Because of its unique geographical location, Liuzhou in the south of the Yangtze River was set up as the tenth directly governed state capital by the court, and its pattern is surrounded by mountains and rivers, and it is a hub station connecting the north in the south of the Yangtze River, and the business is prosperous.

Coupled with the beautiful scenery and excellent feng shui pattern, it has attracted many rich businessmen to live here, and it has also led to Liuzhou, even in the south of the cane-rich Jiangnan, it is also a good land for oil and water.

However, now an officialdom earthquake has made Jiangnan officials secretive about Liuzhou!

There's no way, the Mr. Painted Skin incident sounds too terrifying, human skin and bones, digging flesh and filling the marrow, there are terrible monsters that can directly skin and replace officials, such sneaky places, even if the court claims that the demons have been corrected, but it still can't stop people's hearts from panicking!

Although Qin Guogong's suggestion is good, it also has a negative effect, first of all, all the officials in Liuzhou are purged, although they can cleanse the remnants of demons to a certain extent, but such a big action makes it even more difficult for the already shaken hearts to be stable.

For example, in the past few days, the Liuzhou government has no one to manage it, and the Jiangnan political envoy has to temporarily transfer officials to manage it, but now....., who dares to go to Liuzhou to take up a post?

Those who were named resigned one after another, but they really couldn't hide and resigned directly from the official seal, which made the governor of Jiangnan, who was in charge of temporary scheduling, also have a headache, and he has been writing to the court to send new officials over quickly, after all, Liuzhou is now ...... It's almost a mess!

The appointment of the officials of the new science and technology jinshi is not very smooth, after all, not all the jinshi are as poor as Chen Qing and dare to give up their bodies, and some of the people with better family backgrounds would rather refuse to serve in Liuzhou than go to Liuzhou, and finally they are willing to compromise and go, only about two-thirds of the previous calculations, which can be described as a serious shortage of manpower!

Even if they receive the official seal, they can drag it out, and they all expect others to wade into the water first, and they will wait and see later.

And in this situation, Chen Qing, who was stunned, rushed to Liuzhou one step ahead of everyone!

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"This is ..... Liuzhou?"

Chen Qing, who had traveled for nearly ten days in the dust, almost didn't recognize it when he came to Liuzhou City, and even the horseman who followed the car was dumbfounded.

The huge Liuzhou City is so desolate that Chen Qing almost thought that this place had just been ransacked!

There was not even a single officer and soldier guarding the city, if it weren't for the blue sky and white day, Chen Qing would have thought that he had strayed into the Yin and Yang Road.

"What's going on?"

The groom and Chen Qing stared wide-eyed, and after being silent for a moment, the groom hurriedly said: "This master, I don't think ....., why don't you settle my money now?" I ..... I feel a little panicked here, I won't spend the night here today, master, you have settled the money, I will hurry now, maybe I can rush to Shangshu County before dark. ”

Chen Qing: "......."

I knew it was so weird and brought the ghost baby with me, but I was afraid that there would be many people, so I first arranged the ghost baby on the side of Qinglong Mountain, and now it's good, there is no ghost shadow on the street!

"Master..... look over there!" The groom pointed in horror.

Chen Qing was also startled when he looked over, it was a butcher shop, and there were still people selling meat on this desolate street?

The point is that the meat seller looks horrible, and most of the skin on his face has been peeled off, revealing flesh and bones and a faintly visible wooden structure inside.

Knock Knock.....

The big man has no one else in his eyes, constantly cutting bones, his eyes are dull, like a machine, in this ghost town-like street, it is indeed not an ordinary horror.

The groom was so frightened that he retreated again and again, but Chen Qing frowned and took a step closer.

Naturally, he could see what the butcher was was, apparently the puppets made by Mr. Painted Skin, and after Mr. Painted Skin died, these puppets lost their spirit bodies, and like the walking dead, they would only rely on some of their previous instincts to do some repetitive things.

Chen Qing saw this in Wei Chipeng's personal soldiers who brought back to the capital, Lu Jiaming's group of personal soldiers who were replaced with puppets can still do simple work in Wei Chi's mansion, although they have no sense, but some simple orders can be understood.

Wei Chipeng was reluctant to dispose of his former brothers, so he stayed behind and helped practice targets in the martial arts field.

However, after all, the Wei Chi family is a big bloodline family, and they are not afraid of these puppets, and the common people dare to continue to use them? Aren't you afraid?

"Huh? The little brother over there, but he only came to Liuzhou City today? ”

Just as I was thinking, a voice came, and it was naturally not the mechanical butcher who spoke, but a middle-aged woman guarding next to the butcher's shop.

The woman was white, and although she was a market woman, she obviously did not do heavy work, and she was much more beautiful than an ordinary peasant woman.

Seeing her from afar, she greeted warmly: "Do you want to buy some meat and go back?" There's no innkeeper to cook for you right now, so if you buy some, I'll make you two appetizers myself. ”

Chen Qing was surprised after seeing the other party clearly, and asked directly and cautiously: "Ma Erniang?" ”

"Are you ......" The other party was stunned by Chen Qing's shout, and suddenly stopped his chatter and took a closer look.

"Ouch, isn't this Chen Qing?"

When the woman saw her acquaintance, she immediately became more enthusiastic, and stepped forward to take a closer look: "Ouch, isn't it the Jinshi master in our alley?" Didn't your mother say that she would go to the north to be an official? How did you come back again? ”

"Ah..... that's a long story ......" Chen Qing smiled and diverted the topic, looking at the butcher who was cutting meat: "That's Uncle Zhang, right?" What happened to him? ”

"He's ......" At the mention of his father-in-law, the woman's eyes suddenly darkened.

"That's it..... I used to dislike him for being lazy and not working, and he often went out to gamble and lose money, but now ..... can only work!"

Chen Qing was silent, not knowing what to say for a while.

It's been three years since I knew Ma Erniang's family, and he can be said to know a lot about the butcher Zhang, who loves to be short of pounds and pounds, but he didn't expect that he still didn't know enough about it, when was he replaced by Huang Fuzi? Or maybe it was a puppet all along?

On the day she knew the truth, Ma Erniang must have been frightened, right?

But he is still willing to stay with his man.....

Chen Qing sighed in his heart, but he didn't feel sad for long, so he asked about the situation in Liuzhou.

"Erniang, where are the people in the city?"

After seeing that it was an acquaintance, the horseman next to him leaned over cautiously and listened quietly, he was also very curious, how could this huge Liuzhou City be like a ghost town, where did everyone go?

"Man?" Ma Erniang looked at the desolate surroundings and sighed: "It's all gone......"

"Gone?" Chen Qing was stunned.

"Haven't you heard about the ghost puppets in Liuzhou City?"

"I've heard ..... heard about some ..... but I didn't expect it to be so serious....." Chen Qing cautiously observed the other party's mental state, after all, she was the butcher's daughter-in-law, and she might not be able to beat herself when she picked up the pig-killing knife.

"You don't know how chaotic the city was at that time, the suppression of the officers and soldiers, the ban of the ban, and the direct closure of the city later, many people were scared at that time."

"In this case, people should be locked in Liuzhou." Chen Qing looked around curiously, obviously looking like he had fled the wilderness.

"In the beginning, I wasn't allowed to go....." Ma Erniang smiled bitterly: "Later, some related teachers and wealthy businessmen began to secretly find a way to leave, as soon as there were many such people, they were known, and there was a big fuss at that time, many of my neighbors went to rush to the city gate, and it is said that there were several who were trampled to death......

Chen Qing heard the other party's words and suddenly his scalp was numb, just a few words, but it could make him imagine the chaotic picture at that time.

"There are so many dead people that they can't clean it up, so the people above simply withdrew the officers and soldiers, and this retreat, won't they run out?"

Ma Erniang looked at her husband with a complicated look in her eyes.

Chen Qing looked at it, and probably could understand why ordinary people wanted to run, just these puppets were there, the officers and soldiers did not dare to move lightly without receiving orders, and the neighbors were afraid, and there were ghosts if they could stay......

"Where have they gone?" The groom wondered.

"Those who have money run to the state capital next door, and those who don't have money go back to their hometown in the countryside, there is always a place to go....."

Chen Qing thought for a while and asked, "Erniang, what about your children?" ”

"I'm back in the countryside." Ma Erniang smiled: "It just so happens that the piglets in the countryside should also be born, and the sons and daughters-in-law should go back to help the old man look at it, this dead ghost, I'll just accompany you....."

"How many more do you have left?"

"It shouldn't ......be much," Ma Erniang said with a smile: "This North Street, most of them are ordinary people like us, I can only find a dozen or so in the past few days, and those rich businessmen and masters on South Street, who have family property, have already moved their families." ”

Chen Qing: "........"

It was too late to pity Ma Erniang's encounter, Chen Qing pulled his legs and walked south!

Originally, I was the first to run over, and I wanted to take the opportunity to make a wave of oil and water, but now it's okay, there are not a few chicken feathers left, a mess in one place, people have run out, how can I be the prefect?

"Chen Qing, where are you going?" Ma Erniang hurriedly shouted.

"Go to South Street!" Chen Qing replied without looking back: "Erniang, you help me weigh a pound of meat, and eat at your house at night!" ”

"Huh? Okay! Erniang suddenly smiled happily, but then said: "There is no ghost shadow on South Street, what are you doing there?" ”

But just shouted, Chen Qingren's shadow was gone.

He was in a hurry now, so he naturally hurried over to see how many households were left!

Just kidding, most of the ordinary people on North Street are hiding in the countryside, and they can still get it back by using some means, but it is not easy to catch these rich big families when they run away, they are gone, whose taxes do they collect?