After the fairy disappeared

Chapter 1329 Their Secrets

He Lingchuan smiled and said, "Whatever the reason, it's best not to check this tonight."

"Oh why?"

"You are on someone else's territory, and you still want to dig into their past?" Dong Rui nodded at him, "I'm afraid you won't be able to leave Chenjiazhuang alive, and end up being abandoned in the wild... just like that mother and daughter."

Lieutenant Li shrank his neck and wanted to say, "They dare?"
The words went around in my mouth for a few times but I couldn't get them out.

I only brought six or seven officials with me, not a large group of people. These country rough folks might actually dare to do it!
Dong Rui continued, "When we investigate in the village, there are always people watching nearby. Chenjia Village is probably hiding some secrets, and they are afraid that we will dig them out."

This kind of village is the settlement of a big family. They have land and people. They usually live their lives behind closed doors, and it is difficult for outsiders to know any secrets.

"If it weren't for the monster attack and the death toll, Chenjiazhuang probably wouldn't have reported the case." After entering the yard, He Lingchuan saw that there was no one around, so he asked Lieutenant Li, "Do you know where Maodun and Xingyun Village are?"

"I know about Maodun. I'll send someone to check it out tomorrow morning." This could at least verify Ah Hui's statement, but "I really don't know the name of Xingyun Village. I don't think I've even heard of it."

"Liu County is not small, and it is mostly mountainous. How far can this mother and daughter walk on their own without mules or horses?" He Lingchuan pondered, "I'm afraid County Magistrate Li will have to investigate carefully when he returns. The appearance and disappearance of villages and towns in your area doesn't seem to be a rare thing."

"Yes, yes, I will look for the accounts when I return to the county."

He Lingchuan yawned: "Go to sleep, we still have to be busy tomorrow."

Silent all night.

……

The next day, the weather was not looking good and the rain came and went without any regularity.

He Lingchuan and his friends got up early and ate a big bowl of mixed vegetable porridge in the yard. The farmer's earthen bowl was much bigger than a person's face, and there was a pile of slightly burnt shepherd's purse cakes on the table. He took one of them, rolled it with silver strips of vegetables pickled with sour peppers, and stuffed it into his mouth. It made a crunchy sound and burst.

Lieutenant Li thought he was a big eater, but after he had only swallowed three cakes, the plates on the table were empty.

The three men and the officers came out burping. Clan leader Chen hurried forward to greet them with a smile and asked the officer if he had made any new discoveries last night.

He Lingchuan spoke in an official tone and evaded the question.

The head of the Chen family personally escorted everyone to the gate of the manor and watched them mount their horses and leave.

They left Chenjiazhuang and walked into the forest. They had walked less than fifty feet when they heard the rustling of branches nearby.

Lieutenant Li was startled and was about to call on his men to be on the alert, but he saw a monkey jump down from the treetop and land on He Lingchuan's shoulder.

He subconsciously looked at the ghost ape on Dong Ruima's buttocks.

Another monkey? This one is much better looking, and it's wearing a round hat.

When Lingguang returned to the team, He Lingchuan asked him, "How is it? What did you find?"

Before Li Xianwei led them into Chenjiazhuang yesterday, he assigned Lingguang to sneak into the manor at night to find out the secrets that could not be seen in public. The two sides communicated with each other using the eyeball spider.

They have to investigate openly and secretly, so the case can be further investigated.

"Following your instructions, I found a row of houses hidden in the dense forest in the north of the manor. There are farm guards patrolling and outsiders are not allowed to approach." Fortunately, Lingguang is not an outsider and does not need the farm guard's permission to enter or leave. "That place is not difficult to find. On the surface, it is a fruit picking and wine making workshop. In fact, there are deep cellars dug under the houses, which are blocked with wooden boards, tables, chairs and sundries. It is very hidden."

Lieutenant Li couldn't help asking, "Have you gone in? What's at the bottom of the cellar?"

"Wine jars and bottles——"

Lieutenant Li rolled his eyes when he heard this, but Lingguang immediately said, "There are also weapons, swords, spears, arrows, hooks, halberds, all kinds of things, large quantities, new looks. The arrowheads even have the scent of fresh wood."

Was that the weapon that Chenjiazhuang used for self-defense? Li Xianwei frowned, sensing something was wrong.

"I only found one cellar, and there were hundreds of knives of various shapes and sizes."

"Hundreds of knives?" Lieutenant Li sneered, "Are they going to open a weapons shop?"

A village with only three or four hundred people owns hundreds of swords, not to mention other weapons?

Lieutenant Li was not stupid. He immediately understood: "Okay, so they are smuggling weapons!"

The Gold Plains is in chaos and turmoil, and the demand for weapons is far greater than in other areas.

Wool, fruit, wine, and other external businesses of the Chen family were all covers to facilitate their private trafficking of weapons.

Chenjiazhuang is the fortress of arms dealers!
Of course, the extremely high profits from smuggling weapons also come from the strict prohibition of the Pei State government.

Thinking of this, Li Xianwei broke out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, he did not act rashly last night, otherwise these lawless lunatics would have killed him to silence him.

He asked Lingguang: "How do you know there is a mysterious thing under that row of houses?"

Lingguang looked at He Lingchuan and smiled without saying anything.

In fact, He Lingchuan also secretly placed an eyeball spider on the head of the Chen family last night to monitor his words and actions. When they visited Chen's wife, Aunt Wu and others, Chen Ling was restless and mentioned the northern workshop to his confidants several times. He also ordered the workshop to turn off the lights at night so that the inspector and the officials would not find out.

Chenjiazhuang is not small, and the workshop is separated by trees. As long as the lights are not turned on, people who don’t come here often won’t know that there are buildings there.

After Chen Ling said this, He Lingchuan knew that something was fishy.

Sure enough, when Lingguang went to investigate secretly again, he found the weapons at the bottom of the cellar.

"No wonder the Chen clan leader concealed Ah Hui's mother and daughter. He just didn't want to cause trouble. But we just visited two villagers and looked at the thatched house. He could only confirm that we found Ah Hui's mother and daughter." He Lingchuan said to Lieutenant Li, "After we leave, Chenjiazhuang may have to move its weapons."

He continued, "From this perspective, even if Ah Hui hadn't had a conflict with Chen Fuang and the other five, it would have been difficult for her to leave Chen Village."

Lieutenant Li cursed: "These bastards!"

Dong Rui yawned and said, "Let's go back to Liu County quickly. County Magistrate Li will have to send someone to look for the body."

……

Xiao An tossed and turned until almost dawn before he fell asleep.

As soon as I fell asleep, it was pitch black everywhere again.

Empty, lonely, yet familiar darkness.

So Xiao An knew that the monster was coming to catch her again.

Her eyes widened and she looked around. Running at this time would only waste her energy. She had to confirm the direction first.

Soon, there was a strange clicking sound behind her, and something disturbed the air and came straight towards her.

An arm suddenly stretched out from the darkness, pale and skinny!
Xiao An jumped forward, but his arm missed.

The time is now! Run, run!
She moved her short legs and rushed forward without looking back.

She could hear the heavy footsteps of the monster chasing her from behind.

She was also very familiar with the rhythm of the footsteps. Xiao An even knew that as long as she kept running forward, the monster would disappear.

But in recent times, the monster's pace has become faster and faster, and it has been getting closer and closer to her.

She could even feel the monster's breath on the back of her neck, wet and cold.

She didn't dare to look back and didn't know when she would be caught!
"Run!" My mother's voice came from somewhere, very urgent, but also very vague, "Xiao An, run!"

The monster's roar suddenly exploded in my ears!

Xiao An sat up with a wow, his back covered in cold sweat.

Wake up, she finally woke up.

The surroundings were no longer pitch black, and golden sunlight shone through the small window onto the dusty ground.

Even dust becomes cute.

She spent another night safely.

Xiao An's breathing slowly calmed down.

"It's time to eat." Someone knocked on the door frame.

As soon as I got up, I had some warm vegetable porridge to drink, and two fragrant fried dough sticks. They were so crispy that they crunched when I took a bite.

She had not experienced such a beautiful morning since her exile.

The only drawback was that Han Tingting, who had promised her that she would come back after waking up, did not show up, and naturally did not bring back the chicken drumstick as promised.

She asked the servant who brought the meal, "Where's Tingting?"

"Who?"

"Come with me yesterday."

The servant's attitude was very indifferent. He said "I don't know" and turned away, as if she was sick and he would be infected if he stayed a few more seconds.

She was small and weak, so no one could assign her any odd jobs. After dinner, Xiao An had nothing to do, so she went for a walk around the farm.

But before he had walked a hundred steps, a strong servant came out from behind a tree and said sternly, "Go back! Who told you to wander around?"

This person! Xiao An recognized that it was this strong servant who took Han Tingting into the second young master's room last night.

"Where's Tingting? She was with me last night. You took her to find the Second Young Master."

"She is serving the Second Young Master." Jian Pu said casually, "Don't worry, it will be your turn tonight or tomorrow night."

He blocked the corridor and prevented Xiao An from leaving, so he had to retreat.

The servant followed closely. His job was to follow this little girl and make sure she didn't get lost.

After all, she was bought by Butler Zou, and who knows when the Second Young Master will summon her.

It was afternoon in a blink of an eye.

The little girl went to the toilet and was gone for quarter of an hour.

The servant knocked on the door but received no response. He was afraid that she would fall in, so he broke the door open.

It was empty inside.

"Damn it!" This little thing is quite cunning, and he actually lost it!
He didn't know that the little girl was very nimble and, relying on her short stature, she climbed over the loose wooden planks of the hut, passed through two bushes, and disappeared behind some plum trees.

The strong servant hurriedly looked everywhere.

After Xiao An shook him off, he slipped towards the second young master's yard, avoiding many adults along the way.

There are so many trees in this villa that there is always a place for her to hide.

The second young master's courtyard was far away from the servants' quarters. Fortunately, she had a good memory and could still remember the route she had only walked once last night after dawn.

Two quarters of an hour later.

It should turn like this, turn like this, um, the second young master's yard should be in front.

Xiao An indeed saw a bluestone wall, which was the outer wall of the second young master's courtyard.

If she shouted outside the wall, would Han Tingting come out to find her?

Xiao An hesitated for a few seconds and was about to start singing when he suddenly saw the small door on the wall creak and open.

Someone came out.

She subconsciously hid behind a tree and quietly peeked out.

Two servants came out from a small door, holding together a long object which was loosely covered with a white cloth.

(End of this chapter)