Nongmen Shenjue

The three exchanged the news they got with each other, but they didn't say anything, but they all believed that the robbers who appeared on the official road were related to Li Ziying and others.It is really daring and reckless for a few powerful children to do such a thing, rampant and hateful.It can also be seen from this that the local county magistrate and even the magistrate Li He, regardless of whether they know the inside story or not, just do nothing and report it, which is already a cover-up.

In the next few days, everyone was still busy step by step.

Lin Jia and Yuan Cheng left early and returned late every day. Although they would also chat with Mu Qingyan, there was no progress in the case.Relatively speaking, Mu Qingyan is much more lazy, as if he is not interested in the current errands.

On the sixth day, someone came to send an imperial order and ordered several people to assist in the investigation.

The person who came was the head of the Criminal Department, surnamed Cui.

The principals are of the sixth grade, and among the officials brought by the imperial envoy, there are three principals alone, but they are of the same rank, but there are differences.This Chief Cui is only a member of the department, and there are dozens of similar chiefs in the Ministry of Criminal Affairs, while Chief Zhang, who is also in the imperial envoy team, is also called the Hall Chief. The fifth grade doctor is even stronger.

The Ministry of Punishment is in charge of criminal cases across the country, and it is divided into departments by province, with [-] divisions.Song Langzhong who followed this time is in charge of criminal cases in this province.For example, the case in Wanxia County was reported by the county magistrate to the magistrate, the magistrate reported it to the governor, and finally submitted to the Ministry of Criminal Justice for final review, so Doctor Song was responsible for handling it.

Director Cui didn't come here specifically to deliver a message, but was ordered to go to Tianning Mansion to pick them up by the way.

Chen Shiliu was dressed in white, but because of his background, people in the officialdom would give him some face, so he asked directly: "Master Cui, where are we going..."

"Go to Lianhua Mountain. The Pang Da people have been investigating the official roads for the past few days and found a cottage in the mountains."

"Counterfeit?" Chen Shiliu was full of doubts.

Director Cui explained: "You also know that bandits were rampant 30 or 300 years ago, and there were also bandit dens in Lianhua Mountain. That village used to be a bandit village, and it was also called Heifeng Village. It had [-] people in its heyday. It is the largest and most vicious bandit village in Tianning Prefecture. Later, the imperial court launched a large-scale suppression of the bandits, and the bandit leader was punished. Everyone else fled in all directions, and the village was empty. Over the years, there were occasional people who went hunting in the deep mountains Go overnight."

After this explanation, it makes people even more suspicious. What kind of copycat is it?

However, those present looked at each other and had guesses in their hearts.

A few people took the car to the official road and stopped for half an hour. If they wanted to enter the forest, they had to walk.There are no roads in this mountain. Walking in the wild grass, because of the cold weather, there are no snakes and insects, but the walking is not smooth.This walk took nearly an hour, and there were two breaks on the way. Mu Qingyan was sweating all over and couldn't help panting.

Wen Jixue supported him, supporting most of his weight.

After turning over the last ridge, we finally saw a stockade surrounded by a wooden fence.

The stockade was built on the hillside, with dense trees, which partially concealed the cottage, but the entrance gate could be clearly seen from the front.Surprisingly, this stockade does not seem to have been idle for more than 20 years.All the houses are made of wood, which is the material, and the exterior is not painted, which looks rough and primitive, and the site circle is very large.If this village has been unoccupied for more than 20 years, it would have been dilapidated long ago due to the wind and rain, but now it looks like the house is still neat and firm, without any dilapidated parts, and there are even few weeds in the yard, which shows that There are often people walking around and cleaning.

The most important thing is that the name of the village hangs at the gate, not "Heifeng Village", but "Black Dragon Village"!

It is impossible for Director Cui to be wrong about such a matter.

Looking up and looking around, the mountain where the stockade is located is very high as a whole. There is a watchtower built on the top of the mountain.

"Black Dragon Village?" Chen Shiliu looked at Chief Cui.

Director Cui said vaguely: "Pang Da people suspect that this is related to the case."

In view of Li Ziying's status, small officials such as Director Cui insisted that disasters come from their mouths, and the higher-ups did not speak, so he only regarded Li Ziying as a victim, and never said certain sensitive things.

Chen Shiliu didn't have so many worries, and he wasn't a braggart either, so he just leaned next to Mu Qingyan and said, "Brother Mu, are those people really so daring?"

Mu Qingyan glanced at him and said nothing.

Director Cui led several people to meet Pang Zhong. The largest courtyard in the cottage had been cleaned out, and the spacious main hall was the office.The guards were stationed, and there were officials hanging their heads waiting to stand. Pang Zhongduan was discussing the case with others before he was charged.

Chief Cui went in to report, and came out in a short time: "Everyone, Mr. Pang Da is discussing matters with several adults, and it is inconvenient to see each other. Mr. Pang Da, please investigate along the village, and don't let go of any suspicious things. We will sleep in the village tonight. At night, we will discuss it in the main hall tomorrow morning."

Mu Qingyan didn't say anything, only Lin Jia looked a little ugly, and Yuan Cheng also frowned.

It wasn't that he was displeased with not being able to meet the imperial envoys, but that Pang Zhong didn't see them and didn't listen to their reports, which just showed that he was perfunctory in arranging tasks for them before, and didn't care whether they found any clues or not.Furthermore, this is actually the case. The discovery of the Black Dragon Village has just verified the correctness of their news, but Pang Zhong has known this clue for a long time.

Who would be happy if he went out early and returned late in line with his duties, but was casually sent to do useless work.

"Mr. Chen, Mr. Mu, let's investigate separately." After all, Lin Jia has been in the officialdom for many years and is very good at regulating emotions. Besides, he has no extravagant hopes of making meritorious service in this case.

"Okay, be careful, two adults."

After sending Lin Jia and Yuan Cheng away, Chen Shiliu asked: "Brother Mu, what's your plan? Let me tell you, just find a place to see the scenery. After all, you are doing white work, why bother wandering around the mountains and suffer."

Mu Qingyan smiled and asked, "Did you see what those yamen servants and arresters were doing when you came here?"

Chen Shiliu was puzzled and said, "Search the mountain for clues."

"What clues are you looking for?" Mu Qingyan asked again.

"This..." Chen Shiliu not only recalled the posture of those yamen servants, they were in a team of three or five, poking around on the ground with sabers or wooden sticks in their hands, as if they were looking for something.What is worth such a fanfare to search carefully?No matter how you think about it, it's weird.

Mu Qingyan reminded: "Do you still remember the five official robbery and murder cases? They not only killed people, but also kidnapped people. Then, what about the kidnapped people? Look at Li Ziying and his party, there are 26 people in total. Could it be possible to evaporate out of thin air? "

Chen Shiliu's eyes slowly widened: "Could it be...they are looking for corpses?!"

"The corpse is the easiest clue to find at present." After all, the living can run, but no one will run around with a dead body.Even for Li Ziying's cruel actions, don't imagine that the captives are still alive.

Chen Shiliu smacked his lips, swallowing his surprise back.

Wen Jixue suddenly said to Chen Shiliu: "You go to the back of the village to have a look first. According to the terrain, there is a deep valley behind. I think it is a good place to dump the corpse."

"What about you?" Chen Shiliu asked strangely.

"Ayan wants to take a break." Wen Jixue said, and had already ordered Gao Tian to find a stool by the wall. Mu Qingyan was indeed very tired, his legs were weak, so he didn't shirk, and sat there slowly. energy.

In fact, Chen Shiliu was also tired, but he was physically stronger than Mu Qingyan, and he was interested in the case, so he nodded and went first.

Wen Jixue asked Gao Tian and Jiao Li to follow Chen Shiliu, acting like a Shangshu son. If they all followed Mu Qingyan, it would be too eye-catching.Wen Jixue stayed with Mu Qingyan, the rest was only one of them, the main reason was that Mu Qingyan wanted to see what happened in the cottage.

Now that Wen Jixue knew him well, he naturally made arrangements in advance.

After the imperial envoys are stationed, they have their own special tea room.Wen Jixue went to get a bowl of hot water, Mu Qingyan drank half of the bowl, and Wen Jixue drank the rest.

"How about it? If you're too tired, take a break." Wen Jixue squatted in front of him, reaching out to rub his calf.

Mu Qingyan only felt a burst of soreness, and then felt very comfortable.

"It's okay." The physical fatigue can be eliminated through the ability. Since he sat down, he has been operating the ability, and it will take a while.Furthermore, compared to the beginning, his body is much stronger, and the mental method given by Wen Jixue is quite effective, and it has been quite effective over time.

After resting for a while, Mu Qingyan stood up and walked around, as if looking at the layout of the cottage.

The third day of August was the third official robbery case, and it was also the only weird case in which no blood was seen, but all people and goods disappeared.The investigators suspected that Li Ziying and the others were robbery suspects, and suspected that the cottage was a stronghold, so what did they come back after robbing so many people?Mu Qingyan felt that perhaps this was the most cruel part of the case.

Therefore, he went back to August last year——

In the mid-autumn of August, the sky is high and the air is crisp, with patches of golden yellow in the green hills.

It was noon, and the two houses on the east side of Heilongzhai were kitchens, with smoke from the chimneys, and they were cooking.The stockade is an irregular oval shape. Entering the gate of the stockade is a wide field with compacted ground. It used to be the place where the bandits practiced and gathered.There are houses on both sides of the site, and there are courtyards in the back, which are similar to courtyards, but they don't pay attention to the layout, they are all rooms.On the front of the site are three big houses, which are the main hall, and behind it is a large courtyard.Near the gate of the village, there is a horse shed.

There were two people standing at the gate of the village, with machetes in their hands, looking down the mountain from time to time.

It was very quiet in the village, and no voice could be heard, but there were actually people there.Not to mention the kitchen, there are two women sitting in front of the main hall. They are very young, about fifteen or sixteen years old, with clear eyebrows and eyes. They are only wearing thin snow-white gauze, and the pattern on the red tube top is half hidden. But they looked blank, clearly sitting together, but they looked like two puppets without souls.

Suddenly there was the neighing of horseshoes, and the two of them seemed to hear some terrifying sound, their bodies trembled, and they couldn't help cuddling together.

The two twisted their bodies, revealing just a little of their backs.Because the clothes are thin and semi-transparent, something wrong can be seen at a glance, and the back that should be smooth is covered with ugly centipede-like scars criss-crossing.

Mu Qingyan thought of the whip that Li Ziying always held in his hand.