Chapter 31: Incident in the Southern Wilderness
The day after Gu Xiyue left, Aunt Fang was so jealous of those who collected more salt than her that she almost couldn't eat. When it was evening, she made up her mind and called her eldest son and second son to go to the beach to collect salt in the dark.
She had checked it in advance during the day and found that the thatch near the sea was covered with sea salt, which could be picked in the dark at night.
She planned to let her two sons help collect salt for two or three hours and then come back to sleep. In this way, the three of them would collect the most sea salt in the village tomorrow.
Then let others envy her.
When she told her two sons about this idea, the eldest son agreed immediately, but the second son disagreed.
Fang Laoer said, "Mother, just get some rest tonight. It's dark and there are lots of mosquitoes. Don't go. You've already collected a lot in a day. Besides, my eldest brother and I are both digging salt flats. We're all three of us making money, so it doesn't matter how much you earn. Don't tire yourself out. My sister-in-law is about to give birth. You should take good care of Yun'er and let her get some rest. Isn't that good?"
After Fang Laoer said this, he was scolded by his mother.
"You're such a traitor! I've raised you for nothing! And you're asking me to take care of that little girl while your sister-in-law gets some rest? You're more affectionate towards your sister-in-law than your mother. You're such an ungrateful person! You're leaving the money readily available for me to serve you! What a nagging thought!"
After scolding his useless second son, he was still not satisfied. He walked over and kicked Yun'er, then pointed at Madam Du and scolded her.
Yun'er had eaten her fill these past two days and her complexion looked better. Before her grandmother came over, she was sitting next to her mother, playing with the rag doll her mother had sewn for her with rags. Her grandmother kicked her to the ground and the rag doll fell to the ground.
Yun'er cried with a pout on her face, looking aggrieved, but she didn't dare to make a sound. She struggled to get up and picked up the rag doll. Seeing her grandmother scolding her mother, she walked to her mother, hugged her mother's legs, turned around and glared at her grandmother while crying.
Aunt Fang was cursing fiercely when she saw that the bitch dared to glare at her. She immediately became furious and walked over to kick her.
Boss Fang sat at the door, pretending not to see anything, and let his mother bully his wife.
The moment his mother raised her foot, Fang Lao Er quickly went over and grabbed her. Madam Du pulled Yun'er and turned around, intending to let her mother-in-law kick her.
Aunt Fang's kick failed and was pulled away by her own second child. She was so angry that she almost jumped up.
Finally, seeing Fang Lao Er protecting the mother and daughter, he angrily called Fang Lao Da and went to the beach in the dark to collect salt.
The reason why he didn't continue to make a fuss was because of Madam Du's health. He thought that he would wait until she gave birth to a child. If it was a boy, he would treat her well. If it was a girl, she would have a hard time.
She had even thought about it. If the baby was still a girl, she would throw the child into the sea and let it drown, as if the child never existed.
As a result, the two of them did not return for the entire night.
Madam Du always slept in the west wing with Yun'er. This house was built for her by her mother-in-law and her two sons after she gave birth. It was very small and simple, with only a bed, a broken wardrobe and a table in it.
She didn't need to know or care whether her husband and mother-in-law came back at night. She was pregnant and it was already very uncomfortable for her to take Yun'er with her, so she didn't have the mood to worry about them.
Aunt Fang lived alone in the west room of the main house, and her two sons lived in the east room.
When Fang Laoer woke up in the middle of the night, he found that his eldest brother had not come back yet. He thought that his eldest brother had gone to his sister-in-law's room and did something wrong. Apart from thinking it was ridiculous, he didn't think much about it.
When I woke up the next day, I found that the house and the yard were quiet. Usually at this time, my mother would have started working with a curse, either ordering Yun'er to sweep the floor or scolding my sister-in-law for not washing clothes.
Fang Laoer was a little surprised. When he went out, he found that his sister-in-law had also gotten up. The two looked at each other.
"You see..."
"Brother, didn't..."
They both spoke at the same time, one asking the mother-in-law and the other asking the eldest brother. After they asked, they were both stunned, and Fang Laoer's face turned pale instantly.
He quickly turned around and knocked on his mother's door. When he found no movement inside, he pushed the door open and found that the room was still the same as yesterday.
My mother has not come back since she went out last night.
So does my eldest brother.
There was no sign of the two people returning, inside or outside the house.
Fang Lao Er had a bad feeling in his heart, "Sister-in-law, please wait at home first, I'll go to the beach to take a look."
At this time, everyone had not yet gone to work and were preparing to get up. He ran along the coast and found that there was no trace of his mother and elder brother. His heart suddenly started pounding. Finally, he met Xiao Heng on the beach and told him about the disappearance of his mother and elder brother.
Xiao Heng immediately went to find Zhao Yancheng and the others, and mobilized everyone to look for Aunt Fang and Boss Fang.
An hour later, Xiao Heng and Zhao Yancheng found the two people in the thorny vines on the seashore downstream.
The two of them were soaking in the sea water and were entangled by thorny vines. The exposed skin was soaked and turned white and blistered.
Xiao Heng and Zhao Yancheng took great effort to pull the two people up.
Both of them were carrying cloth bags.
Xiao Heng's face darkened.
Untie their pockets and unfold them to cover their faces.
After this happened, Xiao Heng felt extremely heavy-hearted. He had been busy guarding the east gate these days and had neglected what was happening at the beach.
Who could have imagined that someone would go to the beach in the dark to collect salt? The tide was high at night during this period. No one knew what had happened to them that they fell into the sea and were washed into the thorny vines on the west side.
Xiao Heng checked Boss Fang's body and finally found a bite mark on his leg. At first he thought it was caused by a collision, but after looking carefully, he found that it was caused by something biting him.
Xiao Heng frowned, probably having a guess.
It must have been when they were collecting salt at the beach that something attacked them during the high tide, biting Boss Fang's leg and dragging him into the water. His mother must have reached out to pull him and was pulled into the water.
As for why it finally went to the thorny vines in the west, that was probably where the thing rested temporarily.
Xiao Heng had heard people say before that there was a kind of fish in the sea that specialized in eating carrion. This fish would definitely wait for the meat to rot before eating it if they were left there.
It’s chilling to think about it.
The news that Aunt Fang and Boss Fang fell into the sea and drowned quickly spread throughout the village, and everyone was in panic. Although Aunt Fang was disliked by many people in the village, it was really scary to see two living people die in the sea overnight.
Fang Laoer rushed to his mother and elder brother. He crawled over on his knees, his hands shaking badly.
"Mother, look, if you had listened to my advice last night and not gone to the seashore to collect salt, wouldn't everything be fine? Alas! It's my fault too. If I had gone with you, maybe this wouldn't have happened."
He knelt there, buried his head in his arms, and spoke incoherently. At the end, he fell silent and knelt there, refusing to get up.
No one knew how to persuade him. He had lost two loved ones at once. Just when life had a little hope, this happened. No matter what they said, it seemed pale and powerless because the person was gone.
Moreover, the death of Aunt Fang and Boss Fang might have an impact on their relatives in the capital, and this is what everyone is thinking.
Some people even wanted to see whether their relatives in the capital would be punished for this.
After examining the bodies, General Wang silently wrote something down in the book. Finally, he closed the book and said, "They didn't commit suicide. There's no need to report it. Brother Fang, please accept my condolences!"
After Master Wang finished speaking, he reached out and patted Fang Laoer gently on the shoulder.
The crowd refused to disperse for a long time. Seeing this, Xiao Heng pondered for a moment before speaking, "Fellow villagers, no one wants to see something like this happen. After Lord Wang's inspection just now, I'm sure he can figure out what happened."
After saying that, he looked at Master Wang Jun, and Master Wang Jun nodded to everyone.
"Fellow villagers, there is a kind of fish in the sea that likes to hunt on the beach. Wang saw that fish two years ago. It was this big, with two rows of teeth in its mouth. Everyone should try not to go to the beach at night. Recently, high tides are at night. If you walk along the beach, you will easily encounter that fish."
As Wang Junye spoke, he gestured with his hands to indicate the size. The women's hair stood on end and the men felt a chill down their spines.
Everyone thought the sea was too scary. Not only was there no bottom to be seen, it was also so huge, and there were even strange man-eating fish in it.
At this time, Fang Lao Er suddenly said, "Fellow villagers, my mother is jealous that you collect more salt than her. She is not convinced. She called my eldest brother and asked him to come and collect more salt at night when everyone is resting. Everyone, please don't learn from my mother and eldest brother. Listen to Miss Gu and her husband in the future. Although my mother and eldest brother are gone, I am very sad, but I know that they brought this upon themselves and cannot blame others."
After saying this, he called out to his mother and elder brother twice, wiped away his tears, got up, and went to borrow a cart from Madam Liu.
Finally, with the help of several men, they buried their mother and elder brother on the sloped field behind.
After Fang Laoer buried the man, he kowtowed and went to work with the other men. Xue Jun asked him to rest for a few days, but Fang Laoer shook his head and said he was fine.
Madam Du did not appear before Aunt Fang and Boss Fang were buried. After they were buried, Madam Du took Yun'er's hand and walked slowly to their graves with a cold face. She and the child kowtowed to them respectively, and then took the child back.
From beginning to end, Madam Du did not shed a single tear.
Almost all the young people in the village knew what kind of life Madam Du and her children lived, but the older people felt that Madam Du was a little too cruel. Her mother-in-law and husband died, but she didn't shed a single tear. Such a woman was too vicious.
She was still pregnant with Boss Fang's child, yet she was so cruel.
The older people gathered together and said that Madam Du was cruel.
Fang Laoer heard some rumors and went back to the house during lunch. He saw his sister-in-law lying in the side room, sleeping motionlessly. He was frightened and hurried in to see, only to find that his sister-in-law was just asleep.
He felt relieved and turned around gently. Just as he was about to leave, Madam Du, who was sleeping soundly, suddenly woke up, sat up, and looked at him with horror. After seeing his face clearly, Madam Du sighed.
"I thought it was your brother..."
Fang Lao Er's lips moved, and he finally said, "Sister-in-law, relax and take care of your health. Mother and my eldest brother are gone, and I won't let you, Yun'er, and the baby in your belly suffer. Just sleep peacefully, I'll rest for a while and then go back to work."
After saying that, he quickly went out, then returned and said, "Sister-in-law, you should move back to my room tonight. I'll sleep in the west room. The ceiling of this room is too low. It's too hot in this hot weather."
Madam Du nodded and said, "Okay, be more careful when you work."
Fang Laoer couldn't help but smile, then turned around and went out, gently closing the door for her.
Mrs. Du in the room lay down again. Knowing that the man who often tortured her and her mother-in-law were indeed gone, she breathed a sigh of relief and closed her eyes to continue sleeping.
After Aunt Fang and Boss Fang were buried, Xiao Heng called Zhao Yancheng and others that night and emphasized the matter, reminding everyone to protect themselves and never let such a thing happen again.
At the same time, Xiao Heng discussed with the three military lords and decided to find four more men from the village to take turns patrolling every night to prevent anyone from secretly going to the beach to collect salt.
Salt mining is a small matter, but an accident is a big deal.
No one let go of this matter. On the contrary, no one saw Gu Xiyue for three consecutive days, and many people started talking about it.
Except for Zhao Yancheng, Madam Liu, and Jun Ye, no one else knew that Gu Xiyue had left the Southern Wilderness to find a market. Xiao Heng had no intention of telling everyone about it at first.
She would be away for three to five days at the shortest, or ten days at the longest, and she would definitely come back. She would hide it for one day longer than the last. She would wander around the village every day anyway, so it was normal that some people couldn't see her.
After all, once everyone knew that she was out, it would definitely arouse everyone's suspicion.
In the past two days, many people didn't see Gu Xiyue at lunch and thought she was at home. When they went to deliver the sea salt in the evening, they didn't see her and thought she went wandering around the village. In addition, the incident between Aunt Fang and Boss Fang happened later.
While everyone was discussing, they suddenly realized that when Aunt Fang and Boss Fang got into trouble, almost everyone in the village went there, except Gu Xiyue.
No one had ever seen the chattering Meixiang beside her, or Wei Lin beside her husband.
Only then did everyone realize that something was wrong.
In addition, Zhao Yancheng selected more than ten people from the four groups and started building the ship. Miss Gu should not be absent from such an important matter. She is the backbone of everyone. With her around, everyone feels at ease.
So all kinds of suspicions arose.
"Could Miss Gu have escaped secretly?"
"Did she lie to us about what she said before?"
"Let us mine salt, dig the salt flats, build ships, keep us busy so she can sneak away."
"She must have known that we would be dead in a month. She couldn't think of a solution, so she quietly left."
"Yes, although we have food to eat every day, Madam Liu also said that the food is only enough for us to eat for more than 30 days."
"Besides, they say we'll be paid on the 25th of every month, but we have to wait until the 25th of the following month. If she doesn't come back by then, who are we going to ask for the money?"
“…”
At the beginning, no matter what they said, they still did what they had to do. Seeing Miss Gu's husband walking around every day, everyone felt a little more at ease.
When someone asked about Miss Gu, Xiao Heng smiled and said that Miss Gu had some things to deal with and would come out to see everyone in a few days.
The Southern Wilderness is so small, where can Miss Gu go?
She will come out in a few days, so where did she go?
Could it have gone into the sea or underground? It's impossible no matter how I think about it.
The only explanation is that she left Southern Wilderness, and took Meixiang and Wei Lin with her. Maybe she wanted Xiao Heng to cover their retreat so that he could find an opportunity to leave as well.
After all, they are family.
Some people also went to ask Zhao Yancheng and Liu Niangzi, but every time they were asked, they either remained silent or shook their heads, and knew nothing about anything.
Before, Miss Gu always discussed everything with them, and if they didn’t even know, there must be a problem.
On the fourth day, the topic of discussion was no longer the Fang family, but Miss Gu.
Some people even blamed the deaths of Aunt Fang and Boss Fang on Miss Gu, saying that if she hadn't asked everyone to collect sea salt, Aunt Fang and Boss Fang wouldn't have gone out to collect salt in the dark at night. If they hadn't gone in the dark, they wouldn't have encountered the man-eating monster fish, and if they hadn't encountered the monster fish, they wouldn't have been dragged into the sea and drowned.
Public opinion was like wild weeds, sprouting and growing wildly in everyone's hearts. Even if Fang Lao Er came out in person to defend Gu Xiyue, he couldn't suppress their gossip.
The older people also accused Fang Laoer, saying that he was heartless. Even when his mother and elder brother died, he didn't show much grief on his face. They also said that his sister-in-law was even more heartless.
They curse at everything.
Most people have no intention of working and have lost confidence in the future. At the end of the whole day, their work efficiency is less than half of yesterday's.
Some people also said that Zhao Yancheng and his men built the ship in order to escape. Someone looked at the skeleton of the ship and found that it was not very big after it was built, and it certainly could not accommodate all the people in the Southern Wilderness.
Although Zhao Yancheng told everyone that the ship was used to transport salt, once everyone determined that it was used by Zhao Yancheng and his men to escape, no one believed what he said.
Some people were desperate and thought that they would not live long anyway, so they secretly destroyed the newly built skeleton at night. If they had not been discovered by Wang Hu and another man who were on night patrol, the skeleton that Zhao Yancheng and his men had worked so hard to build over the past few days would have been destroyed.
The man who destroyed the boat was immediately tied up and severely scolded by Zhao Yancheng.
Xiao Heng, Zhao Yancheng and others gathered everyone in the stadium overnight and gave them a good comfort.
After comforting them, the situation improved a little, but the work efficiency could not be improved at all. Xiao Heng saw it and was anxious. He could not tell the truth to everyone at this time. Even if he told them that Gu Xiyue left the Southern Wilderness to find sales channels, most people would not believe it.
By then, it will only be more chaotic.
The only solution now is to hope that Gu Xiyue will come back soon so that everyone's speculation will be dispelled.
Three days after Gu Xiyue left, Xiao Heng began to stand guard at the east entrance every night, ready to pick her up at any time.
I thought the situation would be fine for a few days after the villagers were pacified, but just after the hour of Yin on the sixth morning, Xiao Heng was on duty when he suddenly heard a muffled sound in the west, followed by a fire.
Xiao Heng secretly said that something was wrong. At the same time, the three soldiers who were sleeping also got up to see what was going on.
Xiao Heng quickly asked Hu Mazi and General Li to guard the east entrance, and he and the other two generals quickly ran over there.
Xiao Heng even ignored his identity and deployed light power to go over first.
When he got there, the scene before him made him clench his fists.
Someone surrounded the ship's frame with hay, stole a jar of oil from the canteen, poured it on the hay, and prepared to burn the ship's frame. However, after the fire was lit, the jar of oil also caught fire, and when it was turned upside down, a muffled sound was heard.
At this time, the hay under the ship's frame was burning wildly. Xiao Heng didn't care about catching the people who were burning the ship. He quickly used his kung fu to kick away the burning hay under the ship's frame. He was very fast and circled around the ship's frame in a spiral, kicking away all the burning hay.
The noise tonight was quite loud, and almost everyone in the village was awakened. Men and women came out to see what was happening, and the ship frame was soon surrounded by people.
There were three people who set the fire. They were kicked to the ground by Wang Hu and the military officer who arrived later. One of them was Jiang Bing, the man who wanted to destroy the ship's skeleton the day before yesterday. The other two were his neighbors.
It turned out that tonight, while everyone was asleep, the two of them sneaked into the room where Jiang Bing was imprisoned and secretly released him. After the three of them made a plan, they split up and acted separately. One of them went to the cafeteria to steal oil, and the other two went to collect hay to prepare to burn the boat.
There are only two people patrolling the seashore at night, and it is impossible for them to guard the ship frame all the time.
They carefully laid out the hay, spending almost an hour there, and started to light the fire as soon as the oil arrived.
Fortunately, Xiao Heng arrived in time and the ship's frame had not yet burned, there were only some black marks from smoke on the bottom.
But after Xiao Heng turned around, a small corner of his clothes was burned and his hair was a little messy, but the rest of his body was intact.
The three arsonists were dumbfounded when they saw Xiao Heng putting out the fire. They had never imagined that Xiao Heng's kung fu was so advanced. When they were kicked down and thrown back, the three of them were trembling with fear.
They knew that with Xiao Heng's skills, it would be effortless for him to take their lives.
Although he knew that there would be no other way out and he would only die after a month, the fear of being killed on the spot was still very obvious.
The sea breeze was very strong, and the kicked-up hay formed a circle on the outside of the boat, burning wildly. Xiao Heng stood in the middle, his hair blown up, the firelight reflected on his half-smile face, and his eyes revealed a murderous light.
He stood there with his hands behind his back, his clothes fluttering, and a murderous aura emanating from him, just like the King of Hell who was taking lives.
The three people knelt in front of him, unable to lift their heads because of the suppression of his kingly demeanor.
People instantly understood what had happened. Looking at Xiao Heng, who was completely different from his usual gentle self, they all stood outside the circle of fire and no one dared to speak.
Even those gossipy women lowered their heads and didn't even dare to look at Xiao Heng.
"My husband and I risked our lives to ensure that our fellow villagers could live well, to solve your food and livelihood problems, and this is how you repay us."
"Tonight, if anyone is tired of living, just come out. The sea is over there. If you want to die, just jump in!"
"Didn't you say that whether you die early or late, it's all death? Didn't you say that my wife escaped on her own and you couldn't survive?"
"Then die now! The sooner you die, the sooner you will be reborn!"
Xiao Heng spoke in a loud voice, pointing his finger at the sea as he spoke.
After waiting for a long time, no one spoke and no one came out.
Seeing this, Xiao Heng raised his head and laughed, with a hint of evil charm on his handsome face.
"Do you know what this ship was built for?"
Xiao Heng was heartbroken. "This is used to transport salt, understand?"
After this sentence was spoken, everyone was shocked. Zhao Yancheng had said the same thing at first, but they didn't believe it. Now Xiao Heng also said the same thing.
"You want to destroy it? Do you know what you want to destroy?"
Still no one spoke. After a long while, Jiang Bing slowly raised his head and said weakly, "Then tell me, where did Miss Gu go? Why haven't I seen her these past few days?"
"Did she really escape?"
After Jiang Bing asked this question, everyone looked up at Xiao Heng, waiting for his answer.
"Who said I ran away?"
Outside the crowd, Gu Xiyue, dressed in black, came quickly. Her silky hair was tied high behind her head, dancing wildly behind her with the sea breeze.
Soon, she walked through the crowd, entered the circle of fire, and came to Xiao Heng.
She looked at Xiao Heng carefully, her eyes moved, and whispered to him, "Husband, you have worked hard these days!"
After saying that, she put away her smile and turned to look at the villagers outside the circle of fire.
He asked in a cold voice: "Fellow villagers, those of you who said I ran away, please stand up!"
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