Dad, we are so stable, should we do something?

Seeing that the people still didn't believe him, Magistrate Tian continued, "I have already found out that the people in your county did not move away, but were deceived and moved to other places. If you want to rescue your family, it is best to explain the matter to me now, so that I can help you.

Besides, Manager Ma has already returned to the city and will never come here again.

"Really? The county magistrate is serious, or have they replaced him with someone else?" A villager spoke curiously, and accidentally said a few more words. He was warned by the eyes of several villagers around him, so he immediately covered his mouth and dared not say anything more.

County Magistrate Tian and others also saw their reactions and knew that the villagers must still be wary. After all, the prefect was still there, so it was reasonable for them not to dare to speak. During this period, Tian Yuheng observed the county magistrates and others and saw that the village chiefs did not check on them or ask for their opinions.

This preliminarily ruled out the suspicion that the county magistrate and others were important participants. They might have had no choice but to do so in order to save their lives.

County Magistrate Tian was somewhat disappointed that he thought that even after clearing out Manager Ma and other surveillance personnel in Shu County, the people were still not able to relax. So he just asked them to register the population that had left the village again to see if there were any new changes.

Not long after everyone registered and left, Ge Cunzheng from Xiaoniu Village turned back and said, "Mr. County Magistrate, can I borrow your toilet? I'm in a hurry and I can't help it."

"Muramasa, go ahead." Magistrate Tian was a little surprised that he came back, but he didn't think much about it. Unexpectedly, Muramasa cleared his throat and said, "Which location is it? Can you please show me the way?"

Tian Yuheng immediately understood Muramasa's intention and replied, "Here, I'll take Ge Muramasa with me. Let's go."

In fact, Gecunzheng wanted to reveal the information to the county magistrate when he returned this time, but he was also afraid that the people in the county were unreliable. If it weren't for the fact that County Magistrate Tian had stayed in their village for so long and helped the villagers do this and that on weekdays, even if the villagers did not tell the county magistrate the truth, the county magistrate would still help everyone, which shows his sincerity and that he is a good county magistrate.

But the final reason why he wanted to speak out was because Gecunzheng's youngest son was also taken away by their people half a year ago. His wife cried every day and became more and more haggard. He was really afraid that she would go crazy one day. He still wanted to take a gamble and believed that the county magistrate could help them find their son. Even if it was just a corpse in the end, it was better than the torment today.

The two walked to the inner court, and Tian Yuheng took him to a secluded place. Seeing that the place was suitable, Gecunzheng finally said, "Young Master, I have something to tell you. I hope you can help me pass it to Magistrate Tian."

"Katsumura Masa, you can say whatever you want."

"I'll be frank with you. In fact, we all know what Magistrate Tian wants to investigate. Let's talk about my village. Since the county magistrate here died suddenly a few years ago, I don't know why the court never arranged a new county magistrate. Maybe it was because of the turmoil on the border at that time. We ordinary people don't understand the affairs of the court.

In short, ever since the county magistrate left our county, there have been inexplicable decreases in people in our county. At first, they were beggars or people with no family, people that no one noticed and no one would notice.

Afterwards, the population of each village began to decrease. After all, our villages were intermarried, and it was inevitable to visit relatives during the New Year. The news spread like this.

Later, we jointly reported the case to the prefectural office. The prefect accepted our complaint and sent people to each village the next day. We thought they were here to investigate the case, but who would have thought it was a death warrant. They directly arrested the children of several of our leading families and warned us not to talk too much.

The sons of the families we started with were all arrested last time. Who of us dares to say anything anymore?" As Katsura Masaru spoke, tears began to flow unconsciously.

"Later, because the war somehow came to our place, almost all the people in one village were captured. The prefect reported these young people to the government to make up the number, so that our small population would not look so bad.

In fact, this situation exists not only in Shu County, but also in other places, but it is most serious in Shu County.

Maybe it's because of you that the prefect has been silent for the past six months, which has given everyone a chance to breathe and live like a human being. I only ask you to help us find our family members. Even if they are dead, we want to find their bodies and bury them. "

"Katsumura Masaru, please trust my father. He will definitely do you justice."

"I have also seen Magistrate Tian at work. If I didn't trust him, I wouldn't have taken the risk of telling you. We only have two older grandchildren and a few mothers left in our family. What worries me the most is my youngest son. He is only 14-15 years old and doesn't even have a wife or a son.

My wife is not in good spirits now, I don’t know if I can let her see her son before she dies.”

"Katsumura Masaru, don't be too sad. We will do our best to help you. But do you know any useful clues? For example, where did they take the people every time?

Every time there's such a large-scale event, there will always be someone who will go and take a look, right?"

"Now that you mention it, there really was someone who secretly followed us, but unfortunately that person died later. Everyone said that he was found dead and his body was dumped on the way up the mountain."

"Does anyone know where he went before he died?"

"Several of our villages have just gathered to discuss it. It's probably in the area north of Fengqi Mountain. It was very steep back then, and there were many ferocious beasts in the mountain. Now most of the villagers are old and weak, and there are also half-grown children. Some of the men are even more reluctant to let them go out to search."

"Oh, then how long does it take for Fengqi Mountain to be away from our county town according to your walking distance, Muramasa?"

"About two or three days. You young people should hurry up."

"You guys have never been there?"

“Yeah, no one has been in. Oh, yes, there was a hunter from Grandma Village who went in, but he was only outside and didn’t dare to go in.

He is one of the few young and strong men in Grandma Village. He was not caught several times before because he went into the mountains. Now it happens less often and he dares not go there for fear of being caught accidentally.

I heard that the mountains in that area are a bit dangerous now, and it seems that people have started to patrol nearby, but I don’t know if it’s true or not.”

"Well, can Katsuramura introduce us to the hunter?"

"Of course there is no problem with that. The question is whether he will help you. That mountain road is not for ordinary people to walk on. Before these things happened, some people died in that mountain."