At the end of the town, there is a stone road leading to the mountain, and it is said that most of the ethnic minorities live in the mountain, while most of the Han people live in or around the town.

The population of Ningxiang Township is not large, about 20,000, and most of them are Browns, followed by Han Chinese, and then some other ethnic minorities.

Most of the families are distributed on that mountain, living a life of relying on the mountains to eat the mountains.

There are many houses of different heights scattered on the mountain, and the sun is setting and there is little smoke.

Due to the rain, the stone road was muddy, Qin Li carried his trouser legs, walked on them carefully, step by step mud footprints, occasional mud splashed, falling on his black trouser legs, very conspicuous, like waves hitting the surface of the ink lake, giving birth to ripples, disturbing the quiet.

After walking cautiously for more than twenty minutes, Qin Li saw a fairly large village.

This village should be the Brown cottage, they are built on the mountain, the houses are arranged sparsely and densely, the higher the place, the more sparse, most of the houses are built at the foot of the mountain or halfway up the mountain.

The houses here are quite different from those in the town, most of them are two-story railing-style buildings, green tile wooden buildings, crowned roofs are built in a neat and orderly manner, and there are also green tile houses interspersed, which should be the residence of Han people.

The buildings are all built along the slope, in order, in a very regular order.

According to their customs, the first floor is mainly used for livestock, and the second floor is used for people. Usually, there will be a balcony-like open space on the second floor for drying clothes and tea.

Tea is abundant here, and most of the villagers make a living from tea picking.

Maybe it was dinner time, there were no pedestrians on the road, and after walking for so long, I didn't see anyone else except for two children with bamboo baskets on their backs.

Two children, a boy and a woman, carried bamboo baskets filled with vegetables and rice, holding hands, singing and dancing past Qin Li's side.

When they walked in front of Qin Li, they didn't forget to look back at Qin Li, and when they found that Qin Li was also looking at themselves, they smiled embarrassedly and turned their heads to run forward.

Looking at their cheerful backs, Qin Li unconsciously raised the corners of his mouth.

"Sac!" (Jean)

Just as Qin Qi was passing through a slippery section, there was a shout from behind, full of breath but slurred.

Immediately after, Qin Li felt that someone had bumped his shoulder, stumbled, and almost fell.

Looking at the mud spots that were splashed again on his trouser legs, Qin Li frowned, and turned his head to look at the daredevil, a little angrily.

I saw that a short and sturdy middle-aged man walked past Qin Qi after knocking him away, wearing Han costumes, carrying an empty bamboo basket on his back, but carrying a string of bacon in his hand.

When he found that Qin Li was looking at him, he turned his head and smirked at Qin Li, and continued to stride forward without apology.

Qin Li didn't say anything, patted his trouser leg, and continued to move forward.

Suddenly, he stopped, rubbed his nose, stared at the daredevil's back, and fell into deep thought.

"The smell is not right..."Qin Li muttered to himself in a low voice.

Just when Qin Li came back to his senses, there was no more of the daredevil's figure in front of him.

Looking up at the darkening sky, Qin Qi didn't think much about it anymore and continued to move forward.

"Bang bang bang bang ..."

As the road widened, the sound of murmuring water could be heard from a short distance, and the hillside on the left side of the road sloped and eventually extended into a small river.

Qin Li looked along the river and found a crystal clear river shuttling between the stockades and flowing around the mountain.

"A creek on the hill." Qin Qi smiled, feeling extremely interesting.

It's just not known if the creek was naturally generated or dug by man.

Perhaps because of the rain, the air is exceptionally sober, in addition to the smell of food wafting from time to time, it is also mixed with a faint aroma of tea, which blends with the wet air, refreshing and elegant.

Looking at my watch, I have been walking for more than an hour, and it seems that I have walked a third of the village, except for a small accident just now, everything seems to be very peaceful.

The smell of the mountains, the smell of the grass, and the breath of people's life, primitive and rustic, without the slightest sign of crime.

Except, just the smell.

"What the hell does it smell like?" Qin Li felt that the taste was a little familiar and a little unfamiliar.

"I've found a new clue, get back!"

Just when Qin Qi fell into contemplation again, he received a WeChat message from Corot.

"Good!"

Qin Qi turned around and walked towards the town.

"Young man, is it a tourist?"

When Qin Li walked back for a few minutes, he was suddenly stopped by an old voice.

Qin Qi turned around and saw an old man dressed in Brown costume walking slowly towards him with a flashlight.

The old man's face was against the light, so that Qin Li couldn't see clearly, but the fragrance of tea from the old man's body made him feel at ease.

"Yes, old man." Qin Bai nodded at him.

"We have early dawn and early darkness here, if you want to come to play, you should come early, the mountain road is not easy to walk, and it has rained, the ground is very slippery, you take a flashlight, be careful when you go back." The old man handed the flashlight in his hand to Qin Li.

Qin Li's eyesight is very good, even if he walks at night, there is no problem, but with the light of the flashlight, Qin Li saw an old and loving face, which couldn't help but make his heart soften, so he took the flashlight.

"Thank you, old man, do you live here? I'll come over tomorrow and return the torch to you. Qin Qi pointed to the house behind the old man.

"Yes, you can call me Daddy Ai, if you like it, you can play for a few more days." The old man said with a smile.

"Okay, Daddy Ai, I'm leaving, thank you." After Qin Li nodded to Daddy Ai and thanked him, he turned around and left.

Although he didn't look back, he could still feel that Daddy Ai was still standing there, watching him.

"He doesn't even have a desire balloon on his head."

Qin Yu found that after he entered the stockade, it seemed that none of the people he met had a desire balloon.

Daddy Ai, the two kids, and the daredevil.

No, there was a desire balloon on the daredevil's head, but Qin Li's attention was not on that at that time, so he didn't pay attention to what was written inside.

It was only in a flash that he seemed to see a colored light shining above the daredevil's head.

It is the unique colored light of the desire balloon, colorful, dreamy and beautiful, just like Monet's "Impression. Sunrise.

However, it is normal for normal people to have a desire balloon on their head, and it is rare to have a desire balloon without it.

For example, Xiao Zhan, Yun Xizi, and Xixi.

Qin Li smiled, quickened his pace, and soon returned to the town.

At this time, the town had closed its doors, and the stalls on both sides had long since been retracted, except for the dim light from the surrounding houses, only a few street lamps were illuminating.

Turning off the flashlight, Qin Li stepped on the stone road, walked to the front of the hostel, and pushed the door in.

"Are you back, are you having fun?"

It was the same young man who had received them in the afternoon, and he and a young woman were sitting on the couch, watching TV and eating dinner.

"It's okay, thank you." Qin Qi nodded politely at them and walked upstairs.

As soon as he pushed open the door, Qin Li was smoked by a strong smell of instant noodles.

"Dinner?" Qin Li looked at the box of instant noodles in Co Luo's hand with disgust.

"Ah, what else?" Corot didn't lift his eyelids, and snorted at the noodles.

Qin Li rubbed his nose, not quite used to the taste of instant noodles, walked to the window, pushed the half-open window completely, and then took out a box of honey cake and a cup of instant coffee from his bag.

"Give me a drink too, thank you." Corot looked at the coffee in Qin Li's hand and said.

Qin Bai glanced at him and took out another glass.

"How?"

Watching Qin Li carefully tear open the coffee package, Corot asked.

"There wasn't much to discover, and it seemed to be very clean." Qin Qi said lightly.

"What about you?" Throwing away the bag, Qin Li looked at Corot.

Ke Luo finished eating the instant noodles in two or three bites, drank two mouthfuls of soup, and was about to throw the box into the trash, but was stopped by Qin Li, "Throw it outside, this smell is unpleasant." ”

"Hypocrisy!" Corot pouted, and went out with the box.

When he came back, Qin Li had already brewed the coffee.

After taking one of the cups of coffee and blowing the hot air on it, Corot said slowly, "Yes, and it's not small." ”

"Oh?" Qin Li raised his eyes and looked at him.

Taking a sip of steaming coffee, Corot continued: "There are no new clues found on the school side for the time being, and Principal Wang's statement is similar to what I saw in the information. I had planned to visit the school again tomorrow to ask other teachers and students, but on the way back, I met a man. ”

"That's... Are you the police officer who came to find Teacher Qu? ”

Corot turned around and found that it was a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy who had stopped him.

He craned his neck and looked at Corot timidly, his cheeks slightly red.

"Hello, I'm not a police officer, I'm a private detective, entrusted by Mr. Qu's family to find his whereabouts, are you his student?" Corot walked over to the boy and said with a smile.

"Private detective? Is it better than the police? The boy continued, looking at Corot curiously.

"Our approach is different, but the purpose is basically the same." Corot continued to laugh.

"Is Mr. Qu's family worried about him?" The boy asked again, frowning.

"Well, very worried, are you worried about him too?" Corot asked.

The young man nodded, pursed his lips and said, "Teacher Qu must have been eaten by the beasts in the mountains." ”

"Beasts?" Corot wondered, he hadn't heard of a beast here.

Of course, the surrounding area is surrounded by mountains and forests, and it is inevitable that animals such as wild boars, tigers, and bears will not be infested.

But Qu Xiaobo doesn't seem to have a hobby of wandering around in the mountains and forests, so how could he encounter wild beasts?

"Maybe it's not a beast, it's a mountain beard." The boy said again.

"Yamaha?" Could it be a ghost?

There are beards in the mountains and forests, hidden in them, eating human flesh, and disappearing.

Corot had heard stories about the mountain beard, and he had heard quite a few of them.

It's just that Qu Xiaobo was really eaten by the mountain mantle?

Isn't this an ordinary case of disappearance, but a trick?

Corot looked up at the distant mountains that were gradually falling into the night, and his expression became solemn......