The young man said his name was Tong Pingping, and this village was Tongjia Village. Two years ago, there was a flood. Not long after the flood, many people suddenly developed large bellies, and then died a few months later.
At the time, the villagers didn't know why this was happening. They only said it was a plague caused by the flood. More and more people in the village died. Later, some people fled the disaster area, but some people were unwilling to leave.
Tong Pingping's family was lucky not to get that disease, but at the time he didn't know what was going on until later when two men in black suddenly came to the village, and the men in black brought a beautiful and lovely little girl.
At first, they covered the little girl with cloaks so that outsiders wouldn't see her. The villagers didn't know what was under the cloaks. They stayed in the village for three days. On the third day, for some reason, a man from the village got into a conflict with the man in black.
Without a word, the man in black cleaved the man in two with a single stroke. The man also suffered from a large belly. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the man in black slashed the man's belly with his extremely sharp blade, instantly slicing it open.
The man's screams attracted many villagers. Tong Pingping, who was standing behind the crowd, also saw the scene. Unlike the others who were only focused on being frightened, he noticed something very disgusting and terrifying.
The inside of the man's dissected abdomen was completely rotten, its contents devoured by something, and it emitted a foul stench. Tong Pingping stared in horror at the man's mutilated abdomen, not daring to blink.
Then they discovered worms wriggling and stretching in the stagnant water. Aren't those the bloodsucking worms that can often be seen in paddy fields, ditches, wells, and streams?
They had been bitten and had their blood sucked by these insects when they went into the paddy fields. They knew that these insects sucked blood, but as long as they pulled them out in time, they would be fine.
Tong Pingping's mind was buzzing. He tried to calm the chill in his heart. He had a rough idea of what was going on. The villagers usually drank raw water. When they drank raw water, they probably ingested the eggs of blood-sucking worms.
Tong Pingping's family didn't drink raw water because his father was in poor health. The doctor had told him not to drink raw water because it was too cold in nature, and instead told him to drink boiled water. His father did as he was told, and his health improved significantly afterward.
So Old Man Tong firmly believed that drinking boiled water was good for the body, and he demanded that no one in his family drink raw water, but drink boiled water like him. His family couldn't persuade the old man, so they let him have his way, and gradually they got used to drinking water only after it had been boiled.
It seems his father was wise, saving their family's lives. It's a pity he has already passed away.
After listening to Tong Pingping's long speech, Zhu Lin remained expressionless, clearly uninterested in the past of Tongjia Village. He then instructed Erfu and Sifu to take people to his house to dig up pottery jars. Before long, the three of them returned with the pottery jars.
There were indeed ten taels of silver and one string of coins in the earthenware jar.
"Why didn't you take so much money with you then? Why are you only coming back to get it now?" Zhu Lin asked in a cold voice.
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