He Lingchuan asked Zhao Dazui in the car, "Last winter, was anyone injured in the township?"

"Huh?" Zhao Dazui didn't understand, "What kind of injury do you mean? Frostbite, smash or fall?"

「..... It's not easy to heal." Pig thorns are not easy to deal with.

Zhao Dazui thought for a while, "I haven't heard of it."

Jiao Yu interjected: "Has anyone died of illness?"

"Ah, there is." Zhao Dazui nodded this time and nodded simply, "Old man Xu from Youtian Town has been suffering from tuberculosis for many years, and he didn't survive last winter......

"I'm going to die in the prime of life. Villagers or passers-by are counted."

"Oh....". Zhao Dazui thought again, "Yes. In Xujia Village, on the edge of Baita Temple, Xu Laoer, who was in his thirties, froze his leg in the mountains and died of a high fever within a few days of returning home."

He Lingchuan nodded and wrote, "What else?"

Zhao Dazui thought about it carefully and didn't think about it.

He Lingchuan's heart moved, and he suddenly said, "What about the seriously injured or dead monsters?"

"Then I don't know." Zhao Dazui smiled, "Monsters don't usually live with us, what's wrong with them, how do I know?"

"Monsters live in the countryside?"

"Yes, most of them live in the countryside and don't have anything to do with us." Zhao Dazui added, "Except for cat demons, bull demons, and bat demons, which will live under the eaves, but I didn't pay much attention to it."

The monster is dead, what does it matter to him as a human being?

Before dark, He Lingchuan rushed back to Youtian Town and separated from Jiao Yubing.

He went to the largest pharmacy in town, and General Ling insisted on following him, as if he was addicted to watching the excitement.

Zhitian Township is the largest distribution center of medicinal materials in Chiyan, one-third of the country's medicinal materials are wholesaled from here, and of course, pharmacies and medical halls are everywhere.

The one He Lingchuan is looking for is a medical hall in front and a big pharmacy in the back. When he entered, he went directly to the shopkeeper of the pharmacy, took out the red powder scraped out of the pig's nest, and asked what it was.

The shopkeeper was also an expert, so he looked at it twice, sniffed it, and didn't figure it out, so he found medicinal powder and water to mix with it, and found a few doctors to come and study it.

He Lingchuan felt that it was no fun to see their frames, and then he missed his medicine ape even more. At least Lingguang is not as unreliable as they are.

Fortunately, the shopkeeper finally invited an ape out of the back hall.

He Lingchuan Daqi: "Medicine ape?"

"Exactly." The shopkeeper smiled and said, "This is our Chief Dan Master, Mr. Lu."

Mr. Lu's chin and beard were white, and he couldn't figure out the origin of the stone powder when he heard the shopkeeper say that he couldn't figure out the origin of the stone powder, so he took a small pinch of red powder and spit on his fingertips.

Even the four or five doctors, everyone saw that the pink had become transparent.

"That's right, it's Shiluo." Mr. Lu affirmed, "It's also called stone blood, where do you get it?"

"What's the use?"

"This thing is commonly known as the blood of the stone, and it is also recognized as the essence of the mountain range, and it is rarely used for medicine and alchemy, so ordinary pharmacists and pill masters don't recognize it, but in fact, it can still be used in some home remedies." "In addition, it is also a material for making certain ritual utensils, and if customers take it to a craftsman, they may be more recognizable."

It paused and asked, "Stone is rare, and these are fresh, isn't it far from where the guests chiseled them?"

"This is mineral powder, not a plant, how can you tell if it's fresh or not?"

"There's the smell of rock in there, and a little rancid smell on it." Mr. Lui said conclusively, "It should have just been dug out not long ago."

"That's right, I only dug it out of the pig's nest in Yulun Mountain in the afternoon."

"Jade Wheel Mountain?" Mr. Lu was obviously stunned, "There is actually a stone in Yulun Mountain?"

"What's the problem?"

"I've been in Shibata Township for eighty years, and it's the first time I've heard of such a thing in Yulun Mountain." Mr. Lu stroked his beard under his chin like a human, "As I just said, Shiluo is very rare, and some powerful prescriptions must be used. This thing is very expensive, and the purified stone powder can be used for one or two

at a high price of five taels of silver!"

"This is what I just knocked down, and I haven't refined it yet, what do you think of the purity?"

Mr. Lui tinkered for a while: "There are very few impurities."

He Lingchuan put away the bottle and said with a casual smile: "If you find the Shiluo ore vein, you will make a fortune?"

"If there are plenty of them."

The shopkeeper couldn't help but interject on the side: "Guest, that's not the case. You can't come to local medicine mining unless you own it."

Of course He Lingchuan knew, and laughed: "Yes, the mountains and rivers have masters, who can mine them casually? That's what I said."

After getting the answer he wanted, he thanked the medicine ape, put down the small ingot and left the medicine shop.

He Lingchuan knew that Jiao Yu's errand was not completed so quickly, so he followed the aroma to find a small shop to eat.

It's a shop, but it's a stall propped up by a snakeskin shed.

But seven or eight low tables in the shed were filled with guests, each holding a jar and eating happily.

That's right, this stall focuses on canned noodles.

There were seven or eight jars simmering on the stove, and they were full of medicinal food. Whoever the customer ordered, the stall owner poured noodles into the jar.

He Lingchuan asked for an angelica turtledove soup, and the local cloud silk noodles were served. As soon as the lid of the jar is opened, the aroma is fragrant, and the soup inside is light brown, with only a thin layer of oil floating on the surface.

Take a bite, the mellow aroma is warm, and the herbs go well with the meat. The head of the material is also boiled to the bone and crispy meat, and you can chew it directly.

Smelling the aroma, the three-headed Diamond Wind Beast will not treat itself badly, and will also order something to eat. This is a demon country, and the scene of monsters eating in the town is commonplace, and in order to take care of their big mouths, the stall owner serves them not jars but open bowls.

These sheep are really omnivorous, gnawing on the little turtle doves to squeak one by one, and ask the boss to add more vegetables.

He Lingchuan drained a can, and the people had already drunk three bowls. He raised his hand and asked for another flavor of canned soup, this time with hot noodles and small sugar cakes.

Sweet and salty, the taste is very interesting.

Even better, the shed was across the street from the pharmacy he had entered.

When he ate the second small sugar cake, he saw the shopkeeper of the pharmacy come out and hurriedly walked out.

He Lingchuan smiled, raised his arm and made a gesture.

When passers-by saw it, they only thought that he was greeting someone, but in fact, there was a crow in the tree flapping its wings and purring to follow the big shopkeeper.

Ready-made eyeliner, no need to be in vain.

Shibata Township is full of crows, and no one pays special attention to its movements.

He Lingchuan then asked the stall owner, "Two more sugar cakes, pack." By the way, this Shuo Jintang has such a big façade, may I ask who is its owner?"

"Who doesn't know from Youtian Town, this is the Li family's property."

He Lingchuan sighed: "It turned out to be the Li family."

After dinner, he went for a walk in the medicine market in Tomoda Town.

It's rare to meet a wholesale place of medicinal herbs, and he can't take the opportunity to replenish his inventory? It's just that Lingguang is not there, and He Lingchuan's own quality control is not well grasped.

Walking around and shopping like this, it will soon be time to hold the lamp.

He Lingchuan returned to the inn for more than an hour before Jiao Yu returned by moonlight.

"How?"

"I checked the account books of the Township Office, omitting the old and sick deaths, seven young men were killed or injured last winter, three were missing, and two passing caravans reported that they had died of an emergency." It paused, "It's human."

"Demon clan, it's that nest of pig demons who died. Two youkai entered the township to seek medical treatment, so they are recorded, and the others are unknown."

yes, youkai don't come for medical treatment, who knows if they've been injured?

He Lingchuan shook his head: "I really can't see anything from the official records, no wonder Fu Shan Ji can't handle this case. The people behind the scenes know too well about the official family."

He relayed his trip to the medicine hall, and Jiao Yu immediately said, "In addition to the water source and medicinal herbs, the territory of this nest of pigs now has an additional stone vein, and the resources are really rich."

"Huaibi

its sins." He Lingchuan said, "It seems that the object of our suspicion is not only the Li Wang Tu family."

He had already inquired, and those three were all in the medicinal herb business.

And Shiluo is rarely known in the local area, and these big families may not be involved.

When he said this, he frowned again: "But I haven't figured out one thing: since the murderer has our whereabouts, why don't you wait for us to leave Youtian Town or Shibata Township before doing anything?"

"yes, ambushing us with such a roar, if it fails, it will expose the fact that they are moving nearby." Jiao Yu asked him, "What are you going to do now?"

"Mudicate the water first, and maybe the big fish will appear." He Lingchuan said to it, "Master Jiao, please bring Li Dahu here."

"Now?" It was getting dark.

"Yes, now." He Lingchuan affirmed, "That's what I want."

Jiao Yu is a man of action, and sure enough, he found Li Dahu in less than two quarters of an hour.

Li Dahu was dug up from his sleep, although he was neatly dressed, he had hanging from the corners of his eyes and yawning all day. He is fifty-seven years old this year, and although he usually takes care of it, his energy is far less than that of a young man.

The prince's envoy even called him to the door overnight, and he kept beating the drum in his heart. Always knock on the side and ask Jiao Yu, is there anyone else going with you?

To be able to make such a big deal, which person is really clean under his hands?

If old things are pulled out, then .....

He was feeling apprehensive, and He Lingchuan took out a note without smiling and unfolded it to show him in front of him:

"Someone is reporting you."

......

The next day, at the end of the day.

As soon as the Baishi County Commander dreamed that he had been promoted to an official and held a roasted tail banquet to be congratulated by everyone, he was ruthlessly awakened by the old servants at home:

"My lord, Li Dahu and Wang Dahu ask to meet."

"Now?" The Baishi County Commander rubbed his eyes, seeing that it was still not dawn outside the window, he couldn't help but be annoyed, "Are they crazy!"

"They say it has something to do with the case of the Messenger."

Messenger? The county commander sat on the bed and was stunned for a long time, and little by little he came back to his senses before he remembered the disappearance of the messenger in Lingxu City.

He didn't think that Shibata Township had anything to do with this case, so he didn't think much about it in the past two days. Why did these two big families come to him in a hurry?

"Let them wait in the study."

Two quarters of an hour later, Li and Wang, the two village sages, had finished drinking a cup of tea, and the Baishi County Order was late.