The return of the son-in-law

As expected, Chen Aniu was inside. He was half lying on the bed, and when he saw Chen Sheng coming in, he shouted in surprise: "Father, why did you come here!"

Chen Sheng was overjoyed: "A Niu, why are you here?"

Chen A Niu lowered his head in shame and said, "I wanted to go hunting in the mountains, but I accidentally fell from the top and injured my left leg."

It was only then that Chen Sheng realized that Chen Aniu had been sitting on the bed. He didn't care about other things. He lifted the blanket covering his left leg and found that his left leg was already wrapped with a bandage: "Is the injury serious?"

"It's not heavy, but the snow is so thick that it's not convenient for me to walk on this leg, so I can only stay here for a while." Chen A Niu looked at the simple stove diagonally opposite, and said, "Fortunately, there is food here. And jerky, and wound medicine."

As soon as Guo Zhanan entered the room, he found the dried meat on the stove and the remaining porridge in the pot. He glanced at the bandage on Chen Aniu's left leg and asked, "When you came, there were people living in the house." Are there traces of past?"

His words immediately reminded Chen Sheng of what he had done before, Chen Sheng couldn't help being embarrassed, rubbed his hands and said to Guo Zhan'an: "Master Guo, I'm really sorry, I was really desperate at the time, and that's why I blamed you. "

Guo Zhan'an didn't care much: "It's good that the misunderstanding is resolved."

He felt Huo Yu pulling his arm forcefully behind him, tiptoeing as if he wanted to stand up and complain to him.Guo Zhanan gave him a relieved look, signaling him to be calm and calm.

Chen Xiehao also smoothed things over at the side: "Yes, yes, Chen Sheng, you have wronged Mr. Guo, and you will have to apologize to Mr. Guo later. Aniu, my lord asked you something. When you came in, was there anyone here?" Traces of living there?"

Chen Aniu had never met Guo Zhanan before, but he heard the name of this person from Chen Sheng the first day, and he couldn't help feeling timid, and said tremblingly: "No, no. The stove is empty, and no one has been lying on the bed. traces. Oh, but the firewood next to the stove is freshly picked up a few days ago.”

Chen Xiehao looked at Guo Zhanan suspiciously: "My lord, is there anything wrong with this?"

Guo Zhanan loosened his brows and said with a smile: "It's nothing, I'm just worried that someone like Chen Aniu will accidentally fall down and live here temporarily."

Chen Xiehao waved his hand and said, "My lord, don't worry, this is the only way to enter from the south of Never Return Mountain. Unless the people in the county are desperate like Chen Aniu, otherwise no one will enter the No Return Mountain in winter." .As for foreigners, if they want to enter the mountain, they must pass through Tonghua County, otherwise they will have to make a long detour."

Guo Zhanan asked again: "What is the danger in the winter of No Return Mountain?"

Chen Xiehao lowered his voice and replied, "I heard that this place does not return to the mountains. Snow ghosts will come out in winter."

"Snow ghost?"

Chen Xiehao nodded solemnly and said: "I saw this with my own eyes. Seven years ago, one night, when it was snowing heavily, three or four weird men with white hair all over their bodies came out from the Mountain of No Return. His eyes were blood red, and he jumped up and bit people when he saw them. At that time, several people in our county were captured by these strange people and taken to the Mountain of Bugui, and they never appeared again. At that time, the county magistrate brought the servants into the Mountain of Bugui to rescue people. As a result, they were all injured when they came back, and one yamen servant died in the mountain of Bugui. The county magistrate said that those were snow ghosts formed by the dead souls in the mountain of Bugui, and they would come out to seek people for their lives in winter. Later, the county magistrate invited an old Taoist priest to set up a formation in front of the Mountain of No Return to prevent the snow ghosts from coming out of the Mountain of No Return, but we cannot enter the Mountain of No Return during winter."

Guo Zhanan sneered: "Do you believe in nonsense?"

Chen Xiehao shook his head: "I didn't believe it at first, but then some people didn't believe in evil. They entered the Mountain of No Return in winter, but they never came out. It was only after the spring of the next year that others went in and found half of his head."

Guo Zhan'an had his own guess, and he didn't intend to tell Chen Xiehao and others, so he said, "In this case, let's leave quickly. Please, both of you, bring the stretcher next to you and carry Chen Aniu out."

When everyone reached the place where they fell, the people above had already brought the rope over.There is not such a long rope, the leading hunter simply knotted several ropes one by one, tied them together, and pulled the people underneath up one by one.

Chen Aniu injured his left leg, but luckily there were enough people up there, he just had to wrap the rope around his waist, fell down on the snow slope, swinging his hands back and forth in the snowdrift, and was the first one to go up.

Chen Xiehao and Chen Sheng originally wanted to invite Guo Zhan'an to go up second, but Guo Zhan'an directly tied the rope around Huo Yu's waist, and he was the third to go up.

Now that the man had been found, the leading hunter held his throat with one hand, uttered a few birdsong-like sounds, and beckoned everyone to leave the Mountain of No Return as soon as possible.

At this time, Zishi has passed, but Tonghua County in winter is still in a deep sleep, and it is pitch black.

After Huo Yu came out, he saw Elder Sun standing in front of him, his originally excited face suddenly turned pale.

Elder Sun also saw Huo Yu, he rarely got angry, he raised his hand to hit him, hesitated for a while, then put his hand down: "I'll deal with you when I go back!"

Huo Yu lowered his head, not daring to speak, but Guo Zhan'an said good things for him: "Don't worry, Mr. Sun, Huo Yu went in with me, and he was not injured."

Due to Guo Zhanan's status, Mr. Sun had no choice but to babble: "If you are really injured, it will be too late!"

Then, he did not go to see Guo Zhanan, but led Huo Yu forward, and he did not forget to teach Huo Yu: "Yu'er, how did I educate you? A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall, and at your age You are still young, how can you not listen to me?"

Huo Yu wrinkled his chubby face, and defended himself in a low voice: "Grandpa, I'm already 13 years old. As you said, I want to be a gentleman, but isn't a gentleman just like a big brother? Big brother If I can enter the mountain, I will also enter the mountain."

Elder Sun was so angry that he could hardly speak. He just held Huo Yu's hand tightly, and he didn't let go until he sent him back to the house: "Go to sleep, there is Mrs. Tang in the quilt, remember to wash your face and hands before you leave. sleep."

Huo Yu nodded, and asked again: "Grandpa, aren't you going to sleep?"

Old Sun shook his head: "Grandpa has something to do, you should sleep first."

"Oh." Huo Yu hesitated to speak, looked at Elder Sun several times, and finally obediently entered the room and went to bed first.

Guo Zhan'an was not asleep yet.After a night of fuss, he became more energetic. At this time, he was standing in front of the table, looking at a map of Tonghua County on the table.

"Brother Sun still not sleeping at night?" Guo Zhan'an was not surprised by Mr. Sun's sudden visit.

Elder Sun bowed his hands and confessed: "My lord, next time if Yu'er is disobedient and causes you trouble, you can tell me directly, and you don't have to spoil Yu'er."

Guo Zhanan waved his hand and said, "Huo Yu didn't cause me any trouble, Mr. Sun is too worried."

Old Sun laughed a few times, and the matter was revealed like this: "Since that's the case, then I can rest assured. My lord, please rest early, and I won't bother you anymore."

Guo Zhan'an stopped him: "Mr. Sun, do you think Tonghua County is weird?"

Elder Sun asked suspiciously, "What does your lord mean by that?"

Guo Zhanan turned the map and said straight to the point: "Old Sun, you have lived near Tonghua County for so long, have you ever heard of the legend of the snow ghost in the winter of Bugui Mountain?"

Old Sun snorted coldly: "What nonsense, I've never heard of it. If there were really snow ghosts, Boss Liu and the others would have died seven or eight hundred times without knowing it!"

Guo Zhan'an told Mr. Sun what Chen Xiehao said today, and asked him: "Boss Liu, have they ever entered the Mountain of No Return in winter?"

Elder Sun nodded and said, "Naturally. There is nothing to eat in the cottage, and Boss Liu and the others don't know how to store grain in autumn, so they go to Mount Bugui to hunt in winter. Anyway, there is no one else in Bugui Mountain in winter, and the prey inside are all Theirs. It was strange at first, but it turned out to be the reason. Oh, yes, I remember that one year after Boss Liu came back, he said that someone killed people in the Mountain of Bugui."

"kill?"

Mr. Sun thought about it for a while, and continued: "I should remember correctly. Boss Liu said that he saw someone killing someone in the mountain of Bugui from afar, and he chopped off the person's head and took it away. I just glanced at it twice, and continued to hunt by myself."

Guo Zhanan bent his fingers and tapped on the table twice: "That's it."

Elder Sun immediately understood Guo Zhan'an's meaning: "Your Excellency, what you mean is that someone deliberately spread rumors about the snow ghost. Those who were eaten by the snow ghost were actually killed?"

Guo Zhanan looked at Mr. Sun and said approvingly, "Mr. Sun is smart."

Elder Sun was puzzled: "But what's the use of spreading rumors about Snow Ghost? Don't let people enter the mountain? Could it be that there is something hidden in the mountain?"

Guo Zhan'an couldn't help thinking that the hut should have been abandoned, but there were grains, dried meat, and firewood that had just been collected.Medicines, bandages, bedding, etc. are all available, and it is obvious that someone has lived there in the past two years.

Who on earth is it?

It was the former county magistrate who released the rumors. What was his purpose?

Chen Sheng concluded that Chen A Niu was kidnapped by him just because of a small dispute with himself, what is his basis?I have never met Chen Sheng before, unless it was because of my status as the county magistrate.

People in Tonghua County are very afraid of his status as county magistrate, which shows that the former county magistrate has been domineering in Tonghua County for a long time.

The large sum of money confiscated from the former county magistrate does not match the taxes that Tonghua County should have paid over the years!The terrain of Tonghua County is remote, there are no big merchants, and the county magistrate naturally cannot collect large bribes.And Tonghua County itself is very poor, even if it is exploited by huge profits, it cannot save so much money!

Where did the money come from?

And, more importantly, who is standing behind the former county magistrate? It is enough to make the local officials' three-year-changing rules become a dead letter, and make this county magistrate stay in Tonghua County for nearly ten years!

Guo Zhanan felt that it was necessary for him to enter the Mountain of No Return again.