He came overnight to find the leading beggar.

Finally, I saw a man and a monkey in the hall.

Because of the announcement of the county government, after several officials negotiated with the village chief, the other party quickly arranged a large empty courtyard for them to rest.

If it is around the county seat, it is impossible to arrange such a large empty yard in an instant.

That's the good thing about Shimomura.

It's just that Cao Xiong is not happy at all now, but has a little worry on his face.

"Master, something is wrong with this village."

As soon as Cao Xiong finished speaking, he noticed that the white-haired thin monkey who had been staying on the beggar's shoulder was a little abnormal.

It kept spinning around the table and chair, and finally climbed up the door and window.

This thin monkey had shown his magical powers to everyone in the county restaurant before.

Most of the rest of the time, he stayed quietly on the beggar's shoulder, staring at a pair of small eyes, either watching or sleeping.

Today is a bit unusual.

"Master, this village is too quiet, it is dark at night, and there are few lights to be seen, and the pond at the head of the village is densely covered with water and grass, and there must be a famous hall in it."

The beggar's eyelids rolled suddenly, and when he looked again, he was replaced by an amber color.

He walked straight from the hall to the outside steps, looked at it with his hands behind his back, his nose wrinkled violently, and suddenly he said, "There is a ghost! ”

Their group was originally here to eradicate the water ghosts.

Unexpectedly, he just came out of the county seat and found the target on the first night, which should have been happy, but Cao Xiong at this moment was not happy at all, but was a little worried.

"Master, do you want to send someone to inform the master overnight, if there is an accident, you can ask someone to support at any time."

The beggar groaned for a while, Xu felt that Cao Xiong's opinion was more secure, and echoed: "Yes, let everyone gather in one bedroom for the night tonight, and in addition to reporting the news quickly, you also need to send a team of people to explore that Wutang Village." ”

"Our goal is Wutang Village, and we can't delay here for too long."

"Wutang Village?"

Cao Xiong's mouth opened, and his heart trembled a little for a while.

Wutang Village is the real goal of this trip, but after he entered this village, he was always a little uneasy in his heart, and everyone was already tired after another day of travel.

This time I sent someone to investigate overnight, who would dare to go?

He didn't want to go in the first place.

Cao Xiong felt that this beggar was a little unsympathetic, so he decided to remind him.

He hesitated to persuade: "Master, there must be something strange in that Wutang Village, but it's already night, for the sake of safety, let's wait until tomorrow dawn." ”

The beggar looked at the skinny monkey who was behaving abnormally, and understood what he meant, but he made up his own mind.

I saw him take it out of his arms, take out a small silver ingot weighing 5 taels and put it on the table, and then ordered: "Gather everyone over and ask them who is willing to go to Wutang Village to investigate, this ingot is a reward." ”

Cao Xiong also looked at the ingots on the table in surprise and found that his throat was a little dry.

He swallowed two mouthfuls of saliva, and out of nowhere, a trace of courage appeared, and the previous caution and apprehension disappeared in an instant.

After a while, several people with knives and the laborers assigned to them by the master were all concentrated in the hall, about seventeen or eighteen people.

Without exception, everyone was attracted by the silver ingots on the table, and when they saw Cao Xiong standing aside silently, they frequently exchanged heads and ears for a while.

Cao Xiong saw that the beggar didn't speak, so he had to give orders on his behalf: "Li San, you ride a fast horse and go to the county seat to find the master, just say that this place is full of suspicions, and by the way, listen to the progress of the other two people, and let the master send some more people." ”

"Yes!"

A man with a knife appeared in the crowd.

He did not leave immediately after receiving the order, but looked back at the direction of the table, acting hesitant.

Cao Xiong urged again: "It's just a letter, and there is no danger, do you still want to reward money?" Fuck off. ”

Li San smiled stupidly, took his eyes back from the silver ingot, and reluctantly left the crowd.

After a while, several horses' hooves sounded in the courtyard.

After Li San left, the rest of these people's eyes kept moving back and forth on Cao Xiong, the beggar, and the silver ingots on the table, and the sound of discussion disappeared, but the sound of breathing became much worse.

They were all quietly waiting for Cao Xiong's order.

No one is stupid.

When it was night, I called everyone over, and there must be a task to explain.

This task is directly related to the ownership of the silver ingot on the table.

They all cheered up for a while, and looked up at the beggar sitting on the top.

"Ahem......" Cao Xiong saw that the beggar was still reluctant to speak, so he had to go down and say: "This village is a little weird, everyone sleeps in one room at night, besides, whoever wants to go to Wutang Village to investigate, this silver ingot belongs to whom." ”

"If you find out the news, there will be a silver ingot?"

For a moment, everyone thought they had misheard.

Even a few people in the crowd who were quick to catch with knives were a little moved.

On an errand in the Yamen, the salary for a month was only one or two lines of silver.

This Qinghe County is located in the south, quite prosperous, the price consumption is not low, 5 taels of silver reward is a large amount of unexpected income, even if two or three people per capita can fall a lot.

The crowd's breathing intensified again.

Sake red face, money silk touching people's hearts.

Compared to this, the strange scenes in this village suddenly became insignificant.

Several brave laborers tightened their sticks tightly, and the officials next to them also lifted the knives at their waists, as if to show their position and determination.

"Pick me, choose me...... Pick me ......"

"It doesn't matter if he is a human or a ghost, the weapon in Lao Tzu's hand is not a joke...... Although the water reckless ghost is terrifying, at most it should be farther away from the water's edge. ”

Cao Xiong paused deliberately, secretly observed everyone's faces, and saw that everyone was about to move, and somehow in his heart, he suddenly envied this group of people standing below.

"It's all a bunch of fools who see money."

After Cao Xiong secretly scolded for a while, he suddenly turned around, lowered his body to the beggar next to him and said, "Master, just send someone to investigate, why don't you let me lead the team?" ”

Everyone was waiting for Cao Xiong's final choice, but they were waiting for a word of picking peaches, and suddenly there was a commotion.

The beggar shook his head and said, "No, you stay in the house and keep vigil." ”

Cao Xiong glanced at the silver ingots angrily, eager to put them directly into his pocket.

No, the beggar's orders must be obeyed.

Cao Xiong looked at the thin monkey who was closer to him in the crowd, and saw that the other party was looking at him with wide eyes and hot eyes, and he didn't continue to sell Guanzi.

He raised his hand and clicked three times in the crowd.

"You... You... And you, the three of you, go to Wutang Village to investigate, be careful, and come back as soon as there is news. ”

The three people in the crowd who were ordered by Cao Xiong, as if they had won the Mark Six lottery, rushed out excitedly, and all of them shortened their bodies to Cao Xiong and the beggar, patted their chests and said: "Master, Brother Cao, don't worry, I have always been clever and promise to complete the task." ”

After the thin monkey finished speaking, as if he was afraid of other changes, the monkey hurriedly stepped forward and scooped the silver ingots on the table into his hands.

The other two laborers who were named by Cao Xiong together with him rushed around the thin monkey for a while, shouting in their mouths: "Brother Monkey, there is still a share of me in it, don't forget it." ”

"Don't worry, you guys, this silver ingot belongs to the three of us, and we will come back after completing the task and divide it equally."

The three of them quarreled and quickly left the hall.

Before leaving, he picked and chose from the guys he brought with him, armed himself again, and then walked out in a hurry.

After a few people left the house, they walked forward for dozens of meters and soon came to the head of the village.

There is a pond at the head of the village.

The thin monkey also knew the rumors that the water reckless ghost was doing something strange in the water, so he quietly pulled the two of them and tried to stay away from the pond as far away as possible.

The moon is still round tonight.

The moonlight was like snow, and the path in the village was like a white practice, zigzag into the distance.

On the white path, a dark shadow appeared.

One of them patted the thin monkey on the shoulder and reminded, "Brother Monkey, look, what is that black mass?" ”

Thin Monkey was the only one of the three with a knife, and he considered himself the leader of a small team of three, he touched the knife on his waist, and took a few steps forward nervously, just about to stretch his head forward.

The black shadow on the path suddenly moved, and there was a neighing of horses from its back.

The three of them stayed on the ground for a while, and then looked at each other worriedly, which turned out to be a false alarm.

When I got closer, I found that it was the fast horse in the courtyard.

But I didn't see anyone right away.

"Huh... Isn't this our horse? How could you be left alone here? ”

Another laborer also asked, "What about the people on horse?" Didn't he set out before us? ”

Everyone looked at the pond close at hand, and felt that the pond was pitch black, like a big mouth, and it looked eerie.

Among the three, it was the skinny monkey who was the most clever, and he was the first to feel that something was wrong with the atmosphere.

He grabbed the reins from the horse's neck and turned back and commanded, "Go and call the master quickly." ”

After a while, everyone in the courtyard arrived at the pond.

Several of them carried torches and lit the edge of the pond as if it were day.

Cao Xiong held the handle of the knife and looked at the pond on his own, and in the cold and silent pond, there was a rather large splash, which soaked Cao Xiong.

The courage that had just been mustered disappeared with a cloud of cold water.

He shrank back tremblingly, and asked the beggar standing in the middle of the crowd, "Master, how is it good, the brother from before fell into the pond, and he is already very lucky." ”

When everyone heard this, they couldn't help but shrink back.

I'm afraid that a reckless ghost will emerge from this pond and drag him down.

The beggar still didn't say a word, but grabbed the white-haired thin monkey out of his bosom, and took out a piece of dried meat, and when the monkey had finished eating, the beggar suddenly raised his hand and threw the monkey into the pond in a daze.

Squeak squeak......

The monkey flipped in the air and stood firmly in the water grass on the pond.

The aquatic plants are densely packed, and the buoyancy is not small.

The monkey stepped on it, but it did not fall.

As yesterday, it was another pause, and everyone was amazed and quietly focused their eyes on the monkey on the water.

I don't know if it's an illusion, but under the milky white moonlight, a large black mist rose from the monkey's head.

I didn't see it yesterday.

The black mist quickly condensed into a large mouth.

Squeak squeak......

The monkey screamed again, opened its nostrils wide, and sucked into the water......

The water that used to be calm suddenly became turbulent.

A few splashes, growing larger and larger, were gradually pulled by the suction in the monkey's nostrils.

Everyone had already widened their eyes and stared at the splashes with bated breath.

"What a big fish!"

In a hurry, I don't know who shouted.

The splash was still struggling, but under the suction of the monkey, the prototype gradually appeared, and it turned out to be a few black fish.

It's just that this black fish is indescribably weird, just a head is about a meter, and under the black appearance, there are two white eyeballs.

The beads of his eyes turned around, and when he looked at the people on the shore, he showed a hint of begging.

"Alert!"

Cao Xiong was the first to come to his senses.

He pulled out his sword and moved forward, showing quite bravery.

It's just that there have already been huge waves in my heart.

"Could this be the Water Mandevil? It's clearly a few big fish! ”

These servants, usually only operate in the city, rarely go to the countryside, they all know that there are water ghosts in Qinghe County, but there are very few people who have seen them, and even fewer can still stay alive after seeing them.

This is the first time that everyone has seen the water ghost so closely.

For a moment, tension quickly permeated the pond.

In the pond, as the suction in the nostrils of the white-haired thin monkey became stronger and stronger, the black mist above the head almost turned into a mouth, and it was about to swallow the black fish whale in the water.

The black fish seemed to be restrained, constantly struggling in the water, splashing and splashing.

Just when the two sides were at a stalemate, the beggar suddenly opened his mouth wide, and spit out a Sanskrit sound from his mouth, "Om Ma Bang Mi ......"

These six words seemed to have magical power, like a thunderclap, and hit everyone's hearts heavily.

Cao Xiong's body was crooked, and the Pu knife in his hand was almost not grasped.

A few black fish that were still struggling in the water were shocked for a while, and they all turned into a cloud of black smoke, which was slowly sucked in by the big mouth on the thin monkey's head.

"Brother Cao...... Help me! ”

The black smoke was disturbed, and it turned into several human forms in the air, constantly reaching out to everyone to beg for mercy.

In a trance, it was as if I heard a familiar cry for help.

That voice was very similar to Li San, who was sent out to report to the county seat before.

Cao Xiong shook his head and rubbed his eyes again, just thinking that he was hallucinating.

Calm returned to the pond.

The white-haired thin monkey squeaked twice, and then turned and jumped back into the beggar's arms, as if he had eaten enough, his eyelids widened, and he soon fell into a deep sleep.

The beggar looked around and said calmly, "Okay, it's all right, bring the horse back." ”

The people at the scene came out in a hurry, either holding harpoons, or fishing nets and sticks, and they were stunned for a while and a little confused, "What about the water mandam?" That's gone? ”

Only Cao Xiong, who followed the beggar in confusion, took two broken steps forward, leaned his body to the beggar's side, and asked in a low voice: "Master, Li San who was sent out before?" What's going on? ”

The beggar patted the monkey in his arms and replied with an indifferent expression: "He has become a water ghost, and now that he has entered the belly of the monkey, there is no more Li San in the world." ”

Cao Xiong only felt chills all over his body for a while, and he stood in place for a long time before coming back to his senses.

There was another quarrel behind him.

It turned out to be the three monkeys who had won the first place before, and at the moment they were pinching the 5 taels of silver ingots, like pinching a hot potato, constantly shouting to return it.

The people who were dragged by him glanced at the silver ingots greedily, and shook their heads firmly, "You three are lucky, this silver ingots are yours, we don't dare to rob it." ”

Several people came to Cao Xiong noisily.

Don't think about it, it must be that these three people are greedy for life and afraid of death, and after witnessing the scene just now, they temporarily retreated.

Money is good, but it also has to be spent.

Seeing a few big black fish turn into human shapes, and being attracted to the stomach by the white-haired thin monkey, such a strange picture, it is the first time I have seen it in my life, how can it not make people frightened.

That Wutang Village is the base camp of the water reckless ghosts, if you go like this, wouldn't it be a meat bun beating a dog - there is no return?

Cao Xiong's face was gloomy, and he reprimanded fiercely: "Manly husband, a promise, since the master believes in you, don't let everyone down, go back quickly, don't delay any longer." ”

The thin monkey was crying with a sad face at the moment, relying on a good personal relationship with Cao Xiong, but he still stayed aside and refused to leave.

The others, like a plague, hid a few people and returned to the mansion.

"Brother Cao, can you let someone replace me back, buddy is panicking."

Cao Xiong changed his previous envy, jealousy and hatred, and a trace of schadenfreude flashed in his expression, and he comforted him with a pleasant face: "You are the most clever, just go in to find out about the movement, and don't let you go down to the pond to fish, don't approach the water's edge, what are you afraid of?" ”