Chapter 21: The water ghost was just anxious and looked dead, but it turned out to be...

"In front, right in front is our village. Just cross the bridge. Actually, in Yunqu County, our village is quite famous. We have wild game in the mountains, so we never have to worry about meat. It's also quite stable, having survived several wars. We have many terraced fields, and farming has its limits. We've had good harvests over the years, and everyone in the county envies us."

"That's what's happened recently..."

Under Wang Doudou's guidance, everyone quickly found the direction and walked out of the woods. As soon as they came out, they were bathed in light. They were originally confused by the things about ghosts and monsters, but now the light quickly swept away the haze. They felt that the smoky mountain village and the arch bridge over the stream in the evening were quite leisurely.

Ruo Zhao casually asked, "You mentioned earlier that four people died. Li Duogu died in the pond outside the village. Are the others there too?"

If the death happened in a specific pond, if the young and middle-aged men in the village had some courage and the village chief had some determination, they would have arranged people to keep watch and monitor, and the murderer would have been able to control the entire village - this village is not small, with more than a hundred households.

If he has no worries about food and clothing, it is not surprising that he is a little famous in Yunqu County.

Wang Doudou: "Not really. Zhang Wu died there."

That?

His tone was a little strange, and the people who were riding horses onto the bridge looked to the side in the direction he pointed.

The stream under the bridge was gurgling, with eddies swirling around it, and the waves were gleaming golden in the sunset light. But three feet downstream, under the green pine branches growing out from the cracks in the big rocks nearby, there was a puddle in the stream that was neither too big nor too small, and the water should be quite deep.

Everyone looked at it and felt that it was not big enough to sink a young man.

"No, it's... a human head."

"Zhang Wu's head was down there. The other day, the women in my village were sprinkling water there to wash clothes. The pool was originally used for washing clothes, but they scooped up two large buckets of water. The second bucket was too heavy, and a human head was scooped up. The skin on the face was rotten, and the hair was tangled up in a mess. The eyeballs protruded from the holes and were tangled in the hair."

Yan Siqing was shocked when he heard it, let alone the local villagers, who were terrified by this horrific thing. Wang Doudou said that Mrs. Wang was so scared that she was bedridden and her hands are still shaking.

But just as they were saying this, Wang Doudou urged them to cross the bridge and enter the village as soon as possible to avoid getting into trouble.

"Who knows where the water ghost is hiding now... This is the only stone bridge leading into the village, otherwise I wouldn't go here..."

Jiang Hui: "Just because they died in the water and their bodies showed signs of damage and gnawed flesh, you think they are water ghosts?"

Wang Doudou: "That's not all. The night Li Duogu disappeared, Wang Mazi from our village suddenly ran around the village in the dead of night in his underwear, shouting that he had seen a water ghost. He was always a playboy, talking nonsense, and talking about all sorts of ghosts and monsters. When we were little, we loved listening to him talk about these things, but as we grew older, we thought he was abnormal. The barefoot doctors who passed by said he had some mental problems, that he was stupid and disabled. So few people believed him that night. After all, he was drunk that night. It wasn't until Zhang Wu died in the water... and then the village chief's grandson Lin Fengshou got into trouble that the villagers believed him."

"After asking Wang Mazi, I learned that he was coming back from drinking that night. He passed by the pond outside the village and saw a round, white thing emerging from the water. He didn't know what it was at the time, but because Li Duogu had just died, he was scared. As he was about to leave, he felt his foot was entangled in something called hair. He slipped towards the pond and half of his body was submerged in the water. Terrified, he struggled frantically to get out... When he emerged, he looked back and saw the water ghost's disheveled head floating on the water, staring straight at him."

Yan Siqing suddenly asked, "And then he ran around your village dripping wet, and did the people in your village still think he was drunk and talking nonsense?"

Jiang Hui knew that this person was actually asking: Did Wang Mazi's clothes and body get wet at that time? If not, it was nonsense, and the case might be related to him.

Wang Doudou curled her lips. "He woke me up in the middle of the night. I looked out the window and saw him surrounded. The villagers were scolding him, but he just yelled about water ghosts. He was indeed soaking wet, with waterweed hanging from his head. The villagers scolded him, told him to put on his pants... and chased him away."

"He's drunkenly fallen into a hook in the field or slipped into a pond. This isn't the first or second time. We're far from the county town, so he only goes to the tavern to drink during the day. The villagers are working nearby, so they just help him out. But at night, it's different. Everyone's at home sleeping, so how can they control him?"

However, he also remembered one thing: "After the village chief's grandson died, he was very concerned about the matter and arrested him for questioning, asking him why he went out drinking so late..."

"He said he went there during the day, but encountered a group of scholars quarreling and fighting in the town. He was implicated while watching the excitement, and the authorities intervened and reprimanded him as well... He was even scratched by those scholars."

Wang Doudou pointed to his left cheek, meaning that he also saw the other person's injury.

The villagers also went to verify it, but in fact there was no need to verify it. If you count the time of the incident carefully, it was about seven or eight days ago. The latest news in the county town would be widely announced by the villagers who went out to sell vegetables in the county town when they came back, and no news could be hidden.

It was common for scholars to debate, but it was quite novel when they started to fight and the government intervened.

"Anyway, this person is crazy. Everyone, when you enter the village, find a place to stay, but don't go near his house..."

He was timid and walked quickly in front, talking as he went, without even stepping on the last stone step.

I don't know what I saw, but my eyes suddenly opened wide, I was so scared that I trembled and my feet slipped...

With a scream, the man missed his step and fell off the bridge.

Fortunately, Ruo Zhao was swift and grabbed the back of his clothes with one hand and lifted him to the edge of the bridge pier to prevent his body from hitting the hard stone bed at the bottom of the stream and causing serious injuries.

But his eyes wandered and his hands almost trembled, causing him to let go.

The puddle in front was the one where Zhang Wu’s head was fished out before, and now it was bubbling.

A hand appeared.

It thrust upwards, its five fingers chubby as if swollen, and pointed upwards like ferocious claws - right at them.

This scene is scary.

If there is a ghost, it is a sign of malicious intent.

Everyone's heart skipped a beat. When Yan Siqing relaxed, Jiang Hui saw her face pale. Thinking she was frightened, he frowned and quickly prepared to dive into the water to remove that broken hand...

He was unrivaled on the battlefield and had killed countless people, so he didn't believe in the water ghost story and wanted to see who was causing the trouble.

"Cousin, wait a minute."

A soft cry made Jiang Hui's body numb. He was about to go down the stream, but he spun sideways in the air and landed on a nearby pine tree. The branches trembled, and he looked at Yan Siqing.

The latter didn't look at him, but gestured towards the village.

Everyone saw it - a group of people came out of the village in a bustling and noisy manner.

If there is a fight, they can easily stop the villagers with a single move and have no fear of not being able to win, even though there are definitely more people in the village. Once people see the blood of others, the first thing they fear is to bleed themselves.

Yan Siqing felt that the locals must have believed in the water ghost. If these people saw them rashly destroying the water ghost's "tribute", they would probably transfer all the blame to them, the outsiders, and call for their death.

It will only cause more trouble.

As expected, all the villagers came, including a few "big white foxes". Aren't they the ghostly white fox demons that jumped around in the woods before?

Yan Siqing pointed at the severed hand in front of the old, withered and mean-looking village chief.

"Cousin, take a closer look. This severed hand is intact and hasn't been eaten. Perhaps the local water ghost lady has lost her appetite recently. But the water ghost lady knows everything. Since we are outsiders, she is warning us not to offend her. She wants us to stay in the village and leave her territory as soon as possible, otherwise this severed hand will be our fate."

The young lady was truly amazing. Regardless of whether she was afraid or not, or whether she believed in it or not, the fact that she could borrow the help of ghosts and gods to forcefully stay overnight was something Ruo Zhao and the others had never imagined.

Jiang Hui responded quickly, saying, "My cousin is absolutely right. I was reckless and nearly offended the locals. Village chief, we mean no harm. We are merchants escorting goods to Chang'an and need to pass through here. We encountered a strange white shadow in the bamboo forest and our horses were frightened. We thought it was a robber with ulterior motives, so we took some time to react. Now it seems it was just a misunderstanding."

Merchants? Commercial goods?

Yan Siqing glanced at him vaguely and thought to himself: The way this group of people are dressed could actually make them look like government officials, which would also intimidate the people in this village. Why didn't Jiang Hui mention it?

Just talking about merchants.

Ruozhao and others were surprised that such a strong and overbearing man like Jiang Hui would follow Yan Siqing's lead and give in to the old village chief with a warm and friendly attitude.

After hearing this, the village chief was stunned and decided not to act rashly. Firstly, they believed in water ghosts. What if the water ghosts were really warning these outsiders? If they acted rashly and went against the water ghosts' wishes, who knew whether the water ghosts would retaliate against the locals or outsiders?

Secondly, these people don’t look easy to deal with, merchants?

What could so many people be escorting? I didn't see any large items, so it must be an extremely valuable treasure.

The village chief had seen some of the world, after all. His cloudy eyes flashed, and he said a few polite words. He first scolded them for being outsiders who came from nowhere and trespassed without permission. But what bad things had they done to offend the local people?

"If you are staying here, you must not cause any trouble. Otherwise, not only will Lord Shuigui punish you, but even the villagers of Baimao Village will not tolerate you."

The two sides were talking and had no intention of fighting. The other villagers had been on edge recently and were very sensitive to any heresy. They did not have a good attitude towards Jiang Yan and other outsiders. However, since Ruozhao and others had swords and knives, and seemed to be belonging to the bodyguard, they could not afford to offend them.

The village chief became more willing to negotiate, so they put down their hoes and other tools.

His Royal Highness had already lowered his status, so Ruo Zhao and his subordinates naturally followed suit. They took the initiative to take out their money bags. At Jiang Hui's glance, they took out a large silver ingot. They were generous and magnanimous, like a fool and a fat sheep, and said simply: "I am really sorry to bother you. This is a reward for staying overnight. Please accept it."

The village chief and his companions were stunned when they saw the heavy silver ingot in their palms, but the village chief pretended to refuse, "It's common for people to pass by. Although we are just a small village with limited vacancies, and we may not have much food and bedding, and every household is poor, if you really want to stay, I'm afraid we can charge you..."

Ruo Zhao: "If you want it, then of course you want it."

Village Chief: “I’m afraid…”

Jiang Hui glanced at the sky, his eyes seemingly casually sweeping over Yan Siqing. He was already a little impatient, and his tone suddenly became a little colder than before: "If you really don't want to..."

This man was born with the sharp appearance of a famous sword. It is not easy for him to make people feel comfortable when he pretends to be a good person and deceives others. For example, Yan Cheng, she can see how powerful he is. After coming to this village, these villagers can understand his aggressiveness even more.

Moreover, he could not pretend for a moment, as he suddenly tore off his disguise, glanced sideways coldly and looked down upon people, which frightened the village chief.

Love money but also fear people.

The village chief immediately reached out to take the silver ingot, and without pretending to be noble, he immediately agreed to stay overnight. He even had a bit of flattery on his face. After thinking for a while, he directly suggested that there were many empty rooms in his house and the old house, and they could accommodate them...

He didn't even consider the families of other villagers. He had no intention of sharing the money with others and wanted to swallow it all for himself.

Jiang Hui and Yan Siqing observed the expressions of the villagers and understood what was going on. Jiang Hui continued to ask indifferently about the location of the old house and his home. When he learned that they were some distance apart and could not accommodate each household, he decisively refused and demanded that everyone must live next to each other. The village chief had no choice but to change his mind quickly and proposed that his family and the Wang family next door share a house. The empty rooms of the two families were enough to accommodate everyone.

Old Wang's house is Wang Doudou's house. Wang Doudou opened his eyes wide and responded a few words on the spot, but was pulled away by the elders of the family. An old man came forward to discuss the matter. In order to complete the payment and prevent Jiang Hui from regretting his cold face, they were even willing to move the residents to the village chief's house and vacate their own courtyard for them to stay overnight.

That's how it was settled.

When they were deciding the matter, Yan Siqing noticed the reactions of the villagers and watched people on both sides of the stream paying homage to the severed hand floating in the puddle in the stream. The white foxes were muttering in a mysterious way, and among them was Wang Doudou who was dragged away. He had work to do.

While offering sacrifices and delivering eulogies, he cried and counted money shrewdly, and every word he said was insightful.

Both groups did their job very well.

Jiang Hui was originally impatient and talked about the accommodation very quickly, but when he caught a glimpse of Yan Siqing watching the villagers by the stream starting to go into the water to retrieve the severed hand, and she was watching seriously, he spoke.

"The accommodation has been discussed."

"Let's talk about food."

village head:"?"

He was so anxious and looked like a dead fish just now, but it turns out he was hungry and was thinking about the food in our village.