Xie Zhao stood up and walked around the small Buddhist hall with a scrutinizing look in his eyes.

"Yuzhu, although this place is no longer under the jurisdiction of the capital, my husband and I passed by here when we traveled from Jiangnan a few years ago."

Xie Zhao had a photographic memory and he didn't remember there was a village here.

Xiahe Village is not within his memory.

If it is a migration of refugees in recent years, then why are most of the houses in Xiahe Village thatched houses, shabby in appearance but not so shabby inside?

"Yuzhu, the altar table in the small Buddhist hall is made of fine red sandalwood, and the Buddha statue is plated with gold powder."

The cakes in the Buddhist temple had been left for a few days and were stained with incense ash. Upon closer inspection, there were small red words underneath the cakes, indicating that they were from a century-old brand.

"This piece of hawthorn cake costs ten coins, which is enough for ordinary people to buy two kilograms of rice. Even the most devout people would not exceed their own means."

The woman who delivered the letter was wearing a patched linen dress. When she fell, a corner of her inner garment was exposed, which was made of fine silk.

“Rich people gather in Xiahe Village, why pretend to be poor?”

Being low-key is for outsiders to see. When things are abnormal, there must be something wrong. The people of Xiahe Village have secrets that cannot be told.

All the villagers died and the women cried until they fainted, but Xie Zhao only heard joy in their cries, without a trace of sadness.

"Can you hear that?"

Jiang Yuzhu was suspicious, and following Xie Zhao's instructions, she gently rubbed the Buddha's body with her hands. Her fingertips were immediately covered with golden powder, and it was indeed gold powder!

Xie Zhao didn't respond, but pointed at the Buddha statue and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, the Buddha statue will have a surprise for you and me."

After saying this, Xie Zhao walked around to the back of the Buddha statue and untied the red cloak draped over it.

Behind the cloak, there was a huge hole.

The hole was blocked by iron sheets. Xie Zhao pried it open with a dagger, then made chopsticks out of tree branches and reached into the Buddha statue to feel around.

There were a lot of things inside, and Xie Zhao easily put on a gold bead necklace.

There is a jade statue of Guanyin hanging under the necklace, which is very valuable.

Jiang Yuzhu watched it with her eyes wide open, then took the necklace in her hands and examined it carefully, finally confirming, "Yuanhe, it's real!"

Gold is precious, and this gold necklace is enough to feed the whole village!

Hiding the gold in the Buddha statue, combined with the villagers' hidden wealth, made Jiang Yuzhu think more and more about it.

It was already dark outside the window, and a perpetual lamp was burning in the Buddhist temple.

After waiting for a while, footsteps were heard outside the door.

The servant brought in a little girl of eight or nine years old and reported: "Master, Madam, this little girl was found in a family's cellar."

When she was found, the little girl looked dazed and didn't make any noise.

Her lips looked chapped, and she must have not had any water for several days.

"We gave her a glass of water."

No matter what the subordinates asked, the little girl did not answer.

"What's strange is that as the only two survivors in the village, the little girl hid in all directions after seeing the woman, sobbing and shouting something."

Xie Zhao looked around and ordered, "Tell that woman that we will send someone to report to the authorities before dawn tomorrow, and take the little girl to stay in the Buddhist temple tonight."

As soon as the men left, Jiang Yuzhu immediately asked, "Yuanhe, do you suspect the woman did it on purpose? Is she one of the murderers?"

After all, the massacre of the entire village is no small matter. After reporting to the police, they need to find a witness. The government is eager to make a big deal out of a small matter.

Otherwise, once the incident gets out of hand, the performance of local officials will be greatly affected.

Jiang Fulu was in the Ministry of Personnel, so Jiang Yuzhu had some understanding of official evaluation.

If a horrific case occurs in an area under the jurisdiction of the local officials, most of them would like to cover it up and not let it spread, unless they really can no longer hide it.

"I'm not sure, so I might as well lure the snake out of its hole."

Xie Zhao leaned against the wall, and Jiang Yuzhu found a comfortable position and leaned beside Xie Zhao.

Seeing so many corpses, Jiang Yuzhu lost her appetite and after waiting for half an hour, she was already drowsy.

The little girl said nothing and crawled under the altar, shivering.

The wick of the eternal lamp was about to burn out, and the flame flickered.

After an unknown amount of time, the little girl poked her head out from below. Her eyes, which had suddenly become clear, met Xie Zhao's gaze and she spoke rapidly, "If we want to survive, we must flee Xiahe Village, otherwise we will be in great danger!"

Xie Zhao nodded slightly without saying anything.

Now, the little girl became even more anxious: "I'm telling the truth. If you don't care about your own life, don't you care about your wife's life?"

Xie Zhao glanced at the little girl in surprise. He was a smart one, so he asked nonchalantly, "Then why didn't you answer just now?"

"I'm afraid you and Aunt Zhang are in cahoots."

The little girl crawled out from under the altar, knelt in front of Xie Zhao, and spoke clearly, "Aunt Zhang's man is the murderer of my parents. I was hiding in the cellar and saw everything!"

The little girl's maiden name is Ningxiang, and she is not a local.

Two years ago, I followed my parents from our hometown to work here and stayed in Xiahe Village.

"There's not just one murderer here, there may be more, I can't tell you in a few words. If I'm saved, I will repay you!"

Ningxiang mustered up her courage and tried to make a deal with Xie Zhao using her meager strength.

The noise woke Jiang Yuzhu up. She leaned on Xie Zhao, calmed herself down, and seemed to be thinking about something.

Before Xie Zhao could express his opinion, Ningxiang ran to Jiang Yuzhu and knelt down, saying, "Madam, please take Ningxiang away from here!"

Aunt Zhang's man will definitely come back to silence her.

After confirming that the person in front of her had nothing to do with Aunt Zhang, Ningxiang became bolder.

Generally, women make the decisions in families, so Ningxiang would rather ask Jiang Yuzhu for help and decisively abandon Xie Zhao.

Jiang Yuzhu regained consciousness and said lazily, "This lady always likes equal exchanges. As long as you are useful, this deal can be done."

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