.

Xiang Wei beckoned everyone to sit down and said let's take a breath, and we will naturally tell everyone when we have a plan.

I oversaw Long Quan at this time, and I found that he was still carrying the wooden stick with him, and it seemed that he would not put down the wooden stick even when he was on the table to eat.