Mrs. Fang's face changed, and her long sleeves flicked, "Since Mr. Ning has insisted repeatedly, I don't care about this matter!" ”

The only two parties who could solve the matter were left alone, and many villagers had a look of despair on their faces, sighing and suffering.

The village chief saw my father and Mrs. Fang arguing, and hurriedly came to play the round, "Goddess, Mr. Ning, you see, it's so late, everyone has been busy for a day and a night, and they are all tired, everyone go back early to rest, we will discuss this matter tomorrow." ”

Mrs. Fang glared at my dad fiercely and walked into the distance.

The villagers began to disperse, and we followed the village chief to leave, and before leaving, I rushed to Lingling, took Lingling's right hand, and promised, "Lingling, don't worry, no matter what happens, I will protect you." ”

Ling Ling was about to withdraw his hand, but when he heard my words, he didn't pull it away, but grabbed my hand firmly, with a grateful face, "Ning Que, thank you, you are so kind to me." ”

My heart warms.

Along the way, the village chief begged our father and son for help, and even said to give my father 20,000 yuan to let my father solve the matter.

My dad said, "It's not about money, so many people die every year, doesn't the national government investigate it comprehensively?" How did you become the village chief? I see you're getting older, and it's time to retire. ”

My dad was angry in his heart and didn't speak politely at all.

The village chief sighed helplessly, "Mr. Ning, the police have come several times, and each investigation has no result, two months ago, five policemen came to our village, stayed for a month, investigated in the village, investigated in the river, and couldn't investigate anything, even ...... Several policemen believe that there are river demons in the Yin Yang River. ”

It turned out that every year there were deaths in the village, and the police would come to investigate several times a year, but the result was drowning, without any clues, the police could only let the villagers take precautions, strengthen safety, look at the weather forecast, and if there was wind and rain, do not go down to the river.

The police were helpless, and the villagers lost confidence in the police, and even more thought that it was the river monster who was doing the trick, and could only trust the goddess Fang.

I casually asked, "When the police came to investigate, were there any dead people?" ”

"This ...... Think about it. The village chief frowned, and then his eyes lit up, "Ning Que, when you say that, I remember that in the month that the police came to investigate, the village was calm and quiet, and no one died." ”

I asked again, "Is the policeman dead again?" ”

"Yes." The village chief was very sure, "On the fifth day of the police's departure, two people died in the village, a young couple who had just been married for half a year and went to ......"

"Maybe it's because the police have righteousness, so the river demon didn't harm anyone."

I suddenly felt like things weren't that simple.

My dad said: "So many people have died, I don't think this is the work of the river demon at all." ”

The village chief disagreed with my father's words, and said: "Mr. Ning, when your father was alive, I had a few encounters with your father, and your father was a respectable old gentleman, didn't your father say that the river demon of the Yin Yang River was born?" ”

My dad said, "Three generations of my family have been corpse diggers, dealing with dead people all year round, and my grandfather left a notebook that recorded a lot of strange things, but most of them ended up solving the case, and it was done by people." ”

"Regardless of whether there is a real demon in this world, my father said that if people don't commit demons, demons will naturally not harm people."

The village chief sighed, "The dead in the village are all honest fishermen, and there are no enemies, we make a living from fishing all year round, perhaps, it is precisely because of the perennial sale of fish and shrimp that angers the river demon." ”

My dad scoffed, "According to what you say, the perennial pig killer will anger the pig demon?" Will the one who kills the sheep anger the sheep demon? People are carnivores, these are food chains, conform to the cycle of heaven, my father said, demons and monsters, nine times out of ten are man-made. ”

The village chief was stunned, "Mr. Ning, what do you mean, these villagers were all killed?" ”

My dad said, "Whether it's done by a human or a demon, it has nothing to do with our father and son, I can't let my family's only seedling die because of this incident, I won't care about this matter." ”

The village chief sighed deeply and didn't say much, and my father's words made me think deeply.

We stayed at the village chief's house, we carried wooden barrels to take a shower, and then the village chief sent two clean clothes for our father and son to change into, and vacated a house for our father and son to live in.

When I had just been lying down for ten minutes and feeling a little sleepy, my dad patted me on the arm and said, "Let's go, go to the port." ”

I was puzzled and asked, "We just came back from the port, what are we going to the port now?" ”

My dad said, "Remember the wooden boat we towed back?" We haven't checked yet. ”

I was full of doubts, "Dad, didn't you say you wouldn't meddle here?" Also, why didn't you inspect at the port just now, and now you have to go out to inspect again? ”

My dad said, "I just won't let you get into trouble with Lingling again, I didn't say that we don't care about what happens here, we don't care about it openly, we investigate secretly, and we can't startle the snake." ”

"But...... Why should we investigate? "Is it because of the spirit?

My father's face was solemn, "Yesterday we just came to Shangnan Village, and Mrs. Fang said that she wanted to marry you Lingling, and arranged for you and Lingling to go to the river at night, I suspect that this matter is coming for you, and someone wants to harm you." ”

"Someone wants to harm my son, how can I ignore it?"

"Whether it was the river demon or man-made, we'll find out soon!"

Our father and son got dressed and crept into the courtyard. The village chief snored loudly, and he was already asleep, so we quietly went out.

By half-past three o'clock in the port, the street lights in the port had long been extinguished, and it was dark all around, and there was not half a figure in sight.

The wooden boat had been towed ashore by the villagers and left in a nearby corner, awaiting repairs.

My dad and I worked together to turn the wooden boat over so that the bottom was facing the sky.

My dad asked me to use a flashlight to check the middle of the bottom of the boat, where the water had seeped before, and sure enough, someone had carved a big hole with a sharp object, and there were other places around it that had not been chiseled.

After checking it for a while, my dad said, "This wooden boat is an old cedar with good toughness, high buoyancy, light and sensitive, strong and durable. ”

"This is a boat with a middle cabin of six feet, a hatch width of four feet, a bottom width of two feet and a half, a height of one foot three, and a plate thickness of about five centimeters. The joints are made of tung oil mixed with lime powder, and the putty made of putty is used to scrape the joints of the wooden boat, which will never leak. ”

"There are three gaps here, there are three in total, impartial, they are all chiseled along the joints of the wooden planks, and it is the hole in the middle that has been completely broken, if someone chiseled the bottom of the boat in advance, and soaked in the water for a long time, it will be darkened, and the stubble of these three holes is new, and it has just been broken."

We have been fishing all year round, and I know a thing or two about wooden boats, and my dad knows so much about boats that he can infer so much from the three gaps in the bottom of the boat.

"Dad, what do you mean?"

My dad turned off the flashlight and said, "No one can chisel through such a thick plank under the water." ”

I thought about it, and I suddenly remembered that in shallow water, the boat was jolting, shaking, and then seeping again, could it be that someone was scuttling the boat underneath?

"If someone chisels a part of the bottom of the boat in advance, and does everything before putting the boat in the water, and the remaining thin part can be broken, and when the boat seeped last night, we were already in the shallow water, and if someone hides in the shallow water, and waits for us to come, they can use the boat gang as a cover to breathe, and then dive and scuttle the boat to harm us, it can be done." I analyze.

My dad looked at me with some relief and nodded, "The idea is clear, but ...... If someone prepares in advance, the boat soaks in the water for a different time, and the position of the stubble will be different, you see this fork, the knife is sharp, there is no stubble, it is very smooth, unless it is a professional carpenter can do it, and it is definitely not chiseled twice. ”

"There's resistance in the water, and you can't do that because you have to stay in the water."

People can't do this, is it...... River Demon?

I remembered the strange things I saw in the river, the spirits in the river, the white hands, everything, it is difficult to have a reasonable explanation.

Next, our father turned the boat over and erased all traces of it, and was about to leave when he suddenly heard something heavy on the water more than 20 meters away, and there was a very loud thud.

"Let's go, go over and have a look."