[Rat cat] The legend of Lou Xiaochong

Bai Yutang was walking around, in the room of the guards of Kaifeng Mansion Zhan.

The Zhan guards were resting, drinking water and eating snacks, and Quan Dang was not alone in the room.It's not that the guards are rude, if you change someone, you will get used to someone dangling in front of your eyes for ten and a half months.

Finally, Bai Yutang couldn't help jumping over, onto the vacant stool - facing the person drinking tea and snacks, he slapped the table: "Hey, don't you think it's weird?"

"What's so strange?" Except you, Brother Bai.Zhan Zhao looked up, rubbed the powdered sugar on his fingers, and picked up another piece of cake.

"Every case has doubts!" ​​Bai Yutang simply pushed the dessert plate under his nose, sat on the table, dipped his index finger into the tea from his cup, and gestured on the table, "Look, where are you?" Look for me on the empty island—Lou Xiaochong has been missing so far; go to investigate a flood case—meet an unknown assassin on the road; not to mention the man-eating town, I can’t figure out what’s going on!"

Zhan Zhao looked at the ripples of water in the tea bowl, lifted it up and drank it with his head up, poured another bowl out of the teapot, and said, "Zhan also hopes that every case will be settled immediately, but if there is a case, it will be settled." There is doubt, and there is no way around it.”

Hearing his words, Bai Yutang's fingers, which were scribbling on the table, couldn't help but pause: "Isn't your Mr. Bao said to be a god in solving cases? Isn't every case supposed to be neat and tidy until the end..."

"That's a flat story in a teahouse." Zhan Zhao sighed, and motioned Bai Yutang to get off the table first, "This table will lose its color if it gets wet. Brother Bai's clothes are very clean."

Bai Yutang glared at the table, and was about to jump off, when he heard the footsteps outside in disorder, Zhang Long and Zhao Hu rushed into the courtyard indiscriminately, and before he could stand still, he spoke first: "Guard Zhan! My lord is in a hurry to find you, please hurry up!" Go to the study!"

"I'm going to see what's going on—" Bai Yutang jumped up from the table, took a step on the window sill, took a step from the old apricot tree outside the window, and jumped over the courtyard wall.Zhan Zhao was taken aback by him, always remembering that Mr. Bao must be calling for something important, so he raised his sword and hurried out of the room.

When he arrived at the study, Zhan Zhao saluted, Master Bao waved his hand away, beckoning him to come and have a look.On the table was the official document handed over from Chizhou. Mr. Gongsun was thinking about his beard and shaking his head.

To put it simply, it means what it says. The matter of the cannibal town was transferred from Pengze County to Jiande County. They were all dead, even the small town was burnt to a scorched earth, the ashes were searched, and there was also a badge of a previous government servant.This is even more fatal.Jiande County reported to the Chizhou government, but the Chizhou government failed to recruit an ugly Yinmao. Instead, the news leaked out, and the local residents panicked. It was rumored that the bad feng shui in that mountain town provoked evil spirits, otherwise why did it come to this.It just so happened that Lord Bao had heard Zhan Zhao’s report and wrote to ask if the Chizhou government would throw this hot potato to the Kaifeng government in a hurry—everyone in the world can say that, Mr. Bao Longtu, governor of the Kaifeng government, then But the master who judges yang by day and yin by night, no matter what kind of evil spirits, he will take over and bring him to justice.

Call Zhan Zhaolai, of course, is to ask him to investigate the case.The case was strange, Mr. Bao took Mr. Gongsun to make a careful calculation, and then let Zhan Zhao go out, and specially told him to be extra careful.Zhan Zhao was ordered to come out, and looked around: not on the roof, not on the tree, not behind the flowers.Where did Bai Yutang go?It turned out that Bai Yutang overheard some news, couldn't hold back, and set off first.

After some tea and rice, Zhan Zhao also packed up his luggage and went to investigate the incident—one person, one horse, and one package.All the way to Chizhou, over mountains and rivers, speeding up.Zhan Zhao calculated the distance to that unnamed town—according to the official document from the Chizhou newspaper, that place was not a town at first, but a village called Jiaojiazhuang in the middle of several ravines.The terrain there is not good, and the roads will be silted up when it rains; the land is not fertile, and it is very difficult to produce food. The villagers are too poor to survive, and they fled with their men and women; For a long time, no one is willing to deal with it, and thieves are rampant.Unexpectedly, after ignoring and throwing it away for several years, it has quietly grown into such a freak: not to mention gathering residents and building walls, but also causing such a big case and killing myself .

Passing by Macheng County two days later, it was noon, and I saw smoke from people's cooking from a distance.A shop on the outskirts of the city, with a yellowed coarse cloth canopy propped up on bamboo poles, is also smelling like meat buns.Zhan Zhao reined in his horse, but not because of the fragrance of the steamed buns, but because Bai Yutang occupied the table of Sixian in the shop and swallowed steamed stuffed buns and tea.

Bai Yutang was breaking a white bun into two, when he heard a horse neighing, without raising his head, half of the bun flew over: "Old man, add two more baskets of buns and a bowl of water."

"It's rare to meet here, Brother Bai." Zhan Zhao gently caught the bun, the filling was still steaming.

"Come down, have some hot food." Bai Yutang pushed the big bowl of hot tea that the boss had just put on the table towards him, "You've been eating dry food all the way, what does it look like?"

Zhan Zhao smiled, dismounted, and sat down, half of the steamed stuffed bun was eaten.He was not too polite, and reached out to get it from the plate in front of Bai Yutang.

That's pretty much it, he's always been so polite, he doesn't look like he's been in the rivers and lakes.Bai Yutang was slightly satisfied, and watched Zhan Zhao take a sip of tea from a large coarse porcelain bowl: "After running for two days, Mr. Zhan didn't call me, maybe it's because he was afraid that I, Bai Yutang, would eat your food?"

Zhan Zhao laughed: "Brother Bai, what did you say? It's because Brother Bai is fast and energetic. Zhan didn't dare to get off his saddle all the way, so he finally caught up here. Otherwise, there is no one who would not come to eat you, a rich man." reason?"

Hey, the dignified fourth-rank guards with swords are also joking?Bai Yutang raised his eyebrows unexpectedly: "Are you full? Let's go."

The two walked together, the sun set and rose again, and by the time the sun was setting in the west, they had already arrived at Jiaojiazhuang, which had been burned into a rubble field.

Zhan Zhao looked around, found a half-burnt tree stump and tied his horse, and tied the big white horse left behind by Bai Yutang to the side—the horse snorted at him, scratched its hooves twice, and then turned away. Demonstrated against his horse.

Looking back, less than a month ago, when Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang, and Lou Xiaochong passed by, although this place was desolate and dilapidated, there were always some families with a population of more than 300, but now they all turned into innocent souls.When he looked up, Bai Yutang walked slowly step by step along the place where the street used to be. With golden light, it is not like a ruthless quack, but has a sense of compassion.

After gathering all the luggage and horses, a policeman sent by Jiande County to watch the venue finally came from a small temporary tent from a distance.Zhan Zhao didn't wait for the other party to speak, and went directly to show his waist card. He was angry with these people for being lazy, and wanted to ignore what they said, but he still had to ask about the situation, so he had to be patient and ask in an official tone. one time.

"...Okay, I got it. This case is strange, please be more cautious in your county, and the sentry patrol must not be slackened. As for the scene of the crime," Zhan Zhao turned around, "Zhan needs to inspect it."

"Yes, yes, please, Mr. Zhan!" The lead policeman hurriedly responded with an apologetic smile, and told the brothers to disperse to patrol with a wink, and catch up with Zhan Zhao to serve him.

Just as Zhan Zhao stepped into the rubble field, the white shadow shook, and a white jade hall floated down from the top of the collapsed wall.

Bai Yutang looked at the policeman behind Zhan Zhao: "You stay away, I'll talk to Zhan Zhao."

The catcher was taken aback, and quickly smiled and said: "My lord, please, the villain will watch them and don't be lazy--you please!"

As the crowd walked away, Bai Yutang knelt down and tapped the broken stubble of earth and rocks under his feet, and said softly, "Lou Xiaochong."

"Lou Xiaochong?" Zhan Zhao frowned, "You mean—"

Bai Yutang shrugged: "It's not that clear, but the atmosphere is very similar. That guy Lou Xiaochong, when he first arrived at Xingkong Island a month ago, asked me by name to compete with me - the questions he asked were just It’s the same as this feeling, they are intertwined, and no one will be left alive. However,” he stood up with his arms folded and looked at the sky, “the ones by Lou Xiaochong are much more delicate than this. I guess it’s not Lou Xiaochong himself, maybe it’s Which of his incompetent juniors?"

"...It may not have anything to do with Brother Lou." Zhan Zhao pondered for a while, shook his head, and sighed, "The arresters here are not very reliable, and they are probably scared out of their wits by the ghosts and gods. If there are any subtle clues, I'm afraid." I need you and me to find it by ourselves."

"Speaking of clues, I found one." Bai Yutang jumped off the ground, "It's also thanks to the cowardice of the policemen who didn't move - here... a lot is missing, at least not a single child's bones - do you remember? , There was a child riding on the wall that night, and he wanted to throw you with a torch."

Zhan Zhao recalled, there was a child, he didn't remember throwing the torch or anything, but he remembered the child laughing excitedly on his father's shoulder.

In the sky, the color of the setting sun gradually faded, and a cool breeze blew.