"She lay down in the crack of the door and saw that under the firelight, many monsters rushed into the village and killed people, both adults and children."

"A monster kicked open the door of her house and tried to eat her. As a result, her mother hugged her and ran away through the back door. "But from this point on, wherever they flee, the monster will eventually chase after them." They won't be anywhere for long. ”

He Lingchuan asked, "What do those monsters look like?" ”

"It's weird, it glows in flames. Many have horns on their heads, and the horns have different appearances, and they can make shrieks and rough roars, and even speak. ”

"Why are the monsters chasing them?"

I also asked, and Xiao An said that she wanted to know too. They had been on the run for a long, long time, and they were already very tired. "The boy peeled a candy and ate it," she said, adding that her father was so fierce and terrible that animals and people would scream in fear at the sight of him. Sometimes, he would cut them into pieces without mercy. ”

"I didn't believe it, so Xiao An said that he used to live in the mountains and live in a big house."

Chen's wife interjected: "He still kills people and cuts animals, he sounds like a butcher!" The crazy woman said that her second husband was a merchant, how could a merchant do this! The little girl is not honest and lies to scare my son. ”

The boy also said: "We scolded her for being as crazy as her mother, and she said that she was telling the truth, and then ran back to the grass hut to find her crazy mother." ”

Truth? But Xiao An's account is different from what her mother said when she was sober. Which one is the right version?

"It's not surprising that a madwoman gives birth to a little madman." Chen's wife looked at the silver with a blank look, "What else do the officials want to ask?" ”

"Except for Chenjiazhuang, where did they last stay?"

"I don't know." Chen's wife asked her son to go back to the house.

Dong Rui turned the silver on the table: "How do you know that Chen Fuang went to her to cheat?" ”

"On the third day that little sassy hooves came to Chenjiazhuang, Sister-in-law Wu saw Chen Fuang slipping out of the broken grass house, and he was still tying his trouser belt!" Chen's wife gritted her teeth, "When I scolded him, he denied it, saying that it was those cousins who played the crazy woman, and he only watched from the sidelines." ”

"Did you leave anything behind for the mother and daughter?"

"I don't know, at least I don't have it here."

Asked everything that should be asked, He Lingchuan nodded and stood up, leaving the silver and leaving.

Out of the house, Old Man Chen asked him, "Did the official say hello?" ”

"No, take me to Sister-in-law Wu."

On the way to Aunt Wu's house, He Lingchuan also heard a few words floating out of other villagers' houses, most of which were chatting about the little miscellaneous things at home, occasionally quarreling and stumbling, beating and scolding children.

There is also a pair of brothers who are scolding Green Hills for monopolizing the timber business in a nearby county.

"What are you afraid of, our Chenjiazhuang is not easy to bully."

"Last time, a batch of wood came out of Zhuangzi, and the newly opened coffin shop in Baishui Town came to buy it, and the price was good. As a result, within three days, the Wuma family came over and fought with the patriarch for a long time. ”

Hearing the name "Green Villa", He Lingchuan's heart moved, but he did not stop and continued to move forward.

Aunt Wu's house is much larger than Chen Fuang's house, and there is no unpleasant musty smell, so it can be seen that the family is better, and she has not suffered losses in the previous monster attack on the village, and the whole family is there.

Sister-in-law Wu is thin and shriveled, looking nearly fifty years old, in fact, she is only in her early thirties, and she is recognized as a good person in Chenjiazhuang.

Chen's wife just said that Wu's sister-in-law's temperament is like a bamboo tube pouring beans, and she is good at doing things and talking. But He Lingchuan found her, and as soon as the word "crazy woman" was mentioned, Sister-in-law Wu's eyes wandered a little: "I also sent her two meals, her mind was not clear, and we didn't talk much." ”

He Lingchuan suddenly said, "Have you talked to her daughter Xiao An?" ”

"No, no."

He Lingchuan glanced at County Lieutenant Li, who immediately said, "But Chen Fuang's wife has seen it, and said that you sent her two bowls of sweet potato water." ”

Sister-in-law Wu opened her mouth to argue, and County Lieutenant Li turned pale: "If you dare to perjury and delay the public case, I will invite you back to the county to eat a month's prison meal!" ”

His words sounded illogical to Dong Rui, but Sister-in-law Wu was so frightened that she trembled and subconsciously glanced out of the window.

"It's useless to look at anyone." County Lieutenant Li can't do anything else, but he knows the psychology of the villagers very well and knows how to bluff people most effectively, "This case, you have to stay in the county!" Think about it, this is a big case involving more than 100 lives, and you Chen Patriarch can't afford to bear the responsibility, and you dare to carry it? Are you really dying? ”

Sister-in-law Wu wanted to speak and stopped.

As soon as County Lieutenant Li saw that there was a play, he made persistent efforts: "If you refuse to recruit truthfully, you will be arrested as an accomplice who harbors clues!" Once a major criminal like this is arrested, when you return to the county, you will take off your pants and hit 30 boards, and the P shares will be smashed for you, and this is just a dismount. Family members can't visit and deliver medicine, and you're probably going to die in prison after only half of the trial! ”

Sister-in-law Wu clenched and opened her hands tightly, back and forth several times, and walked to the door to look twice before she whispered: "Let me say first, this matter has nothing to do with me at all." ”

"Save, save, you just say it." County Lieutenant Li turned his head and comforted her, "If you explain honestly, then there will be nothing." ”

Sister-in-law Wu couldn't sit down, so she stood up and said: "The convoy brought back the mother and daughter from the outside, and Chen Fuang's brother went to the patriarch to intercede, and asked the crazy woman Ah Hui to take care of the cowshed, which is actually a bit of her appearance." When I went to deliver food to Ah Hui, I saw these men coming out of the thatched hut. Anyway, she is already half-crazy, and she is an outsider, and the people in Chenjiazhuang are too lazy to care, so they can rest assured and bold......"

He Lingchuan interjected: "There are five of them, right?" ”

"Ah, yes."

"Chen Fuang's wife said that on the night the monster attacked Chenjiazhuang, the mother and daughter also disappeared inexplicably."

Sister-in-law Wu's palms rubbed her trouser legs several times, with a look of hesitation.

County Lieutenant Li was unhappy: "When is it, don't recruit quickly!" ”

"Well, actually, I don't know when they disappeared." Sister-in-law Wu said in a low voice, "I went to deliver food at noon that day, but I heard Ah Hui shouting in the grass hut, 'Dare to sell my daughter, I will fight with you', and then there was a burst of ping-pong sounds, as well as the voices of Chen Fuang's people, 'Hold her, she is even more crazy'." I didn't want to listen anymore and went home. ”

"When I go back in the afternoon, the hut is locked. I looked through the crack in the door, and it was empty, and there was no one left. ”

He Lingchuan spoke out at the right time: "What about her daughter?" ”

Sister-in-law Wu shook her head: "I don't know." I also went to ask Chen Fuang what was going on, and he said that Ah Hui ran away with her daughter. I wanted to ask a few more questions, but Chen Fuang was very impatient, scolded me for being a broken mouth, and kicked me out. ”

He Lingchuan nodded: "Let's talk about that girl Xiao An." ”

"Ah Hui's daughter is also a little weird, she chatters, and she can't play with other children. The babies laughed at her for being a crazy child born to a crazy woman. Sister-in-law Wu thought for a while, "Xiao An kept telling me that she wanted to go home, but her mother didn't want to." Mother and daughter often quarrel over this. ”

He Lingchuan raised his suspicions: "Xiao An said that his home is in Xingyun Village; But her mother said that they were from Maodun? ”

"Yes, yes." Sister-in-law Wu immediately said, "I also think it's strange, and then I thought about it, is her mother from Maodun and married to Xingyun Village?" ”

"Do you know these two places?"

"I've never heard of it." She has never left Chenjiazhuang within a radius of fifty miles in her life.

One last question: "Did the mother and daughter leave anything behind?" ”

Sister-in-law Wu's head shook like a wave drum: "Nothing!" ”

After the questioning, He Lingchuan stood up and was about to leave, but Aunt Wu remembered something: "That's right, yes, there is another strange thing: Xiao An mentioned to me that her father is very terrible." ”

"Her father?" Fang Cai heard it from Chen's wife, and County Lieutenant Li didn't care, "Are you talking about Ah Hui's dead husband?" ”

"I think so too, but Xiao An said that she lived with her father for a while, and only escaped a while ago."

A while ago? He Lingchuan and Dong Rui glanced at each other, and County Lieutenant Li asked: "Ah Hui's second husband died not long ago, does Xiao An think that she has escaped?" ”

The child did not know what "death" was, and when his father no longer appeared, and his mother took him away, perhaps thinking that he had escaped.

"I don't know."

He Lingchuan suddenly asked, "What kind of terrible method is her father?" ”

Privately, she found out that her father would lock animals and people in stone houses, or cages, and make them scream in pain. Xiao An heard that cry more than once, and every time he wanted to cover his ears. "It sounds like her father is a butcher." She also told me that my father always locked them in a cave, and that there were two big stones at the entrance of the cave, one was very white and the other was ......."

She struggled to remember for a moment: "Oh, it's red! ”

"Good." He Lingchuan encouraged her, "Is there anything else?" ”

"Oh, yes, I remember." Aunt Wu added, "Xiao An said that her father can help her drive away monsters, although only for a while. Her father was also very kind to her, and if it weren't for the fact that she wanted to go home so much, she would probably have stayed with her father all the time. ”

"Father"? He Lingchuan pondered for a moment, stood up and said, "Thank you, Aunt Wu, you're okay." ”

At the end of the questioning, Aunt Wu breathed a sigh of relief, and everyone went out of the house.

In Chenjiazhuang at night, the lights are only sparse and sparse for more than ten points. He Lingchuan passed by a house, and he could sense that someone was picking the crack in the door and snooping.

This Zhuangzi is not friendly to them either.

County Lieutenant Li also entered the state: "The next location, where to go?" ”

"Thatched hut."

If there are still clues, I am afraid that they will hide in the thatched hut where the mother and daughter have lived for many days.

Walking in the Zhuangzi, Dong Rui suddenly remembered something, took out a small bagpipe and blew it vigorously.

There is no flute, and he seems to be acting in a mime.

But after only a little more than twenty breaths, the nearby trees rattled, and something jumped over:

Ghost ape.

(End of chapter)