Zhou Xi glanced at Zhang Qiang and said nothing. This time, the opponent they encountered was too strong, and Zhou Xi didn't want to disrupt the morale of the troops at this time. If they were lucky enough to escape with their lives, it would not be too late to criticize Zhang Qiang then.
"Zhou Cheng, where did you find this bear skin?" Zhou Xi put aside his anger towards Zhang Qiang and quickly got to work. It was obvious that Zhao Cheng must have found the bear skin, as Zhou Cheng's sense of smell was always excellent.
"It was hanging on the persimmon tree in the yard. Brother Yu jumped up and took it down." Zhou Cheng honestly explained how he found the bear skin.
Yu Xiaochuan and Zhou Cheng walked around the yard looking for clues. When they walked under the persimmon tree, Zhao Cheng noticed the scent emitted by the black bear skin. Following the scent, the two found the black bear skin hanging high on the treetop.
The persimmon tree was old, more than twenty meters tall. If Zhao Cheng hadn't had a particularly keen sense of smell, he wouldn't have noticed the black bear skin on the treetop. There was an arrowhead carved into the skin, and when Yu Xiaochuan climbed up the tree to retrieve it, the arrowhead was pointing west.
"Master, this bear hide was torn from the Black Bear Demon by Hu Sanniang. It still bears her scent. Look, the arrowhead must have been carved by her claws. The strokes are uniform in thickness and look very neat," Xiaoyu said excitedly after carefully examining it. Hu Sanniang was skilled in embroidery and had a habit of drawing with extreme precision. Straight lines were always straight, never crooked. The arrowhead on the bear hide consisted of three straight lines, one long and two short, as straight as if drawn with a ruler.
A fox spirit versus a black bear demon? This image played out in Zhou Yuanyuan's mind as Xiaoyu explained. Then, Zhou Yuanyuan shook her head, banishing the chaotic thought. The worst thing about solving a case is being too subjective. Until the truth is revealed, Hu Sanniang's suspicion remains.
"Master, is the little fox trying to tell you that she is chasing the murderer? The direction pointed by the tips of her yellow hair is the direction she is chasing?" Xiaoyu was also thinking hard. Suddenly, she remembered a fox spirit she once knew in the distant past, who loved to make people guess riddles in this way.
Oh, and the yellow-haired creature was also pointing west, to the lofty mountains. Was Hu Sanniang suggesting the murderer was hiding in the mountains known as the Hundred Thousand Mountains? The Black Bear Demon... presumably lived deep in the mountains, right? Zhou Yuanyuan wondered.
"Captain Zhou, my hometown is Yunshan Town, less than a hundred kilometers from Kanshan Town." Yu Xiaochuan had been silent since he found the bear skin. He had an idea in mind, but he didn't know how to express it to Zhou Xi. Regarding the Shiwandashan Mountains where they now lived, both Kanshan and Yunshan had a long-standing legend. According to the legend, a mountain spirit, the Black Bear King, lived in these forests. The Black Bear King usually slept in his bear cave and went out to forage for food once every two hundred years. When the Black Bear King went out to forage, the villagers of the entire village would suffer.
If Yu Xiaochuan guessed correctly, the people at the Kanshan Town Police Station should also know about the legend, but for some reason, no one reported it to their superiors. The legendary black bear king was not enough to just wreak havoc on one village. If no one stopped it, who knew which village would suffer next.
However, legends are just legends after all and cannot be taken as facts. Yu Xiaochuan thought for a long time before making up his mind and stood up to speak to Zhou Xi.
"Oh? Xiao Yu, you're a local, right? Tell us what you know. It's okay, even if you're wrong. One more source of information will be very helpful in solving the case!" Zhou Xi noticed Yu Xiaochuan's concerns and immediately spoke to comfort him. Details determine success or failure. Sometimes, it's often the smallest details that determine the progress of the entire case.
"Captain Zhou, it's like this. We have a legend in Kanshan Town and Yunshan Town. It is said that in these 100,000 mountains, there is a mountain spirit, which is a black bear spirit. The black bear spirit will not come out to cause trouble at ordinary times. Every two hundred years on the full moon day, the black bear spirit will come out to suck the brains of mortals, and will retreat back to the depths of the mountains after it is full..."
Before Yu Xiaochuan finished speaking, Zhang Qiang burst out laughing.
"Brother Yu, we live in a technological world now. Where are the mountain goblins and wild monsters?" Zhang Qiang said nonchalantly. At that moment, Zhang Qiang despised Yu Xiaochuan. Was Yu Xiaochuan crazy about wanting to make a name for himself? He was going to bring back the mountain goblins? And even the Black Bear King? If such a powerful Black Bear King really existed here, how could anyone nearby survive? Yu Xiaochuan was just too clueless, and he was trying to lead everyone down a rabbit hole.
Yu Xiaochuan was interrupted by Zhang Qiang, and he was so angry that he didn't know what to say. Yu Xiaochuan saw contempt in Zhang Qiang's eyes. Yes, contempt. Did that kid Zhang Qiang think he was talking nonsense? Their special operations team was exposed to much more things than ordinary people. What kind of strange ghosts and monsters had they not seen? Only people like Zhang Qiang, who rarely went on missions, still had a mindset of not believing in ghosts and gods. He was shallow in knowledge, but he thought what others said was too ridiculous. Only Zhang Qiang could say such words.
"Uncle Yu, are you saying that there was a black bear demon causing trouble here before?" Zhou Yuanyuan ignored Zhang Qiang and looked at Yu Xiaochuan and asked seriously.
"Yes, it happened during the Qianlong period. There was also one incident in the Ming Dynasty." Yu Xiaochuan frowned and calculated carefully in his mind before nodding.
No wonder! Zhou Yuanyuan sighed secretly.
From the moment she entered the hall, Zhou Yuanyuan had been puzzled: Could it be that in this deep forest, there was a demon as powerful as Hu Sanniang? After seeing the bear skin and listening to Yu Xiaochuan's explanation, Zhou Yuanyuan's attention was already drawn to the black bear demon.
It seems that Hu Sanniang is chasing the black bear demon.
Zhou Xi's face was as gloomy as water. It was certain that there was a powerful demon here. Were the four of them really going to die here this time?
"Hey, hey? You guys don't really believe in the Black Bear Spirit, do you?" Zhang Qiang saw the other people's faces change drastically after hearing Yu Xiaochuan's words, and he couldn't help but feel a little anxious. That's feudal superstition, how could these people all believe it?
If Zhou Yuanyuan knew Zhang Qiang's thoughts, she would definitely scold him. "Why should you worry about what others believe or don't believe? Believe it or not, just mind your own business."
"If there really is a black bear demon, I, Zhang Qiang, will have to write my name backwards from now on." Zhang Qiang didn't know that he had become a fool in everyone's eyes. Seeing that no one paid attention to what he said, he couldn't help but say it angrily.
"Haha, I think you will be called Qiang Zhang from now on." Zhou Yuanyuan suddenly laughed.
9
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