Chapter 40: Ordinary Man
"Before us, someone else had come here and searched through it. I don't know what she/he took from here."
The door of Gao's study was wide open, and all the drawers inside were pulled out, showing signs of having been rummaged through.
Even a locked cabinet was opened.
Ning Mingmei bent down to take a look and saw that the padlock had been cut.
Ning Mingmei asked: "Did you find anything missing in here?"
Eleven said, "There are a few empty spaces on the bookshelf. Dozens of books are missing. In others, perhaps a few valuable ornaments, banknotes, etc. are missing."
"That person came in and stole books?" Miss Jiang Yu wondered.
She could see that the inkstone and ink on the desk were of excellent quality. In addition, several large gold-inlaid ornaments were also very expensive. Stealing them and selling them can also be a huge source of income for the poor.
This is much more reasonable than moving books.
At the very least, there are a few antiques by the wall. That is, it is not easy to carry.
Luo Xiao, the most astute and capable, said, "There is an account book here that has not been taken away. It looks like it records the personnel transactions of the Gao Mansion."
After the evil ghost killed people, the Gao family ran away in a hurry, taking only a few land deeds and house deeds with them. One of the account books that was not taken away was also placed in the locked box.
The disciples continued their search. Ning Mingmei opened the account book and quickly found the entry he needed.
"In January of the 17th year of Jinghe, I spent X ounces of silver to purchase a 15-year-old girl named Wang."
"In June of the 17th year of Jinghe, I spent Y ounces of silver to purchase a 13-year-old girl from the Jiang family."
"In November of the 18th year of Jinghe, I spent Z taels of silver to purchase a 14-year-old girl named Li."
…
These accounts are the final records of the lives of the concubines of the young master of the Gao family who died.
These girls have no faces, but their ages are mostly between 14 and 16 years old. Moreover, as time goes by, the age of the girls being bought and sold becomes younger and younger.
The record for the youngest one stopped a year ago. This age is even younger, even only 13 years old.
The system heard Ning Mingmei sneer. It said: "What are you mocking?"
Ning Mingmei: "It started a few years ago, once every five months. This man's estrus comes according to a time period? He's really like a beast."
In terms of frequency, the tragically deceased Young Master Gao purchased a young girl every four to five months, but he stopped this behavior a year ago. What is even more incredible is that he died tragically at home a year after he stopped this behavior.
Luo Xiao looked at Ning Mingmei's face and said, "Master Ning Feng, there are a few more letters here. They should be useful."
Ning Mingmei was a little surprised: "You found it?"
With such a short period of time, could Luo Xiao finish reading all the letters in the study and quickly pick out a few letters containing high-value information?
This speed can be called quantum reading. It's such a shame that a talent like Luo Xiao is not accepted as a disciple of Piaomiao Peak and used to organize his mailbox!
What kind of innate google mail filter is this?
The cold beauty's eyes suddenly became a little warm. Luo Xiao, who inherited Shen Liwan's shrewdness and smoothness, blushed a little because of this... She stammered, "No. Most of the letters are placed in the unlocked box over there. Only these are placed in the locked box. That's why I think there is something wrong with them."
Ning Mingmei: “Oh.”
It seems that he has to do the job of organizing his mailbox himself.
It would be nice if I could find someone to help me sort out my mailbox in the future. It’s best to be a simple and honest person who has no one to rely on. It would be better if it was a girl again.
Girls are more reliable in doing things.
He took the letter from Luo Xiao and began to read.
The first letter was left by Mr. Gao for Young Master Gao.
"What are you doing? I don't care whether those women are dead or alive. But the town is already full of rumors. The mayor has also sent a letter to ask... If I find out that you are bringing shame to the Gao family again, I will skin you alive!"
To summarize: What Mr. Gao meant was that he estimated that Young Master Gao had some perverted habits. He didn't care about the fact that Young Master Gao wasted money on buying concubines, nor did he care about the death of his concubines.
But he was concerned about the rumors that this would cause in the town, so he told Master Gao to stop this behavior, or to be more gentle and not kill the girl too quickly, otherwise the mayor would come to ask questions.
In addition, he mentioned a sentence at the end.
"Think carefully about why you are still alive."
This is a strange thing to say.
The second letter was from the people of Ciyu Village to the Gao family. The content was to thank them for adopting the girl from the Salesian Village, and they would make good preparations and send a suitable girl over. Other kind-hearted people from wealthy families also came to their Ciyu Village to adopt children, and they would definitely not let the Gao family down.
The signature was five months ago.
The wit of this letter is quite obvious. On the surface, the people in Ciyu Village sympathized with the tragic fate of the young master of the Gao family who was unlucky in marriage and mother and therefore could not have children. At the same time, they promised that they would carefully select a healthy and pretty girl, who would definitely satisfy the young master of the Gao family.
As for what the dark side means, it is intriguing.
The second letter also came with a reply, written by Mr. Gao. In his reply, Mr. Gao lamented that his wife, Yang, had always been in good health, but when his son was ten years old, she suddenly fell ill and died on bed. His son had been weak and sickly since childhood. Fortunately, his health improved after he was ten years old, but he still had no offspring. Perhaps he will never have descendants in this life.
The other letters contained some business and accounting secrets of the Gao family, some of which contained some dirty information.
Ning Mingmei: "This is getting interesting."
How could those letters just now be placed here with these confidential letters?
In addition, there are a few letters at the bottom, with yellowed paper.
It looks like something from a long time ago.
This stack of things was different from the other letters. It looked like a pile of ordinary family letters. The signature date was twenty years ago. There are a few more letters from thirty years ago.
A family letter from twenty years ago...it was written exactly when Master Gao was ten years old.
Ning Mingmei first looked at the one thirty years ago. As soon as he browsed the contents, he twitched his eyebrows.
Several disciples kept staring at Ning Mingmei's expression. Ning Mingmei's expression at this moment can be described as extremely "funny", which completely ruins his character.
The system's cold voice came again: "Your character is ruined. Is it that funny?"
It is still in a bad mood and refuses to respond.
Ning Mingmei said leisurely: "It's not that funny. Just a common male joke."
The content of the letter from thirty years ago can be summed up in one paragraph.
Mr. Gao, who lives in a wealthy family, has a very difficult time taking care of his stomach. Even though he married a wife with extremely good health, it still took him ten full years of seeking medical treatment and medication before he gave birth to a son.
Moreover, he spent half of his family fortune to buy this medicine from Minghua Valley. The middleman even wrote him a letter, asking him not to tell anyone about this.
We must never let the world know that Minghuagu is secretly selling aphrodisiacs to mortals. The tone was extremely serious, and if you didn't know, you would think that World War III was about to break out.
In particular, he also mentioned: "Don't let the people from Yinbing Pavilion or Qiushi Sect know about this."
Ning Mingmei commented on this: "Such a way to make money, but instead of promoting it, he actually kept it a secret. It shows that the owner of Minghua Valley has no business acumen."
system:……
Damn it, I’d rather be electrocuted to death.
Although the drug only worked this time. But Mr. Gao treated this rare son like a treasure. But when Master Gao was ten years old, disaster struck again.
After all, it was medicine that gave birth to the child. When Master Gao was ten years old, he suddenly fell seriously ill and was bedridden. Mr. Gao went everywhere to seek medical treatment and medicine. These letters were used to communicate with his relatives.
Content: Thank you for your concern. My wife and I are in good health, but Xiao Gao's situation is really worrying. I only have this one son in my life, and he is my life. I'd give my life in exchange for him! My wife also cried every day, just for our son's recovery.
The earnest words were enough to move anyone, except Ning Mingmei, whose eyebrows trembled the more he read.
The system couldn't help but ask: "Don't you feel sorry for him?"
I had a son in my old age, but I almost lost him. All things in the mirror and water are nothing in the end.
Ning Mingmei: "Pity him? It's better to pity his wife. This story tells us that if a woman must choose a mate, she should do a premarital checkup before choosing a mate. Pitying a sperm-free man will bring bad luck to herself."
system:……
Ning Mingmei turned to the last letter and frowned after opening it.
When the disciples saw Ning Mingmei's expression suddenly become serious, they also became nervous.
What happened in this letter? Luo Xiao pondered.
No. Just the opposite.
The problem is solved.
Based on the information in the letter, Ning Mingmei pieced together the contents of the previous letter. Master Gao said that just when they were at their wits' end, a medicine practitioner passed by. Although Yao Xiu hid his identity, Mr. Gao could see that he was from Minghua Valley because he had done business with Minghua Valley.
Under their earnest request, Yao Xiu agreed to give them a try.
"Your virtue is bad, and you are destined to be childless." The medicine cultivator said, "But I just happened to refine something. If you insist, you can try the medicine for me."
He gave him a bead that smelled of medicine.
In the letter, Mr. Gao did not say how to use the beads, he only said that thanks to the immortal's magical medicine, his son's condition was improving day by day.
That's all.
There was just one thing that Ning Mingmei already knew, but was not mentioned in the letter.
A few months later, Mr. Gao's wife, who had always been in good health, died of illness.
All information ends here. Ning Mingmei held the letters in his hands and pondered.
"This seems to be quite clear." The male disciple of Jixian Peak said, "Young Master Gao had some special hobbies when he was alive, and he liked young girls. The female ghost who is asking for his life is probably one of Young Master Gao's concubines, who was abused to death when she was alive. There were several others who were abused to death like her before. As more people died, the aura here changed. Her resentment did not subside, so she turned into a fierce ghost."
"So that's how the adopted daughter came about - Master Gao couldn't control his fetish..." Miss Jiang Yu said, revealing a bit of disgust, "In name he adopted a daughter, but in reality he did it to satisfy his own desires. He wanted to take action, but this time the heavens couldn't stand it. The evil spirit killed him."
"Those members of the Gao family all know what sins they have committed. Now that the door of death has been opened, of course they ran away in a hurry. They also spent a lot of money to let us come and get rid of the ghost." Eleven concluded.
"You committed a sin and you ask us to come and kill ghosts? Pah. What a bastard!" The hot-tempered Sixteen couldn't hold back any longer and started cursing.
Ye Ling, another female disciple of Jixian Peak, said: "If the evil spirit didn't kill anyone, it would be fine. If her consciousness has completely become chaotic, we can only eliminate her."
"...You can also try salvation."
"Normally in this situation, she wouldn't cooperate, right?"
"Okay." Ning Mingmei said, "It's almost midnight. This is when the yin energy is at its heaviest. Let's go hide in Master Gao's yard and wait for the opportunity."
?
Everyone was stunned. Seventeen asked: "Isn't that evil spirit Master Gao's concubine? Why is it in Master Gao's yard?"
"The wedding was held in a grand sedan chair with eight bearers. The one who had such a scene looked more like a different person than a concubine." Ning Mingmei said, "Mr. Gao's first wife who 'died early'."
As for those country girls who were sent in as concubines, they were nothing more than objects of these wealthy families. How could they deserve such treatment?
Come in quietly and die quietly. There was no wind or waves from the time we came to the time we left.
Several disciples were stunned and doubtful, but still obediently followed Ning Mingmei's arrangements.
"Master Ning Feng has been in seclusion for many years and doesn't care about worldly affairs. Can we trust what he says?" Luo Xiao still had doubts.
She said to the middle to late stage male disciple of Jixian Peak, "Wang Cheng, you and Li Yao should go to Young Master Gao's courtyard and guard it for a while."
Li Yao said: "Sister Luo, that corpse is scary!"
Luo Xiao: "What's so scary? He's dead, and he's still a mortal. He won't get up and attack you. Do you look like a foundation-building cultivator?"
Li Yao muttered to himself, but still reluctantly followed Wang Cheng to the backyard.
Ning Mingmei was still flipping through the books in the study. He said: "Not only did they steal money, they also stole books. It's interesting."
Is this person who came in really an ordinary thief?
He looked at the bookshelf, wondering what kind of books had been taken away, but he realized that Eleven and Fifteen had not left.
"What's the matter?" Ning Mingmei said.
Fifteen hesitated and said, "Master. You asked us to collect the body in the belly of the mutant snake. Didn't I say before that there was still a body that no one claimed?"
yes. When we were in that village, there was still a body that no one claimed. Considering the possibility that the mutant snake might eat passers-by, everyone at that time just treated him as an unlucky guy passing by and buried him nearby.
Fifteen said, "I saw the clothes that the servants wore in Gao's house. The clothes that the corpse wore were exactly the same as those worn by the Gao family's servants."
Ning Mingmei: "Servants of the Gao family?"
Instead of following the Gao family to escape to their relatives' home, he carried his package and took a detour, running along a mountain road?
What is the purpose of this servant?
It's not like he thought he took advantage of the chaos to steal something valuable from the Gao family and then ran away, right?
This valuable thing must be quite valuable in the eyes of that servant. Otherwise, he would not have taken the risk of being eaten by wild beasts and stolen it away alone.
Ning Mingmei's eyelids suddenly twitched.
There was also the Gao family's massive retreat, and they didn't even have time to collect all the things in the study.
If it was just a female ghost claiming their life, would they run so fast?
Suddenly, Ning Mingmei remembered the bead in the big snake's belly.
Medicine beads.
The young master of the Gao family who was on the verge of death and then resurrected. The details of the deaths of several young concubines are unclear. There is also the Minghua Valley medicine practitioner who came to the Gao family twenty years ago and did not want to reveal his name.
And drug testing.
There was suddenly a commotion outside the door.
"Here it comes." someone said.
The author has something to say:
Someone named Gui is coming too.
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