Chapter 55 Deserted Village
It was just an accident that the few of them came to the deserted village. After discovering something unusual and looking around again, Su Yan found that the whole village was weird everywhere.
On a certain day a few years ago, at the same time, the entire village disappeared before having dinner, and not even their bodies were left behind.
Su Yan looked carefully at several families. They were all ordinary small farmers. Some had several generations living together, while others had a family of three.
The village was not rich, but it was still self-sufficient, which was considered very lucky in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Su Yan walked out of the thatched hut and looked at the deserted yard in deep thought.
What exactly happened to the village?
Liang Yi, who was not far away, screamed. He had just gone to the largest house in the entire village, which was built with bricks and tiles and was magnificent compared to other thatched houses.
Su Yan walked into the yard and saw a well that had been abandoned for many years, and nothing else.
In other people's yards, there were still brooms left, and some people hadn't even had time to collect their clothes, but this yard was empty.
Yun Xing walked behind Su Yan and said, "I checked, the quilt and clothes are all there."
"Can we rest tonight?" Su Yan frowned. "There are too many strange things. I feel that this place is eerie and scary."
Yun Xing said: "There are no ghosts in the world."
Su Yan laughed bitterly and said, "Of course I know, but looking at the current situation, the village must have encountered an accident, and it was a man-made disaster."
You can imagine how bad the situation would be.
Liang Yi ran out of the room and said in surprise: "It's so strange here, there is nothing in the room."
"Not in the house either?"
Liang Yi nodded and said, "I think this house is nice, and I wanted you to come and rest here together, but it turns out there's not even a couch inside."
Even if there were thieves, they would not steal everything, not to mention that this did not happen in other houses.
“Is it possible that there are so many good things here that they were all stolen?”
Su Yan said: "It can't be that even basic dishes and chopsticks are worth money, right?"
Liang Yi was puzzled. "What's the problem? Aren't silver chopsticks worth a few meals?"
Su Yan: “…”
It seems that the criticism those days was correct, the powerful and wealthy really don't know the suffering of the people.
Liang Yi: "..., Miss Su, did you speak just now?"
Like scolding him?
Su Yan was very calm: "You heard it wrong."
Liang Yi: “…”
It's strange, why do I keep hearing people scolding him today? But Su Yan clearly didn't open his mouth...
Liang Yi seemed to have figured something out. He nervously hid behind Yun Xing and said, "Brother Yun! There really is a ghost here! It's a female ghost! Her voice is very similar to Miss Su's. I heard her scold me several times!"
Yun Xing glanced at Su Yan.
Su Yan walked into the house as if nothing had happened.
Yun Xing didn't want to pay attention to Liang Yi.
Liang Yi, however, regarded him as a life-saving straw. After all, Su Yan seemed unreliable.
Liang Yi followed Yun Xing closely and tried to explain: "I really heard it. If you don't believe me, next time she scolds me, I will repeat it to you."
Yun Xing felt a little annoyed.
After the age of ten, he rarely had such emotions.
Yun Xing said expressionlessly, "There is a rumor among the people that ghosts like people who talk a lot. I guess the other party heard your voice and came to find you on purpose."
Liang Yi: “!!”
Quiet, he wants to be a quiet person!
Su Yan had already walked into the house.
Just as Liang Yi said, the house was empty and there was nothing in it.
Su Yan walked through every corner of the house. The dust on the window sills and the ground was extremely thick, thicker than the dust in other houses.
Su Yan guessed: "The things in this house might have been emptied when the incident happened in the village."
Yun Xing said, “Perhaps the strangeness of the village is related to this house.”
Liang Yi was eager to express his thoughts, but hesitated.
Su Yan glanced at him and ignored him, then continued: "The people living here should have some status in the village. If there is no natural disaster here, then it must be a man-made disaster. The people who moved things away may be the ones who caused the people to disappear."
In times of chaos, the demise of a village is not uncommon. Some villages were massacred, while others had their people become refugees because they could not survive. However, this village obviously did not fit either of these two situations.
Although this place is not yet close to the capital, it is not far away from it. It is not a place that is out of reach of the emperor, and there has never been any war here.
There have been no natural disasters here in recent years.
What’s even more terrifying is that before he disappeared, the people were even preparing to have a meal.
Suddenly, an entire village disappeared.
If it is a man-made disaster, who is responsible?
Su Yan thought for a moment and said, "In fact, it is very simple to figure this out. Just ask the officials in charge of this place."
She looked at Liang Yi.
Liang Yi looked at her eagerly without saying a word.
Su Yan: “?”
Liang Yi looked at Yun Xing, then at Su Yan.
"You are..." Su Yan didn't understand, so he could only continue, "Among us, you are the most suitable to go to the officials. They are afraid of you. After returning to Beijing, you can bring people over to ask."
Liang Yi still didn't speak.
This is really not Liang Yi's character, Su Yan can only use his eyes to question Yun Xing.
Yun Xingjian never let go of his sword, leaning against the door and looking at the yard.
Noticing Su Yan's gaze, Yun Xing said, "We are already inside the house, ghosts can't hear us."
Su Yan: “?”
Liang Yi breathed a sigh of relief, but still didn't dare to speak loudly, "It's okay, it's okay, fortunately Brother Yun told me, otherwise I would have been eaten by ghosts. Miss Su, you don't know, there are ghosts in the village, it's very scary! Every time I speak, she scolds me, she is a female ghost! You should also speak softly, don't let her hear, her scolding is very annoying."
Su Yan: “…”
She forced herself to suppress the corners of her mouth and asked, "How do you make me angry?"
"That's right, that's right..." Liang Yi tried to describe it, "She always calls me stupid, how could that be? My second brother said that I am the smartest among the princes, and I will assist my second brother in the future."
Su Yan: “…”
This! Idiot!
"Listen!" Liang Yi said in horror, "She's calling me stupid again! This bastard! Tell lies and be struck by lightning!"
Su Yan bit his lower lip tightly to avoid being exposed.
She restrained her smile, patted Liang Yi on the shoulder, and comforted him: "You are a prince, and she is an ordinary ghost. Her perspective is different from yours, so don't bother with her."
Liang Yi said: "That's true, I am related to the future of the Great Zhou."
Su Yan frantically tried to suppress the thought that "the Great Zhou is going to be over."
Liang Yi said seriously: "Besides, she is not a good ghost. She only called me stupid but couldn't give any reason. She is an unreasonable ghost. If she can come up with one, two or three points, I can refer to them and do better in the future."
Su Yan's smile faded.
Although he always laughs at Liang Yi, Liang Yi is a prince after all, and his perspective is really different from Su Yan's.
Su Yan said seriously: "If you want...what should I call you?"
After all, he is a prince, so she should be respected. Otherwise, based on what she said to Liang Yi, if Liang Yi is a petty person, she will not survive the second day after arriving in the capital.
"They all call me Little Prince," Liang Yi lowered his voice, "but when we go out, we shouldn't call him that. It's easy for people to find us."
Liang Yi showed a proud look of "How smart I am".
Su Yan: “…”
Don’t scold, don’t scold. You can’t scold Liang Yi.
Su Yan asked seriously, "What do you plan to do after your second brother ascends the throne?"
"We must wipe out the eunuchs, eliminate Zhao Mingde's followers, and restore peace to the people," Liang Yi said, "I want to lead the troops to fight and help my second brother guard the border."
Su Yan asked, "Are you good at martial arts?"
"A little."
"...Aren't we going to fight?"
"Use your brain," Liang Yi said, "Have you ever seen a military advisor rushing to the front every day? I am familiar with the art of war."
Su Yan looked at Yun Xing in disbelief, and Yun Xing nodded.
Su Yan: “…”
A fool who is well-versed in the art of war?
The Great Zhou wants...
Liang Yi said: "You just said you wanted to find the local officials, right? Okay, let's go now."
Su Yan held him back, "It's too late, take a rest first and go tomorrow."
"Are we going to rest here tonight?!" Liang Yi trembled, "This place is haunted! And I seemed to hear her scolding me again just now..."
Yun Xing looked at Su Yan.
Su Yan coughed twice guiltily, "Sorry, I couldn't help it."
Liang Yi didn't understand.
Su Yan said: "Just rest here, I'll go find some hay to lay down on."
Yun Xing followed Su Yan out.
Liang Yi was probably used to being served, so this time he didn't clamor to go along.
Su Yan asked the most curious question, "Is he really familiar with the Art of War?"
Yun Xing said: "I heard that this is the case. His method of using troops is unmatched by others."
"But he's so easily fooled!"
Yun Xing said "Yes", "He is a prince, who would lie to him in the capital?"
Su Yan: “…”
That does make sense.
Although the brick house had been emptied, it was large enough for the three of them to sleep in separate corners.
Su Yan had a good rest that night. After such a long journey, he was content to be able to rest in a place that was sheltered from the wind and rain.
Early in the morning, Liang Yi followed Yunxing to the mountains and caught a pheasant.
Fortunately, it is close to the capital. There are no pheasants in the mountains of Anping Town. All edible living things have been caught and eaten.
When Yun Xing was processing the pheasant, Liang Yi watched from the side with starry eyes, obviously admiring Yun Xing very much.
Su Yan came out yawning, Liang Yi immediately pulled her over, "Look, my brother Yun is so powerful, he caught it in just a few moves, this pheasant doesn't even know how it died! Brother Yun's kung fu is really the pinnacle, why don't you come with me to seek refuge with Brother Yan Gui?"
Yun Xing swept his cold gaze over, and Liang Yi looked at him expectantly like a fool.
Although Yun Xing was wearing a mask, Su Yan could still feel his unfriendliness at the moment. It was the same when he mentioned Shi Yan Gui last time.
Su Yan pulled Liang Yi to his side and said, "Yun Xing is my personal bodyguard, why are you trying to poach him?"
Liang Yi looked at Su Yan's clothes with a little disdain, "Su Yan, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but Brother Yun is wasting his talent by protecting you. What's so good about you? Even if I steal you away, I can't even get a few taels of silver."
Su Yan: “…”
The great military advisor finally wised up for once.
Su Yan kicked him and said, "Go play somewhere else."
Liang Yi was not angry at all. He rolled up his sleeves and said, "I'll go to the mountains to have a look too. I just don't believe that I, a prince, can't catch a chicken."
The pheasant had not been processed yet, and they still needed to stay in the deserted village for a while, so Su Yan followed him.
After Liang Yi left, Su Yan sat next to Yun Xing and said with emotion: "Liang Yi has a really good temper."
Whether in this life or the previous one, Su Yan never thought that he would have the chance to kick the royal family again.
These shoes must be well preserved and passed down.
"It's not a bad thing that he has no chance," Yun Xing built a fire, "Although Liang Yi is the youngest prince, the emperor doesn't think highly of him. After his mother's family lost power, he was suppressed for a time. Judging from his attitude towards the prince, he should be secretly cared for by the prince. Later, when he grew up, the emperor remembered the kindness of his biological mother for some reason and began to pay attention to him."
Su Yan was surprised: "How can you be so stupid after having a hard time as a child?"
Yun Xing: “…”
"It seems that the hard life of the royal family is still incomparable to ours," Su Yan counted on his fingers, "It must be because he has no backing. Although he was bullied by others, he was not put to death. That's why he didn't realize the dangers of the world. Alas, the royal family is the source of tragedy."
Yun Xing looked at Su Yan.
He used to think that there was nothing worth staying in this world. From what Su Yan said, she probably had no attachment to this world anymore.
The last sentence is enough to chop off your head ten times.
Su Yan squatted by the fire and waited for a while. The pheasant was almost cooked.
Su Yan likes to eat chicken wings, so Yun Xing first tore off two chicken wings for her, and Su Yan took them with a silly smile.
Yun Xing used a knife to separate the remaining chicken, thought for a moment, and asked Su Yan, "Do you want to eat chicken legs?"
Of course Su Yan liked to eat chicken legs, but she was too embarrassed to ask for more, so she looked at the chicken legs pitifully and said, "No, I don't like it."
Yunxing handed her the chicken leg again.
Su Yan immediately took it over, "How do you know I want to eat? Was I just daydreaming again?"
Yun Xing sat opposite Su Yan and said, "As long as you are not blind, you should be able to see it."
Su Yan: “…”
It makes her sound like a glutton.
Su Yan finished eating the chicken wings carefully and found that Liang Yi had not come back yet.
After all, he is a delicate prince who only knows a little bit of Kung Fu. Su Yan is worried that something might happen to him in the mountains, and the Great Zhou will lose a great "military advisor" in the future.
Su Yan was just about to say go look in the mountains when Liang Yi stumbled over.
His clothes were disheveled, and there was dry grass on his hair. "Su Yan! Su Yan! Su..."
Su Yan stood up and supported him, "What happened? Did you fall?"
Liang Yi's face was ashen, and he pointed behind him tremblingly, "There's a ghost, there's a ghost!"
“Is there a ghost in the mountain?”
Liang Yi shook his head and nodded.
Yun Xing handed him the gourd filled with water and said, "Calm down and talk properly."
Liang Yi had a sad face and stammered, "I saw bones, white bones, so many white bones!"
*
The place where Liang Yi found the bones was not far from the village, and could be reached in about a cup of tea.
The mountain path was narrow, Yun Xing led the way in front, and Liang Yi hid behind Su Yan and moved forward step by step.
It was not until he saw a dead tree in front of him that Liang Yi pointed under the tree and said, "It's right there!"
Su Yan walked over and saw a few bones piled under the tree. "It's a humerus, a human one."
Su Yan squatted down beside the bones. "There are cracks on the bones, and the cracks are stained with blood. They are scars left by the body when it was alive. There are also traces of teeth. Perhaps a wild animal carried the bones up from the ground."
Liang Yi stuck his head out after hearing this, "It's not a ghost? How can a wild beast dig up a grave?"
"Perhaps the tomb was destroyed by rain first, so the wild beast had a chance. Anything is possible, but... the bones here should belong to three people."
"How do you know?!"
"The bones of men, women, old and young are different, and each has its own characteristics," Su Yan said as he picked up one of the bones. "Look, this bone is osteoporotic, with low hardness and toughness. It's an old man's bone. And this one..."
Liang Yi was so scared that he screamed repeatedly.
Is Su Yan still a human? Why is he gesticulating with human bones?!
Liang Yi asked in a trembling voice: "Are you the King of Hell? Are you here to claim my life?"
Su Yan was speechless. "I'm a coroner! I perform autopsies!"
Liang Yi didn't react for a moment to what a coroner was.
Yun Xing said, "There are also coroners in the government offices in the capital."
Liang Yi remembered that he was the most inconspicuous person in the yamen.
"The coroner is so powerful?!" Liang Yi opened his eyes and saw it, "Aren't you afraid?"
Su Yan shook the bones gently and said, "It is the happiest thing to be able to examine a corpse that has turned into bones. This is much better than a corpse that has a high degree of decay."
Liang Yi: “…”
He automatically filtered out other words and only heard the word "happiness".
I am convinced. Completely convinced.
Liang Yi cupped his hands towards Su Yan, "Miss Su, I will never dare to provoke you again."
Su Yan shrugged, "Don't be afraid. If you can let me work as a coroner in the government office after you go to Beijing, that would be great."
"You can be the governor," Liang Yi said. "It's fine even if you can be the governor."
After examining several skeletons, Su Yan discovered a problem.
All the bones were fractured and cracked, and they were injuries sustained during life.
It is not surprising to see such marks on one corpse, but if every corpse has them, then there is a problem.
Su Yan looked solemn, "The bones are incomplete, there should be more nearby, let's look for them again."
"Still looking for it?!" Liang Yi felt like he was going to pass out, "Miss Su, we are almost there, right?"
Su Yan asked back: "Aren't you wholeheartedly serving the people? Those who died here were all ordinary people."
Liang Yi: “…”
The little girl grabbed his vital point in one go.
Liang Yi gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, I'll go back to the village to find a shovel and come back to dig together."
"No need," Yun Xing said, "There have been thieves in the village, how could they leave behind a shovel? There was no such thing in the room I went to last night, so use your hands. Since the bones have been washed out, the remaining ones should not be deep either."
Liang Yi: “…”
It's a sin.
So the prince, dressed in gorgeous clothes, squatted on the ground and dug the soil resignedly.
Liang Yi thought the speed was too slow and took off his gold hairpin for assistance. Su Yan felt distressed just watching this, fearing that the gold hairpin would be knocked off at the edges.
This is all real money.
Su Yan was responsible for finding a place, and the other two were responsible for digging.
After Su Yan had inserted branches into all the places where bones might be found, she joined the digging team.
Perhaps because there had been a heavy rain a few days ago, the soil in the mountains was loose and slightly moist deep inside, so it was not difficult to dig.
Su Yan wasn't sure how deep to dig, but places that could bury a person were probably not shallow.
One stick of incense later, Yun Xing made the first discovery. He found a human head.
When Liang Yi saw this, his eyes went dark and he almost fell down.
Su Yan helped him up and reminded him: "Serve the people wholeheartedly."
Liang Yi held his dizzy head and said firmly: "Yes, people, yes... remember to count everything I did today as my second brother's fault."
Su Yan: “…”
She was actually a little curious about the prince. Why would Liang Yi follow him so wholeheartedly?
Is the prince really so outstanding?
An hour later, the three of them had dug a big pit.
Without the help of any handy tools, this is pretty good.
At the edge of the pit, Su Yan found the skeleton.
She dug along the skeleton and finally reached the center.
Su Yan looked at the scene in front of him, speechless for a moment.
Somewhere in this mountain, there is a huge...pit of corpses.
Yun Xing and Liang Yi dug up the entire pit, and were speechless after seeing the number of skeletons.
After a long while, Liang Yi asked in a low voice: "How many people are there?"
Su Yan looked at the bottom of the pit silently, and after a moment he said, "Hundreds."
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