Aggrieved Fish Sprite

Two lanterns with blue stencils on the outside, which makes them look faintly blue, are hung in front of the ancestral hall.

The damaged threshold was discarded under the corridor, and the huge incense burner was overturned beside it, covered with ashes.

The plaque is still there, the handwriting is faintly legible, and the vermilion painted on the walls and pillars has faded.The yard is full of weeds, some of which even grow into the gaps between the roof tiles. The copper bells hanging from the corners of the eaves hang alone, and the wind does not make a sound.

Ye Xiao let out a shrill cry in the shadows, and as soon as the person came, he flapped his wings and flew away.

Mo Li looked around and saw a few rough men with sticks lying on the ground.

Just now when they entered the door, these people thought that the ink carp was here to grab the territory, so they rushed up directly, screaming angrily. As a result, they turned into this appearance in a blink of an eye, coupled with their sore buttocks, they looked around in shock.

"who?"

"Did Chen Mazi send you here to make trouble?"

The questioning stopped abruptly, because they saw the crooked leader pushed forward by Lu Min.

Their leader's face was bruised, and his expression was terrified.

Other people dressed as walking corpses were also chased over one after another, some were covered in mud, some were trembling, and they all shrank their necks like quails.

No need to ask now, I definitely hit a hard point.

Everyone was silent for a moment, and their expressions were not so much flustered, but more like the blankness of a stone finally falling.

——Cheating near Taijing, didn't they think that something would happen one day?

Stealing and cheating are different from killing. Killing may be a temporary emotion, but it is a prepared and premeditated act. People more or less think about the worst possibility.

Seeing that Mo Li and the others killed before they came up, a tiny wing of hope rose in their hearts.

"this……"

The crooked mouth leader didn't know what to call these evil stars. He begged for mercy with a sad face: "We were blind and provoked you, but the brothers really have no money, and they can't find a few coppers from all over."

"If you can't cheat money, why do you still stay here?" Mo Li asked suddenly.

The leader looked embarrassed, and then argued: "When I go back, I can only plow the fields and suffer all kinds of exploitation. I can't make much money all year round. If the weather is good, it can barely fill my stomach. Don't even think about wine and meat. Although there are hungry and full meals here, when you are full, you can really eat and drink enough. Isn’t there nothing to do, is it to live the life of Coptis chinensis year after year? A few days of easy life in exchange for a little hardship? We just chose the latter one."

Lu Min was stunned, is life so difficult for the common people now?

"Nonsense!" Meng Qi said with a cold face, "You are corpse exorcisers in western Hunan, not farmers at all. Where did you come to plow the fields? Take other people's difficulties on yourself, thinking that you can get away with it?"

Everyone was startled, and the crooked-mouthed leader hurriedly said: "No, no, there are only four or five real corpse chasers. The others are... I taught them. They haven't chased corpses before, they just scared the way."

He looked at Meng Qi Moli's face, and said awkwardly, "Everyone in the rivers and lakes knows what it is to drive corpses. We brothers have no place to stand, and follow me back to my hometown to resume the old business. Isn't it all a lie Is it? It's better to cheat the living people's money than to cheat the dead people's money, isn't it..."

Lu Min was stunned for a moment, he didn't even know what Xiangxi expelling corpses was, let alone the tricks in it.

Mo Li casually told him through sound transmission: "The so-called expelling the corpse is to divide the corpse into several pieces and help people take them back. At night, they pretend to be corpses on the road and rest during the day. When they arrive at someone's house, no one is allowed in the mourning hall, and then the corpses are pieced together. The hands and feet are exposed, the clothes are filled with straw, and other places are covered with talismans, claiming that strangers are not allowed to touch them, otherwise they will defraud the corpse. After the family members have seen it, they immediately seal the coffin and wait for the burial in the sun. Some corpses, They only brought back the head and limbs of the corpse, and they burned or buried the torso."

Lu Min's eyes widened in disbelief.

People at that time paid special attention to the integrity of the corpse, and this is the reason why hanging is a lighter punishment than beheading in terms of criminal law.Even if they commit suicide, people often choose to throw water and swallow gold, and few use knives.

Lu Min yelled angrily, and was about to pick him up and beat him up.

Seeing that the situation is not good, the leader of the crooked mouth hastily dodged.

"I've seen a few people in the business of driving corpses." Meng Qi slowed down his tone, with a biting chill in his voice. He stared at the crooked leader, who felt as if a knife had been cut from his face. Pass.

"In the earliest days, the exorcists transported the whole corpse, but then it changed..."

"Why did you change it?" Mo Li couldn't help asking, Mr. Qin told him about expelling corpses, but he didn't know much about this business.

"Normal transportation of coffins back to the hometown will be looked down upon by others, but those who drive the corpses are feared. They live in special houses divided by the villages along the way, and even go to the foot shop and tea shop where they rest. .The relatives of the deceased respectfully offer gifts, rewards and food, and visits during festivals and festivals, thanking each other for three years until the funeral is over. There are various benefits in this, so they choose to be a corpse exorcist who pretends to be a ghost , not a corpse transporter."

Meng Qi looked at the crowd swaying to and fro sarcastically, and continued with a sneer, "Some people don't believe that they are chasing corpses, and they follow them quietly to see if they have carried the corpses on the road. The person who disturbs the walking corpse is in bad luck, and will die within half a year, it is not an exaggeration to say that he murdered for money."

"No, no, I haven't done this before." The leader of the crooked mouth denied it, and tried to defend himself, "It's all the old calendar. 40 years ago, the government arrested many people in Xiangxi. The yin house where the corpse driver lived was completely bulldozed... There is no food for a long time, otherwise why would he wander here to cheat?"

Mo Li calculated in his heart that this was an order from the Chu government.

Most of them were aware of the crimes of the exorcist, so they suppressed them with thunder.pressure.

However, the corpse hunters are deeply entrenched in western Hunan, and there are always those who slip through the net and escape, and the crooked mouth leader must be one of them.

"Now even if you are asked to go back to chase the corpses, you will not be willing." Meng Qi directly pierced the minds of this group of people, and said with a half-smile, "As you said just now, how can a life of labor and energy be compared to cheating here?" People are happy? Stay near Zhuhou Temple to pretend to be a dead body to scare people, and you don’t need to climb mountains and mountains, and you don’t need to bother disposing of the corpse.”

The crooked leader was speechless.

That's right, it's such a good time to go out with the front foot and get the property immediately with the back foot, it's a fool to go back to the old business!Furthermore, the government of the Chu Dynasty exposed all their tricks back then, and there are more people who hate them over there. Isn't it courting death when they go back?

Mo Li looked over one by one, and found that everyone was subconsciously avoiding his gaze, and realized something in his heart.

Meng Qi threw him in the corner of the courtyard and went straight into the ancestral hall.

Mo Li originally wanted to go in, but Mr. Jin Shui and the carriage were still outside the ancestral hall. He was worried that Lu Min would not be a match for these people, so he stood in the yard without moving.

The damage to Zhuhou Temple is not serious, and the building is still largely intact. The biggest problem is that it has been in disrepair for a long time.

Mo Li walked to the side of the incense burner, reached out and touched the dust on it.

The leader of the crooked mouth has been carefully observing their actions. At this moment, he suddenly had an idea, wondering if these two people came to pay respects to the Zhuhou Temple?

This is very common. Every year, many scholars come here admiringly, and then they become fat sheep in the eyes of the crooked leader and others.

The leader of the crooked mouth lamented in his heart. Originally, he only felt that he was unlucky. The "fat sheep" in front of him was snatched from another group of people. There are so many scammers and robbers near Zhuhou Temple, even if he didn't do it, there would still be trouble. For others, it is estimated that they lack a little luck.

If these two people came for Zhuhou Temple, then there is no question of luck, and they are destined to fall today.

In this wilderness, Zhuhou Temple is the best place to shelter. If he and his brothers didn't have a lot of skill, they might not be able to occupy this place.Now that this advantage has become a life-threatening talisman, how can the leader of the corpse exorcist not be annoyed?

"I have incense here, do you want to use it?"

The leader with the crooked mouth tried his best to wink at his subordinates, but Mo Li turned to look at him unexpectedly.

The leader struggled to squeeze out a smile, and his hands moved quickly, and actually found a box of incense from the corner.

This is relatively inferior sandalwood, mixed with a pungent smell.

Mo Li took the box with downcast eyes, and asked in surprise, "What do you keep such things for?"

The leader's heart skipped a beat, but he had no other choice but to bite the bullet and gamble.

"This... It is rumored that Marquis Zhu has the ability to control gods and ghosts. Although I can't read a few words, I still have to be protected by his old man. There is a place to shelter from the wind and rain, and he occasionally burns incense."

"is it?"

Mo Li casually put the box containing sandalwood aside.

At this time Meng Qi also came out, although his expression was not worried, but there was no murderous intent.

The leader of the crooked mouth said inwardly that it was a fluke, if it hadn't been for the folks spreading Zhu Yan so miraculously and making people taboo, and replacing another old minister of the Chu Dynasty, they would have tossed this place beyond recognition.

"What should these people do?" Mo Li asked Meng Qi secretly through sound transmission.

It is obviously impossible to stay here, not for Zhuhou Temple, but for the sake of not harming passers-by.

The problem is that this group of exorcists and other scammers are captured—even if all the bandits in the vicinity are captured, as long as one or two slip through the net, within a year, there will be bandits gathering again.

Without him, the money came too fast.

The government servants who once colluded with bandits, and the townspeople who set up traps together, have already lived a "good life", so how can they be willing to cut off their money?

These people are not guilty of death, they cannot be killed, and they cannot be exhausted.

Meng Qi didn't necessarily pay much attention to the mourning after his friend's death, because he had already prepared for it, and he would not be too sad to see the dilapidated scene of Zhuhou Temple, but Zhuhou Temple became a lair of bandits, which was unbearable.

"It's difficult, isn't there someone ready?" Meng Qi signaled Mo Li to go and see Lu Min.

"You mean?"

"Prince... No, Emperor Yongchen only asked us to take his younger brother out of Taijing, and agreed to hand over to Jin Yiwei to pick him up at a certain place. The person in charge of this matter is probably Gong Jun, an acquaintance, it will be easier to handle the matter."

"..."

Mo Li looked at the smile on the corner of Meng Qi's mouth, and thought that the fat rat was going to make trouble again.

Sure enough, I heard Meng Qi continue to say: "Find a way to contact Gong Jun's people. I think Lu Min is very enterprising, and he doesn't want to be too far away from the capital. A nearby town is a good choice."

"Can you keep Mr. Jin Shui by the way, and thoroughly investigate the fraud case?" Mo Li raised his forehead.

"Exactly." Meng Qi said in a deep voice, "The reason why this way of making money is good is because the government doesn't want to get involved with Zhuhouci, always avoids it, and also cares not to be seen by the emperor. These liars Only then can we safely hide here, as long as we come to the bottom, things will become much easier."

Jin Yiwei's reputation was not given in vain.

No matter how good the money is, as long as people hear the word Jin Yiwei, they will immediately shrink back.

Mo Li was silent for a long time, Fang sighed: "Why is this!"

Why did the world become like this?The king's preferences can control the life and death of thousands of people, and a scruple that worries about causing trouble can make the county magistrate turn a blind eye to the bandits. Now even Jin Yiwei can become a good policy for governing the country, isn't it absurd?

The sky covered by dark clouds finally started to rain.

The ink carp used its internal force to push away the rainwater, and the ground he was standing on was dry.

The crooked mouth leader was stunned, because he couldn't hear the two people talking, and became more and more frightened.

Meng Qi looked at him with a frown, sealed everyone's acupoints in a blink of an eye, and then brought the ink carp into the ancestral hall.

There are messy bedding and pots and pans scattered inside, only the main hall is clean.

Mo Li went all the way to the altar table, and the enshrined statue could only be seen as a man in an official robe and holding a jade wat. His eyebrows, eyes and face were all carved in a very standard way, that is to say, he couldn't tell the difference from others at all. .

"Therefore, the position of Leyang Hou Zhu Wengong."

Literature is Zhu Yan's posthumous title.

To be wise and wise is to dedicate, and to be wise and wise is to dedicate.A person has the wisdom to understand the world and the talent to know the world, and the word dedication is low.

"What kind of person is Le Yanghou?"

Moli has heard of Prime Minister Deng who loves to eat mutton.

General Song with a particularly beautiful garden, Meng Qi has never said much about Zhu Yan.

Everyone has a side of affection and nature, and sages are no exception.

Meng Qi frowned, and decisively sold his old friend.

"Zhu Yan is lazy!"

"lazy?"

Mo Li was stunned, Zhu Yan was from the south of the Yangtze River, where the literary style was at its peak, and a prodigy who was a scholar under the age of 16 would appear every now and then.Under such circumstances, Zhu Yan became famous at a young age. He has read a lot of poetry and books and knows almost everything.How can such a person be lazy?

"He is afraid of suffering and trouble. He doesn't think about it until the sun rises to the middle of the sky. In addition to his poor health, he is afraid of the cold and heat. He often says that after the world is settled, he will resign from office and spend his days leisurely at home, reading books, drinking tea and eating melons." Anyway, don’t let him go to court before dawn.”

Meng Qi was in a daze for a while, then continued, "He's too lazy to swear at others, too lazy to fight for the position of the first conspirator, and if he doesn't get married or have children, Deng Shusheng once said that even if the world's most beautiful women take turns stripping off their clothes and walking in front of Zhu Yan, it's not as good as a man." This book is more attractive to Zhu Yan, after all, it saves effort to flip through the book."

When Mo Li heard the words, he was amused at first, and then he was startled.

Such a person who was afraid of trouble and suffering, but decided to help the world, made suggestions for Emperor Chu Yuan, and finally died of illness in the army.

"Brother Meng, the old man is gone, there will still be people like Marquis Leyang who care about the world and don't seek fame and wealth, but only for the common people."