Mad Dog Case
Under the Green Lady's watchful eye, snowflakes drifted down, leaving long carriage tracks along the wide dirt road. Following the tracks for only five or six miles, a large stone tablet half a man's height stood beside the dirt road, with the words "Qingshui Town" engraved in red ink.
The town is bustling with life, small but well-equipped, and its inhabitants appear simple and kind. While not as extravagant and bustling as the Kyoto streets of Liangzhu, it's certainly lively.
People passing by would steal glances at her from time to time. Yuanli looked down at her Miao skirt, which seemed a bit out of place in the crowd.
Yuanli didn't think about it any more. The child next to her wearing foreign clothes attracted her attention. His clothes and appearance were somewhat similar to the foreign countries her father had mentioned.
I saw that he had a broad shoulder pole on his thin shoulders. The curved shape of the pole showed how heavy it was, but he looked calm, as if he had been used to it for a long time. If he was born in a Miao village, he would never have to bear the burden of life at such a young age.
The contents of the basket were covered with a clean rag to protect them from being eroded by the wind and snow. Behind the child was a blind old man with gray hair.
He stopped at a place under the eaves, put the pole down steadily, and then carefully folded the rags. The blind old man groped his way to sit down with a thick wooden stick, and the young man covered him with the rags to keep him warm.
Under the rags, exquisite bamboo woven gadgets came into view. Passersby slowed down their pace to pay attention, but in the end they just shook their heads and sighed after taking a few glances and left.
Yuanli stepped forward and picked up an exquisite small bamboo basket, placed it in front of her to measure it, and estimated that it could hold a human head, which was just the right size for picking up poisonous insects.
The weaving technique used in the bamboo basket is not complicated, and is basically the same as the weaving method of the bamboo baskets sold on the street market. However, it is inexpensive and of good quality. Moreover, the cross-body backpack is tied with a braid woven from floral cloth, which adds a touch of bright color to the ordinary bamboo basket.
Yuanli was very satisfied and paid the money readily. As soon as she squatted down, the Cuju exposed on the edge of the bamboo basket caught her attention. While she was stunned, the child thanked her and interrupted her memories.
Thinking of the cause planted by Cuju in the previous life, Yuanli lost interest and quickly left the stall.
Seeing that it was almost noon, the hunger was coming on. Yuanli wanted to buy a meat bun to fill her stomach. As soon as she approached the stall, the stall owner waved her away impatiently and said, "Closing the stall, closing the stall, no more sales."
Yuanli stopped there and went to another pancake stall, but when the owner saw her approaching, he hid in the back kitchen of the shop as if he was avoiding the plague.
When she looked back, she saw that all the vendors around her had put away their food and were busy working, afraid to meet her gaze. Yuanli was a little confused and had to give up looking for food.
However, not only the food, but even the inn in the town refused her offers, as if they had spoken with one voice. Thinking back to the strange looks the townspeople had given her when she entered the town, and now their fear of being linked to her, Yuanli began to wonder.
The crowd suddenly became noisy. A few soldiers pushed the people ferociously and rushed through the crowd. They went straight to the stall of the foreign child not far away. With disgust on their faces, they kicked over the bamboo basket.
"You are openly defying the laws of our Western Frontier. Arrest him!"
The child was obviously frightened. He clenched the corners of his clothes with his hands in panic. Helplessness was in his eyes. He stammered softly, "I'm honest and doing business. You, what right do you have to arrest me?"
"You still dare to quibble? Beat me!"
As the leading officer gave orders, the accompanying soldiers pinned the child to the ground, cursing at him, punching and kicking him, but the child didn't even scream.
The white-haired old man sitting there seemed to sense something was wrong. He leaned on his crutch with one hand and felt around with the other hand and asked worriedly, "Grandson, why is there so much noise around here? Is someone causing trouble?"
The child's mouth was bleeding, but he endured the pain and pretended to be relaxed, saying, "No, there's a fight going on over there. Don't worry, Grandpa, just sit still and don't move to avoid getting hurt by them."
After hearing this, the white-haired old man looked solemn and said, "Well, fists have no eyes, so you should stay away from them, grandson."
The people around seemed to have become indifferent and just watched from afar with cold and numb eyes, as if they were afraid of getting into trouble themselves. No one stood up to speak for the child. Yuanli couldn't bear to watch this.
"That's enough! Bullying an unarmed person is nothing. He's just a newcomer from another place, so he's naturally unfamiliar with the laws of the Western Frontier. If you want to fight him, you should explain clearly what he did wrong."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present began to whisper and discuss, with disgust in their eyes.
"Little girl, you came down from that ghost mountain, didn't you? Everyone knows that Cuju was enshrined as a national treasure when the empress passed away. It was the token of love between the emperor and the empress. Selling a national treasure is punishable by death according to the law. Not to mention beating him to death, I, the general, will behead him on the spot today and no one will dare to say anything."
After saying that, the officers and soldiers caught the child. The white-haired old man seemed to realize the danger. He leaned on his crutches and kept groping forward with his hands to find his grandson.
The officers and soldiers handcuffed the children, including the white-haired old man. Seeing this, the child started crying in panic. The scene was a bit chaotic and the onlookers retreated one after another.
After hesitating for a moment, Yuanli grabbed the child, and while struggling with the soldiers, the dried scorpion in her sleeve fell out.
"She can use Gu!"
Someone in the crowd exclaimed, and the listeners' eyes were filled with fear and their faces were filled with grief and anger. Countless vegetable leaves and rotten eggs flew from the noisy crowd and hit her.
"Get out! How dare you come here? This filthy thing from Ghost Mountain must be the one who caused the rabies!"
"She made the poisonous insects. It must be her! It must be her!"
The lady who was speaking looked excited. She picked up a stone from somewhere and threw it at her. When Yuanli reacted, it was too late. The stone hit the thin bone of her shoulder accurately.
Yuanli clutched her shoulder in pain. Seeing this, her mother was filled with mixed feelings of joy and sorrow. Looking at the gray sky, she wept with joy, "Son, I have finally avenged you. Those Gu Masters deserve to die!"
With the leader taking the lead, the onlookers followed suit and threw more things at her.
Before escaping, Yuanli worriedly looked for the child and the white-haired old man, intending to escape together.
The laws of the Western Frontier cannot be changed. Even if you violate the law, as long as you do not commit any crime, the crime is not punishable by death. Saving a life is saving a life.
However, the child also stood on the opposite side, imitating those people who hated evil and cursed her, and threw rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs at her.
But now, everyone seemed to have forgotten the sinner who had just violated the law, as if she had done something against the will of heaven, and their eyes looked as if they wanted to skin her alive and tear out her tendons.
Yuanli looked helpless, hesitantly looking around, looking for a chance to escape. Through the bustling crowd, while they were bending down to pick up things to throw at her, Yuanli saw the familiar back. It was the child running away with the white-haired old man.
Disappointment and a feeling of powerlessness surged in her heart. These were the sentient beings she pitied. There must be something hateful about pitiful people. You could save their bodies, but you couldn't save their roots.
A trembling old man rushed out from the crowd, holding a broken bench and walking towards her with his eyes wide open. His eyes were fixed on the dried floating scorpion on the ground, and his hands holding the broken bench were shaking.
Even though he was walking with such difficulty, it still couldn't stop him. Looking at the precious Dugan floating scorpion, Yuanli quickly picked it up and held it in the palm of his hand.
Dried floating scorpions are not easy to find. They grow on the dangerous cliffs of Youlian Waterfall. The cliffs are uneven and covered with mosses, making them slippery. If you slip while picking them, you will be killed by the protruding scorched rocks. Even if you are lucky, you will be drowned.
Therefore, her parents never let her go near Youlian Waterfall to look for floating scorpions. She secretly collected them for three years just to catch this one.
Yuanli wiped the dust off the dried scorpion as if it were a treasure. When she lowered her head, the weak old man smashed the broken bench in his hand to the ground, and the bench broke into pieces.
"Crazy... rabid dog, another, another rabid dog!"
In an instant, the old man crawled on the ground, barking like a dog, but his movements and postures were very strange.
Yuanli put away the dried floating scorpion with a calm look in her eyes. She had never seen a Gu that could make people go crazy and bark wildly in the Gu books, but she had heard of hundreds of monsters that could control people's words and actions.
"Yes, it was her! She picked up a bug from the ground, and Old Sun immediately went crazy."
"She is the murderer! Run..."
With screams, everyone fled in all directions. Old Sun, who had turned into a mad dog, chased after people barking wildly like a frightened wild dog. Several people whose legs were not nimble were bitten by him until pieces of flesh were torn off.
To protect herself, Yuanli fled in the direction of Qingshui River. It was only afternoon, so she needed to stay in the town and wait for the opportunity.
As everyone was running away, a fat lady came running towards them facing the opposite direction. She was agile and nimble and dodged everyone except those who bumped into her shoulder.
Yuanli was knocked backwards, and was about to make direct contact with the ground when the fat lady suddenly turned around and grabbed her shoulders to steady her.
"Miss, I'm sorry..."
The old lady stared at her without blinking and grinned, which was creepy. Yuanli was about to respond, but before she could finish her words, the old lady ran away again.
Beneath the withered branches of a willow tree on the bank of the Qingshui River, Yuanli randomly picked up a boat awning and hid in the cargo box. Mad Dog Old Sun did not catch up with her. The bank of the Qingshui River was quiet and deserted. The only sound beside her ears was the whistling of the wind, and waves on the water surface blew the thin ice against the boat wall.
At the stern of the cargo hold, Yuanli sat huddled on the ground with her knees hugged, her lips purple from the cold, shivering and hugging her arms. There were still more than two hours left, and the night wind was getting stronger. If she could hold on until nightfall, she would die on the ship.
This Qingshui Town is extremely strange, with ghost mountains, rabies, damned Gu masters... everything is full of doubts.
The more bizarre a place is, the more likely it is to have monsters, and where there are monsters, there are jade hairpins!
When Yuanli was excited, a vague figure appeared in front of her eyes. Seeing a ghost in broad daylight was either a ghost or a ghost.
Everything is possible in this strange town. After all, I am just a weak mortal now, and I feel a little insecure.
She held her breath and suddenly looked up. Her limp body was covered with heads, each with an incomplete face and a tongue longer than their face. Their skin was waxy yellow, and their heads drooped like melted wax. Some of their eyeballs were half out of their sockets and stuck to the skin.
Yuanli was so disgusted by him that her stomach churned. She immediately stood up and ran down the boat awning, with the disgusting ghost floating behind her and chasing after her.
A carriage had stopped under the dead branches of a willow tree on the bank of the Qingshui River at some point, and a pair of large hands stretched out from behind the curtains towards her.
"Hold my hand if you want to live."
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