"What?!" Shi Cheng and Wu Neng both exclaimed in unison, and even Tie Mian's eyes showed a thick different color. If this sentence did not come from the mouth of this envoy, then Shi Cheng really had to wonder if the person who said this was a man of his own words.

Shi Cheng's heart was turbulent, he had imagined countless things that might happen in this night talk before he came to the council pavilion, but what was happening now was really beyond his imagination, and it caught him off guard.

"You say...... That village is all right now? Shi Cheng asked in a deep voice.

"That's right, Lord Sun will still lie to you." Zhao Ping said coldly.

Shi Cheng arched his hand and said: "In the case of the uninhabited village, Shi dared to guarantee with his life, this matter is absolutely true. There must be something strange in this, I don't know if the adults can allow Shi to go to that village with a team of officials to check again. ”

The military attache surnamed Sun frowned and shouted in a deep voice: "Shi Cheng, just because you lied about the case, this official has the right to list you as a suspect and send you to prison for review!" I advise you to answer my questions honestly and explain to me the reasons why you reported the false case. The energy of your Medicine Master Chamber of Commerce in the Western Continent is not small, but don't forget that my Western Desert Country is an enlightened country under the teachings of the Qingyun Holy Venerable, and the hands of you unfaithful heretics who do not respect the gods cannot reach out to our side! ”

Shi Cheng's face was very solemn, his brows were furrowed, and he was thinking hard about how to deal with it. Zhao Ping, who was next to the military attache surnamed Sun, saw that Shi Cheng was slow to answer, and his face became more and more ugly.

Wu Neng saw Zhao Ping's appearance that he was about to have a seizure, and his heart was also anxious, just as he wanted to open his mouth to defend Shi Cheng for a few words, Shi Cheng seemed to suddenly think of something, and the solemnity on his face disappeared suddenly.

"Master Sun." Shi Cheng rushed before Wu Neng could speak, "Before you convict me, can Shi ask a question?" ”

The military attache surnamed Sun said coldly: "You ask." ”

"The last time I met Master Sun here, it was when Shi reported to you about the case of the uninhabited village." Shi Cheng said unhurriedly, "But after reporting the case to you last time, Shi has always felt that something is strange. ”

"What do you want to say?" The military attache surnamed Sun asked.

Shi Cheng replied, "The normal reaction of ordinary people when they hear that an entire village of people has suddenly disappeared is shock or fear. But when I told you the facts of the case that day, your expression did not fluctuate much. Shi was a little curious, what is the reason for this? ”

The military attache's hand moved slightly, but he didn't say anything.

Shi thought for a moment and had an answer that could explain the situation well. That is, this kind of sudden disappearance of an entire village of people has happened before, right? Maybe the situation is exactly the same as what Shi encountered, first someone came to report the case, and then when the government sent someone to investigate, they found that the village was intact. Master Sun, I don't know if Shi Cheng's guess is right? ”

The military attache surnamed Sun didn't make any moves this time, but the different color in his eyes couldn't hide the real thoughts in his heart.

Shi Cheng has always been good at observing words and feelings, and when he saw the look of the military attache surnamed Sun, he understood that he had guessed well. He stood there quietly, waiting for the military attache surnamed Sun to speak.

Zhao Ping recovered from his stunned and wanted to say something, but the military attache surnamed Sun stopped him. The military attache surnamed Sun turned his head, looked at Shi Cheng and said, "Sure enough, it is not easy to talk to smart people secretly. ”

"I know that Lord Sun must have doubts about Shi in his heart, but Your Excellency, you can say it directly to me, and there is no need to use this method to trick my words." Speaking of this, Shi Cheng arched his hand, "In order to dispel your doubts, and also for me and the three of us to go to the royal city with peace of mind, Shi is willing to fully cooperate with your investigation in the past few days, so as to find out those thieves who are secretly doing things as soon as possible." ”

"Right now, Shi has a proposal, Shi hopes that Lord Sun can allow a team of officials to go to that village with Shi and let Shi confront those villagers. This kind of uninhabited village incident on Xieyang Road has happened more than once, don't you suspect that there is something wrong in the village? Shi admits to saying sincerely.

"It's not that the officials didn't suspect the villagers in those villages, but after several investigations, they found nothing. The manpower under this official is limited, and there are more things to deal with on the Xieyang Road, and it is impossible for the government to send people to keep an eye on those villages all the time. Saying this, the military attache surnamed Sun rubbed his forehead, and seemed to have an extremely headache about this matter.

After thinking for a while, the military attache surnamed Sun turned his head to Zhao Ping beside him and said: "Ah Ping, when the seventh team comes back in the second half of the night, you will personally lead the team and Shi Cheng and the three of them to set off to take a look at that village, be sure to check that village carefully, and don't miss any clues." ”

Zhao Ping responded and bowed down to receive the order. The military attache surnamed Sun looked at Shi Cheng and said, "Shi Cheng, since you are so frank to this official, then this official will believe you once." I hope you're not lying to the official. ”

……

The night wind howled, and the only sound of horses' hooves galloping on the silent loess road was the sound of horses. Shi Cheng rode on a thin black horse, followed by Wu Neng and Tie Mian. The three of them were surrounded by dozens of officials in strong suits and carrying long knives with black sheaths at their waists. Zhao Ping rode a tall horse, and marched to the front of the horse team with two henchmen and a guide.

Zhao Ping didn't have a good impression of Shi Cheng, and he either ignored Shi Cheng's behavior of wanting to talk, or prevaricated a sentence. Once when Shi Cheng wanted to ask about some news about the military attache surnamed Sun, Zhao Ping scolded him back. Shi Cheng had no choice, so he simply stopped talking. After marching for a long time in silence with only the sound of horses' hooves, the horse team finally arrived at the "uninhabited village" where Shi Cheng and his party had stayed.

The sky is already bright, and the ridge roads in the oasis can be seen everywhere with the figures of villagers working. The peasant women who were fetching water and washing clothes by the lake were talking and laughing, a peaceful rural scene. It's just that when this peaceful scene was vividly placed in front of Shi Cheng and the others, the hearts of the three people shuddered.

Zhao Pingping got off his horse expressionlessly and said to Shi Cheng: "Take a look, the uninhabited village you met the night before yesterday is not the village in front of you." ”

Shi Cheng stared at the village in front of him, and after a long while, he nodded lightly and replied, "I'm sure of it." ”

Zhao Ping nodded and said, "Okay, the three of you will go into the village with the official to investigate in a while." But you have remembered to me that all your actions must be under our supervision, and you are not allowed to act without permission, do you understand? ”

Shi Cheng nodded, and there was no objection.

A moment later, an official led an old man over. The old man's face was sincerely frightened, and before he walked in front of Zhao Ping, he bent down and saluted, and said: "Yu Miao, the grass man, is the head of this village, and he has seen Lord Qincha. ”

Zhao Ping hurriedly stepped forward to support the old village chief, and said gently: "No need to be polite, this official is not a Qincha, and he is here today to collect clues for Lord Qincha." ”

Yu Miao asked curiously: "The little old man has also heard of the strange things on the Xieyang Road, and he has often seen the poor master come here to inspect in the past six months. But I don't know what happened near our Green Pond Village, so that the adults have come to inquire one after another in the past two days? ”

"This is confidential, you just have to cooperate with our investigation." Zhao Ping said.

Yu Miao nodded again and again, and hurriedly welcomed the group into the village.

Wu Neng followed Shi Cheng through the thatched house, his eyes wide open, trying to find something different from the surrounding scenery from the uninhabited village, but the more he looked at it, the more creepy he felt, and finally had to accept the fact that this village was indeed the uninhabited village where they had stayed.

Zhao Ping, who was at the forefront, gave a few orders to a henchman, who nodded, and took most of the officials to look for clues in various parts of the village. Subsequently, Zhao Ping asked the old village chief for a secluded house, and without saying anything, he asked the rest of his entourage to go to the house with Shi Cheng and the others.

After entering the house, Zhao Ping called Yu Miao back. He sat on a chair, looked at Shi Cheng and the others coldly, and asked, "Shi Cheng, you have also seen the situation here, is there anything you want to say to this official?" ”