Zheng Ronghua was stunned by his words, "My lord, what do these thin lines represent?"
” "When lead and tin attach to the bone, it forms such a thin line, so it is an important evidence to prove that the human body is poisoned."
"So these people were poisoned with lead and tin?"
Zheng Ronghua nodded in admiration, and just wanted to pat a few more sycophants, but was interrupted by Liu Xujiao.
"Lord Zheng, tonight I have to bother you and your subordinates, you have to investigate several surrounding villages door to door overnight to see if there are any people who disappeared two years ago or have not returned home for several years, if there is, let the family members come over to compare the bones, this matter needs to be fast, there must be no delay."
"Your subordinates will do it, but your lord, this place is remote, or you go back to the city to rest first, and then your subordinates will let people inform you when you have the result."
Liu Xujiao waved his hand, "Don't be so troublesome, I'll just rest at a fellow's house tonight, and you have to report back immediately if you have the result, don't waste time." ” It was late at night, but Liu Xuzhu was tossing and turning in bed, unable to fall asleep, he thought of the more than 20 corpses under the vegetable shed, and his heart couldn't calm down for a long time: such a large-scale murder, why didn't people in several villages know about it?
And the murderer cleverly buried the body in the cemetery, if it weren't for such a sudden flash flood, it can be said that the possibility of being found by others was completely blocked.
This murderer is so cunning, who could he be?
What grudge does he have with these men, that he will put them all to death?
Thinking about it, he felt that one side of his head gradually hurt, the pain came very violently, and after a while, the green tendons on the left temple jumped suddenly, Liu Xujiao had not eaten dinner, and he felt a wave of nausea in his chest when he was tossed like this, and he got up and walked to the courtyard, and a mouthful of bitter water with sourness had spurted out of his mouth.
He clutched his chest and gasped for a long time, then walked to the water tank, scooped a scoop of water and swallowed it.
Just about to go back to the house, I heard a "woo" cry behind me, the sound was very soft, intermittent, blown by the wind, and soon disappeared without a trace.
He turned around and saw a vague figure standing in his room, he couldn't see his appearance clearly, he could only vaguely distinguish that he was wearing a blue cloth dress, and raised an arm at Liu Xujiao, "Go home and go home" Liu Xuzhu took two steps forward, and when he saw that his face was blurred, he knew that he had met a ghost in the middle of the night, so Zhengse said, "Tell me, who killed you, I can avenge you and send your soul back to your hometown." ” Hearing this, the figure shook lightly twice, and spit out two words intermittently, "he, he" "Who is he?"
The figure stopped talking, and its body was swaying from side to side by the night wind, as if it could be swept away by the wind at any time.
"If you are afraid to speak, write it down."
Liu Xujiao reminded him in a whisper.
When the man heard this, he crouched down, his fingers gently scratching on the ground.
The courtyard door was opened with a "bang", and Zheng Ronghua ran in breathlessly, "My lord, I found it, there are really people in the village who disappeared two years ago." ” Liu Xuzhu was startled by him, looked into the house, but found that the figure was gone, he ran into the house in three steps and two steps, and saw a stall of water stains on the ground that had not yet dried up, and the water marks were crooked to form a word: long.
"Long."
He pronounced the word, thinking about it in his mind over and over again.
"My lord, did you hear what I said?
Someone in the village disappeared two years ago.
Zheng Ronghua repeated word by word on the side.
"I'm not deaf, of course I hear."
Liu Xuzhu interrupted him impatiently, secretly blaming him for his recklessness in his heart, if he could be late for a while, maybe the unjust soul would be able to finish writing.
"Whose family is it?"
"That man's name is Xu Shan, and he hasn't been back since he left home three years ago."
"He has been missing for so long, why didn't his family report it?"
"Xu Shan is keen on cultivating the Tao, and before leaving, he told his family that he would practice with his teacher and that he might never come back, so his family did not report to the official."
"Practice?"
Liu Xuzhu repeated these two words, then turned his head to look at Zheng Ronghua, "Is Xu Shan's family here?"
” "Just wait outside the door."
Liu Xuzhu walked out of the courtyard with Zheng Ronghua, and saw an old couple guarding outside, both of them with their backs bent, their hands shrunk in the torn cuffs, and when the wind blew, the two old bodies shook with the wind, like yellow leaves on a tree.
Liu Xuzhu couldn't bear it, he walked quickly to the two of them, "Old man, please sit inside first." ” Xu Shan's old father raised his head, "My lord, I heard that the bones dug up in the grave may be my family's mountain, so let me identify them." ” "However, these bones are all bones left, and I'm afraid it's hard to identify."
Xu Shan's mother suddenly cried, "If it were Shan'er, I would definitely be able to recognize him, he is different from others, he was born with an extra finger, my lord, please let us take a look." ” Hearing the thrilling cry coming from the vegetable shed, Liu Xujiao knew that the identity of one of the corpses had been confirmed.
He stood outside, silently waiting for the crying to die down before he walked in.
Xu Shan's parents collapsed on the ground, sobbing quietly, and when they saw Liu Xuzhu coming in, they came to him on their knees and crawled, pulling the hem of his clothes, "My lord, the child died unjustly, please make the decision for the villain." ” Liu Xuzhu helped them up one by one, "Old man, did Xu Shan tell you where he went before leaving?"
” Xu Shan's father wiped away his old tears, "This child was born with more fingers than others, so he was always laughed at by other children, when he grew up, he was bent on cultivating and practicing, and then he was not bullied by others, the first few years were okay, he went to live in the Taoist temple for a few months every year, and after he came back, his body was also a lot stronger, and his personality was more cheerful than before, and the two of us were very pleased to see him like this."
But later, he spent more and more time away from home, not staying at home for a few days a year, and people were always depressed, and every time he asked him what was wrong, he would flicker, and he was reluctant to say.
But the last time he left home, he told us something. ” "What did he say?"
"He was very happy that day, compared to the depression of this year, it was very abnormal, I asked him what was so happy, he said that there was something that had plagued them for many years and was finally going to be achieved, and he said that the emperor lived up to his heart, and a drop of water could wear a stone or something.
When asked again, he didn't say anything, but only told us that it would take a long time to go, and that it was possible that he would never come back, so let's not worry about him. ” Liu Xujiao looked at him fixedly, "Old man, did you just say 'them'?"
”