【Kuan Xin】Snake and Venom

Wang Kuan frowned and said, "Wang Shun's house we visited today is basically the same as what you said, and the incense burners in their house are uniquely produced in the south of the Yangtze River, and the price in the world is not cheap."

Wei Ya'nei was confused for a moment: "Could it be because their family is too rich and the wild beasts can't see them, so they kill people?"

When did even beasts have a hatred for the rich?

Xue Ying glanced at Wei Yanei in disbelief: "This kind of statement is too unreliable."

Wei Yanei said distressedly: "I also think it is unreliable, but now, can we have other explanations to explain all this?"

Beasts hate the rich, not to mention unreliable, it is simply outrageous.

Yuan Zhongxin remained silent all the time, lowering his head in deep thought, then suddenly he raised his eyes to Wei Yanei and said, "You just said that the decorations in Gu Ying's house are very new?"

Although Wei Yanei was at a loss, he still nodded.

Yuan Zhongxin crossed his arms, and the missing point kept flashing through his mind. He frowned and asked, "How new is it?"

Xue Ying replied: "It seems like I just bought it not long ago."

Yuan Zhongxin listened to their words silently, and suddenly realized, at this moment, he finally wanted to understand why he felt that things were strange. In the whole village, what impressed them the most was not how rugged the mountain roads in this village were, let alone the wild beasts in the village. , but new.

Wumu Village is too new, it is not what a village should look like at all.

According to the local compilation laws of the Song Dynasty, all the "villages" that can be included in the local records have a history of decades or even more than a hundred years. There must be a certain trace of historical precipitation. Simply put, the village does not have to be broken, but it will definitely be old.

But Wumu Village is so different, there are traces of new life everywhere.

After hearing Yuan Zhongxin's analysis, the five of them were all amazed and began to think about everything they had seen since entering the village. To be honest, if it wasn't for Yuan Zhongxin's reminder, they wouldn't have noticed these things at all. detail.

Zhao Jian seemed to have thought of something, she frowned and said: "I also find it strange that you say that, the Wu Taisi house that Xiaojing and I went to today, and further ahead is the village temple in Wumuzhai. From the outside, there are traces of renovation everywhere, the wall bricks are newly laid, the murals are newly painted, and even the village flag of Wumu Village is brand new."

Wang Kuan said in a deep voice, "Has the village temple been destroyed?"

Zhao Jian shook his head: "I don't know, we didn't go in."

Yuan Zhongxin did not know when he took those lists in his hands again, his eyes were bottomless: "Now let's take a look again, what do the twelve people who died have in common?"

The men, all aged between 31 and 38, were strong and strong. The place of death was on the back mountain and the cliff, and the time of death was around dusk to evening—these were recorded by the six people at the beginning of the investigation. all the commonalities.

But now, there is another new addition, and those 12 people are all aborigines.

Among the list of 65 people selected yesterday, 35 are aborigines.

In the room, Yuan Zhongxin stood by the window and looked at the darkness outside the inn, and then he seemed to be talking to himself: "Actually, what's new in Wumu Village is far more than just the environment."

Wang Kuan's voice came from behind: "There are still people, right?"

Yuan Zhongxin was very preoccupied, his eyes were very deep.

They should have noticed earlier that there are people coming and going in this village, young men, women and children are all visible, but the most indispensable existence in the village is missing, the old man.

From the first day they entered the village, the six of Yuan Zhongxin seldom saw old people, and the only one was the old woman who cooked for them every day these days.

The next day, Yuan Zhongxin and Wang Kuan left the inn early in the morning. They wanted to ask Gu Changkun to find out, but when they walked to the door of Gu Changkun's house, they were told by his family that Gu Changkun had something to do and went out to buy some The daily necessities necessary for the winter in the village may have to come back later.

The two had no choice but to meet his son Gu Li on the way back to the inn.

Yuan Zhongxin walked up and greeted with a smile: "Brother Gu, where are you going this early in the morning?"

Gu Li looked at the two of them vigilantly. He was introverted by nature and didn't like to talk. It took him a long time to hold back two words: "Yuya."

The two looked at each other with various emotions hidden in their eyes.

Wang Kuan took a step forward and asked with a faint smile, "What did little brother Gu do on the cliff?"

Gu Li stepped back in embarrassment, keeping a good distance from the two of them, and said reluctantly, "I want to investigate the beast."

Yuan Zhongxin's eyes flickered slightly: "The beast is so cruel, isn't Brother Gu afraid of dying because of it?"

Gu Li's eyes shrank slightly, and he pursed his lips: "I'm afraid, but I must find out, I can't let Uncle Wang die in an unclear manner."

Yuan Zhongxin was thoughtful for a moment, then suddenly and inexplicably glanced at Wang Kuan.

There was a flash of light in Wang Kuan's eyes, he cast a faint look at Yuan Zhongxin, and said, "Do you want to go to the cliff?"

Yuan Zhongxin smacked his lips, did not deny it, and smiled at Wang Kuan.

Wang Kuan crossed his arms and looked at him with a half-smile: "You can go, I'll be with you."

Yuan Zhongxin's smile was immediately retracted, and he grinned and said, "Together we are together!" Turning his head, he said cheerfully to Gu Li: "Brother Gu, you see that it is dangerous for you to be alone, take us with you. "

Although Gu Li was not easy to get along with, he did not refuse. He walked in front and led the way, while the two followed behind and whispered something.

Yuan Zhongxin lowered his voice and said to Wang Kuan: "You are so foolish!"

Wang Kuan seemed to be in a good mood, and his tone was all smiling: "To each other."

Yuan Zhongxin grabbed his sleeve, but did not stop. He said angrily, "If something happens to both of us, what will Zhao Jian and the others do?"

Wang Kuan slightly turned his head to look at his cuff, and the corner of his mouth slightly curled up: "Have you forgotten what Liang Zhu said before?"

Yuan Zhongxin was taken aback for a moment.

Wang Kuan continued: "Zhong Xin, you must give them a chance to grow on their own, and you can't think of countermeasures for them in everything, otherwise, they may have to rely on you to complete tasks in the future."

And now, it is an excellent opportunity.

Yuan Zhongxin let go of his hand silently when he heard the words, thinking about Wang Kuan's words secretly, and did not refute.

The three of them walked to the cliff, because Yuan Zhongxin and Wang Kuan were not familiar with the road, Gu Li slowed down, and it took two full hours to stop and rest.

Behind the cliff is not the abyss. Before that, there was a very dense forest. Now that winter has come, even though the trees are withered, it is still impossible to see the depths of the forest at a glance.And through the woods is the real cliff edge.

The three stood on a rather high stone ground and looked down at the whole forest. Yuan Zhongxin looked at it for a long time and asked, "The body was found in this forest?"

Gu Li nodded with some uncertainty, and replied: "The people who found the corpse were terrified. They only knew how to transport the corpse back to the village in a hurry, and didn't remember the exact location where the corpse was found."

Wang Kuan looked deeply at the forest, and then said, "Shall we go in and have a look?"

Yuan Zhongxin had this intention, but considering Gu Li who was not familiar with martial arts beside him, he hesitated, and after thinking for a while, he said: "Do you want to ignore the little brother waiting for us here?"

Gu Li refused. He said, "I'll go in with you. Although I don't come here often, I know the terrain here better than you."

The other party said so, and Yuan Zhongxin and Wang Kuan couldn't shirk it, and now that the sky is clear and bright, there shouldn't be any wild beasts.

The three of them lingered at the mouth of the woods for about a stick of incense. Yuan Zhongxin and Wang Kuan paid attention to the various traces on the ground. They wanted to find the footprints of the beasts to distinguish the types of the beasts.

Yuan Zhongxin asked Gu Li: "What kind of beasts are there in your village?"

Gu Li held a long wooden stick in his hand, and shook his head sullenly: "I don't know, I have never seen a wild beast with my own eyes, and there are actually few people in the village who have actually seen it with their own eyes. , are all dead—if it wasn’t for this wild beast attack, Wumu Village would never have dealt with wild beasts for the rest of their lives.”

As Wang Kuan walked, he paid attention to the surrounding environment and secretly remembered the route into the woods. He remembered the biggest problem in Wumu Village, and asked, "Brother Gu, has the temple in Wumu Village been destroyed?" experience?"

Gu Li stopped abruptly, and looked deeply at Wang Kuan: "Why do you say that?"

Wang Kuan said: "The Zhai Temple is the precipitation of the Zhaizi's generations of history. No matter how dilapidated its appearance is, it cannot be renovated at will. At this time, the rules passed down from the ancestors, but our friends discovered yesterday that the Zhai Temple in Wumu Village But it is different, not only spectacular, but also full of traces of renovation."

Yuan Zhongxin crossed his arms, and his expression suddenly became unfathomable: "Besides, there are not only village temples here, but also people. After checking the various population registration records of Wumu Village, we only found more than 40 people. The aborigines of Wumuzhai, but there are at least a hundred people in this village at a glance, that is to say, at least 80 people have moved in from other places."

"What's even more strange is that there are very few old people in your Wumu village. From the first day we entered the village, we only saw the old lady who was in charge of the inn, and none of the other old people."

Gu Li didn't say a word, and looked back and forth at Yuan Zhongxin and Wang Kuan with a deep expression.

Yuan Zhongxin shrugged and continued: "Of course, if you want to say that those old people are old and have limited mobility, and now the weather is cold and they need to rest in bed, I can understand these, but... .”

Wang Kuan continued, "According to common sense, the files and records in the village are generally dusty for a long time, but the record books your father found for us are extremely neat and look as new as they have been copied recently. Jing, why does your Wumuzhai document show that the history of Wumuzhai is only 30 years? As far as I know, if you want to use the word "zhai" to be included in the local compilation of the Song Dynasty, it must have a history of at least 50 years, right? "